Grammar Refresher Course

Simple Definitions

© Debbie DeSpirt

May 1, 2007
Teacher refresher course on the basics of a sentence. Quick and fun mini lessons to educate students on grammar.

Grammar makes up all the words and structures in a sentence. Noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition, conjunction, and interjection are the components of a sentence. Not all of the above attributes are required in a complete sentence at once.

Noun is a person, place, thing, idea or quantity. Nouns are categorized as proper or common. Proper nouns are a specific person, place, or thing, while a common noun is any other noun.

Proper Noun

Person: Hugh Grant

lace: Ontario

Thing: CN Tower

Common Noun

Person: boy

Place: house

Thing: doll

Idea: justice

Quality: kind

Pronouns are used in place of a noun or phrase.

Examples: I, me, you, he, it, they, who, whom, that, these

Verb describes an action or state of being. There are regular, linking, and irregular verbs.

Regular Verb

walked, walks, walking

Irregular Verb changes forms

ride--rode

Linking Verb describes state of being

shows, are, is, am

Adjectives describe or specify a noun or pronoun.

funny girl: describes the girl

Adverb is word that modifies the verb, adverb, or adjective. An adverb illustrates when, where, why, and how.

never, almost, above, often, numerous

Preposition is a word that is used with a noun or pronoun to create a sentence that tells you where, when, how, and why.

with, without, into

Conjunction is a word to connect ideas in a sentence. Never use a conjunction to begin a sentence.

and, but, because,or

Interjection is a short phrase to illustrate an emotion.

Hip Hip Hooray

A complete sentence includes a noun or pronoun as its subject. As well, it needs a verb to show the action of the subject.

Grammar Mini Lessons

Noun of the Day: Students underline or highlight nouns in their writing for the day. At the beginning of the day have a mini lesson on nouns and keep a chart on the board to illustrate the different types of nouns. Noun of the Day can also be for a week or two. Change the grammar word for students to identify a different type of component of a sentence such as verbs, adverbs, adjectives. Often in the primary grades students are required to write sentences with the spelling words, have them use these sentences to highlight the noun or verb.

Spelling Challenge

Students must label parts of speech with their spelling words. Teach students grammar short forms for identification. This is quick to correct as students simply read off the nouns, verbs and so on.

Silly Talk

Students create a dialogue but they are only allowed to use certain parts of speech. Students will present orally.

Example: Proper noun, verb, and Conjunction.

Mary and Philip walked Canada.

Charlie lives USA.


The copyright of the article Grammar Refresher Course in Teacher Tips/Training is owned by Debbie DeSpirt. Permission to republish Grammar Refresher Course in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.




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