Basics of Grammar

5. Adjectives (adj):
Adjective – words which describes or modifies a noun or a pronoun.
Adjectives are called modifiers because they modify a noun or pronoun in a sentence.

They make an apple shiny and read or an orange juicy and sweet.

Adjectives make our language more colorful and descriptive, and most authors are armed with an arsenal of adjectives. Take this passage from a famous novel “The Great Gatsby”, by F. Scott Fitzgerald:

‘A stout, middle-aged man, with enormous owl-eyed spectacles, was sitting somewhat drunk on the edge of a great table, starting with unsteady concentration at the shelves of books.’

Remove the adjectives and adjective phrases and the sentence loses its brilliance:

‘A man was sitting somewhat drunk on the edge of a table, staring with concentration at the shelves.’

We no longer know the man’s appearance, his age, or the degree of his concentration. Plus, we have lost details about the table and the shelves. Adjectives help make the literary world more vivid and interesting.

Adjectives most often come before the noun or pronoun they are modifying:

The choppy(adj) water(n) caused the small(adj) boat(n) to roll.

I bought an inexpensive(adj) purse(n) in a charming(adj) French(adj) village(n).

Adjective can also come after a linking verb to modify the noun or pronoun before the linking verb:

The water(n) is(lv) choppy(adj).

They(pro) are(lv) inexpensive(adj).

Errors with adjectives will be discussed later, but it is important to know that adjectives are often confused with the next part of speech, adverbs.

The determiners ‘a’, ‘an’ and ‘the’ are a special group of adjectives called articles, we’ll discuss these as well later.

6. Adverbs (adv):
Adverbs – words which describes or modifies a verb, and adjective, or another adverb.

Adverbs are also modifiers. However, unlike an adjective which modifies a noun or pronoun, adverbs modify a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. Three examples follow.

Adverb modifying a verb:

Maria quickly(adv) ran(vb) down the field.

Adverb modifying an adjective:

Maria ran down the very(adv) long(adj) field(n).

Adverb modifying another adverb:

Maria ran(vb) quite(adv) slowly(adv) up the field.

It is true that most words that end in –ly are adverbs: quickly, sadly, loudly, and carefully. But adverbs do not have to end in –ly, such as quite and very. Also not all words that end in –ly are adverbs. Words such as friendly, lonely, and sparkly are adjectives.

Adjectives and Adverb Phrases:

One more final note about adjectives and adverbs before their specific errors are discussed later: phrases—especially prepositional phrases—can also take on the modifying role of an adjective or an adverb:

Maria runs(vb) like the wind(adj).

‘Like the wind’, typically a prepositional phrase, takes the role of an adverb. It tells the reader how Maria runs, thus modifying a verb. ‘Like the wind’ is an adverb phrase. Look at another:

Maria, the star athlete at my high school, runs every day.

The noun phrase, the star athlete at my high school, has become an adjective. It modifies Maria, the main noun, making it an adjective phrase.

Read again the sentence from famous novel The Great Gatsby:

‘A stout, middle-aged man, with enormous owl-eyed spectacles, was sitting somewhat drunk on the edge of a great table, starting with unsteady concentration at the shelves of books.’

Now study it with the adjectives and adverbs underlined:

A(adj) stout(adj), middle-aged(adj) man, with enormous owl-eyed spectacles(adj phrase), was sitting somewhat(adv.) drunk(adv.) on the edge of a great table(adv phrase), staring with unsteady concentration(adv. phrase) at the shelves of books(adv phrase).’

Now, look at the sentence with all of the adjectives and adverbs removed:
Man(n) was(hv) sitting(vb), staring(vb).

This exercise makes it easy to see why adjectives and adverbs are so important to English language.

7. Conjunctions (conj):
Conjunctions – word which links words or phrases.

There are three types of confections: coordinating conjunctions, subordinating conjunctions, and correlative conjunctions.

Coordinating conditions

These are the most common, of which there are seven:

and       but       or       yet       for       nor       so

Coordinating conjunctions are used to join nouns, pronouns, verbs, prepositional phrases, adjectives, and even adverbs:

Nouns:                 Pakistan or Bilal
Pronouns:            he or she
Verbs:                  going or play
Prepositions:       of the people, for the people, and by the people
Adjectives:           red, white, and blue
Adverbs:              quickly but quietly

Coordinating conjunctions are also used to join two complete sentences:

Toni wrecked the car. She was not injured.

Toni wrecked the car, but she was not injured.

Such type of sentence completion usually come in Local GRE (Commonwealth scholarship) exam, where you need to select best conjunction rather than a vocabulary word for the blank. As in above example, you must select conjunction ‘but’.

Similarly, see another example:
You may choose to be quiet. You may choose to leave.
You may choose to be quiet, or you may choose to leave.

Taking two complete sentences and joining them with a coordinating conjunction is appropriately called coordination. It takes two equally important sentences and fuses them together with a comma and a conjunction.

Subordinating conjunctions

include words like although, once, rather than, and until. They are also used to join two sentences, but one of the sentences is rearranged to become a phrase:

The car was low on gas. Maria turned off the air conditioner.
Because the car was low on gas, Maria turned off the air conditioner.

I decided not to invest in the internet. I put my savings into a restaurant.
Rather than investing in the internet, I put my savings into a restaurant.

Correlative conjunctions

These are are a type of coordinating conjunction, but they are like twins. Correlative conjunctions include:

either … or           neither … nor           both … and …           not only … but also
not … but               as … as

Look at few examples:

I can either take the bus or participate in a carpool.

The amazing piano player is both blind and deaf.

Swimming is not only great exercise but also an enjoyable pastime.

Conjunctions are common parts of speech, and therefore they are common errors on such exams.

8. Interjections (int):
Interjection – word used to convey emotion

Finally, Interjections are added to a sentence to show emotions, so they do not affect any other part of the sentence. Words like Wow!, Oh, and Eh? are interjections. Because they are not common in formal writing, writing, interjections are not tested on the such exams. Hurray!