American English

By Timothy Avants

This is a compact handbook for a fast review of American grammar. The answers are at your fingertips. This is a re-titled version of American Grammar and Syntax.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Timothy Avants
• Release date: Jun 5, 2019
• ISBN: 9781393448198

Timothy Avants

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Book preview

American English

Timothy Avants

Printed in the United States of America

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This is a re-titling of English Grammar and Syntax.

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To The Reader:

Inside is a comprehensive but compact English handbook that covers the grammatical, syntactical, and phrasal components of English. Each component includes a thorough set of exercises designed to prepare you for any scenario you may encounter, whether in the formal classroom, in formal environments, or in regular conversation. Keys to exercises are in the back of the book or simply in the next few pages for quick, easy reference. Most importantly, answers are explained fully, giving you the reasons for and the logic behind the usage of the language. From ESL to the GRE, your answers are in here. Good luck.

Contents

Chapter 1  PARTS OF SPEECH   1

Nouns  1

VERBS:   4

Adjectives  22

Adverbs  26

Articles  33

Prepositions  34

Pronouns  36

Interjections 41

Conjunctions 41

Chapter 2  Transitions  44

Chapter 3  Punctuation   46

The Comma  46

SEMICOLONS  51

COLON 52

Dash 54

Apostrophes 54

Chapter 4  Grammar And Syntax  57

Grammatical vs. Syntactic functions of a word  57

Components of Sentences  59

Phrases  59

Clauses  60

Complements 62

Other Grammatical Constructions  63

Prepositional Phrases  63

Gerunds & Infinitives  64

Relative Clauses 65

Passive Voice 66

Sentence Patterns Causative Verb Constructions  68

For, Since, Ago  71

Embedding  72

Subject 73

Complements 76

Subject complements 76

Object Complements 77

Noun phrases  79

Adjective Phrase 89

Chapter 5  Answering Test Questions  94

Chapter 6  Grammar Supplement  98

How do I know when to use -ing or -ed on the end of a word?   98

In Order To 100

FOR 102

So, Also, Too, As Well, As Well As  104

Either, Neither, Nor:  106

Supplement II  Irregular Verbs   109

Supplement III  Exercises  117

Answer Key to Supplement III  131

More Exercises  147

Glossary  163

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Chapter 1

PARTS OF SPEECH

Nouns

A noun is the name of a 1. person, 2. place, or 3. thing. Nouns are either proper or common. For example, the name of a person is a proper noun. So, when we write the name Tom Smith, it should be capitalized. However, to simply say boy does not require capitalization. It is a common noun. The name of a specific place, such as New York, requires capitalization. It is a certain place, and there is only one New York City at that exact location. However, a location like the mountains is the name of a place, but there are many mountains, and one must be specific in order to make this a proper noun. A thing may describe an infinite number of possibilities; therefore, most things come under the heading of common nouns, which generally do not need to take a capital letter. These are some good examples: car, ship, house, and computer. Note that if we put a specific name to the noun, we need to capitalize it. For example, Lexus, Titanic, and Alpha are all good examples of nouns, but very specific nouns, that require capitalization. So, we see that there are proper nouns and common nouns. Proper nouns are capitalized, and common nouns are not.

Note: One must always capitalize: The Far East, The Middle East, The Near East, North America, South America, Europe, and Asia.

There is also a set of nouns that we call abstract. These name items that are not tangible. One can not touch them or hold them with his hand. Arguably, they can be felt. A good example is grief. One can certainly feel the death of a family member, but the feeling is abstract, untouchable. Happiness, sadness, excitement, danger, and anxiety are all abstract nouns, and they are not written with capital letters. Concrete nouns, on the other hand, can be touched. Some examples are pennies, paper, water, and cups. They are either count or noncount as seen below.

Count nouns are those which can be physically counted; in other words, one can see the number of the things at hand, or, better put, in hand. Boys, girls, cigarettes, rocks, and fingers are all count nouns. If you can put an -s on the end of the word, it is probably a count noun.

Noncount nouns are those that can not be counted. Perhaps, it is not impossible, at least sometimes, to count some of these nouns we call noncount, but it is unlikely that one would try to count these types of nouns. Sugar, sand, and hair are noncount nouns. Further, water, tea, and creme are what we might call uncountable, which seems more appropriate.

Note: If we say something like " I had two cups of tea,’’ then, we can number the actual cups, but not the tea itself.

Usage Note: people, money, food.

Different ethnic groups are diverse and distinct. When referring to the peoples of a continent that may be home to hundreds of different ethnic or racial groups. So, it is possible to pluralize (make plural) the word people in certain circumstances. Ex: There are many different peoples living in Europe.

The word money is usually a noncount noun, although it can actually be counted (we all like to do that). When several kinds of money are described, we may say monies. The monies of the government always refer to many different sources of money and their specific purposes. Ex: The government set aside monies for international aid, welfare, and interstate construction.

The word food is the same as the previous two. We use foods in reference to different varieties.

1.1

Directions: Label the nouns in each sentence, indicating C for count, NC for noncount, cm for common, and P for proper. In addition, capitalize any proper nouns. The answers are always on top when labeling is required.

Kindly note that answers are located at the end of the section on nouns. Throughout the text, all the answers to exercises are located at the end of that section about that subject. In the supplements, the answers are located immediately after the exercises.

C/cm

Example: The boy drank water.

1. We went to the store.

2. There were bubbles in the water.

3. I had 500 bottles of air.

4. We will have the beef.

5. Whoever said it was wrong.

6. We found a note.

7. The herb was safe.

8. The safety of the men was the issue.

9. Along the way, we went to the Statue of Liberty.

10. The Midwest was rainy on Thursday. 

11. The money earmarked for the Interstate Highway Commission was misappropriated.

12. Different coffees from around the world provided us quite a variety.

13. The Continental Divide is a famous tourist attraction. 

14. If the manager had known, he would have closed early.

15. At the mall, the angry crowd burned the postal truck. 

16. The United States post office is extremely efficient.

17. The girl from Micronesia swam very well.

18. School can be rewarding.

19. Religion has been the cornerstone of many people’s lives.

20. Snobbishness is a bad characteristic.

21. Accuracy is necessary in grammar.

22. Being lazy is an unfavorable trait.

23. The desert is extremely hot.

24. If dinosaurs were in this spot a million years ago, we would now have evidence. 

25. Trust is paramount to a good relationship between family members.

26. Some say that the horse became expendable with the advent of the modern car.

27. The Germanic languages have similar sentence patterns to English.

28. He said history is his favorite subject.

29. I said that American History from 1865 to World War I is my favorite course.

30. Ode to a Grecian Urn is the name of a poem.

VERBS:

Verbs are a little more complicated than most of the other parts of speech. There are several different kinds of verbs that we will be concerned with here.

A) Be verbs are called as such, because these are conjugations of the verb be. They are as follows:

1) simple present: is, am, are

2) simple past: was, were

3) Simple future: will (be)

We will finish the tenses in the next few pages under action verbs.

From these three tenses, one can form many different tenses of action. Tense refers to the time of an occurrence. Let’s look at the Be verbs and the persons that go with them. Person means the pronoun/name used with the verb.

Look at the list below and the pronouns used with each.

These are only the most simple verb forms. Verbs basically have several functions. First, we need to look at the different classes of verbs before we are able to go into any detail on their functions.

The verbs above are the only verbs in the sentence, but they are really not doing anything. One could say that they point out a state of existence. That is precisely what a be verb does when it is the only verb in the sentence. Let’s look at some examples.

I am a man.

Now, when I look at that sentence, I think that there are only several kinds of words that I could possibly put in the place of the word man. Believe me, I have heard that sentence many times from my two young boys. I usually reply or answer with No, you are a boy, a puppy, a mouse, or something equally as clever. I always remember that the word after the Be verb, sometimes called a linking verb, is telling me something about the noun before the be verb.

Logic:

We could say, I am nice. The words nice and man describe (tell about) the word man. But, there is no action performed by anyone or anything. It is inactive. We call this a stative verb. It seems to indicate a state of existence that the subject is in, either temporary or permanent. However, I can put a phrase, a word, or group of words after the be verb that tell where the subject is. For instance, I am at my house. The words after am tell where I am located. They do not describe the word I, but they do not show any action either. Therefore, a be verb alone in a sentence is called a stative verb. This means that there is a limit on the types of words that are allowed after a Be verb.

Tip: The easiest way to remember the be verb is like this: Be nice! Be good! Be a man!

The commands tell the person what or how to be; therefore, the verb is a "be" verb. Note the answer: I will be!

B) Linking Verbs: Two Types:

1. Be verbs: The be verbs here simply tie the subject to its complement. The complement renames or completes or describes the subject. The complement is realized by a noun, adjective, or a verb/other word acting like an adjective. The root word "comple-" actually means all. As a result, we get the word complete (Look at the word as: comple-te). The subject complement completes what the subject is.

S—LV—SC(subject complement)

Noun: The boy is a student.

The girl is my friend.

The cat is a winner.

S—LV—SC

Adjective: The dog is wild.

The man was angry.

Our party will be the best.

S-LV-SC

Verbal: He is tired.

I became worn-out.

The man was shattered.

Note: The linking verb and the be verb are really the same thing if the sentence has a subject complement, but, if we keep them separated as we have them now, we will avoid confusion with complements that are realized by nouns rather than adjectives. Look at these:

Stay calm! Stay is acting like a be verb. In this sense, it is called a copula verb (see #2 below). We could just as easily say, Be calm.

Compare the sentence above to the one below.

The man was shattered.

Was is a be verb, but, if we remember it as a linking verb, we know that shattered is an adjective, but we would never command someone to be shattered (sad or broken-hearted). Therefore, although the distinction seems small at first, you will need to know it to understand sentence structure.

2. Copula verbs: seem, appear, feel, look, acted, remain, sound.

These basically act the same as linking verbs in some contexts, although appear, feel, look, act, and sound can also be action verbs. Here, the verbs are all copulas with a complement to the right that describes the subject.

Caution: If the word after the verb does not rename or tell about the subject, you probably have an action verb and not a copula.

Ex: He appeared suddenly. Suddenly describes how he appeared and not him. Consequently, appeared is an action verb in the sentence.

Copulas

He felt lonely.

She appeared happy.

The child felt sad when his father left.

I looked stupid.