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In this session, you will learn how to
identify
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Nouns
·
Gerunds and infinitives as
nouns
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Adjectives
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Participles as adjectives.
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Introduction
What is a part of speech? Well, every word
we use in English performs one of eight functions. Each of these functions is a
part of speech. A great many words serve as several parts of speech because the
part is determined by the function of that particular word in the sentence.
We'll talk about this later in the program.
But first, let's review some facts about
the noun.
Nouns
A noun
is a name of a person, place, thing, idea, action, quality, or event.
The following list contains nouns that name
persons:
Mary, sister, Mr. Jones, teacher, members,
mother-in-law.
The following list contains nouns that name
places:
Montreal, home, suburbs, Somalia, colleges,
Lake Louise.
The following list contains nouns that name
things:
Automobile, house, Monday, Skydome,
sandwich, trucks.
The following list contains nouns that name
ideas:
Democracy, mathematics, gravity, law,
solitude.
The following list contains nouns that name
some common actions:
eating, to eat, sleeping, to sleep,
camping, to camp.
The following list contains nouns that name
qualities:
Beauty, patience, majesty, loyalty, stupidity,
importance.
The following list contains nouns that name
events:
The Great War, The Gold Rush, The Riel
Rebellion, The Renaissance.
Proper nouns
A noun beginning with a capital letter is a
proper noun:
"Jose," "Ottawa,"
"Monday" are proper nouns.
Proper nouns made up of more than one word
are called "proper-noun phrases":
"Ms. Murphy," "Prime
Minister Chretien," and "Vice-Chancellor Bodine," are proper
noun phrases.
Proper-noun phrases must be considered as
single nouns.
Gerunds
Words such as "running" may be
nouns if the action of "running" is not taking place in the sentence.
In the sentence
"Jogging is a healthful
activity,"
the word "jogging" is the name of
an action. So "jogging" is a gerund,
an "ing" form of a word that acts as a noun.
Infinitives
Combinations of "to" plus an
action (to run), known as infinitives,
are always nouns. For example, in the sentence
"Serpa wanted to pass her test with
honours,"
the phrase "to pass" is a noun,
naming something that Serpa wanted.
Whether a noun names a person, place,
thing, idea, action, quality, or event depends on how the noun functions in the
sentence.
Now let's review some facts about the
adjective
Adjectives
An adjective
is a word that describes (or modifies) a noun or a pronoun.
An adjective tells the reader something
about the noun or the pronoun. An adjective makes a noun or pronoun more exact
by telling some of the things listed below:
What colour: "the blue towel"
How many: "four letters"
Where from: "Italian marble"
How big: "the huge room"
What size, shape, temperature: "a
six-foot fence," "a square
hole," "a hot drink"
What age, weight, height: "the old
barn," "the heavy load," "the tall building"
What texture, consistency, construction:
"the rough surface," "the thick fog," "the brick
mansion"
What condition: "a dilapidated
cabin," "a tired man"
What type: "a dining table."
Participles
The present and past participles can be used as adjectives. For example, in the sentence
"We admired the setting sun,"
there is no action of setting going on in
the sentence. "Setting" is the present participle of the verb to set
and is functioning as an adjective describing the noun "sun."
In the sentence
"Sam's repeated questions annoyed
us,"
there is no action of repeating going on in
the sentence. "Repeated" is the past participle of the verb to repeat
and is functioning as an adjective describing the noun "questions."
To simplify matters, we will consider the
words "a," "an," and "the" as adjectives.
The same word can be a noun or an
adjective; how the word functions in the sentence determines which it will be.
Exercises
Select the answer that correctly identifies
the function (part of speech) of the words in parentheses (brackets). Work from
left to right as the words appear in the sentence. The answers appear after the
last question.
Example: The (production) (manager) mailed
the (letter) herself.
Answer: adjective noun noun
1.
(Mr. Steinberg) wanted (to
read) the (sales) contract.
A. adjective adjective adjective
B. adjective adjective noun
C. adjective noun noun
D. noun noun noun
E. noun adjective noun
F. noun noun adjective
2.
(To graduate) with honours
is an (admirable) (goal).
A. adjective adjective adjective
B. adjective adjective noun
C. adjective noun noun
D. noun noun noun
E. noun adjective noun
F. noun noun adjective
3.
(Running) and (walking) are
not (demanding) activities.
A. adjective adjective adjective
B. adjective adjective noun
C. adjective noun noun
D. noun noun noun
E. noun adjective noun
F. noun noun adjective
4.
(To write) and (to speak)
well require (practice).
A. adjective adjective adjective
B. adjective adjective noun
C. adjective noun noun
D. noun noun noun
E. noun adjective noun
F. noun noun adjective
5.
(Effective) (studying) will
improve your (grades).
A. adjective adjective adjective
B. adjective adjective noun
C. adjective noun noun
D. noun noun noun
E. noun adjective noun
F. noun noun adjective
6.
(Some) (hungry) (Bosnian)
refugees asked for food.
A. adjective adjective adjective
B. adjective adjective noun
C. adjective noun noun
D. noun noun noun
E. noun adjective noun
F. noun noun adjective
7.
On a (cool) (Monday)
(morning), we left the city behind.
A. adjective adjective adjective
B. adjective adjective noun
C. adjective noun noun
D. noun noun noun
E. noun adjective noun
F. noun noun adjective
8.
The (children) played in
the (fluffy) white (snow).
A. adjective adjective adjective
B. adjective adjective noun
C. adjective noun noun
D. noun noun noun
E. noun adjective noun
F. noun noun adjective
9.
The (noise) and the (wind)
made (concentration) impossible.
A. adjective adjective adjective
B. adjective adjective noun
C. adjective noun noun
D. noun noun noun
E. noun adjective noun
F. noun noun adjective
10. The (old) (tired) (horse) could barely pull the milk cart.
A. adjective adjective adjective
B. adjective adjective noun
C. adjective noun noun
D. noun noun noun
E. noun adjective noun
F. noun noun adjective
Answers
1, F. 2, E. 3, F. 4, D. 5, C. 6, A. 7, B. 8, E. 9, D. 10, B.
