Module Review
1.1.1 Nouns
Noun
- A noun is a word that names people, places, things, or ideas.
- There are various types of nouns: proper, concrete, abstract, collective, countable, uncountable, and gerunds.
- A noun can belong to more than one type.
Proper Noun
- A proper noun names a specific person, place, or thing and is always capitalised.
- Capitalisation is based on specificity, not sentence placement.
Concrete Noun
- A concrete noun is something you can detect with your five senses.
- Emotions are not concrete because they cannot be physically sensed.
Abstract Noun
- An abstract noun refers to ideas or emotions that cannot be sensed physically.
- Use the five senses test to distinguish abstract from concrete nouns.
Collective Noun
- A collective noun refers to a group of things as one unit (e.g., team, litter, pride).
- Collective nouns differ from plural nouns, which are formed with suffixes.
Countable Noun
- A countable noun can be made plural (e.g., bottles, cats).
- Typically pluralised by adding -s, -es, or other suffixes.
- Some irregular plural rules apply, especially for words ending in o, s, or h.
Uncountable Noun
- An uncountable noun cannot be pluralised (e.g., water, salt, advice).
- Often refers to substances, masses, or abstract ideas.
- These nouns require quantifying phrases like “some salt” or “a lot of love.”
Gerunds
- A gerund is a verb acting as a noun, often ending in -ing.
- It represents an action treated as an activity or thing (e.g., “Boxing is dangerous”).
- Gerunds are not the same as present continuous verbs.
1.1.2 Verbs
Verb
- A verb is a word used to identify an action, state of being, or process.
- Verbs are essential to forming complete sentences as they indicate what the subject is doing, feeling, or being.
- There are many types of verbs including action, stative, modal, auxiliary, imperative, transitive, and intransitive.
- Some verbs can belong to more than one type depending on usage.
Action Verb
- An action verb describes a physical or mental action performed by the subject.
- They move the sentence forward by showing activity or progress.
- Can be obvious (visible actions) or subtle (mental or internal actions).
- Every complete sentence must contain a verb; if it shows something being done, it is an action verb.
Modal Verb
- A modal verb is a type of auxiliary verb that expresses ability, possibility, necessity, permission, or obligation.
- Modal verbs do not change form and must be followed by a base verb.
- They modify the meaning of the main verb to express shades of certainty, necessity, or possibility.
- Examples include can, could, will, would, shall, should, may, might, must.
Linking Verb
- A linking verb connects the subject to a description or state of being.
- Common linking verbs include be, is, am, are, was, were, seem, become, appear, feel, look, sound, taste.
- They do not show action but describe or identify the subject.
Auxiliary Verb
- An auxiliary (helping) verb supports the main verb in forming tenses, moods, voices, or emphasis.
- Common auxiliary verbs include be, have, and do, as well as modal verbs.
- They are not the main action but assist it in showing when or how it happens.
Transitive Verb
- A transitive verb requires a direct object to complete its meaning.
- The action is done to something or someone.
- Without an object, the meaning is incomplete.
- Can be used in active or passive voice.
Intransitive Verb
- An intransitive verb does not require a direct object to complete its meaning.
- The action stands alone without being done to something or someone.
- Many movement, weather, or emotion verbs are intransitive.
Regular Verb
- A regular verb forms its past tense and past participle by adding “-ed” or “-d” to the base form.
- They follow a predictable pattern when changing tenses.
Irregular Verb
- An irregular verb does not follow the standard “-ed” or “-d” pattern in the past tense and past participle.
- They change in unpredictable ways and must often be memorised.
1.1.3 Adjectives
Adjective
- An adjective describes or modifies a noun or pronoun, giving detail about qualities such as size, colour, shape, condition, or emotion.
- They add clarity and detail to sentences, improving writing and analysis.
- Types include descriptive, comparative, superlative, demonstrative, and more.
- An adjective can belong to multiple categories at the same time.
Comparative Adjective
- Used to compare two people, places, things, or ideas.
- Shows a difference in degree of a quality between the two.
- Usually formed by adding “-er” to short adjectives or using “more” or “less” with longer adjectives.
Superlative Adjective
- Shows the highest or lowest degree of a quality among three or more things.
- Usually formed by adding “-est” to short adjectives or using “most” or “least” with longer adjectives.
Proper Adjective
- Formed from a proper noun, linking something to a nationality, culture, religion, or historical period.
- Always begins with a capital letter.
Compound Adjective
- Formed by combining two or more words, often hyphenated.
- Usually placed before a noun and acts as a single descriptive unit.
1.1.4 Adverbs
Adverb
- An adverb modifies a verb, adjective, or another adverb.
- Often tells how, when, where, or to what extent an action is performed.
- Types include adverbs of manner, time, place, degree, frequency, and interrogative adverbs.
- Some adverbs can belong to more than one category depending on usage.
- Many adverbs end in “-ly,” but not all do, and not all “-ly” words are adverbs.
1.1.5 Pronouns
Pronouns
- A pronoun replaces a noun, such as a person’s name.
- Types include personal, possessive, reflexive, and relative pronouns.
Personal Pronouns
- Refer to a specific person, group, or thing, replacing nouns already mentioned or obvious from context.
- Can be subject pronouns (do the action) or object pronouns (receive the action).
- Subject pronouns: I, you, he, she, it, we, they.
- Object pronouns: me, you, him, her, it, us, them.
Possessive Pronouns
- Show that something belongs to someone.
- Replace a noun phrase to avoid repetition.
- Stand alone, unlike possessive adjectives.
Reflexive Pronouns
- Used when the subject and object are the same person or thing.
- Always end in -self (singular) or -selves (plural).
Relative Pronouns
- Introduce a clause giving more information about a noun (relative clause).
- Common ones: who, whom, whose, which, that.
- Who/whom – for people; whose – possession; which – animals or objects; that – people or things.
1.1.6 Determiners
Determiners
- A determiner usually comes before a noun and gives information about quantity, possession, specificity, and/or context.
- They tell us which one, how many, or whose, and are always followed by a noun or noun phrase.
- Determiners do not stand alone.
- Main types include:
- Articles → a, an, the
- Demonstratives → this, that, these, those
- Quantifiers → some, many, few, much, all
- Possessives → my, your, his, her, its, our, their
- Numbers → one, two, three
- Distributives → each, every, either, neither
- Interrogatives → which, what, whose
1.1.7 Prepositions
Preposition
- A preposition shows the relationship between a noun (or pronoun) and another word in a sentence.
- Often tells where something is, when something happens, or how one thing relates to another.
- Usually followed by a noun or pronoun to form a prepositional phrase.
- Main types include:
- Prepositions of place → in, on, under, over, next to, behind
- Prepositions of time → at, on, in, before, after, during
- Prepositions of direction/movement → to, from, into, out of, onto, off
- Prepositions of cause/agency → because of, due to, by, with
- Prepositions of manner/instrument → by, with, like, as
1.1.8 Conjunctions
Conjunctions
- A conjunction connects words, phrases, or clauses within a sentence.
- Helps writing flow smoothly and links related ideas.
- Essential for combining simple sentences into more complex ones.
- Three main types:
- Coordinating conjunctions → connect elements of equal importance (e.g. and, but, or, nor, for, so, yet).
- Subordinating conjunctions → connect a dependent clause to an independent clause (e.g. although, because, since, unless, while, if, even though).
- Correlative conjunctions → work in pairs to join equal elements (e.g. either...or, neither...nor, not only...but also, both...and).
1.1.9 Interjections
Interjections
- An interjection is a word or short phrase used to express emotion, reaction, or sudden feeling.
- Often followed by an exclamation mark or a comma.
- Show emotions such as surprise, excitement, anger, joy, pain, hesitation, or frustration.
- Stand apart from the main structure of a sentence and do not affect grammar rules.
- Common examples: oh, wow, hey, ouch, yikes, hooray, uh, hmm, alas, oops, no, yes.