Chapter k: Terms of Endearment: More Parts of Speech 53 Pronouns: Pinch Hitters Say you wrote this sentence: Mr. Hufhagle gave Mr. Hufhagle's pen to Mr. Hufhagle's wife, Mrs. Hufhagle; Mrs. Hufhagle was grateful for the pen. You would be reduced to this sorry state were it not for the delightful and ever useful little pronoun. Thanks to Mr. Pronoun, you can write this graceful sentence instead: Mr. Hufhagle gave his pen to his wife, Mrs. Hufhagle; she was grateful for it. Now, I know you have to agree that the pronoun is a thing of beauty indeed. A pronoun is a word used in place of a noun or another pronoun. Pronouns help you avoid unnecessary repetition in your writing and speech. A pronoun gets its meaning from the noun it stands for. The noun is called the antecedent. Here's an example: • Although Seattle is damp, it is my favorite city. antecedent pronoun You Could Look It Up Pronouns are words used in place of a noun or another pronoun. An antecedent is the noun that the pronoun stands for. Take My Word for It The word antecedent comes from a Latin word meaning "to go before." However, as in the example here, the noun doesn't have to appear before the pro- noun in a sentence. The things you learn in this book! Of course, there are different kinds of pronouns. Most of them have antecedents, but a few do not. Meet the pronoun family. 1. Personal pronouns refer to a specific person, place, object, or thing. Here are the major players: First person Second person Third person her, hers, it Singular I, me, mine, my you, your, yours he, him, his, she, theirs, its Plural we, us, our, ours you, your, yours they, them, their, Part 2: Under the Grammar Hammer 2. Possessive pronouns show ownership. The possessive pronouns are yours, his, hers, its, ours, theirs, whose. • Is this nice dead cat yours? • Yes, it's ours. 3. Reflexive pronouns add information to a sentence by pointing back to a noun or pronoun near the beginning of the sentence. Reflexive pronouns end in -self or -selves. • Herman bought himself 'a life-size inflatable woman. • They all enjoyed themselves at Herman's expense. 4. Intensive pronouns also end in -self or -selves, but they just add emphasis to the noun or pronoun. • Herman himself 'blew up the doll. • Herman said that he would be able to deflate the doll himself. 5. Demonstrative pronouns direct attention to a specific person, place, or thing. Not to panic—there are only four demonstrative pronouns: this, that, these, and those. • This is the invisible car that came out of nowhere, struck my car, and van- ished. • That was the slow-moving, sad-faced old gentleman who bounced off the roof of my car. 6. Relative pronouns begin a subordinate clause. Only five, folks: that, which, who, whom, and those. • Mr. Peepers claimed that the other car collided with his without giving warning of its intention. • Louise was the driver who had to swerve a number of times before she hit the other car. 7. Interrogative pronouns ask a question. High fives: what, which, who, whom, and whose. • Who claimed he was coming home when he drove into the wrong house and collided with a tree he doesn't have? • Which insurance adjuster had these headaches? 8. Indefinite pronouns refer to people, places, objects, or things without pointing to a specific one. Chapter k\ Terms of Endearment: More Parts of Speech 55 Here are the most common Singular another anyone each everyone everybody everything much nobody nothing other someone anybody anything either little neither no one one somebody something Face the Music indefinite pronouns: Plural both few many others several Singular or Plural all any more most none some Circle the pronouns in the following jokes. The number of pronouns in each joke is indicated in parentheses at the end of each one. The same pronoun may be used more than once in each sentence. 56 Part 2: Under the Grammar Hammer 1. Observation attributed to Professor Robert Wilensky of the University of Cali- fornia at Berkeley: "We have all heard that a million monkeys banging on a million typewriters will eventually reproduce the works of Shakespeare. Now, thanks to the Internet, we know this is not true." (5) 2. There was a man who entered a local paper's pun contest. He sent in 10 different puns, in the hope that at least 1 of the puns would win. Unfortunately, no pun in 10 did. (5) 3. A man told his psychiatrist, "Doc, I keep having these alternating recurring dreams. First I am a teepee; then I am a wigwam; then I am a teepee; then I am a wigwam. It is driving me crazy. What's wrong with me?" The doctor replied, "It is very simple. You are two tents." (12) Answers 1. We, all, that, this, we 2. There, who, He, that, one 3. his, I, these, I, I, I, I, It, me, me, It, you Interjections: Zap! Pow! Wow! Unlike movie stars Steven Seagal and Morris the Cat (okay, so he's dead), interjections show strong emotion. Because interjections are not linked grammatically to other words in the sentence, they are set off from the rest of the sentence with a comma or an exclamation mark. • Oh! What a shock you gave me with that gorilla suit. You Could Look It Up Interjections show strong emotion. Often, interjections will be set off with an exclamation mark. Although any word that shows strong feelings can be an interjection, look for the usual sus- pects: Wow!, Zap!, Popi, and the rest of the family. • Wow! That's not a gorilla suit? With interjections, a little goes a long way. Use these marks of punctuation as you would hot pepper or hysterics, because they are strong and edgy. Just When You Thought It Was Safe to Take a Shower How long did it take you to get over Psycho? Still have nightmares about checking into the Bates Motel? Well, grammar has its own scary points. Let me give it to you straight because I know you can take it: Some words can function as more than one Chapter k: Terms of Endearment: More Parts of Speech 57 part of speech. Yes, you heard me right. This means you can't memorize a word like fish as a noun—because the slimy sucker can also be a verb. Here's an example of one that didn't get away: • Noun: I ate zfish for dinner. • Verb: We fish in the lake every Tuesday. Adverbs disguise themselves as prepositions in certain sentences; in other sentences, a word you thought was a died-in-the-wool adjective turns out to be a card-carrying noun. What's a writer to do? Just as no man or woman is an island (except perhaps for Michael Jackson), so no part of speech exists in a vacuum. To correctly identify a word's part of speech, you have to see how the word functions in a specific sentence. Try this pleasant little exercise to see what you've learned so far. Seventh-lnninq Stretch Identify the part of speech of each underlined word. Write your answer in the space provided. 1. The outside of the boat needs scraping. 2. You should scrape the boat without outside help. 3. Let's sit outside and laugh at you as you work in the blazing sun. 4. The ambulance is parked right outside the yard, next to the beehive and poison ivy. 5. The Reverend repented of his past mistakes. 6. Turn right past the store with the "Deli/Guns" sign in the window. 7. Did you hear that song before? 8. Always follow through what you start. 9. The remark went right through one ear and out the other. 10. The gardener mowed the lawn after he reread Lady Chatterlys Lover. Answers 1. noun 2. adjective 3. adverb 58 PartZ: Under the Grammar Hammer 4. preposition 5. adjective 6. preposition 7. adverb 8. adverb 9. preposition 10. conjunction The Least You Need to Know • Adjectives describe nouns and pronouns. • Adverbs are words that describe verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs. • Pronouns are words used in place of a noun or another pronoun. • Interjections express strong emotions. • This all sounds a lot harder than it really is. Chapter Altered States: Verbs In This Chapter • Find out why verbs are tense • Learn about a verb's person, number, and mood • Get the scoop on the active and passive voice In writing and speaking, you often have to show when something happens. Is it taking place now? Later? Did it happen earlier in the day, a week ago, a year ago, or when dinosaurs roamed the earth? In English, tense is used to show when something happens. In this chapter, you learn how to use verbs to indicate when an action occurred. First, I explain the different tenses and how they are used. The focus here is on regular verbs (the nice cooperative ones) and irregular verbs (the ones that need bran cereal). There's even a special section on lie/lay, the verb duo that reduces even linebackers and mothers-in-law to quivering masses of jelly. The rest of the chapter covers verbs and their person, number, mood, and voice. Not to worry if you don't know these terms now; I promise that by the end of the chapter you'll be slinging them around like a short-order cook hauls hash 'n' eggs. 60 Part 2: Under the Grammar Hammer Shape Shifters You learned in Chapter 3 that verbs are words that name an action or describe a state of being. There are four basic types of verbs: action verbs, linking verbs, helping verbs, and verb phrases. Verbs tell what's happening, what has happened, and what will hap- pen. They're just happenin' kinds of words. Verbs are all this and more! Verbs also convey information through changes in their form. Here are the five different things you can find out from a verb: • Tense (when the action takes place: past, present, or future) • Person (who or what experiences the action) • Number (how many subjects act or receive the action) • Mood (the attitude expressed toward the action) • Voice (whether the subject acts or is acted upon: the active or passive voice) Still with me? Of course you are. Now it's time to take a look at each of these verb functions in detail. Verb Tense: Nothing a Little Prozac Wouldn't Cure Like people, verbs show the passage of time by changing form. Over the years, some of us get a little thick around the middle while the rest of us get a bit more blond. The tense of a verb shows its time. Verbs add a final -ed or -d to the simple form, use an auxiliary verb, or change their form completely to show that time flies. There are six verb tenses in English. Each of the six tenses has two forms: basic and progressive (also known as "perfect"). The following table shows the six forms for the verb to talk. You Could Look It Up _, The tense of a verb shows its time. I'm All Shook Up: Examples of the Six Verb Tenses Tense Basic Form Progressive Form Present Past Future talk talked will talk am talking was talking will be talking Tense Present perfect Past perfect Future perfect Basic Form have talked had talked will have talked Chapter 5: Altered States: Verbs Progressive Form have been talking had been talking will have been talking 61 I feel Your Pain: Principal Parts of Verbs As the preceding table indicates, you form verb tense from principal parts and helping verbs. Every English verb has four main parts, as the following table shows. Principal Verb Parts Present Present Participle Past Past Participle talk play talking playing talked played talked played • The present is used to form the present tense (7 talk) and the future {I will talk). Notice that you have to use the helping verb will to show the future tense. • The present participle forms all six of the progressive forms (/ am talking, I was talking, and so on). • The past forms only one tense—you guessed it, the past (7 talked). • The past participle forms the last three tenses: the present perfect {I have talked), the past perfect (I had talked), and the future perfect (I will have talked). To form the past participle, start with a helping verb such as is, are, was, or has been. Then add the principal part of the verb. Strictly Speaking The simple form of the verb is also called the base form. The simple form shows action, occur- rence, or state of being that is taking place right here and now (/ pout). The simple form is also the base for the future form (that is, / will pout, they will pout). A Class Act: Forming Past Tenses English verbs are traditionally divided into two classes, according to the ways they form their past tense and past participles. 62 Part 2: Under the Grammar Hammer You Could Look It Up Regular verbs form the past tense and past participle by adding -d, -ed, or -t to the pres- ent form. They don't change their vowel. Irregular verbs don't form the past by adding -ed or -of. They form the past tense in many other ways. vsr Take My Word for It Over time, we have come to accept regular verbs as the "normal" ones, so now we usu- ally just add -ed or -d to new verbs, as in televise, televised. Some verbs are regular This means they form the past tense and past participle by adding -d, -ed, or -t to the present form but don't change their vowel, as in walk, walked, walked. Irregular verbs don't form the past by adding -ed or -d. The principal parts of irregular verbs are formed in many different ways. This could be why they need bran. • Sometimes, irregular verbs change tense without changing their endings. Instead, they usually travel in time by changing a vowel and adding -n or -en, as in begin, began, begun. • Other times, they change their vowel and add -d or -t, as in lose, lost, lost. • Or they may not change at all, such as set, set, set, and put, put, put. The following chart shows the most common irregular verbs. Present Tense arise bear beat become begin bend bite blow break bring burst catch choose come creep dig Past Tense arose bore beat became began bent bit blew broke brought burst caught chose came crept dug Past Participle arisen born or borne beaten become begun bent bitten blown broken brought burst caught chosen come crept dug . form the past participle, start with a helping verb such as is, are, was, or has been. Then add the principal part of the verb. Strictly Speaking The simple form of the verb . guessed it, the past (7 talked). • The past participle forms the last three tenses: the present perfect {I have talked), the past perfect (I had talked), and the future . him, his, she, theirs, its Plural we, us, our, ours you, your, yours they, them, their, Part 2: Under the Grammar Hammer 2. Possessive pronouns show ownership. The possessive