English Grammar & Correct Usage

Eight Parts of Speech

1. Noun
2. Pronoun
3. Verb
4. Adverb
5. Adjective
6. Preposition
7. Conjunction
8. Interjection
 The nouns, pronouns and the verbs are
considered to be the workhorses of the sentence.

 The adjectives and the adverbs are the modifiers.

They are significant in making nouns and
pronouns definite.

 The conjunctions, interjections and the

prepositions are the connectors. They provide
transition and variety in expressing ideas.
 It is always the use of the word in the sentence
that determines what part of speech it is. Thus,
a single word may have several uses.
 The word cement may be used as a noun:
 A bag of cement.

 As a verb:
 Cement the gap between the two parties.

 As an adjective:
 A cemented road.
Noun

 A noun is a word that names a person, a place,

a thing, a quality or an idea.

 Nouns are easily recognized because they

often follow the articles the, a or an.
Examples:

The road Maria Nationalism (Idea)

A contract Tacloban
An apple Youth (quality of being young)
 Nouns are numerous but they only fall under
two types:

 The Common Nouns

 The Proper Nouns
Common Nouns

— Are nouns which may be used for any person

or object of a certain kind.

Examples:
man industry
street doctor
plant hospital
A. Abstract Nouns

— Nouns that name things which do not have

physical existence. They name qualities, ideas, and
mental concepts.

Examples:
love independence
democracy industry
intelligence diligence
B. Concrete Nouns

— Nouns that name things which have physical

existence and can be perceived by the sense of
touch, hearing, smell, sight and taste.

Examples:
pomelo chocolate bar
cake gardenia
bench fan
C. Collective Nouns

— Nouns that name classes or groups taken as

one , or collectively. Although a collective noun
refers to more than one, it is singular in form.

Examples:
fleet orchestra
team navy
family crew
D. Compound Nouns

— Nouns made up of two or more words.

These words may be written as:

 A single word - safeguard

 Two words - safe deposit
 With a hyphen - safe-conduct
Proper Nouns

 Nouns that name particular persons, places, or

things.They always begin with capital letters.

Examples:

Romeo Torres Makati Medical Center

Mayon Volcano South Supermarket
Rules on capitalization of nouns:
1. Capitalize all names of persons, real or
pseudonyms.

Examples:

 Daisy Mae Reyes

 Dr.Violeta Torres
 Jose Santamaria
 Dagwood Bumstead
2. Capitalize the names of nationalities and races.

Examples:

 Filipino
 Korean
 Caucasian
 Afro-American

 Note: white or black is not capitalized unless it

introduces a sentence
3. Capitalize the names of specific places.

Examples:

 Baguio
 Bicol
 Pasig River
 Mayon Volcano
 the Visayas
4. Capitalize the names of specific organizations.

Examples:

 Lions Club
 Philippine Marketing Association
 Knights of Columbus
 Sigma Delta Sorority
5. Capitalize the names of days of the week, months of the
year, holidays and historical or cultural events and
movements.

Examples:

 Monday
 Wednesday
 Christmas
 Independence Day
 Women’s Month
6. Capitalize personal titles when accompanied by the
names of the persons who bear them. However, titles
used without the person’s name are generally not
capitalized.

Examples:
 The late General Douglas MacArthur was loved by the
Filipinos.

 A general is one of the accused in the Aquino assasination

case.
7. Capitalize geographical directions only when
they refer to specific regions or places.

Examples:

 Southern Luzon
 The Northeast of Mindanao
 A girl from the south
 The north side of the river
8. Capitalize common nouns only when they are parts
of proper nouns.

Examples:

 Lepanto Street
 San Miguel Corporation
 University of the Philippines
 Uncle Manuel
 Pasig River
9. Capitalize the first and last words and all the important
words in the title of a book or other work.

Examples:

 The Mystery of Lilac Inn

 Behavioral Science as Applied to Business and Industry

 A Profile of the Business Administration Faculty, UE: Its

Implication for a Faculty Development Program
10. Capitalize all sacred names and the sacred books of all
religions.

Examples:

 God
 Buddha
 Jehovah
 the Bible
 the Koran
11. Capitalize the names of specific subjects, but not
those of general fields of knowledge.

Examples:

 Oral Pathology medicine

 Fundamentals of Accounting accounting
 Office Management management
Properties of Nouns
 Number - the form which distinguishes whether a noun
denotes only one thing or more than one.

1. Singular Nouns- Nouns that name only one thing,

person, place or idea.

Example:
child valley
ox city
man wife
2. Plural Nouns - Nouns that name two or more
things, persons, places or ideas.

Example:

children valleys
oxen cities
men wives
Rules for the Formation of Plural Nouns

1. The majority of nouns form their plural by

simply adding s.

Examples:

 prayer - prayers
 invitation - invitations
2. Nouns ending in s, x, z, ch and sh form their plural
by adding es to the singular form.

Examples:

 pass - passes
 beach - beaches
 crush - crushes
 tax - taxes
3. Nouns ending in o preceded by a vowel form
their plural by adding s.

Examples:

 portfolio - portfolios
 bamboo - bamboos
 taboo - taboos
4. Nouns ending in o preceded by a consonant
form their plural by adding es.

Examples:

 potato - potatoes
 cargo - cargoes
5. Nouns ending in y preceded by a vowel form
their plural by adding s alone.

Examples:

 monkey - monkeys
 bay - bays
 key - keys
6. Nouns ending in y but preceded by a consonant
form their plural by changing y to i and adding es.

Examples:

 navy - navies
 duty - duties

 Note: This rule is not true in the case of proper nouns

ending in y. Proper nouns of this type form their plurals by
adding s.
Examples:

 Cassidy - the Cassidys

 Gregory - the Gregorys
 Cathy - three Cathys
7. Certain names form their plural by changing
within the word or by adding en.

Examples:

 foot - feet
 mouse - mice
 ox - oxen
 woman - women
8. In the case of compound nouns, they form their
plural by adding s to the principal or main word.

Examples:

 son-in-law - sons-in-law
 chief-of-police - chiefs -of-police
 editor-in-chief - editors-in-chief
9. Most proper nouns or names form their plural by
adding s to the singulr form.

Examples:

 Tarrayo - the Tarrayos

 Quimbo - the Quimbos

 Note: For names that end in s, sh, ch, x and z, the rule is the
same with common nouns- they form their plurals by adding
es.
Examples:

 Santos - the Santoses

 Reyes - the Reyeses
 Vasquez - the Vasquezes
Troublesome Nouns

 These are nouns which are considered

troublesome in the sense that they are
uncountable things. They never become plural in
form. S is never added to anyone of them.

 If a plural verb is to be used, the following phrases

can be used: pieces of, slices, bits of, strands of,
etc.
 Examples:

advice scenery jewelry equipment music grass

information soap mail dust furniture

luggage bread work hair dirt

Note: Likewise considered troublesome nouns are those which
are plural in form and in use:

Examples:

belongings premises pants trousers

tongs proceeds tidings scales (for weighing)
scissors riches winnings goods
eyeglasses statistics credentials
Note: If singular verbs are desired, qualifying words
or phrases have to be used.

Examples:

 A pair of eyeglasses
 A pair of pants
Pronouns
— A pronoun is a word that is used in place of one
or more nouns, which are called antecedents. It
prevents the use of the same noun again and again.

Examples:

 A man is looking for you. He seems to be in a

hurry.
 My book is missing. Somebody must have taken it
by mistake.
 Agreement of pronoun with its antecedent:

Note: A pronoun should agree with the word it stands

for- its antecedent.

Example:

Drivers have some choice of weeks for vacation,

but they must notify this office of their preference by
May 1.
Multiple Antecedent

Example:

Kathy Cruz and Luiz Manzano went beyond

their sales quotas this March.

Rule: Kathy or Luis if taken alone is a singular

antecedent. However, when together they become
plural, so the pronoun must be plural.
Unclear Antecedent
Example:
Maria sent Julia her production figures for the previous
year. She thought they were too low.

Note: To which person does the pronoun her refer?

 Rule: The best way to clarify an ambiguous pronoun is usually

to rewrite the sentences, repeating nouns when needed.

Maria sent her production figures for the previous year

to Julia. Julia thought they were too low.
Gender-Neutral Pronouns
Example:

Each manager must make up (his, her, its, their) own

mind about stocking this item and about the quantity that
(he, she, it, they) can sell.

Note: the pronouns that stand for males are he, his, him.
The pronouns that stand for females are she, hers, her.
However, you are now faced with a problem of choosing a
pronoun for a noun that refers to both females and males.
This sentence calls for a pronoun that is neither masculine
or feminine.
Possible ways to deal with this issue:
1.) Each manager must make up his mind...
(Not all managers are men.)

2.) Each manager must make up her mind...

(Not all managers are women.)

3.) Each manager must make up his or her mind...

(This solution is acceptable but becomes
ackward when repeated more than once or twice in a
document.)
4.) Each manager must make up their minds...
(The pronoun can’t be plural when the
antecedent is singular.)

5.) Each manager must make up its mind...

(It never refers to people.)
Rule: The best solution is to make the noun plural
or to revise the passage altogether.

Examples:

Managers must make up their minds...

Each manager must decide whether...
Verbs

 These are the action words.

 Considered as the most important grammatical

relationship in any sentence is the agreement of
subject and verb.

 Great care must be taken in communication to

ensure that subjects and verbs agree in number and
person.
 Rule: The subject always determines the number
of the verb. A singular subject requires a singular
verb while a plural subject requires a plural verb.
 S-V- AGREEMENT
 Basic Rule:

A singular subject takes a singular verb, while a plural

subject takes a plural verb.
NOTE: The trick is in knowing whether the subject is singular or
plural. The next trick is recognizing a singular or plural verb.
A typical ornament for the natives of central Africa is a beaded
collar and a metal armband.
Typical ornaments for the natives of central Africa are beaded
collars and metal armbands.
 Rule 1.
If the subjects are both singular and are connected by the
words or, nor, neither/nor, either/or, and not only/but also
the verb is singular.
 My aunt or my uncle is arriving by train today.
 Neither Sarah’s report on Booker T. Washington nor
Richard’s report on Quanah Parker sounds boring to me.
 Tuskegee Institute or Harvard University offers the best
courses in Francine’s field
 Neither Juan nor Carmen is available.
 Either Kiana or Casey is helping today with stage
decorations.
Rule 1.
However, if one subject is singular and the other plural
the verb agrees with the subject nearer it.
 Neither the President nor the other officers have
come.
 Either the president or the senators of the class think
we should have a paper drive.
 Neither Jenny nor the others are available.
 Either the students or the teacher reads aloud during
the last ten minutes of each class period.
Rule 2.

 When I is one of the two subjects connected by

either/or or neither/nor, put it second and follow it
with the singular verb am.
 Neither she nor I am going to the festival.
Rule 3.

 When a singular subject is connected by or or nor

to a plural subject, put the plural subject last and
use a plural verb.
 The serving bowl or the plates go on that shelf.
 The choreographer or the dancers start a new
routine for the dance contest.
Rule 4.

As a general rule, use a plural verb with two or more

subjects when they are connected by and.
 A car and a bike are my means of transportation.
 Last year a library, a gazebo, and a museum were
built in our town. [Three things were built.]
 The secretary and treasurer of the science club is
Leona. [One person is both the secretary and the
treasurer.]
Rule 5.

 The verb is singular if the two subjects separated

by and refer to the same person or thing.
 Calamansi juice and tea is a refreshing drink.
 The secretary and treasurer of the English Club is
Sophia.
 Chicken and dumplings is a favorite Southern
dish. [Chicken and dumplings is one dish.]
Rule 6.

Intervening words/phrases (prepositional) or

interrupters: with, together with, in addition to,
including, besides or as well as do not affect
agreement.
 The machine with all its parts sells for five
hundred pesos.
 His property, including two cars and a lot is for
sale.
 The dog, who is chewing on my jeans, is usually
very good.
 Rule 6.
The politician, along with the newsmen, is expected
shortly.

His delightful sense of humor, together with his

technical skills has enabled Enrique to become
successful.

Excitement, as well as nervousness, is the cause of

her shaking.

The colors of the rainbow are beautiful.

Rule 7.
 The indefinite pronouns each, everyone, every one, everybody,
anyone, anybody, someone, and somebody are singular and
require singular verbs. Do not be misled by what follows of.
 Each of these ten-speed bicycles costs more than two hundred
dollars.
 Somebody is bringing a CD player to the birthday party on
Saturday.
 Everybody wants to be loved.
 Was everyone on the volleyball team on time for the class picture
at noon?
 No one is exempted from the test.
Rule 8.

 The pronouns few, many, several, both always take

the plural form.
 Several guests arrive with the guest of honor.
 Many of the staff write and edit on word
processors.
 Both of the candidates clearly state their positions
on the issue.
 Rule 9.
With words that indicate portions—percent, fraction, part,
majority, some, all, none, remainder, and so forth —look at the
noun in your of phrase (object of the preposition) to determine
whether to use a singular or plural verb. If the object of the
preposition is singular, use a singular verb. If the object of the
preposition is plural, use a plural verb.
 Fifty percent of the pie has disappeared.
(Pie is the object of the preposition of.)
 Fifty percent of the pies have disappeared.
(Pies is the object of the preposition.)
Rule 9. (Cont.)
 One-third of the city is
unemployed.
 One-third of the people are
unemployed.
 All of the pie is gone.
 All of the pies are gone.
 Some of the pie is missing.
 Some of the pies are missing.
 None of the garbage was
picked up.
 None of the sentences were
punctuated correctly.
 Of all her books, none have
sold as well as the first one.
Rule 10.

When either and neither are subjects, they

always take singular verbs.

 Neither of them is available to speak right now.

 Either of us is capable of doing the job.
Rule 11.

 Use a singular verb with sums of money or periods of

time.
 Ten dollars is a high price to pay.
 Three years seems like a long time
 Fifteen dollars is all we have raised so far.
 Fiveyears is the maximum sentence for that
offense.
Rule 12.
 When the relative pronoun that, which, or who is the
subject in an adjective clause, the verb in the clause
agrees with the word to which the relative pronoun
refers.
 Salma is the scientist who writes the reports.
 The Dutch painter Piet Mondrian, who was part of an
art movement known as de Stijl, was fond of the colors
red, yellow, and blue.
 A corps de ballet is a group of ballet dancers that
perform together.
Rule 13.
 Collective nouns such as team, staff, group, faculty, family,
committee, and herd may be either singular or plural
depending on their use in the sentence.
 The staff is in a meeting.
(Staff is acting as a unit here.)
 The staff are in disagreement about the findings.
(The staff are acting as separate individuals in this example.)
 The herd is stampeding.
 The police is responsible for peace and order in the community.
 The police have received their pay envelopes for the month.
Rule 14.
Even when plural in form, the title of a creative work
such as book, song, movie or painting generally takes a singular
verb.
 The Burbs is a movie starring Tom Hanks.
 Majors and Minors is a collection of Paul Laurence Dunbar’s
poetry.
 Vermilion Lotuses was among the paintings by Chinese artist
Chang-Dai-chien exhibited at the Smithsonian Institution.
 Four Saints in Three Acts, with music by Virgil Thomson and
words by Gertrude Stein, was first produced in 1934 , with
an African American cast.
Rule 15.
 When gerunds are used as the subject of a sentence
they take the singular verb form of the verb, but
when they are linked by and they take the plural
form.
 Standing in the water was a bad idea.
 Swimming in the ocean and playing drums are my
hobbies.
 Working the quills into complex geometric patterns
requires great skill and coordination.
Rule 16.

 Subjects don't always come before verbs in

questions. Make sure you accurately identify the
subject before deciding on the proper verb form to
use.
 Does Lefty usually eat grass?
 Where are the pieces of this puzzle?
 Are the scissors sharp enough?
Rule 17 & 18

 “A number of” – plural

 A number of students are waiting outside.

 “The number of” – singular

 The number of students on the waiting list is small.
Rule 19.

 Nouns singular in meaning but plural in form take a

singular verb.
 Has mathematics always been your best subject?
 Statistics requires complicated methods.
 News of the concert’s cancellation was
disappointing to the band members.
 Acoustics deals with the transmission of sound.
Rule 20.

 If one subject is used negatively and the other

affirmatively, the verb agrees with the subject stated
affirmatively.
 She, not I, is responsible.
 You, not he, are at fault.
 Burt, not Anne and Laura has borrowed the bicycle
pump.
Rule 21.

 When sentences start with “there” or “here,” the

subject will always be placed after the verb, so care
needs to be taken to identify it correctly.
 There is a problem with the balance sheet.
 Here are the papers you requested.
 There is a tree in the garden.
 Here come the bride and groom.
Rule 22.

 If the words each, every, or no come before the

subject, the verb is singular.
 No smoking and drinking is allowed.
 Every takeoff and landing is cleared with the
control tower.
 Every parent and grandparent is looking on
proudly.
 Each of the dolphins displays its particular
characteristics.
Rule 23.

 Some nouns are always plural and always take a

plural verb. (trousers, pants, slacks, shorts, briefs,
jeans, glasses, sunglasses, scissors, pliers, tweezers)
 My jeans are old.
 This year shorts are in fashion.
 Where are my scissors?
Rule 24.

Some nouns have the same singular and plural form.

They take singular or plural verb depending on the
meaning. Some nouns in this group are: species,
series, deer, fish, sheep.
 This species of monkeys lives only in India.
 There are many species of monkeys.
Rule 25.

 Generic references require plural verb.

 The rich are not always happy.
 The young like to listen to loud music.
 The old hate loud music.
 The English are distant and the French are
humorous.
Rule 26.
 Note the use of foreign plurals.

Singular Plural
 Analysis Analyses
 Thesis Theses
 Crisis Crises
 Basis Bases
 Parenthesis Parentheses
Rule 26.
 Curriculum Curricula
 Datum Data
 Bacterium Bacteria
 Medium Media
 Criterion Criteria
 Phenomenon Phenomena
 Stimulus Stimuli
 Radius Radii
 Syllabus Syllabi
Rule 27.

 A relative pronoun takes a singular or plural verb

depending on which noun it modifies.
 Lisais one of the students who have passed
with an A.
(Many students passed with an A, Lisa is one of
them.)
 Lisais the only one of my students who has
passed with an A.
(Only Lisa passed with an A.)
FINAL RULE

Remember, only the subject affects the verb!

 Adjectives and Adverbs

 They are the modifiers. Their use give shape and

precision to the words they modify. Adjectives
and adverbs limit, enhance and describe.

 The right use of the modifiers will add life and

sparkle to the sentences.
 The basic difference between the two modifiers is
in the way the word functions in the sentence

 Adjectives - are used to modify a noun or a

pronoun.

 Adverbs - are used to modify a verb, an adjective

or another adverb.
 Examples:

Adjective:

1. The salesman is diligent.

(Modifying a noun)

2. He is also friendly.
(Modifying a pronoun)
 Adverb:

1. He talks convincingly about his product.

(Modifying a verb)
2. His girlfriend seems really glad to see him.
(Modifying an adjective)
3. His sales increase considerably faster this season.
(Modifying another adverb)
 Adjectives are easily recognizable because of the
following suffixes:

1. ) able - lovable, discernable, immutable

2. ) al - minimal, theoretical, diagonal
3. ) ed - complicated, two-legged, crooked
4. ) ese - chinese, japanese, journalese
5. ) ful - hopeful, playful, remorseful
6. ) is - squeamish, selfish, fetish
7. ) less - hopeless, aimless, timeless
8.) ary – primary, visionary, elementary
9.) ous- bulbous, dolorous, marvelous
10.) y- dreary, drafty, icy
11.) ic- artistic, choleric, metric
12.) ive- indecisive, permissive, excessive
13.) en- broken, golden, wooden
14.) some- loathsome,handsome, tiresome
 Adverbs - answer the questions how, where and when.
They indicate time, place, manner and degree.

Examples:

1.) Time - early, late, soon, afterwards, never, now, formerly

2.) Place - inside, under, behind, before, over, below, up, out
3.) Manner - clumsily,ackwardly, slowly, truly, splendidly
4.) Degree - quite, entirely, altogether, somewhat, almost
 Prepositions
 A preposition is a word that introduces a phrase and
shows the relationship between its object and some
other word in the sentence.
 The following is a list of some commonly used
prepositions:
 about beside into till above beyond like to
 across by near under after down of until
 Against during out up at outside with behind for
since before except over without below in through
beneath inside throughout
 Each preposition has an object. With each object and
whatever modifiers, the preposition forms a
prepositional phrase. The phrase may be used as an
adjective, an adverb or less frequently as a noun.

 Examples:
1. Below the window is a very beautiful narra table.
(object-narra table)
2.We met each other inside a restaurant.
(object-restaurant)
3. ) The money in the cabinet belongs to a friend
who is staying with us.
(“in the cabinet” is an adjective modifying money)
4.) I took a stroll around the park.
(“around the park” is an adverb of place modifying
stroll)
5.) “Until Tomorrow” is the title of a book.
(“Until Tomorrow” is an noun used as subject of
the sentence)
 Conjunctions - They connect individual words or group
of words. They are called connectors.

 Three Kinds:

1. Coordinating
2. Correlative
3. Subordinating/ Subordinators
 Coordinating Conjunction - Connects a word to a word,
a phrase to a phrase or a clause to a clause. These words,
phrases or clauses joined by coordinating conjunction
must be equal or of the same type.

 Examples:
and but or nor for yet so

1.When we came to Paris, it was clear, and cold and lovely.

2. Civilization is a race between education and catastrophe.
 Correlative Conjunction - Conjunctions used in pairs.

Examples:

 either or, neither nor, not only, but also, both and
 whether or, as, so

1. There are two inadvisable ways to think: either

believe everything or doubt everything.
 Subordinating Conjunctions - Are words that connect,
and show the relationship between two clauses that are
not equal.
 It connects a dependent clause to an independent clause
in order to complete the meaning of the dependent
clause.

 Example:

Experience is the worst teacher; it gives the test before it

presents the lesson.
Subordinators:

 W - who, what, where, when, why, which, whether, while

 I - if
 S - since, so that
 H - how
 A - as, after, although
 B - before, because
 O - once
 U - unless, until
 T - than, that, though
 Interjection - An interjection is a part of speech that
shows the emotion or feeling of the author. These words
or phrases can stand alone or be placed before or after a
sentence. Many times an interjection is followed by a
punctuation mark, often an exclamation point.

 Here are some examples of interjections and their definitions:

 Ahem - The sound of someone clearing their throat and
means “attention” or “listen”
 Aah - This is used as a call for help or when someone is
scared
 Boo - Used to scare someone or to voice disapproval
 Eh - This is used when you didn’t hear or understand
what someone said
 Eww - Ahows dislike or disgust
 Hmm - This can mean you are thinking or hesitating
 Jeez - Could mean you can’t believe something, or you are
exasperated
 Ooh-la-la - A slightly comical way to refer to something
as fancy or special
 Oops - An exclamation people use when they accidentally
do something
 Phew - This expresses relief or that you are glad
something is over
 Whoa - This can show surprise or amazement
 Yahoo - Expresses joy or happiness
 Yeah - This shows a very strong affirmation or approval
 Yoo-hoo - This is used to get someone’s attention and is
usually used by women
 Zing - This is similar to a rim shot used in comic acts and
emphasizes a clever statement or comeback
  Here are some interjections with accompanying sentences:

 Ahh, that feels wonderful.

 Alas! I’m lost in the wilderness.
 Bah! That was a total waste of time.
 Bless you, I couldn’t have done it without you.
 It’s time for me to go. Cheerio!
 Congrats! You finally got your Master’s degree.
 Crikey! Do you ever think before you speak?
 Gesundheit! Are you starting to get a cold?
 Good grief! Why are you wearing shorts in the winter?
 Grrr! I’m going to get back at him for that.
 Humph, he probably cheated to make such good grades.
 Oh dear! I don’t know what to do about this mess.
 Pip pip! Let’s get moving.
 Shoot! I forgot my brother’s birthday.
 Well, duh! That was a stupid thing to do!
 Yowza! That is a beautiful ball gown.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not
on your own understanding; In all your ways
acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths
straight.”

- Proverbs 3:5-6