Bellwork

English I

*All Bellwork lessons are furnished by Daily Grammar/World Place Inc. & are to be used for instructional purposes only.

Day 1 Most verbs are action words, but a few

verbs indicate state of being or existence. Instructions: Find the verbs in the following

sentences. They are action verbs.

1. The wolf ran across the sand.

2. Sit down.

3. The dog barked at the man.

Day 2Instructions: Find the verbs in these

sentences. These verbs will be state of being verbs.

 1. My uncle is a pilot. 2. The pie looks good. 3. You seem upset.

Day 3Instructions: Pick out the verbs in these

sentences and tell whether they are action verbs or linking verbs.

 1. Suddenly someone sneezed loudly. 2. There are holes in my shirt. 3. He appears happy. 4. The image appeared in the mirror.

Day 4Sometimes a verb can be more than one word. When a

verb is more than one word, it is called a verb phrase. Verb phrases can be two, three, or four words. Verb phrases are made by using auxiliary or helping verbs. What are the verb phrases in these sentences?

Instructions: What are the verb phrases in these sentences?

 1. You are going to Seattle. 2. You have been resting too much. 3. We must be early. 4. I will be finished shortly.

Day 5

These sentences all have what are called auxiliary or helping verbs. I will refer to them as helping verbs. There are twenty-three (23) helping verbs that should be memorized since they are used so often. If you will memorize them, it will make knowing and understanding verbs much easier. They are usually grouped in the following five groups:

Group 1: is, am, are, was, were, be, being, been

Group 2: has, have, hadGroup 3: do, does, didGroup 4: shall, will, should,

wouldGroup 5: may, might, must, can,

could

Some of the helping verbs can be used alone as the main verb. Is, am, are, was, and were can be used alone as linking or state of being verbs. Has, have, had, do, does, and did always show action when used alone. Be, being, and been can be used with other verbs either to show action or state of being. The other helping verbs cannot be used alone but only as helping verbs.

Instructions: Find the verb or verb phrases in these sentences.

 1. She has too many friends. 2. You do beautiful work. 3. I was in Canada last week. 4. You are being very stubborn.

Day 6

Instructions:  List the verbs or verb phrases in the sentences, and tell whether they are action verbs or state of being verbs.

1. Jim plays basketball.2. They will return on the airplane.3. Badger is a funny dog.4. I have been here a long time.5. I should have been playing the drum.6. Go home.

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Day 7Instructions: Pick out the verb phrases

in the following sentences. Watch for the helping verbs.

 1. I can understand his concern. 2. She must have told you ten times. 3. We shall go tomorrow. 4. The wind was howling all night.

Day 8The use of helping verbs causes certain changes

in verb phrases that we need to be able to recognize. One change is the use of contractions.

Instructions: List the and the contractions in the following

sentences. 1. I've done it again. 2. You aren't going with us. 3. She's staying to tend the kids.

Day 9A helping verb may be connected with another word

in a contracted form. The following sentences have verb phrases using contractions.

 Instructions: Find the verb phrases in each

sentence. Determine if the verb phases are action verbs or state of being verbs.

 1. I've done it again. 2. You aren't going with us. 3. She's staying to tend the kids.

Day 10In sentences that are questions, the verb phrase

is often separated by another word.  

Instructions: Find the verb phrases in these sentences. Be sure to watch for another word separating the helping verb from the main verb.

 

1. Have you been driving long? 2. Where was the car parked? 3. Can I be of assistance?

Day 11Sometimes verb phrases are separated by words

called adverbs. We will learn more about adverbs in later lessons. They are used often with verbs; however, they are not considered part of the verb phrase. What are the verb phrases in the three sentences? Are the verbs action verbs or state of being verbs?

 1. You have not helped your father today. 2. I will soon be home. 3. The child had suddenly choked on the food. 

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Day 12Instructions: List the verb phrases in the following

sentences. 1. My wife is reading in the hammock under the

tree. 2. The message can't be altered. 3. Somewhere a party is being planned. 4. Shouldn't I be a clown for Halloween? 5. I've run out of time. 6. Now write down as many of the twenty-three

helping verbs as you can.

Day 13Not and its contracted form n't are never part of

the verb.  Instructions: Pick out the verb phrases in these

sentences. 1. The game will not be finished for another hour. 2. The horse shouldn't have been worked so much. 3. Wouldn't you give me another chance?

Day 14Verb phrases with two or more helping verbs

always keep a definite order. Most helping verbs can combine with other helping verbs but will not combine with all of them. Look at the examples below which are good combinations.

is being said, has been said, will be said, could have been said, may have said, had been said.

Instructions: Now arrange the following helping verbs with the word in parentheses into a verb phrase. One of the helping verbs will not combine and must be left out.

Example: was, have, may (gone) = may have gone - was will not combine in this group.

1. am, will, being (fired)2. been, could, does, have (learning)3. might, do, have, been (sleeping)4. must, were, be (discovered)5. be, has, should (sold)

Day 15We can change the form of a verb. (These changes in

form are used in conjugations. We will talk about conjugations in later lessons.) For example, a verb can have an s added to it as in eat, eats or run, runs. Other changes could be eating, ate, or eaten for the verb eat. Run could be changed to running, or ran.

 Instructions: Find the verb or verb phrases in these

sentences. Take note of the different verb forms for come and sent.

  1. Send me the package in the mail. 2. The new part was sent to me. 3. I am sending Jeff with the neighbors.

Day 16Instructions: In this lesson pick out only the

helping verbs used in the verb phrases.

1. He should have tried again.

2. The dog had suddenly come into the yard.

3. Has anyone taken out the trash?

4. Could they have been pointing at our car?

5. She's hoping for a call from her sister.

Day 17Let's look at some sentences to review what we

have learned. Remember that verbs either show action or state of being. Using helping verbs, we make verb phrases. Verb phrases may be separated by other words. Verb phrases follow a definite order and change form.

 Instructions: Find the verb phrases and tell

what kind of verbs they are. 1. I can understand your concern. 2. Is Mrs. Johanson going with you? 3. The rooms cannot be held any longer. 4. I haven't seen him for an hour.

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Day 17Instructions: Answer each question true or

false.1. Verbs never change form.2. A verb is never just one word.3. Verb phrases keep a definite order.4. There are twenty-three helping verbs.5. Helping verbs cannot be the main verb.6. Helping verbs can be action verbs.7. Verb phrases can have three helping

verbs.8. Verbs can be in contracted form.9. State of being verbs show action.10. Verbs are the most important words in a

sentence.

Day 18A noun is a word that names a person,

place or thing. It also one of the eight parts of speech. Examples: man, city, book, courage. Nouns often follow words like a, an, and the.

1. Send me the package in the mail. 2. The new part was sent to me. 3. I am sending Jeff with the neighbors.

Day 19 A noun is a word that names a person, place or

thing. It also one of the eight parts of speech. Examples: man, city, book, courage. Nouns often follow words like a, an, and the.

Instructions: Pick out all the nouns in these sentences.

1. The teacher told the student that a person should always be loyal.

2. People with perseverance will be successful in life.3. I bought a new pen at the drugstore across the

street.4. The man said to the policeman that he had not

seen the accident.

Day 20Nouns can be singular as in lesson 16 or be plural in

form. Plural means two or more. Plurals are formed by adding s, es, changing y to i and adding es, and with changes in spelling as in man becoming men. Examples: car, cars; fox, foxes; baby, babies, man, men.

Instructions: Find the nouns in the following sentences. Some are plurals and some are not.

1. Computers are making work easier for secretaries.2. Children always require great energies from

parents.3. Labors on farms take great effort by workers.4. Alaina doesn't like puzzles or mathematics.

Day 21Nouns are classified into two general

classifications, proper and common. Proper nouns name a special person, place or thing and begin with capital letters. All other nouns begin with small letters and are common nouns.

Common nouns city, man, boat, and radio could be changed to the proper nouns Salt Lake City, Mr. Jones, Santa Maria, and Motorola.

Instructions: Pick out the nouns in these sentences and tell if they are common or proper.

1. Becky went with her sisters to Lagoon on Friday.

2. My youngest son is in Brazil until September.3. Mr. Smith works with his wife in American Fork.4. Love could bring marriage to Mark and Terri.

Day 22

Nouns can also be classified in specific ways. Concrete nouns, abstract nouns, and compound nouns are three such ways. Concrete nouns name things that exist physically as sidewalk, bird, toy, hair and rain. Abstract nouns name ideas, characteristics, or qualities as courage, pride, goodness and success. Compound nouns are made up of more than one word as dining room, Bill of Rights, Jeff Hansen, and home run.

Instructions: In the following sentences find the nouns and classify them as concrete, abstract or compound.

1. People like to see a home run hit over the wall.2. My daughter works for the post office in Salt Lake City.3. Rhode Island is a success although smaller than

Texas.4. Respect must be earned, but honesty should always

be our policy.

Day 23Three other specific classifications for nouns are collective

nouns, count nouns and mass nouns. Collective nouns name groups as team, class and choir. Count nouns can be counted as one boy, six sheep and many days. You can use a, an, many or a number before it. Mass nouns are not countable as gasoline, water or dirt.

Instructions: Find the nouns in these sentences and classify them as collective nouns, count nouns or mass nouns.

1. Get some gasoline, or the class will be late arriving.2. The alien group should come by bus soon.3. The orchestra will be playing in the arena in the

evening.4. The water at the beach was covered with oil.

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Day 24Instructions: Pick out the nouns in the following

sentences and tell whether they are common or proper.

1. Mrs. Mills told the officer at the post office to weigh the package.

2. The principal at the school held Eric after the bell.

3. Sheep and horses eat grass shorter than cattle.

4. The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution are important to Americans.

5. War is a terrible thing that all nations should work to stop.

Day 25Personal pronouns refer to (1) the speaker or

speakers, which is called first person, and include the following pronouns: I, my, mine, me, myself, we, our, ours, us, ourselves; (2) those spoken to, which is called second person, and include the following pronouns: you, your, yours, yourself, yourselves; or (3) those spoken about, which is called third person, and includes the following pronouns: he, his, him, himself, she, her, hers, herself, it, its, itself, they, their, theirs, them, themselves. Personal pronouns can be singular (one) or plural (two or more) just as verbs and nouns.

Instructions: Find the personal pronouns in these sentences.

1. She hit him on his head.2. I saw you at your store.3. He himself will be our new friend.4. It will be hard for me to see you.5. They always get angry at her and me.

Day 26The word for which the pronoun stands is called its

antecedent. It may be in the same sentence, in a previous sentence, or not given at all. An example would be The boy threw the football. He threw it over the fence. Boy is the antecedent for he, and football is the antecedent for it. A pronoun can be an antecedent for another pronoun. He likes his new car. He is the antecedent for his. The antecedent always comes before the pronoun for which it is the antecedent.

Instructions: Pick out the pronouns and their antecedents in these sentences.

1. He ran after his dad.2. Jennie wanted her doll for bedtime.3. The rabbit hopped into its hole.4. They will help you with your work themselves.5. The teacher gave us homework every day, and

she made our lives miserable. 

Day 27Some personal pronouns are called possessives

because they show whose something is. They are the following pronouns: my, mine, your, yours, his, her, hers, its, our, ours, their, and theirs. An example would be The money is mine. Mine tells whose money it is.

Instructions: Find the possessive pronouns in the following sentences.

1. The new car is his.2. Yours will be here tomorrow.3. I like theirs best.4. Should we go for a ride in his or hers.

Day 28The personal pronouns myself, yourself, yourselves,

himself, herself, itself, ourselves, and themselves are compound personal pronouns combining the personal pronoun with self or selves. They are used as reflexive pronouns . Carl hurt himself is an example of a reflexive pronoun.

Instructions: Find the reflexive pronouns in these sentences.

1. I should understand myself better.2. Ann bought herself two new hamsters.3. They can't help themselves.4. The boy cut himself on the broken glass.

Day 29The personal pronouns myself, yourself,

yourselves, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, and themselves can also be used as intensive pronouns. An example would be Carl himself won the race.

Instructions: Find the intensive pronouns in these sentences.

1. We ourselves went to the movie.2. The man himself wrestled the alligator.3. Jeanne herself gave us the gift.4. They themselves had played until dark.

Day 30 Instructions: Find the personal pronouns.

Tell if they are intensive, reflexive or possessive, and if they have an antecedent, name it.

1. I want you yourself to come tomorrow.2. The decision itself is yours to make.3. She gave herself up to the police.4. My brother gave me his pet snake.5. You can tie your shoe by yourself.

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Day 31Relative pronouns join dependent clauses to independent

clauses. They are who, whose, whom, which, and that. For example, He found his money that he had lost. That joins the two clauses together into one sentence. Clauses will be taught in detail later.

Instructions: Find the relative pronouns in the sentences, and see how many other pronouns you can find as a bonus.

1. I want the house, which is brick.2. Jack ordered the meal that we picked up.3. Freddie is the girl who won the contest.4. Jon is a man on whom I can rely.5. The student whose answer was wrong turned bright red.

Day 32Demonstrative pronouns are pronouns that

point out. They are this, that, these, and those. That is my hat. I like these not those.

Instructions: Find the demonstrative pronouns in these sentences.

1. That is a great idea.2. I will take those.3. How much money do you want for this?4. These are the shoes I want.

Day 33Indefinite pronouns are pronouns that do not point out

specifically. They point out generally. They include such words as another, any, anybody, anyone, anything, both, each, either, everybody, everyone, everything, many, neither, nobody, none, no one, one, other, others, some, somebody, and someone.

Instructions: Find the indefinite pronouns in the following sentences.

1. Everybody loves someone sometime.2. Both of the students should hand in everything they

have completed.3. I didn't see anyone I knew.4. If no one helps others, nothing gets done.5. Somebody said that one should touch neither of them.

Day 34Interrogative pronouns ask questions. Who,

whom, whose, which, and what are interrogative pronouns.

Instructions: Find the interrogative pronouns in these sentences.

1. What is that?2. Who is going with me?3. Which is the right answer?4. Whose was right?5. To whom did you want to speak?

Day 35Instructions: Find each pronoun and tell what

kind it is. It is either personal, relative, demonstrative, indefinite, or interrogative.

1. From whom did you get that?2. Neither of my brothers would read me the

story.3. You need someone who will be kind to

others.4. What does this have to do with me?5. I liked the play that you hated.

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Day 36Instructions: Find each pronoun. Tell if it is

personal, relative, demonstrative, indefinite or interrogative. List the antecedent if there is one. For each personal pronoun tell if it is possessive, intensive, or reflexive.

1. He himself had helped my mother do something.2. Which is the right room for this?3. These are mine. Whose are these?4. This is the book that I would recommend to you.5. Everyone has talents. Some have many. No one

has none.6. He found himself lost in his dream.7. I myself heard him blame himself in front of

everybody.8. Neither of them has anyone who will help us.9. Who would have guessed that that was wrong?

Day 37There are seven (7) words in the English language that

are always adjectives. They are the articles a, an, and the and the possessives my, our, your, and their. (The possessives are from the possessive pronoun list but are always used with nouns as adjectives.) Being only seven in number, one should memorize them so they are immediately recognized as adjectives.

Examples: The neighbor girl likes chocolate ice cream. Mr. Johnson is tall, dark and handsome. Some authorities like to distinguish between what they call true adjectives and determiners, but both still just tell which, whose, what kind, and how many. Those words are the key to adjectives and should be memorized to make adjectives easy.

Instructions: Pick out the adjectives in the following sentences.

1. The heavy red dress of Queen Elizabeth weighed over fifty pounds.

2. My sister chose two shirts for my graduation present.3. That small Mexican restaurant in the next block serves

fresh meals.4. The little black dog barked at the well-dressed

stranger.5. An old wood fence had caught several discarded candy

wrappers.

Day 38 Other pronouns can also be used as adjectives, but they

are not always adjectives as the seven mentioned in lesson 31. Demonstrative pronouns, this, that, these, those; interrogative pronouns, whose, which, what; and indefinite pronouns, another, any, both, each, either, many, neither, one, other, some; when used with a noun become adjectives. Cardinal and ordinal numbers can be adjectives. Examples: ten students (cardinal), the tenth student (ordinal). Pronouns used as adjectives are called pronominal adjectives.

Instructions: List the adjectives in these sentences.1, Whose car is that red one in the driveway?2. Those drapes go well with this brown carpet.3. The two men were wondering what signal had brought

many people to their rescue.4. The third person entering the city park won another

prize.5. That tie is a good one for this suit.

Day 39Proper nouns, possessives and modifiers made from

them, and common nouns can be adjectives. Examples: July storms, winter weather, Jim's boat, boy's bed.

Some authorities call nouns used to described another noun noun adjuncts. They tell us whose or what kind.

Instructions: Find the adjectives in these sentences.1. Dan's new hat blew down the man's stairway.2. Stormy spring weather can cause many flash floods.3. Pam's new suitcase was ready for the Canadian trip.4. December winds can make a dangerous Christmas

trip.5. The student's hope was the teacher's happiness.

Day 40Verb forms can also be used as adjectives. They

are called participial adjectives.Examples: the lost mine, the howling wolf.

Instructions: Pick out the adjectives in these sentences.

1. The soaking rain caused much damage.2. The broken dish cut the crying girl.3. A great work was done by the person with a

giving spirit.4. The laughing hyena was sleeping in its cage.5. The eager student found the torn book.

Day 41Adjectives are not limited in how many can be used with a

noun to modify it as in the big black frightening curly bear. These adjectives follow an order pattern when two or more are used together. There is no written rule but just common usage.

Examples: the second three days, both his friends. You would not say three second the days or his both friends. Instructions: Because many words can be both pronouns and adjectives depending on how they are used in a sentence, decide if the italicized words are pronouns or adjectives in the following sentences. Remember that pronouns stand alone, but adjectives are used to modify nouns.

1. Do either of you have any of this material. Any amount would help.

2. Each girl did her chores, and their mother gave each a hug.3. This is our answer, and no one disagrees.4. Both have many chances to play, but neither one is better.5. What is your name because neither of us knows it?

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Day 42Instructions: Find all the adjectives in these

sentences.

1. Our first idea met with many strong complaints.2. The happy shout from the three frolicking

children greeted their dad on his return.3. Star Wars is an exciting movie for most people.4. The flooded basement caused terrible damage.5. The Johnson family just returned from a hot,

exhausting trip to Arizona.

Day 43Adjectives can be used in comparisons which means we

change the form of the adjective when speaking of one, two, or more than two. They change either by adding er or est to the adjective or by using the words more or most before the adjective. Some are irregular in their form and must be memorized or looked up in the dictionary. The dictionary gives the forms for most words using er or est to form comparisons. The three degrees of comparison are called (1) positive which states a quality of one thing or person, (2) comparative which compares two things or persons, and (3) superlative which compares more than two things or persons. Examples: positive - new, careless, good; comparative - newer, more careless, better; superlative - newest, most careless, best

Instructions: Write the comparative and superlative forms of the following adjectives.

1. jolly2. honest3. dim4. friendly5. little

Day 44In comparison of adjectives, one-syllable

adjectives and some two-syllable adjectives (especially those ending in y or le) form the comparative with er and the superlative with est. Examples: new, newer, newest; jolly, jollier, jolliest.

Instructions: Write the correct comparative and superlative forms for the following adjectives.

1. glad2. prompt3. small4 noble5. funny

Day 45

Many two-syllable adjectives and almost all adjectives with three or more syllables use more or most to form the comparative and superlative forms. Examples: honest, more honest, most honest; careful, more careful, most careful.

Instructions: Write the comparative and superlative forms for these words.

1. interesting2. critical3. splendid4. delicious5. outstanding