Welcome to ENG 113E!

This is Professor Lepore’s Lab… Just in case you’re in the

wrong place.
Quick Syllabus Time

This is a lab, which means it is part of your class.

We aren’t going to be doing any experiments, but you will be
learning grammar in this class and experimenting with what
grammar styles and functions you can use.
That being said, ATTENDANCE IS MANDATORY!
Okay… that came off a little mean.
Let’s try again.
Attendance

While attendance is mandatory, I’m not a dictator. I

understand that people get sick, things happen, and school
gets busy.
So, while I would love you all to be here, I’m not going to
punish you if you don’t show up.
In exchange, if you cannot show up to class, I have a backup
plan of what you can do instead.
Makeup and Excuses

If you are not able to make it to class, you must do TWO

things to receive your points for that missed class.
1. Email before your class starts.
2. Do the exercises for that particular day and email them
to me BEFORE the next class session (aka one week)
Super simple, super doable, and super nice on the grand
scheme of college. I’m here to teach, you’re here to learn, I’m
not going to make it any more complicated.
That’s Nice and All, But What Will We Be Doing?

As simply as possible, we will learn grammar and its rhetorical

(or argumentative) function.
As boring as it sounds, I want this class to be fun and
interactive.

(Link did not work) Look up Word Crimes if you want to.
So, Why Grammar?

Ultimately, I don’t expect you guys to become grammar

police or write complicated paragraphs when you’re texting
your besties later.
BUT (and it’s a big but)
Grammar is incredibly important when it comes to the
academic world, which in case it hasn’t dawned on you,
welcome to the academic world!
Why Is Grammar Important?

Grammar isn’t there just to give us boring or confusing rules

about what to write or not to write, rather it’s there to
remove as many ambiguities as possible.
That way, anybody could pick up your paper and understand
what you wrote down regardless of relationship, age, or
geographic background.
That’s why we need to write clearly, concisely, and
compassionately.
What Do I Mean By That?

Clearly: Your ideas should be easily seen and presented.

Concisely: Your sentences should only be as long as they need

to be. They can be long, complex, and informative, but as
soon as the sentence becomes confusing, you’ve defeated the
purpose.
Compassionately: Not everyone is going to know what you
know. So, it is our job as students to write from a place of love
and understanding that everyone can read our work.
Chapter 1: Words and Phrases

In grammar, we have four “open classes” of words:

● Nouns
● Verbs
● Adjectives
● Adverbs
Why are they called open? Because new words can be added
to these categories.
Nouns

Nouns are probably the one that most people are familiar with
due to the whole “person, place, or thing” description.
While it definitely is true to an extent, it doesn’t really
encapsulate everything that is or is not a noun.
For example, kindness is not really a person, place, or thing,
but it definitely is a noun.
So, nouns are going to be words that other words describe or
enable (e.g. the words that do the action or are the thing that
get described).
 Nouns (Cont.)
That sounded a little vague, no?
A little, at least I think so.
So, let’s define it some more.
First, nouns are the only word that
can be made plural, or increase in
number. So you can have a dog or
dogs, but you can’t pets him.
Second, nouns can be made
possessive. This means that a noun
can belong to someone/something or
have someone/something. Using that
same dog example, I could say that is
my sister’s dog. Using the word
“sister’s” now implies ownership of
the noun “dog”.
More Nouns!

In 2022, we are all a little more familiar with pronouns, but

people forget that pronouns are also nouns!

Pronouns can be broken up into three categories: First,

Second, and Third Person.

First: I

Second: You

Third: He, She, They, It

Verbs

Most people think of verbs as action words, and like nouns,

that’s mostly correct. But we want to make sure that we have
a more well-rounded definition.

For example, the word “expect” is a verb, but we wouldn’t

necessarily consider it an action since it’s a passive “action”
(you do it in your head without thinking).

So what makes verbs different?

 Verbs (Cont.)
Verbs carry what is known as tense: past, present, and future to keep it simple.

For example, the word “clap”.

Past: Clapped

Present: Clap, Claps, Clapping

Future: Will clap

So, regardless if it is an action or not, verbs will always carry a tense of past,
present, or future (plus some variants we will talk about in the future).
Noun Phrases

According to your book, a noun phrase is going to be made up

of two parts: the headword (noun) and a determiner (article).

In other words, if I have the phrase “the phrase”, my determiner

would be the word “the” and the headword would be “phrase”.

But what if I said “the second phrase”?

It would be the same noun phrase “the phrase” because

adjectives are NOT included.
Demonstrative Pronouns

I like to make your lives super complicated by teaching you all of

these similarly named ideas all at once (jk, I’m sorry about this
one).

But, unlike regular pronouns, demonstrative pronouns are closer

to determiners that point to SPECIFIC nouns.

Words like THIS, THAT, THESE, THOSE

Saying, “this student,” implies a specific student rather than just

any of them.
 Proper Nouns
Proper nouns are a special case of
noun that always gets capitalized
due to its importance.

Words like January, Washington,

and Professor Lepore will all get
capitalized to signify the
importance of that noun.
 Exercise 1
Identify the determiners (D) and noun phrases (NP) of each sentence. If a sentence does not
have a determiner, how do you know what the noun is?

1. The use of computer-generated imagery, or CGI, has become widespread since the
1990s.

2. In the courtroom, a jury’s decision may now be informed by CGI models.

3. And in simulated environments, ordinary CGI users can inhabit their fantasies while
interacting with fictional characters.
 Answer Time!

1. The use of computer-generated imagery, or CGI, has become widespread

since the 1990s.

2. In the courtroom, a jury’s decision may now be informed by CGI models.

3. And in simulated environments, ordinary CGI users can inhabit their

fantasies while interacting with fictional characters.
Verb Phrases

To keep it simple for today, verb phrases are going to be just

the verb. From the verb to the end of the sentence, for right
now, we will call the predicate.

So, for example:

I walked the dog

I (NP) walked (VP) the dog = I (NP) walked the dog

(Predicate).
Exercise 2

Find the border between the subject and the predicate and
input a slash (/). Then supply a pronoun for the subject (Noun
in Noun Phrase).

1. Our county commissioners passed a new ordinance.

2. The mayor was upset with her husband.

3. This new law prohibits billboards on major highways.

Answer Time!

1. Our county commissioners/ passed a new ordinance.

(They).

2. The mayor/ was upset with her husband. (She)

3. This new law/ prohibits billboards on major highways. (It)

Adjectives

Adjectives (and adverbs) are called modifiers as they modify a

noun or verb to change an aspect of that word.

For example:
● Red
● Twenty
● Pretty
● Old
Comparative and Superlative

Comparative adjectives are adjectives that compare two

nouns (better, redder, smarter, shorter).

Superlative adjectives are adjectives that compare three or

more nouns (best, reddest, smartest, shortest).

BIG EXCEPTION: certain words (usually more than one

syllable) will have the word more or most beforehand
(intelligent, more intelligent, most intelligent).
Adverbs

Adverbs, like adjectives, are modifiers, but only modify the

verb. Adverbs will describe the time, location, frequency, or
manner of which the action took place.
● Quickly
● Yesterday
● Often
● Earlier
Adverbs (Cont.)

Adverbs also follow the comparative and superlative rules

that adjectives follow.

Near-> Nearer -> Nearest

Quickly -> More Quickly -> Most Quickly

Those were all our open case words, so now it’s time for…
 Closed Case: Prepositions

Prepositions are words that connect a noun phrase or

predicate to further specific details related to space, time, or
connection.

The ten most important you will see are: OF, IN, TO, FOR,
WITH, ON, AT, FROM, BY and ABOUT.

Please please please make sure you remember these!

 Adjectival vs. Adverbial Prepositions
Adjectival prepositions are going to relate to a noun and adverbials will relate to the verb, but what
does that look like?

Fans in the ballpark celebrate.

Since this is connected to our noun phrase, it is describing the fans who are celebrating, so this is
adjectival. Think of it as being able to be replaced with a pronoun.

They celebrate.

But…

Fans celebrate in the ballpark.

This is adverbial because the in phrase is now describing not the fans, but where the celebration took
place. Think about if you could move that preposition around in the sentence.

In the ballpark, fans celebrate.

Exercise 3

Underline the prepositional phrases and label them as

adjectival or adverbial.

1. You will often find a cake at special parties.

2. Birthday cakes in ancient Rome contained many nuts
and honey.
3. Many people add candles to the top of a birthday cake.
Answers!

1. You will often find a cake at special parties.

Adverbial

2. Birthday cakes in ancient Rome contained many nuts and

honey.

Adjectival

3. Many people add candles to the top of a birthday cake.

To the top (Adverbial) Of a birthday cake (Adjectival)