English 101 - Parts of Speech (series 1)

     My first day at school with each high school class started with a review of different parts of speech. It was mostly a disappointment that needed a question rephrasing, hints, and translation for them to remember or rather let them know what it is all about. Sometimes they interchanged it with figures of speech when they started answering metaphor, simile, etc. I can't blame them during their primary/intermediate days, most of them only spent 3 hours in school due to a lack of school rooms. I hope upon writing this, some of them will stumble upon it if not to give them the site's name.

Parts of Speech is a term used for the 8 categories into which words are classified according to their functions in a sentence. This term has been labeled by linguistics into word class or syntactic category. Parts of speech are divided into two, namely, Open classes and Closed classes. Open classes are nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. Closed classes are pronouns, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjection.

1. Noun - a word that names a person, a place, a thing, an animal, an idea, or an event. (it is important to note that noun 'names a' not 'name of'. Noun actually give names, not the name of... since other words can be used as a noun though in a form they look like the other parts of speech).    
2. Pronoun - a word that takes the place of a noun. The noun that the pronoun replaces or refers to is called the antecedent.
3. Verb - a word that expresses an action or a state of being.
4. Adjectives - words that describe a noun or pronoun.
5. Adverb - a word that describes a verb, an adjective, or another adverb.
6. Preposition - a word that expresses a relationship between a noun or pronoun and another word in the sentence.
7. Conjunction - a   word that connects an individual word or group of words.
8. Interjection - an exclamatory word or phrase that can stand by itself although it may also appear in a sentence.

 Examples:

1. Nouns: teacher, Emily, city, Manila, cellphone, Sony, dog, Snoopy, compassion, love, birthday.
2. Pronouns: I, me, you, he, she, it, who, which, all, any, few, several, everyone, somebody.
3. Verbs: get, take, hopes, appear, seem, is, was, are, were, have, will, can, may, must.
4. Adjectives: happy, new, tall, helpful, many, more, prettiest.
5. Adverbs: quite, very, so, too, slowly, always, gracefully.
6. Prepositions: in, on, about, over, behind, under, inside, outside.
7. Conjunctions: and, but, or, while, that, thus, so that, however.
8. Interjections: oh! wow! alas! aha! hooray!..

* The category of each word in the Part of Speech is based on how it was used alone or in a sentence.

image credits to the owner

How to Remove Chiggers?

What are chiggers? Actually, they are from the family of mites, Trombiculadae. Chiggers are small, red bugs mostly found on the tips of grasses. This six-legged parasitic larva feeds not only on humans but also on rabbits, toads, turtles, quails, and other insects. Chiggers do not actually bite but inject digestive enzymes into the skin and chew up the tiny parts of the inner skin causing irritation and swelling. Chiggers affect warm-covered bodies and bites are often found clustered behind knees and tight undergarments.  Some exceptional cases have been found in the eye causing conjunctivitis. Protection from chiggers is necessary but prevention is better to avoid getting bites or allergens from chiggers. So, how to prevent chiggers from breeding in your yard and getting a bite off you?
 

chigger bites

The Chigger Habitat

Chiggers usually thrive late in summer, in dry tall grasses and thick vegetation. To avoid being bitten by chiggers, people should wear long pants and socks or boots. Anything that would cover the skin is necessary so as not to make you a chigger host. 

A natural way of removing chiggers

• If you have a lawn yard, regular mowing and pulling weeds are simple yet effective in getting rid of chiggers. Prune trees, bushes, and shrubs to allow more sunlight to go through and discourage chiggers to live.
• Flood the remaining grass, bushes, and shrubs in a mixture of soap and water to kill them off. Do it every week for a month. 
• Small mammals, such as mice, hamsters, rabbits, guinea pigs, cats, small dogs; reptiles, and amphibians are favorite hosts of chiggers. If you have some of these as pets in your house, do not allow them to hang around your garden or yard, to discourage chiggers from living in your yard. Remove water or a source of water and dense bushes from your yard that will invite reptiles and amphibians. 
• Prepare a natural, organic pesticide to ward off chiggers. Diatomaceous earth, made from soft sedimentary rock can be sprinkled into your yard. 
• Sulfur powder drives away chiggers due to its potent smell. Sprinkling some in your shoes and socks drives them away. 
• Household vinegar can also be personal protection from chiggers by applying it to the feet, legs, and midsection parts of the body.

 Chemical repellants

• Spraying DEET (diethyltoluamide) into your skin is one of the most effective insect repellents that can be used against chiggers. Before going on for a walk in tall grasses and shrubs, apply DEET that can last for two to three hours. Just be careful to follow the instruction when spraying or applying. 

• Permethrin repellents can only be applied in clothes against chiggers to stick into your clothes. Permethrin lasts for several days, even after second washing. Just follow the instruction for applying Permethrin repellents.

If chiggers have reached your houseplants, take them outside and soak them in a mild insecticidal soap with a safety label for houseplants or edible plants. Do it weekly for a month. 

Apply insecticide on hotspot areas with weeds and tall grasses with the following contents: 
bifenthrin, cyfluthrin, esfenvalerate, chlorpyrifos, diazinonbifenthrin, carbaryl, and cyhalothrin.

For extreme infestation, call a pest control professional. They are licensed and trained to use strong chemical formulations. Just be sure to find the authentic company or persons so as not to jeopardize your family's health and safety.