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Parts of Speech
Chris Giles
The Episcopal Academy
What’s the point of knowing
parts of speech?
• “My Mom is a lawyer, and she doesn’t
know what an adverb is.”
• “Mozart couldn’t have cared less about
prepositions.”
• “I’m going to be a cowboy. They don’t
need parts of speech!”
The Point
• You can impress people at parties by
reciting the list of prepositions. ”About,
Above, Aboard...”
• You can become intimately familiar with
our language and use it to express yourself
with precision and power.
• You’ll bomb this course if you don’t!
Parts of Speech
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Noun
Pronoun
Adjective
Verb
Adverb
Preposition
Conjunction
Interjection
Nouns are people, places, things,
and ideas.
• There are two main types: Proper Nouns
and Common Nouns
Common nouns are nonspecific,
places, things, and ideas
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lizard lips
mountain bike trails
canoes
laziness
Name four common nouns that you
can touch right now.
Proper nouns are specific,
named people, places, things, and
ideas.
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Miles Davis
Walla Walla, Washington
The Suez Canal
The Theory of Relativity
Name three proper nouns that you
can see right now.
Pronouns take the place of
nouns.
• Jojo slipped on a banana peel. He broke his
chin.
– He = Jojo
his = Jojo’s
• Laziness is very satisfying. It takes a lot
out of you though.
– It = laziness
you = the lazy person
• Name two pronouns for the person
next to you.
Adjectives modify nouns and
pronouns
• Waiter, these lizard lips are too hot!
• Think of an adjective to describe the
shoes of the person next to you.
Don’t tell them...
Verbs show action or state-ofbeing.
• Action Verbs show action.
– Elvis has left the Building.
• Linking verbs don’t.
– He was the “King.”
• Create a verb for the act of balancing
a chair on your nose.
Adverbs modify verbs,
adjectives, and other adverbs.
• Renaldo dances gracefully on our dining
room table.
– How does he dance? Gracefully.
• But his pants are too tight.
– How tight are his pants? Too tight.
• He glides so effortlessly across the floor.
– How effortlessly does he glide? So effortlessly.
• What letters often come at the end
of adverbs?
Conjunctions join words or
groups of words.
• It is time that we joined us and them.
• Moose wanted to go to the mall to shop,
but Penelope insisted on bowling.
• Knuckles likes a good manicure, however
he shies away from pedicures.
• Can you sing that song from Grammar
Rock?
Prepositions show relationship
between two nouns.
• The cat is in the hat.
– Where is the cat in relation to the hat? In it!
• Bonzo climbed aboard the mechanical bull.
– Where is Bonzo in relation to the bull?
Aboard it!
• How quickly can you recite the list of
prepositions?
Interjections show strong
emotion.
• Think of Batman. Biff! Bam! Plowee!
Ooooff!
• Think of some interjections that you
would use if you wrote an episode of
Batman.
•Review
• What are the eight parts of speech?
• Why do we need to learn them?
• Why is it so dark in here?