Grammar
Learning English grammar
Learning about nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and  interjections with exercises for you to complete
Easy Pace Learning

Nouns
A noun is the word that refers to a person, thing or abstract idea. A noun can tell you who or what.
There are several different types of noun:-
∙ There are common nouns such as dog, car, chair etc.
∙ Nouns that refer to things which can be counted (can be singular or plural) are countable nouns.
∙ Nouns that refer to some groups of countable nouns, substances, feelings and types of activity (can only be singular) are uncountable nouns.
∙ Nouns that refer to a group of people or things are collective nouns.
∙ Nouns that refer to people, organizations or places are proper nouns, only proper nouns are capitalized.
∙ Nouns that are made up of two or more words are called compound nouns.
∙ Nouns that are formed from a verb by adding -ing are called gerunds
EXERCISES:
1. The book was heavy.
2. The child is happy.
3. The box was empty.
4. The synopsis is accurate.
5. The tomato was being baked.
ANSWERS:
1. The books were heavy.
2. The children are happy.
3. The boxes were empty.
4. The synopses are accurate.
5. The tomatoes were being baked.
Verb
The verb is perhaps the most important part of the sentence. A verb or compound verb asserts something about the subject of the sentence and express actions, events, or states of being. The verb or compound verb is the critical element of the predicate of a sentence.
In each of the following sentences, the verb or compound verb is highlighted:
Transitive Verbs followed by Adverbs
back up:  support
  I will back up your story.
bail out:  rescue
  If you run into difficulties, who will bail you out?
break in:  make something new fit for use
  I broke in my new hiking boots.
breathe in:  inhale
  We breathed in the fresh air.
breathe out:  exhale
  I breathed out a sigh of relief.
bring back:  return
  She brought back her library books.
bring around:  persuade
  We gradually brought her around to our point of view.
bring up:  raise
  Bringing up children is never easy.
butter up:  flatter
  We buttered him up, hoping that he would agree to our proposal.
call in:  ask to assist
  I think it is time we called in an expert.
call off:  cancel
  We called off the meeting.
call up:  telephone
  Why don't you call him up?
cheer on:  cheer, encourage
  I will be there to cheer you on.
chop down:  fell
  They chopped down the dead tree.
clean up:  tidy
  The mayor asked everyone to help clean up the city streets.
fend off:  repel
  The goalie fended off every attack.
ferret out:  find with difficulty
  We managed to ferret out the information.
figure out:  solve, understand
  I can't figure out what happened.
fill in:  complete
  Please fill in this form.
fill out:  complete
  I filled out the form.
fill up:  make full
  We filled up the glasses with water.
give back:  return
  I gave back the bicycle I had borrowed.
give off:  send out
  Skunk cabbage gives off an unpleasant odor.
hand down:  give to someone younger
  The tradition was handed down from father to son.
hand in:  give to person in authority
  The students handed their assignments in to the teacher.
hand on:  give to another person
  I am not sorry to hand the responsibility on to you.
hand over:  transfer
  We had to hand the evidence over to the police.
hang up:  break a telephone connection
  After receiving a busy signal, I hung up the phone.
hold back:  restrain, delay
  He is so enthusiastic; it is hard to hold him back.
iron out:  remove
  I am sure we can iron out every difficulty.
knock out:  make unconscious
  Boxers are often knocked out.
lap up:  accept eagerly
  The public lapped up the story.
lay off:  put out of work
  The company laid off seventy workers.
leave behind:  leave, not bring
  I accidentally left my umbrella behind.
leave out:  omit
  Tell me what happened. Don't leave anything out!
let down:  disappoint
  We will let him down if we don't arrive on time.
live down:  live so that past faults are forgotten
  This will be hard to live down!
look up:  find (information)
  We looked up the word in a dictionary.
make up:  invent
  She likes to make up stories.
pass up:  not take advantage
  I couldn't pass up such an opportunity.
pension off:  dismiss with a pension
  He was pensioned off at the age of sixty.
phase in:  introduce gradually
  The new program will be phased in over the next six months.
phase out:  cease gradually
  The practice will gradually be phased out.
pick up:  collect
  You may pick up the papers at the office.
pin down:  get a commitment
  When the guest speaker is pinned down, we can set a date for the conference.
play down:  de-emphasize
  He played down the importance of the news.
point out:  draw attention to
  She pointed out the advantages of the proposal.
polish off:  finish
  We polished off the rest of the apple pie.
pull down:  demolish
  Many old buildings are pulled down to make way for new ones.
pull off:  succeed
  Do you think she can pull off her plan?
put away:  put in proper place
  It is time to put the toys away.
put back:  return to original location
  Please put the book back on the shelf.
put off:  postpone
  We cannot put off the meeting again.
reel off:  recite a long list
  She reeled off a long list of names.
rope in:  persuade to help
  We roped in everyone we could to help with the work.
rub out:  erase
  Be sure to rub out all the pencil marks.
rule out:  remove from consideration
  None of the possibilities can be ruled out yet.
scale down:  reduce
  Because of lack of funds, we had to scale down our plans.
sell off:  dispose of by selling
  We sold off all the books and furniture.
set back:  delay
  This could set back the project by several years.
shout down:  stop from speaking by shouting
  The crowd shouted down the speaker.
shrug off:  dismiss as unimportant
  He attempted to shrug off the mistake.
single out:  select from others
  You have been singled out for special attention.
size up:  assess
  I quickly sized up the situation.
sort out:  organize
  It will take some time to sort out this mess.
sound out:  talk with to learn the opinion of
  We attempted to sound him out.
stammer out:  stammer
  They stammered out their apologies.
sum up:  summarize
  He summed up the discussion in a few well-chosen words.
summon up:  gather
  I attempted to summon up my courage.
take in:  absorb
  We tried to take in the new information.
take out:  invite to a restaurant
  May I sort out同义短语take you out for supper?
take over:  assume control
  They will take over at the beginning of June.
talk over:  discuss
  Let us talk it over before we decide.
tear up:  destroy by tearing
  She tore up the letter.
think over:  consider
  I need some time to think it over.
think up:  invent
  What will they think up next?
track down:  search for and find
  We finally tracked him down at the bookstore.
trade in:  give as part payment
  Why don't you trade in your old vacuum cleaner for a new one?
try on:  test clothes by putting them on
  I tried on the new suit, but it didn't fit me.
try out:  test by using
  Would you like to try out my fountain pen?
turn away:  refuse admission
  The event was so popular that many people had to be turned away.
turn back:  reverse direction
  Every fall the clocks must be turned back by one hour.
turn off:  deactivate by using a switch
  I turned off the radio.
turn on:  activate by using a switch
  Please turn on the light.
water down:  dilute
  The soup has been watered down.
wear out:  gradually destroy by wearing or using
  My jacket is wearing out, although it is only a year old.
write down:  make a note
  I wrote down the instructions.
write off:  cancel, regard as
  They were forced to write off several irretrievable debts.
write up:  compose in writing
  I used my notes to write up the report.
Adjectives
Adjectives describe or give information about nouns.
The good news is that the form of adjectives does not change; it does not matter if the noun being modified is male or female, singular or plural, subject or object.
Some adjectives give us factual information about the noun - age, size colour etc (fact adjectives - can't be argued with). Some adjectives show what somebody thinks about something or somebody - nice, horrid, beautiful etc (opinion adjectives - not everyone may agree).
EXERCISE:
1. Yesterday she heard ________________ news. (to surprise)
2. The ______________ tools must be returned by five o'clock. (to rent)
3. The ______________ rabbit stayed perfectly still. (to frighten)
4. We had a ________________ experience. (to frighten)
5. The play is ________________. (to entertain)
ANSWERS:
1. surprising 2. rented 3. frightened 4. frightening 5. entertaining
Preposition
A preposition links nouns, pronouns and phrases to other words in a sentence. The word or phrase that the preposition introduces is called the object of the preposition.
A preposition usually indicates the temporal, spatial or logical relationship of its object to the rest of the sentence as in the following examples:
The book is on the table.
The book is beneath the table.
The book is leaning against the table.
The book is beside the table.
She held the book over the table.
She read the book during class.
In each of the preceding sentences, a preposition locates the noun "book" in space or in time. A prepositional phrase is made up of the preposition, its object and any associated adjectives or adverbs. A prepositional phrase can function as a noun, an adjective, or an adverb. The most common prepositions are "about," "above," "across," "after," "against," "along," "among," "around," "at," "before," "behind," "below," "beneath," "beside," "between," "beyond," "but," "by," "despite," "down," "during," "except," "for," "from," "in," "inside," "into," "like," "near," "of," "off," "on," "onto," "out," "outside," "over," "past," "since," "through," "throughout," "till," "to," "toward," "under," "underneath," "until," "up," "upon," "with," "within," and "without."
Each of the highlighted words in the following sentences is a preposition:
The children climbed the mountain without fear.
In this sentence, the preposition "without" introduces the noun "fear." The prepositional phrase "without fear" functions as an adverb describing how the children climbed.
There was rejoicing throughout the land when the government was defeated.
Here, the preposition "throughout" introduces the noun phrase "the land." The prepositional phrase acts as an adverb describing the location of the rejoicing.
The spider crawled slowly along the banister.
The preposition "along" introduces the noun phrase "the banister" and the prepositional phrase "along the banister" acts as an adverb, describing where the spider crawled.
The dog is hiding under the porch because it knows it will be punished for chewing up a new pair of shoes.

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