Qureshi University, Advanced courses, via cutting edge technology, News, Breaking News | Latest News And Media | Current News
admin@qureshiuniversity.com

Admissions | Contact Us | Examinations | Grants | Instructors | Lecture | Membership | Recommendations | Research Grants | Students login | Universities | Volunteer |

English
What is grammar?
What is English grammar?
How do you understand English language style?
What are the various styles of English language?
What are the differences in the various styles of English language?
What is a sentence?
What are the parts of speech?
What is a noun?
What is a verb?
What is an adverb?
What is a pronoun?
What is an adjective?
What is a preposition?
What is a conjunction?
What is an interjection?
What are the different types of verbs?
What is an auxiliary verb?
What is a modal verb?
What is a conjunctive verb?
What is a copula?
What is a gerund?
What is a defective verb?
What is a finite verb?
What is a nonfinite verb?
What is an impersonal verb?
What is an irregular verb?
What is a lexical verb?
What is a phrasal verb?
What is a reflexive verb?
What are the different types of nouns?
What is the difference between an auxiliary verb and a modal verb?
Is there a difference?
What is a question?
How does one write a question?
What are some of the examples?
What are the types of questions?
What are three basic types of question?
What are the parts of questions?
How good are you at asking questions?
How much practise have you had?
How many questions can you make using "how?"
What is a helping verb and how is it used?
Where can I find a list of helping verb?
Auxiliary verb and helping verb: What's the difference?
Is there a difference?
What are auxiliary verbs?
How does one write an English sentence?
What is a statement?
I am calling you in response to a request for proposal.
How many questions can you write out of this?
What is a tag question?
How are they formed?
Why do we use them?
What is punctuation?
What is the difference between grammar and punctuation?
Is there a difference?
Why do we need to punctuate?
How do I use the comma?
What are the rules of capitalization?
How do I use the apostrophe correctly?
What are phrasal verbs?
Why don't we just spell words the way they sound?
How do students learn to spell?
How should spelling words be selected and organized?
How should instruction be adjusted for students with a learning problem?
How should instruction be adjusted for students with a learning problem in the area of spelling?
How should instruction be adjusted for students with a learning problem in the area of writing, reading, and comprehension?
How do I determine my students' spelling levels?
Should I allow invented spelling? If so, for how long?
What types of instructional activities work best?
What types of spelling strategies should be taught?
How can I assess how my students are progressing?
What is Tense?
How do we make the tense?
When and why do we use the tense?
What is a sentence?
What is a clause?
What makes a complete sentence?
What is an adverbial clause?
What is a coordinate clause?
What is an equative clause?
What is an existential clause?
What is a final clause?
What is a finite clause?
What is a main clause?
What is a marking clause?
What is a medial clause?
What is a nominal clause?
What is a nonfinite clause?
What is a reference clause?
What is a relative clause?
What is a subordinate clause?
Why is it important to know whether a sentence is simple, compound, or complex?
What is a subject?
What is a predicate?
What is a direct object?
What is a simple sentence?
What is a compound sentence?
What is a complex sentence?
What is a preposition?
What is a conjunction?
What is a relative pronoun?
What is a subordinate clause?
What is an appositive?
What is a subordinating conjunction?
What is a participle?
What is an absolute?
What is a word class?
What is a cleft sentence?
What is a pseudo-cleft sentence?
What is a matrix sentence?
What is a compound sentence?
What is a consonant?
Can you give some examples?

What is grammar?
Grammar is the set of rules for using a language.

English language grammar is the study of classes of words, their inflections, their functions, relations in the sentence, and rules for how to speak and write English words and sentences correctly. How do you understand English language style? What are the various styles of English language? What are the differences in the various styles of English language? English language style is the study of spelling, capitalization, typography, and punctuation. Word classes and parts of speech refer to the same thing. Regional and structural variations do not mean that it is not English language. Within the same region there are structural variations in the English language. What is a sentence?
A sentence is a grammatical unit that is composed of one or more clauses.
A sentence is a group of words that express a complete thought or idea. A sentence always begins with a capital letter and ends with a Period ( . ), a Question mark ( ? ) or an Exclamation point ( ! ).

Sentence Parts

Every sentence has two main parts: a subject , and a predicate.

What is a clause?
A clause is a grammatical unit that includes, at minimum, a predicate and an explicit or implied subject, and expresses a proposition.

The basic parts of a sentence fall into two categories: the subject and the predicate. Know them well, because you can�t have a sentence without them! Subjects

The subject performs the action of the sentence. It can be a noun, noun phrase, or noun clause. To analyze sentences, grammarians have distinguished three kinds of subjects:

Complete Subject � �The old, dusty books on the table haven�t been read in years.� The complete subject includes the entire noun phrase � usually everything before the verb.

Simple Subject � �books�. The simple subject is the main noun or pronoun stripped of all modifiers.

Compound Subject � �The cowardly mailman and the huge, barking dog didn�t get along very well.� A compound subject consists of two or more subjects linked together by conjunctions. Note: the simple subject of that sentence would be �mailman and dog�.

See Sentence Subjects for a closer look at subjects and subject-verb inversion (placing a subject after the verb in a sentence, as in �How is Bob?�).

Predicates

As with subjects, predicates can be classified as complete predicates, simple predicates, and compound predicates. To form a complete sentence, the predicate must include a verb (a finite verb, more specifically). It can also include objects, complements, and adverbials.

What are the parts of speech?

Traditional grammar classifies words based on eight parts of speech: the verb, the noun, the pronoun, the adjective, the adverb, the preposition, the conjunction, and the interjection.

Each part of speech explains not what the word is, but how the word is used. In fact, the same word can be a noun in one sentence and a verb or adjective in the next.

What is a noun?

A noun is a word used to name a person, animal, place, thing, and abstract idea.

What is a verb?

The verb is perhaps the most important part of the sentence. A verb or compound verb asserts something about the subject of the sentence and express actions, events, or states of being. The verb or compound verb is the critical element of the predicate of a sentence.

What is an adverb?

An adverb can modify a verb, an adjective, another adverb, a phrase, or a clause. An adverb indicates manner, time, place, cause, or degree and answers questions such as "how," "when," "where," "how much".

While some adverbs can be identified by their characteristic "ly" suffix, most of them must be identified by untangling the grammatical relationships within the sentence or clause as a whole. Unlike an adjective, an adverb can be found in various places within the sentence.

What is a pronoun?

A pronoun can replace a noun or another pronoun. You use pronouns like "he," "which," "none," and "you" to make your sentences less cumbersome and less repetitive.

Grammarians classify pronouns into several types, including the personal pronoun, the demonstrative pronoun, the interrogative pronoun, the indefinite pronoun, the relative pronoun, the reflexive pronoun, and the intensive pronoun.

What is an adjective?

An adjective modifies a noun or a pronoun by describing, identifying, or quantifying words. An adjective usually precedes the noun or the pronoun which it modifies.

What is a preposition?

A preposition links nouns, pronouns and phrases to other words in a sentence. The word or phrase that the preposition introduces is called the object of the preposition.

A preposition usually indicates the temporal, spatial or logical relationship of its object to the rest of the sentence as in the following examples:

The book is on the table.
The book is beneath the table.
The book is leaning against the table.
The book is beside the table.
She held the book over the table.
She read the book during class.

In each of the preceding sentences, a preposition locates the noun "book" in space or in time.

A prepositional phrase is made up of the preposition, its object and any associated adjectives or adverbs. A prepositional phrase can function as a noun, an adjective, or an adverb. The most common prepositions are "about," "above," "across," "after," "against," "along," "among," "around," "at," "before," "behind," "below," "beneath," "beside," "between," "beyond," "but," "by," "despite," "down," "during," "except," "for," "from," "in," "inside," "into," "like," "near," "of," "off," "on," "onto," "out," "outside," "over," "past," "since," "through," "throughout," "till," "to," "toward," "under," "underneath," "until," "up," "upon," "with," "within," and "without."

What is a conjunction?

You can use a conjunction to link words, phrases, and clauses, as in the following example:

I ate the pizza and the pasta.

Call the movers when you are ready.

Co-ordinating Conjunctions

You use a co-ordinating conjunction ("and," "but," "or," "nor," "for," "so," or "yet") to join individual words, phrases, and independent clauses. Note that you can also use the conjunctions "but" and "for" as prepositions.

What is an interjection?

An interjection is a word added to a sentence to convey emotion. It is not grammatically related to any other part of the sentence.

You usually follow an interjection with an exclamation mark. Interjections are uncommon in formal academic prose, except in direct quotations.

The highlighted words in the following sentences are interjections:

Ouch, that hurt!
Hey! Put that down!

with, by

'with' in all cases...
or 'by using'...
or 'by following'...
Help yourself by using Dr. Qureshi's Surgical manual.
Help others by using Dr. Qureshi's Surgical manual.
Help yourself by using Dr. Qureshi's Anesthesia manual.
Help others by using Dr. Qureshi's Anesthesia manual.
Help yourself by using Dr. Qureshi's Hospital administration manual.
Help others by using Dr. Qureshi's Hospital administration manual.
Help yourself by using Dr. Qureshi's Emergency medicine manual.
Help others by using Dr. Qureshi's Emergency medicine manual.
Help yourself with Dr. Qureshi's situation-specific English language.
Help others with Dr. Qureshi's situation-specific English Language.
Help yourself with Dr. Qureshi's Mathematics.
Help others with Dr. Qureshi's Mathematics.

Which of these best describes you?

I want to improve my English. What can I do?

I want to improve my speaking skills. What can I do?

I want to improve my listening skills. What can I do?

I want to improve my writing skills. What can I do?

I want to improve my reading skills. What can I do?

I want to improve my grammar. What can I do?

I want to improve my vocabulary. What can I do?

Please put up your hand if you don't understand.

English Tenses

What is Tense?
How do we make the tense?
When and why do we use the tense?

What is Tense?

Tense is a method that we use in English to refer to time - past, present and future. Many languages use tenses to talk about time. Other languages have no tenses, but of course they can still talk about time, using different methods.

Present Tense
Present Continuous Tense
Present Perfect Tense
Present Perfect Continuous Tense

Past Tense
Past Continuous Tense
Past Perfect Tense
Past Perfect Continuous Tense

Future Tense
Future Continuous Tense
Future Perfect Tense
Future Perfect Continuous Tense

Objects

The object is the receiver of the action in a sentence: �He broke the table� or �He threw the ball.� Like subjects, objects can be any word or group of words functioning as a noun, and each type of object can also be categorized as a complete, simple, or compound object. Categorized by their different functions within a sentence, the three types of objects are:

Direct Object � �I wrote a letter.� (What did I write? A letter.)

Indirect Object � �I wrote a letter to my friend.� (Who did I write a letter to? My friend.)

Prepositional Object � �I wrote on the paper.� (What did I write on? The paper.)

Complements

Complements (also called predicatives) complete the predicate by modifying a noun in the sentence; copulas or linking verbs require a complement to form a complete sentence.

Subject Complement � �The car is new.� The subject complement follows a linking verb and modifies the subject. It can be a predicate adjective (He is happy), a predicate noun (He is the boss), or an adverbial complement (He is in the house).

Object Complement � �I painted my room purple.� The object complement modifies the direct object, either by describing it or renaming it (They elected him governor). Object complements can cause some confusion; check out this Pain in the English post. Also see Wikipedia�s note on Object Complements.

Adjective Complement � �He was happy to help.� The adjective complement is a special case in which a group of words modifies an adjective. If removed, the adjective complement leaves a grammatically complete sentence, but the meaning of the sentence changes. The CCC Guide to Grammar and Writing explains the use of infinitive phrases as adjective complements. Note: predicative adjectives are also sometimes called adjective complements.

Verb Complement � Some grammarians use the term �verb complement� to refer to direct and indirect objects (see the �Objects� section above), while others use it to refer to a complement occuring after a linking verb (a subject complement).

Adverbials

An adverbial is an adverb, adverbial phrase, or adverbial clause: any word or group of words that acts as an adverb within a sentence. They usually modify verbs, but they can also modify the whole sentence. Unlike an adverbial complement (He is in the house), an adverbial isn�t needed to complete a sentence (He had lunch in the house or He had lunch).

Determiners

Function

Determiners are words placed in front of a noun to make it clear what the noun refers to.

The word 'people' by itself is a general reference to some group of human beings. If someone says 'these people', we know which group they are talking about, and if they say 'a lot of people' we know how big the group is.

'These' and 'a lot of' are determiners in these sentences.

Classes of Determiners

There are several classes of determiners:

Definite and Indefinite articles
the, a, an

Demonstratives
this, that, these, those

Possessives
my, your, his, her, its, our, their

Quantifiers
a few, a little, much, many, a lot of, most, some, any, enough, etc.

Numbers
one, ten, thirty, etc.

Distributives
all, both, half, either, neither, each, every

Difference words
other, another

Question words
Which, what, whose

Defining words
which, whose

The following words are pre-determiners. They go before determiners, such as articles: such and what, half, rather, quite

What is a clause?
A simple sentence has just one clause, called an independent clause.

Dependent Clause or Subordinate Clause - The dependent clause cannot stand alone as a short but complete sentence.

What is a Phrase?

Phrase - A group of words, which makes sense, but not complete sense, is called a Phrase. It is a group of related words without a Subject and a Verb.

noun: an expression forming a grammatical constituent of a sentence but not containing a finite verb

Words/group of words in italics are phrases in examples below -

1). The sun rises in the east.
in the east
2). Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall.
on a wall
3). She wore a hat with blue trimming.
with blue trimming.
4). The accident on the bridge was not serious.
on the bridge
5). The girl with red hair is an artist.
with red hair is an artist.

1). The sun rises in the east.
2). Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall.
3). She wore a hat with blue trimming.
4). The accident on the bridge was not serious.
5). The girl with red hair is an artist. What makes a complete sentence?
What is an adverbial clause?
What is a coordinate clause?
What is an equative clause?
What is an existential clause?
What is a final clause?
What is a finite clause?
What is a main clause?
What is a marking clause?
What is a medial clause?
What is a nominal clause?
What is a nonfinite clause?
What is a reference clause?
What is a relative clause?

What is a subordinate clause?
There are many different ways of organizing words into sentences.

Why is it important to know whether a sentence is simple, compound, or complex?

What is a subject?
What is a predicate?
What is a direct object?
What is a simple sentence?
What is a compound sentence?
What is a complex sentence?
What is a preposition?
What is a conjunction?
What is a relative pronoun?
What is a subordinate clause?
What is an appositive?
What is a subordinating conjunction?
What is a participle?
What is an absolute?
What is a word class?
What is a cleft sentence?
What is a pseudo-cleft sentence?
What is a matrix sentence?
A matrix sentence is a sentence in which a clause has been embedded as a constituent.
What is a compound sentence?
A compound sentence is a sentence composed of two or more coordinate clauses.

What is a consonant?
What do you want to do?
What do you want to learn?
How good is your English?
How to ask grammar or vocabulary questions?
How to learn English grammar?
How can I improve my writing skills?
How did you like this lesson?
What is a dictionary?
Are dictionaries always in alphabetical order?
Are dictionaries really necessary?
Are lexicographers good spellers?
Are other languages besides English recorded in huge multi-volume dictionaries?
Do dictionary-makers ever make mistakes?
Do you include words used on the Internet?
How do you decide what to include in a dictionary?
How do you know what a word means?
How has computer technology affected dictionary-making?
How have dictionaries changed over the years?
How will a dictionary look in 2050?
Is there an official committee which regulates the English language?
What skills and talents does a lexicographer need?
Will you put the word I have invented into the dictionary?
How do I know when to put an apostrophe in it's?
If someone is doing a master's degree in the arts is it an MA or a MA?
In the sentence 'It is raining' what is 'it'?
Is 'agenda' singular or plural?
Is 'data' singular or plural?
Is it acceptable to use 'they' instead of 'he' or 'she'?
Should I use a singular or a plural verb with collective nouns such as 'government', 'committee', and 'family'?
Should I write 'a number of people is' or 'a number of people are'?
What are the plurals of 'octopus', 'hippopotamus', 'syllabus'?
What is a split infinitive, and why should I avoid using one?
What is the word for 'the whole is greater than the sum of the parts'?
When should I use 'less', and when should I use 'fewer'?
Which is correct: 'a hotel' or 'an hotel'?
What are some common types of figures of speech?
Which is correct: 'a person was laid on the table' or 'a person was lain on the table'?
Which is correct: 'my friend and me' or 'my friend and I'?
Which is the correct spelling: 'oriented' or 'orientated'?

Spelling

Can 'cannot' also be written as two words 'can not'?
Is there an apostrophe in the plural of pizza?
What is the correct way to spell e words such as 'email', 'ebusiness', 'egovernment'?
What is the difference between 'affect' and 'effect'?
What is the difference between 'learnt' and 'learned'?
When is it correct to use a hyphen?
Which is correct 'caster sugar' or 'castor sugar'?
Why can't I find the word 'perjorative' in my dictionary?

Symbols

Is there a name for the dot above the i?
What are the correct terms for the forward and backslash as used in computing languages, Web addresses etc.?
What is the name for the # symbol?
What is the origin of the '@' sign?
What is the origin of the dollar sign ($)?

The English Language

How many words are there in the English language?
Is it true that English has the most words of any language?
What is the diffence between Old English and Anglo-Saxon?
What is the proportion of English words of French, Latin, or Germanic origin?
Why don't you introduce some form of phonetic spelling?
Why is 'w' pronounced 'double u' rather than 'double v'?

Usage

Assume or presume
Do the seasons (summer, autumn etc.) require a capital letter?
How should the term 'website' be written in official documents and on the web?
Is 'snuck', as the past tense of 'sneak', a real word?
Is it acceptable to use 'backwards' instead of 'backward'?

Pros and cons

Should one say unorganized or disorganized?
What is the correct or more usual written form when writing the time - a.m., am, or A.M.?
What is the difference between these and those?
What is the distinction between enquire and inquire?
When is it appropriate to capitalize 'university'?

Words

Apart from 'angry' and 'hungry', what other common English word ends in '-gry'?
Are there any English words containing the same letter three times in a row?
Are there any words in the English language that use all five vowels with no intervening consonants?
Are there any words that only exist in the plural form?
Are there any words that rhyme with orange?
Are there words that contain the letter 'q' without a 'u' following it?
Does 'bimonthly' mean 'twice a month' or 'every two months'?
Female cattle are cows, male cattle are bulls. But what is the word for an individual of arbitrary sex here?
How do you describe a person who does not eat meat, but eats fish?
How many is a billion?
Is there a word like 'siblings' for nephews and nieces collectively?
Is there an eight letter word with five vowels in a row?
What English words end in -dous?
What English words end in -shion?
What are the commonest English words?
What comes after once, twice, thrice?
What comes after primary, secondary, tertiary?
What is the collective term for a group of cats?
What is the difference between a 'street' and a 'road'?
What is the feminine equivalent of a misogynist?
What is the feminine equivalent of brethren?
What is the feminine equivalent of fraternal?
What is the frequency of the letters of the alphabet in English?
What is the longest English word containing no letter more than once?
What is the longest English word?
What is the longest one-syllable English word?
What is the name for a sentence that contains all 26 letters of the alphabet?
What is the name for a word containing two capital letters (like WordPad)?
What is the only word in the English language that ends with the letters -mt?
What is the opposite of exceed?
What is the opposite of hibernation?
What is the opposite of juvenilia?
What is the opposite of nocturnal?
What is the opposite of uxorious?
What is the proper term for a word that has two opposing meanings?
What is the term for a new word constructed by combining parts of existing words?
What is the term used for a prompt composed by rearranging the first letters of the points to be remembered?
What is the word for a word that has multiple meanings based upon how it is pronounced?
What is the word for a word which is another word spelt backwards?
What is the word for words which sound like they are?
What is the word that describes when two words that mean the opposite of each other are placed together?
What word contains the five vowels (a, e, i, o,u) in the right order?
What words in the English language contain two u's in a row?
Why does 'unisex' refer to something to do with both sexes, not just one sex?

Word Origins

Was the first computer 'bug' a real insect?
What are the 'Canons of Etymology'?
What are the origins of 'a.m.' and 'p.m.'?
What is the origin of 'love' meaning 'nil' in tennis scoring?
What is the origin of the phrase 'sleep tight'?
What is the origin of the phrase 'the bee's knees'?
What is the origin of the term 'brass monkey'?
What is the origin of the term 'dressed to the nines'?
What is the origin of the term 'flea market'?
What is the origin of the word 'OK'?
What is the origin of the word 'codswallop'?
What is the origin of the word 'grockle'?
What is the origin of the word 'jaywalking'?
What is the origin of the word 'loo'?
What is the origin of the word 'love'?
What is the origin of the word 'lukewarm'?
What is the origin of the word 'news'?
What is the origin of the word 'nous' ?
What is the origin of the word 'penguin'?
What is the origin of the word 'posh'?
What is the origin of the word 'quiz'?
What is the origin of the word 'snob'?
Why is a batsman who makes no runs at cricket said to be out 'for a duck'?

Other Things

Is a banana a fruit or a herb?
Is a tomato a fruit or a vegetable?
Is the letter Y a vowel or a consonant?
Silent h
What does the abbreviation q.v. mean?
Who is the head of your university?
Please answer the following.
What kind of university is your university?
Is it an English language university?
Are you applying to any other university?
Are you already attending any other university?
How can one verify they are teaching you standard English language?
How can you verify you are dealing with an English university?
How can you verify you are dealing with an English speaking person?
How can you verify you are handling the English language?
Ask them these questions.
Can you name English language "alphabets" for me?
What is an alphabet?
What is the difference between an alphabet and a word?
Which alphabet can be used as a word?
What is the spelling of "word?"
What is the spelling of "language?"
Which spelling standards do you follow?
What are the parts of speech?
What is a question?
How do you write a question?
What is the difference between a question and a sentence?
Can you give some examples?
If the answer to these questions is other than the stated answers, you aren't dealing with the English language.
What are these called grammatically: Describe, Distinguish, Enumerate?
Punctuation
What are the Parts of Speech?

English grammar uses words based on eight parts of speech: the verb, the noun, the pronoun, the adjective, the adverb, the preposition, the conjunction,and the interjection. Each part of speech explains not what the word is, but how the word is used. The same word can be a noun in one sentence and a verb or adjective in the next.

The verb is perhaps the most important part of the sentence. A verb or compound verb states something about the subject of the sentence. The verb depicts actions, events, or states of being.

A noun is a word used to name a person, animal, place, thing, or abstract concepts. A noun can function in a sentence as a subject, a direct object, an indirect object, a subject complement, an object complement, an appositive, an adjective or an adverb.

Pronouns as a part of speech can replace a noun, another pronoun, noun phrases and perform most of the functions of a noun.

An adjective modifies a noun or a pronoun by describing, identifying, or quantifying words. Many consider articles: "the, a, an" to be adjectives.

An adverb can modify a verb, an adjective, another adverb, a phrase, or a complete clause by indicating manner, time, place, cause, or degree.

A preposition links nouns, pronouns and phrases to other words in a sentence.

Conjunctions link words, phrases, and clauses.

An interjection is a part of speech used to show or express emotion or illustrate an exclamation. Additional Parts of Speech Forms and Functions

VERBS A transitive or sometimes called an action verb passes action on to a direct object.

An intransitive verb does not indicate a transfer of action.

A linking verb joins a subject with a word that describes it.

A main verb indicates the primary or principal activity.

An auxiliary verb helps the main verb describe an action or state of being.

A modal verb indicates ability, obligation, permission, or possibility. Modal examples: can, may, must, should, could, might, ought, would.

A finite verb describes a definite and limited action or condition.

A non-finite verb shows an unfinished action or condition.

A ditransitive verb takes two complements, an indirect object and a direct object.

Monotransitive verbs take one complement, usually a direct object

An intransitive verb does not have any complements. Examples: Fred cried. Sally slept.

A prepositional verb is a multi-word verb consisting of a verb and preposition.

Phrasal-prepositional verbs are multi-word verbs consisting of a verb, adverb and preposition.

Verb Forms called Verbals

Infinitives are the word " to + verb" and they act as nouns, adjectives, or adverbs.

Participles in past or present tenses act as adjectives

Gerunds in the "present tense participle form" act as nouns.

NOUNS

Proper nouns are capitalized and include: name of a specific person, place, or thing, days of the week, months of the year, historical documents, institutions, organizations, religions, holy texts and religious followers.

A common noun is a noun referring in general to a person, place, or thing.

A concrete noun is a noun which names everything (or everyone) that you can perceive through the physical senses of touch, sight, taste, hearing, or smell.

An abstract noun is a noun that names anything that you can not perceive through your five physical senses.

A countable noun (or count noun) names anything (or anyone) that you can count and is a noun with both a singular and a plural form.

A non-countable noun (or mass noun) is a noun which does not have a plural form, and which refers to something that you could (or would) not usually count.

A collective noun is a noun naming a group of things, animals or persons.

A possessive noun indicates ownership or possession.

PRONOUNS

A personal pronoun refers to a specific person or thing and changes its form to indicate person, number, gender, and case.

A subjective personal pronoun indicates that the pronoun is acting as the subject of the sentence. The subjective personal pronouns: I, you, she, he, it, we, you, they".

An objective personal pronoun indicates that the pronoun is acting as an object of a verb, compound verb, preposition, or infinitive phrase. The objective personal pronouns: "me, you, her, him, it, us, you, them".

A possessive pronoun indicates that the pronoun is acting as an indication of possession and defines who owns a particular object. The possessive personal pronouns: "mine, yours, hers, his, its, ours, theirs".

A demonstrative pronoun points to and identifies a noun or a pronoun. The demonstrative pronouns: "this, that, these, and those''.

An interrogative pronoun is used to ask questions. The interrogative pronouns: "who, whom, which, what''.

Relative pronouns link one phrase or clause to another phrase or clause. The relative pronouns: "who, whom, that, which.''

An indefinite pronoun refers to an unspecified person or thing. An indefinite pronoun depicts the idea of all, any, none, or some. The most common indefinite pronouns: all, another, any, anybody, anyone, anything, each, everybody, everyone, everything, few, many, nobody, none, one, several, some, somebody, and someone.

The reflexive pronouns identify the "self" such as: "myself, yourself, herself, himself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, and themselves.''

An intensive pronoun is a pronoun used to emphasize or highlight an attribute.

ADJECTIVES

An adjective usually precedes the noun or the pronoun which it modifies. Gradable adjectives have a base, comparative and superlative form. The adjective happy is intensified in the following examples: "very happy, extremely happy, quite happy, happier, and happiest". Adjectives can have stative or dynamic and inherent or non-inherent properties.

An adjective can be modified by an adverb or by a phrase or clause functioning as an adverb. Some nouns, many pronouns, and many participle phrases can also act as adjectives.

A possessive adjective is similar to a possessive pronoun. The possessive adjective modifies a noun or a noun phrase.

The demonstrative adjectives ``this, these, that, those, what'' are identical to the demonstrative pronouns, but are used as adjectives to modify nouns or noun phrases.

An interrogative adjective such as ``which or what'' is like an interrogative pronoun. The interrogative adjective modifies a noun or noun phrase rather than standing on its own.

An indefinite adjective is similar to an indefinite pronoun. The indefinite adjective modifies a noun, pronoun, or noun phrase.

ADVERBS

Adverbs have a complex grammatical relationship within the sentence or clause as a whole. An adverb can be found in various places within the sentence. An adverb can modify a verb, an adjective, another adverb, a phrase, a clause or entire sentence. Adverbs are gradable with intensification and comparison.

A circumstantial adverb indicates manner, time or place.

A degree adverb specifies the degree or cause to which some property applies and answers questions such as: how, when and where.

The conjunctive adverb can join two clauses together. The most common conjunctive adverbs: "also, consequently, finally, furthermore, hence, however, incidentally, indeed, instead, likewise, meanwhile, nevertheless, next, nonetheless, otherwise, still, then, therefore and thus."

A disjunct adverb comments on the sentence as a whole. Example: Honestly, I couldn't believe my eyes.

An interrogative adverb is used to construct interrogative sentences and "wh-questions" example:
Why did you do that?

PREPOSITIONS

A preposition usually indicates the temporal, spatial or logical relationship of its object to the rest of the sentence.

The most common prepositions: "about, above, across, after, against, along, among, around, at, before, behind, below, beneath, beside, between, beyond, but, by, despite, down, during, except, for, from, in, inside, into, like, near, of, off, on, onto, out, outside, over, past, since, through, throughout, till, to, toward, under, underneath, until, up, upon, with, within and without."

Complex prepositions consist of more than one word: along with, out of, up to.

CONJUNCTIONS

Conjunctions are a part of speech and are a closed word class which includes coordinating words such as "and, but, and or", and subordinating words such as "because, if, and when". Some conjunctions can also appear as prepositions or as adverbs.

Coordinating conjunctions ``and, but, or, nor, for, so, or yet'' are used to join individual words, phrases, and independent clauses. The conjunctions ``but'' and ``for'' can also function as prepositions.

A subordinating conjunction introduces a dependent clause and indicates the nature of the relationship between the independent clause(s) and the dependent clause(s). The most common subordinating conjunctions: "after, although, as, because, before, how, if, once, since, than, that, though, till, until, when, where, whether and while".

Correlative conjunctions always appear in pairs -- you use them to link equivalent sentence elements. The most common correlative conjunctions: "both... and, either...or, neither...nor, not only.., but also, so...as, and whether...or." Usually correlative conjunctions consist of a coordinating conjunction linked to an adjective or adverb.

INTERJECTIONS

Interjections are used in speech to indicate emotion or transition. Interjections such as "yuk, ouch, eh" are used as exclamations in conversation.

Top 25 Verbs

1. be
2. have
3. do
4. say
5. get
6. make
7. go
8. know
9. take
10. see
11. come
12. think
13. look
14. want
15. give
16. use
17. find
18. tell
19. ask
20. work
21. seem
22. feel
23. try
24. leave
25. call


Top 25 Nouns

1. time
2. person
3. year
4. way
5. day
6. thing
7. man
8. world
9. life
10. hand
11. part
12. child
13. eye
14. woman
15. place
16. work
17. week
18. case
19. point
20. government
21. company
22. number
23. group
24. problem
25. fact

Top 25 Adjectives

1. good
2. new
3. first
4. last
5. long
6. great
7. little
8. own
9. other
10. old
11. right
12. big
13. high
14. different
15. small
16. large
17. next
18. early
19. young
20. important
21. few
22. public
23. bad
24. same
25. able
Word
Sentence
Part of Speech
canI think I can do it.verb
canDon't open that can of beans.noun
onlyThis is my only pen.adjective
onlyHe was only joking.adverb
hisThat book is his.pronoun
hisThat is his book.adjective
EnglishCan you speak English?noun
EnglishI am reading an English novel.adjective

The verb is the heart of a sentence, so it is a good idea to identify the verb first when looking at a sentence.   Verbs can be recognized through:
     past tense ending (looked)
     3rd person singular ending (says)
     auxiliary verb (will see)
     modal verb (can hear)

There are also  verb endings or suffixes that can help you recognize verbs.  Some common verb endings are listed in the chart below.

How do you use a noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition, article, conjunction, and interjection in a sentence?

The answer to this question depends on whether you need to write an interrogative, declarative, exclamatory, or imperative sentence.

Can you identify each word of this sentence?
What are the parts of an English language sentence?
What - Pronoun
are - verb
the - adjective
parts - noun
of - preposition
an - article
English - noun
language- noun
sentence - noun
Do you always need all eight English parts of speech or sentence to write a sentence?
No.
At a mimimum, you need a noun and a verb or a pronoun and a verb to write a sentence.
These also are called a subject and predicate.


A.  All English words are one (or more) of the eight Parts of Speech:

noun
pronoun
adjective
verb
adverb
preposition
conjunction
interjection

B.  A noun (sometimes called a substantive) is a word used  as the name of a person, place, or thing.

1. A common noun is the name of any one class  of persons,   places, or things:

                    E.g., lawyer; town; court; etc.

2. A proper noun is the name of a particular person, place, or thing:

E.g., Abraham Lincoln; Lancaster, Ohio; The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

Proper nouns are capitalized.

3.  Nouns are described in case and number. English now has three cases: subjective, objective, and possessive, and two numbers: singular and plural.  The subjective and objective cases are generally used for the grammatical subject of a sentence and the grammatical object(s) in a sentence, respectively.  Differences in the form of words to indicate the subjective and the objective case are now found usually only in pronouns. (I = subjective; me = objective)  The possessive case is signified by the addition of 's to a noun.

The interrogatories were answered.

[interrogatories = subjective case, plural in number]

They are the judge's books.

[judge's = possessive singular]

 

C.  A pronoun is a word used in place of a noun to avoid repetition (and to preserve sanity). English has roughly 7 kinds of pronouns:

1. Personal (used to replace a person)

I, mine, me, you, yours, she, hers, her, etc.

2. Interrogative (used to ask a question)

Who, which, what, etc.

3. Relative (used to introduce an adjectival clause)

Who, that, which, whoever, whosoever, etc.

4. Reflexive (used to denote action done to self)

Myself, yourself, himself, herself, etc.

5. Intensive (used to stress identity of agent)

Myself, yourself, himself, herself, etc.

       6. Indefinite (used to replace non-specific things)

Some, any, one, someone, anyone, nobody, etc.

       7. Demonstrative (used for previously identified items)

This, that, etc.

 

D.  The antecedent of a pronoun is the word or words for which the pronoun stands.  A pronoun must agree with its antecedent in person (1st, 2d, 3d), number (singular or plural), and gender.

This is the case about which we spoke.

You should present this offer to your client and then call me with her decision. I hope that she will accept it.

 

E.  An adjective is a word that is added to a noun or pronoun. There are two main kinds of adjectives, descriptive and limiting.

1. A descriptive adjective expresses either the kind, condition, or quality of the noun or pronoun.

E.g., a sly defendant; a solid indictment, etc.

2. A limiting adjective limits the idea expressed by the noun in quantity or membership in a class.

E.g., this defendant, the eighth indictment, etc.

3. Note that many of the forms that we usually think of as pronouns are in many instances limiting adjectives:

Possessive -- my motion, your idea, etc.

Demonstrative -- This contract is unconscionable.

Indefinite -- He represented some of the defendants.

Relative -- We agreed until it came to putting him on the stand, at which point we no longer saw it the same way.

     

F.  A verb is the part of speech that asserts something about a noun, asks a question, or expresses a command. Verbs are traditionally described in five categories: person, number, tense, voice, and mood. For example, "I slept" is the first person, singular, past, active, indicative. There are roughly four classes of verbs in English: transitive, intransitive, linking, and auxiliary.

1. A transitive verb is one that requires an object.

He made a motion to suppress the tainted evidence.

2. An intransitive verb expresses a state or an action without reference to an object.

Half of the jury slept during summation.

3. Intransitive verbs, therefore, do not normally admit of passive construction.

4. Some verbs can be both transitive and intransitive.

The sun melted the snow; The ice melted.

5. The most common linking verb or copula is the verb "to be." It simply joins the subject to the predicate noun or adjective and has no predicative force of its own (apart from the assertion of existence).

Her client is an entrepreneur.

6. Verbs such as "feel," "smell," "taste," etc., are also  linking verbs, but with a little more independent predicative force.  They are followed by an adjective not an adverb.

I feel bad.

[not badly--unless you mean to say that your sensory apparatus does not work well]

7. Auxiliary verbs are signifiers of tense or mood that help other verbs to make some of their forms.

I have been feeling bad. I would go if I could go.

 

G.  Adverbs modify the meaning of a verb, an adjective, or another adverb.

1. Adverbs that modify verbs are usually adverbs of time (then, now, often), manner (gently, frequently), or place (here, there, everywhere).

2. Adverbs that modify adjectives or other adverbs are often adverbs of degree (very, exceedingly, greatly).

3. Note that prepositional phrases often function like adverbs.

He questioned the witness angrily.

He questioned the witness in anger.

 

H.  A preposition is a word specifically paired with (lit. "placed before") a noun or a pronoun in order to create phrases that have quasi-adverbial force. These are known as prepositional phrases.

At trial he speaks in stentorian tones. [when and how]

1. The same words often function as both prepositions and adverbs.

He looked around the courtroom. He looked around.

2. A preposition always governs an object; an adverb has no object.

 

I. A conjunction is a word used to connect words or groups of words. Conjunctions are said to be coordinating or subordinating.

1. A coordinating conjunction (and, or, but, etc.) connects words, phrases, or clauses of equal rank .

His writing is clear and efficient.

I wrote the brief but she argued it.

2. A subordinating conjunction is one that connects clauses of unequal rank.

After the trial date was set, they made an offer of settlement.

J.  An interjection is an exclamatory word used to express sudden or strong emotion. It's an excited utterance, to use a term from evidence.

 

K.  A phrase is a group of related words that does not express a complete thought. A phrase contains neither an expressed grammatical subject nor a finite predicate--but a participial phrase will usually have a grammatical object.

1. A phrase is usually the equivalent of a single part of speech.

In the jury room the deliberation continued.

[prepositional phrase tells where like an adverb]

2. A preposition and its object form a prepositional phrase.

I worked on that document for seven days.

[for = preposition; days = object of the preposition; seven = adjective modifying "days."]

3. A participial phrase itself contains no expressed subject, but must modify (as an adjective) some other noun in the sentence, often the expressed subject of the sentence.  The participial phrase may well have an expressed object with other attendant information.

Rejecting a more traditional view of federalism, the Court seemingly expanded the several states' immunity to suit beyond the bounds that most commentators had expected.

 
[Rejecting = participle (kind of verbal adjective); view = direct object of participle.  "Rejecting" takes as both its logical and grammatical subject "the Court."]
 

L.  A sentence is a group of words expressing a complete thought. There are three kinds of sentences:

1. Declarative (makes a statement):

It was his recklessness that caused the injuries.

2. Interrogative (asks a question):

What price can we put on a person's reputation?

3. Imperative (expresses a command or request):

Help restore what was taken from my client, I beg you.

 

M.  All complete sentences have a subject and a predicate.

1. The subject of a sentence is that of which something is said or asserted.  The simple subject is the bare noun or substantive itself; the complete subject includes any modifiers to the simple subject.

That small company was transformed quickly by a huge IPO.

2. The predicate of a sentence is that which is said or asserted of the subject.  The simple predicate is the verb forms themselves; the complete predicate includes any attendant modifiers.

That small company was transformed quickly by a huge IPO.

3. The subject of the sentence usually comes first in English, but the predicate can precede the subject:

Lost forever were the corporate secretary's notes.

4. A simple sentence has one subject and one predicate:

The jury was bored by his testimony.

5. Two or more subjects with one predicate are a compound subject:

Statutory damages and attorney's fees usually depend on registration.

6. Two or more predicates with one subject are a compound predicate:

The public demand for tort reform ebbs and flows.

 

N.  A clause is a division of a sentence that has both a subject and a predicate. Clauses are classified by their similarity of function to a part of speech, by their force or purpose of expression, and by their rank relative to one another.

1. Clauses classified by function:

a. adjectival clauses

I remember the house where I grew up.

b. adverbial clauses

We'll reconvene when our schedules permit.

c. noun clauses

The judge knew what it was.

d. Two special sub-species of noun clauses occur with verbs of mental activity:

i. the indirect statement

She said that she would testify.

ii. the indirect question

He wondered whether the defendant was guilty.

2. Clauses classified by force or purpose:

a. time = introduced by after, before, since, etc.

b. cause = introduced by because, since, for, etc.

c. condition = introduced by if, unless, except, etc

d. concession = introduced by although, though, etc.

e. purpose = introduced by that, in order that, lest, etc.

f. result = introduced by that, so that, etc.

g. degree = introduced by as, than, etc.

3. Clauses classified by rank:

a. A coordinate or independent clause expresses a complete thought by itself.

It is late and I am tired.

b. A subordinate or dependent clause is not a complete thought by itself.

Since it is late, I am growing tired.

 

O.  A compound sentence is one that contains two or more independent clauses.

I watched the jury closely, but I could not discern its verdict.

 

P.  A complex sentence is one that contains a single independent clause and one or more dependent clauses.

Although I watched the jury closely, I could not discern its verdict.

 

Q.  A compound complex sentence is a compound sentence that contains one or more dependent clauses.

After our expert had testified, I still didn't know what their expert would say, but I no longer thought that it mattered.

 

R.  Tense is the change in the form of a verb to show the time of the verb's action. The three main divisions of time that a verb can indicate in English are present, past, and future. Within each division there are further gradations of tense.

1. Present tense

a. the simple present -- I walk [action in the present]

b. the present progressive -- I am walking [continuing action in the present]

2. Past tense

a. the simple past -- I walked [action in the past]

b. the perfect -- I have walked [completed action in the past]

c. the past progressive or imperfect -- I was walking [action continuing in the past]

d. the past perfect or pluperfect -- I had walked  [action in the past completed prior to another past event]

3. Future tense

a. the simple future -- I will (or shall) walk [action in the future]

b. future perfect I will have walked [action in the future that will be completed prior to another future event]

 

S.  A verb's mood is a change in its form or in its use that indicates the manner in which the force of the verb is intended. English has three moods: the indicative, the subjunctive, and the imperative.

1. The indicative mood is used to assert a fact or to ask a simple question.

He was walking. Did you walk with him?

2. The subjunctive mood is used to express a mental action that is not asserted as a fact or a mental attitude of the speaker to the audience. In practice this means that the subjunctive is used chiefly in three ways:

a. to express wishes, prayers, and desires.

Would that he were here.

Long live the king.

b. to express suppositions or conditions contrary to fact.

If I were in Courtroom 12, I would not be cold.

c. to express present or future uncertainty (future less vivid).

If it be humanly possible, he will find him.

3. The imperative mood is used to express a command or a request.

Take the defendant into custody. Help me, please.

T.  Voice is a change in the form of a transitive verb that shows whether its subject is the agent (or "doer") of its force or meaning or whether its subject is the object (or receiver) of its force or meaning.  English only has two voices: active and passive.

1. In the active voice the subject of the verb is the agent or doer.

He deposed the witnesses to the accident.

2. In the passive voice the grammatical subject of the verb is its logical object. It may help to remember that passive originally meant "experiencing" or "suffering." The subject of a verb in the passive voice experiences or suffers the action denoted by the verb.

The witnesses were deposed by him.

 

U.  Verb forms that are not finite, i.e., which do not by themselves constitute a definite predicate are called verbals. English has three verbals: infinitives, participles, and gerunds. Note that verbals may still be inflected for tense and voice.

1. Infinitives are verbal nouns marked by the preposition "to."

a. Present active infinitive = to write

b. Perfect active infinitive = to have written

c. Perfect passive infinitive = to have been written

2. The infinitive sign or marker, "to," is often omitted after auxiliaries and the verbs help, make, let, see, and hear.

Let the witness take the stand. Help me finish this.

3. A participle is a verbal adjective that modifies a noun or a pronoun.   A participial phrase is an adjectival phrase introduced by a participle.

Walking in front of the jury box, he summarized his argument.

4. Present participles usually end in 'ing,' past participles regularly in 'ed.'

5. The gerund is a verbal noun that looks very much like a participle but is used very much like an infinitive.

Walking is the only form of exercise I am allowed now.