Unit 4: Grammatical categories
or 'Parts of speech'
Reviewed
✦ I ntroduction to this unit
However, despite the evidence that some kind of natural learning process is
going on even in adult learners, most foreign language courses for teenagers
and adults include grammar teaching. There are two main reasons for this:
The way adults want to learn:
most adults seem to approach learning in a more analytical way than
children - they want to analyse the language they are learning
Expectations:
the national curriculum in many countries will state that foreign
language teaching should include the teaching of grammar
✦ P arts of speech
Parts of speech:
Verbs
Nouns
Adjectives
Unit 4: Grammatical categories or 'Parts of speech' 1
, Adverbs
Pronouns
Prepositions
Conjunctions
Determiners
✦ N ouns
English nouns can be singular or plural. Also, not all English nouns just add -s
in the plural. Some follow certain spelling rules (baby ⇾ babies), while others
are completely irregular (man ⇾ men, mouse ⇾ mice). You might logically
think you’ll start with regular -s in class, and introduce the others later.
However, a lot of the most common nouns have irregular plurals (man, woman,
child, fish, sheep), so you’ll need to deal with them early on.
English nouns can also be countable or uncountable. A countable noun is,
predictably, one you can count, and the root word has a plural form: one desk,
two desks. By contrast, some nouns can’t be counted, and don’t have a plural
form. Uncountable nouns include liquids (milk, petrol), grains (rice, sand) and
some abstract ideas (information, advice).
✦ N aming of parts 1 : N ouns
Proper nouns are the names of places, nationalities, languages, people and
times (e.g. Spain, Baghdad, Iranians, Jack, Yasmine, Friday, January).
Unit 4: Grammatical categories or 'Parts of speech' 2
or 'Parts of speech'
Reviewed
✦ I ntroduction to this unit
However, despite the evidence that some kind of natural learning process is
going on even in adult learners, most foreign language courses for teenagers
and adults include grammar teaching. There are two main reasons for this:
The way adults want to learn:
most adults seem to approach learning in a more analytical way than
children - they want to analyse the language they are learning
Expectations:
the national curriculum in many countries will state that foreign
language teaching should include the teaching of grammar
✦ P arts of speech
Parts of speech:
Verbs
Nouns
Adjectives
Unit 4: Grammatical categories or 'Parts of speech' 1
, Adverbs
Pronouns
Prepositions
Conjunctions
Determiners
✦ N ouns
English nouns can be singular or plural. Also, not all English nouns just add -s
in the plural. Some follow certain spelling rules (baby ⇾ babies), while others
are completely irregular (man ⇾ men, mouse ⇾ mice). You might logically
think you’ll start with regular -s in class, and introduce the others later.
However, a lot of the most common nouns have irregular plurals (man, woman,
child, fish, sheep), so you’ll need to deal with them early on.
English nouns can also be countable or uncountable. A countable noun is,
predictably, one you can count, and the root word has a plural form: one desk,
two desks. By contrast, some nouns can’t be counted, and don’t have a plural
form. Uncountable nouns include liquids (milk, petrol), grains (rice, sand) and
some abstract ideas (information, advice).
✦ N aming of parts 1 : N ouns
Proper nouns are the names of places, nationalities, languages, people and
times (e.g. Spain, Baghdad, Iranians, Jack, Yasmine, Friday, January).
Unit 4: Grammatical categories or 'Parts of speech' 2
