Meticulous

showing great attention to detail; very careful and

precise
Sentence: "the designs are hand-glazed with
Word of meticulous care" ·

the day "he had always been so meticulous about his

appearance"
Synonyms: Careful, Thorough, Detailed, Rigorous

Antonyms: Careless, Sloppy

Parts of Speech
 • A noun is a word that names something,
such as a person, place, thing, or idea. It
can be anything that we can perceive or

Nouns
imagine. A noun can play different roles in
a sentence, such as subject, direct object,
indirect object, subject complement,
object complement, appositive, or
adjective. A noun can be living, non-living,
countable, non-countable, tangible, or
non-tangible
Verbs
• Verbs are the action words in a sentence that describe what the subject is doing. Along with nouns, verbs are the main part of a sentence or
phrase, telling a story about what is taking place. One clue to help you recognize a verb is its location compared to the subject. Verbs almost
always come after a noun or pronoun. These nouns and pronouns are referred to as the subject

Examples:

• Mark eats his dinner quickly.

• We went to the market.

• You write neatly in your notebook.

• They thought about all the prizes in the competition.

Physical Verbs
• Physical verbs are action verbs. They describe specific physical actions. If you can create a motion with your body or use a tool to complete
an action, the word you use to describe it is most likely a physical verb. For example, Joe sat in his chair, the dog breathes quickly after
she chases her ball, and should we vote in the election? Even when the action isn’t very active, if the action is done by the body or a tool,
consider it a physical verb.

• Physical Verb Examples

• The physical verb examples in the following sentences are in bold for easy identification.

• Let’s run to the corner and back.

• I hear the train coming.

• Call me when you’re finished with class.

Mental Verbs
• Mental verbs have meanings that are related to concepts such as discovering, understanding, thinking, or
planning. In general, a mental verb refers to a cognitive state.

• Mental Verb Examples

The mental verb examples in the following sentences are in bold for easy identification.
• I know the answer.
• She recognized me from across the room.
• Do you believe everything people tell you?
State of being verbs
Also known as linking verbs, state of being verbs describe conditions or situations that exist. State of being verbs are inactive
since no action is being performed. These verbs, forms of to be, such as am, is, are, are usually complemented by adjectives.

States of Being Verb Examples

• The state of being verbs in the following sentences are in bold for easy identification.

• I am a student.

• We are circus performers.

• Place is quiet.
 • Adjectives are words that describe the
qualities or states of being of nouns
Adjectives : enormous, doglike, silly, yellow, fun, fast. The
y can also describe the quantity of
nouns: many, few, millions, eleven.
Adjectives modify nouns
• As you may already know, adjectives are words that modify (describe) nouns. Adjectives
do not modify verbs or adverbs or other adjectives.
• Margot wore a beautiful hat to the pie-eating contest.
• Furry dogs may overheat in the summertime.
• My cake should have sixteen candles.
• The scariest villain of all time is Darth Vader.
• In the sentences above, the adjectives are easy to spot because they come immediately
before the nouns they modify.
• But adjectives can modify nouns even without appearing right before
them in a sentence. Acting as what’s called a subjective complement
with the help of a linking verb, a predicate adjective modifies the
subject of a sentence. A linking verb is a verb like to be, to feel, to
seem, or to taste that, rather than describing an action, helps to
describe a state of being or a sensory experience.
• That cow sure is happy.
• It smells gross in the locker room.
• Driving is faster than walking.
 • Adjectives tell the reader what kind of
something you’re talking about, or how
much or how many of something you’re talking
about.
• Please use three white flowers in the
Uses of arrangement.
• Three and white are modifying flowers.
adjectives • Often, when adjectives are used together, you
should separate them with a comma or
conjunction.
• I’m looking for a small, good-tempered dog to
keep as a pet.
• My new dog is small and good-tempered.
 • Adjectives come in three forms, known as
degrees: absolute, comparative, and
superlative.
• Absolute adjectives describe something in
its own right.
Degrees of • A cool guy
adjectives • A messy desk
• A rigid guideline
• An awful situation
• A mischievous cat
• Garrulous squirrels
 Comparative adjectives

Comparative adjectives, unsurprisingly, make a comparison between two or

more things.
For most one-syllable adjectives, the comparative is formed by adding the
suffix -er (or just -r if the adjective already ends with an e). For two-syllable
adjectives, some use -er to form the comparative while others use the
word more. In general, two-syllable adjectives ending in –er, –le, –ow, –ure,
or –y can be made comparative by adding -er (in the case of -y words,
replace y with –ier). For adjectives of three or more syllables, add the
word more.
A cooler guy
A messier desk
A rigider/more rigid guideline
A more awful situation
A more mischievous cat
More garrulous squirrels
 Superlative adjectives
• Superlative adjectives indicate that something has the highest degree of the quality in question.
One-syllable adjectives become superlatives by adding the suffix -est (or just -st for adjectives that already end in e).
As with the comparative, some two-syllable adjectives use -est to form the superlative while others use the
word most. In general, two-syllable adjectives ending in -y replace -y with -iest.
Adjectives of three or more syllables add the word most. When you use an article with a superlative adjective, it will
almost always be the definite article (the) rather than a or an. Using a superlative inherently indicates that you are
talking about a specific item or items.
• The coolest guy
• The messiest desk
• The rigidest/most rigid guideline
• The most awful situation
• The most mischievous cat
• The most garrulous squirrels
 Adverb
• An adverb is a word that modifies (describes) a verb (“he sings loudly”), an adjective (“very tall”), another
adverb (“ended too quickly”), or even a whole sentence (“Fortunately, I had brought an umbrella.”). Adverbs
often end in -ly, but some (such as fast) look exactly the same as their adjective counterparts.

• Tom Longboat did not run badly.

• Tom is very tall.

• The race finished too quickly.

• Fortunately, Lucy recorded Tom’s win.

 Adverb examples

• Adverbs are easy to recognize because they usually end in –ly, but not always. Some of the most
common adverb examples include:

• really, very

• well, badly

• today, yesterday, everyday, etc.

• sometimes, often, rarely, etc.

• early, late, soon, etc.

• here, there, everywhere, etc.

 Adverbs and verbs
• Adverbs often modify verbs. This means that they describe the way an action is happening.
• Huan sings loudly in the shower.
• My cat waits impatiently for his food.
• I will seriously consider your suggestion.

• The adverb in each of the sentences above answers the question In what manner? How does Huan sing? Loudly.

How does my cat wait? Impatiently. How will I consider your suggestion? Seriously. Adverbs can answer other

types of questions about how an action was performed. They can also tell you when (“we arrived early”), where

(“turn here”), or with what frequency (“I go there often”).

• However, there is one type of verb that doesn’t mix well with adverbs. Linking verbs, such as feel, smell, sound, seem,
and appear, typically precede adjectives, not adverbs. A very common example of the type of mixup that happens with linking
verbs is the following:

Incorrect: Paz feels badly about what happened.

Because feel is a verb, it seems to call for an adverb rather than an adjective. But feel isn’t just any verb; it’s a linking verb, which
means that it links the subject of a sentence to the modifier that follows it. Since a subject is, by definition, a noun (or a pronoun), it
is modified by an adjective. An adverb would describe how you perform the action of feeling—an adjective describes what you feel.
“Paz feels badly” means that Paz is bad at feeling things. If Paz is trying to read Braille through thick leather gloves, then it might
make sense for you to say “Paz feels badly.” But if you’re trying to say that Paz is experiencing negative emotions, “Paz feels bad”
is the phrase you want.
 Adverbs and adjectives
• Adverbs can also modify adjectives. An adverb modifying an adjective generally adds a degree of intensity
or some other kind of qualification to the adjective.
• The lake is quite beautiful.
• This book is more interesting than the last one.
• “Is my singing too loud?” asked Huan.
• My cat is incredibly happy to be having his dinner.
• We will be slightly late to the meeting.
• This shirt is a very unflattering shade of puce.
Adverbs and other adverbs

• You can use an adverb to describe another adverb. In the following sentence, the adverb almost is
modifying the adverb always (and they’re both modifying the adjective right):
• The weather report is almost always right.
• In fact, if you wanted to, you could use several adverbs to modify another adverb.
• Huan sings rather enormously too loudly.
• However, that often produces weak and clunky sentences like the one above, so be careful not to
overdo it.
Adverbs and sentences

• Some adverbs can modify entire sentences—unsurprisingly, these are called sentence adverbs.
Common ones include generally, fortunately, interestingly, and accordingly. Sentence adverbs don’t
describe one particular thing in the sentence—instead, they describe a general feeling about all of
the information in the sentence.
• Fortunately, we got there in time.
• Interestingly, no one at the auction seemed interested in bidding on the antique spoon collection.
• At one time, the use of the word hopefully as a sentence adverb (e.g., “Hopefully, I’ll get this job”)
was condemned. People continued to use it, though, and many style guides and dictionaries now
accept it. That said, there are still plenty of readers out there who hate it, so it’s a good idea to avoid
using it in formal writing.
• 1. I bought a beautiful dress at the mall.
• verb
adjective
noun
• 2. If we finish our work quickly we can go to the movies.
• adverb
adjective
verb
• 3. On Saturdays I work from nine to five.
• verb
noun
adverb
• 4. I want to go to a university in the United States.
• adjective
verb
noun
• 5. I'm sure I've met your girlfriend before.
• verb
noun
adverb
What is a subject?
• The subject of a sentence is the person or thing doing the action or
being described.
• Lee ate the pie.
• (Lee is the subject of the sentence. Lee is doing the action.)
• Lee is angry.
• (Lee is the subject of the sentence. Lee is being described.)
 • (1) Simple Subject
Pierre puts a lot of garlic in his food.
(Pierre is the subject. This is an example of a simple subject. A simple subject is just one
word without any modifiers.)
• (2) Complete Subject
That boy puts a lot of garlic in his food.
(That boy is an example of a complete subject. It is the simple subject (in this case, boy)
plus all modifiers.)

Types of The world's youngest pope was 11 years old.

(The world's youngest pope is the complete subject. Pope is the simple
Subjects subject. The, world's and youngest are modifiers.)
• (3) Compound Subject
Pierre and Claudette put a lot of garlic in their food.
(Pierre and Claudette is a compound subject. That just means it's made up of more than
one element.)
That new boy from Paris and the tall girl with the long hair put a lot of garlic in their
food.
(This is a compound subject. You can think of it as two complete subjects, each of which
contains a simple subject, boy and girl.)
Subject/ Verb agreement
• When we want to pluralize a noun we usually (not always) add an "S"
or "es"
Example:
Cat- Cats
Horse- Horses
Box- Boxes
However, it is the opposite when it comes to verbs.
Runs- Run Carries- Carry
Walks – Walk Plays- Play
• For a Subject and verb to agree, a singular subject must take a
singular verb, and a plural subject must take a plural verb
Examples:
The boy runs to his mother.
The girls and the boys carry their books to their classrooms
The dog digs in the backyard
They both want some snacks
• Note: Doesn't is the contracted (short) form of does not. Don't is the contracted form of do not.

• I/You/We/They – Do
• I/You/We/They - Don't

• He/She/It- Does
• He/She/It- Doesn't
• If the subject consists of multiple nouns joined by the conjunction and, treat the subject as plural and use the plural form of the verb.
Lucas and Maxine are in love!
Only Lucas is in love.

• If the subject consists of multiple singular nouns joined by or, treat the subject as singular.
Beef or chicken works fine for the recipe.

• However, if the subject consists of multiple plural nouns joined by or, treat the subject as plural.
Cats or dogs make good friends.

• If there’s a combination of singular and plural nouns joined by or, the verb follows the number of the final one listed.
The teacher or the students have to inform the principal.
The students or the teacher has to inform the principal.

Mass nouns, otherwise known as “uncountable nouns” or “noncount nouns,” act as singular subjects.
Love makes the world go around.
• Choose the correct form of the verb that agrees with the subject.
• 1. Annie and her brothers (is, are) at school.
• 2. Either my mother or my father (is, are) coming to the meeting.
• 3. The dog or the cats (is, are) outside.
• 4. Either my shoes or your coat (is, are) always on the floor.
• 5. George and Tamara (doesn't, don't) want to see that movie.
• 6. Benito (doesn't, don't) know the answer.
• 7. One of my sisters (is, are) going on a trip to France.
• 8. The man with all the birds (live, lives) on my street.
• 9. The movie, including all the previews, (take, takes) about two hours to
watch.
• 10. The players, as well as the captain, (want, wants) to win.