You probably have a school assignment where you have to find the grammar categories in a text. Learning to identify the grammatical categories in a sentence will help you better understand how the Spanish language works. Doing exercises in grammar categories will give you a better understanding of proper grammar, a more developed vocabulary, and the skills to formulate a correct sentence.
Steps
Part 1 of 2: Understanding Grammar Categories
Step 1. Identify the two basic grammatical categories in a sentence
There are two basic grammatical categories that will appear in a sentence: nouns and verbs.
- A noun is the name of a person, place, thing, or idea (for example, "woman", "Mexico", "pen", "sadness"). A noun often appears after an article, such as "the" or "a", in a sentence. Nouns can also be singular or plural and can work differently within a sentence.
- For example: "The young man brought me a rare gift from Mexico. Later, he calmly told me that he valued happiness above all else." In these sentences, the nouns are "young," "gift," "Mexico," and "happiness."
- A verb expresses an action (for example: "run", "swim", "jump", "sit", "think"). In a sentence, there is a main verb and sometimes one or more verbs that help in the sentence. The verb in the sentence must agree with the subject, so if the subject is singular, the verb must be singular, and, if the subject is plural, the verb must be plural. Verbs can also appear in different tenses (present, past and future).
- For example: "The young man brought me a rare gift from Mexico. Later, he calmly told me that he valued happiness above all else." In these sentences, the verbs are: "brought", "said" and "valued".
Step 2. Learn about adjectives and adverbs in a sentence
Once you understand the two basic grammatical categories, expand your knowledge to the more complex categories: adjectives and adverbs.
- An adjective describes or modifies a noun or pronoun (for example: "tender", "new", "red", "strong"). An adjective will answer the questions "which?", "Of what kind?" or "how many?" Keep in mind that articles like "a", "an" and "the" are classified as modifiers for nouns, but not as adjectives.
- For example: "The young man brought me a rare gift from Mexico. Later, he calmly told me that he valued happiness above all else." In these sentences, the only adjective is "weird."
- An adverb describes or modifies a verb, adjective, or other adverb. However, adverbs never modify a noun. Adverbs generally end in "mind" (for example: "quietly", "deeply", "carefully", "clearly").
- In the example sentences, "The young man brought me a rare gift from Mexico and then he calmly told me that he valued happiness above all else," the adverbs are "calmly" and "then."
Step 3. Identify the role of pronouns in the sentence
A pronoun is a word that is used in place of a noun in a sentence (for example: "she", "we", "they").
In the example sentences, "The young man brought me a rare gift from Mexico. Then he calmly told me that he valued happiness above all else," the pronoun is "he." "He" replaces "young man" in the second sentence
Step 4. Understand the role of prepositions and conjunctions in a sentence
Prepositions and conjunctions in a sentence are the smallest terms that frame the main parts of the sentence (the noun, the verb and the adjective).
- A preposition appears before a noun or pronoun and modifies the noun or pronoun in a sentence (for example: "por", "con", "sin", "sobre", "until", "desde").
- In the example sentences, "The young man brought me a rare gift from Mexico. Then he calmly told me that he valued happiness above all else," the prepositions are "from" and "by."
- A conjunction connects words, phrases, or clauses. It also tells the reader something about the relationship between the two words, phrases or clauses (for example: "and", "but", "or", "because", "although").
- In the example sentences, "The young man brought me a rare gift from Mexico. Then he calmly told me that he valued happiness above all else," you could enter the conjunction "and" between "Mexico" and "then" to form a single sentence instead of two and thus join them.
Part 2 of 2: Identify Grammar Categories in a Text
Step 1. Use practice sentences
Test your knowledge of the grammar categories in a text by practicing with example sentences. Type the sentence into your computer or write it down. Then use highlighters, colored pens, or the highlighting tool on your computer to identify each grammar category.
There are several example sentences that you can access online and practice test sheets on the grammar categories that you can use to test your knowledge. You can try using simple sentences to identify basic grammatical categories, such as nouns and verbs, and longer, more complex sentences to identify more complex categories, such as adverbs or prepositions
Step 2. Identify the noun in a sentence
Pick a highlighter color for your nouns and try to place them in a simple sentence, like "I went to the store." In this sentence, the noun is the place "shop". In the sentence "He eats to combat anxiety", the noun is the feeling "anxiety".
- After you're comfortable locating the noun in a simple sentence, try a more complex sentence: "The little girl suddenly dropped her new doll and ran into the store."
- Use your highlighter to find all the nouns in this sentence: "girl", "doll", "store".
Step 3. Find the verb in the sentence
Pick another highlighter color for verbs and find the verb in a simple sentence, like "I'm on my way to the station." In this sentence, the verb is the action "path". In the sentence "She drank all the juice", the verb is the action "drank".
- Try to find verbs in a much longer, more complex sentence: "The little girl suddenly dropped her new doll and ran into the store."
- Use your highlighter to find all the verbs in this sentence: "released", "came out".
Step 4. Find the adjective in the sentence
Pick another highlighter color for adjectives and highlight them in a simple sentence, like "My mom dropped the blue vase." In this sentence, the adjective is the descriptor "blue". In the sentence "My dad sings Italian operas in the shower", the adjective is the descriptor "Italian".
- Look for the adjectives in a much longer and more complex sentence: "The little girl suddenly dropped her new doll and ran to the store."
- Use your highlighter to find all the adjectives in this sentence: "small", "new".
Step 5. Take into account any adverb or pronoun in the sentence
Choose a highlighter color for adverbs in a short, simple sentence, such as "I spoke to you quietly." In this sentence, the adverb "quietly" modifies the verb "I spoke."
- Identify the adverbs in a longer sentence: "The little girl suddenly dropped her new doll and ran to the store."
- Highlight the adverb in this sentence: "suddenly".
- Choose another highlighter color for the pronouns and identify the pronouns in a simple sentence like "I picked it up at noon." In this sentence, the pronoun is "lo".
- Find the pronouns in a longer sentence: "I didn't want to go to the presentation that night because I knew she would be there."
- Highlight the pronouns in this sentence: "I", "she".
Step 6. Identify the prepositions and conjunctions in the sentence
Practice identifying prepositions in a simple sentence: "I went to the store with her." In this sentence, the prepositions are "with" and "a".
- Practice finding the prepositions in a more complex sentence: "The little girl suddenly dropped her new doll and ran to the store." The preposition in this sentence is "a".
- Try to find the conjunctions in a simple sentence: "We ate pizza and ice cream." The conjunction in this sentence is "and" since it joins two nouns, "pizza" and "ice cream".
- Try to identify the conjunction in a more complex sentence: "I didn't want to go to the presentation that night because I knew she would be there." In this sentence, the conjunction is "because" since it joins the first half of the sentence and the second.
Step 7. Practice with other sentences and sample questions
Once you've gone through several simple and complex example sentences, use your highlighter colors to identify the grammar categories in a sentence or question.
- For example: "Why did you go to the presentation without me?" Use your highlighter to find the nouns, verbs, adjectives, pronouns, and prepositions in this sentence if there are any.
- You may want to try highlighting the grammar categories in the sentences and practice questions with a partner so that you can test each other on the grammar categories.