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Level : 1st year Bachelor Module : Grammar Student : Mr. HANNACHI
By the end of the course, students will be able to:
Communicate effectively in written English, focusing on clarity, coherence, and grammatical
accuracy.
Identify and understand the different parts of speech and their function.
Classify sentences based on their composition.
Lecture one: PARTS OF SPEECH
Parts of speech are the building blocks of language, defining how words function within a sentence.
English grammar traditionally recognizes eight main parts of speech: nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs,
adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections. Each part of speech plays a specific role in forming
meaningful and grammatically correct sentences. By learning about these categories and their functions, we
can improve our writing and communication skills.
1. Principles of Categorizing Words as Parts of Speech
a. Context Principle: A word's part of speech is determined by its use in a sentence.
Words can function as different parts of speech depending on their context. Example: The word "paint"
She will paint the walls tomorrow. (Verb)
The paint is still wet. (Noun)
I prefer the paint color in this room. (Adjective)
b. Characteristic Principle: Words are categorized based on shared characteristics within traditional classes.
Classes: Nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections.
Multiple characteristics define a word's part of speech.
c. Vocabulary vs. Function Words:
Vocabulary words (>99% of dictionary entries): Nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs
Function words: Prepositions, conjunctions.
2. Flexibility of Words
Words in the English language exhibit remarkable flexibility, often shifting their roles depending on their
context within a sentence. A single word can function as multiple parts of speech. For example, the word
"run" can serve as a verb ("He runs daily"), a noun ("a good run"), or an adjective ("a running shoe"). To
accurately identify the part of speech of a word, careful consideration of its position and function within the
sentence is
crucial. Sentence structure provides the framework that dictates how words interact with one another, allowing
us to discern their specific roles.
3. Words’ classification:
Nouns:
Once a word is used in a sentence, it assumes a grammatical function. Similar to other grammatical
categories, words are classified as nouns if they exhibit some key points. The classification of words as nouns
is based on four comparable characteristics.
Characteristics of Nouns
- Naming Function: Nouns name persons, animals, places, substances, things, qualities, or ideas. Example:
"The scientist discovered a new element in her laboratory."
- Plural Forms: Many nouns can have plural forms, often with - s or - es endings. Example: "Beaches"
(regular), "Children" (irregular)
- Determiners: Nouns are often preceded by determiners (a, an, the). Example: "The mountain loomed in the
distance."
- Common Suffixes: Many nouns share similar endings. Example: "Musician" (-ian), "Kindness" (-ness)
Types of Nouns
- Concrete/Common Nouns: Physical, tangible things. Example: "chair", "pencil", "tree"
- Proper Nouns: Specific names of people, places, or things (always capitalized). Example: "Eiffel Tower",
"Amazon River", "Shakespeare"
- Abstract Nouns: Intangible concepts, ideas, or qualities. Example: "love", "wisdom", "bravery"
- Collective Nouns: Groups of people or things. Example: "flock" (of birds), "jury", "orchestra"
- Compound Nouns: Nouns made up of two or more words. Example: "sunflower", "toothbrush", "mother-in-
law"
- Countable Nouns: Can be counted and have singular/plural forms. Example: "book/books", "dog/dogs"
- Uncountable Nouns: Cannot be counted, often masses or abstracts. Example: "rice", "information",
"music","advice"
Remember: Context in a sentence determines a word's function as a noun.
Pronouns:
A pronoun is a word that is used in place of a noun. The pronoun, like the noun, is used in the
common sentence patterns as subject, object of a verb, indirect object, object of a verbal, object of a
preposition, subjective complement, and so forth. Pronouns may be classified as personal, intensive,
reflexive, demonstrative, relative, interrogative, indefinite, and reciprocal.
Types of Pronouns
- Personal Pronouns: Indicate person, number, and case.
Example: "She gave her book to him."
- Auxiliary (Helping) Verbs: Assist the main verb in expressing tense, mood, or voice. Examples:
"She has finished her homework."
"We will travel to Europe next summer."
Common auxiliary verbs: be, have, do, will, shall, can, could, may, might, must, should, would
Key Points to Remember
Verbs are essential for forming complete sentences.
They can change form to indicate tense, person, and number.
Some verbs are irregular and don't follow standard conjugation patterns.
Verb phrases can consist of multiple words (main verb + auxiliary
verbs). Example of a complex verb phrase:
"By next week, they will have been working on this project for a month."
Adjectives:
Adjectives modify nouns and pronouns, E.g. happy girl - his desk - that boy - five books - many people - first
class. Typically they answer three main questions:
- What kind? (Descriptive Adjectives): These describe quality, kind, or condition. Example: "The energetic
puppy chased the colorful butterfly."
- Which one? (Limiting Adjectives):
a. Possessive Adjectives: Show ownership. Example: "Her guitar needs new strings."
b.Demonstrative Adjectives: Point out specific nouns. Example: "This cake is delicious, but those cookies
are stale."
c. Interrogative Adjectives: Introduce questions (direct or indirect).
Direct: "Which movie do you prefer?"
Indirect: "She asked which restaurant we should choose."
d. Relative Adjectives: Introduce clauses modifying nouns. Example: "The student whose essay won first
prize is very talented."
- How many? (Quantifying Adjectives)
a. Numerical Adjectives
Cardinal numbers: "Seven continents make up the Earth."
Ordinal numbers: "She won first place in the competition."
b. Indefinite Adjectives: Express non-specific quantities.
Example: "Few people attended the event, but many sent their regards."
Key Points to Remember:
Adjectives can appear before the noun they modify or after a linking verb.
Some adjectives can be used in multiple categories depending on context.
The order of adjectives in English follows a general pattern (opinion, size, age, shape, color, origin,
material, purpose).
Comparative and superlative forms of adjectives are used for comparisons.
Adverbs:
Adverbs are words that modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs. Example: They did their work (v)
quickly (adv) - He replied (v) angrily(adv) - They were (v) somewhat (adv) happy
Types of Adverbs
- Adverbs of Manner (How?): Example: "The chef expertly prepared the gourmet meal."
- Adverbs of Place (Where?): Example: "The children played outside."
- Adverbs of Time (When?): Example: "We'll discuss the project tomorrow."
- Adverbs of Degree (How much?): Example: "The test was extremely difficult."
- Adverbs of frequency (How often): Example: " I always wake up at 7 am."
Usage of Adverbs
- Modifying Verbs: Example: "The cat pounced swiftly on the toy mouse."
- Modifying Adjectives: Example: "The incredibly talented musician performed a solo."
- Modifying Other Adverbs: Example: "She spoke very quietly during the meeting."
Key Points to Remember
Many adverbs end in - ly, but not all words ending in - ly are adverbs.
Example of - ly adjective: "The friendly neighbor waved hello."
Some words can function as both adjectives and adverbs.
Example: "She is a fast runner." (adjective) "She runs fast." (adverb)
Adverbs can appear in various positions in a sentence: beginning,
middle, or end.
Example: "Carefully, he opened the antique box." "He carefully opened the antique box." "He opened the
antique box carefully."
Comparative and superlative forms of adverbs are used for comparisons.
Example: "She runs more quickly than her brother." "Of all the students, she writes most eloquently."
Prepositions:
Prepositions are connective words that link their objects to other words in a sentence.
Prepositional Phrase: Consists of a preposition and its object(s) with any modifiers. Example: "The cat slept
under the warm blanket."(Preposition: under, Object: blanket, Modifier: warm) Common Prepositions: Single-
word: in, on, at, by, for, with, to, of, from, etc. Multi-word: according to, ahead of, in spite of, etc.
Distinction from Adverbs:
Prepositions have objects, adverbs don't.
Some words can function as both, depending on usage.
As Preposition: "The child jumped into the pool." (with object)
As Adverb: "The child jumped in." (without
object) Remember
Key Points:
Used alone with an exclamation mark or as part of a sentence followed by a comma
Express speaker's emotion without grammatical connection to the rest of the sentence, Example in a
sentence: "Oops, I forgot to bring my wallet."
Lecture Two : Sentence Structure (Sentence Composition/ Classifications/ Structure)
Sentences are not just groups of words randomly put together, but an ordered string of words which
follow certain rules of combination. An awareness of these rules will help us not only in understanding how
sentences are constructed, but also in making correct sentences. A sentence consists of smaller units. These
units may themselves be single words or combination of words (phrases). Each of these units performs some
function in the sentence. To show what function a unit may be performing we use labels like subject,
predicate, object, complement and adjunct. These are functional labels, which are different from formal labels
like noun, adjective, adverb, etc.
I. Sentence composition:
What Do You Mean by Sentence composition?
Sentence composition is a grammatical component that tells you exactly where and how each
component of a sentence should be placed in order to blend and make sense. The Collins Dictionary defines
sentence structure as “the grammatical arrangement of words in sentences.” In other words, the sentence
structure is what defines the way a sentence will look and sound.
Basic Parts and Components of a Sentence
Before we look into how sentence structure works, we will have to first learn about the basic structure of
a sentence and the components that make up a sentence.
1. Subject and predicate:
All English sentences must contain at least two parts, a subject and a predicate. The subjects are generally
“the someone” or “the something” of the sentence that performs the action or has some element of them
described. While looking for the subjects of your sentences, you should most often look for nouns or
pronouns. The predicate describes the action taking place or clarifies more information about the subject.
Predicates are generally the verbs of the sentence. Examples:
Subject
Lea
My college
The new boss
It
Predicate
opened the door for me.
has become the largest college in the region.
is very strict about our assignments.
was a very hot afternoon in August.
What is a subject?
The subject is the person, place, or thing that acts, is acted on, or is described in the sentence. Three types of
subjects exist:
Simple subject: a noun boy, dog, house or a pronoun he, she, we (standing alone).
Complete subject: a noun or a pronoun plus any modifiers: the black dog, the trees across the bay, his
dog house.
Compound subject: two or more subjects joined by a conjunction: Mitch or Amy, the dog and the
house, he and I.
What is a predicate?
The predicate is the action or description that occurs in the sentence. As with subjects, three types of
predicates exist:
Simple predicate: a complete verb: sit, was singing, could have danced (a verb and any helping
verbs)
Complete predicate: a simple predicate plus all modifiers: sit on the couch, was singing quietly, could
have danced across the room.
Compound predicate: two or more predicates with the same subject: was singing quietly and smiling
to himself, could have danced across the room and stayed awake all night, sit on the couch or sit on
the floor.
2. Complements:
All grammatically correct sentences have at least one subject and one verb. But few sentences are this simple;
in most sentences, additional words follow the verb. These words are objects and complements.
a) Objects:
Objects in the sentence are elements that receives or affected by the action. Objects can be identified by the
type of the verb:
Linking verbs connect subjects with their descriptions. Example: The oak tree is mighty. Action verbs show
us what is happening in a sentence. There are two types of action verbs: intransitive and transitive. Transitive
verbs do require following words to complete their meaning. Example: The leaves hit the ground. Intransitive
verbs do not require following words to complete their meaning. Example: The leaves fell.
Direct object: A direct object is a noun that identifies who or what receives the action of the verb.
Example: The puppy devoured the steak.
Indirect object: An indirect object is a noun that identifies for whom the action of the verb is
performed or to whom the direct object goes. Example: My mom sent me money.
b) Compliments:
In grammar, a complement is a word, phrase or clause that is necessary to complete the meaning of a given
expression. Examples: The boy seemed…. The dog is … That sounds like… To make them complete we
add a complement. Example: The boy seemed happy. The dog is angry. That sounds like heaven. There are
two types of compliments.
PATTERN 3: Subject, Verb, Direct and Indirect Objects (SVDOIO)
Consists of a subject and a verb with direct and indirect objects: Examples: I gave the teacher my
essay.
PATTERN 4: Subject, Verb, Direct Object, and Object Complement (SVDOOC)
Consists of a subject, a verb, a direct object, and an objective complement. The object closest to the
verb is the direct object. The object further from the verb is the objective complement. The objective
complement is either: a noun that renames the direct object or an adjective that describes the direct object.
Examples: The parents considered their child a genius.
PATTERN 5: Subject, Linking Verb, and subject Complement (SVSC)
Consists of a subject, a linking verb, and a subject complement. A subject complement is a word or
phrase that follows a linking verb. It identifies the subject with a noun, or describes it with an adjective.
Example: He sounds happy. / She is a nurse.
PATTERN 6: It is / There +aux, verb, subject
In this sentence pattern, the words It and there are empty words that fills the position of the subject. The real
subject often comes at the end of the sentence. Example:
It is nice to meet you. → To meet you is nice.
The real subject SC
There is no problem. → No problem is there.
The real subject
adv
The preceding patterns are patterns of statements, or declarative sentences. Notice the changes that take
place when these patterns are transformed into questions:
Auxiliary+ Subject+Verb? .E.g. Do coyotes howl in the distance?
Auxiliary+ Subject+Verb+ Object?. E.g. Would sparrows eat all the seed in the feeder?
Auxilairy+ Subject+Verb+Indirect.Obj + Direct.Obj? E.g. Had the candidates promised voters lower
taxes?
Sentence Purpose:
There are four sentence types: declarative, interrogative, imperative, and exclamatory.
1.The declarative sentence : it makes a statement. It is punctuated with a period (.). Example: The
third essay is due Friday.
2.The interrogative sentence : it asks a question. It is punctuated with a question mark (?). Example:
When is the third essay due?
3.The imperative sentence : it gives a command or makes a request. It is punctuated with a period (.), or
an exclamation point (!), depending on the intent of the writer. Examples: Finish the essay tonight. The
essay must be finished tonight! [You] finish the essay tonight.
4. The exclamatory sentence : it shows excitement or expresses strong feeling. It is punctuated with an
exclamation point (!). Example: What a terrific essay you wrote!
