English Composition

English Composition Study Guide

Chapter 1: Review of Standard Written American English Objectives 1. Identify common grammatical errors and avoid those errors when writing. 2. Understand revision strategies. 3. Differentiate between parts of speech. 4. Analyze sentence structures, including phrases and clauses. 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 definitions 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 of speech 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. Modifier s are adjectives or adverbs used to describe the subject, predicate, or object. Nouns, verbs, and pronouns have number. Number is determined by noting it the word is singular or plural. Pronouns and verbs can be written in either first, second, or third person. Person refers to the doer or doers of the action in the sentence. Verbs can also indicate tense. Tense refers to when the action takes place: past, present, or future.

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