Parts of Speech

1. Parts of Speech Yes, you’re taking notes.

2. Noun Pronoun Verb adjective Adverb Preposition Conjunction interjection What are they?

3. Nouns • Nouns are words that name a person, a place, a thing, or an idea. • Person: aunt, ecologist, Rodrigo, father-in-law, child • Place: playground, city, living room, Arizona • Thing: moon, whale, chipmunk, Empire State Building • Idea: democracy, hope, respect, impatience

4. More on Nouns • A concrete noun names an object that occupies space or can be recognized by any of the senses. • Salt, whisper, thunder, sand, scent, etc. • An abstract noun names an idea, a quality or a characteristic. • Confusion, grief, patience, clarity, friendship, etc.

5. Singular and Plural Nouns • A singular noun names one person, place thing or idea. • Boy, branch, story, hoof, woman • A plural noun names more than one. • Boys, branches, stories, hooves, women

6. Practice • Write the plural form of each noun. • Reason • Person • Glass • Child • Keyboard

7. Possessive Nouns • The possessive form of a noun can show possession, ownership, or the general relationship between the two nouns. • Susie’s calculator • Morris’s strobe light • The Wilsons’ newspaper • The boys’ headaches • The women’s meeting • The sheep’s noses

8. practice • Rewrite each phrase below, using the possessive form of the noun in parentheses. • The (tomato) color • The (restaurant) prices • The (secretaries) computers • The (men) business cards • The (meetings) agendas

9. Pronouns • A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun, a group of words acting on a noun, or another pronoun. The word or the group of words to which a pronoun refers is called its antecedent.

10. pronouns • When N. Scott Momaday wrote The Way to Rainy Mountain, he was retelling Kiowa legends. • Langston Hughes and Arna Bontemps were major figures of the Harlem Renaissance. Both edited The Book of Negro Folklore. • Very few can still remember poems they memorized for class.

11. Personal and possessive pronouns • A personal pronoun refers to a specific person, place, thing, or idea by indicating the person speaking, the people being spoken to, or any other person being talked about.

12. Personal pronouns

13. Possessive pronouns • First person: my, mine, our, ours • Second person: your, yours • Third person: his, her, hers, its, their, theirs • Is that her journal? • That journal is hers.

14. Practice • Identify each pronoun in the following sentences. Tell if the pronoun is possessive. • Workers must pay income tax if their earnings are in excess of a specified limit. • When the accused was confronted with the evidence, he confessed. • The dog wagged its tail. • Please fasten your seatbelts.

15. Verbs • A verb is a word that expresses an action or a state of being and is necessary to make a statement. • The author summarized his story. • The artist cleaned her brushes. • The actor winked at the audience. • This banner appears dusty.

16. Verb tense • Present tense: I smell the roses. • Past tense: I smelled the roses. • Future tense: I will smell the roses.

17. Action Verbs • An action verb tells what someone or something does. • The chorus sang the new song. • The chorus liked the new song. • She spoke the words of the challenge. • She spoke clearly.

18. practice • Find the verbs in the following sentences. • That tailor is an expert. • We had expected the letter for days. • You should exercise daily. • History repeats itself.

19. Adjectives • An adjective is a word that modifies a noun or a pronoun by limiting its meaning. • Three dollars • Chinese teacup • Any objections • Purple balloon • Baby ducks

20. Practice • Write each adjective and the word it modifies. • The apple pie is delicious. • Several large trees fell in the storm. • I seldom wear my dress shoes. • Fifty years is a short time in history.

21. Adverbs • An adverb is a word that modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb by making its meaning more specific. • She ran quickly. • She has often won. • She is very talented and extremely diligent. • She almostalways runs quitefast.

22. Practice • Write each adverb and what it modifies. • I am thoroughly disgusted. • Seldom can I select a good watermelon. • Please set the table properly. • Dan is an unusually good driver. • The air conditioner is barely working.

23. Prepositions • A preposition is a word that shows the relationship of a noun or a pronoun to another word in a sentence. • The mother of the kittens lives here. • I will see you after lunch. • She sang her song for them.

24. Common Prepositions Aboard, about, above, across, after, against, along, amid, among, around, as, at, before, behind, below, beneath, beside, besides, between, beyond, but, by, concerning, despite, down, during, except, for, from, into, like, near, of, off, on, onto, opposite, out, outside, over, past, pending, throughout, to, toward, under, underneath, until, up, upon, with, within, without

25. Prepositional Phrases • A prepositional phrase is a group of words that begins with a preposition and ends with a noun or a pronoun. • We went to the fair. • He rode along with them. • I met them at the mall. • He satisfied his sweet tooth with saltwater taffy.

26. Practice • Find each prepositional phrase. • The diameter of a circle extends from one side to the other. • Because of the power outage, we could not videotape the game. • During my study period, I consulted the adviser about my schedule. • On the outskirts of town are several parks.

27. Conjunctions • A conjunction is a word that joins single words or groups of words. • And, but, or, so, nor, for, yet • Their skit includes a rabbit and a bird. • She dresses fashionably but tastefully. • Winter days are short, so houseplants may need extra light.

28. Practice • Find all conjuctions. • Do you want the apple or the pear? • I’ll serve your eggs either scrambled or poached. • Was your trip to Hawaii in the spring or in the fall? • I do not like the taste of squid, nor do I like the appearance of it.

29. Interjections • An interjection is a word or phrase that expresses emotion or exclamation. • Oh, my! I had no idea. • Ah, that’s good. • Good grief! Is that true? • Ouch! That hurts. • Wow! This is super!

30. Practice • Identify the interjections. • Oh, no! I’ve lost my keys again. • Thank goodness, I’ve found them. • Ha, I caught you. • Yippee! We both aced the exam. • Your diamond ring is beautiful. Wow! • Hey, what are you doing?

31. Those were just the basics. We’ll being going into detail on grammar, including the nitty gritty on parts of speech as the quarter drags on.