1.7 Parts of Speech - Part One

Learning Targets

By the end of this lesson, you should be able to say YES to the following questions.

• Can I identify key parts of speech and understand their importance?
• Can I create more vivid and interesting parts of speech to make my writing more descriptive?

Words Create Worlds

Common & Proper Nouns

Nouns are the heart of descriptive writing.  A noun is a person, place, thing, or idea – and that’s what you are describing in descriptive writing. Nouns can be broken down into the following groups:

• common nouns
• proper nouns
• concrete nouns
• abstract nouns

1. Most nouns are common nouns and refer to people, places, animals, and things.
   Examples: student, cat, school, language
   
   
2. Proper nouns are the names of specific people, places, animals and things. They begin with a capital letter.
   Examples: Naomi Silver, Squamish, University of Victoria, Halq'eméylem

REMEMBER to capitalize proper nouns! This makes English teachers happy. (Notice how English is capitalized – all languages and nationalities are capitalized.)

Concrete & Abstract Nouns

3)      Concrete nouns are objects which we can see or touch.

Examples: chair, computer, mountain, bead, electrician, flower, hand

**You want to have a variety of concrete nouns in descriptive writing. Concrete nouns are the easiest kind of nouns for people to visualize.**

4)      Abstract nouns are ideas, feelings, and situations. You cannot touch them.

Examples: intelligence, happiness, homelessness, democracy, truth, beauty

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To brush up on your nouns, complete the task, Properly Print Proper Nouns, in your Learning Guide. Then, return to this online lesson book. 

Pronouns

A pronoun is used instead of a noun. It's used as a shorter alternative to a longer noun and to avoid repeating the noun too often.

Examples: I, you, he, she, it, we, they

Nouns Before Pronouns

Use the common or proper noun in the first instance, before you use a pronoun in your descriptive writing.

Example: Ahmed won an award for his nature photographs. He beamed with excitement as he walked up to the stage.

Know what pronouns are and keep track of how many you use. Combine sentences if you notice a repeat of pronouns.

Example: Her name is Taina. She has black hair. She has brown eyes. She has a ponytail.

Try instead...

Taina has brown eyes, and black hair in a ponytail.

Use Concrete & Specific Nouns

You want specific, concrete nouns to help your reader see what you are describing. Beware of vague nouns and overusing pronouns.

Example:  Kaloni threw some stuff into her backpack. (Stuff is a vague noun.)

Try instead…

Kaloni threw a sword, her dragon-hunting manual, and a parachute into her backpack. (This tells the reader more and makes you interested in finding out what she is going to do next.)

Example: She saw it beside him. She took it from him. She walked away with it. (There are too many pronouns. This is pretty ho-hum.)

Try instead…

Minh saw the piece of chocolate cake sitting beside her sleeping father. The five-year-old girl couldn’t resist and snatched up the plate. Her mouth was full of frosting as she walked away with the delicious dessert.

(Check out all the specific nouns. This tells a much more interesting story.)

Complete the task in your Learning Guide titled, 1.7 Keep an Eye on Pronoun Use!

Adjectives

An adjective describes a noun. It tells you something about the noun and helps build a stronger picture in the reader’s mind.  

Ex.) humongous moose                               green eggs and ham

       caring counsellor                                   First Nations' land

       Canadian women’s hockey fan              fuzzy, red sweater

Let's look at the importance of good adjectives to create descriptive writing.

Ex.) This is a dog. (Very basic!)

Try instead...

This is a hyperactive, tail-chasing, three-legged dog. (Now you have a much more specific image of the dog to imagine.)

Use Active & Adventurous Adjectives

Go to your Learning Guide and complete the task titled, Adjective Challenge.