The Eight Parts of Speech

The classification of words

8 Parts of Speech

1. Nouns2. Pronouns3. Verbs4. Adjectives

5. Adverbs6. Prepositions7. Conjunctions8. Interjections

1. Noun

A noun is a person, place, thing, or idea.

Nouns

Some nouns we can perceive with our five senses. These are persons, places, and things.

Some nouns cannot be perceived by the senses. They are ideas, thoughts, emotions, and beliefs.

Examples

Persons:

- Thomas Jefferson

- architect

- girl

Places

- Salem

- library

- continent

Examples

Things:

- desk

- barn

- boot

Ideas:

- curiosity

- health

- eternity

Common Nouns

Common nouns are a name common to a whole group. It does not specify a member of the group. (frog)

Proper Nouns

A proper noun is the name of an individual person, place, or thing. It is capitalized. (Blue Dart Frog)

Examples

Common:- singer- river- building

Proper- Mariah Carey- Mississippi River- GlenOak High

School

2. Pronouns

Pronouns are words used in place of nouns to avoid awkward repetition.

Pronouns

The word that the pronoun stands for or refers to is its antecedent.

Ex: Kim said she would call the airport. (Kim is the antecedent of she.)

6 kinds of pronouns

1. Personal2. Compound personal3. Indefinite4. Demonstrative5. Interrogative6. Relative

Personal Pronouns

Takes the place of a person’s name but may also take the place of things.

Ex: Monica is a dancer. She has the lead in the school musical.

Compound Personal Pronouns

Pronouns that are combined with the suffix -self or -selves.

Ex: myself, ourselves

Indefinite Pronouns

These are pronouns that do not refer to a specific person or thing. They sometimes have antecedents.

Example:

The players practiced in the rain. Some got sick.

Players is the antecedent for the indefinite pronoun some.

No antecedent example:

Everything you say is true.another no oneanybody everythinganyone eitherboth eachmany onefew several

Demonstrative Pronouns

This, that, these, those: Pronouns that point to what they are referring to.

Example: This is the poem I wrote.

(This refers to poem)

Interrogative Pronouns

Pronouns that are used to ask questions. (Whose, Who, Whom, What, Which)

Example: Who won the game?

Relative Pronouns

Some pronouns are used to relate one idea to another and these are called relative pronouns.

Example: Mr. Talbott, who is the history teacher in our community, is an excellent cyclist.

3. Verbs

A verb tells what is happening in a sentence.

A verb expresses action, condition, or state of being.

2 verb categories

ACTION VERBS:- Tell what the

subject is doing- May be physical

or mental

LINKING VERBS:- Link or connect

the subject of a sentence with a noun, pronoun, or adjective

Action Verbs

Examples:- Collide (visible)- Run (visible)- Enjoy (not)- Decide (not)

Linking Verbs

Can be sensory (like sounds, looks, and tastes), can be verbs of condition (like grew, became, seemed), or can be verbs of being.

May have helping verbs with the main verb.

Example: This book is now regarded as a classic.

Verbs of Being

- am - is - been

- are - was - being

- were- be

2 kinds of action verbs

Transitive: Who or what receives the action.

Intransitive: Nothing receives the action.

Examples (Transitive)

He moved the car.Did they pass the law?

*Ask who or what receives the action.*

Examples (Intransitive)

He moved.They passed.

*Ask who or what receives the action….in this case, there is nobody/nothing receiving the action.

4. Adjectives

Adjectives modify or describe nouns and pronouns.

They tell which one, what kind, how many, or how much.

Adjectives

There is a row of yellow ducks.

YELLOW says what kind of ducks so it is the adjective.

The Articles

A, an, and the are considered adjectives because they modify nouns.

5. Adverbs

Modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs.

Adverbs are sort of like adjectives.

*Tell where, when, how, or to what extent*

Examples:

WHERE: They lingered outside.WHEN: The team left early.HOW: The story ended happily.TO WHAT EXTENT: The writing

was totally illegible.

6. Prepositions

Common way to link and show relationships between words.

Prepositions have objects.

Example: The doctor went into the house.

The preposition song!!

AboutAboveAcrossAfter Around At

Song

Before Behind Below Beside By Down During For

From In InsideNearOfOffOn

Song

OutOutside OverThroughTo UnderUpWithWithout

7. The Conjunction

A conjunction is a word that connects words, phrases, and clauses.

Conjunctive adverbs connect groups of words that could not stand alone.

Examples

ConjunctionsAndButSoOrForYet

Conjunctive AdverbsConsequentlyHenceAlsoFurthermoreHowever

8. Interjection

A word or group of words that expresses strong feeling or emotion.

Wow! Help! Oh no! Attention!

Source

Building English Skills