Fall, Lesson 1

WRITERS' WORKSHOP

Oxford Tutorials/N. Lund

Week/Lesson 1: Introduction to the Eight Basic Parts of Speech

“Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler”
Albert Einstein

   a. memorize definitions for the eight basic parts of speech:
       SEE: “Function or ‘job’” in the chart below.
   b. write ten sentences following the format sent by the tutor
        via email (due 48 hours before class)
   c. find the subjects and predicates in the Practice Quiz below
   d. prepare for a quiz on the basic parts of speech

Part of Speech	Function or "job"	Examples: words	Examples: sentences
1. Verb	expresses an action or state of being	run, study, live, be, have, do, like, work, sing, can, must	I am a student. This is fun. We like music. They sing all the time.
2. Noun	names a person, place, thing or idea	Dick, Jane, music, town, justice, student, teacher, audience	This is my car. He lives in my house. We often travel to London.
3. Adjective	describes (modifies) a noun or pronoun	a/an, the, five, some, good, big, red, this, that, my, your, our	Look at the red car. The engine is huge. My house is empty.
4. Adverb	describes (modifies) a verb, adjective or adverb	quickly, silently, well, badly, really, very, ever, not, too (VENT)	His car goes very fast. She feels badly about it. I am really sorry.
5. Pronoun	replaces a noun	I, you, he, she, each, nobody, this, that, these, those, who, which, Who?	It belongs to me. They are students. I like him. Who are they? Does anyone know?
6. Preposition	links a noun or pronoun to another word	by, with, from, in, on, at, to, for, after, concerning	The book is under the desk. He went to school. He wrote about it.
7. Conjunction	joins words or groups of words	for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so (FANBOYS)	She worked and she prayed. He tried but he failed. Will you do it, or should I?
8. Interjection	expresses strong feeling; an exclamation	oh!, wow!, ouch!	Oh! Really! Is that what happened? Wow! Ouch! That hurts! Hi!

DEFINITION OF A SENTENCE

       Sentence: a sentence is a group of words which expresses a complete thought
       and contains at least one subject and one verb. A sentence can stand alone
       and still be clearly understood. It is thus referred to as an “independent clause.”
       It must include a subject (noun or pronoun) and predicate (verb), e.g.:
           The students are sleeping; The tutor played the guitar; The sun will rise.
           a. The subject is the word (noun or pronoun) about which something is said:
                        “students,” “tutor,” “sun”
           b. The predicate is what is said (verb) about the subject:
                        “are sleeping,” “played,” “will rise”

HOW TO FIND THE SUBJECT & THE PREDICATE

    NOTE: to locate subject and predicate (the verb), follow these steps:

(1) first find the predicate (verb):

a. words which express action (run, go, study, live)

b. words which express being (is, are, was, were, will be, etc.)

(2) then look for the subject (noun or pronoun):

the person, place or thing which/who:

a. is doing the action of the verb

b. is receiving the action of the verb

PRACTICE QUIZ

Identify the subjects and predicates in the following sentences:

1. The old man shivered in the rain.

2. An owl shrieked.

3. The moon disappeared behind the clouds.

4. We waited patiently.

5. For a moment, nobody even breathed.

6. A light rain fell on our heads.

7. The leaves trembled in the wind.

8. Our hearts beat faster.

9. Then the black sky opened up.

10. Furious flames lit up the night.

These sentences were adapted from the paragraph: "Rolling Along with Mr. Bill,"
which appears in "Sentence Combining with Adjective Clauses."