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Recognizing verbs, nouns, adjectives, adverbs...Level 2
In the test we have tried to understand why it's important to determine the NATURE of the words in the sentences we use, and how we can do it. Here, we're going a little further ...
As we have seen, in order to determine the grammatical category of a word, (its NATURE), you must always consider the word which is preceding it, and the one that's following it. You should never forget to examine the function of the words in the sentences. Thus, there are « rules » obeying obligations ( such as: put an -s in the 3rd person singular of the simple present) or interdictions ( qualificative adjectives are never in the plural) There are a few rules:
Let's recognize verbs, nouns, adverbs, and adjectives ...
In order to determine the grammatical category of a word, (its NATURE), you must always analyse the words preceding and following it, and of course, the function it has in the sentence.
- a modal auxiliary (can/ could/ may/ might/ should etc.) is always followed by the BASE VERB .
- TO is followed either by a verb (then, it is an infinitive: to go/ to work/ to run) or, by a noun/ pronoun (it's a preposition= ... to school/ ... to him); yet, TO and FRO is adverbial. Prepositions are followed by a NOUN (- in the garden/ on the table / under the book...) The preposition "OF" is either followed by a noun or a verb + ING.
- dozens of eggs/ the door of the class room= NOUN + of + NOUN= the second noun complements the first one // tired of working= adjective+ OF +verb + ING
- An adjective may be next to a noun (a red dress) or may follow a stative verb (the girl is tired/ she became ill/ pretty). It always qualifies a noun/ or a pronoun but is never in the plural.
- In the phrases "came in/ ran away/ take again" etc. , in, away, again modify the meaning of a verb. They're adverbs.
- After "there", we are expecting a VERB, or rather an auxiliary (a stative one, or a modal one) : there/ is/ are/ will be/ can be/ should be...
- Behind a subject and a verb, a sentence in English needs a DOC (direct object complement or Predicate) which is often a NOUN (or nominal group).
- TO may be a preposition (followed by a nominal group) or the infinitive particle TO, which will then be followed by a VERB.
- In line (e), verbs are suggested (without TO, without S, like the verb base) => don't forget the imperative mode (used to give orders).
- "You" subject personal pronoun, is followed by a VERB.
- "a" is an indefinite determiner preceding a NOUN.
Please, take your time to watch the picture; some words will be suggested to form the people's thoughts. You'll try to build the right sentences corresponding to the context. Don't be frightened, you'll be helped and guided all along the process...
In this picture, a boy has been playing and drawing with his mom's make-up. He imagines he'll be in trouble as she's somewhat angry with him.
1) The boy is thinking... (re-establish what the boy is thinking; find the convenient words in the lines indicated by a letter.)
"I (a) my (b) really looks like Mom! Why didn't she (c) it, I wonder? I'm (d) I'll have a (e) (f)."
- (a) write - think - look - like - have - buy -
- (b) table - book - drawing - punishment - desk -
- (c) run - like - eat - open - paint - as -
- (d) happy - sure - thankful - hard - grateful -
- (e) hard - red - broken - expensive - cheap - soft -
- (f) punishment - desk - school - drawing - chair -
* Behind a subject personal pronoun ("I, you, he , she ..."), there must be a VERB. (here, it may be a verb of opinion).
- "my" is a possessive determiner which must be placed before a NOUN.
- Once more, a personal pronoun is followed by a VERB.
- Between two subject personal pronouns followed by an auxiliary or a stative verb, we want an ADJECTIVE.
- Subject+ verb=> nominal group= determiner+ adjective+ NOUN.
"I
2) The mother is thinking... (a letter will show you the correct line to find the different words...)
"Yes, for sure, he's (a) my (b) cosmetics, but his drawing (c) quite (d), and though he's done something (e), he's just a (f), isn't he?"
- (a) drawn - flattered - ruined - ran - walked -
- (b) blue - great - cheap - expensive - high -
- (c) be - have - could - should - is - must -
- (d) enjoying - despaired - mocking - dying -
- (e) main - stupid - intelligent - naive - clever -
- (f) father - mother - brother - kid - children -
Explanations:
* - Here, pay attention to the contraction "He's" which stands for "he has+ past participle ". This contraction could be "He is", but then, none of the suggested words could be used.
- "My", possessive adjective is part of a nominal group (possessive determiner+ adjective + noun).
- "His drawing"= nominal group (possessive+ NOUN). Here, we need a verb/ auxiliary to continue the sentence, and then an adjective placed after a verb.
- "he's done something..."= verbal group+ indefinite pronoun+ adjective.
- He's just a ...": the determiner "a" (an indefinite article) must be placed before a noun.
- "He's just a kid": the question-tag shows that obviously, "be" is the auxiliary.
"Yes, for sure, he's
Here you are, now, ready to face the test.
It's an extract from David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens, a great and beautiful text... Have Courage... THE FORCE is with YOU!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Copperfield
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