Word class revision
English
Unit Review, including word class, sentence types,
: tense, commas and colons
Outcome
I can practise word class test questions.
Keywords
noun
verb
adjective
adverb
determiner
Keywords
A noun is a naming word for people, places or
things.
A verb is a being, a doing or a having word.
An adjective is a word that describes a noun.
An adverb is a word that can describe a verb or an
adjective.
A determiner is a word that introduces a noun in a clause
or phrase.
Lesson outline
Word class revision
Nouns, adjectives & determiners
Verbs, adverbs & modal verbs
Nouns, adjectives & determiners
Explanation
A noun is a naming word for people, places and things.
There are four different types of noun.
Common Abstract Proper nouns are Collective
nouns are nouns have no specific named nouns are
physical physical form: things, people or names of
things: ● justice places: groups:
● committee ● hope ● Spanish ● swarm
● tissue ● excellence ● Houses of ● herd
● vegetable ● opportunity Parliament ● flock
● yacht ● curiosity ● Mr Martinez ● cast
● vehicle ● France ● choir
Only proper nouns need capital letters.
Nouns are one type of word class we may see in a sentence.
Nouns, adjectives & determiners
Check
Find the four nouns in each sentence.
He pulled a muscle in his shoulder when he played
a
rugby on Tuesday.
Tuesday.
The cat pondered its existence, thinking about some
b
criticism it had received from a mouse.
c The controversy, which had lasted many days, had
caused a lot of drama and confusion.
Nouns, adjectives & determiners
Explanation
A good way of spotting nouns it to look for determiners.
These are the words that often come before nouns to
introduce them.
quantifiers demonstratives If these words don’t have a noun
● some fish ● those fish
after them, they’re not acting as
● many fish ● these fish
determiners.
● a few fish ● that fish
● no fish ● this fish ● Give me that!
● all fish
● Give me that hammer!
● three fish possessive pronouns
● my belief
articles ● your opinion Nouns don’t always have a
● a belief ● his expectation determiner in front of them.
● an opinion ● I want fish!
● the expectation
Nouns, adjectives & determiners
Check
Find the determiners in each sentence.
You must complete those questions, or you will lose
a
some minutes of your breaktime.
Our neighbours helped my dad fix the fence when it
b
got knocked over by that storm.
c Mr Martinez bought forty pencils, but a few children
broke them, causing a lot of inconvenience.
Nouns, adjectives & determiners
Explanation
In between determiners and nouns, we will often find
adjectives - words that describe nouns.
● We had a marvellous day visiting a nearby castle.
● The loud sound of his rumbling stomach filled the small room.
Often, adjectives come before Sometimes, however, adjectives
the noun they describe. come after the noun they
describe.
D A N D N A A
● That is an excellent ● The road was long and rough.
question!
D A N D N A
● Have some delicious treats. ● His voice is deafening.
Nouns, adjectives & determiners
Check
Find the adjectives in each sentence.
Our local environment has been damaged by a
a
serious oil-spill in recent months.
Some foreign countries have very few professional
b
doctors to help sick people.
c She trudged down the wide street, thinking about
how her day had been long and difficult.
Task A Nouns, adjectives & determiners
Practice
In each sentence, label the nouns, adjectives and
determiners that make up each noun phrase
using the labels N, A and D.
a) A determined person can achieve lots of incredible things.
b) The vehicle, which was damaged and muddy, was speeding
down these narrow lanes.
c) When his old yacht ran aground, my wealthy uncle bought
a new model.
Task A Nouns, adjectives & determiners
Feedbac
k
Here are the determiners.
Here are the nouns.
Here are the adjectives.
a) A determined person can achieve lots of incredible things.
b) The vehicle, which was damaged and muddy, was speeding
down these narrow lanes.
c) When his old yacht ran aground, my wealthy uncle bought
a new model.
Lesson outline
Word class revision
Nouns, adjectives & determiners
Verbs, adverbs & modal verbs
Verbs, adverbs and modal verbs
Explanation
Together, the noun and any adjectives and determiners
linked to it make a noun phrase.
D A N Phrases - such as noun phrases -
● That is an excellent never contain verbs.
question!
However, all sentences include at
noun least one clause that contains a
phrase verb.
A noun phrase cannot contain a
verb - a being, a doing or a having ● The committee made its
word. decision.
noun ● She caused a nuisance.
phrase
● The temperature rises when
● Her loud voice filled the room.
the sun appears.
D A N V
Verbs, adverbs and modal verbs
Check
In each sentence, identify the verb and the noun
phrase.
noun
phrase V
a Suddenly, several huge openings appeared.
noun
phrase V
b Those mysterious symbols puzzled me.
noun
V phrase
c I gave him a firm guarantee.
Verbs, adverbs and modal verbs
Explanation
Often, we have a main verb in a sentence paired with an
auxiliary verb.
One type of auxiliary verb is a modal
● She was causing a verb - it comes before the main verb.
nuisance.
● You can shout, but I won’t listen.
auxiliary main
● We have to try, or we will lose.
verb verb
● They must be defeated!
● They have taken the
Modal verbs help us say how likely,
vehicle.
possible or necessary something is.
auxiliary main
verb verb ● She might be an MP one day.
● She should be an MP one day.
The auxiliary verb ‘helps’ the
main verb. ● She will be an MP one day.
Verbs, adverbs and modal verbs
Check
Which sentence uses a modal verb to show the
highest likelihood (greatest certainty) of something
happening?
I might be able to get my dad’s signature on the
a
form tomorrow.
b
You should have the opportunity to retake the test
if you are disappointed in your score.
c We will ensure that the experiment is a fair test by
controlling the variables carefully.
Verbs, adverbs and modal verbs
Explanation
Sometimes, the same word in English can function as a
noun and as a verb.
The same root word can be used to
● Let’s play cricket today! create nouns, verbs and adjectives.
● We went to see a play N
together.
● I appreciate your explanation.
● I don’t like it when you V
smirk. ● He explained it perfectly.
● I don’t like your smirk. A
● She gave me an explanatory
If the word is something we
do, it’s a verb. note.to think carefully about what
We have
If it’s a thing, it’s a noun the word is doing in the sentence in
(and it may have a order to be sure of its word class.
determiner).
Verbs, adverbs and modal verbs
Check
Decide if the highlighted word in each sentence is
acting as a noun, verb or adjective. Can you explain
why?
We all composed our own rhymes, which we performed to
a
the class.
We are talking about a thing we have composed - nouns
are
If things.rhymes, it can be easier to read.
a poem
b
We are saying something a poem does - doing words are
verbs.
Although I love rhyming poetry, it can limit the ideas you
c
can use in your poem.
This word describes the poetry - adjectives describe
nouns.
Verbs, adverbs and modal verbs
Explanation
Adverbs are often used to describe when, how, where or to
what extent verbs are done.
● He runs frequently. ● She nearly won. ● They arrived today.
● He never runs. ● She almost won. ● It rained heavily.
● He ran here. ● She lives nearby. ● We fell down hard.
Adverbs can also describe Some words can be both
adjectives. adverbs and adjectives.
● He lives very close to
school. ● I pushed him hard.
adverb adjectiv ● It was a hard push.
e
● It was a deliciously creamy We have to check - is it
sauce. describing a verb or a noun?
● We were really concerned about
it.
Verbs, adverbs and modal verbs
Check
Identify the two adverbs in each sentence.
a
We often ask the secretary questions and she happily
answers them.
b
Sitting at home yesterday, Aisha practised her times
tables thoroughly.
thoroughly.
c It was snowing hard and it settled everywhere.
Task B Verbs, adverbs and modal verbs
Practice
Identify the word class of the highlighted word(s) in each
sentence - is it an adverb or an adjective?
a) We rarely watch that programme.
b) We had a rare opportunity to see it.
c) This profession isn’t very easy to master.
d) We easily managed to complete the
task.
e) The yacht departed early.
f) He had an early meeting this morning.
g) He was very angry after it happened.
h) I don’t think it’s quite ready to eat.
Task B Verbs, adverbs and modal verbs
Feedbac
k
Identify the word class of the highlighted word(s) in each
sentence - is it an adverb or an adjective?
a) We rarely watch that programme. adverb
b) We had a rare opportunity to see it. adjective
c) This profession isn’t very easy to master. adjective
d) We easily managed to complete the adverb
task. adverb
e) The yacht departed early. adjective
f) He had an early meeting this morning. adverb
g) He was very angry after it happened. adjective
h) I don’t think it’s quite ready to eat.
Summar
y Word class revision
● a noun is a naming word for people, places or things; it is
often introduced by a determiner and it can be described
by an adjective
● a verb is a being, a doing or a having word; it can be
paired with an auxiliary verb such as a modal verb that
helps to show how likely, possible or necessary something
is
● an adverb can modify a verb or an adjective to say more
about when, where, how or to what extent it happens
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