EUROPE TODAY

GRAMMAR LOG 1

Parts of speech

A part of speech or a word class is the basic word element of a sentence. Each category has its name, abbreviation, and characteristics. Look at these categories in the grid below:

GRAMMAR LOG 2

A noun = n.
Nouns are used to name people, things, places, ideas, activities. They answer the question Who? or What?. They can be countable(C), we can count them, or uncountable(U).

Families come from other continents, too.
Animals can communicate in their own way.
Citizens of this country are from all over the world.

A verb = v.
Verbs describe either an action, an activity, or a state.

There are thousands of diverse languages in the world.
If you can speak foreign languages, it helps you make new contacts.

An adjective = adj.
Adjectives describe or give information about nouns: their size, shape,colour, nationality, origin, amount, age, speed, and others. They can precede a noun or follow a certain verb. Their form shows neither the number (singular, plural), nor the gender (male, female).

This is an important event. (= before a noun).
Language learning might seem difficult. (= after a verb)

An adverb = adv.
Adverbs describe or give information about manner, frequency, degree, time, and place. They answer the questions How? How often? How much? When? Where?

Most families live here. (Where?)
Can you speak English fluently? (How?)
Ben rarely travels abroad. (How often?)
We can meet today. (When?)
I can cook fairly well. (How much?)

A pronoun = pron.
In general, pronouns replace nouns or noun phrases. There are many groups of them: personal, possessive, reflexive, demonstrative, indefinite, etc.

This is our house. It is new.

A preposition = prep.
Prepositions are words which we usually use with nouns, pronouns, and noun phrases. Their relationship to another word in a sentence indicates the time, position, movement, means, and other meanings.

What do you usually do at the weekend? (time)
She lives in the country. (position)
Go along the street and turn left. (movement)
You can travel to Ljubljana by bus. (means)

A conjunction = conj.
Conjunctions or linking words connect words, phrases, or sentences and show how they are related.

Most children like pets and other animals.
We spend holidays in the mountains or by the sea. It depends.
We can catch the bus if we hurry.

An interjection = interj.
Interjections are short exclamations expressing joy, surprise, disapproval, pain, etc. Some of them are sounds.

Oh! What a surprise!
Tut-tut, smoking at your age.

Interjections are followed by either a comma or an exclamation mark and they should be avoided in formal writing.

EXAMPLE

rich = (adj.) adjective
languages = (n.) noun
are = (v.) verb
and = (conj.) conjunction
here = (adv.) adverb
from = (prep.) preposition
we = (pron.) pronoun

GRAMMAR LOG 3

Abbreviations

An abbreviation shortens or abbreviates a word or a group of words or phrases. It can be written with capital or small letters or both. There are four groups of abbreviated words: initialisms, acronyms, contractions, and shortenings.

Initialisms
If we spell out the initial letters, these are initialisms. Each initial letter stands for a word, but prepositions and articles are omitted. The use of a full stop (or a period) after each letter is optional.
Examples:

n, n. = noun
kph, k.p.h. = kilometres per hour
www, w.w.w. = world wide web
http, h.t.p.p. = hyper text transfer protocol
EU, E.U. = the European Union
EUDL, E.U.D.L. = the European Day of Languages
UK, U.K. = the United Kingdom
USA, U.S.A. = the United States of America
BC, B.C. = Before Christ

Acronyms
If we pronounce abbreviations as word, they are acronyms. The use of a full stop (or a period) is after each letter is optional.
Examples:

NASA, N.A.S.A. = ['næsə] = National Aeronautics and Space Administration
UNICEF, U.N.IC.E.F. ['junisef] = the United Nations Children's Fund
FYROM, F.Y.R.O.M. ['faɪrɒm] = the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

Some acronyms now function as words.
Example:

a laser = light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation.

    
It is interesting to note that some abbreviations are Latin words, and have preserved their original form when abbreviated.
Examples:

AD, A.D. = Anno Domini
pa, p.a. = per annum = a year
eg, e.g. = exampli gratia = for example/instance
ie, i.e. = id est = that is
a.m., A.M. = ante meridiem = in the morning
p.m., P.M. = post meridiem = in the afternoon/evening

Contractions
Contractions are types of abbreviated words when:

a) The first and the last letter of a word is given, the letters between them are, in most cases, omitted.
Examples:

Mr, Mr. = Mister
Rd, Rd. = Road
BUT: Ltd, L.t.d. = Limited

b) More than one word are put together with an apostrophe ('), which shows that a letter (or a word) has been left out.
Examples:

he's = he is, he has
mustn't= must not
let's= let us
o'clock= of the clock

Shortenings
Shortenings are words which have been made shorter by dropping one or more parts of a longer word.
Examples:

a blog = a weblog
a hippo= a hippopotamus
a plane= an aeroplane, an airplane
a Brit = a Briton
vthe Net = the Internet
flu= influenza
Feb = February
Wed= Wednesday
etc. = et cetera = and the rest, and so on
email = electronic mail