jueves, 14 de julio de 2016

Adverb

Adverb
What is an Adverb?
An adverb is a word that is used to change or qualify the meaning of an adjective, a verb, a clause, another adverb, or any other type of word or phrase with the exception of determiners and adjectives that directly modify nouns.
Traditionally considered to be a single part of speech, adverbs perform a wide variety of functions, which makes it difficult to treat them as a single, unified category. Adverbs normally carry out these functions by answering questions such as:
When? She always arrives early.

Some Rules
Adverbs can always be used to modify verbs. Notice that the second of these two sentences is much more interesting simply because it contains an adverb:
Adverbs are often formed by adding the letters “-ly” to adjectives. This makes is very easy to identify adverbs in sentences. There are many exceptions to this rule; everywhere, nowhere, and upstairs are a few examples.
An adverb can be used to modify an adjective and intensify the meaning it conveys. For example:
       He plays tennis well. (He knows how to play tennis and sometimes he wins.)
      He plays tennis extremely well. (He knows how to play tennis so well that he wins often.)


Types of adverb

Adverbs of Frequency
What is an adverb of frequency?
Adverbs that change or qualify the meaning of a sentence by telling us how often or how frequently something happens are defined as adverbs of frequency.
An adverb of frequency is exactly what it sounds like – an adverb of time. Adverbs of frequency always describe how often something occurs, either in definite or indefinite terms. An adverb that describes definite frequency is one such as weekly, daily, or yearly. An adverb describing indefinite frequency doesn’t specify an exact time frame; examples are sometimes, often, and rarely.


Adverbs of Manner
What is an adverb of manner?
Adverbs of manner describe how something happens. For example, it is possible to walk or run at different speeds. The words used to describe walking or running at different speeds (quickly or slowly for example) are excellent examples of adverbs of manner. They help the reader gain greater insight into the way a written scene is playing out. Comparing the following sentences will help you to understand how these adverbs change the overall meaning of the sentences they’re found in.


Adverbs of Place
What is an adverb of place?
Adverbs that change or qualify the meaning of a sentence by telling us where things happen are defined as adverbs of place. Some instructors refer to these words or phrases as spatial adverbs. No matter what they are called, these adverbs always answer one important question: Where?


Adverbs of Time
What is an adverb of time?
Adverbs that change or qualify the meaning of a sentence by telling us when things happen are defined as adverbs of time.
An adverb of time is just what you might expect it to be – a word that describes when, for how long, or how often a certain action happened. You will notice that many adverbs of time are the same as adverbs of frequency. There is quite a bit of overlap between these two types of adverbs – so much so that some instructors choose to mention one or the other but not both.


Adverb of Degree
What is an adverb of degree?

An adverb of degree is used to discuss the degree or intensity of an adjective, an action, or another adverb. There are so many adverbs of degree that it’s impossible to list them all in one short guide. 




Prepositions

What is a preposition?

A preposition is a word used to link nouns, pronouns, or phrases to other words within a sentence. Prepositions are usually short words, and they are normally placed directly in front of nouns. In some cases, you’ll find prepositions in front of gerund verbs.

Types of Prepositions

Preposition of Time
What is a preposition of time?

A preposition of time is a preposition that allows you to discuss a specific time period such as a date on the calendar, one of the days of the week, or the actual time something takes place. Prepositions of time are the same words as prepositions of place; however they are used in a different way. You can easily distinguish these prepositions, as they always discuss times rather than places.

Preposition of Place
What is a preposition of place?

A preposition of place is a preposition which is used to refer to a place where something or someone is located. There are only three prepositions of place, however they can be used to discuss an almost endless number of places.


Adjective

Adjectives
What is an adjective?

Adjectives are words that describe or modify other words, making your writing and speaking much more specific, and a whole lot more interesting. Words like small, blue, and sharp are descriptive, and they are all examples of adjectives. Because adjectives are used to identify or quantify individual people and unique things, they are usually positioned before the noun or pronoun that they modify. Some sentences contain multiple adjectives.

Types of Adjectives
Remember that adjectives can modify as well as describe other words, and you’ll find it much easier to identify different types of adjectives when you see them.

Articles
There are only three articles, and all of them are adjectives: a, an, and the. Because they are used to discuss non-specific things and people, a and an are called indefinite articles. For example:
· I’d like a
· Let’s go on an
Neither one of these sentences names a specific banana or a certain adventure. Without more clarification, any banana or adventure will do.

Possessive Adjectives
As the name indicates, possessive adjectives are used to indicate possession. They are:
· My
· Your
· His
· Her
· Its
· Our
· Their
Possessive adjectives also function as possessive pronouns.

Demonstrative Adjectives
Like the article the, demonstrative adjectives are used to indicate or demonstrate specific people, animals, or things. These, those, this and that are demonstrative adjectives.

· These books belong on that
· This movie is my favorite.
· Please put those cookies on the blue plate.

Coordinate Adjectives

Coordinate adjectives are separated with commas or the word and, and appear one after another to modify the same noun. The adjectives in the phrase bright, sunny day and long and dark night are coordinate adjectives. In phrases with more than two coordinate adjectives, the word and always appears before the last one; for example: The sign had big, bold, and bright letters.
Be careful, because some adjectives that appear in a series are not coordinate. In the phrase green delivery truck, the words green and delivery are not separated by a comma because green modifies the phrase delivery truck. To eliminate confusion when determining whether a pair or group of adjectives is coordinate, just insert the word between them. If and works, then the adjectives are coordinate and need to be separated with a comma.

Numbers Adjectives

When they’re used in sentences, numbers are almost always adjectives. You can tell that a number is an adjective when it answers the question “How many?”
· The stagecoach was pulled by a team of six
· He ate 23 hotdogs during the contest, and was sick afterwards.

Interrogative Adjectives

There are three interrogative adjectives: which, what, and whose. Like all other types of adjectives, interrogative adjectives modify nouns. As you probably know, all three of these words are used to ask questions.

· Which option sounds best to you?
· What time should we go?
· Whose socks are those?

Indefinite Adjectives

Like the articles a and an, indefinite adjectives are used to discuss non-specific things. You might recognize them, since they’re formed from indefinite pronouns. The most common indefinite adjectives are any, many, no, several, and few.

· Do we have any peanut butter?
· Grandfather has been retired for many
· There are no bananas in the fruit bowl.
· I usually read the first few pages of a book before I buy it.
· We looked at several cars before deciding on the best one for our family.

Attributive Adjectives

Attributive adjectives talk about specific traits, qualities, or features – in other words, they are used to discuss attributes. There are different kinds of attributive adjectives:
· Observation adjectives such as real, perfect, best, interesting, beautiful orcheapest can indicate value or talk about subjective measures.
· Size and shape adjectives talk about measurable, objective qualities including specific physical properties. Some examples include small, large, square, round, poor, wealthy, slow and
· Age adjectives denote specific ages in numbers, as well as general ages.Examples are old, young, new, five-year-old, and
· Color adjectives are exactly what they sound like – they’re adjectives that indicate color. Examples include pink, yellow, blue, and
· Origin adjectives indicate the source of the noun, whether it’s a person, place, animal or thing. Examples include American, Canadian, Mexican, French.
· Material adjectives denote what something is made of. Some examples includecotton, gold, wool, and
· Qualifier adjectives are often regarded as part of a noun. They make nouns more specific; examples include log cabin, luxury car, and pillow cover.


Comparing adjective

As well as serving as modifying words like beautiful and big, adjectives are also used for indicating the position on a scale of comparison. The lowest point on the scale is known as the absolute form, the middle point is known as the comparative form, and the highest point is known as the superlative form. 

Adjective: Test

Verb

Verbs

What is a verb?

A verb is one of the main parts of a sentence or question in English.
In fact, you can’t have a sentence or a question without a verb! That’s how important these “action” parts of speech are.
The verb signals an action, an occurrence, or a state of being. Whether mental, physical, or mechanical, verbs always express activity.

Types of Verbs
How many types of verbs are there? In addition to the main categories of physical verbs, mental verbs, and state of being verbs, there are several other types of verbs. In fact, there are more than ten different types of verbs that are grouped by function.

Action Verbs

Action verbs express specific actions, and are used any time you want to show action or discuss someone doing something.

Transitive Verbs

Transitive verbs are action verbs that always express doable activities. These verbs always have direct objects, meaning someone or something receives the action of the verb.

Intransitive Verbs

Intransitive verbs are action verbs that always express doable activities. No direct object follows an intransitive verb.

Auxiliary Verbs

Auxiliary verbs are also known as helping verbs, and are used together with a main verb to show the verb’s tense or to form a question or negative.

Stative Verbs

Stative verbs can be recognized because they express a state rather than an action. They typically relate to thoughts, emotions, relationships, senses, states of being, and measurements.

Modal Verbs

Modal verbs are auxiliary verbs that are used to express abilities, possibilities, permissions, and obligations.

Phrasal Verbs

Phrasal verbs aren’t single words; instead, they are combinations of words that are used together to take on a different meaning to that of the original verb.

Irregular Verbs

Irregular verbs are those that don’t take on the regular spelling patterns of past simple and past participle verbs.



miércoles, 13 de julio de 2016

Nouns


Nouns

What is a Noun?

Of all the parts of speech, nouns are perhaps the most important. A noun is a word that identifies a person, animal, place, thing, or idea. Here, we’ll take a closer look at what makes a noun a noun, and we’ll provide some noun examples, along with some advice for using nouns in your sentences.

Identifying a Noun

A noun is a part of speech that denotes a person, animal, place, thing, or idea. Every language has words that are nouns. As you read the following explanations, think about some words that might fit into each category.

Person – A term for a person, whether proper name, gender, title, or class, is a noun.
Animal – A term for an animal, whether proper name, species, gender, or class is a noun.
Place – A term for a place, whether proper name, physical location, or general locale is a noun.
Thing – A term for a thing, whether it exists now, will exist, or existed in the past is a noun.
Idea – A term for an idea, be it a real, workable idea or a fantasy that might never come to fruition is a noun.



NOUN GENDER


Nouns answer the questions "What is it?" and "Who is it?" They give names to things, people, and places.



Irregular Nouns




COUNTABLE AND UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS
It's important to distinguish between countable and uncountable nouns in English because their usage is different in regards to both determiners and verbs.

COUNTABLE NOUNS

Countable nouns are for things we can count using numbers. They have a singular and a plural form. The singular form can use the determiner "a" or "an". If you want to ask about the quantity of a countable noun, you ask "How many?" combined with the plural countable noun.

 


UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS

Uncountable nouns are for the things that we cannot count with numbers. They may be the names for abstract ideas or qualities or for physical objects that are too small or too amorphous to be counted (liquids, powders, gases, etc.). Uncountable nouns are used with a singular verb. They usually do not have a plural form.



We cannot use a/an with these nouns. To express a quantity of an uncountable noun, use a word or expression like some, a lot of, much, a bit of, a great deal of , or else use an exact measurement like a cup of, a bag of, 1kg of, 1L of, a handful of, a pinch of, an hour of, a day of. If you want to ask about the quantity of an uncountable noun, you ask "How much?"




Pronouns



Pronouns


What is a Pronoun?
In grammar, a pronoun is defined as a word or phrase that may be substituted for a noun or noun phrase, which once replaced, is known as the pronoun’s antecedent. How is this possible? In a nutshell, it’s because pronouns can do everything that nouns can do. A pronoun can act as a subject, direct object, indirect object, object of the preposition, and more.

Types of Pronouns
Pronouns can be divided into numerous categories including:

Indefinite Pronouns
What is an indefinite pronoun?

Indefinite pronouns are those referring to one or more unspecified objects, beings, or places. They are called “indefinite” simply because they do not indicate the exact object, being, or place to which they refer.


Personal Pronouns
What is a Personal Pronoun?

A personal pronoun is a pronoun that is associated primarily with a particular person, in the grammatical sense.


Personal Pronouns as Subject Pronouns

Personal Pronouns as Object Pronouns

When a personal pronoun takes the place of a noun as the subject of a sentence, it is both a personal pronoun and a subject pronoun.  What is a subject pronoun? In essence, it’s any pronoun that is used to replace a common or proper noun as a sentence’s subject.
When a personal pronoun is the direct or indirect object of a verb, or when it is used as the object of a preposition, it is called an object pronoun. What is an object pronoun? It’s any pronoun that is affected by the action the subject of the sentence takes.





Reflexive Pronouns
What Is a Reflexive Pronoun?

A reflexive pronoun is a type of pronoun that is preceded by the adverb, adjective, pronoun, or noun to which it refers, so long as that antecedent is located within the same clause.
In English grammar, a reflexive pronoun indicates that the person who is realizing the action of the verb is also the recipient of the action.





Demonstrative Pronouns

What is a Demonstrative Pronoun?

A demonstrative pronoun is a pronoun that is used to point to something specific within a sentence. These pronouns can indicate items in space or time, and they can be either singular or plural.
When used to represent a thing or things, demonstrative pronouns can be either near or far in distance or time:

· Near in time or distance: this, these
· Far in time or distance: that, those





Possessive Pronouns
What is a possessive pronoun?

Possessive pronouns are those designating possession. They may also be used as substitutes for noun phrases, and they are typically found at the end of a sentence or clause. There are only a few possessive pronouns in the English language, and there are only two specific rules for using them correctly. Keep these rules in mind when using possessive pronouns and you’ll discover that writing properly is easier.




Relative Pronouns
What is a relative pronoun?

A relative pronoun is one which is used to refer to nouns mentioned previously, whether they are people, places, things, animals, or ideas. Relative Pronouns can be used to join two sentences.





Interrogative Pronouns

What Is an Interrogative Pronoun?

An interrogative pronoun is a pronoun which is used to make asking questions easy. There are just five interrogative pronouns. Each one is used to ask a very specific question or indirect question. Some, such as “who” and “whom,” refer only to people. Others can be used to refer to objects or people. Once you are familiar with interrogative pronouns, you’ll find that it’s very easy to use them in a variety of situations.




Reciprocal Pronouns
What is a Reciprocal Pronoun?

A reciprocal pronoun is a pronoun which is used to indicate that two or more people are carrying out or have carried out an action of some type, with both receiving the benefits or consequences of that action simultaneously. Any time something is done or given in return, reciprocal pronouns are used. The same is true any time mutual action is expressed.

There are only two reciprocal pronouns. Both of them allow you to make sentences simpler. They are especially useful when you need to express the same general idea more than once.







Intensive Pronouns
What Is an Intensive Pronoun?

An intensive pronoun is almost identical to a reflexive pronoun. It is defined as a pronoun that ends in self or selves and places emphasis on its antecedent by referring back to another noun or pronoun used earlier in the sentence. For this reason, intensive pronouns are sometimes called emphatic pronouns.



Test Pronouns

What is Grammar?

Grammar

In linguistics, grammar is the set of structural rules governing the composition of clauses, phrases, and words in any given natural language. The term refers also to the study of such rules, and this field includes morphology, syntax, and phonology, often complemented by phonetics, semantics, and pragmatics.


English Grammar

English grammar is the structure of expressions in the English language. This includes the structure of words, phrases, clauses and sentences.
There are historical, social, cultural and regional variations of English. Divergences from the grammar described here occur in some dialects of English. This article describes a generalized present-day Standard English, the form of speech found in types of public discourse including broadcasting, education, entertainment, government, and news reporting, including both formal and informal speech. There are certain differences in grammar between the standard forms of British English, American English and Australian English, although these are inconspicuous compared with the lexical and pronunciation differences.