Parts of Speech

1. Parts of Speech What does that mean?

2. Parts of Speech Each word in a sentence performs a basic function or task. Words perform four basic tasks: they name, modify, express action or state of being, or link.

3. There are 8 Different Parts of Speech: • NOUN- a noun names a person, place, thing, or idea. Ex. Felix the cat curled up in my lap, shedding his fur all over my pants.

4. PRONOUN- a pronoun is used in place of a noun. (Example): We remember how well you treated our grandmother when she visited.

5. The antecedentis the noun that the pronoun is replacing. (Example): • Where is Michael? • He is at the library. (Michael is the antecedent of He) Amy’s black dog barks loudly because he is scared. (Dog is the antecedent of he)

6. Personal Pronouns—used in place of the name of a person or thing • I, me, we, us, he, she, it, him, her, you, they, them

7. Singular pronoun—used in place of the name of one person, or thing. • I, me, you, he, she, it, him, her

8. Plural Pronoun—used in place of more than one person or thing. • We, us, they, them

9. Possessive pronoun-shows ownership or possession. • Mine, yours, his, hers, ours theirs

10. Reflexive pronoun—refers back to the noun previously used; adds –-self and --selves • Myself, herself, yourself, themselves, ourselves

11. Interrogative pronoun—asks a question. • Who, whose, whom, what, which

12. Indefinite Pronoun—points out a person, place, or thing, but not a specific or definite one. • One, someone, anything, other, all, few, nobody

13. Demonstrative—points out a specific person, place, idea, or thing. • This, these, that, those

14. VERB- expresses action or state of being. (Example): The mischievous squirrels scrambled up the tree and chased each other in circles.

15. State-of-Being Verbs • Some verbs don’t show action. They tell what something is, or they LINK the subject with a word or words in the predicate. These verbs are called LINKING VERBS • Examples: am, is, are, was, were, be, being, been…

16. Linking Verbs • They connect a noun with another noun, pronoun, or adjective that describes or identifies it; the most common linking verbs are formed from the verb to be • My mother isthe best mom in the world. • She seems eager to always want to do things for us.

17. Helping Verbs • These verbs HELP a main verb express action or state of being. • (Ex.) A dog can detect thousands of smells with its nose. • Our dog has been chasing squirrels in the backyard.

18. Examples of Linking & Helping Verbs • Is, am, are, was, were, be, being, been, has, have, had, do, does, did, will, shall, should, would, can, could, may, might, must, seems, **becomes, feels, appears*** • John has been walking to school. • We had the best time on vacation. • You should call for an appointment.

19. ADJECTIVE- modifies/describes a noun or pronoun. (Example): On the dark and dreary day, they watched oldclassic movies on television.

20. To find the adjective, FIRST find the NOUN(s) and then look for words that describe it/them. • An adjective has 1 of 3 functions. It tells what kind, how many, or which one. EXAMPLES: It is going to be a rainy day. Several students are absent today. That woman is riding a horse.

21. Let’s Try! • Hockey is a confusing game for inexperienced players. • The old house collapsed during the strong and powerful windstorm. • There were several cars in the parking lot. • The sleek, shiny car raced down the long, windy road.

22. Remember that some adjectives can tell which one. This can get tricky because the look like pronouns Adjectives or Pronouns????? This bulb burnt out. (adjective) This doesn’t work. (pronoun) These candles are new. (adjective) These are new. (pronoun)

23. Adjectives or Pronouns????? That light is too bright. (adjective) That is too bright. (pronoun) Do you see those stars? (adjective) Do you see those? (pronoun)

24. Just like nouns, Some adjectives can be PROPER. (EXAMPLES): • The African Plains • Italian art • Chinese food • Independence Day celebration • Christmas presents • Major League Baseball game

25. ADVERB- modifies/describes a verb, an adjective or another adverb. (Example): Max jumped quickly into the pool nearly landing on the raft.

26. More Examples: • Reporters quickly gathered the news. (The adverb quickly modifies the verb gather.) The route is too long. (The adverb too modifies the adjective long.)

27. Our paper boy delivers the paper veryearly. (The adverb very modifies another ADVERB early. The adverb early modifies the verb delivers.)

28. As you know, adjectives ask certain questions: What kind, how many, and which ones • ADVERBS also answer certain questions: • Where? • When? • How? • How Often? • To What Extent?

29. EXAMPLES: • My dog ran away. (the adverb away tells where). • I will call you later. (the adverb later tells when). • I quietly closed the door. (the adverb quietly tells how).

30. He always reads baseball magazines. (the adverb always tells how often). • He was tootired to watch TV. (the adverb too tells to what extent).

31. NOTE: The word NOT is almost always an adverb. When not is part of a contraction like hadn’t, the n’t is an adverb. • The following words are often used as adverbs: • Where? Here, there, away, up • When? Now, then, later, soon • How?Clearly, easily, quietly, slowly • How often? Never, always, often, seldom • To what extent? Very, too, almost, so, really

32. PREPOSITION- shows the relationship between its object—a noun or a pronoun—and another word in a sentence. Common prepositions are after, around, at behind, beside, beneath, off, through, until, upon, and with. ***TIME, LOCATION & DIRECTION/DISTANCE*** (Example): Beside the edge of the ravine, the hikers waited for the others in their group.

33. Here’s the list of prepositions! • Aboard, about, above, across, after, against, along, among, around, at… • Before, behind, below, beneath, beside, between, beyond, by… • Down, during, except, for, from, in, into…

34. CONT… • Like, near, of, off, on, out, over, past, since… • Through, throughout, to, toward… • Under, underneath, until, up, upon… • With, within, without

35. Examples: • Your math book is underneath your coat. (The preposition shows the relationship of book to coat.) • We paddled the canoe toward the shore. (The preposition shows the relationship of canoe to shore.)

36. Examples: • The driver behind us honked his horn. (The preposition shows the relationship of driverto us.)

37. CONJUNCTION- joins words or groups of words. Common conjunctions are and, but, nor, or, so, and yet. (Example): Neither Kim nor Betsy wanted to be late, so they ran as fast as they could.

38. Examples: • Mother and I are Mets fans. • The car swerved and ran off the road. • We drove through New York and Pennsylvania. • We tried but failed. • Sue or I will make the salad for dinner.

39. Examples: • The car is elegant yet affordable. • He will hide in the closet or under the bed. • The team was tired but played on. • Neither Tim nor Al could have expected such a long ordeal. • Tim can either cut his calorie intake or increase his exercise time.

40. Compound Sentences—TWO independent sentences can be combined by using a COMMA followed by a conjunction. • The wind blew, and the windows rattled. • You may be right, but I doubt it. • You should leave now, or I will miss the bus. • I am smarter than my brother, yet he always get better grades than me.

41. I don’t make good grades, nor do I try very hard in school. • It is raining outside today, so I think I will wear my raincoat.

42. INTERJECTION- is a word used to express emotion. Common interjections are oh, ah, well, hey, and wow. (Example): Hey! Wait for me! Well, we can go to the park later if you prefer.