PART TWO:
MODIFIERS AND MORE COMPLEX SENTENCES
A sentence is built on a subject and a verb.
Everything else in the sentence is a modifier. Modifiers explain something about
the subject, verb or object in the sentence.
It's as difficult to imagine language without
modifiers as it is to imagine a world without color. How could you tell someone about your
best friend if you had no words to say how tall he is, or how often she smiles, or how
much he makes you laugh, or how easy she is to talk to? We use modifiers to express what
someone or something is like.
In the next section, you will learn about the three
major types of modifiers: adjectives, adverbs, and prepositional phrases.
PART II: MODIFIERS
MODIFIERS OF COMPLETE SENTENCES
LEARN TO RECOGNIZE THEM, WRITERS
ADVISE
You've learned the basic form of a
sentence. Everything else in the sentence is a modifier of some kind. In this
section we will learn what the chief modifiers are.
ADJECTIVES SPOTTED BESIDE NOUNS
Adjectives are usually placed before the
nouns they modify. But there is one exception: sometimes, adjectives follow a linking
verb.
When an adjective follows a linking verb, it is
called a complement. This is because the adjective goes along with (or
"complements") the subject.
But nouns can be complements, too! How can you tell
if the word after a linking verb is a noun or an adjective? Compare the sentences below:
a. Mr. Jones is
a policeman.
Mr. Jones is brave. |
b.
The girls are students.
The girls are lonely. |
In your mind, read
the underlined word in each sentence before the subject: "Policeman Mr.
Jones." "brave Mr. Jones." Which combination sounds better?
If "brave Mr. Jones" sounds better, then
"brave" must be an adjective. If "lonely girls" makes more sense than
"students girls," then "lonely" is an adjective. If any word sounds
correct and makes sense when you hear it in front of a simple noun, like "girl"
or "man"...it's an adjective.
Circle the adjectives in each word group that will
complete the sentence. Think carefully--some groups contain more than one adjective. Check
your answers on page A.
- The (is, grow, pretty, tapes) girl sighed.
- The (lose, newspaper, red-headed, friendly) boy
smiled.
- Tony was (pleased, were, squirrel, upset).
- The (books, handsome, around, bashful) gentlemen
paused.
- The students are (run, noisy,
beside).
I COMPLETED THIS
EXERCISE ON ______________.
Every word in a sentence has a job
to do. The job of the adjective is to modify, or describe, a noun.
That's easy to remember, isn't it? You can begin
helping us with adjectives right away.
WRITERS IN SOCIAL WHIRL
The following two articles will be part of our
society page, once you fill in all the blank spaces with a word that seems to fit. Ask a
parent, older brother, or sister to help if you can't think of any suitable words. You
should be able to come up with all kinds of words, but they will share one thing in
common: all will be adjectives. The spaces simply could not be filled with anything
else!
STARLIGHT
ENCHANTMENT AT CHARITY BALL
The Fifth Annual Charity Ball was a
__________ event for all to attend. __________ ladies and __________ gentlemen danced the
night away under __________ chandeliers in the ballroom of the Hotel Majestique. Mrs.
Lerome Esteban was a __________ hostess for the event, she and her __________ friend Mrs.
Edward Seymour greeted guests in the __________ ballroom foyer. __________ decorations
created a __________ mood for the revelers. Dance music was provided by the Lay-Zees, a
quintet well known for their __________ jazz rhythms. Not until the wee hours of the
morning did the last __________ couples leave the dance floor and make their __________
way home. One can only hope that next year's event will be as __________ as this one.
I
COMPLETED THIS ASSIGNMENT ON __________________.
DREW – SAWYER NUPTIALS
Ms. Nancy Drew and Mr. Thomas T.
Sawyer were wed last Thursday in a ____________ ceremony at First Community Church. The
bride wore a __________, __________ gown with __________ sleeves and a ______ train. The
church sanctuary, decorated by Wedding Belles, Inc., bloomed with a romantic and
__________ blend of __________ roses, __________ doves, and festoons of __________ ribbon.
The bride's attendants wore formal – length _________ dresses and carried bouquets of
___________ daisies. The bride and groom repeated their vows in the _________ light of one
hundred candles. To close the ceremony, all the guests were invited to rise and sing one
________ chorus of "____________." (Write title of
favorite song here)
I COMPLETED THIS
ASSIGNMENT ON __________________.
ADVERBS ANSWER FOUR QUESTIONS
Adverbs are a bit harder to recognize than
adjectives because they can be placed almost anywhere in a sentence. But they are
modifiers, too. Adverbs modify verbs, as you might easily guess. But sometimes they modify
adjectives and other adverbs!
The job of an adverb in the sentence is to tell when,
where, how, or how much. Let’s explore these words a little further.
If the adverb modifies a verb, it will tell when,
where or how something happened. In the list of adverbs below, draw lines to
match each word with the question that it answers.
yesterday
there
well
often
now
badly
very |
When?
Where?
How?
How much? |
At times, however, an
adverb can modify an adjective, or even another adverb. When that happens, the adverb
tells how much. Some examples are:
Pretty scary (adverb modifies an
adjective)
very loud (adverb modifies an adjective)
fairly often (adverb modifies another adjective)
One more interesting fact you should
know about adverbs is that they can often be formed from adjectives by adding the letters
"-ly."
beautiful becomes beautifully;
easy becomes easily;
cold becomes _______________;
warm becomes ______________;
quick becomes ______________;
shaky becomes ______________;
|
Notice
that the letter "y'' at the end of easy is turned into an " i "
before adding "ly." Remember that
the "y" at the end of shaky must be changed to an " i " before
adding the "ly" ending. |
Can you think of some
adjective-to-adverb transformations?
______________________
______________________
______________________
|
becomes
becomes
becomes |
________________________;
________________________;
________________________; |
I COMPLETED THESE EXERCISES ON ____________.
This "adding –ly"
trick will not work for every adjective, and every word with "-ly" on the end is
not an adverb. But it's interesting to see how words sometimes change form
in order to show a change in function. |
