Summary
Parts of speech
adjectivebig, small, good, bad
adverbquickly, again, very
conjunctionand, that
determinerthe, my
helping verbwill, can
interjectionwow, yes, um
noundog, idea
prepositionin, with, of, by, to
verbsmile, eat, give
Abbreviations
adjectiveaj
adverbav
clausecl
conjunctioncj
ING phraseing
interjectionij
nounn
prepositionp
prepositional phraseprep
TOphraseto
verbv
WH phrasewh
Phrasesexamplefunctions as
clausethat grammar is funn
determinermy mother’s skinny dog’sd
INGlearning grammarn, aj
nounthe girln
prepositionalin my roomaj, av
TOto learn grammarn, aj, or av
WHwhoever knew hern, aj, or av
Verb Forms
presenteat / eats
pastate
INGeating
HAVEeaten
Complex Verbs
progressive (past/present)was/is eating
perfecthad/has eaten
passivewas/is eaten
Be: be / am / are / is / was / were / being / been
Glossary of Grammatical Terms
1st person pronoun: the pronoun is the speaker: I, we
2nd person pronoun:the pronoun is being spoken to: you
3rd person pronoun:the pronoun is someone outside the conversation: he, she, they
adjective: a word that can describe a noun: good dog, That idea is bad.
adverb: a word that can describe a verb (run quickly) / adjective (too bad) / another adverb (very quickly)
antecedent: something before pronoun that explains it: Alejandra likes Samuel because he’s nice.
appositive: a noun that explains the noun before it: My pet frog, Samuel, is green.
case: the quality of a pronoun that tells which noun-jobs it can do: subjective, objective, reflexive, possessive
clause: words that contain a subject and a verb: Alejandra ate pizza, and Samuel ate flies.
comparative adjective: adjective + er:smaller dog
complex verb: progressive, prefect, or passive verb
compound sentence:sentence with >1 clause: Alejandra ate pizza, and Samuel ate flies.
compound subject:conjunction links two subjects: Alejandra and Fishtuna splashed.
compound verb:conjunction links two verbs: Alejandra jumped and splashed.
conjunction: links individual words / clauses: Samuel and Alejandra, tried but failed, high or low
contraction: word containing apostrophe that acts as two words grammatically: We’re = pronoun + verb.
degree adverb: adverb modifying an adjective or another adverb: very slow, very slowly
determiner: word that goes in front of noun to tell which one / how many: the frog, Samuel’s frog, three frogs
direct object: see “object”
feminine pronoun: pronoun that represents a female:she
fragment: incomplete sentence, often used to answer questions: What’s your favorite food? Flies.
gender:the quality of a pronoun that tells whether it’s male or female: masculine, feminine, neuter
HAVE form: form of verb used after have: Samuel has eaten / has written / has been…
helping verb: goes in front of another verb to alter its meaning: Samuel should eat flies.
indirect object: the person who receives the direct object: Samuel baked Alejandra a cake.
intransitive verb: has no objects: Samuel eats.
interjection: word that expresses mood, does not connect grammatically: Ouch, that hurt!
INGphrase:ING word + objects and/or adverbs:Those flies aresquirming around in Samuel’s mouth.
INGword:verb + ing:Samuel eats squirming flies.
irregular:doesn’t follow the usual pattern: more fun, not funner
linking verb: links noun to adjective: Alejandra feels good.
masculine pronoun:pronoun that represents a male: he
neuter pronoun:pronoun that isn’t male or female: it
noun: a word that can be a subject or object: Dogs like America.
noun of address: the noun that says who you’re talking to: That’s a good idea, Samuel!
number: the quality of a pronoun that tells how many it represents: singular, plural
object: noun that comes after the verb, whichthe verb happens to: Samuel eats flies.
object of a preposition:noun that comes after a preposition: in a misty forest
objective pronoun:pronoun that can be an object: She likes him; he likes you; you like me.
part of speech:grammatical category of a word (noun, verb), showing how it fits into sentences.
passive verb:be + verb + ed/en: Samuel was eaten.
perfect verb:have + verb + ed/en: Samuel has eaten flies.
person:the quality of a pronoun that says how it relates to the speaker:1st person, 2nd person, 3rd person
phrasal adverb:adverb needed to define verb: kick out
phrasal verb: verb that needs an adverb: kick out
phrase: 2 or more words that act as one: Mr. Krueger, snow day, with a monkey
plain adjective: adjective that isn’t comparative or superlative: small dog
possessive pronoun: pronoun that represents something owned / possessed: Mine is faster.
predicate: main verb of the sentence:Samuel loves to jump and dance.
preposition: words that go in front of nouns to make prepositional phrases: in school, with a monkey
prepositional phrase: preposition + noun; tells where / when something is: in the house, at night
progressive verb:be + verb + ing: Samuel is dancing.
pronoun: special, short nouns that take the place of other nouns: I like you. She likes me.
plural pronoun: pronoun that stands for >1 person: us, them
reflexive pronoun:pronoun used as object when subject is same person: Samuel surprised himself.
sentence: 1 or more clauses; begins w capital letter; ends w period: Alejandra ate pizza, and Samuel ate flies.
simple verb:not a complex verb: Samuel parties.
singular pronoun:pronoun that stands for 1 person: I, she
subject: word that shows who does the action: Those frogs dance to hiphop.
subject side: subject & words helping it; usually comes before verb side: Those frogs dance to hiphop.
subjective pronoun: pronoun that can be the subject: I, she
superlative adjective:adjective + est:smallest dog
TOphrase: to + verb: Samuel likes to dance.
transitive verb: has one or more objects: Samuel eats flies.
verb: word that shows the action: Those frogs dance to hiphop.
verb side: verb and words helping it; usually comes after subject side: Those frogs dance to hiphop.
WHphrase: phrase beginning with WHword: He who smelt it dealt it.
WHword: word that creates a WHphrase: who/ever, what/ever, how, that
Frog Grammar 1: Clauses
SUBJECT SIDEVERB SIDE
#1Samuelparties.
n . v
#2Those green frogsdance to hiphop all night.
n . v
#3Alejandra and Fishtunajumped and splashed in their favorite pond.
n cj n . v cj v
#4Fishtunaswam around and chased crocodiles,
n . v cj v
but Alejandramainly sat and caught flies with her tongue.
cj n . v cj v
Who cares about grammar? Most sentences have a subject side, which tells who’s doing something, and then a verb side, which tells what’s being done (#1-2)© One word on the subject side, a noun called the subject, doesall the action; the other words just add extra information (#2). One word on the verb side, the verb, is the action; the other words just add extra information (#2). This verb = main verb or predicate; sentence can have other verbs: I love to dance. ©reate sentences like this on your blank chart; label subject & verb. A subject + a verb = a clause; all the sentences above have 1 clause except which?Now can you see what Garlicia did wrong?Conjunctions – and, or, but, so – can link individual words (#3); © & label cjs; or whole clauses (#4)©
Summary: Clause = subject(does the action) + verb(is the action): Those frogsdance all night.
SUBJECT SIDEVERB SIDE
Frog Grammar 2: Words & Phrases
SUBJECT SIDEVERB SIDE
#1Sally Mander Sallywent with Alejandra to the big game.
n n . v
#2“Dunking‘s easy!” Samuel says to impress them.
n .v
#3“(You)Do it,” Sally replies. Uh-oh, he wasn’t expecting that.
n .v
#4“Ummmm… Iwill(dunk the ball)later!”he says, but they laugh.
ij n v
#5“Yeah, whatever!”
ij ij .
Aphraseis2+ words acting like 1 (#1); ©underline. The reverse is a contraction: what sounds like 1 word is really 2 (#2)© Sometimes words are left out (implied/understood), like in a command (#3)©, or when answering questions with fragments (#4)© Interjections – yeah, yo, yes, no, darn, um, haha, ouch, oops, hello, goodbye – don’t have to be part of a sentence (#5); © & label ijs.
Summary: Phrasesact like 1 word (Mrs. Frog farted); words can be are left out ((You) Stop picking your nose!).
SUBJECT SIDEVERB SIDE
Frog Grammar 3: Determiners
SUBJECT SIDEVERB SIDE
#1That teacherstinks.
n .. v
#2Samuel’s teachersrock.
n .. v
#327 studentsbreakdance.
n .. v
#4None of the teachersinterfere.
n .. v
#5Some (teachers)even join in.
n .. v
#6Iam your father’s brother’s stupid cousin’s teacher.
nv
Some nouns need to be part of a noun-phrase beginning with a determiner, which tells which one / how many we’re talking about (#1-3). © using determiners from the box below.
the, a, an (aka “articles”)a few, a bunch of, all the,
my, your, his, her, its, our, their, whosemost of the, lots of, a lot of
Samuel’s, Mr. Krueger’s, the students’…all my, all those, those three,
this, that, these, those, whichtoo much, too many, how much…
no, few, some, many, several, all, each, every
1, 2, 3…
Any noun (Mr. Krueger) + ’s (Mr. Krueger’s) = a determiner (#2)© There are a bunch of determiner-phrases you use all the time (#4)© You can put multiple’s-ds in a row (#6);longest d-phrase.Many ds can act like ns all by themselves, with the real n being implied (#5)© Box around all ds in this ¶.
Summary: determiners tell which noun is meant (the frog, a frog, my frog, Mr. Krueger’s frog).
SUBJECT SIDEVERB SIDE
Frog Grammar 4: Nouns
SUBJECT SIDEVERB SIDE
#1Using his underwater laser,SamuelVaporizesOctopi.
SUBJECTVERBOBJECT
n . v n
#2Samuel’s band, The Froginators,played metal.
n n . v n
#3His guitar-shreddingmelted everyone’s faces, dude!
n . v n n
#4:At the party after the concert, Samuelpours Wilmasome rootbeer.
n . v n n
2 main jobs of nouns: subject, the one doing the verb (#1-4) and object, the one the verb is happening to (#1-3)© Grammatical objects may ≠ “objects” in the everyday sense (#1-4). Minor job: show who (indirect object) receives the(direct)object (#4)© Though the v is next to the indirect obj, it has more of a directlogical link to the direct obj.When there’s only 1 obj, is it dir or ind? – which is it more like? Minor job: show who you’re talking to (noun of address; to “address” someone means to speak to him/r) (#3)© Minor job (appositive): explain the previous noun (#2)© These minor jobs, unlike subjects/objects, are optional (#1-4).
Summary: Subject= nounbefore verb thatdoesverb; object =noun after verb thatverbhappens to:
Samuel (subject)vaporizesoctopi (object).
SUBJECT SIDEVERB SIDE
Frog Grammar 5: Pronouns
SUBJECT SIDEVERB SIDE
#1: subjectiveAlejandra drums. Sherocks!
n . v
#2: objectiveSamueladmires her.
n . v n
#3Everyonelikesher style.
n . v n
#4Well, almost - some(people/fans/frogs)dislike it.
n . v n
Let me tell a story about Alejandra without pronouns… Pronouns are special nouns that don’t mean anything by themselves but stand in for other nouns to make the sentence shorter and quicker (#1-2)© We use context-clues (antecedents) to decide which noun the pronoun is substituting for (#1). Most pronouns have different versions: for me & you(person), for boys & girls(gender), for singular & plural(number), and for subjects & objects(case):
1st 2nd3rd1st2nd3rd
subjective: I you hesheit we you they
objective: me you himherit us you them
reflexive:myselfyourselfhimselfher-it-ourselvesyourselvesthemselves
possessive: mine yours hishers ours yours theirs
How many plural 3rd-person pns are there? Masculine subjective pns? ©Purpose of reflexive? Why is her a pn in #2 but a d in #3?Sentence using his as d and pn. Some other pronouns: others, none, everything/-one/-body, anything/-/-, something/-/-, nothing/-/-(#3)©
Summary: pronouns (I, me, you, he, she, it) do the same jobs as other nouns but are quicker (She likes him).
SUBJECT SIDEVERB SIDE
Frog Grammar 6: Verbs
SUBJECT SIDEVERB SIDE
#1: intransitiveSamuelgrins.
n . v
#2: transitiveHelikesWilma.
n. v n
#3: linkingSamuel notices that shelooksthirstyrushes to get her a drink before anyone else can!
n. v aj
#4Alejandrawon’t be pleased!
n . v v n
Most verbs show the subject’s action (#1-2). Some (transitive) verbs happen to a noun, the object, which comes after them (#2)©; some (intransitive) don’t (#1)© Some (linking) don’t show an action; they describe the subject by linking it to an adjective (#3)© In-meansnotas ininactive/incorrect/invisible. Intransitive verbs donothave any objects. Many verbs can do more than 1 of those patterns – example?
The verb “be”, older than the pyramids, is unlike any other word in English. There are different versions:
present form:I amyou arehe/she/it iswe/you/they are
past form:I wasyou werehe/she/it waswe/you/they were(#1-3)©
What do any of those have to do with be?
Helpingverbs – do, did, will, would, may, might, can, could, must, should,have to, need to, ought to, be going to, wanna, gotta; + negative forms like don’t, didn’t, won’t – affect verbs’ meaning (#4)© 1-word v = “have to”/“ought to” / “be going to”? Hs are similar to adverbs; hs must go before v and sometimes change its form: note how #4 would be different if it used the av definitely instead of the vmay.
Summary: Verbs can have nothing after them (smile) or a noun (eat an apple) or an adjective (feel happy). Helping verbs change the verb’s meaning (will smile, did smile).
SUBJECT SIDEVERB SIDE
Frog Grammar 7: Adjectives
SUBJECT SIDEVERB SIDE
#1Samuelbought a fly jacket.
n . v n
#2”My new, hipper wardrobewill impressmy friends!”
n . v v n
#3Alejandrahas the cutest new lilly-green i-frog.
n . v n
#4Her girlfriendsare jealous!
n . v aj
#5“Only the strong (warrior-princesses)survive!”they scream, as they charge with their battle-axes.
n . v
Adjectives come between a noun and its determiner and tell what the noun is like (#1a-3)© Unlike any of the parts of speech we’ve studied so far, adjectives are optional: you can take them out, and the sentence still makes sense (#1-3). Now try taking out nouns, verbs, and determiners. Exception: whena (linking) verb links the aj to its n, the aj isn’t optional (#4)© You can string adjectives together (#2-3). Most ajs in blanks in 30s: “The ___ dog chased the ___ cat.” Aj + –er(smellier) = thecomparativeform; aj +–est (smelliest) = thesuperlativeform;theplainform is the root, without–er/–est (smelly) (#1-3)© Trisyllabic and longer adjectives (“interesting”) use more/most.Monosyllabic adjective withirregular(doesn’t follow the usual pattern)comparative/ superlativeforms? The n after an aj can be implied (#5)©
Summary: adjectives describe nouns (a happy frog, America is big).
SUBJECT SIDEVERB SIDE
Frog Grammar 8: Adverbs
SUBJECT SIDEVERB SIDE
#1Mild Samuelparties mildly.
n . v av
#2Alejandraparties hard.
n . v av
#3Those totally insane tadpolesparty too hard!
n . v av
#4At one of her wild parties, Grannykicked Samuel out for being lame.
n . v n av
#5”If you saw my fly moves, youwouldnot believe your young eyes, Sonny!”
n v av v n n
#6ThenFishtunatexted himabout a party on the other side of the pond.
av n v n
Reminder: adjectives are optional words that describe nouns; adverbs are optional words that describe verbs (#1)© Most adverbs come from adjectives plus the suffix –ly (#1-2). Av that doesn’t end in –ly? Word that ends in –ly but isn’t av? – what is it? Some(degree) adverbs – very, really, extremely, totally, pretty, somewhat, less, as, more – modify adjectives or other adverbs (#3)© Phrasal verbs –kick out, shut down, throw up, sell out, ask out –need phrasal avs to express their meaning(#4)© notis an unusual adverb(#5)© Avs can come before the subject (#6)© #7 on back.
Summary: adverbs describe verbs (eat quickly), adjectives (very happy), or other adverbs (very quickly).
SUBJECT SIDEVERB SIDE
#7: ChallengeSamueldanced too hard & split his righteously fly pants.
Frog Grammar 9: Clauses inside Clauses
SUBJECT SIDEVERB SIDE
#1Alejandrathinks (that) Samuel is cute stuff.
n . v clause:n n
#2“That he’s full of himselfisquite obvious!”
clause:n .v av aj
#3“It’s so obvious that he’s full of himself!”
n.v av aj clause:n
#4“Youcan just tell he thinks he’s all that!”
n. v av v clause:n
#5Unfortunately Although she likes him, shewon’t call him.
av clause:av n. v v n
A whole clause (subject + verb) can be a single phrase (single part of speech) inside a larger clause (#1). The mini-clause has its own subject-side and verb-side (#1). The mini-clause starts with the conjunction that, which is sometimes – counterexample – optional (#1). The mini-clause is doing the job of a noun, which you can see by taking it out and putting a noun (stuff) in its place (#1). The mini-clause is the object of the verb, thinks (#1). Certain verbs – think, believe, know, love, hate, guess, suspect, imagine – can take whole clauses as their objects; these are the verbs you use when discussing thoughts or ideas© You can use a mini-clause as the subject, but it’s more common to start with it and put the mini-clause at the end (#2-3)© This delayed subject is a noun-job we haven’t seen before. You can put a clause inside a clause inside a clause… (#4) – most in 30 sec. Certain conjunctions – because, since, although, if, whether, before, while, after, until – allow you to use a mini-clause as an adverb (#5)©
Summary:You can put a clause inside a clause: You know (that) you like me.
SUBJECT SIDEVERB SIDE
Frog Grammar 10: WH
SUBJECT SIDEVERB SIDE
#1Alej. met a fish. + Thefishtaught her to surf. = Alejandra met a fishwho(the fish) taught her to surf.
n.v n wh:aj
#2Sherides waves (that) other surfers fear (the waves).
n. v n wh:aj
#3She sees stuff. + She conquers thestuff. = Sheconquerswhatever she sees(stuff).