In the last lesson, we reviewed verbs. Now let's look at the other three main types of words that are used with verbs to form thoughts.
For a video version of this lesson, click here.
Nouns (and pronouns)
Nouns are words that name people, places, things, and ideas. Pronouns are stock words that replace nouns to help us avoid repetition.
Nouns (and pronouns) perform the verb’s action or receive something from the verb’s action, and a whole bunch of other things in a sentence, too.
Modifiers
A modifier is word that adds detail to a verb or noun (or pronoun). It changes a noun or verb or makes it more specific.
Example: Dress is a noun. If I want to refer to a specific dress and I say, "This red dress is my favorite." Red is a modifier.
Example: Run is a verb. If I want to say how someone ran, I might say, "Joe runs quickly." Quickly is a modifier.
Connectors
Connectors join words together to make pairs or lists or to show relationships between people, places, things, ideas, or actions.
There are many connectors, but two common types are conjunctions and prepositions.
Conjunctions join words and ideas (and, but, or, so, yet, for, nor, because, either…or, neither…nor, whether…or). To learn more about conjunctions, watch this short video from Schoolhouse Rocks.
Prepositions are short words that show relationships. Common prepositions are to, in, of, for, out, and on.
We’ll talk more about prepositions a little bit later.