LESSON 1.2
Traditional Grammar Part II:
Parts of Speech with Other Names
Some parts of speech have other names than those in GGS.
Possessive Nouns
Traditional Grammar: Nouns with apostrophes, such as Fred’s books, are called possessive nouns.
GGS: Treats nouns with apostrophes as determiners.
Possessive Verbs
Traditional Grammar: Possessive verbs show ownership, such as I have a car.
GGS: Treats possessive verbs as verbs. No extra category.
Possessive Pronouns
Traditional Grammar: Possessive pronouns show ownership, such as my, our, your, his, its, their.
GGS: Treats possessive pronouns as determiners. The category called possessive pronouns is a language error. For example, its cannot be a possessive pronoun, no more than a dog with a skirt is a human, because its is not a pronoun. It does not pass the pronoun test:
Sally can fool Sam? Its can fool Sam? Sally can fool its?
Possessive Adjectives
Traditional Grammar: Possessive adjectives show ownership, such as my, our, your, his, its, their.
GGS: Can you see why most students hate studying grammar? Some traditional grammar sites call my, our, your, his, its, and their possessive pronouns. Others call them possessive adjectives!
Phrasal Verbs
A phrasal verb and a two-word verb, such as threw up, are the same thing.
Traditional Grammar: Gives you a long list of phrasal verbs to memorize. Many textbooks do not recognize phrasal verbs. They call them adverbs.
GGS: We call them two-word verbs. Think of them as hyphenated. Try starting a sentence with the smaller word. If the words cannot be separated, then the smaller word is also a verb. For example:
Santa climbed down the chimney.
own the chimney Santa climbed.
down can be separated from climbed, so down is not a verb.
Santa wrinkled up his nose.
We cannot say: Up his nose, Santa wrinkled.
up cannot be separated from wrinkled, so up is a verb.
Infinitives
Traditional Grammar: For traditional grammar, to+verb becomes an infinitive.
GGS: GGS treats to+ verb as two verbs instead of as another concept.
Many educators believe that infinitives should not be “split.” That is, a word should not be placed between to and the verb. However, that idea is an error based on the work of Bishop Robert Lowth in 1762, when he wrote the first grammar book. Avoid splitting the infinitive only if it sounds awkward.
Awkward split: I need to furthermore correct the error.
Better: I need, furthermore, to correct the error.
Smooth split: . . . to boldly go where no man has gone before.
Awkward: . . . boldly to go where no man has gone before.
Awkward: . . . to go boldly where no man has gone before.
Articles
Traditional Grammar: a, an, the
Many grammar books treat these as a form of adjective.
GGS: Does not recognize a, an, the as a separate category, especially since they cannot pass the adjective test.
Types of Articles
As usual, traditional grammar is not content with keeping things simple. It breaks down articles into two types:
Definite article: The. Refers to something known to the reader or listener.
Indefinite articles: A, an. Refers to something not known to the reader or listener.
Subordinate Conjunctions
A subordinate conjunction in traditional grammar and the Lesser Conjunction in GGS are the same thing.
sentence __________ sentence
Nouns as Adjectives
Many grammar books continue to insist that a noun that describes another noun becomes an adjective. For example, football is an adjective in I like football games, because football describes games.
We can prove that football is usually a noun just by dropping games:
I like football games.
I like football.
Participles
Traditional Grammar: A participle is a verbal, or a word based off of a verb that expresses a state of being that functions as an adjective. For example:
GGS: Treats participles as a noun, verb, or adjective, depending on the word.
Traditional grammar breaks participles into two categories: present participles and past participles.
Present Participles
Traditional Grammar: When an -ing verb is used as an adjective. For example:
Verb: The baby continued crying all night.
Participle: The crying baby bothered the dog.
GGS: Treats verbs -ing words as nouns in this case.
Past Participles
Traditional Grammar: When a past-tense verb is used as an adjective. For example:
Verb: The plane spiraled out of control.
Participle: The spiraled seashell was beautiful.
GGS: Treats verbs as verbs in this case.
Gerunds
Traditional Grammar: When an -ing verb is used as a noun. For example:
Verb: Randall was always singing.
Gerund: Singing was Randall’s favorite activity.
GGS: Treats -ing verbs that mean “the act of” as nouns.
(The act of) Singing was Randall’s favorite activity.
Small Group Activity
Determine the GGS and traditional grammar name for the part of speech of the underlined words. Find the exact traditional grammar concept if the instructions say to be specific. The first one has been done for you.
GGS | Traditional Grammar | |
1. It was a heated argument. (Be specific.) | adjective | past participle |
2. The newly carpeted hallway greatly helped the hotel’s decor. | ||
3. Our three Chinese fortune cookies suggested that we would inherit money soon. | ||
4. The Italian desk had a beautiful finish. | ||
5. The pilot had to fly to Beijing on an emergency. | ||
6. Our new boss said her door is always open regarding company problems. | ||
7. Our new boss said her door is always open regarding company problems. | ||
8. Our new boss said her door is always open regarding company problems. | ||
9. The wolf could not eat the last little pig because his house was made of bricks. | ||
10. The wolf could not eat the last little pig because his house was made of bricks. | ||
11. Eating little pigs made the wolf happy. | ||
12. Joshua revved up his motorcycle every morning to upset Ms. Jenkins. | ||
13. Joshua revved up his motorcycle every morning to upset Ms. Jenkins’s dog. | ||
13. Joshua revved up his motorcycle every morning to upset Ms. Jenkins’s dog. | ||
14. Joshua revved up his motorcycle every morning to upset Ms. Jenkins’s dog. | ||
15. Joshua revved up his motorcycle every morning to upset Ms. Jenkins’s dog. | ||
16. Viewing the Mona Lisa was on Jeremy’s bucket list. | ||
17. Viewing the Mona Lisa was on Jeremy’s bucket list. (Be specific.) | ||
18. Viewing the Mona Lisa was on Jeremy’s bucket list. | ||
19. Hawthorne had a celibate love bird that sang to his mirror all day. | ||
20. Hawthorne had a celibate love bird that sang to his mirror all day. (Be specific.) | ||
21. Hawthorne had a celibate love bird that sang to his mirror all day. (Be specific.) | ||
22. Mandy’s two cats ran away. | ||
23. The broken window was Hiram’s fault. | ||
24. Jason ripped his best jeans jumping over the fence. (Be specific.) | ||
25. Jason ripped his best jeans jumping over the fence. (Be specific.) |
Individual or Small Group Activity
Complete the exercise: Estonia