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A Review for ENGL 0310
Parts of Speech
In English, there are only eight
parts of speech.
That means that every sentence
you read—and write—is composed
of only eight categories of words.
Parts of Speech
Verbs
Nouns
Pronouns
Adjectives
Adverbs
Prepositions
Conjunctions
Interjections
Verbs & Nouns
Verbs report action or state of
being.
Noun name people, places,
things and ideas.
These are the basic building blocks
of sentences. No sentence can stand
alone without at least one of each.
Pronouns
Pronouns take the place of
nouns.
Note: Pronouns are very useful, but
they must have a noun to which they
obviously refer, either in a previous
sentence or earlier in the same
sentence.
Adjectives & Adverbs
Adjectives modify nouns and pronouns
by answering questions like Which
one? What kind? How many? What
size? What condition?
Adverbs modify verbs, other adverbs,
adjectives and whole clauses. They
usually answer such questions as
When? Where? How? How often? How
much? To what degree? and Why?
Prepositions
Prepositions usually appear as
part of a prepositional phrase.
Their main function is to allow
the noun or pronoun in the
phrase to modify another word in
the sentence.
Conjunctions
Conjunctions join words, phrases
or clauses and indicate their
relation to each other
Interjections
Interjections are forceful
expressions, usually written with an
exclamation point. (examples: Yo!
Damn! Gadzooks! Eureka! Oh no!)
Note: In formal writing (like the writing you
do in college), use interjections (and
exclamation points, for that matter) very
sparingly. In fact, if you manage to make it
through the semester without using either of
them, I will not be heartbroken.
Verbs
Verbs
Verbs report
action (run, write)
condition (bloom, sit)
state of being (be, seem)
Verbs
Verbs change form to indicate
Person
Number
Tense
Voice
Mood
Verbs
To do all this a main verb is
sometimes accompanied by one
or more helping verbs, thereby
becoming a verb phrase. Helping
verbs come before the main verb
of a phrase.
Verbs
Examples:
The play begins at eight.
I may change seats after the play
has begun.