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This unit was more of a refresher course for me. I already knew the different parts of speech, partly because I am not a native speaker and grammar was the focus point of our English classes in middle school and partly because I have tutored students before and had to use most of the terms quite often. However, I sometimes had trouble explaining some of the terms and the rules on how to use them to my students so from that point of view it has been a useful.
Even so, the information in this unit is quite basic, so I had to look up more information myself to learn even more about some of the different parts of speech and how to explain them clearly.
The different parts of speech are:
1. Articles:
- Indefinite articles
- Definite article
- The zero article
This was one of the most useful parts of this unit, as I always had trouble explaining when to use the indefinite articles or the definite article. I furthermore learned that in the case of the indefinite articles it is the initial sound and not the actual spelling of the noun that decides if we use ‘a’ or ‘an’.
2. Verbs express actions (we can actually see people or things in action. Often the progressive or continues form) or states (a state of being and we cannot actually see the action happen. Usually does not take the progressive or continues form).
The part about transitive and intransitive verbs was new to me and therefor very useful.
The different forms of verbs described in this unit are very basic, but thankfully the different tenses will be discussed more thoroughly in later units.
3. Adverbs describe a verb, another adverb, an adjective or whole sentence.
Previously, I had trouble explaining where adverbs should be placed within the sentence, now I can do so more clearly.
4. Pronouns are used instead of more precise nouns
- Personal
- Possessive
- Reflexive
- Relative
I also had trouble explaining the difference between possessive adjectives and possessive pronouns, but now it is a piece of cake.
The other information about the different parts of speech in this unit were not new to me:
5. Nouns name people, animals, places, things, qualities and states.
Types of nouns:
- Proper nouns: names a specific person, place or thing. Always begins with a capital letter.
- Common nouns: generic name of an item. Does not begin with a capital letter except at beginning of the sentence.
o Concrete nouns
o Abstract nouns
o Collective nouns
o Compound nouns
We furthermore differentiate between singular and plural nouns and countable and uncountable nouns.
6. Adjectives are used to describe and modify nouns.
There are absolute / positive adjectives, comparatives and superlatives.
7. Gerund is the -ing form (present particle) of a verb used as a noun.
8. Prepositions show a relationship between a noun or pronoun and another word in the sentence.
9. Conjunctions join words of the same class or sentence clauses together.
