SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGES AND HUMANITIES

BACHELOR OF EDUCATION ARTS

UNIT CODE: BLA 1216

UNIT NAME: ENGLISH GRAMMAR

JULIAN KERUBO MOMANYI

BEDA/2021/82558

CAT 1&2
 QUESTION ONE: Explain the nine-word classes, giving an example in each case.
Word class is a category of words of similar form or function. There are nine-word classes in
English namely;
1. Noun
A noun is a word that name something. It represents a person, a thing, concept or
place. A noun has different types as briefly explained below;
a) Proper nouns-They are nouns used to name a person, place or thing. They
always begin with a capital letter, such as Julian, Kenya and many more.
b) Common nouns-Refers to generic items, group or place. They aren’t
capitalized unless they appear at the begin of a sentence. Such words include
book, children, shop, car, house and many more.
c) Collective nouns-Are naming words that are used to denote a group of objects,
animals or people, such as pride of lion, flock of sheep, a banquet of flowers
and many more.
d) Concrete nouns-Refers to objects that can be perceived by human senses;
taste, touch, sight, hearing and smell. Examples are; pencil, book, meat and
may more.
e) Abstract nouns-Refers to any entity that cannot be perceived by the five senses
of the human being they include, love, freedom, honesty and many more.
f) Compound nouns-Are nouns consisting of two or more words. Example of
such nouns include; toothpaste, boyfriend, playgroup and housemate.
2. Pronoun
Pronoun is a word that replaces a noun or a noun phrase in a sentence. The common
types of pronouns are explained below;
a) Possessive pronoun-Is a pronoun that expresses ownership, origin or
relationship. Examples of possessive nouns; Mine, hers, his, its, yours and
theirs.
b) Personal pronouns-are pronouns used to refer to people and sometimes
animals. Examples include; I, you, it, he, she, them, me, us
c) Relative pronoun-are pronouns that connect dependent clause to independent
clause. Examples are; who, whom, which, what, that
d) Demonstrative pronouns-they are used to point specific things. Examples are;
this, these, that and those
e) Interrogative pronoun-used to ask question about unknown people or thing.
Examples are; Who, which, what, whom, whose.
3. Verb
Is a word that signifies an action or a state. Verbs change form based on tense and
count distinction. A sentence may contain a single verb or it may use a cluster of
verbs which work together as verb phrase. There are three main types of verbs
namely;
a) Action verbs-Action verbs are words that express action such as give, eat,
walk, and many more or possession such as have and own. Action verbs can
be either transitive or intransitive.
 A transitive verb always has a noun that receives the action of the verb, called
the direct object. Transitive verbs sometimes have indirect objects, which
name the object to whom or for whom the action was done.
b) A linking verb-Are verbs that connect the subject of a sentence to a noun or
adjective that renames or describes the subject. This noun or adjective is called
the subject complement. Examples of linking verbs include; to be, to become
and to seem.
c) Helping verbs- Helping verbs are used before action or linking verbs to
convey additional information regarding aspects of possibility. Is, can, will,
have, are, must, will be, do, had and has are some examples of helping verbs.
4. Adjective
Is a word that describes a noun or a noun phrase. Adjectives are found after or before
the noun it modifies.
Types of adjectives;
a) Possessive adjectives- These adjectives, are used to show or represent
possession of a quality. For example: my, your, his, her, their, its and whose.
b) Interrogative adjectives- An adjective that is used to modify a noun or a
pronoun by asking a question. There are only a few adjectives that can be
termed as interrogative adjectives. They are whose, what and which
c) Demonstrative adjectives- used to describe the position of a subject. This, that,
these and those are examples of demonstrative adjectives.
d) Compound adjectives- consist of two or more adjectives that are combined
together to form an adjective that can be used to modify the subject. Some
examples of compound adjectives are cotton-tailed, curly-haired and absent-
minded.
5. Adverbs
They are words that define the manner, place and time of an action. An adverb can
modify a verb, adjective or another adverb.
Types of adverbs;
a) Adverbs of manner- These adverbs are those that describe the manner in
which an action is done. Examples of adverbs of manner; Quickly, promptly,
clearly, slowly, gradually, eventually, rapidly, seriously, instantly and keenly
b) Adverbs of time- These adverbs show when some action is occurring. Adverbs
of time include general time periods and specific times. Examples include;
Now, soon, today, tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, next month.
c) Adverbs of place- These adverbs are used to indicate where the action
mentioned in the sentence is taking place. Adverbs of place can be identified
by asking the question ‘where’. Examples include; Somewhere, anywhere,
nowhere, here, outside, inside, wherever, elsewhere, left, right.
d) Adverbs of frequency- These adverbs are used to denote how often an action
or event is happening. The adverbs of frequency can be recognised by asking
the question ‘how often’. Examples include; rarely, never, often, weekly,
monthly, yearly, annually, usually, sometimes, occasionally.
 e) Adverbs of degree-These adverbs are used to indicate how intense an action of
quality is. It is used to describe adjectives and adverbs. Examples include;
Very, too, extremely, more, little, less, incredibly, totally, greatly and hardly.
6. Determiner
A determiner is a word that modifies, describes, or introduces a noun. Determiners can be
used to clarify what a noun refers to and to indicate quantity or number. Determiners are
classified into four main types namely
a) Possessive determiners- Possessive determiner is used to describe ownership or
possession. The possessive determiners are my, your, his, her, its, our and their.
b) Distributive determiners- are used to refer to a group or to individual people or objects
within a group. The distributive determiners are all, each, every, both, either, and
neither.
c) Interrogative determiners- modifies a noun or pronoun in a direct or indirect question.
The interrogative determiners are what, which, and whose.
d) Quantifiers- Quantifier determiner is used to show the quantity of a noun. They
include all, any few, little ,some, no, much and several.

7. Conjunction
A conjunction is a word or phrase that connects words, phrases, clauses, and
sentences together. There three types of conjunctions namely; subordinating,
coordinating and correlative.
a) Subordinating conjunctions - subordinating conjunction introduces a
dependent clause, tying it to an independent clause. Examples include;
although, as, because, before, how, than, when, whenever, whereas and while.
b) Coordinating conjunctions- join together words, phrases, and independent
clauses. There are seven coordinating conjunctions namely; for, and, nor, but,
or, yet and so.
c) Correlative conjunctions- A correlative conjunction is one of a pair of
conjunctions that work together to connect equal parts of a sentence. The
common pair of conjunctions are both/and, whether/or, either/or, neither/nor,
not/but and not only/but also.

8. Preposition
A preposition is a word or group of words used before a noun, pronoun, or noun
phrase to show direction, time, place, location, spatial relationships, or to introduce an
object. The different types of prepositions are;
a) Preposition of place- are used to indicate the place or position of something.
Prepositions used are; to, in, into on and into
b) Preposition of time- used to show when something is happening. Examples
are; on, from, until, during and after.
c) Preposition of direction- used to denote the direction in which something
moves. Prepositions used are; toward, to, into, from, and across.
d) Preposition of location- used to specify the point where an object or person is
at the moment. It indicates an exact position of an object. Prepositions used
are; at, in and on.
 e) Preposition of spatial relationship- To refer to a spatial relationship, the
following prepositions are used; above, across, against, ahead of, along,
among, around, behind and below.

9. Interjection
An ejaculatory utterance usually lacking grammatical connection used to express a
feeling or to request or to demand something. The different types of interjections are;
a) Primary interjections- is a word or sound that can only be used as an
interjection. Primary interjections do not have alternative meanings and can’t
function as another part of speech. Examples include; ugh! yippee!
b) Secondary interjection- is a word that is typically used as another part of
speech that can be used as an interjection. Examples are; goodness! Awesome!
Shoot! Any many more.
c) Volitive interjection- is used to give a command or make a request. For
example, the volitive interjection “shh” or “shush” is used to command
someone to be quiet.
d) Emotive interjection- is used to express an emotion or to indicate a reaction to
something. For example, the emotive interjection ew! is used to express
disgust. Other examples are yak! yay! yummy!
e) Cognitive interjections- is used to express a thought or indicate a thought
process. For example, the cognitive interjection “um” can express confusion or
indicate that the speaker is thinking.

QUESTION TWO: Discuss both the structural and the functional types of sentences.
(10 marks)
Structural type of sentences.
Sentence structure is the way a sentence is arranged grammatically. There are four types of
sentence structure namely; simple, compound, complex and compound complex.
1. Simple sentence
In simple sentence there is only one independent clause. Examples of simple
sentences include;
a) Julian likes reading.
b) He is a teacher.
2. Compound sentence
A compound sentence is a sentence that connects two independent clauses, with a
coordinating conjunction like and or but. They’re best for combining two or more
self-sufficient and related sentences into a single, unified one. Examples of compound
sentences;
a. Our car broke down, so we took a bus home.
b. It is mid night, and he hasn’t arrived yet.
3. Complex sentences
 A complex sentence links one independent clause with at least one dependent clause.
Examples of such sentences include;
a. Because he was late again, he would be docked a day’s pay.
b. While I am a passionate basketball fan, I prefer football.
c. Although she was considered smart, she failed all her exams.

4. Compound complex sentences

In a compound-complex sentence, there’s more than one independent clause and at
least one dependent clause. For example, “Cleophas is in a band, but he’s the singer
because he can’t play an instrument.” This is a compound-complex sentence. It
contains two independent clauses; Cleophas is in a band and he’s the singer and one
dependent clause, because he can’t play an instrument.

Functional types of sentences

A sentence function refers to a speaker's purpose in uttering a specific sentence, phrase, or
clause. In English there four sentence functions namely; declarative, exclamatory,
interrogative and imperative.
1. Declarative sentences;
They are the most commonly used type of sentences. These types of sentences are
used to make statements, give an opinion, provide an explanation or to make facts.
They end with a period. Examples;
a. Joy is coming today.
b. I like helping the needy.
c. It’s hot in here.
2. Exclamatory sentences;
Exclamative sentences are used to express strong feelings and opinions, such as
surprise, excitement, and anger. usually end with an exclamation mark.
Examples;
a. Oh, my goodness!
b. What a mess have u done!
3. Interrogative sentences;
These types of sentences ask a question and they usually end with a question
mark. Examples;
a. Where are you going?
b. You don’t like going to school, do you?
c. Do you prefer watching television or playing outside?
4. Imperative sentences;
Imperative sentences are used to give orders or directions, so they end with an
exclamation mark or a full stop. Examples are;
a. Go outside!
b. Wash the utensils first before you go to play.
c. Take care of yourself.

QUESTION THREE: Discuss the five types of phrases. (10 marks)

A phrase is one or more words that form a meaningful grammatical unit within a clause.
There are five main types of phrases as explained below.
1. Noun phrase
A noun phrase is a group of words that have a noun or pronoun. It is used to
modify the noun. A noun phrase can function as a subject, an object or a
complement in a sentence. Example of noun phrases;
a) The teacher is sick.
b) She bought a huge beautiful house.

2. Verb phrase
A verb phare consists of a verb and other auxiliaries within a sentence.
For example;
a) He is sweeping the classroom.
b) The teachers have been marking the exams since morning.
c) The students are rehearsing for the music festivals.

3. Adjective phrase
An adjective phrase or an adjectival phrase is a group of words that consists of
an adjective. It can be used to complement it. It provides more information about
the noun or pronoun in a sentence.
Examples;
a) The girl with the long brown skirt is coming towards us.
b) My mother gave me a cup full of delicious porridge.

4. Adverb phrase
An adverb phrase is a group of words that includes an adverb and other modifiers.
It performs all the functions of an adverb. It can be placed in any part of the
sentence, with respect to the part of speech they modify.
Examples;
a) By the end of the day, we could have finished our project.
b) My mother walked to the market very quickly.

5. Preposition phrase
A prepositional phrase is a group of words consisting of a preposition, its object,
and any words that modify the object. Most of the time, a prepositional phrase
modifies a verb or a noun.
Examples;
a) On the way to Kisumu, we saw Lake Victoria.
b) The girl at the further end is the brightest.
c) She put the utensils inside the basin.

References
 I. Word classes (no date) EnglishClub.com. Available at:
https://www.englishclub.com/vocabulary/word-classes.php (Accessed: March 12,
2023).
II. Dictionary.com (2022) 4 types of sentence structures & how to use them,
Thesaurus.com. Thesaurus.com. Available at:
https://www.thesaurus.com/e/grammar/what-are-the-types-of-sentence-structures/
#:~:text=The%20four%20types%20of%20sentence,t%20always)%20form%20a
%20sentence. (Accessed: March 13, 2023).
III. Sentence functions (no date) StudySmarter US. Available at:
https://www.studysmarter.us/explanations/english/english-grammar/sentence-
functions/ (Accessed: March 13, 2023).
IV. Types of phrases (no date) Types of Phrases - Noun Phrase, Verb Phrase, Gerund
Phrase, Participle, Absolute Phrase. Available at:
https://www.studyandexam.com/types-of-phrase.html (Accessed: March 13, 2023).