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GRAMMAR
REVIEW
Professor
Stevens, English 21
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Five
Lessons:
Lesson
1 Action--Helping--"Be" Verbs
Lesson 2 Non Action Verbs
Lesson 3 Verb Usage
Lesson 4 Nouns
Lesson 5 Prepositions
You chose to be in this class
or were placed in this class because you cannot write a
"perfect" sentence and know why it is perfect.
WARNING: Do not go
beyond this grammar section until you have accomplished the following:
- Memorized all the non-action verbs (linking, BE,
helping) listed below, all of
them in order.
- Memorized all the prepositions listed below, all
of them in order.
If you have not learned the "small" stuff listed below while
you were in elementary through high school, you NEED to do it now.
You will not be able to punctuate properly until you know the "small
stuff." It is impossible to know when to use a comma or use
semicolon or use nothing unless you know the "small words" and
know their function is.
If you move on beyond this page before you know them, you will continue
to "guess" whether your sentence
is correctly written or correctly punctuated. Knowing most of them
will NOT DO you any good; you need to be able to identify all of the
"simple," childish words, and what they do in a sentence,
especially the verbs. You cannot expect to write an errorless
paragraph and essay unless you can write "perfect," errorless
sentences that go into your paper. Good Luck. Or perhaps I'll
see you next semester; on the other hand, you really don't want to see me
a second time; once is enough.
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Lesson 1: Action--Helping & Linking Verbs
A
verb lets know about an action (hit, fell) or a state of being (is, can).
There are three types of verbs: action (hit), linking (seems) , and helping or auxiliary (should).
Practice TESTS: Verbs
and Memorization
Words: Take after you do lessons 1, 2, and 3.
An
action verb shows action. It tells what a person or a thing does.
There are three
types of action verbs:
Type
of Action Verb
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Verbs
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Sentence
Examples
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Transitive
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swim, jump, run, play,
swing, etc.
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He swims. She
jumps. He plays. They swing. They ran. Muskrats swim.
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Transitive with Direct
Object (DO)
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kicked, slapped, pushed,
threw, kissed, picked-up, hung, etc.
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He threw the toy.
She kicked the ball.
They pushed the car.
He hangs the picture.
We built a sandcastle.
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Transitive with Direct
Object (DO) and Indirect Object (IDO) (only a few verbs can create two
nouns within a sentence with a DO and IDO.
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handed, made, make, mail,
mailed, send, sent, find, found, give, gave, show, showed, ask, asked,
tell, told, sell, sold, offer, offered, promise, promised, chose,
chosen, take, took select, selected, elect, elected, etc.
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He handed Sara her comb.
She gave Mary the job.
I will promise Bill the money.
I might send her a letter.
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To
find out whether a word is an action verb, ask yourself whether that word
expresses something you can do. Can you little? No! Can you window?
No. But can you swim? Yes—swim is an action verb.
A
linking verb links the subject of the sentence with information about it.
Sometimes linking verbs are called "state-of-being verbs."
- The eye is brown.
- This orange tasted
so sweet.
In the
first sentence, is links eye
to information about it--the fact that it is brown.
That is its state of being = "Be-Verb."
However, his eye is not the same as "brown;" hence,
"brown" describes the eye (or X describes Y). The two are
not interchangeable or the same ; you cannot
say, "Brown looks eye." So, whenever you have a linking
verb it is always followed by an adjective (brown in this case ) that
describes the subject (eye in the case)
N LV Adj.
The eye is
brown. (Pattern 2)
In the
second sentence, tasted links sweet to information about
it—its sweetness. Did you think tasted was an action verb? Well,
it is—when the subject is doing the tasting. But in example two, the
orange isn't doing any tasting. The orange itself tasted soft. That is
its state of being.
An
auxiliary-helping verb goes with another verb. Most of the time
auxiliary-helping verbs are called "helping verbs" because they
introduce or "help out" the main verb.
- Mr. Stevens is
reading the story.
- We should be going
dancing.
In the
first sentence, the auxiliary-helping verb, is, helps out the main verb, reading,
by telling when the action is taking place—right now.
In the
second sentence, the auxiliary-helping verb, should, helps out the main
verb, go, by telling about its importance—dancing must be
important, if it is something that should happen.
Note
that you can't is or should something. This
let's know you that they are not action verbs. Is and should just
are; they do nothing. Try to "is'ing"
something; for example, "is" a ball. You can't because
"is" wouldn't allow you do do
anything to the ball.
Be,
have,
and do are the most common auxiliary-helping verbs. Other common
auxiliary-helping verbs include can, could, should, would, may, might,
and must.
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Grammar
REVIEW/QUIZZES on the Web Review Verbs: Verbs #1 and Verbs #2
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Lesson 2: Non Action Verbs (Be/Linking/Auxiliary-helping)
| Action Verbs
| Linking Verbs-BE Verbs | Verb Usage | Nouns
| Prepositions |
Practice
TESTS: Verbs and Memorization Words:
Take after you do lessons 1, 2, and 3.
You are
required to memorize the non action verbs below. Knowing these
verbs will help you to properly identify a sentence so that you can
punctuate correctly. One cannot use a coordinator, subordinator or
semicolon properly unless you can accurately identify a
sentence/sentences. You will be expected to write a list of
the non-action verbs during the second week of class from memory.
Memorize them in order; your mind works in order or sequence: top to
bottom, left to right, one through 20, and A through Z, so learn them,
alphabetically, A-Z, because that is how your memory works.
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MEMORIZATION LIST (non Action
Verbs)--Memorize
in Order--ALL 43
Linking verbs and form of BE verbs
do
does
did
is
are
am
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will
was
were
have
has
had
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must
can
do
may
might
must
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should
would
shall
be
been
being
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True
Linking verbs
acts,
appears, be, am, is, are, was, were (be), becomes, became, gets, grows,
remains, turns. PLUS Senses: looks, sounds,
feels, smells, tastes (and past tense also)
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Non-Action Verbs Usage
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| Action Verbs
| Linking Verbs-BE Verbs | Verb Usage | Nouns
| Prepositions |
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NON ACTION VERBS
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TYPE OF VERB
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Be
Verbs
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is, are, was, were, have, has, had, might,
could, would, should, can, do, does, did, be, am, must, might, may,
been, being, will, shall
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Be
Verb: —I am. She
can.—a state of being.
"Am
and can specify a state
of "being." These are intransitive verbs or a non
active verb. These verbs do not allow anything to be done or act on
something or someone.
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Linking
Verbs
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is, are, was, were, have, has, had,
might, could, would, should, can, do, does, did, be, am, must, might,
may, been, being, will, shall
- - - - - - - - - - - -- - - -
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Plus there are Liking verbs that can be used as both linking verbs and
action verbs, such as acts, appears, be, am,
is, are, was, were (be), becomes, became, gets, grows, remains, turns
Senses: looks, sounds, feels, smells, tastes
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Linking
Verb: —She turned angry. =
Linking Verb
He turned around = Non-linking Verb
"Turned" is the
linking verb and links "She" and "angry."
angry describes "she." A Linking
Verb is followed by an adjective. These are intransitive verbs or a
non active verb
Examples:
He seems sad. The milk turned sour. The story remained true. He grew wise. He should
be nice. He might have been
happy. He will be sad. He is sad.
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Auxiliary-helping
Verbs
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is, are, was, were, have, has, had, might, could,
would, should, can, do, does, did, be, am, must, might, may, been,
being, will, shall
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Auxiliary-helping-Verb: —It
will happen
- Helping verbs, such as will
plus another verb (happen) combine into verb phrases = will happen.
- So, will is the
helping verb and happen is the main
verb.
- Many active verbs
need a helping verb.
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Grammar
REVIEW/QUIZZES on the Web Review Verbs: Verbs #1 and Verbs #2
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The voice of a verb is active or passive. The voice of the
verbs in a sentence should be consistent unless there’s a good reason
for a shift. Avoid unnecessary shifts if you can do.
Brown
= Passive
Red = Active
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Brown = Passive
Red = Active
Wrong: Larry polished the diamond engagement ring, rechecked the certificate of authenticity,
and was demolished when his intended
bride said no
Polished--Active
Rechecked--Active
Was demolished--Passive
Said—Active
Correct: Larry polished the diamond engagement ring, rechecked the certificate of authenticity,
and cried like a baby when his
intended bride said no.
Correct: Larry polished the diamond engagement ring and rechecked the certificate of authenticity.
His intended bride completely demolished
him with her refusal.
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In general, active voice is better than passive. The passive verbs create an
awkward, wordy mess.
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The diamond
engagement ring was polished
and the certificate of authenticity was rechecked by Larry, and Larry was
completely demolished when “no” was
said to him by his intended bride.
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Which sentence is correct?
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A. Maria
popped the cork from the champagne, reached for the chilled glasses,
and was shocked to learn that the caviar had been confiscated by
customs officials.
B. Maria
popped the cork from the champagne, reached for the chilled glasses,
and was shocked to learn that customs officials had confiscated the
caviar.
C. Maria
popped the cork from the champagne, reached for the chilled glasses,
and staggered in shock when she heard that customs officials had
confiscated the caviar.
Read
more
C—correct
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Also, keep all your verbs in the same tense—past or present
Note: In English
21 use all present or past tense in the “active” voice. Use NO
“Be” verbs with present/past verbs—also known as helping verbs or
auxiliary verbs.
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Larry begs
Ella to marry him, offers her a crown and a private room, and
finally won her hand. (Present
to present to past.)
Larry begs
Ella to marry him, offers her a crown and a private room, and
finally wins her hand. (All three verbs are in present tense.)
Larry begged
Ella to marry him, offered her a crown and a private room, and
finally won her hand. (All three verbs are in past tense.)
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Sometimes in telling a
story, you must shift tense because the action of the story requires a
change in time.
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Betsy always practices
for at least ten hours a day, unless she is giving a concert. Last
week she flew to Antarctica for a recital. When she arrived,
the piano was frozen. Nevertheless, the show went on.
Next week Betsy will practice twelve hours a day to make up for
the time she lost last week.
Betsy’s
story has present (practices), present progressive (is
giving), past (flew, arrived, was frozen, went, lost), and
future tenses (will practice). Each change of tense is justified
by the information in the story.
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Can
you tell which sentence is correct?
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A. Jim
scrambled to the finish line a second before the next fastest racer and
then raised his arms in victory.
B. Jim
scrambles to the finish line second before the next fastest racer and
then raises his arms in victory.
Answer:
Both sentences are correct. In sentence A, both scrambled and raised
are in past tense. No shift,
no problem. In sentence B, both scrambles and raises are
in present tense. Again no
shift, again no problem.
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Fix these sentences:
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1. They were
telling people to just depend on God and forget about
depending on the government.
2. The
government announced that it was lifting a ban on food and aid,
but it later changed course.
3. We were
arrested several times by the police, and they were refusing
that we cross into Kenya.
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One way to fix them:
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1. They told
people to just depend on God and forget about government help.
2. The
government announced it lifted a ban on food and aid, but it
later changed course.
3. The police arrested
us several times, and they refused to let us cross into Kenya.
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Lesson 4: Nouns
(determiners, possessives & adjectives)
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Action Verbs | Linking Verbs-BE Verbs
| Verb Usage | Nouns | Prepositions
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Practice
TESTS: Verbs
and Memorization
Words: Take after you do lessons 1, 2, and 3.
Identifying a noun. You cannot write a sentence
correctly unless you know you have a subject/noun. How do you know
when you have a noun in your sentence. It
is very simple. You can locate a noun by locating or identifying
two/three simple type of words: determiners/articles and possessives
which are the most accurate to identify nouns plus adjectives. Yep,
more of the simple/small words that can make it impossible to write clearly
unless you know what they are and how to use them correctly in your
writing.
ONE: Determiners/articles are
special kinds of words that come before nouns.
- More, each, every, either, all, both, he, an, a,
several, many, some, most, few, less, this, these, those, and any
are just a few determiners.
- a
six-year-old child
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Also,
a determiner is any number—one, two, three, four, five, etc.: one house,
two dogs, five people.
A
determiner is always followed by a noun. If you use a determiner,
it will be followed by a noun; it has to happen: a house, the dog,
many people, etc. However, an
adjective can come between a determiner and its noun: a large house, the
brown dog, many loud people, etc. So if you use "crazy,"
it is manly used as an adjective: The crazy girl ran. But, if I
say: A crazy was elected. The word "crazy" is now used as
a noun because "a" precedes or comes before it.
Determiners are said to "mark" nouns. That is to say, you know
a determiner will be followed by a noun
More
importantly, determiners are not part of any sentence pattern. For
example: "The boy ran." Cross out the determiner,
"the," because it is not part sentence patterns. Articles,
determiners, and quantifiers are those little words that precede and
modify nouns; there are hundreds of them. Again, it is impossible
to know how to write a sentence unless you know what these "small
words" do and know their function is.
TWO: Possessives show
"ownership that come before
nouns." They are not part of a sentence pattern; the merely
tell you where the noun is because they are always followed by a noun.
My,
mine, your, yours, his, her, hers, its, our, ours, your, yours, their,
theirs, whose are just a few possessives.
As the
determiners do so does the possessive, it is always followed by a noun:
- my
house (possessive-my followed by the noun house)
- your
dog (possessive-your followed by the noun dog)
- his
people (possessive-his followed by the noun people)
- his
book (possessive-his followed by the noun book)
- their fence (possessive-their followed by the noun
fence)
Also,
possessives can be proper nouns, such as John's
house, Larry's dog are possessives
followed by a noun. When you spell a possessive for a proper noun,
you do not put in the apostrophe in until you have written the persons name. If the persons
name is Stevens; you make it possessive by placing the apostrophe after
the "s" because it already has the "s" in the
name. Stevens' is the proper way to make the name Stevens into a
possessive. On the other hand, if the name is without an
"s," you add the apostrophe then the "s." If
the persons name is Henry,
the possessive would be spelled Henry's.
- Henry's umbrella (possessive-Henry's followed by the noun
d umbrella)
- month's pay (possessive-month's followed by the noun
pay)
- Stevens' class (possessive-Stevens' followed by the noun
class)
- Orange County's freeways (possessive Orange County's) followed
by the noun freeways)
On the
other hand, you can have an "adjective appear in between the
"determiner" and its "noun." Please see the
four examples below under "Adjectives." In the sample
below "the" is followed by the noun
"professor."
determiner
adjective noun
the
tall
professor
Like
determiners possessives are said to "mark" nouns. That is to
say, you know a determiner will be followed by a noun.
Lastly.
Why is it important to be able to locate a noun? Unless you cannot identify
your subject in your sentence, you cannot make sure your subject/noun
agrees with your verb. Plus, if you cannot make sure you have a
sentence with a subject and verb, you will have problems using the comma
and semicolon properly in a complex or compound sentence.
Lastly,
THREE:
Adjectives are words that describe
(modify) something.
- the tall professor
- the lugubrious
lieutenant
- a solid commitment
- the unhappiest, richest man
Before
getting into other usage considerations, one general note about the
use—or over-use—of adjectives: Adjectives are delicate; don't ask them
to do more work than they should. Let your heavy-duty verbs and nouns
do the hard work of description. Be especially careful in your use of
adjectives that don't have much to say in the first place, such as interesting,
beautiful, lovely, exciting. It is your
job as a writer to create beauty and excitement and interest in your
story telling not your adjectives.
Chew on on
the uses of adjectives (modifiers) in this adjectivally loaded paragraph
from Thomas Wolfe's Look Homeward, Angel--slightly altered. (Charles
Scribner's, 1929, p. 69.)
Adjectives are highlighted in this "pink" and the
described-nouns are underlined in brown:
He remembered yet the East India
Tea House
at the Fair, the sandalwood, the turbans, and the robes, the cool interior and the smell of India tea;
and he had felt now the homesick thrill
of wet
mornings in Spring, the cherry scent,
the cool earth, the wet earth of the garden, the strong breakfast smells and
the floating snow
of blossoms. He knew the sharp excitement of hot dandelions
in young earth; in July, of watermelons bedded in sweet hay,
inside a farmer's covered wagon;
of cantaloupe and crated peaches;
and the scent of orange rind, bitter-sweet, before a fire of
coals. He knew the good smell of his father's sitting-room; of
the smooth old
leather
sofa; of the blistered varnished wood upon the hearth; of the heated calf-skin bindings;
of the flat moist plug of apple
tobacco, stuck with a red flag;
of burnt leaves in
October; of the brown autumn
earth; of honey-suckle at night; of a clean
rosy farmer
who comes weekly with printed butter, eggs, and milk; of fat limp underdone bacon and of coffee; of a bakery-oven in
the wind; of large stringbeans smoking-hot and
seasoned well with salt and butter; of a room of old pine
boards in which books and
carpets have been stored, long closed; of Concord
grapes in their long white
baskets.
Please note a few of the words in
Wolfe's paragraph above have been slightly altered for intelligibility.
In the first part of the sentence above East
and India tell us more about
the noun, "Tea House."
Although "India" is usually used as a noun in a sentence, here
it is used as a descriptive word. India wants more jobs. In
this sentence India is in a noun position at the beginning of the
sentence.
In Contrast, in the same paragraph above cool
is a typical adjective that describes the noun, interior,
one that seems more familiar to use as an adjective.
Consequently, you cannot ever know what part of speech a word is until
you see what it is doing in its sentence. If you say unusual is an
adjective without knowing what it is doing in a sentence, you may be
wrong: The unusual rule the world. Here "unusual" is in a
noun position.
Grammar
REVIEW/QUIZZES on the Web
Quiz:
Subject
Review: Adjectives
Quiz: Adjectives and Adverbs
Review: Subject Verb Agreement
Quiz: Subject Verb Agreement 1
Quiz: Subject Verb Agreement 2
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Lesson 5: Prepositions
| Action
Verbs | Linking Verbs-BE Verbs | Verb
Usage | Nouns | Prepositions
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You are
required to memorize the prepositions below. Knowing these verbs
will help students to properly identify prepositional phrases in a
sentence. You cannot use a coordinator, subordinator or semicolon
properly unless you can accurately identify prepositional phrases, which
expand a sentence and are not a major part of the sentence
. You will be expected to write a list of them during the
second week of class from memory. Memorize them in order; your mind
works in order or sequence: top to bottom, left to right, one through 20,
and A through Z, so learn them alphabetically, A-Z.
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Common
Prepositions
Time or
space
Other relationship
(position or
direction)
(addition, comparison, etc.)
about
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into
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according
to
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above
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near
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as
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across
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next
to
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as
for
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after
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off
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aside
from
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against
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on
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because
of
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along
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onto
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concerning
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along
with
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on
top of
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despite
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among
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out
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except
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around
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out
of
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except
for
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at
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outside
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excepting
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before
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over
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in
addition to
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behind
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past
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in
spite of
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below
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since
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instead
of
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beneath
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through
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like
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beside
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throughout
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of
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between
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till
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on
account of
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beyond
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to
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regarding
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by
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toward
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regardless
of
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down
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under
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unlike
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during
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underneath
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with
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for
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until
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without
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from
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up
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in
|
upon
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inside
|
within
|
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inside
of
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Source:
Fowler HR, Aaron JE. The Little, Brown Handbook., Addison,
Wesley, Longman, New York.
A
preposition connects a noun to another word in the sentence:
- N
V N
P *N
Cats make beds on pillows. (*OBJECT OF
THE PREPOSITION "on")
The
noun (pillows) is the object of the preposition (pillows) . The
preposition plus its object and any modifiers is a prepositional phrase;
hence, "Cats make beds on
pillows'." Prepositions normally come before their
objects.
Preposition
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Object of the Preposition
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on
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the
surface
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with
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great
satisfaction
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upon
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entering
the room
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from
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where
you are standing
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except for
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ten
employees
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On
the other had, when a preposition is used in a
sentence without an object (noun) at the end of a sentence; then it becomes
an adverb that tells how, what, when, where. For example, in the
sentence: He went down the road.
"Down," a preposition, has an object noun, road, so down the
road is a prepositional phrase. However, in the sentence: He went
down; "down" does not have an object noun, so it is behaves
like an adverb that tells “where” he went.
N V
Prep N
Preposition used as a
preposition:
The ball bounced down the road.
Grammar
REVIEW/QUIZZES on the Web
Quiz:
Prepositions
Quiz: Preposition 1
Quiz: Prepositions 2
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PREPOSITION USED
AS ADVERBS
N V Adverb
Prepositions can be used as an
adverb:
The ball went down.
Prepositions can help show where something took place (under, on, across,
etc.). So they can also be used as "adverbs." For
example, the ball bounced down the
road. "Down" is a preposition because it has a noun with
it, "road." But, drop the noun "road" off and
"down" becomes an adverb as show in sentence above.
Preposition
used as a preposition, creating "prepositional phrase:"
The car went down the
street.
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down = Preposition:
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Prep has a noun with it
(street).
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The car went over the curb.
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over = Preposition:
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Prep has a noun with it
(curb).
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The car went through the water.
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through = Preposition:
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It has a noun with it
(water).
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Preposition
used as an "adverb:"
The car went down.
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down = Adverb:
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Prep does not have a noun
with it (street).
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The car went over.
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over = Adverb:
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Prep has a v with it (curb).
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The car went through.
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through = Adverb:
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Prep has a noun with
it (water).
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Simply
put, if a preposition has an noun-object with
it, it creates a prepositional phrase (down the hill); however, if it
does not have a noun-object with it, the preposition becomes an
adverb--telling where.
- Such as,
the ball went over his head.
In this case "over" is a preposition because it has an object-noun
with it, "head."
- The ball
fell over. In this case "over" is an adverb because
it does not have an object-noun with it.
Prepositions
as "prepositions and adverbs"
A
prepositional phrase links a noun, pronoun, or phrase to another part of
a sentence. Because many pronouns show direction, some say that "a
preposition is anywhere a cat (thing) can go."
Look
at the Examples below; then, identify i the
"colored" word as a "preposition" or
"adverb."
The cat walked around the ball.
The cat walked around.
The
cat leaned against the box.
The cat leaned against.
The cat strolled near the box.
The cat strolled near.
The
cat sneaked across the box.
The cat sneaked across.
- The cat leapt at the box.
- The cat crept behind.
- The cat hid below.
- The cat went beneath the box.
- The cat leaned beside the box.
- The cat tip-toed by.
- The cat crawled onto the box.
- The cat strutted near.
- The cat jumped off.
- The cat marched over the box.
- The cat rambled past.
- The cat traipsed to the box.
- The cat stalked toward the box.
- The cat wiggled under.
- The cat settled upon the box.
- The cat snuggled next to the box.
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Preposition
Adverb
Preposition
Adverb
Preposition
Adverb
Preposition
Adverb
- __________
- __________
- __________
- __________
- __________
- __________
- __________
- __________
- __________
- __________
- __________
- __________
- __________
- __________
- __________
- __________
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A
preposition leads to an object, which is the part of the sentence that
receives the action of the verb. The preposition also tells how the
object is related to the rest of the sentence.
The cat walked across the ball.
The
ball is the object because it receives the action of the verb—the
walking. The preposition, across, tells how the ball is related to
the rest of the sentence. It links the fact that the cat walked with
information about where it walked: across the ball.
Besides
the ones listed above, some common prepositions are about, after,
among, between, beyond, but, despite, during, for, of, since, through,
until, and without.
On the
other hand, when a preposition is an adverb it does not have an object
after it.
The cat walked across.
Answers
to 1-16 quiz
- preposition
- adverb
- adverb
- preposition
- preposition
- adverb
- preposition
- adverb
- adverb
- preposition
- adverb
- preposition
- preposition
- adverb
- preposition
- preposition
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Grammar
Quizzes on the Web
Review
Verbs: Verbs #1 and Verbs #2
Quiz: Subject
Quiz: Prepositions
Review: Subject Verb Agreement
Quiz: Subject Verb Agreement 1
Quiz: Subject Verb Agreement 2
Quiz: Preposition 1
Quiz: Prepositions 2
Quiz: Adjectives and Adverbs
Review: Adjectives
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