English Grammar for everyone

1. Nouns Words that name people, places, things, or ideas There are many different types of nouns for you to learn about. A few of them include: proper nouns, common nouns, collective nouns, compound nouns, and many more! See a list of nouns. List of Nouns This list of nouns should help you understand nouns a little better. For definitions of the following noun categories, go to the noun page. Quick Refresher: Nouns are words that name people, places, things, or ideas. Before you look at the list of nouns, it is important to note that nouns will fit into more than one category. For example, the word train is a common, concrete, countable, singular noun. Noun Type Examples Common Nouns name people, places or things that are not specific. man, mountain, state, ocean, country, building, cat, airline Proper Nouns name specific people, places, or things. Walt Disney, Mount Kilimanjaro, Minnesota, Atlantic Ocean, Australia, Empire State Building, Fluffy, Sun Country Abstract Nouns name nouns that you can't perceive with your five sense. love, wealth, happiness, pride, fear, religion, belief, history, communication Concrete Nouns name nouns that you can perceive with your five senses. house, ocean, Uncle Mike, bird, photograph, banana, eyes, light, sun, dog, suitcase, flowers Countable Nouns name nouns that you can count. bed, cat, movie, train, country, book, phone, match, speaker, clock, pen, David, violin Uncountalbe Nouns name nouns that you can't count. milk, rice, snow, rain, water, food, music Compound Nouns are made up of two or more words. tablecloth, eyeglasses, New York, photograph, daughter-in-law, pigtails, sunlight, snowflake Collective Nouns refer to things or people as a unit. bunch, audience, flock, team, group, family, band, village Singular Nouns name one person, place, thing, or idea. cat, sock, ship, hero, monkey, baby, match Plural Nouns name more than one person, place, thing, or idea. cats, socks, ships, heroes, monkeys, babies, matches How Do You Diagram Nouns? Seeing a list of nouns is a great way to learn what a noun is. Sentence diagramming can teach you what a noun does. Sentence diagramming is a visual way to show how the words in a sentence are related to each other. Since nouns can do many things in a sentence, the way they are diagrammed depends on the way that they are acting in each sentence. Here is a diagram of the following noun jobs: subject, direct object, indirect object, and object of the preposition. Nouns can also act as a predicate noun. This kind of noun only comes after a linking verb. You can learn more about diagramming by going to the English grammar exercise page which will take you step by step through diagramming. • What is a Noun? • List of Nouns • Grammar Video Lessons • Common and Proper Nouns • Collective Nouns • Noun Clauses • Diagramming Nouns as Subjects • Nouns as Objects of the Preposition • Pronouns 2. Pronouns Words that take the place of nouns Just like nouns, there are many different types of pronouns. Here are a few of them: reflexive pronouns, indefinite pronouns, possessive pronouns, and relative pronouns. See a list of pronouns. List of Pronouns Before seeing the list of pronouns, let's have a quick refresher on the definition of a pronoun. Quick Refresher: A pronoun is a word that takes the place of one or more nouns. Got it? Good! These tables show a list of pronouns for the following types of pronouns: personal, relative, demonstrative, indefinite, reflexive, intensive, interrogative, possessive, subject and object. List of Pronouns Personal Pronouns take the place of common and proper nouns. Singular Plural First Person: the person or people speaking or writing I me we us Second Person: the person or people being spoken or written to you you Third Person: the person, people, or things being spoken or written about she, her he, him it they them Relative Pronouns relate a subordinate clause to the rest of the sentence. that, which, who, whom, whose, whichever, whoever, whomever Demonstrative Pronouns represent a thing or things. Singular Plural Refers to things that are nearby this these Refers to things that are far away that those Indefinite Pronouns refer to something that is unspecified. Singular anybody, anyone, anything, each, either, everybody, everyone, everything, neither, nobody, no one, nothing, one, somebody, someone, something Plural both, few, many, several Singular or Plural all, any, most, none, some Reflexive Pronouns end in self or selves. Singular Plural First Person: the person or people speaking or writing myself ourselves Second Person: the person or people being spoken or written to yourself yourselves Third Person: the person, people, or things being spoken or written about himself, herself, itself themselves Interrogative Pronouns are used to ask questions. what, who, which, whom, whose Possessive Pronouns are used to show ownership. Singular Plural Used Before Nouns my your his, her, its our your their Used Alone mine yours his, hers ours yours theirs Subject and Object Pronouns are used as either the subject or the object in a sentence. Singular Plural Subject: whom or what the sentence is about I you she, he, it we you they Object: direct objects, indirect objects, objects of prepositions me you her, him, it us you them How Do You Diagram Pronouns? Sentence diagramming is a visual way to show how the words in a sentence are related to each other. Pronouns can do many things in a sentence, and the way they are diagrammed depends on the way that they are acting in each sentence. Here are four of the jobs that pronouns can do: subject, direct object, indirect object, and object of the preposition. Pronouns can also act as a predicate noun. This kind of noun only comes after a linking verb. You can learn more about diagramming by going to the English grammar exercise page which will take you step by step through diagramming. 3. Verbs Words that show action or a state of being. Linking verbs, action verbs, and helping verbs are described on the page above. Modals are described here, and you can learn even more about action verbs here. See a list of verbs. List of Verbs This list of verbs should help you to understand verbs a little better. For a more in-depth look at verbs, see the verb page. Quick Refresher: Verbs are words that show action or state of being. There are three main types of verbs: action verbs, linking verbs, and helping verbs (also called auxiliary verbs). * When you're done with this list of verbs, check out the little lesson in sentence diagramming at the bottom of the page! Action Verbs As their name implies, these verbs show action. Keep in mind that action doesn't always mean movement. Example: Talia thought about bears. In that example, the verb thought does not show movement, but it is a mental action, and therefore, it is still a verb. There are many, many action verbs. Here is random assortment of some action verbs. clean cut drive eat fly go live make play read run shower sleep smile stop sweep swim think throw trip walk wash work write Linking Verbs These types of verbs link the subject of a sentence with a noun or adjective. Example: Lana became a famous equestrian. If you count all of the forms of "to be" as one word, there are 13 linking verbs. Memorize these! Forms of be be, am, is, are, was, were, been, being Other Linking Verbs appear, become, feel, grow, look, seem, remain, smell, sound, stay, taste, turn This video shows you the difference between linking verbs and action verbs. To learn more, see these English grammar lessons. Helping Verbs These do just what their name implies. They help action verbs or linking verbs. There can be more than one of them used in a single verb phrase. Example: (used with the action verb love) Greta will love these sausages. There are only 24 helping verbs. Use this chart and this lovely song to memorize them! be am is are was were been being have has had could should would may might must shall can will do did does having How Do You Diagram Verbs? If you've checked out this site much, you know that I think sentence diagramming rules when it comes to teaching and learning English grammar. Sentence diagramming is a way to visually show how all of the words in the sentence are related to each other. All verbs are diagrammed on a horizontal line after the subject. A vertical line separates the subject from the verb, and the rest of the sentence depends on the type of verb you are diagramming. Transitive Active Certain action verbs called transitive action verbs transfer action to something called a direct object. Transitive Passive (A Type of Action Verb) This type of action verb does not pass any action to anyone or anything. Intransitive Linking Verb These verbs link the subject to another noun, pronoun, or adjective. Helping Verb Helping verbs help the main verb. They are used in sentences with either linking verbs or action verbs. It's easy to see that they help another verb when you see how they are diagrammed. I hope this little diagramming lesson and list of verbs has helped you in your quest for knowledge. Keep learning. Keep getting smarter! 4. Adjectives Words that describe or modify nouns or pronouns. See a list of adjectives. Examples of Adjectives Use these examples of adjectives to help you understand adjectives a bit better. For more information, see the adjectives page. Quick Refresher: Adjectives are words that describe nouns and pronouns. Proper Adjectives These are formed from proper nouns. They always begin with a capital letter. Proper Noun Proper Adjective America American Britain British Canada Canadian China Chinese Christianity Christian France French Articles There are only three of these special types of adjectives: a, an , and the. Regular Comparatives and Superlatives Most adjectives can be described in degrees. This means that something can have more or less of the adjective's quality. Regular comparatives end in -er or start with more. Regular superlatives end in -est or start with most. Positive Comparative Superlative ambitious more ambitious most ambitious cold colder coldest comfortable more comfortable most comfortable dry drier driest enchanting more enchanting most enchanting funny funnier funniest hot hotter hottest organized more organized most organized pretty prettier prettiest radiant more radiant most radiant sharp sharper sharpest wavy wavier waviest Irregular Comparatives and Superlatives These can still be given in degrees, but they don't follow the patterns listed above. Positive Comparative Superlative bad worse worst good better best little less least many more most Adjectives That Cannot Be Comparative or Superlative Some adjectives don't have degrees. There is only one level of these adjectives. (For example, something cannot be more half than something else. It either is half, or it isn't.) entire fatal final half main pregnant What Is an Adjective? This little video tells you more about what an adjective is. To see more, see these English grammar lessons. How Do You Diagram Adjectives? Seeing a examples of adjectives is a great way to learn what an adjective is. Sentence diagramming can teach you what an adjective does. Sentence diagramming is a visual way to show how the words in a sentence are related to each other. When you see them diagrammed, it's easy to see that adjectives modify nouns and pronouns. They go on a slanted line below the noun or pronoun that they modify. Adjectives can also act as a predicate adjectives. This kind of adjectives only comes after a linking verb, and it describes the subject of the sentence. You can learn more about diagramming by going to the English grammar exercise page which will take you step by step through diagramming. 5. Adverbs [...]... to any other part of the sentence That's a pretty good way of showing that they aren't related to any of the other words, isn't it? Here is an example for you to check out: Your site gives English learners and teachers a great idea for learning English Grammar is important to language learning, and your diagramming method makes language learning simpler and easier -Ji, Middle School Teacher, China ... together to form one preposition A aboard, about, above, across, after, against, ahead of, along, amid, amidst, among, around, as, as far as, as of, aside from, at, athwart, atop B barring, because of, before, behind, below, beneath, beside, besides, between, beyond, but, by, by means of C circa, concerning D despite, down, during E except, except for, excluding F far from, following, for, from I in,... branching off of fell You can diagram, too! Learn step by step diagramming for prepositions and prepositional phrases 7 Conjunctions Words that join two or more words, phrases, or clauses See a list of conjunctions List of Conjunctions Use this list of conjunctions to help you understand conjunctions a bit better For more information, see the conjunctions page Quick Refresher: Conjunctions are words... until, up, upon V versus, via W with, with regard to, within, without The Preposition Song This little song is sung to the tune of "Yankee Doodle" above across after at around before behind below beside between by down during for from in inside onto of off on out through to under up with And that's the preposition song! What Is a Preposition? Seeing a list of prepositions is great, but you also need... other adverbs Diagramming will show this to you Adverbs are diagrammed on a slanted line underneath the word that they modify Isn't that cool?! You can learn more about diagramming by going to the English grammar exercise page which will take you step by step through diagramming 6 Prepositions Words that show the relationship between a noun or a pronoun and some other word in the rest of the sentence... Here they are: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so You can remember them using the acronym FANBOYS Subordinating Conjunctions There are many subordinating conjunctions This list does not include all of them Learn to diagram subordinating conjunctions Example: I will eat broccoli after I eat this cookie A: after, although, as, as if, as long as, as much as, as soon as, as though B: because, before, by the... They are not grammatically related to the rest of the sentence See a list of interjections List of Interjections This list of interjections should help you understand interjections a little better For more information on interjections, go to the interjections page Quick Refresher: Interjections are words that show emotion They are not grammatically related to the rest of the sentence * You'll also learn... adverbs a little better For a more in-depth look at adverbs, see the adverb page Quick Refresher: Adverbs are words that describe - or modify - verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs They tell us how, when, where, to what extent, and why Adverbs that tell us How? A: absentmindedly, adoringly, awkwardly B: beautifully, briskly, brutally C: carefully, cheerfully, competitively E: eagerly, effortlessly, extravagantly... recklessly, remorsefully, ruthlessly S: savagely, sloppily, so, stylishly U: unabashedly, unevenly, urgently W: well, wishfully, worriedly Adverbs that tell us When? A: after, afterwards, annually B: before D: daily N: never, now S: soon, still T: then, today, tomorrow W: weekly, when Y: yesterday Adverbs that tell us Where? A: abroad, anywhere, away E: everywhere H: here, home I: in, inside O: out,... noun (movie, tree, block) Start Basic Sentence Diagramming! Sentence diagramming shows us how all of the parts of a sentence are related If you are a visual person, diagramming is the best way to learn grammar When diagrammed, prepositional phrases go underneath the word that they modify The preposition goes on the slanted line, and the object of the preposition goes on a horizontal line coming off of . about diagramming by going to the English grammar exercise page which will take you step by step through diagramming. • What is a Noun? • List of Nouns • Grammar Video Lessons • Common and. adjectives a bit better. For more information, see the adjectives page. Quick Refresher: Adjectives are words that describe nouns and pronouns. Proper Adjectives These are formed from proper nouns. They. Comparative Superlative ambitious more ambitious most ambitious cold colder coldest comfortable more comfortable most comfortable dry drier driest enchanting more enchanting most enchanting funny funnier