Download The Parts of Speech-

Dear Students,
Many of you are really beginning to get it. The parts of speech (nounpronoun, verb, adjective-adverb, preposition, conjunction) stand for certain
kinds of functions (duties; types of jobs) that words or phrases or clauses
perform in a sentence. A noun is the name of a person, place, thing, or idea
and therefore always answers to either the question “who?” or “what?” If
the word results in a kind of “picture” in the mind, it is a noun. Otherwise it
is a pronoun. For example, the word table gives a person the picture of
something with a flat surface supported on four legs. But the word it or the
word that which can take the place of the word table do not create a picture.
It and that are “somethings,” but they are not nouns. They are pronouns
(words that take the place of nouns).
Also you now know that verbs can do either of two things: (1) express
action or (2) express state-of-being: to kick; to be.
Raul kicks the ball.
Raul is a man.
When a verb is the predicate of a clause, as it is in these two simple
sentences above, it tells what the subject is either doing or being.
Adjectives modify nouns or pronouns, which means that they indicate
one or more qualities of a noun, such as its color, shape, size, texture,
weight, and so on. Desk is a noun; “a huge desk” is a noun with two
adjectives in front of it: “a” and “huge.” “Huge” indicates the size of the
desk. While nouns and pronouns answer to the questions “who?” or
“what?,” adjectives answer to the question “what kind of?” (and sometimes
“how much?” or “how many?”):
a green desk
some money
three men
Adverbs modify verbs. What that means is pretty simple. If there’s
an action like “running,” how can one describe that action so as to make it
more specific? The answer is that one can mention in what manner it’s
happening, at what time it is happening, in what place it is happening, for
what reason it is happening, under what circumstances it is happening. The
adverb thus answer the questions “how?” “when?” “where?” “why?” “under
what conditions?” and “to what degree?”
Here’s a sentence to illustrate the adverb:
The teacher now walks briskly across the room because he wants
to make a point while his students are still awake enough to
understand him.
briskly is an adverb modifying walks and answers the question “how?”
now is an adverb modifying walks and answers the question “when?”
across the room is an adverb prepositional phrase modifying walks and
answers the question “where?”
because he wants to make a point is an adverb clause modifying walks and
answers the question “why?”
while his students are still awake enough to understand him is an adverb
clause modifying the infinitive to make and answers the question “under
what conditions?”
You know about prepositions—“in the room,” “to Jim,” “by the river”
“in the old and battered haunted-house,” “during the war,” and so forth. A
prepositional phrase contains the preposition followed by its object: it goes
like this: preposition followed by a who? or a what? (in other words, a
preposition followed by a noun or pronoun): to the bank (to the what?): to
the bank.
And conjunctions are of two kinds: There are the coordinating
conjunctions (and, but, or, nor, for, so, yet)
John and Mary
to sing or to dance
John goes to the store, but Mary stays home.
He wanted to go, yet he didn’t think that he should go.
And there are also subordinating conjunctions (because, since, while,
if, when, whenever, although, unless), and so forth. They are used to
introduce adverb clauses:
Because John is hungry, he goes to the store.
Since John is hungry, he goes to the store.
Whenever John is hungry, he goes to the store.
John goes to the store because he is hungry.
John goes to the store since he is hungry.
John goes to the store whenever he is hungry.
Please notice that when the adverb clause introduces the sentence, it is set
off by a comma. But when it concludes the sentence, it is treated as being
necessary to the sentence and is not set off by a comma.