INTERJECTIONS

Interjection is a big name for a little word. Interjections are short exclamations like Oh!, Um or Ah! They have no real grammatical value but we use them quite often, usually more in speaking than in writing.

When interjections are inserted into a sentence, they have no grammatical connection to the sentence. An interjection is sometimes followed by an exclamation mark (!) when written.

Interjections like er and um are also known as "hesitation devices". They are extremely common in English. People use them when they don't know what to say, or to indicate that they are thinking about what to say. You should learn to recognize them when you hear them and realize that they have no real meaning.

Interjections are words used to express strong feeling or sudden emotion. They
are included in a sentence - usually at the start - to express a sentiment such
as surprise, disgust, joy, excitement or enthusiasm.

Examples:

Hey! Get off that floor!

Oh, that is a surprise.

Good!
Now we can move on.

Jeepers, that was close.

Yes and No

Introductory expressions such as yes, no, indeed and well are also classed as interjections.

Examples:

Indeed, this is not the first time the stand has collapsed.

Yes, I do intend to cover the bet.

I'm sure I don't know half the people who come to my house.

Indeed, for all I hear, I shouldn't like to. (Oscar Wilde)

Well, it's 1 a.m. Better go home and spend some quality time with the kids. (Homer Simpson)

Phew!Some interjections are sounds:

Examples:

Phew! I am not trying that again.

Humph! I knew that last week.

Mmmm, my compliments to the chef.

Ah! Don't say you agree with me. When people agree with me, I always feel that I
must be wrong. (Oscar Wilde)

DETERMINERS

Determiners are words like the, an, my, some. They are grammatically similar. They all come at the beginning of noun phrases, and usually we cannot use more than one determiner in the same noun phrase.

Articles:a, an, the

Possessive Adjectives:my, your, his, her, its, our, their, whose

Other determiners: each, everyeither, neithersome, any, nomuch, many; more, mostlittle,

less, leastfew, fewer, fewestwhat, whatever; which, whicheverboth, half,

allseveralenough

Either and Neither

Either and neither are used in sentences concerning a possible choice between two items.Either can mean one or the other (of two) or each of two.

For example:-I've got tea and coffee, so you can have either.

(One or the other)The room has a door at either end.

(Both)Neither means not the first one and not the second one.

For example:-Neither of the students were listening.

CONJUNCTION

What is a Conjunction?

You can use a conjunction to link words, phrases, and clauses, as in the following example:

I ate the pizza and the pasta.
Call the movers when you are ready.

Form

Conjunctions have three basic forms:

• Single Word
  for example: and, but, because, although
  
  
• Compound (often ending with as or that)
  for example: provided that, as long as, in order that
  
  
• Correlative (surrounding an adverb or adjective)
  for example: so...that

Function

Conjunctions have two basic functions or "jobs":

• Coordinating conjunctions are used to join two parts of a sentence that are grammatically equal. The two parts may be single words or clauses, for example:
  - Jack and Jill went up the hill.
  - The water was warm, but I didn't go swimming.
  
  
• Subordinating conjunctions are used to join a subordinate dependent clause to a main clause, for example:
  - I went swimming although it was cold.

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PREPOSITIONS

A preposition links nouns, pronouns and phrases to other words in a sentence. The word or phrase that the preposition introduces is called the object of the preposition.

A preposition usually indicates the temporal, spatial or logical relationship of its object to the rest of the sentence as in the following examples:

The book is on the table.
The book is beneath the table.
The book is leaning against the table.
The book is beside the table.
She held the book over the table.
She read the book during class.

In each of the preceding sentences, a preposition locates the noun "book" in space or in time.
Each of the highlighted words in the following sentences is a preposition:

The children climbed the mountain without fear.
In this sentence, the preposition "without" introduces the noun "fear." The prepositional phrase "without fear" functions as an adverb describing how the children climbed.

There was rejoicing throughout the land when the government was defeated.
Here, the preposition "throughout" introduces the noun phrase "the land." The prepositional phrase acts as an adverb describing the location of the rejoicing.

The spider crawled slowly along the banister.
The preposition "along" introduces the noun phrase "the banister" and the prepositional phrase "along the banister" acts as an adverb, describing where the spider crawled.

The dog is hiding under the porch because it knows it will be punished for chewing up a new pair of shoes.
Here the preposition "under" introduces the prepositional phrase "under the porch," which acts as an adverb modifying the compound verb "is hiding."

The screenwriter searched for the manuscript he was certain was somewhere in his office.
Similarly in this sentence, the preposition "in" introduces a prepositional phrase "in his office," which acts as an adverb describing the location of the missing papers.

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IRREGULAR VERBS

In English, regular verbs consist of three main parts: the root form (present), the (simple) past, and the past participle. Regular verbs have an -ed ending added to the root verb for both the simple past and past participle. Irregular verbs do not follow this pattern, and instead take on an alternative pattern.

Irregular verbs are an important feature of English. We use irregular verbs a lot when speaking, less when writing. Of course, the most famous English verb of all, the verb "to be", is irregular.

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REGULAR VERBS

Regular verbs are conjugated to easy to learn rules.

They all have a base form. e.g. to look

A gerund (ing) form where ing is added to the end of the verb. e.g. looking

An -s form where s is added to the end of the verb. e.g. looks

A past tense form where ed is added to the end of the verb. e.g. looked

A past participle form where ed is added to the end of the verb. e.g. looked

Examples:

•"If I have a thousand ideas and only one turns out to be good, I am satisfied."
(Alfred Nobel)


•"I've searched all the parks in all the cities and found no statues of committees."
(Gilbert K. Chesterton)


•"I had no idea of the character. But the moment I was dressed, the clothes and the make-up made me feel the person he was. I began to know him, and by the time I walked onto the stage he was fully born."
(Charlie Chaplin)


•"For a long time now I have tried simply to write the best I can. Sometimes I have good luck and write better than I can."
(Ernest Hemingway)


•"Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better."
(Samuel Beckett)

VERBS

verb (vûrb) n.
A part of speech that expresses existence, action, or occurrence.

Remember question one for identifying subjects? "What's going on (or being described)?" Answer that and you've found your verb. And like a subject, a sentence has got to have one!

Let's look at a few more examples:

1.Lassie ran into the burning building.
2.The beagle stepped on its ears.

Got the idea? Now let's look at verbs that are a little different. Some verbs don't show action. Instead, they link the subject to some other information: these are called, big surprise, linking verbs . Common linking verbs are "to be" forms--such as, is, am, are, was, were--and the verbs appear, become, feel, look, seem.

Examples are:

1.She was fond of her animals.
2.Pierre is a fine beast.
3.She looks like she has been in a fight with a cat.
4.It feels damp in the grass.

In identifying the verb, you also need to look for the helpers, since they are considered part of the verb. The helpers (aka auxiliaries) include: is, am, are, was, were, been, has, have, had, do, does, did, may, can, might, shall, will, should, could, would.

I've marked the complete verb in the following:

1.I was barking before breakfast.
2.He should have let me out of the house.
3.I tried to wait for him to get up.
4.He should not have stayed in bed so long.
5.I barked and waited until. . . .