The Parts of Speech

The Parts of Speech ENGL 098

Eight Parts of Speech(Kinds of Words) • Nouns • Pronouns • Verbs • Adjectives • Adverbs • Prepositions • Conjunctions • Articles • Interjections

Nouns:Person, Place, or Thing

Pronouns:Take the place of nouns

Verbs: Action words addallowbakebangcallchasedamage dropendescapefastenfixgathergrabhanghugimagineitchjogjumpkick knitlandlockmarchmixnamenotice obeyopenpasspromisequestionreachrinse scatterstaytalkturnuntieusevanish visitwalkworkyawnyellzipzoom Action verbs tell about something a person, animal, force of nature or thing can do or be. Can you cry, march, rinse, or turn? Can the wind blow or a cup fall? Yes, those are all actions. Use this list to think of other action verbs.

Verbs: Linking Verbs amarearebeingappear bebecomefeelgetgrow have/has beenislielookmight be might have beenproveremainseemsitsmellsoundstaytasteturnwere Linking verbs do not show action. Instead, they connect nouns and pronouns to other information in the sentence. Here are some examples: My sister is smart. The picture appeared blurry. Your supper smells delicious.

Helping Verbs maymightmust will do doesdid be beingbeen amareiswaswere shouldcould would havehadhas Helping verbs do not stand alone or express action. They are part of verb phrases that "help" the main verb. Helping verbs define the tense (past, present, future) or change the meaning of the main verb. Consider these examples: Do you need a tissue? We are helping the third-grade class. Hank might have been driving the wrong way. Common helping verbs:

Clauses A subject (NOUN) and a VERB make a clause. A main clause make a SENTENCE: • The cat meowed. • The girl ran. • The boy studied. • The snow fell. • I think; therefore, I am. • Snow is cold.

Modifiers:Adjectives and Adverbs Modifiers modify (change) another sentence element. They usually change by adding description of the other word or sentence element. Which words in the following sentences describe or modify other words? The girl laughed. The girl laughed loudly. The hungry girl laughed. The silly girl laughed. The tall, lanky, sassy girl laughed loudly and giddily at the joke.

Modifiers: Answer The girl laughed. The girl laughed loudly. The hungry girl laughed. The silly girl laughed. The tall, lanky, sassy girl laughed loudly and giddily at the joke. Modifiers can be either ADJECTIVES or ADVERBS.

Adjectivesmodify nouns Adjectives modify (describe, change) nouns. They tell you more about some noun in the sentence. They are usually placed before the noun but can be found after a linking verb. They answer the questions: "What kind?" or "Which?" or "How many?" For example: "The tall girl is riding a new bike."Tall tells us which girl we're talking about. New tells us what kind of bike we're talking about. "The tough professor gave us the final exam.” Tough tells us what kind of professor we're talking about. Final tells us which exam we're talking about. "Fifteen students passed the midterm exam; twelve students passed the final exam."Fifteen and twelve both tell us how many students; midterm and final both tell us which exam.

Adverbsmodify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs. (You can recognize adverbs easily because many of them are formed by adding -lyto an adjective, though that is not always the case.) The most common question that adverbs answer is how. (They can also answer the questions when, where, and why.) Adverbs modifying verbs: "She sang beautifully." Beautifully is an adverb that modifies sang. It tells us how she sang. "The cellist played carelessly." Carelessly is an adverb that modifies played. It tells us how the cellist played. Adverbs modifying adjectives and other adverbs: "That woman is extremely nice." Nice is an adjective that modifies the noun woman. Extremely is an adverb that modifies nice; it tells us how nice she is. How nice is she? She's extremely nice. "It was a terribly hot afternoon." Hot is an adjective that modifies the noun afternoon.Terribly is an adverb that modifies the adjective hot. How hot is it? Terribly hot.

Placement of AdjectivesMost of the time, adjectives come before nouns. However, they sometimes come after the nouns they modify, most often when the verb is a linking verb, such as: be feel taste smell sound look appear seem "The dog is black." Black is an adjective that modifies the noun dog, but it comes after the verb. (Remember that "is" is a form of the verb "be.") "Brian seems sad.” Sad is an adjective that modifies the noun Brian. "The milk smells rotten." Rotten is an adjective that modifies the noun milk. "The speaker sounds hoarse."Hoarse is an adjective that modifies the noun speaker. Be sure to understand the differences between the following two examples: "The dog smells carefully." Here, carefully describes how the dog is smelling. We imagine him sniffing very cautiously. But: "The dog smells clean." Here, clean describes the dog itself. It's not that he's smelling clean things or something; it's that he's had a bath and does not stink.

Articles (types of adjectives) A -- A cat, a book, a test (indefinite article, any of that noun) An – An antelope, an answer, an egg (indefinite) The – The class, the school, the zoo (definite article, one particular noun)

Prepositions Prepositions are words that show relationships of some words to others in the sentence. They are usually locators in time and space, not referring to any external object, action, or quality, but merely showing relationship. A preposition is always followed by a noun (with an article usually) to create a prepositional phrase: “on the table” or “off the road” or “around the corner” or “by the store” A preposition is any word you can fill in this blank: Tarzan swung __________ the trees.

Common Prepositions about below excepting off toward above beneath for on under across beside(s) from onto underneath after between in out until against beyond in front of outside up along but inside over upon among by in spite of past up to around concerning instead of regarding with at despite into since within because of down like through without before during near throughout with regard to behind except of to with respect to

Locate the prepositional phrases After several minutes we located the key for the door. The tiny flock of swallows flew over the lake near the dock. NOTE: Prepositional phrases always act as adjectives or adverbs in the sentence. They never act as nouns or verbs, and cannot be the subject or object of a verb as ar result (more to come on this).

Phrasal Verbs give in turn in pull through wore out broke up go in for put in for bring up found out blow up look up make up look over Examples: She turned in her brand new Volvo. She turned in her test. She gave in to the child’s request. She gave in compassion to the hungry homeless man. Sometimes prepositions are combined with a verb to create a phrasal verb, and they are part of the verb (considered a “particle”) and not acting as a preposition.

Conjunctions (Coordinate) Coordinate conjunctions join two or more equal parts of speech. Two nouns, two verbs, two adjectives, two prepositional phrases, two main clauses. There are only seven in the (English) world. They are: and but or nor for so yet “FANBOYS”

Coordinate conjunction examples The boy and the girl studied for the test. Jane, Mary, and Joe made A’s in the class. He wanted a pen or a pencil. Fitness includes the three areas of cardio, strength, andflexiblity. Pass the salt and pepper. Her blood sugar was low, so she fainted. That cat is sweet, but he scratches. Neither Bob nor Sam wanted to take out the trash.

Conjunctions (Subordinate) Subordinate conjunctions join two parts of speech or two sentence parts, like coordinate conjunctions, but they are not equal. Subordinate conjunctions will subordinate the word, phrase, or clause that it precedes, so the parts will not be grammatically equal. Examples: He will be allowed to go to the zoo if his homework is finished in time. You cannot watch television unlessyou complete your chores. After running five miles, Henry was too tired to go to basketball practice. While Alex is a good tennis player, Samantha is better.

Common Subordinate Conjunctions after although as as if as long as as much as as soon as as though because before even even if even though if if only if when if then inasmuch in order that just as lest now now since now that now when once provided provided that rather than since so that supposing than that though til unless until when whenever where whereas where if wherever whether which while who whoever why

Conjunctive Adverbs accordinglyafterwardalsoanyhowanywayas a resultat lastat the same timebesidescertainlyconsequentlyearliereventuallyfinallyfor examplefor instancefurtherfurthermorehencehoweverin additionin any caseincidentallyindeedin factin shortinsteadin the meantimelaterlikewisemeanwhilemoreovernamelyneverthelessnextnowon the contraryon the other handotherwiseperhapssimilarlystillsubsequentlythat is then therefore thus Conjunctive adverbs look like subordinate conjunctions; they smell like subordinate conjunctions; they feel like subordinate conjunctions. They are NOT conjunctions. They are ADVERBS. Examples:

Conjunctive Adverb Examples "Always go to other people's funerals; otherwise, they won't go to yours.“ (Yogi Berra)"Nothing can be unconditional; consequentlynothing can be free.“ (George Bernard Shaw) I’ve finished my work. Finally, I can go home. I didn’t study last night; therefore, I must study tonight.

Relative Pronouns Relative pronouns function like subordinate conjunctions in that they subordinate and join, but they have an additional property: they are really pronouns, so they also act as nouns and can be the subject of the sentence. In a sense, you get two parts of speech in one: pronoun + subordinate conjunction They are: who, whom, whose, which, that NOTE: Relative pronouns make “relative clauses.” Relative adverbs (when, where and why) do the same thing.

Sample relative clauses The housethat Jack built is large. The professor, whom I respect, recently received tenure. The police usually ask for every detail that helps identify the missing person. Dessert is allthat he wants.

Interjections Cool! Wow! Bam! (expletive deleted) Shoot! Awesome! Gadzooks! Oopsie! Hmmmm… Oh! Uh-oh! Huh.

The Parts of Speech