Nouns

• A noun is a word that names a person, place, thing, or quality.

EXAMPLES: Daedalus was a genius. Inventors need patience.

Circle the nouns in each sentence.

1. Daedalus was a famous inventor in ancient Greece.

2. Courage is necessary, fear is natural.

3. Yousuf Karsh^ a Canadian photographer, has photographed many celebrities.

4. Mary_VVaJsh is the creator of T h i s Hour tos 22 M i n u t e s .

5. The greatest library of the ancient world was in Alexandria, Egypt.

6. Donovan Bailey, of Oakville, Ontario, is among the greatest athletes in the world.

7. Buffy Ste. Marie is a successful Canadian singer.

8. Oliva Poole invented the Jolly Jumper.

9. Innovations like that require creative thinking.

10. Tejry_Fox, a runner who lost a l e g j o cancer, ran 5342 km across Canada.

11. The H a l i f a x Gazette was the first newspaper in Canada.

12. The airport in Moncton was closed due to a storm.

13. Chicoutimi is a city on the Saguenay River.

14. Icarus flew too near the sun.

15. Anger won't solve the problem.

16. They have promised theft children a t r j p j o Cajiada's Wonderland.

17. Superb is a town in the pjpvince of Saskatchewan.

18. France grows more food than any other country in Western Europe.

19. The Minotaur terrified the youth of Athens.

20. Pride sometimes leads to a fall.

21. Emily Carr painted the forests of British Columbia.

22. Kindness is its own reward.

23. Are myths true stories?

24. The maze at Crete held a monster.

25. Marie Curie didn't need patents to prove her genius.

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Proper Nouns

• There are two main classes of nouns: common nouns and proper nouns.

• A common noun names any one of a class of objects.

EXAMPLES: child, tree, home

• A proper noun names a particular person, place, or thing. It begins with

a capital letter.

EXAMPLES: Margaret Laurence, Chilliwack, House of Commons

A. Underline the common nouns, and circle the proper nouns in each sentence.

1. < ^ t e ^ r ^ a ^ ^ t e h e ^ v a n ) i s close to the border b e t w e e r r ^ n a d a ^ )

and theCQnited S t a t e ^

2. Do you remember the story about Scrooge and Tiny Tim?

3. <Canmor|) is a town in the(Rocky Mounta ins>f (kjberta^

4. In ganada^the weather is a favourite topic of conversation.

5. The^Great Sphinxes the most famous monument i n c E g y p t ^

B. Write a common noun suggested by each proper noun.

1. Panama 6. Alexander Graham Bell

7. North America

8. December

4. Emily Carr 9. Toronto

5. Pacific

2. Treasure Island

3. Alberta

10. Rocky Mountains

C. Write a proper noun suggested by each common noun.

1. continent 6. building

2. mountain 7. month

3. hotel 8. premier

4. hero 9. magazine

5. inventor 10. rock star

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Collective Nouns

• A collective noun is a noun that is singular in form, but refers to a collection

of things or persons. A collective noun usually requires a singular verb.

EXAMPLE: A herd of cows is grazing on my lawn.

A. Write a collective noun to describe the following collection of things or

people.

1. birds

2. musicians hanj, uroleSt^

3. baseball players "hta^

4. lions £ r l d l

6. soldiers

7. whales

5. musical instruments set

8. listeners

9. kids in school

10. baby kittens .

B. Write meaningful sentences using the collective nouns in brackets.

Remember to use a singular verb. J - f i o 0 5 & F / v / £ '

1. (crowd)

2. (jury)

3. (trio)

4. (swarm)

5. (collection)

6. (cluster)

7. (gang)

8. (bundle)

9. (committee)

10. (bunch)

11. (league)

12. (band)

13. (family)

14. (community)

15. (couple)

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Pronouns

• A subject pronoun is used in the subject of a sentence or after a linking verb.

EXAMPLES: We are going to the tournament. The woman in the suit is she.

• An object pronoun is used after an action verb or a preposition.

EXAMPLE: Akio threw him the bal l , and he threw it to me.

• A possessive pronoun is used to show ownership of something.

EXAMPLES: The red shoes are mine. Those are my red shoes.

• An indefinite pronoun does not refer to a specific person or thing.

EXAMPLE: Someone should take that history class.

A. Underline each correct pronoun.

1. Stephanie spoke to Eriko and ( I , me) about it.

2. He will let (I , me) know when he f inds out.

3. Please bring Anna and (I , (jve)) some cool water.

4. Mr. Singh praised <ffiej) hers) essay.

5. Cala and (he, him) were late today.

6. Was it G|hg} her) who wrote this poem?

7. I don't believe I can communicate with (they.Cjjiem^)

8. Mona took Doug and (we, us) to work.

9. He told Farid and (she.Cher) about the problem.

10. Don't you think(f j iorneone} us) should help?

B. Write sentences using the following pronouns:

1. theirs

2. you and I

3. you and me

4. them

5. anyone

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Action Verbs

• A verb is a word that expresses action, being, or state of being.

EXAMPLE: Patrice went to the store.

• An action verb is a verb that expresses action.

EXAMPLE: The track star ran fast.

A. Underline the action verb in each sentence.

1. Watch your favourite TV program.

2. Andrea carefully checked her new computer.

3. Jason, prove your courage.

4. A wood fire burned in the huge fireplace.

5. This button fell from my sweater.

6. The Harlem Globe Trotters play basketball throughout the world.

7. The musicians practised for the concert.

8. The waves dashed the light craft against the rocks.

9. A sentence expresses a complete thought.

10. Everybody enjoys camping in the summer.

11. This long, narrow trail leads to the mountaintop.

12. It snowed almost every day in February.

13. We hiked along the trail through the Rockies.

B. Replace the underlined words in the following sentences with more vivid verbs.

1. Dyani ale. a sandwich.

2. The eagle was near her nest.

3. Early sett lers had many hardships.

4. The boy feN to the valley floor.

5. We walked along the beach for an hour.

6. The wind told its secret.

7. The dishes broke during the earthquake.

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Verb Tenses

• The tense of a verb tells the t ime of the action or being. There are three

simple tenses—present, past, and future.

• Present tense tel ls about what is happening now.

EXAMPLES: Maura is busy. Maura studies hard.

• Past tense tel ls about something that happened before.

EXAMPLE: Dmitri was sick yesterday.

• Future tense tells about something that will happen. The auxiliary verbs vffl.

and shall are used in future tense.

EXAMPLES: Gaetan will take the test tomorrow. I shall keep my word.

A. Complete each sentence by writing a verb in the tense shown in parentheses.

1. (future) Pierre tomorrow.

2. (future) Kai her up at the airport.

3. (past) We into the brook yesterday.

4. (past) Karl reservations for tomorrow night.

5. (present) Andrea my friend.

6. (future) We a poem about courage.

7. (present) I very excited about Jean's visit.

8. (past) Margaret Toby last week.

9. (present) Juan his birthday.

10. (present) Indira her dog.

B. Write present, past, or future for the tense of each underlined verb.

1. Classes will end next month. ~f~C\ ~~f~urc.

2. We studied hard yesterday. Otj 5 7^

3. Final exams will start soon. '^wftArc

4. I review every evening. p^tSC^ 7T"

5. This method worked at midterm. ^ Q ^ i ~f~~

6. I gol A's on my tests then. p a S ~f~

7. Minowa studies with me. DrCMsi 7/ 1

— / _ > J Z 8. We will study every evening this week. ~TUTij f&

9. I hardly studied last year.

10. My grades showed it, too. p&. J T -f

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Subject-Verb Agreement

• A singular subject requires a singular verb.

EXAMPLE: Alison spread the photos on the floor. j<3j p k ^ s j * / / f A * 5r<c&.

• A plural subject requires a plural verb.

EXAMPLE: Her grandmother and her uncle were born in Vancouver.

• Collective nouns usually require a singular verb.

EXAMPLE: My family speaks several languages.

• When a phrase containing a plural noun separates a singular subject and a

verb, the verb is singular.

EXAMPLE: The proper treatment of diseases is very important.

A. Underline the subject and the verb in the following sentences. Write Y if they

agree, and N if they do not agree.

1. The cat were a symbol of good luck..

2. The team play ball every Friday evening. f y ^ r

3. The internment of Japanese Canadians during the War was wrong.

4. The collection of photos were extremely impressive. CSL.

5. A group of teenagers are making the presentation. / N v

B. Create sentences using the subjects and verbs provided. Be sure that the

subject and verb agree.

1. (soldier) (march)

2. (group) (stay)

4. (gang) (work)

6. (media) (promote)

7. (women) (invent)

8. (brothers) (travel)

9. (committee) (organize)

10. (band) (play)

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Adjectives

• An adjective is a word that modifies a noun or a pronoun.

EXAMPLE: He likes chocolate cookies.

• Adjectives usually tell what kind, which one, or how many.

EXAMPLES: bright penny, these oranges, twelve c lassmates

• A proper adjective is an adjective that is formed from a proper noun.

It always begins with a capital letter.

EXAMPLES: Asian continent, Russian language

A. Write three adjectives to describe each noun.

1. mountains

2. weather

3. journey

4. glider

5. photos

B. Underline each adjective. Circle each proper adjective.

1. This old photo is faded.

2. We have read an interesting article about Nunavut recently.

3. This heavy traff ic creates many dangerous situations.

4. The eager Nova Scotian sailors collected odd souvenirs at every port.

5. The tired Canadian soldiers marched on through Normandy.

6. This is my favourite picture from the album.

7. The solitary guard walked along the lonely beach.

8. Jacques-Henri Lartigue was born in the nineteenth century.

9. These damp matches will not str ike.

10. Ravi made Belgian waffles for breakfast.

11. Will you light those candles, please?

12. A red bird chirped loudly in the tall t ree.

13. The heavy African elephant sat down slowly.

14. A tour bus stopped at the pirate's cove.

15. The taj j model wore Italian leather.

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Adverbs

• An adverb is a word that modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb.

EXAMPLES: The rain poured steadily. His memories were extremely vivid.

She responded very quickly.

• An adverb usually tells how, when, where, or how often.

• Many adverbs end in Jy.

A. Underline each adverb.

1. The person read slowly, but clearly and expressively.

2 . Zissou is driving too recklessly.

3. The airplane started moving slowly but quickly gained speed.

4. I spoke top harshly to my friends.

5. How did all of you get here?

6. I looked everywhere for the family photo.

7. The man stopped suddenly and quickly turned around.

8. Stacy read that poem too rapidly.

9. Serena takes pictures well.

10. Montsch was sleeping soundly.

B. Write two adverbs that could be used to modify each verb.

1. read

2. think

3. walk

4. eat

5. sing

6. speak

7. play

8. study

9. write

10. look

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Prepositions To • A preposition is a word that shows the relationship of a noun or a pronoun to

another word in the sentence.

EXAMPLES: Nipikti walked into the Co-op. He put his carving on the desk.

• These are some commonly used prepositions:

about against at between from of through under

above among behind by in on to upon

across around beside for into over toward with

Underline each preposition in the sentences below.

1. Can you draw a map of Nunavut?

2. Who is the owner of this carving?

3. Tundra is common j n the Arctic.

4. For whom are you waiting?

5. At the meeting, he spoke.to me about your artistic ability.

6. Our company is proud of its industrious employees.

7. A smal l amount of that soup is all I want.

8. We went to the house at the end of the street.

9. Most of the spectators stood during the last quarter of the game.

10. These boots of mine are too tight at the heel.

11. We ate dinner at the new restaurant near the river.

12. They stood on the porch and watched for the mail carrier.

13. Anyone can succeed with hard work.

14. We walked behind that group.

15. Astronaut Roberta Bondar was the first Canadian woman in space.

16. A group of people on horses rode behind the band.

17. We walked to the Co-op during the lunch hour.

18. Nipikti sat on the comfortable rock.

19. There is a bridge across the river in our town.

20. The ball was knocked oyer the fence and into the pond.

21. One can observe a strange world below the surface of an ocean.

22. The rocket quickly disappeared behind the clouds.

23. The captain of the team drank from the Stanley Cup.

24. Please sit between us.

25. This package is for you.

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Contractions

• A contraction is a word formed by joining two other words.

• An apostrophe shows where a letter or letters have been omitted.

EXAMPLE: had not = hadn't

• Won't is an exception.

EXAMPLE: Will not = won't

A. Write the contraction for each pair of words.

1. did not 11. they have - f - k e c ^ \Jt

2. was not 12. would not (/v>0 (A [({a '-f-

3. we are ( i 3Jwi l l not

4. is not 14. does not

5. who is 15. were not

6. had not 16. there is

7. 1 will X M I 17. could not

8, 1 am I 18. 1 have r v e .

9. it is 19. she will

10. do not don f 20. they are

B. Underline each contraction. Write the words that make up the contraction on

the lines.

1. They'll want to look at the piano, in case there are scratches. T"Kgo j ^ ) \ \ \

2. If j f s in good condition, Elizabeth will buy it. 1 T~ I >̂

3. Elizabeth's an excellent piano player. S \ ̂ oh^A^- '\ 5

4. Her fr iends think she'll earn a university scholarship with her talent._

5. Dawn doesn' t play the piano, but she's a great athlete, (joti , )$

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Independent and Subordinate Clauses

• A clause is a group of words that contains a subject and a predicate. There are

two Kinds of clauses: independent clauses and subordinate clauses.

• An independent clause can stand alone as a sentence because it expresses a

complete thought.

EXAMPLE: The students came to class.

A. Underline the independent clause in each sentence below.

1. Sloane will be busy because he is studying.

2. I have only one hour that I can spare.

3. The project must be finished when I get back.

4. lyabo volunteered to do the work that needs to be done.

5. The work is going too slowly for us to finish on t ime.

6. Before everyone started to help, I didn't think we could finish.

7. What else should we do before we relax?

8. Since he forgot where to find Hope, Sloane's life has been unhappy.

9. After he found Todd, Sloane felt more cheerful.

10. We actually got i t finished before the deadline.

• A subordinate clause has a subject and predicate but cannot stand alone as a

sentence because it does not express a complete thought. A subordinate

clause must be combined with an independent clause to make a sentence.

EXAMPLE: The stamp that I bought was already in my collection.

B. Underline the subordinate clause in each sentence below.

1. The people who went shopping found a great sale.

2. Tony's bike, which is a mountain bike, came from that store.

3. Juana was sad when the sale was over.

4. Igor was excited because he wanted some new things.

5. Thomas didn't find anything since he went late.

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Complex Sentences

• A complex sentence contains one independent clause and one or more

subordinate clauses.

EXAMPLE: People who study earthquakes are called seiarolcgists.

subordinate clause

A. Put brackets around the subordinate clause, and underline the independent

clause in each complex sentence below. The first one is done for you.

1. The shadows [that had fallen between the trees] were a deep purple.

2. The solgjgrs waded across the stream ^yhere the water was shallow?]

3. Theywaited for me until the last bus came]

4. The fans of that team were sad (when the team lost the gamej

5. (when Marco was here] he was charmed by the beauty of the hills.

6. Sophia will call for you jwhen she is ready?]

7. Some spiders that are found in Sumatra have legs forty centimetres long.

8. Those ^ h o are goingjwill arrJye^Qn_lime.

9. Do not throw the bat gfter you've hit the ba\\]

10. Tell us about the trip/that you made a year ago^

B. Add a subordinate clause that begins with the word in parentheses to make

a complex sentence.

1. I try not to drive (where)

2. The electric light is an important invention (that)

3. The telephone stopped ringing (before)

4. She is the engineer (who)

5. This is the book (that)

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Using Commas

• Use a comma between words or groups of words that are in a series.

EXAMPLE: The four men ate, told jokes, and shared their dreams.

• Use a comma before a conjunction in a compound sentence.

EXAMPLE: Kwan Ming looked around, and saw he had nothing left.

• Use a comma after a subordinate clause when it begins a sentence.

EXAMPLE: If one friend took sick, the others fetched him food.

A. Add commas where needed in the sentences below.

1. Frank Magda and Patricia are planning a surprise party for their parents.

2. It 's their parents' fiftieth wedding anniversary and the children want it

to be special.

3. They've invited the people their parents used to work w i th , members of

their golf clubhand long-time friends of the family.

4. Even though the children are grown and living in their own homes, it

will be hard to make it a surprise.

5. Mr. and Mrs. Wong are act ive. friendly and involved in many things.

• Use a comma to set of f a quotation from the rest of a sentence.

EXAMPLES: "I can start a new life there," he told his mother.

He told his mother, "I can start a new life there."

B. Add commas before or after the quotations below.

1. "We're sorry that we have to cancel our plans" said Luc.

2. Pina said, "But we've done this every week for ten years!"

3. Jeanette said, "We have to leave town."

4. Ivan asked, "Can't you put it of f just one day?"

5. "No I'm afraid we can't" said Luc.

6. "Then we'll just start over the following week" said Pina cheerfully.

7. Jeanette said "I bet no one else has done th is."

8. "I sure hate to spoil our record" said Luc.

9. "Don't worry about it" said Ivan.

10. "Everything will work out" said Jeanette.

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Punctuating Dialogue

• Use quotation marks to show the exact words of a speaker. Use a comma or

another punctuation mark to separate the quotation from the rest of the

sentence. A quotation may be placed at the beginning or at the end of a

sentence. Begin the quotation with a capital letter.

EXAMPLES: Gaetan said, "I decided to do my best." "I decided to do my

best," said Gaetan.

A quotation may also be divided within the sentence.

EXAMPLE: "Dad," said Gaetan, "I've done my best.

I S

A. Add quotation marks and commas where needed in the sentences below.

1. Wait for me said Laura because I want to go with you.

2. Kim, did you write an article about the Olympics? asked Rohan.

3. Where is the manager's desk? inquired the stranger.

4. Ari asked What is Eric's address?

5. Harry asked How long did Gandhi rule India?

6. Eugene, did you bring that interesting article? asked the teacher.

7. Good morning said Tosha.

8. Amina asked Did Saul hurt himself when he fell?

9. The meeting begins in ten minutes said Rico.

10. Hoan, you're early said Melissa.

11. Come on, said the coach you'll have to skate faster to win this race!

12. Tony said, I know you'll do well in your new job. You're a hard worker.

13. On the phone he told me I got your gold medal.

14. Courage is necessary to enter the Olympic arena said the athlete.

15. Victory is less important than honour Gilda announced.

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