Do You Have Trouble with Parts of Speech? Here's a great game!

Playing games at sheppardsoftware.com is a fun way to get more comfortable with parts of speech.

To play, click on the word "Play" on the right side of the curtain.

The next screen tells you what a noun is and gives example. Click the button that says
"Choose a noun."

On the next screen, choose a noun by clicking on it:

Then, click   PLAY   ,  read about what an adjective is, and click the "choose an adjective" button.
On the next screen you will click on an adjective to describe the noun you chose:

Finally, you will follow the same procedure to choose a verb. You can click on all the choices to see what actions your noun character can take. In the picture below, the boy is sleeping:

Click on the link below to begin.

LINK: Who will be the star of the show?

You can also try some of the other games at the same website:

                          
       

                             

          

Noun Plurals Practice

Welcome to the Fall 2018 semester! We will be reviewing noun plurals, so here are some websites where you can practice your knowledge of nouns:

My suggestion: Click on the links below to practice using the correct form of nouns.

LINK: Rules for making singular nouns plural

LINK: Plural forms and irregular nouns

LINK: Common and proper nouns 

LINK: Practice spelling plural form of nouns in sentences 

LINK: More practice with singular or plural nouns in sentences

LINK: Lesson on Countable/Uncountable Nouns (scroll down)

LINK: Use the correct form--count and noncount nouns in sentences 

Three Adjectives Describe One Noun--What Order Do I Put Them In?

We usually do not use more than three adjectives in front of one noun. I bought a new pink silk dress. We can add more, but then the reader or listener begins to lose track of all the descriptive words: My expensive new pink silk dress is gorgeous. The adjectives begin to pile up and run into each other like race cars on a greased track (Note: I just used a simile--do you remember what that is from our lesson a couple of weeks ago?).

When more than one adjective describes a noun, the adjectives must follow a pattern (order). The pattern is based on the category of each adjective. The website www.esl.about.com lists the order by dividing adjectives into seven categories (kinds).

1. Opinion (interesting, boring, fascinating)
2. Size or dimension (big, thin, tiny)
3. Age (new, modern, ancient)
4. Shape (round, square, oval)
5. Color (red, blue, greenish)
6. Origin (Spanish, Canadian, Indian)
7. Material (wooden, metal, plastic)

Look at our sentence from above: I bought a new pink silk dress. The three adjectives that describe the noun dress belong to these categories: New describes its age, pink describes its color, and silk is the material out of which the dress is made.

• Age--category 3
• Color--category 5
• Material--category 7

Are the numbers of the categories in numerical order (like when we count from 1 to 7)? YES! But if I say, I bought a pink new silk dress,the category numbers are in this order: 5, 3, 7. Is that the order in which we count? Nope! So we have to shift the adjectives around to get them into numerical order: I bought a new pink silk dress.

This is advanced, challenging grammar for people who are learning English. Don't even TRY to bring commas into the discussion yet! When we follow this order for putting adjectives in front of a noun, we usually don't need commas--unless (oh, no!) there is more than one adjective from the same category. But knowing how and when to separate adjectives with commas is a topic for another day.

My suggestion: Click on the link below and review the placement order for adjectives and the examples (you can watch the video if you like; if not, stop it or mute the sound). 

Adjective Placement Patterns for English Learners 

Then try putting a series of adjectives in the right order here:

Adjective Placement Quiz

Word Lists for Growing Your Vocabulary--Adjectives

Today in class we reviewed adjectives--words that modify (describe or limit) nouns. In the English language, many words can be used as more than one part of speech. You can use some words as either a noun or an adjective, depending on what the word does in a sentence. In the following sentences, the word in red is a noun when its job (its task) is to name a person, place, or thing. It is an adjective when its job is to describe a noun--to tell us what kind, how many, which one, etc.--so that we know more about that person, place, or thing.

I am studying grammar. (grammar is a noun that names the thing that I am studying)

I am reading a grammar book. (grammar is an adjective that tells what kind of book I am reading)

John loves to play soccer. (soccer is a noun that names an activity--a thing--that John loves to do)

John watches a soccer game on TV every weekend. (soccer is an adjective that tells what kind of game John watches--not a baseball game, not a basketball game, but a soccer game)


Many adjectives turn into nouns by referring to persons that have a certain quality. For example, The rich has the job of a noun in the following sentence, because it means rich people or rich ones: "The rich get richer and the poor get poorer." Other examples: the poor, the famous, the young.


My suggestion: Click on the link below for a list of 58 adjectives you can use to describe people. Under the "Things You Can Do with This Word List" menu, select "Dictionary Flashcards." If you don't know what the first word means, click on one of the dictionary link buttons to look it up. English dictionary links are on the right and links to dictionaries in a few other languages are on the left (note: not all of the links work!). If you already know what the word means, click the "Get a Word" button to bring up another word from the list. You can also type in your own word and click a dictionary link to get a definition.

58 Adjectives to Describe People

Then test your knowledge of opposite pairs of words. Review the list of opposite words at the link below (most are adjectives, but there are a couple of pairs of prepositions in the list--can you find them?). From the "Things You Can Do with This Word List" menu, select "Speedwords." After you select your speed you will see a word in blue. You have to click on the yellow letters underneath to spell out the opposite of the word in blue (only letters that are actually part of the answer are listed).

Opposite Words (38 pairs)

Review of Articles (a, an, the), Countable/Noncountable Nouns, and There is, There are

Today in class we reviewed countable and noncountable nouns. We also reviewed rules for using the articles a, an, and the with these nouns.

This lesson is connected to our review of There is and There are on Monday. You need to know whether a noun is countable or uncountable when you say, "There is milk in the refrigerator" as opposed to "There are two cartons of milk in the refrigerator." We don't say, "There is a milk in the refrigerator" or "There are two milks in the refrigerator," because "milk" is a noncountable noun. We have to speak of containers of milk, cartons of milk, bottles of milk, etc. before we can count milk. We can't count milk, water, food, salt, sugar, and other such noncountable nouns--we can't make them plural--until we provide a way to divide them or measure them in units (a cup of water, two pounds of flour, a couple of tablespoons of sugar, a few granules of sugar).

My suggestion: Review countable and noncountable nouns, using the articles an, an and the, and using the expressions There is and There are by clicking on these links:

Countable/Noncountable Nouns Explanation
Count and Noncount Nouns Quiz
 
Articles--The/A/An
Rules for Using A, An, and The
Definite and Indefinite Article Quiz
Spot the Mistake--A, An, The (page 1 questions, page 2 answers)

There is, there are; some, any (negatives, questions)--Quiz starts at bottomof page
Video About "There is" and "There Are" at ESLGold.com
"There is" & "There are" with Count/Noncount Nouns (1/3 of the way down this page at esl-lounge.com)
Dialogue (Conversation) Using "There is" and "There are"
Dialogue Comprehension Quiz--What's In Your Office?