Basic Composition Study Notes 2
What is a word?
A word consists of letters that make words By themselves and in phrases and sentences. Words must
have vowels and consonants to create the terms.
What are the Types of Words?
The types of words in (Parts of Speech) are adverbs, adjectives, conjunctions, determiners,
exclamations, nouns, prepositions, pronouns, and verbs.
What are the Word Forms?
The word forms include contractions, prefixes, suffixes, words starting with mono or poly, and words
that begin with the “wh” like who, what, when, why, and how
What is a Vocabulary?
A vocabulary is the body of words used in a particular language. It is an excellent way to learn the
meaning of each word. Use the glossary or dictionary to find the definition of any word.
What are Context Clues?
Forms include:
•Synonyms.
•Antonyms or opposites.
•Word-structure clues.
•Comparisons (such as metaphors and similes).
•Contrasts or examples of explanations.
Example: Stop means paused or do not move or freeze.
What are Opposite Words?
Opposite words are words that express the opposition of the other word.
Example: The opposite of nice is mean, and the opposite of fast is slow.
What are Homophone Words?
Words sound the same but are spelled differently. Homophone words can be spelled in two or more
ways.
Example: Two, Two, Too or I, eye or sale or sail, blew, blue, red, red, y, why, cite, site, sight, night,
knight, nite, flour, flower, pour, pour, coarse, coarse, eight, ate, lie, lye, right, write, road, road, tide,
tied, etc.
What are Rhymes?
Rhymes are words that sound the same.
Example: Ride and tide, calm and school, bill and will
What are Abbreviations?
Abbreviations are short forms of words or phrases.
Example: Jill is short for Jillian, MD is fast for Medical Doctor or Maryland state, ACD is abrupt for
Adult Creative Dance
What are Compound Words?
Compound words are two words in one word.
Example: Dance team
What Are Contractions?
Contractions are a shortcut to words we use in speech.
Example: They’ll, which is they will. It will make you are writing a little informal. One of the uses of
contractions in writing is confusing contractions with possessive pronouns.
What are the Parts of Speech?
Parts of speech involve how the words function in meaning along with the sentence. The eight parts of
speech are adverbs, adjectives, conjunctions, interjections, nouns, pronouns, prepositions, and verbs.
We apply these parts of speech to create sentences that will improve your writing.
Adverbs are words that identify a verb, an adjective, and even adverbs and use to answer questions.
Examples: Supposedly, finally, totally, usefully, usually, yesterday, soon, later, slowly
Types of Adverbs: The types of adverbs are adverbs of frequency, adverbs of time, adverbs of manner,
adverbs of degree, and adverbs of place conjunctive adverbs.
Conjunctive Adverbs are important for sentences. These adverbs act like conjunctions and connect
two clauses or two sentences.
Example: I went to the library to borrow books. But the library was closed when I arrived there.
Adverbs of Frequency describe the frequency of an event or situation by explaining how often
something occurs in an event or case.
Example: I usually do not go to medical doctors unless I suffer trauma.
Adverbs of Manner are adverbs that tell us how something happens.
Example: Our art instructor told their student to draw slowly to avoid many mistakes in the artwork.
Adverbs of Degree show the intensity of an action or quality by describing adjectives or other adverbs.
Adverbs of Place are adverbs that explain to us where something happens.
Example: I cannot find my shoes anywhere in the gym locker room.
Adverbs of Time are words that explain to us when something happens by referring to specific times
and more general periods.
Example: My family is going to San Diego, California, to go on a vacation trip tomorrow.
Adjectives are words that describe a noun.
Examples: Red ball, the paper is a green color. Straight and relaxed black hair
Types of Adjectives: The types of adjectives are comparative adjectives, superlative adjectives,
predicate adjectives, compound adjectives, possessive Adjective, demonstrative adjectives, proper
Adjective, participial Adjective, limiting Adjective, descriptive adjectives, interrogative Adjective,
attributive Adjective, and distributive Adjective.
Attributive Adjective is an adjective that comes before a noun.
Example 1: Dark evenings, mysterious events, light rain, busy day (Example of Attribute Adjective)
Example 2: It was a busy day at the store because many people bought gifts for the Christmas holiday.
(Example of Attribute Adjective In A Sentence)
A comparative Adjective is an adjective used to compare two people or things and to demonstrate the
quality of the other.
Example 1: Smarter, Taller, Slower, Fuller, Cooler, Warmer, Friendlier (Example of Comparative
Adjective)
Example 2: Juan is taller than his older brother, Jerry. (Example of Comparative Adjective In A
Sentence)
A compound adjective is an adjective that consists of two or more adjectives that work together to
modify the same noun. It would help if you used a hyphen to avoid confusion in words.
Example 1: 6-paged, three-year-old, twenty-four classes, well-written (Example of Compound
Adjective)
Example 2: Bethany submit a 7-page essay for her English I class. (Example of Compound Adjective
In A Sentence)
Descriptive Adjective is an adjective that describes a noun or pronoun.
Example 1: Beautiful, old music, friendly, self-employed, clever (Example of Descriptive Adjective)
Example 2: I enjoy listening to new music from an unknown male band. (Example of Descriptive
Adjective In A Sentence)
A demonstrative adjective is an adjective that indicates a person or thing or a few people and a few
things.
Example 1: That, this, those, these (Example of Demonstrative Adjective)
Example 2: I want those dogs for my house. (Example of Demonstrative Adjective In A Sentence)
Distributive Adjective is an adjective that refers to members of individual groups.
Example 1: Each, every, either, neither, any, many (Example of Distributive Adjective)
Example 2: Each person got the same fruits at the cafeteria. (Example of Distributive Adjective In A
Sentence)
An interrogative adjective is an adjective that uses interrogative words in the sentence.
Example 1: Why, when, where, how, who, whose, which (Example of Interrogative Adjective)
Example 2: Why are people so obsessed with famous people? (Example of Interrogative Adjective In
A Sentence)
A limiting adjective is an adjective that modifies a noun or pronoun by restricting and describing its
qualities or traits.
Example 1: A, an, the (Example of Limiting Adjective)
Example 2: Samuel is roller skating on his roller skates in the skating rink. (Example of Limiting
Adjective In A Sentence)
A participial Adjective is an adjective that takes a participle and uses it as an adjective. These
adjectives end in “ed,” “is,” “es,” “s,” or “ing” in these words.
Example 1: Computerized, misunderstood, renowned, self-centered, talented, unknown (Example of
Participial Adjective)
Example 2: I am sorry! I misunderstood what you were saying just now. (Example of Participial
Adjective In A Sentence)
Possessive Adjective is an adjective that modifies as a noun by identifying who has ownership of it.
Example 1: Are, my, your, his, her, its, our, their, whose (Example of Possessive Adjective)
Example 2: A mother is building a crib for her twin children. (Example of Possessive Adjective In A
Sentence)
Predicate Adjective follows a connected verb like “to be” and modifies the subject.
Example 1: To be, to seem, to look, to do, to make (Example of Predicate Adjective)
Example 2: We must be at the dance studio at 7:00 pm to attend our jazz and modern dance class.
(Example of Predicate Adjective In A Sentence)
Proper Adjective is an adjective that is capitalized, describes a noun, and cones from proper nouns.
Example 1: African, Italian, American, Mexican (Example of Proper Adjective)
Example 2: I ate Mexican foods yesterday and love the taste of these foods. (Example of Proper
Adjective In A Sentence)
Superlative Adjective is used to identify an object at the upper or lower limit of quality words like
tallest or smallest. They are used in a sentence with a subject compared to a group of things.
Example 1: Wider, tightest, higher, lower, faster (Example of Superlative Adjective Adjective)
Example 2: William solves a math problem faster than Eugene. (Example of Superlative Adjective
Adjective In A Sentence)
Articles in English are adjectives. Articles are also documents that appear in newspapers and other
publication documents.
Indefinite Articles are “A” and “An .”You use these articles when you are not referring to a specific
noun. The letters “A” go. at the beginning of words that start with consonant letters, and “an” goes at
the beginning of words that begin with vowels.
Examples: An airplane, A paper
The definite article is “The”. You use this article when you are referring a specific noun.
Examples: The house The car
Examples: A, an, and the
Conjunctions are words required to connect the parts of speech, including two or more nouns,
pronouns, verbs, adjectives, prepositions, conjunctions, phrases, or clauses.
Examples: Than, that, though, till, until, which, whether, or
Types of Conjunctions: The types of conjunctions are coordinating conjunctions, correlative
conjunctions, subordinating conjunctions, and conjunctive adverbs.
Coordinating Conjunctions have conjunctions occur between words, phrases, clauses, or sentences.
Example 1: For, and, nor, but, or, yet, and so (Example of coordinating conjunctions)
Example 2: You can eat strawberry cupcakes with a fork or a spoon. (Example of coordinating
conjunctions used in a sentence)
Correlative Conjunctions are groups of words that correlate two important clauses or phrases in one
complete thought.
Example 1: Either… or, not only… but also, neither...nor (Example of correlative conjunctions)
Example 2: He is both an excellent and great student at his school. (Example of correlative
conjunctions used in a sentence)
Subordinating Conjunctions are conjunctions are words or phrases that connect a dependent clause to
an independent clause. It shows a clause has informative value to add to the sentence’s central idea that
presents a cause-and-effect relationship or a shift in time and place between the two clauses.
Example 1: Once, while, which, when, whenever, where, wherever, before, after (Example of
subordinating conjunctions)
Example 2: Tina started to sneeze when she opened the window to breathe fresh air. (Example of
subordinating conjunctions used in a sentence)
Conjunction Adverbs are conjunctions that are particular types of verbs used to connect independent
clauses (sentences). Even though adverbs are used to modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs,
conjunction adverbs are used as conjunctions to link one sentence to another.
Example 1: Accordingly, furthermore, moreover, similarly, also, anyway (Example of conjunction
adverbs conjunctions)
Example 2: Danielle kept talking in class; therefore, she got in trouble. (Example of conjunction
adverbs used in a sentence)
Interjections are words or short phrases that express emotion or surprise in the statements,
Examples: Ugh, wow, nice, excellent
Interjections are greeting words like joy, Attention, approval, surprise, sorrow, greeting, joy, approval,
surprise, or sorrow.
The interjection of Attention is an interjection is used to grab someone’s Attention towards us.
Example 1: Listen!, Look!, shh!, behold!, hush! (Example of interjection of Attention)
Example 2: Look! I am tired of you two people arguing about the money, I will not deal with you two
people anymore. (Example of interjection of Attention used in a sentence.)
Interjection of Approval is an interjection used to prove someone or any agreement in a sentence.
Example 1: Bravo!, great!, excellent!, wonderful!, brilliant! (Example of interjection of approval)
Example 2: Excellent! You received an “A” on your Algebra II exam. (Example of approval of
greeting used in a sentence.)
Interjection of Greeting expresses the emotion of warmth in meeting with any person.
Example 1: Hello!, hi!, hey! (Example of an interjection of greeting)
Example 2: Hey! What are you learning today? (Example of interjection of greeting used in a
sentence.)
Interjection of Joy is an interjection that provides pleasure and happiness on a particular occasion.
Example 1: Good!, Congratulations!, Wow!, Hurrah! (Example of interjection of joy)
Example 2: Wow! You are great at designing lettering art. (Example of joy of greeting used in a
sentence.)
Interjection of Surprise is used to express surprise for any incident.
Example 1: Oh!, what!, Ah!, Ha!, Ugh! (Example of interjection of surprise)
Example 2: Ah! I got my first apartment. (Example of interjection of surprise used in a sentence.)
Interjection of Sorrow is used to express the emotion of sadness about terrible situations happened in
a sentence.
Example 1: Ouch!, Oops!, Help! (Example of interjection of sorrow)
Example 2: Ouch! I just cut myself while I cut my artwork. (Example of interjection of sorrow used in
a sentence.)
Nouns are concepts or an idea, people, places, or things.
Examples:
•Concepts or ideas: Dream, friendship, love, freedom
•People: Mrs. Patterson, boy, girl, man, woman
•Places: School, home, park, dance studio, bank
•Things: Tasmanian Devil, desk, computer, book, pencil
Abstract Nouns are nouns that are not physically present where you hear, see, smell, taste, or harsh,
but are there. These nouns can be concept or idea nouns.
Example: God, Jesus, courage, love, progress, patience, angry
Common nouns refer to a non-specific name for a person, place, thing, or idea.
Examples:
•Person: Artist, bus driver, painter, teacher
•Thing: Table, car, pencil, cellphone, jacket, snake, wolf
Collective Nouns are nouns that refers to a collection of a group of animals, people, or thing.
Examples:
•Animals: Group of dogs, a company of dancers, bag of fruits
•People: Army, class, family, group, jury, team, tribe. people
•Thing: A group of stars, a box of toys, a bunch of sticks, cup of noodles
Compound Nouns are like ideas, people, places, or things that are made up of two or more words.
Examples:
•Noun + noun: Bedroom
•Noun + verb: Haircut
•Noun + adverb: Hanger-on,
•Verb + noun: Driving license
•Verb +adverb: Lookout, take off
•Adverb + noun: Monthly payment
•Adjective + verb: Public speaking
•Adjective + noun: Chalkboard
•Adverb + verb: Overthrow
•Verb + Adverb: Breakdown
Concrete Nouns are nouns like person, place, or thing that are physically present where you hear, see,
smell, taste, or tough.
Examples:
•Hear: Linda can hear someone screaming in her neighborhood.
•See: A bird sees a tree where they can build a nest for them and their babies.
•Smell: I can smell the great fresh air outside the ocean.
•Taste: This chocolate ice cream tastes perfect.
•Tough: We can put tough clothes and shoes in our bedroom.
Possessive Nouns are words that show nouns owning something. If the noun has no letter “s” at the
end of the noun, you use an “‘s .”If the noun has a letter “s” at the end of the noun, write the possessive
noun format like “s’”.
Examples:
•Person: Ted’s family house (The family house belongs to Ted)
•Place: Adult Creative Dance Studio’s students (Students belong to Adult Creative Dance
Studio)
•Thing: Octopus’ babies (The babies belong to the octopus)
Proper Nouns are names of a specific organization, person, place, or thing that start with a capital
letter.
Examples:
•Organization: Joy’s Mixed Media Arts (Organization and Place)
•Person: Joy Timmons (Female and Woman)
•Place: New York (State)
•Thing: Holy Bible (Book)
Singular and Plural Nouns
Singular Nouns refer to one person, place, or thing.
Example: Fan, television, school, box, letter
Plural Nouns refer to more than one person, place or thing. When there is more than one noun, some of
them add either “s,” “es,” or “yes” at the end of the plural nouns.
Example: Wolves, berries, bases, rides, fingers
Prepositions are words that show direction, place, relationships, spatial, or time or introduce an object
or someone. Preposition phrases are like fragments or phrases.
Examples: in, into, under, around, at, on, of, to, onto, inside
•Preposition of Direction: To the gas station, into the dark, onto the ground
•Preposition of Location: In the state, at the school, on the window
•Preposition of Place: At the swimming pool, at the office, above the roof
•Preposition of Spatial Relationship: Across the road, along the way, within three days
Prepositions follow Verbs and Adjectives
Example 1: People worry about the future.
Example 2: A cat crawls under the bed.
Pronouns are words that take the place of nouns in sentences.
Examples: I, we, they, you, who, themselves, each other,
Antecedents like “it” refers to bike, tree, car, or city
Distributive Pronouns are people, animals, and objects referred to as individuals in larger groups.
Examples: Either, Each, Neither, Any, None
Indefinite Pronouns refer to a person or thing not identified in sentences.
Examples: One, other, none, some, anybody, everybody, and no one.
Interrogative pronouns are nouns used in questions.
Examples: Who, what, which, whose
Intensive Pronouns are similar to reflexive pronouns but used for a different purpose and to emphasize
the subject or antecedent of the sentences. You find these pronouns right after the noun or pronoun it
identifies, but they are unnecessary.
Examples: Myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves
Personal Pronouns refer to specific individuals and groups.
Examples: I, me, she, her, he, him, they, them, we, us, yall, you all, and you
First Person Pronouns: I, me, my, mine, myself, we, us, our, ours, ourselves.
Second Person Pronouns: You, your, yours, yourself, yourselves.
Third Person Pronouns: He, him, his, himself, she, her, hers, herself, it, its, itself, they, them, their,
theirs, themselves.
Possessive Pronouns show possession and are called possessive adjectives if they identify as nouns in
sentences. These pronouns can be independent versions of possessive pronouns like mine, yours, ours,
theirs, his, hers, or its.
Examples: My, your, our, their, his, her, or its
Reciprocal Pronouns are pronouns expressed in a mutual relationship. It refers to a situation where
someone or something performs an action on others and receives the same action in return.
Examples: Greg and Molly love each other.
We study together to prepare for the next biology exam.
Relative Pronouns are nouns that are connected to relative clauses to independent clauses. These
pronouns introduce additional information about something mentioned in sentences.
Examples: That, what, which, who, whom
Subject and Object Pronouns are pronouns like who and who are used when writing documents, such
as essays. Who is the subject of the sentences and the object of a verb or preposition used in the
sentences.
Verbs are words that show the action of the nouns in a sentence, tenses, or things.
Examples: Accept, drives, allow, added, rides, turn,
The types of verbs are action, linking, and helping.
Action verbs show actions like eating, drinking, or walking.
Example: Students eat their sandwiches for lunch at school.
Linking Verbs are words connected to the subjects of a sentence or a noun or Adjective that describes
the subject.
Example: Henry becomes a finance entrepreneur for his finance business.
Helping Verbs are words before action or linking verbs to convey statements relating to aspects,
possibilities, or time.
Examples: Can, could, should, was, did, has, to be
Example Sentence: Theresa is playing music in her room.
