Verbs, Adverbs, Conjunctions, and Prepositions: Understanding Language Elements

1. Verbs – VaVavoom – gives speed/action • Many verbs refer to physical actions – run, jump, walk etc. These are dynamic verbs. • They can also refer to ‘mental actions’ (think, feel, imagine) and to ‘states’ (The house stands on the hill, that seems fair). These are stative verbs. • It’s also crucial to remember that to be is a verb, as are all its forms (is, was, are, were, etc.) • Auxiliary verbs are ‘helping’ verbs placed in front of main verbs. E.g. I must have been going in the wrong direction. Here, going is the main verb and must, have and been are all being used as auxiliary verbs.

2. Extract from Wuthering Heights • There are ten verbs in this extract. Underline them. • On that bleak hill-top the earth was hard with a black frost, and the air made me shiver through every limb. Being unable to remove the chain, I jumped over, and, running up the flagged causeway bordered with straggling gooseberry bushes, knocked vainly for admittance, till my knuckles tingled and the dogs howled.

3. Verb tenses • Verbs can be present tense – I am watching television or I watch television frequently. • Verbs can be past tense – I watched television. • For future tense, in English we mostly use the modal auxiliary verbs will or shall. E.g. I will watch television later.

4. Adverbs – Add more information to the verb • Adverbs give more information about verbs, describing verbs in the same way that adjectives describe nouns. They are used to say when, where and how something was/is done. Many adverbs (not all) are formed by adding ly to the end of adjectives. • He talks loudly. • She’ll be here soon. • I’ll be there at three o’clock. The words ‘loudly’, ‘soon’ and ‘there’ are adverbs. We often use more than one word to when, where and/or how something is done. A group of words acting as an adverb is called an adverbial phrase. In the sentence, ‘I’ll meet you in the park at three o’clock,’ ‘in the park’ is an adverbial phrase (because it tells us where) and so is ‘at three o’clock’ because it tells us when.

5. Adverbs – Add more information to the verb • An intensifier is a particular type of adverb. Do you know what this term might mean? • An intensifier is a word that increases or decreases the intensity of another word or phrase. For example: really, very, hardly, scarcely

6. Conjunctions • These are joining words, used to connect different parts of a sentence. • Co-ordinating conjunctions are used when parts of a sentence are equal value. The most common are andandbut. • E.g. I went to the shop and bought some chocolate. • Subordinating conjunctions link a subordinate clause to a main clause. Examples include because, although, unless, until. • E.g. They sat on the hill until the sun went down.

7. Prepositions • These indicate how one thing is related to something else. • Examples relating to position (on, under, above) • Examples relating to direction (towards, past, to) • Examples relating to time (before, during, after) • My shoes are under the table. • He drove past us.

8. Determiners • Determiners are placed in front of nouns to indicate quantity or identity. • The most common are: a, an and the. Others include some, that, one, two, three etc. E.g. The house is very old.