How much do I know about…nouns, pronouns and adjectives?

Label each green word with its part of speech:

• Montag was a fireman.

• They started fires in his futuristic society.

• His job was to burn books.

Nouns: people, places, things and ideasCommon nouns are general.

Proper nouns are specific names and capitalized.

• Noun Exercise 1: Change the noun from common to proper.

• Mildred watched television most of the time.

• Noun Exercise 2: Change the nouns from proper to common.

• The river ran through the town’s west side.

Pronouns replace nouns. There are many types, list them all:

1) Personal pronouns: associated with a personFirst person: I, me, we, usSecond person: youThird person: He, she, it, they, them2) Possessive pronouns: indicate personal ownershipFirst person: my, our, mineSecond person: your, yoursThird person: his, her, their, its, theirs

3) Demonstrative pronouns: point out a specific nounthis, that, these, those

4) Interrogative pronouns: introduce a questionwho, whom, which, what, whose

5) Relative pronouns: introduce a subordinate clausethat, which, who, whom, whose

Pronouns exercise: What kind of pronoun is it?

• What is your name?

• The mechanical dog that chased him was programmed by Beatty.

This is the answer, I think.

Pronouns usually are paired with an antecedent—a noun/pronoun that they replace.

Ex: Find the antecedent of the pronoun:

0) The teacher taught us (students) writing skills.

1) We visited a factory in the city for a field trip.

2) The dog buried its bone in the yard.

3) The sisters knew that they looked alike.

INDEFINITE PROUNS: refers to a noun that isn’t specifically named

List them all:all, another, any, anybody, anyone, anything, both, each, either, everybody, everyone, everything, few, many, more, most, much, neither, nobody, none, no one, nothing, one, other, several, some, somebody, something, such.

SPECIAL PRONOUN RULE:The following indefinite pronouns are ALWAYS singular:

AnybodyAnyoneAnythingEveryoneEverythingEverybodyOne

Always pair them with a singular pronoun

NobodyNoneNo oneNothingSomebodySomething Someone

Indefinite pronoun exercises:Correct the pronoun agreement error:

0) Everyone in the room brought their his/her pencil. 1) No one among the young men knew if they would be

drafted into the military.

2) None of the students could say they were acclimated to the new schedule.

3) Somebody texted me, but I did not recognize their number.

Adjectives: Describe or modify a noun or pronoun

Roles that adjectives serve for their nouns/pronouns:1) Quality: Ex: happy person, lost pet, blue eyes,

young man, tall tree, Spanish rice2) Quantity: Ex: many vegetables, three flowers3) Demonstrative: Ex: this day, that outfit4) Interrogative: Ex: what homework?, whose

phone?5) Extent: Ex: longest day, shorter haircut

A special adjective: Articles

• These adjectives indicate the specialness or singularity of a noun or pronoun.

• A• An• The

OVERLAP ALERT:

Possessive pronouns can also be considered adjectives.

• His book• Their friend• My room

Ex: Circle the adjective and draw a line to the noun or pronoun it modifies.

• It was a sunny afternoon.• She thought it was a funny thing to say.• The white tiger had pale stripes.• The quiet girl decided to speak up.

SPECIAL RULE:

When you list adjectives, separate them with a comma:0) The fat, lazy cat rarely exercised. 1) It has been a long exhausting day.2) She is a friendly outgoing person.3) We prefer the scary dangerous rides at the amusement park.

Conjunction: A word that joins words or groups of words

• TYPE 1: Coordinating conjunctions: join groups of words used the same way.

• FANBOYS: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so

Ex: The Greek Chorus provides information and narration to the audience.

• TYPE 2: Correlative conjunctions: come in pairs and also join groups of words used the same way.

• both…and, either…or, not only…but also, neither…nor, whether…or

Ex: The Greek Chorus traditionally would not only tell the background of the play, but would also sing and dance on stage.

Exercises: Find the conjunctions and label each COO (coordinating) or COR (correlative).

0) Oedipus was born in Thebes, but (COO) actually grew up in Corinth with his adoptive parents. 1) The oracle foretold that Oedipus would kill his father and marry his mother.2) He knew that he was a danger to not only his father, but also his mother.3) He decided that he must run from his parents or ruin their lives.4) On the road to Thebes, he killed an old man, but he did not know who the man was.5) At Thebes, he answered the riddle of the Sphinx and was rewarded with the newly-single queen.

Conjunction Rule:

• When two independent clauses get joined by a coordinating (FANBOY) conjunction, you need a comma between the two clauses before the conjunction. An independent clause can be its own sentence.

• Ex: We cannot escape our fate, and people should never try to defy the gods.

Conjunction rule ex: Underline the coordinating conjunction and add a comma before it.

0) Oedipus learns there is a plague on the city of Thebes, so he must rid the city of the killer of the previous king. 1) The blind prophet reveals that Oedipus himself is the killer but he cannot believe it.2) Oedipus finds out that the king of Corinth has died so he feels relieved that he has escaped his fate.3) Oedipus learns that a shepherd saw the murder and he decides to call that shepherd to learn more.4) The shepherd knows the horrible full story so he decides not to speak the truth.5) The quiet shepherd chooses silence yet Oedipus forces the horrible truth out of him.

• Type 3: Subordinating conjunctions: begin a subordinate/dependent clause, part of a sentence that depends on another part of the sentence to be a complete idea.

• After, although, as, as if, as long as, as soon as, because, before, even though, if, in order that, once, since, so that, than, though, unless, until, when, whenever, where, wherever, whether, while

• BE CAREFUL: Some of these may also be used as prepositions.

Ex: Although Oedipus seeks the murderer of the previous king, he is unaware that he is the killer.

What’s AAAWWUUBIS? The acronym for the most common subordinating conjunctions. Know them!

As After Although When While UntilUnless Before Because If Since

Why are subordinating conjunctions important?

• Subordinating conjunctions are the building blocks of the complex sentence.

• They allow us to indicate levels of importance of ideas and compare and contrast ideas with one another.

• They can be in the beginning or the middle of the sentence (since they begin a subordinate clause.)

• Ex: Although Oedipus ran from his home, he could not escape his fate.

• Ex: Oedipus could not escape his fate although he ran from his home.

Find the subordinating conjuction

• Jocasta warned Oedipus to stop seeking the truth because she feared what he would discover.

• Oedipus refused to give up since he wanted to cleanse the city of the plague.

• Despite his intelligence, Oedipus hadn’t been able to see who he truly was.

• While he could solve the riddle of the sphinx, he was blind to his own identity.

Subordinating conjunction rules:• If the sentence begins with a subordinating

conjunction and a corresponding subordinate clause, it requires a comma after the subordinate clause.

• If the sentence begins with an independent clause and the subordinating conjunction comes in the middle of the sentence, it does not require a comma.

• Ex: When Oedipus finds Jocasta dead, he stabs himself in the eyes.

• Ex: Oedipus stabs himself in the eyes when he finds Jocasta dead.

Create a sentence that begins with a subordinating conjunction.

• After= After he finds out his tragic error, Oedipus is horrified by his deeds.

• Although• As• While• When• Until• Unless

Create a sentence that ends with a subordinate clause.

• Because= Oedipus leaves the city of Thebes because he has been the cause of its plague.

• Before• If• Since