Download WL Parts of Speech

English 1: World Literature, 2016-17
Parts of Speech Reference Sheet
Use this sheet as a reference for further grammar work. What follows are definitions and examples of
the parts of speech as I understand them, not the final word on the subject (if there is such a thing).
Look at the following definitions and examples (in italics). Where possible, note what part of the
definition a given example refers to.
I.
Open Word Classes: The following are called open classes because they can (and frequently do!)
add new members. English, for example, borrows regularly from other languages—words like
taco, paparazzi, manga, and sushi are recent additions—or invent new ones—malware, text,
email—as the occasion merits it.
1. Nouns. From a semantic point of view, nouns include not only the traditional “person, place or
thing,” but also abstractions like emotions and qualities. From a grammatical point of view,
nouns can be the subject of a sentence, the object (direct or indirect) of a verb, or the object of
a preposition.
Examples: John threw the ball and hit his mother accidentally.
New York is a great place to visit for its restaurants and attractions.
Excitement grows in the cracks in the sidewalk.
2. Verbs. Verbs are more than just “action” words—they also denote events and states of being.
Moreover, in addition to main verbs, there are also auxiliary verbs that modify the main verb in
some way, changing their tense, mood, aspect or voice. Some people call auxiliary verbs
“helping” or “linking” verbs. In grammatical terms, every sentence requires a main verb, while
auxiliary verbs serve grammatical functions. (Watch out! Main verbs are an open class, while
auxiliary verbs are closed…)
Examples: John is going to throw the ball. I hope he does not hit his brother, but he might.
Adrienne has class tomorrow. She should go.
I had to run all the way home yesterday because it was raining. I am really tired.
3. Adjectives. Qualify, describe or modify a noun. In grammatical terms, they either precede the
noun they qualify or describe or follow a noun of state or being (to be, to become, to feel, etc.).
Examples: John threw the big, round, blue ball and broke the antique clock his mother loves.
After a thrilling English class, I often feel great!!
4. Adverbs. Qualify, quantify, describe or modify a whole clause or sentence, verb, adjective or
other adverb. They are very tricky to describe or understand because they serve so many
functions. In a grammatical sense, they can often go virtually anywhere in a sentence.
Examples: Sometimes, I just feel really happy to be alive!
Atalanta runs more quickly than anyone else.
Yesterday, I was somewhat embarrassed when I spoke out of turn.
5. Interjections. An intensifier, greeting or other exclamation. Grammatically, they generally do
not relate to larger sentences and can stand alone. They also include many of the words that are
inappropriate for use at school or in a formal essay.
Examples: Hi!
Shoot! I left my homework on the bus!
II.
Closed Word Classes. So-called because there are fewer opportunities for change. Generally
speaking, the closed classes are not open to innovation and change because their meanings are
more fixed than open classes and/or they serve a role that is as grammatical and syntactic as it is
meaningful or semantic. Put another way, you can’t add prepositions, pronouns or articles to a
language as easily as you can nouns or verbs. Also, another way of understanding the difference
between main and linking verbs is to think about main verbs as an open class (you can add to
them) while auxiliary verbs are closed (you cannot).
6. Prepositions. The “little words” that establish either physical, temporal or some other
syntactic/grammatical relation. While the first two have to do with time and space, the latter is
an expression of some other relation like possession (“of”), agency (“by,” in passives), and
complementarity (“with”) and so on.
Examples: To get to school, we go around the park across town under the bridge over the river on the
bus, but only after we have breakfast.
The flight of the ball that was thrown by my brother determined that it would strike the child
on the temple, thereby causing a large bump to his cranium.
7. Determiners. Determiners (sometimes called “articles”) are the class of words that put nouns
into grammatical context. They include determinate and indeterminate articles (“the” and “a”),
demonstratives (“this” and “that”), possessive pronouns (“my,” your,” “her,” etc.) and
quantifiers (“several”, “many,” etc.—also the cardinal numbers; ordinal numbers are adjectives).
Examples: Two boys were throwing several balls. One of them hit my head. I asked the guy next to me,
“Who threw this ball?”
He pointed, “That one.”
8. Conjunctions. Conjunctions join two clauses and relate them grammatically. There are two
types: coordinating conjunctions join two equal clauses that can stand alone as independent
sentences. There are seven main coordinating conjunctions in English: and, or, but, for, so, nor,
yet and so. Sometimes, two sentences joined by a coordinating conjunction have a correlative
counterpart at the beginning of the first clause—Either… or…, Not only… but also…, and so on.
The second class of conjunctions are subordinating ones. They join a dependent clause (one that
cannot stand alone as a sentence) with an independent one, and express some kind of relation
of the dependent clause to the independent one. A brief list includes: after, although, as, as
far as, as if, as long as, as soon as, as though, because, before, if, in order
that, since, so, sothat, than, though, unless, until, when, whenever, where, whereas, whe
-rever, and while.
Examples: Either you understand conjunctions, or you live a happy, meaningful life.
You must learn coordinating conjunctions so that you can live a long and happy life, but don’t
go crazy.
9. Pronouns. Pronouns “stand in” for another noun (the “pro-“ is Latin for “for”). They can either
refer to an earlier noun and simply replace it in a later clause or sentence, or hold a place where
there ought to be a noun for syntactic reasons, but there isn’t (as in “There is no there there”
(deixis) or “It is pouring outside). They include:
a. Subjective pronouns—he, she, I, they, etc.
b. Objective pronouns—me, us, them, etc
c. Possessive pronouns—ours, theirs its
d. Demonstrative pronouns—This, those
e. Indefinite pronouns—anyone, nobody
f. Relative pronouns—who, that, which
g. Interrogative pronouns—who? What?
Examples: She told me that he couldn’t have any of our ice cream but that he could have some of hers.
Nobody likes that band anymore, they only like these.
You only want what you can’t have.
10. Particles. English has two kinds of particles—or words that don’t seem to fit any other category,
have little or no lexical meaning, and yet serve some grammatical function: the “to” in infinitives
and the particles that attach to some verbs to change their meaning—as in “to put up with.”
Also, some people would include verbal placeholders like the “like” or “um…” in some speech
because it seems to be holding a grammatical place but is not necessarily meaningful.
Examples: To boldly go where no one has gone before. (Gene Roddenberry)
Bad grammar is something up with which we should not put. (Winston Churchill)