College Composition

College Composition Study Guide

Chapter 1: Grammar Fundamentals Objectives 1. To identify common grammatical errors and avoid those errors when writing. 2. To understand revision strategies. 3. To differentiate between parts of speech. 1.1 Parts of Speech Grammar is the rules covering how words are formed and combined to create sentences. It is the structure of a language. There are eight parts of speech. The chart below lists these parts of speech with definition and examples. Part of Speech Definition Examples Noun Person, place, or thing boy, girl, dog, cat Verb Action or state run, sit, talk, read, live Pronoun Word that replaces a noun I, he, she, we, they Adjective Word used to describe a noun yellow, talkative, sad, furry Adverb Word used to describe a verb slowly, well, quietly Preposition Word that links a noun to another word; used to indicate direction or relationship to, after, away, with Conjunction Word that joins words or sentences but, and, or Interjection Short exclamation expressing emotion Ouch! Hi! Aha! These eight parts are used by writers to form sentences. A basic sentence contains both a subject and a predicate. The predicate of the sentence contains a verb and describes the action or state of being. The subject of the sentence contains a noun that describes who or what is doing the action. The verb may also have an object, which is a noun that describes who or what received the action. Modifiers are adjectives or adverbs used to describe the subject, predicate, or object. Nouns, verbs, and pronouns have number. This refers to whether the word is singular or plural. Pronouns and verbs can be first, second, or third person. Person describes the doer or doers of the action. Verbs can also indicate tense. Tense describes when the action takes place: past, present, or future. Nouns Subject/predicate agreement: The number indicated by the subject and predicate have to agree. A singular noun gets a singular verb, while a plural noun gets a plural verb. For most verbs, the plural and singular forms are the same. However, in some cases, the verb takes the plural form.

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