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Parts of Speech
Words, which are the building blocks of language, are used in eight different ways. They
have, therefore, eight different names, called PARTS OF SPEECH. These parts of
speech are: NOUN, PRONOUN, ADJECTIVE, VERB, ADVERB, PREPOSITION,
CONJUNCTION, AND INTERJCTION. Each of these parts of speech can be used in
various ways, as seen below:
NOUN
A word that names a person, place, thing, or idea; it may be proper or common; concrete
or abstract; singular or plural; compound or collective
Person – student, mother, Jamie, Mrs. Jones
Place – kitchen, classroom, Grand Canyon, Hawaii
Thing – surfboard, video, year, gum
Idea – thought, education, democracy, peace
Proper –names a particular person, place, or thing; capitalized
Common – a general name; not capitalized
Concrete – something you can see, hear, smell, touch, or taste
Abstract – names an idea, quality, or state (pride, sadness)
Singular – names a single person, place, thing, or idea (foot)
Plural – names more than one (feet)
Compound - made up of two or more words; it may be written as one word (baseball),
separate words (parking lot), or as a hyphenated word (runner-up)
Collective - refers to a group of people of things (audience, crowd)
PRONOUN
A word used in place of one or more nouns; it may stand for a person, place, thing, or
idea; the word to which it refers is its ANTECEDENT. There are several types:
Personal
I, me, you
he, him, she, her, it
we, us, they, them
Possessive
my, mine, your, yours
his, her, its
our, ours, their, theirs
Indefinite
anybody, somebody
each, either, everything
none, some, both, few, etc.
Interrogative
who, whom
what, which, whose
Demonstrative
this, that, these, those
Reflexive/Intensive
myself, yourself, himself, herself
itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves
NOTE: A reflexive pronoun reflects action back upon the subject and adds information to
the sentence; an intensive pronoun adds emphasis to a noun or pronoun in the same
sentence: ie. Donna prepared herself for the party; Donna herself prepared for the party.
VERB
A word that expresses action, describes a state of being, or otherwise helps to make a
statement; there are several types:
Action Verbs express mental or physical action:
EX:
The dog ran through the waves and chased the Frisbee.
She though hard but couldn’t remember the answer.
Linking Verbs do not show action, but connect the subject with a word in the predicate;
the most common linking verb is “be” and its many forms:
am, is, are, was, were
has been, have been, had been, will be, shall be
may be, would have been, can be, should be
Other common forms are:
taste, feel, smell, sound, look, appear
become, seem, grow, remain, and stay
EX:
I am a teacher.
He has been sick.
The cakes were delicious.
The flowers smelled good.
(but NOT, “She smelled the flowers”).
Helping Verbs help the main verb to express action or make a statement; together they
form verb phrases; the most common helping verbs are shown below:
is, am, are, was, were, be, being, been
has, have, had, do, does, did, shall, will,
should, would, may, might must, can, could
EX:
We have been enjoying our vacation.
He will have been running for an hour.
ADJECTIVE
A word that modifies a noun or pronoun; they are describing words which answer the
following questions:
What kind?
Which one or ones?
How many or how much?
EX:
happy children; sunny day
any book; seventh grade
five dollars; full tank
The cheerful young girl had numerous friends.
The cantankerous old man suffered through many lonely days.
NOTE: The most commonly used adjectives – a, an, the – are called ARTICLES.
ADVERB
A word that modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb; like adjectives, they also
answer certain questions. Some of the most common forms are listed below:
Where?
When?
How?
How often?
To what extent?
EX:
here, there, away, up
now, then, later, soon
clearly, easily, quietly, slowly
never, always, often, seldom
very, too, almost, so, really
The sun is shining brightly in the sky today.
Yesterday the student completed him homework very carefully.
NOTE: Both adjectives and adverbs may appear BEFORE or AFTER the word (or
words) they modify; sometimes an adverb may appear in the middle of a verb phrase.
EX:
The friendly student pointed us in the right direction.
The student, who was friendly and intelligent, pointed us in the right direction.
The class often complains about homework.
The class complains often about homework.
Suddenly, the door opened.
The door opened suddenly.
He did not know the answer.
Movie stars are often seen in Hollywood.
PREPOSITION
A word that shows the relation of a word or pronoun to some other word in the
sentence; below are some of the most common prepositions:
around
about
above
across
after
against
along
among
EX:
behind
below
beneath
beside
between
beyond
by
down
for
in
into
like
of
off
on
over
throughout
to
toward
under
during since
until
up
with
at
before
except
for
through
within
without
The skater rolled down the hill and crashed into the bushes.
She walked through the store on her way to the parking lot.
She bought a bouquet of flowers for her mom.
NOTE: Prepositions never stand alone in a sentence; they are always used with a
noun or pronoun called the OBJECT OF THE PREPOSITION (ie. under the
boardwalk; during the last week; in the kitchen)
ALSO NOTE: Sentences should not end with a preposition.
EX:
CONJUNCTION
A word that joins words or groups of words; they are also used to join
compound sentences. The most common conjunctions can be remembered
with the word FANBOYS (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so)
EX:
INTERJECTION
He realized he had nothing to start with. (incorrect)
He realized he had nothing with which to start. (correct)
The Alaskan wilderness is a difficult place to survive in. (incorrect)
The Alaskan wilderness is a difficult place in which to survive.(correct)
Jeff and Robert; sun or rain; fun but expensive; tired yet happy
Philip is listening, but Kenny is talking.
She plays the guitar, and her brother plays the piano.
A word that expresses strong emotion; set apart by a comma or exclamation
point; it has no grammatical relationship to the rest of the sentence
EX:
Ouch! That hurts.
Wow! What a beautiful day!
Oh no, I broke a nail.