English: Week of 11/16/09
We are learning about helping verbs and main verbs. Common helping verbs are am, is, are, was, were, will, would, should, has, have, had, do, does, did, can, and could. These verbs are used with an action verb to create a verb phrase. Examples: He was talking too loudly. Was is the helping verb, and talking is the main verb.
Possessive nouns show ownership. Add ( 's ) to singular nouns to make them possessive. Boy becomes boy's, Sam becomes Sam's, and child becomes child's. In most cases you only add an apostrophe following the s with plural nouns. States becomes states', rivers becomes rivers', and forests becomes forests'. You must add an apostrophe s to plural nouns that do not end in s such as men, children, and sheep. Men becomes men's, children becomes children's, and geese becomes geese's.
Adjectives describe nouns or pronouns by telling what kind or how many.
Adverbs modify or describe verbs by telling how, when, or where an action happens or takes place.
A noun is a person, place, or thing. Most nouns are made plural by adding s to the end of the noun.
Nouns that end in s, ss, ch, sh, x, or z are made plural by adding es. Add s to nouns that end in a vowel and y such as key and play. (keys, plays) You must change the y to i and add es to nouns that end in a consonant and y such as company and pony. (companies, ponies)
Some nouns are called irregular nouns. These nouns do not follow the standard rules. Some irregular nouns and their plurals are child and children, sheep and sheep, calf and calves, moose and moose, ox and oxen, and half and halves.