Fourth-graders are probably already familiar with the basics of nouns, as they have been studying them since first grade. In the fourth grade, they practice the difference between common and proper nouns, possessive nouns and the correct use of apostrophes. They drill the rules for converting singular nouns to plural nouns with the correct spellings. They also begin to learn about subjects and predicates, and they study nouns in their roles as subjects and objects.
Fourth-graders should be familiar with the concept of verbs as action words. They study the past, present and future tenses of verbs and begin to learn how to use the irregular verb to be. They study helping verbs and practice using the continuous tenses, such as is going and was going. They also learn to use helping verbs to construct past perfect verb phrases, such as had learned. They learn to recognize complete verb phrases rather than just the main verb of a clause, and they begin to study the role of verbs in complete sentences.
Students at this grade level learn to recognize adjectives and adverbs, and they practice using them to describe nouns and verbs in their writing. They study the effect adjectives have on writing and explore the reasons people choose to use them. They also practice identifying and using synonyms and antonyms. In their study of adverbs, students learn about comparatives and superlatives and practice using them. They also learn not to use double negatives.
Pronouns are included in the fourth-grade standards in some states and not in others. When fourth-graders do study pronouns, they learn about them in the context of subjects and predicates. They study pronouns as subjects, direct objects and indirect objects, and they drill the correct uses and spellings of singular, plural and possessive pronouns. They may also learn to recognize demonstrative pronouns such as that and this and reflexive pronouns such as themselves.