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Grammar Activity #2: Parts of Speech
Introduction
“Parts of speech” are the basic types of words that English has. Most grammar books say that there are eight parts of
speech: nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, conjunctions, prepositions and interjections. We will add one more
type: articles.
It is important to be able to recognize and identify the different types of words in English, so that you can understand
grammar explanations and use the right word form in the right place. Here is a brief explanation of what the parts of
speech are:
Noun
Verb
Adjective
A noun is a naming word. It names a person, place, thing, idea, living creature, quality, or action.
Examples: cowboy, theatre, box, thought, tree, kindness, arrival
A verb is a word which describes an action (doing something) or a state (being something).
Examples: walk, talk, think, believe, live, like, want
An adjective is a word that describes a noun. It tells you something about the noun.
Examples: big, yellow, thin, amazing, beautiful, quick, important
An adverb is a word which usually describes a verb. It tells you how something is done. It may also
Adverb
tell you when or where something happened.
Examples: slowly, intelligently, well, yesterday, tomorrow, here, everywhere
Pronoun
Conjunction
A pronoun is used instead of a noun, to avoid repeating the noun.
Examples: I, you, he, she, it, we, they
A conjunction joins two words, phrases or sentences together.
Examples: but, so, and, because, or
A preposition usually comes before a noun, pronoun or noun phrase. It joins the noun to some other
Preposition
part of the sentence.
Examples: on, in, by, with, under, through, at
An interjection is an unusual kind of word, because it often stands alone. Interjections are words
Interjection
which express emotion or surprise, and they are usually followed by exclamation marks.
Examples: Ouch!, Hello!, Hurray!, Oh no!, Ha!
Article
An article is used to introduce a noun.
Examples: the, a, an
Practice Exercise 1: Identify the correct part of speech for each word.
1. oh
4. speak
2. cat
5. and
3. quickly
6. by
7. the
8. they
9. beautiful
Practice Exercise 2: Identify the correct part of speech for each word.
1. difficult
4. on
2. an
5. she
3. slowly
6. learn
7. hi
8. class
9. but
For more help: The University of Calgary: The Basic Elements of English Grammar Guide
An overview of nouns:
NOUN: any word which names a person, place, thing, idea, animal, quality, or action
1. Count Nouns: anything which can be counted; singular & plural
Example: car - cars
2. Mass Nouns: entities which cannot be counted; no plural form
Example: money
3. Collective Nouns: groups of people or things; sing. & pl.
Example: herd - herds
4. Possessive Nouns: express ownership by adding an apostrophe
Examples: (sing.) Kelly's anger (pl.) birds' feathers
An overview of pronouns:
PRONOUN: a word which takes the place of a noun (called "the antecedent")
1. Personal: refer to person/people speaking, spoken to or spoken about
Examples: I, me, you, he, him, she, her, it, we, us, they
2. Possessive: function independently; show possession
Examples: my, mine, your, yours, our, ours, his, her, hers
3. Indefinite: have no specific antecedents
Examples: another, both, everything, nothing
4. Reflexive: shows the subject performs actions to/for itself
Examples: myself, yourself, itself, ourselves, themselves
5. Intensive: refer back to a noun/pronoun to add emphasis to it
Examples: (same forms as reflexive pronouns)
6. Reciprocal: show a mutual action or relationship
Examples: each other, one another
7. Interrogative: used to ask a question
Examples: who, which, what
8. Relative: used to introduce a relative clause
Examples: who, which, that
9. Demonstrative: substitutes for specific nouns
Examples: this, that, these, those
An overview of verbs:
VERB: expresses action or state of being
1. Transitive: action verb; passes action on to a direct object
Example: We bought a car.
2. Intransitive: do not indicate a transfer of action; no D.O.
Example: The eagle soared.
3. Linking: joins subject with a word that renames/describes it
Example: The sky is blue.
4. Main: indicates the primary activity
5. Auxiliary: "helps" the main verb
6. Modal: indicates ability, obligation, permission, possibility
Examples: can, may, must, should, could, might, ought, would
7. Finite: describes a definite and limited action or condition
8. Non-finite/Verbal: shows an unfinished action or condition
o Infinitives: to + verb; act as nouns, adjectives, adverbs
o Participles: past or present; always act as adjectives
o Gerunds: present participle form; act as nouns
An overview of adjectives:
ADJECTIVE: modifies nouns and pronouns
1. Descriptive: name a quality of the noun
o Attributive: Ex. The brown cow.
o Predicate: Ex. It was a brown cow.
2. Limiting: limit a noun
o Definite/Indefinite Articles: Ex. the, a, an
o Possessive: Ex. his, her, its, their
o Demonstrative: Ex. this, that, these, those
o Indefinite: Ex. several, few, less, many, more
o Interrogative: Ex. what, which, whose
o Cardinal: Ex. one, two, four
o Ordinal: Ex. third, fourth, fiftieth
o Nouns: Ex. the milk cow
o Proper: Ex. the German cow
An overview of adverbs:
ADVERB: modifies verbs, adjectives, adverbs, sentences
Examples: sang loudly, ran swiftly
An overview of prepositions:
PREPOSITION: links a noun or a pronoun (the object of the preposition) with some other word or expression
Examples: about, below, in, over, until
An overview of conjunctions:
CONJUNCTION: links sentence elements, ie. words, phrases, clauses
1. Coordinating: join sentence parts of equal grammatical status
Examples: and, but, for, nor, or, so, yet
2. Correlative: coordinating conjunctions that work in pairs;
join words, phrases, clauses, sentences
Examples: both...and, either...or, neither...nor
3. Subordinating: connect clauses of unequal status
Examples: after, because, that, though
An overview of interjections:
INTERJECTION: used in speech to indicate emotion, or transition
Examples: yuk, ouch, eh
A Quick Review:
PARTS OF SPEECH Definition: All words are divided into grammar groups. The grammar groups are
called parts of speech.
The groups are:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Nouns (people, places, or things)
Verbs (the state or action word in a sentence)
Adjectives (give more information about nouns)
Adverbs (give more information about verbs)
Determiners (words that come before most nouns)
Prepositions (give information about place and time)
Pronouns (replace nouns)
Conjunctions (join sentences)
Example (The numbers in the example below refer to the numbers in the list above.)
Explanation: Each part of speech -

has its own rules.
is necessary to write grammatically correct sentences.
Practice Exercise #3: Find the modified word form according to the part of speech asked for.
For example: Medicine (noun): __________ (adjective)  Medicine (noun): Medical (adjective)
1. dentist (noun): ___________ (adjective)
2. responsible (adjective): ______________ (adverb)
3. young (adjective): __________________ (noun)
4. stress (noun): _______________ (adjective)
5. anxious (adjective): ______________ (noun)
6. spine (noun): ________________ (adjective)
Practice Exercise #4: Plural Nouns: Give the plural form of the following nouns
1. roof
5. medicine
2. mouse
6. leaf
3. remedy
7. illness
4. patient
8. injury
9. goose
10. hoof
11. person
12. life