Essential Grammar: Parts of Speech and Sentence Structure

Personal Pronouns: Tonic and Toneless Forms

Tonic (Stressed) Pronouns

• 1st Person Subject: I, we (including forms like nosotros/as)
• 1st Person Complement/Object: me, us
• 2nd Person Subject: you (singular), you/ye (plural, including vosotros)
• 2nd Person Complement/Object: you (singular), you/yourselves (plural)
• 3rd Person Subject: he, she, it, they
• 3rd Person Complement/Object: him, her, it, them (including various clitic interpretations)

Toneless (Unstressed) Pronouns

These forms often function as clitics:

• 1st Person Complement: me, us (nos)
• 2nd Person Complement: te, you (os/ye)
• 3rd Person Complement: lo, la, lo, los, las, se, le, les (including various combinations)

Adverbs and Their Functions

• Place: here, there, yonder, near, far, up, down, in front, behind, around, over, under, inside, outside
• Time: before, now, then, later, yesterday, today, tomorrow, early, late, always, still, never
• Manner: well, badly, quickly, slowly, highly, lowly
• Quantity: more, less, very, much, little, pretty, too, almost
• Affirmation: yes, also, too
• Negation: no, never, either
• Doubt: perhaps, maybe

Interjections

These are words that express a vivid feeling or action, such as: Oh! My God! What the hell!

Adjectives and Determiners

Determiners (Preceding the Noun)

• Indefinite: (e.g., this student, the same result)
• Demonstrative: (e.g., that girl)
• Possessive: (e.g., his pen)
• Numerals: (e.g., Philip V)

Qualifying Adjectives

• Specified/Descriptive: Modifies the noun (e.g., brown table)
• Explanatory/Epithet: Often precedes the noun, emphasizing a quality (e.g., hard marble, beautiful boy)
• Relational: Relates the noun to a concept; typically cannot be graded (e.g., Thoracic box)

Relative Pronouns and Adverbs

• Relative Pronouns: that, which, who, whom, whose
• Relative Adverbs: how, when, where

Nouns (Identifying Entities)

Nouns are categorized by various criteria:

• Common and Proper
• Abstract and Concrete/Specific
• Individual and Collective
• Count (Accounting) or Non-Count (Mass)

Sentence Classification by Predicate Type

Based on Verb Function

• Copulative Sentences

  Contain a linking verb (e.g., to be, to seem, to appear) and an attribute (complement).

  Example: The girls seemed happy.

• Predicative Sentences

  Contain a verbal predicate (a verb expressing action or process that affects the subject).

  Example: The cats were howling all night.

Based on Subject/Voice Relationship

• Active Voice

  The predicative verb is in the active voice, and the subject is the actor.

  Example: The climbers reached the summit.

• Passive Voice

  The predicative verb is in the passive voice, and the subject is the patient (recipient of the action).

  Example: The suitcases were taken to the room.

• Passive Reflexive

  The subject is the patient, and the verb (in the third person active voice) is preceded by a reflexive particle (often 'se' in Spanish/Romance languages).

  Example: They moved the suitcases into the room.

Based on Object Requirement

• Transitive Sentences

  Predicative and active, requiring a Direct Object (DO).

  Example: I bought three lottery tickets.

• Intransitive Sentences

  Predicative and active, functioning without a Direct Object (DO).

  Example: We walked for hours through the forest.

Reflexive Sentences

Use a transitive verb and a pronoun where the verbal action is performed upon the same entity performing the task (the subject).

• Direct Reflexive

  The unstressed pronoun functions as the Direct Object (DO).

  Example: Your sister locked herself in her room.

• Indirect Reflexive

  The unstressed pronoun functions as the Indirect Object (IO).

  Example: Fernando wrung his hands eagerly.