Parts of speech

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• 1. Noun/verb confusion

  A noun defines or names something. A verb expresses an action, something that happens or occurs, or a mode of being. 

  Some nouns and verbs share the same form (e.g. project, record), but usually they are different. Many nouns end in 'tion' or 'cion', 'ment' or 'ing'.  Verb forms vary according mainly to person, number and tense; they can also be active or passive. For example, “A man walked on the moon in 1969” is direct and easy to understand (active), while “The moon was walked on by a man in 1969” is passive and the writing lacks directness.

  Quick tip: Is the word in your writing talking about something/someone, or is it outlining an action of some sort? 

  For example: They completed aproject (something; noun) OR                                                                           Project (action; verb) your voice in class.

• 2. Noun/adjective confusion

  A noun defines or names something. An adjective qualifies or tells us more about a noun or pronoun: it can be regular, comparative or superlative. 

  In a sentence, the qualifying adjective usually comes directly before the noun or noun phrase.

  Quick tip: Is the word in your writing talking about something/someone, or is it describing something or someone?

  For example: They came from the same (something, noun) OR                                                                 They came from the same town (describing something, adjective).

• 3. Adjective/adverb confusion

  An adjective is a word that qualifies or tells us more about a noun or pronoun. An adverb is a word that qualifies or tells us more about a verb (he studies DILIGENTLY), or sometimes an adjective (an EXTREMELY expensive suit) or another adverb (she walked VERY slowly). Many adverbs end in 'ly'.

  Quick tip: Is the word in your writing describing something/someone (an adjective), or is it describing how something or someone is doing something (an adverb)? 

• 4. Confusion with gerund or other noun forms

  Nouns based on verbs can end in either 'ing' (the gerund, for example, 'working') or another ending such as 'tion' or 'ment' (for example, 'concentration', 'arrangement'). If there is an object in the sentence, the gerund form is usually correct.

  Quick tip: Is the word in your writing ending in '...ing' acting as a verb or a noun form? This may help you decide whether the word form you need is a gerund or a type of noun.

• 5. Confusion with different forms of the same root noun

  Nouns may have different forms, usually with slightly different meanings, which can be confusing.

  Quick tip: Is the noun use in your writing correct or not? If you are not sure - perhaps ask a native speaker to see if the word in context is correct.

• 6. Confusion with the pronoun form

  A pronoun is an identifying word used instead of a noun. Personal pronouns in English are ‘I’, ‘you’, ‘he/she/it’, ‘we’, ‘you’ (plural) and ‘they’. Possessive pronouns are ‘my’, ‘your, ‘his’, ‘her’, ‘its’, ‘our’ and ‘their’. Personal and possessive pronouns are sometimes confused. If a pronoun refers to a noun used previously, singular/plural agreement may be incorrect.

  Quick tip: Is the pronoun use in your writing correct or not? Is the pronoun possessive or simply identifying? If you are not sure - perhaps ask a native speaker to see if the word in context is correct.

• 7. Confusion with the adjectival form

  Adjectives ending in ‘-ed’ and ‘-ing’ can be confusing for students. Some adjectives are actually participles (verb forms with ‘-ing’ and ‘-ed’ endings).
  Generally, the ‘-ed’ ending means that the noun so described has a passive role:  You are confused by something (the subject matter, the way it is presented, etc.), whereas the 'ing' adjectives generally describe the quality of something: 'This is confusing'.

  The ‘-ed’  ending modifiers are often accompanied by prepositions and describe the human reaction to something e.g. 'I was excited by the lecture on human ethics last week'.
  The ‘-ing’ ending means that the noun described has a more active role.

  Quick tip: Is the adjective use in your writing correct or not?  Ask yourself- what am I trying to describe? Should I be using an 'ed' or 'ing' ending? If you are not sure - perhaps ask a native speaker to see if the word in context is correct.