Date:______________________________________
GRAMMER AND
LANGUAGE
BOOKLET
1|Page
, Date:______________________________________
NOUNS
Nouns are naming words. They name four different types of things.
1. Common nouns name objects that one can see and touch e.g., table
2. Proper nouns name particular places or people e.g., Gqeberha, Kayleen
3. Abstract nouns name things which cannot be seen or touched, sometimes feelings,
sometimes concepts e.g., concentration, dedication, happiness
4. Collective nouns name groups of things e.g., a flock of birds
You must be able to:
• Identify which words in a sentence are nouns
• Identify which type of noun a word may be
• Give the common collective nouns
Exercise 1
Write down the nouns in the following sentences (there may be more than one per sentence):
1. The oncoming train sped along the track.
2. The teen huffed angrily at his parents.
3. Fatima read the textbook studiously.
4. The trees along Third Avenue waved their branches at Noelle as she walked
to Greenacres.
5. Gaillian’s commitment to her team is commendable.
6. Mathematics can cause anxiety in some students.
7. The ethos of Alex is family-orientated.
8. John carries a whole library of books in his school bag.
9. Mrs Howard, the secretary of our primary school, has retired.
10. The Toyota Verso is a family car.
Exercise 2
Write down what type of noun each of the following underlined words is.
Mount Vesuvius, a (b) volcano near the (c) Bay of Naples in Italy, is hundreds of thousands of
(d) years old and has erupted more than fifty times. It’s most famous (d) eruption took place
in the year 79 AD, when the volcano buried the ancient Roman (f) city of (g) Pompeii under a
thick carpet of volcanic (h) ash. (…) Two thousand (i) people died, and the city was abandoned
for almost as many years. When a (j) group of explorers rediscovered the site in 1748, they
were surprised to find that – underneath a thick layer of (k) dust and debris – Pompeii was
mostly intact. [Source: www.history.com/topics/ancient-history/pompeii ]
Exercise 3
Find the collective nouns of each of the following nouns.
1. fish 8. flowers
2. bees 9. trees
3. dancers 10. sheep
4. ships 11. wheat
5. oranges 12. sticks
6. keys 13. elephants
2|Page
, Date:______________________________________
7. stairs 14. lions
Believe it or not, these are actual collective nouns:
• a murder of crows
• a congress of baboons
• a chorus of frogs
• a sloth of bears
• an obstinacy of buffalo
• a mischief of mice
• a parliament of owls
• a crash of rhinoceros
• a surfeit of skunks
• a crossing of zebras
Exercise 4
Come up with your own original, creative collective noun for each of the following:
1. lawyers
2. teachers
3. charging phones
4. taxis
5. friends
6. gamers
ADJECTIVES
Adjectives are words that describe nouns.
You must be able to:
• Identify which words in a sentence are adjectives.
• Give an appropriate adjective of your own to fill a space in a sentence.
Exercise 1
Write down the adjectives used in each of the following sentences (there may be more than
one adjective per sentence).
1. The vivid sunset took my breath away.
2. The irate teacher scolded the late learner.
3. Tory made a skilful pass to Riley who scored a brilliant goal.
4. The flickering screen gave Ms Hosini a pounding headache.
5. Strawberry milkshakes are delicious.
6. The sound of the birds’ singing was delightful.
7. The gale-force winds have been disastrous for the city.
8. A safe and fuel-efficient car is essential for city living.
9. The alluring aroma of dark cappuccino drew Allison into the quiet coffee shop.
10.The elderly man sat with his crumpled newspaper on the park bench.
3|Page
, Date:______________________________________
There are a few types of adjectives which describe nouns in different ways:
POSSESSIVE adjectives describe the ownership of a noun. e.g. My dog is an integral part of
my family.
DEMONSTRATIVE adjectives describe which noun is being shown.
e.g. This time of year is a very busy one. (also that, those and these)
PROPER adjectives use proper nouns to describe or come from proper nouns. Like proper
nouns, they start with a capital letter.
e.g. Every week, on the night before school starts, I get the Sunday blues.
e.g. The holes in Swiss cheese come from air bubbles released by bacteria in the
manufacturing process. (from Switzerland)
You DO NOT have to know the names of the different types of adjectives, but you DO have to
recognise these words as adjectives.
Exercise 2
What are the proper adjectives that come from the following proper nouns?
1. Japan 7. Mars
2. America 8. Buddha
3. Finland 9. Alex
4. Sweden 10. Afghanistan
5. Greece
6. Shakespeare
Exercise 3
Write down the adjectives used in each of the following sentences (there may be more than
one per sentence).
1. The new student was anxious about her first day at a new school.
2. His devilish smile was what first attracted Sonja to him.
3. Monday mornings are always the most difficult to get through.
4. Sometimes I speak to my Facebook friends more often than I do to my friends who
live in the same city as I!
5. To my dismay, the Safair flight was even more expensive than the Mango flight.
6. The gate at the front entrance of Alex is dedicated to our former deputy principal.
7. The Nike shoes that I bought were of a good quality.
8. The computer labs were not open that afternoon so I couldn’t work on my assignment.
9. The formal uniform at Alex is more popular than the variform.
10.Last year, the malls began putting up Christmas decorations in October!
4|Page
GRAMMER AND
LANGUAGE
BOOKLET
1|Page
, Date:______________________________________
NOUNS
Nouns are naming words. They name four different types of things.
1. Common nouns name objects that one can see and touch e.g., table
2. Proper nouns name particular places or people e.g., Gqeberha, Kayleen
3. Abstract nouns name things which cannot be seen or touched, sometimes feelings,
sometimes concepts e.g., concentration, dedication, happiness
4. Collective nouns name groups of things e.g., a flock of birds
You must be able to:
• Identify which words in a sentence are nouns
• Identify which type of noun a word may be
• Give the common collective nouns
Exercise 1
Write down the nouns in the following sentences (there may be more than one per sentence):
1. The oncoming train sped along the track.
2. The teen huffed angrily at his parents.
3. Fatima read the textbook studiously.
4. The trees along Third Avenue waved their branches at Noelle as she walked
to Greenacres.
5. Gaillian’s commitment to her team is commendable.
6. Mathematics can cause anxiety in some students.
7. The ethos of Alex is family-orientated.
8. John carries a whole library of books in his school bag.
9. Mrs Howard, the secretary of our primary school, has retired.
10. The Toyota Verso is a family car.
Exercise 2
Write down what type of noun each of the following underlined words is.
Mount Vesuvius, a (b) volcano near the (c) Bay of Naples in Italy, is hundreds of thousands of
(d) years old and has erupted more than fifty times. It’s most famous (d) eruption took place
in the year 79 AD, when the volcano buried the ancient Roman (f) city of (g) Pompeii under a
thick carpet of volcanic (h) ash. (…) Two thousand (i) people died, and the city was abandoned
for almost as many years. When a (j) group of explorers rediscovered the site in 1748, they
were surprised to find that – underneath a thick layer of (k) dust and debris – Pompeii was
mostly intact. [Source: www.history.com/topics/ancient-history/pompeii ]
Exercise 3
Find the collective nouns of each of the following nouns.
1. fish 8. flowers
2. bees 9. trees
3. dancers 10. sheep
4. ships 11. wheat
5. oranges 12. sticks
6. keys 13. elephants
2|Page
, Date:______________________________________
7. stairs 14. lions
Believe it or not, these are actual collective nouns:
• a murder of crows
• a congress of baboons
• a chorus of frogs
• a sloth of bears
• an obstinacy of buffalo
• a mischief of mice
• a parliament of owls
• a crash of rhinoceros
• a surfeit of skunks
• a crossing of zebras
Exercise 4
Come up with your own original, creative collective noun for each of the following:
1. lawyers
2. teachers
3. charging phones
4. taxis
5. friends
6. gamers
ADJECTIVES
Adjectives are words that describe nouns.
You must be able to:
• Identify which words in a sentence are adjectives.
• Give an appropriate adjective of your own to fill a space in a sentence.
Exercise 1
Write down the adjectives used in each of the following sentences (there may be more than
one adjective per sentence).
1. The vivid sunset took my breath away.
2. The irate teacher scolded the late learner.
3. Tory made a skilful pass to Riley who scored a brilliant goal.
4. The flickering screen gave Ms Hosini a pounding headache.
5. Strawberry milkshakes are delicious.
6. The sound of the birds’ singing was delightful.
7. The gale-force winds have been disastrous for the city.
8. A safe and fuel-efficient car is essential for city living.
9. The alluring aroma of dark cappuccino drew Allison into the quiet coffee shop.
10.The elderly man sat with his crumpled newspaper on the park bench.
3|Page
, Date:______________________________________
There are a few types of adjectives which describe nouns in different ways:
POSSESSIVE adjectives describe the ownership of a noun. e.g. My dog is an integral part of
my family.
DEMONSTRATIVE adjectives describe which noun is being shown.
e.g. This time of year is a very busy one. (also that, those and these)
PROPER adjectives use proper nouns to describe or come from proper nouns. Like proper
nouns, they start with a capital letter.
e.g. Every week, on the night before school starts, I get the Sunday blues.
e.g. The holes in Swiss cheese come from air bubbles released by bacteria in the
manufacturing process. (from Switzerland)
You DO NOT have to know the names of the different types of adjectives, but you DO have to
recognise these words as adjectives.
Exercise 2
What are the proper adjectives that come from the following proper nouns?
1. Japan 7. Mars
2. America 8. Buddha
3. Finland 9. Alex
4. Sweden 10. Afghanistan
5. Greece
6. Shakespeare
Exercise 3
Write down the adjectives used in each of the following sentences (there may be more than
one per sentence).
1. The new student was anxious about her first day at a new school.
2. His devilish smile was what first attracted Sonja to him.
3. Monday mornings are always the most difficult to get through.
4. Sometimes I speak to my Facebook friends more often than I do to my friends who
live in the same city as I!
5. To my dismay, the Safair flight was even more expensive than the Mango flight.
6. The gate at the front entrance of Alex is dedicated to our former deputy principal.
7. The Nike shoes that I bought were of a good quality.
8. The computer labs were not open that afternoon so I couldn’t work on my assignment.
9. The formal uniform at Alex is more popular than the variform.
10.Last year, the malls began putting up Christmas decorations in October!
4|Page
