GCSE PREPARATION HOLIDAY HOMEWORK: IDENTIFYING WORD TYPES

Nouns
Proper nouns – refer to specific people and places: Paris, Andrew, Venus. Proper nouns cannot be split again
into any other kind of category, for example:

Noun
Food

Fruit Noun

Apples Noun

Granny Smith Proper noun

Complete your own example of proper nouns in the box below:

All other nouns that are not proper nouns are called common nouns. These refer to types of places, people
and nouns. We subdivide these as follows:

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Concrete

nouns – refer to things that exist physically: computer, house, dog. List your own examples of eight common,
concrete nouns below:

Abstract nouns –refer to things that do not exist physically; feelings, ideas, and qualities: friendship, sadness,
democracy. List your own examples of eight common, abstract nouns below.

Collective nouns – refer to groups of people, animals, or objects: teams, family, flock, gaggle, litter, herd. Look
up what the collective noun is for these types of creatures and write them in the box next to the creature.

Porcupines

Cubs

Dogs

Otters

Walruses

Bacteria

Bees

Your task:
Write next to each of these nouns what type of noun they are:
1. Christmas
2. Kid
3. Trauma
4. Parents
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 5. Existence
6. Flock
7. Cake
8. Herd
9. Paris
10. Computer
11. Oranges
12. Police

Your task: Identify the nouns in this passage and what type they are. Annotate the answers onto the extract.

Something dead strange has happened to Christmas. It’s just not the same as
it used to be when I was a kid. In fact, I’ve never really got over the trauma of
finding out that my parents have been lying to me annually about the
existence of Santa Claus.
To me, then, at the age of eleven, Santa Claus was a bit like God, all-
seeing, all-knowing, but without the lousy things that God allows to happen:
earthquakes, famines, motorway crashes. I would lie in bed under the
blankets (how crude the word blankets sounds nowadays when we are all
conversant with the Tog rating of continental quilts), my heart pounding and
palms sweaty in anticipation of the Beano album.

Noun phrases are nouns modified by adjectives that could be replaced by a pronoun. For example, ‘the
beautiful animal was kept inside a cage’ could easily become ‘it was kept inside a cage’, but ‘the beautiful
animal’ contains a noun that has been modified by an adjective, making it a noun phrase.
Write two sentences containing noun phrases and highlight/underline them.

Adjectives
Adjectives modify nouns, providing more information about them usually by describing them. They can be
split in two different ways.

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Where does it come in the sentence?
Attributive adjectives: pre-modifying – the sudden noise (comes before the noun)
Predicative adjectives: post-modifying – the grammar is brilliant (comes after the noun)

In the box below, write one sentence that contains a predicative adjective and another that contains an
attributive one:

What does it tell you about the noun?

Comparative adjectives: compare one noun to another, even if the other noun does not feature in the
sentence e.g. ‘The list was bigger than ever.’ ‘The man was stronger than he had ever been.’ They usually end
in ‘-er’ but not always.
Superlative adjectives: demonstrates that the adjective is the least or the most. These usually end ‘-est’ and
denote extreme ends of a spectrum, e.g., ‘biggest’, ‘strongest’, ‘least’ or ‘smallest’.
In the box below, write one sentence that contains a predicative superlative adjective, and one that contains
an attributive comparative adjective.

Verbs
A verb is a word used to describe an action, state, or occurrence, and forming the main part of the predicate
(the part of a sentence or clause containing a verb and stating something about the subject) of a sentence,
such as hear, become, happen.
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There are a lot of types of verbs. To identify the verb, you can ask yourself a number of questions.

Can you see it? Are you moving?

Dynamic verbs denote a physical action e.g., running, sleeping. Usually, you can physically see this happening.
If a text contains a lot of dynamic verbs, this can be worthy analysing, as it might suggest a sense that the
producer of the text wants you to take some direct, physical action etc.
Stative verbs denote a state of mind e.g., thinking, wondering. Usually, you cannot physically see this
happening. A lot of stative verbs in a text may indicate that the producer would like you to think deeply about
the cause they are writing about, or that they are happy with the status quo and would like it to remain the
same.
List as many verbs in either column as you can, aiming for at least five:

Stative verbs Dynamic verbs

If you are moving, does it require an object to do?

Transitive verbs are dynamic verbs that require an object e.g. she kicked the ball, he kissed her, she drank the
water.
Intransitive verbs are dynamic verbs that don’t require an object e.g. sneeze, laugh, arrive, go, lie, sit and die.
Write two sentences with a dynamic verb in each, one transitive and one intransitive.

The final type of verb we need to know about are auxiliary verbs. These are verbs used in forming the tenses,
moods, and voices of other verbs. They are used alongside other verbs to help provide more information.
There are two kinds of auxiliary verbs: primary and model.

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The primary auxiliary verbs in English are be, do, and have. These are the only three, but obviously these
verbs, when changing tense, become verbs such as ‘is’, ‘had’, ‘has’ etc.
The modal auxiliaries express necessity or possibility. English modal verbs include must, shall, will, should,
would, can, could, may, and might. Modal verbs are useful in analysing a text because they often set the
mood or tone of a sentence, making it clear how the producer is feeling.

Identify ALL of the verb types in these sentences. THEN, focus on the modal verbs. What do each of the modal
verbs suggest about the speaker’s opinion, tone, or mood?
Annotate:

You shall go to You should You must I would be more Can we go to

the ball. probably keep complete your likely to go if he see the monkeys
your distance. homework by wasn’t going. at the zoo?
tomorrow.

Adverbs
Adverbs modify verbs. A bit like adjectives, they can be pre or post modifying, but we do not refer to them as
predicative and attributive. Some of these are categorized as follows:

Type of adverb Example In a sentence

Manner: shows how a verb is Cheerfully, efficiently, The children were happily
being done painfully, carefully, slowly playing with their toys
Time: shows when a verb is Now, yesterday, soon, later, She’d already gone when we
being done yet, tomorrow, tonight, got there
already
Place: shows where a verb is Off, above, abroad, outside, His children go everywhere
being done away, behind, in with him
Frequency: shows how often Always, sometimes, often, She normally eats three
a verb is being done usually, never, generally meals a day
Degree: shows the extent to Quite, too, entirely, very, I’m not absolutely certain
which the verb is being done extremely, just, barely, that I posted it
and the intensity of it deeply

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 Quantity: shows the amount Almost, completely, He was almost ready to leave
that the verb is being done especially, extremely, hardly,
just, nearly, only
Evaluation: expresses the Apparently, clearly, fairly, David is clearly unhappy to
attitude of the writer about frankly, fortunately, honestly, be here
the information in the clause hopefully, carefully,
that follows carelessly

Many of these types of adverbs cross over category depending on the sentence and its context. For example,
‘I’m not absolutely certain’ is an adverb of degree because it shows the extent to which you are certain, but
‘She had done absolutely all of the work’ shows the amount of work she has done.

The extract below is taken from Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell. Identify the types of VERB and
ADVERB that you can find in it. Annotate the extract.

The hallway smelt of boiled cabbage and old rag mats. At

one end of it a coloured poster, too large for indoor display,
had been tacked to the wall. It depicted simply an enormous
face, more than a metre wide: the face of a man of about
forty-five, with a heavy black moustache and ruggedly
handsome features. Winston made for the stairs. It was no
use trying the lift. Even at the best of times it was seldom
working, and at present the electric current was cut off
during daylight hours. It was part of the economy drive in
preparation for Hate Week. The flat was seven flights up,
and Winston, who was thirty-nine and had a varicose ulcer
above his right ankle, went slowly, resting several times on
the way. On each landing, opposite the lift-shaft, the poster
with the enormous face gazed from the wall. It was one of
those pictures which are so contrived that the eyes follow
you about when you move. BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING
YOU, the caption beneath it ran.

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Below, assess your confidence by colouring in the middle square red, amber or green. Then, create a small
plan as to what you will do to improve your knowledge in these areas.

Word class RAG What will I do to improve?

Nouns

Verbs

Adjective

Adverbs

Pronouns
Pronouns replace the noun in a sentence. We need pronouns so that we do not have to constantly repeat the
noun if we want to refer back to it. A word is classed as a pronoun when it occurs independently without a
noun following it, because it replaces the noun itself.
There are seven types of pronoun:

Personal Replaces the subject in a sentence, e.g. I, we, me, him

pronouns
Reflexive Indicate object of a verb is the same as the subject of the sentence, e.g., ‘-
pronouns self/-selves in themselves like in ‘they were going to do it themselves’
Indefinite Do not refer to any specific person of thing, e.g. ‘someone’, ‘anything’
pronouns ‘everything’
Demonstrative They tend to point to something, e.g., ‘that’, ‘this’ (but if it comes before a
pronouns noun, it isn’t the pronoun)
Possessive Show possession (hers, ours, mine) only when not placed before the noun
pronouns
Interrogative Used when asking a question, e.g., who, whose, which, what (in who did this,
pronouns which is it)
Relative Act as linking words in a sentence always placed immediately AFTER the noun
pronouns they refer to, e.g., whom, who, whose, which, that (The man, who had
decided to go home, was walking very quickly)

Identify the types of pronouns being used below:

1. The book is mine.
2. Which book is this?
3. He picked up his pen.
4. This is the one I was talking about
5. Can anyone help me?

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Determiners
Determiners are words that are placed before a noun to provide information about quantity, ownership and
specificity
There are 5 types of determiner:
Definite article the
Indefinite article a/an
Numerical determiners one/two/three etc
first/second/third etc
Quantifiers Show quantity, e.g., few, many, enough
Demonstrative Refer only to specific subjects or people, e.g., this, that, these,
determiners those

Determiners differ from pronouns, because a pronoun replaces a noun, whereas a determiner comes beforea
noun e.g.
that pen: demonstrative determiner
give me that: demonstrative pronoun

Identify all of the pronouns and determiners in the paragraphs below. Annotate them.

The old lady reached the doorstep of her home and put her bag
down to search for the key in her pocket. This search was always the
worst part of any trip out. However hard she tried, she could never
find either key – she always carried one key for the front door and
one key for the back door in case of emergencies. On many occasions
she had been sure that both keys were lost. But this time was an
exception.

She skillfully slotted one key into the lock and turned it
carefully. In two minutes, she was indoors, but for the second time
that day, she drew her breath sharply. Every day recently she had
some visitors, but enough was enough. There was more mess than
even she could bear and for the rest of that day, she concentrated on
making her home her own again.

Prepositions
A preposition is a word that tells you where and when something is in relation to something else. Examples of
prepositions include words like after, before, on, under, inside and outside.
After walking for miles, she rested on a hill.
In this sentence, ‘after’ tells you when she rested and ‘on’ tells you where she rested.

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Annotate the four sentences below with the pronoun, determiner and preposition:

Is there really a I’m allergic to cats. I was amazed at the I am blessed with
dining car attached depth of her good health.
to the train? knowledge.

Conjunctions
Conjunctions are words used to connect words, phrases, or clauses. There are three types of conjunctions:

• Coordinating Conjunctions: coordinating conjunctions join like with like (i.e., they join a noun with
another noun, an adjective with another adjective, etc.). The most common ones are and, but, and or.
There are seven in total: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, and so. (You can remember them using the
mnemonic (F.A.N.B.O.Y.S.)
• Subordinating Conjunctions: subordinating conjunctions join subordinate clauses to main clauses.
Common examples are although, because, if, since, unless, until, and while.
• Correlative Conjunctions: correlative conjunctions are used in pairs to join alternatives or equal
elements. The most common pairs are either/or, neither/nor, and not only/but also.
Identify the conjunctions in these sentences and state whether they are coordinating, subordinating or
correlative:

I find television very I like sweet things, We needed a place I drank a glass of
educational. Every but I prefer savoury to concentrate, so we water because I was
time somebody turns dishes. packed up our things thirsty.
on the TV, I go into and went to the
the other room and library.
read a book.

We have now learned the eight parts of speech. Rate yourself below again on your confidence, this time with
all eight parts:

Word class RAG What will I do to improve?

Nouns

Verbs

Adjectives

Adverbs

Pronouns

Determiners
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 Prepositions

Conjunctions

Now, identify all of the words in the extract on the next page. Annotate each word. You may want to shorten
certain things down and create a key, for example CNN could mean common, concrete noun; DPP could be
demonstrative personal pronoun and so on.

Mr and Mrs Dursely, of number four, Privet

Drive, were proud to say that they were
perfectly normal, thank you very much. They
were the last people you’d expect to be
involved in anything strange or mysterious,
because they just didn’t hold with such
nonsense. Mr Dursely was the director of a
firm called Grunnings, which made drills. He
was a big, beefy man with hardly any neck,
although he did have a very large moustache.
Mrs Dursely was thin and blonde and had
nearly twice the usual amount of neck, which
came in very useful as she spent so much of
her time craning over garden fences, spying on
the neighbours. The Dursley’s had a small son
called Dudley and in their opinion, there was
no finer boy anywhere.

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