20 Parts of Speech – Part 2 – Building on Foundations
Category: Parts of Speech
Concept: Part 2 – Building on Foundations
Connections to The Ontario Curriculum, Grades 1-8: Language (2023):
—–B3. Language Conventions for Reading and Writing
———-B3.2 Grammar
Prior Knowledge:
- Defining the 9 parts of speech
- Understanding sentence forms and types
- Applying understanding of parts of speech in their writing and text creation
What’s the definition?
Building upon the definitions of the 9 parts of speech, it can be helpful to think of the function of words in sentences for this further examination.
Subject: In a clause, the subject is the noun or pronoun that is “doing” the verb.
Object: In a clause, the word or phrase on the “receiving end” of the verb. Answers the question “what” or “whom” in relation to what the subject is doing.
For example: She returns the book to the library. What is she returning? The subject “She” is returning the book.
In a prepositional phrase, answers the question “what” “where” or “whom” the preposition is referencing.
For example: She returns the book to the library. Where is she returning the book? She is returning the book to (preposition) the library.
- Direct object: A direct object is the word or phrase on the receiving end of the verb. It answers the questions “what” or “whom”. Example: The teacher gave the students homework. What did the teacher give? Homework is the direct object.
- Indirect Object: An indirect object receives the direct object and answers the question “to what” or “to whom”. Example: The teacher gave the students homework. To whom did the teacher give the homework? The teacher gave the students homework. Students is the indirect object.
Predicate: A verb being used by the subject in a clause. Example: The students are learning grammatical elements, where “students” is the subject, and are learning grammatical elements. is the predicate.
- Helper verb (auxiliary verb): assists the main verb in expressing tense, aspect, modality, voice, or emphasis. Common auxiliary verbs in English include be, have, and do, as well as modal verbs like can, will, may, must, and should. In the example above – The students are learning grammatical elements. – are is the helper verb to the main verb learning.
Modifier: a word, phrase, or clause that adds detail, limits, or clarifies the meaning of another word, phrase, or clause. Types of modifiers include adjectives, adverbs, prepositional phrases, adjective clauses, and adverbial clauses.
Phrase: A group of words. Differs from a clause in that it does not contain both a subject and a predicate.
- Prepositional phrase: A phrase containing a preposition and acting as an adjective or adverb.
Clause: In a sentence, a clause is a group of words with a subject and a predicate.
- Independent clause: A clause that expresses a complete thought and can stand on its own as a simple sentence.
- Dependent clause: A clause that does not express a complete thought and cannot stand on its own as a sentence. Also called a subordinate clause.
Conjunction: A word or phrase that connects other words, phrases, or sentences, clauses.
- Subordinate conjunction: A conjunction that shows a time or place relationship between two clauses. The clause that contains the conjunction is called a subordinate (or dependent) clause. Common subordinate conjunctions include: while, when, whenever, where, wherever, before, and after.
- Coordinate conjunction: Joins words, phrases, or clauses that are similar or equal to each other. FANBOYS is a common acronym to remember seven coordinating conjunctions: For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So.
The Ontario Curriculum, Grades 1-8: Language (2023)
What does it look/sound like?
Below is a scaffolded series of interactive exercises to demonstrate what building on the foundations of parts of speech can look like.
Identify the parts of speech for each word in the following sentence:
Which part of the following sentence contains the subject? Which contains the predicate? Turn the card over to see the correct answer.
Can you identify phrases and clauses?
Which are phrases and which are clauses? How confident are you in your understanding?
Extend their understanding:
- Challenge your students to identify the one dependent clause from the above task. (answer: while the snow falls)
- Can they identify which word the clause has that makes it a dependent clause? (answer: while)
- Have students brainstorm what could be done to the dependent clause to turn it into an independent clause, or complete sentence. (There are multiple ways to turn this into an independent clause.)
Further practice with parsing can be exercised with this series of tasks.
Lastly, this series of parsing tasks extends understanding to include prepositions, and understanding what the prepositional phrases are modifying (acting as an adjective or an adverb).
Why does it matter?
Becoming adept at using parts of speech helps students to become strong, effective communicators. In addition to the skills identified in the Parts of Speech Foundations chapter, building on the foundations helps students:
- Foster Confidence: Knowing how to use language properly gives students confidence when speaking, writing, creating texts, and presenting.
- Refine Messaging: In addition to writing well, the process of editing and correcting grammar also teaches students to notice details, and how they support – or deter from – intended messaging.
- Comprehend Reading: When students understand an author’s intended message by the way the author expresses meaning, their comprehension strengthens, across all subject areas .
How do I teach this?
Assess your students for their current understanding of grammatical elements in their own writing, text creation, and reading. Respond by providing resources and opportunities for developing their understanding further.
The interactive elements above can be used to help students review parts of speech, and build upon their understanding of grammatical elements in sentences.
Move students towards using their understanding of grammar in their own text creation and editing. With the goal of expressing their ideas clearly and effectively, have students play with using a variety of words, phrases and clauses until their desired meaning is communicated in their own writing and text creation.
Opportunities for applying grammar understanding exist at the drafting stage, when revising their work, working on their own or with others to edit their work, and in conferences with you as their “writing coach.”
Use texts students are currently reading, writing, listening to, viewing and otherwise interacting with to apply their grammatical understanding, and examine how meaning is crafted and understood. With repeated practice and opportunity, students will become more nimble in their ability to communicate their ideas with desired effect.
Teachers can also consult the following chapters to find strategies to meet the current needs of their students:
- Parts of Speech – Part 1 – Foundations
- Sentences – Sentence Types
- Sentences – Sentence Forms
- Sentences – Sentence Fragments and Run-on Sentences
…………………………
Online Resources:
This resource helps introduce the concept of misplaced modifiers. This level of understanding represents where we want students to be in applying grammatical concepts at the drafting and editing stages in their text creation.
This article provides numerous ideas and resources that support moving students beyond knowing grammar into applying their grammatical understanding in their own text creation.
How to deal with student grammar errors (2017) by Jennifer Gonzales
Categories of words sorted by their grammatical and semantic functions within sentences. English contains the following common parts of speech:
noun. A word that refers to people, places, things, and ideas.
pronoun. A word that replaces a noun.
verb. A word that expresses an action, occurrence, or state of being.
adjective. A word that describes a noun or pronoun.
adverb. A word that describes a verb, an adjective, or another adverb.
preposition. A word that connects nouns, pronouns, and phrases.
conjunction. A word or phrase that connects other words, phrases, or sentences, clauses.
interjection. A word or phrase that expresses emotion. It has no grammatical connection with the sentence in which it is used.
article. A type of adjective used before a noun to indicate whether the identity of the noun is known (definite article) or unknown (indefinite article).
English has four main sentence forms:
simple. A sentence consisting of one independent clause.
compound. A sentence made up of two or more independent clauses joined by a semicolon or coordinating conjunction, usually preceded by a comma.
complex. A sentence made up of one independent clause and one or more dependent clauses.
compound-complex. A sentence made up of two or more independent clauses and one or more dependent clauses.
English has four main sentence types:
declarative. A sentence that makes a statement.
imperative. A sentence that makes a request or gives a command or instruction.
interrogative. A sentence that asks a question.
exclamatory. A sentence that expresses strong emotion or feelings and ends in an exclamation mark.
See also punctuation.
A group of words. Differs from a clause in that it does not contain both a subject and a predicate.
In a sentence, a clause is a group of words with a subject and a predicate.
See independent, dependent, subordinate clause.
