We look at the building blocks of the English language: words. Every word belongs to one category or another, and sometimes more than one category. We call these categories parts of speech. There are 9 basic parts of speech: nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, determiners, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections. We talk about them one by one, with plenty of examples for using them in everyday life.
Difficulty: Beginner
USA
Now Sigrid has also lost her glasses! In this final part, learn how to use modal verbs to express probability, and find out whether she finds the missing items.
Difficulty: Beginner
USA
Sigrid has lost a couple of important items and is trying to think where they might be. In this part, she has lost her car key. She uses plenty of modal verbs to tell her story, including modal verbs expressing probability.
Difficulty: Beginner
USA
When do we use "should" and "could"? At the end of the video, you'll also find a preview of the next 2 videos where modals are used in everyday speech for discussing probability.
Difficulty: Beginner
USA
Every modal verb is a bit different and not all of them can be used in all tenses. We use "may" for permission, but we can use "can" and its conditional form "could" as well.
Difficulty: Newbie
USA
Modal verbs are special verbs that go together with action verbs to indicate ability, permission, obligation and more. Let's see how they work.
Difficulty: Beginner
USA
With longer adjectives, we have to add some extra words in order to form the comparative and superlative. Sigrid explains how.
Difficulty: Newbie
USA
Sigrid looks at the comparative and superlative forms of adjectives that have a "Y" or an "E" at the end, and also some that don't follow any pattern at all!
Difficulty: Newbie
USA
Here's a simple list of common, everyday adjectives in their positive, comparative and superlative forms, divided into groups to facilitate memorization.
Difficulty: Newbie
USA
Sigrid looks at how the comparative and superlative forms of one- and two-syllable adjectives are created.
Difficulty: Newbie
USA
Adjectives are an important part of speech. They give us additional information about nouns. Let's look at how they work in English.
Difficulty: Beginner
USA
This video is about indefinite answers to the question words "where" and "how." We combine these question words with "some" and "any" to form new indefinite words, such as "somewhere," "somehow," "anywhere," "anyhow," and "anyway."
Difficulty: Beginner
USA
We use question words plus words like "some" and "any" to form new indefinite words, such as "sometime," "sometimes," and "anytime." This video is about question words "who," "what," and "when."
Difficulty: Beginner
USA
Sigrid packs her carry-on bag for the flight to Paris. She talks about what she needs to pack, and why.
Difficulty: Newbie
USA
Sigrid uses the question words "who," "what," "when," "where," "why," and "how" as she thinks out loud about her next vacation. Where will she go? How will she get there? How much will it cost?
Difficulty: Beginner
USA
There's one more important question word to learn: "how." Sigrid provides plenty of examples of questions with "how," both by itself and together with an adjective or adverb.
Difficulty: Beginner
USA
Sigrid, here as Rita and Kathy, has fun practicing the 5 question words ("who," "what," "where," "when," and "why") on a train. She makes quite a nuisance of herself, too. More about the 5 W's in: Parts of Speech: Question Words - Part 1 of 3.
Difficulty: Newbie
USA
We often use question words to ask questions. The five main ones start with "wh." Sigrid explains how they work.
Difficulty: Newbie
USA
Just as we use "something," "anything," and "nothing" for things, we use "someone," "somebody," "anybody," "anyone," and "nobody" for people.
Difficulty: Newbie
USA
"None," "something," "anything," and "nothing" can be used as pronouns. Sigrid explains how these words work.
Difficulty: Newbie
USA
Sigrid goes over examples in which "no" takes the place of "not any." As always, you have to watch out for double negatives.
Difficulty: Beginner
USA
In this video, Sigrid looks at certain kinds of questions in which it is correct to use "some," the dreaded double negative, and negative statements that can be expressed in two different ways.
Difficulty: Beginner
USA
Some and any both refer to an unspecified quantity, but they are used in different situations. Sigrid explains how they work.
Difficulty: Beginner
USA
Sigrid explains the meaning of "prop" as both a noun and a verb. Either one can come in handy.
Difficulty: Beginner
USA
Here are some words to help answer the question "Which one?" We distinguish between singular and plural as well as between something close to us and far away.
Difficulty: Newbie
USA
"One" and "ones" can replace nouns, but are not pronouns. They are prop words. Let's look at how they are used.
Difficulty: Newbie
USA
True possessive pronouns can stand alone. They replace both the noun and its possessive adjective or determiner. These pronouns are very handy in introductions and conversations about favorites.
Difficulty: Newbie
USA
Sigrid takes us through the different persons using dependent possessive pronouns, also called possessive adjectives or possessive determiners. These little words are important when talking about names, your possessions, family and friends, characteristics, jobs, favorite things and just about everything else.
Difficulty: Newbie
USA
Sigrid talks about the difference between possessive nouns and other possessive words such as possessive determiners or articles like "my" and "your."
Difficulty: Newbie
USA
Sigrid reviews the object pronouns: "me," "you," "him," "her," "it," "us," "you," and "them."
Difficulty: Newbie
USA
Sigrid reviews the subject pronouns "I," "you," "he," "she," "it," "we," "you," and "they."
Difficulty: Beginner
USA Northeast
Nouns are usually the first words we learn. The good news is that with nouns, we don't have to worry about gender in English. We do, however, have to be aware of gerunds that act like nouns but look like verbs, and countable or uncountable nouns.
Difficulty: Newbie
USA Northeast
Here's a quick summary of the different kinds of words we have in the English language and what they are used for.
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