1. what characteristics do nouns, pronouns, and verbs share? 2. what are the functions of the following parts of speech: -nouns -adjective -adverb -preposition 3. what are the four classes of verbs? 4. what is the definition of active voice?

1) They are all words. 2) nouns - they are objects, as in people, places, or things; adjectives - these are words that describe nouns such as tall, hairy, bent, etc.; adverbs - these are words that describe verbs such as quickly, slowly, patiently, angrily, etc.; Prepositions - these are words that describe where things are. . .a trick that a teacher used (that seem to work for almost all of them) is that it can fill in this blank - The squirrel is _____ the tree - ON, UNDER, AROUND, THROUGH, IN, OF, OFF, FROM, AT, OVER, BEHIND, BENEATH, NEXT TO, BETWEEN, etc. 3) There are a lot more than four verb classes, but here are ones you may want: Intransitive, Ergative, Transitive, Gerunds (See this page for many verb classes: http://www.cis.upenn.edu/~xtag/tech-report/node31.html) 4) Active voice does not use a form of a "be" verb. "The cat ate the mouse" is active. Passive voice does use a form of the "be" verb. "The mouse was eaten by the cat" is passive. Now, go do your homework ;)