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English (includes a Thesaurus)

Grammar

ADJECTIVES

An Adjective is a word that adds to the meaning of a Noun.  Say this over and over and over again so that you cannot forget it.


Sometimes a noun by itself does not give enough information.  Suppose you wanted to buy a pair of shoes, and said to the shop assistant, “I should like to buy a pair of shoes like those in the shop window.”  The assistant might say, “But there are over twenty pairs of shoes in the window.  Which ones would you like to buy?”  “I would like to buy the brown ones.”  “There are lots of brown shoes in the window.”  “I would like lace-up shoes.”  “What size would you like?”  “I would like size 10.”  The assistant goes to the window and selects a pair of size 10 lace-up brown shoes and brings them back to you.  “Are these the right shoes?”  “No!  No!”  you say, “Those shoes have plastic tops.  I want shoes with leather tops, but the soles can be plastic.”  “I think I know the shoes you want.  I will get them for you.”  The assistant comes back with another pair of shoes.  “Yes,” you say.  “Those are the shoes I want.  I will try them on to make sure they fit.”
As you can see, the assistant needs to know much more than that you want to buy a pair of shoes.  Much more information is needed.  But if you had said at first, “I would like to buy a pair of size10 brown lace-up shoes with leather tops and plastic soles,” then the assistant could have brought them to you at once.
That extra information is given through the use of Adjectives.  As you can see, adjectives add to the meaning and understanding of nouns.  But they do more than that; they narrow the choice, or application, of the noun.
So a better definition of an adjective is:  An Adjective is a word that both enlarges the meaning and narrows the application of a noun. 
Adding to, or enlarging, the meaning of a noun, is always accompanied by a narrowing of the application of the noun.  This is important.  Thus the noun “shoes”, without any adjectives added to it, could be applied to numerous pairs of shoes, but by adding adjectives, the meaning or description of the shoes is enlarged, but the choice or application is made much narrower.  But note that when we add adjectives to the noun, the meaning of the word “shoes” is not changed.  “Size 10 brown lace-up shoes with leather tops” still means all that  “shoes” means, and more.
A shorter definition is ­An adjective is a word that is used to qualify a noun.  (“Qualify” simply means “modify”.  Thus we can say that the adjective “brown” qualifies the noun “shoes.”)   

try this exersize ENG106 Nouns Exercise.doc

NOUNS

There are FOUR KINDS OF NOUNS –
COMMON Nouns,
PROPER Nouns,
COLLECTIVE  Nouns and
ABSTRACT Nouns.

A COMMON NOUN refers to any  one of a number of things of the same kind, such as as:  “man”, “country”, “lake” or “cloud”.  “Common” comes from a Latin word meaning “shared by several”.

A PROPER NOUN is a name for one particular thing.  “Proper” comes from a Latin word meaning “own”.   (Think of property;  somebody owns the property.)  Thus a Proper noun can be given to only one thing at a time; it is an owned name.  A Proper noun begins with a capital letter, as “John”, “Australia”.

A COLLECTIVE NOUN  is a name for a group of similar things,  the group forming one complete whole.  Example:  “There are many sheep in the field but there is only one flock of sheep.”  In this sentence sheep is a Common noun, because it may stand for any one and every  one sheep, but flock is a Collective noun, as it stands for all the sheep at once, and not for any one sheep  on its own.

An ABSTRACT NOUN is the name given to something which has no substance, that is, to something which  cannot be seen, heard, touched, smelled or tasted.  Examples are “poverty”,  “humility”,  “goodness”,  “laughter” and “hardness”.

            We know that a stone is hard.  We know that iron is hard.  We know that a brick is hard.  We can speak of hardness as being a quality apart from the stone, the iron, and the brick, or any other object having the same quality.  We can put our hands on the stone, the iron and  the brick,, but there is nothing to see or touch when we think of hardness.  We can go to the store and buy some stones or bricks or iron, but we cannot buy any hardness  as it does not exist.  We can think of stones and iron and bricks as having substance, whereas hardness has no substance.  So, hardness is called an abstract noun.
            Other examples are:  childhood, kingship, service, sight, fear, hope - and so on

The following words are all nouns, as they refer to the names of PERSONS:
Tom. Dick. Harry, Jenny, Joan, Jean, Kenneth, William, Thomas, Ronald, Rita, Reg.
These nouns all begin with a capital letter, which shows they  are owned by somebody; they refer to a particular person, not just to anyone in general.

Words such as   man, woman, boy, girl, lad, lass, child, baby, person, people, are also nouns, but they are not owned by any particular person; the names are common to many people.  So these words are all common nouns.
           
Note especially that the names are words, not persons.  It is the words that are nouns, not the persons.

The following words are all nouns as they refer to the names of PLACES:
Perth,  Adelaide,  Midland, Stratton, Australia, Holland,  England, America, Timor.

Note that these nouns all begin with a capital letter.  This indicates that they are all owned names.  So they are all Proper nouns.

But words such as river, mountain, lake, road, street, town, country, village, city are names that belong to any number of such things, or places; they are common to many things.  So they are all called Common nouns.

Words such as  hill, tree, river, bank, house, table, chair, knife, spoon, eggs, hens, bed, cat, dog, are all nouns as they are the names of THINGS.  These names are common to a great many such things, so they are called Common nouns.

But names such as Swan River, Commonwealth Bank, Mount Everest,  Morrison Road, are Proper nouns, as the names refer to particular things;  they are owned names.

The following words are all nouns because they refer to the names of THINGS.
They are all nouns; each one names something:   chair, table, dishes, computer, knife, meal, car, dog, garden, cloud, flower, tree.  These names are all called Common nouns.

 

Grammar
deals with the structure and use of words, and of how these words relate to, or are connected to other words in a sentence, and with how that relationship can change, depending on whereabouts in the sentence the words are used, and with how individual words can be changed and modified.
Syntax
Syntax  deals with the structure of sentences, and of how words in a sentence can be  arranged to provide a clear meaning, and with the correct way of using words in a sentence.

Though Grammar differs from Syntax, both are so intertwined that little reference is made to their different structure and use; often one depends on the other.

SENTENCES
A Sentence is a group, or unit, of words, so connected that they make complete sense. and say something about someone or something else.

In order to tell something about someone or something else, a Sentence must have both a Subject and a Predicate.

Example of a sentence:  Jason rides his bicycle to school.
The Subject
The Subject of a sentence is that part of the sentence that tells WHO or WHAT we are talking about, that is, what the sentence is about.  In the sentence above, we are talking about Jason; so the subject is Jason.
The Predicate

 

The Predicate of a sentence is that part of the sentence that tells WHAT the subject does, or did, or said, etc,  In the sentence above, the predicate is  rides his bicycle to school.

Jason  is the subject of the sentence.

Whom were we talking about?  We were talking about Jason.

            So

            What were we saying about Jason?

We were saying that Jason rides his bicycle to school.

So, rides his bicycle to school is the predicate of the sentence.

Verb
A Verb (action word)
In order to say something meaningful about the subject, the predicate must have a doing,  or saying , or telling, word.  Such a word is also called an action  word.  The proper grammatical term to use is VERB.
In the sentence, Jason rides his bicycle to school,  the verb, or action word, is rides.  What does Jason do?  He rides  (his bicycle to school,)  {Jason does not carry his bicycle, or push it, or drag it.  What he does is ride it.}
Noun
A Noun is the name of any person, place or thing.
The Subject must be some-one or some-thing, so it must have a name.  Every person or thing must have a name.  That name is called a NOUN.  The name, Jason, is a noun.
In the sentence, Jason rides his bicycle to school, there are three nouns:   Jason, bicycle and school.

Sometimes a sentence reads more easily if a thing or person is not referred to by its name but by a substitute word.

Instead of the sentence above about Jason we could have written:

           

            Jason is riding Jason’s bicycle to school.

 

 

Syntax
This would still be an accurate, and a grammatically correct, statement, but its syntax would be poor.  It is much better to provide a substitute word for the second Jason, and so we do:

Jason is riding his bicycle to school.

Pronoun
The substitute word, his, is called a PRONOUN.

 

Verbs, Nouns and Pronouns are all PARTS OF SPEECH.  Other Parts of Speech are

ADJECTIVES, ADVERBS, PREPOSITIONS and CONJUNCTIONS.

ADJECTIVES
An Adjective is a word that tells more about, or qualifies, a Noun.

Examples are:  blue flowers, happy child, three months, full moon, first prize.

ADVERBS

An Adverb is a word that tells more about, or qualifies, a Verb.

 

            Jason slowly rides his bicycle to school.

PREPOSITIONS
A Preposition is a word that shows the relationship, or connection, between Nouns.

 

 

           

The kitten is in the box.

The kitten is beside the box.

The kitten is under the box.

CONJUNCTIONS
A Conjunction is a word that joins other words, or phrases or clauses or sentences, together.

 

 

           

We need to buy some apples and oranges.

The girl in the blue dress and carrying a bunch of flowers is my cousin.Let us go to the beach and have a swim, but we must return early.

OHER TERMS
 
Alphabetical Order
Alphabetical Order refers to the arrangement of words in the order in which the initial letter appears in the alphabet.  Words in a dictionary, and names in a telephone directory, appear in alphabetical order.

 

 
Examples:  apple, bun, cat, dog, egg, flower, goat..

If several words begin with the same letter, then the second letter determines the order, and if these are the same, then the third letter, and so on.

 

            Ape, apple, apply, aptitude, optical, optician.

Word Order
Word Order refers to the logical order of words in a sentence in order that the sentence be intelligible:

 

Door the lock make you sure.  Incorrect. 

          

  Make sure you lock the door.  Correct.
Paragraph
A Paragraph is a group of sentences that discusses the same thing. Paragraph can contain sentence, phrase and clause.

 

           

To become a good dog doctor, it is necessary to love, and to understand, dogs.  Never forget that the mentality of one dog is totally different from that of another.  The sharp wit that sparkles in the quick eye of a fox terrier, for instance, reflects a mental activity totally different from the serene wisdom that shines in the eye of a St Bernard.

 

Three sentences, but all discussing the one thing.

Topic Sentence
The Topic Sentence refers to the chief sentence in a paragraph, usually, but not necessarily, the first sentence.  The topic sentence is the sentence that tells what the paragraph is discussing.  In the paragraph above, the topic sentence is:

 

 

To become a good dog doctor, it is necessary to love, and to understand, dogs.

 

 

The remaining sentences in the paragraph support the topic sentence.

Phrase
A Phrase is a group of words without a verb, but which adds meaning to the other words in the sentence.

 

 

            The boy in the brown shirt was sitting under a tree.

The main  part of the sentence is:  The boy is sitting.

            Which boy?  The boy in the brown shirt.

Where was the boy sitting?  He was sitting under a tree.  So in the brown shirt and under the tree

            are both phrases.

Clause
A Clause is a group, or unit, of words that forms part of a sentence and that includes both a subject and a predicate and adds to the meaning of other words in the sentence.

 

 

The boy, who had been riding his bicycle too fast, failed to take the corner and landed in the ditch.

 

 

There are three clauses in this sentence:

 

            The boy failed to take the corner.

            who had been riding his bicycle too fast,

            (The boy) landed in the ditch.

Participle
A Participle is a word that has the functions of both a verb and an adjective.  It is a verbal adjective.

 

 

The burning candle was placed too close to the curtains and set both them and the house on fire.

 

 

Burning is a participle.  It describes an action, burning, so is part verb, but at the same times describes the candle, so is part adjective.

 

Participles can also form part of a verb.

            The boy is running.

            The girl is swimming.

            The tree has fallen across the road.

Running, swimming and fallen are all participles.

Gerund
A Gerund is a verbal noun, functioning as both verb and noun.

 

            Jenny loves swimming.  

Swimming is a gerund.
Synonyms
Synonyms are words that are similar in meaning.

 

                        small/little/tiny      

quick/fast/speedy
Antonym

Antonyms are words that are opposite in meaning

small/large    quick/slow    high/low

 

 
Homonyms
Homonyms are words which have the same pronunciation (sound the same) but which are different in spelling and meaning.

 

one/won   to/too/two   be/bee   blue/blew

Palindrome A group of word that read the same forwards or backwards , MADAM "Madam I am Adam"
Prefix
A Prefix consistsof one or more letters placed at the beginning of a word to create a derivative word:

 

 

       fix/prefix   logical/illogical   happy/unhappy.

 

     ‘pre-’  ‘il-’   and ‘un-‘  are all prefixes.

 

     

 

FIGURES 0F SPEECH

 

Simile 
A Simile  is a phrase that describes one thing in terms of another.  A simile usually begins with like or as.

The greyhound moved as gracefully as a swallow in flight.

            ‘as gracefully as a swallow in flight’ is a simile.

   The air was so still, the lake was like glass.

‘like glass’ is a simile, comparing the surface of the lake to glass.

Metaphor
A Metaphor compares one thing with another by applying a noun or phrase to an object or activity to which it would not normally apply.

 

 

            The wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees,

            The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas,

The road was a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor,

And the highwayman came riding –

Riding – riding –

The highwayman came riding, up to the old inn door.

   From  The Highwayman

  By  Alfred Noyes

Are you able to pick up the three metaphors in the above verse?
 
Personification
Personification refers to the use of the pronouns he or she, or of another word, to give personality to something which is not a person.

 

Just look at that ship; she rides the water so

gracefully.

 

The heart of the matter; the mouth of the river.

 

The Sun came up upon the left,

Out of the sea came he!

And he shone bright, and on the right

Went down into the sea.

Alliteration
Alliteration refers to the repetition of the same letter or syllable at the beginning of two or more words, close together in a sentence:

 

 

            Ruin seize thee, ruthless king!

            A load of learning lumbering in his head.

            Wilful waste makes woeful want.

 

            The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew,

            The furrow followed free.

            We were the first that ever burst

            Into that silent sea.  

Onomatopoæia
Onomatopoæia refers to words in which the sense is represented by the sound.  Or, as the poet, Alexander Pope, said, ‘The sound is made an echo of the sense.’

 

 

We can think of the quacking of ducks, the purring of cats, the barking of dogs, the baaing of lambs.

 

 

And this, from a poem about an office worker on a hot day, seeing an ice cart go by, imagining himself in the cool Arctic regions, buried

           

            Beneath a gentle drift of snow,

            Snow drifting gently, fine and white

            Out of the endless Polar night,

            Falling and falling evermore

            Upon that far untravelled shore,

            Till I was buried fathoms deep

            Beneath that cold white drifting sleep,

Sleep drifting deep,

Deep drifting sleep….

 

The carter clutched a sudden whip:

I clutched my stool with startled grip,

Awakening to the grimy heat

Of that intolerable street.

 

 

resources

Explanation for Student Compendium
File Includes
A shortened form of a word or phrase.
ANU - Australian National University
An acronym is a pronounceable word formed from the first letter (or first few letters) of each word in a phrase or title. Sometimes, the newly combined letters create a new word that becomes a part of everyday language. An example of this is the acronym radar. Also includes Mnemonics
a word naming an attribute of a noun, such as sweet, red, or technical. Adjectives are words that describe or modify other words * Priest = Sacerdotal

Types of animals, Sounds the make, Where do they live, Collective names of animals

Apes - gibber, Camel live in Australia, Sahara & Arabia, names = Bull - is called a heifer

a word opposite in meaning to another (e.g. bad - good ).

Opposites = Absent - present

Big_Words for small
Small word with big word alternative
Anger - Dudgeon * bold - Audacious

A feature or quality belonging typically to a person, place, or thing and serving to identify them

A partner in crime - accomplice

Words pertaining to the church

A passage between the pews in a church - Aisle

Similar sounding words with different meanings also Homonyms

Council, an administrative or advisory body, do not confuse with counsel, advice or guidance.

All about communication see also A History of Communication
All computer terms (ASCII, Binary, Unicode)

Names given to certain towns or countries includes facts about climate

Aberdeen - The Granite City The Torrid Zone has the hottest climate Zinc - Mexico, U.S.A., Spain

Words pertaining to death

Occurring after death - posthumous

A diminutive person is short and small. A diminutive wordis a "cute" version of a word or name: for example, "duckling" is a diminutive of "duck" and Billy is a diminutive form of the name William

Cask - casket   

Famous world discoveries of countries continents, includes Australian discoverers

Matthew Flinders -discovered Bass Strait. * Lord Robert Baden-Powell founded the Boy Scouts in 1908

Explanation of a word, words in literal expressions denote what they mean according to common or dictionary usage

Aloof -To keep to oneself and not mix with others.

Gender list of male female

Actor - Actress

Countries of the world and Geographical facts

The Circumference of the earth is approxinmately 24,800 miles.

List of gods and goddesses

War - Mars

Australian and UK government with words denoting government

Australian Government

Explains grammar syntax and verbs adjectives nouns etc.

Explains various uses of nouns verbs etc.

The art of living together includes senses, elements, cardinal numbers, cardinal virtues

THE ART OF LIVING - Consideration for the feelings of others

Alphabetical list of the most important inventions

Clock (pendulum) - Christian Huygens

List of kings and queens of Britain with facts and information

EGBERT 827 - 839

Practical list of  words explained in a sentence or phrase

A book in which the events of each day are recorded - Diary

Words pertaining to marriage included anniversary gifts

A hater of marriage - misogamist

Medical terms in use today

A disease confined to a particular district or place - endemic

Metaphor is a figure of speech that makes an implicit, implied, or hidden comparison between two things that are unrelated

Sounds that things make, description of various venues or habitats, special calendar dates, Aussie slang words, Mnemonics

All Fools' Day - 1st April - Aussie slang - sounds that things make etc.

Names of persons or things, occupations, and a description of word meanings i.e. Terrestrial = Earth

Various names explained Bird of night - Owl

Words connected to nature

A four-footed animal - quadruped

a word or statement that expresses denial, disagreement, or refusal

That which cannot be pierced or penetrated - impenetrable

Explanation of nouns, COMMON Nouns, PROPER Nouns, COLLECTIVE  Nouns and ABSTRACT Nouns.

sit - seat (when to use Nouns)

Numbers of animals things i.e. A number of Cattle = herd

A number of fish taken in a net - catch, haul

a person or thing that is totally different from or the reverse of someone or something else.

Unable to read - il-literate

Special days, Aussies slang and any other items not covered in this list

Any other items that might be of interest

List of Patron Saints

St. George of England, St. Andrew of Scotland

Noctiphobia - Fear of the night

A list of places A place where bees are kept = apiary

A place where fishes are kept - aquarium

The case which is used to show possession is called the possessive case or genitive case. In case of nouns, an apostrophe is used to show it.

Is the case which denotes the owner or possessor

All Prefixes

List of various professions

The commander of a fleet - Admiral

Famous proverbs A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush

A bad beginning makes a good ending.

Serious Quotes and some Witty funny one liners

Someone has glued my pack of cards together...I cannot deal with it!

Famous sayings

as a drowned rat. - as ancient as the sun—as the stars.

List of words used in Science or Art

An instrument for detecting earthquakes - seismograph

Explanation of scientific items like barometer

The science of land management - agronomics

The seven wonders of the ancient world with explanations

The Pyramids of Egypt

Words to use as a Simile which is a phrase that describes one thing in terms of another.  A simile usually begins with like or as.

Archates - a good friend * Belt = to hit below the belt

List of words or phrases that has the same or nearly the same meaning as another 

abandon....... desert, forsake, leave.

Understanding words, Incorrect Use of Words,

Thesaurus of Words
:
Thesaurus - abandon = abandoned, abandoning, abandonment, abandons affluent =having an abundant supply of money or possessions of value,words explained and incorrect use of words

The floor was dirt.  Only the wealthy had something other than dirt, hence the saying "dirt poor." 

Words used in war

Nations carrying on warfare - belligerents

Anniversary dates and wedding information

Words shown in noun or verb

strong - strengthen

Signs of the Zodiac

Please note there are some excellent links to assist with these pages

see at the end for the links for further information. 

Abbreviations divider Acronyms divider Animals divider Antonymns divider Big Words for Small Words divider Characteristics divider Church divider Countries Cities

divider Communication divider Death divider Diminutives divider Famous divider Figurative Expressions divider Gender divider Geographical divider Gods and Goddesses divider Government divider Grammar and Syntaxdivider  Human Relationships divider Inventions divider Kings and Queens divider Literary Sentences divider Marriage divider Medicaldivider Metaphors divider Miscellaneous divider Nouns divider Names divider Nature divider Negatives divider Numbers divider Opposites divider Patron Saints divider Places divider Possessive Case divider Phobiasdivider Professions divider Proverbs divider Prefixes divider Science & Arts divider Scientific Termsdivider Seven Wonders divider Similies divider Synonyms divider War Words divider Wedding divider Words to Verbs divider Other divider Home

 

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