Parts of Speech

Traditionally there are eight parts of speech:  the verb, the noun, the pronoun, the adjective, the adverb, the preposition, the conjunction, and the interjection.   The part of speech doesn’t define what the word is, but how it is used.   Many words can be used as a noun in one sentence, then a verb or an adjective in other sentences.  

Her list was written on lined paper with blue ink.  (LIST is used as a noun here and is the subject of the sentence. )

 She has listed everyone in the class.  (LISTED (past tense of “list”) is a verb in this sentence.  The subject is She. )

             Shall we drive to the mountains today?  (DRIVE is a verb in this sentence.  We is the subject. )

 Robert’s new car was parked in the drive.  (DRIVE is a noun here and the object of the preposition in.)

 The Ortegas want to build a new house.   (HOUSE is a noun and the object of the verb to build (infinitive phrase).)

             The truth is, the college has no room to house more students.   (HOUSE is a verb here, part of the infinitive phrase to house.)

Terrible groaning came from the old deserted house.  (GROANING is acting as a noun here (groaning is a gerund).  It is the subject of the sentence.)

When Peter has a toothache, he groans all night.  (GROANS is a verb here and the predicate of the sentence.  He is the subject.)

1.  Verbs

Verbs are considered by many to be the most important part of a sentence.  Without the verb, we wouldn’t know what a subject did, or is doing, or has done.  Both a simple and a compound verb can express action, condition, and events. 

The cannibal nibbled ladyfingers with his tea.  (The verb nibbled describes the action the cannibal took.)

During Holy Days, people of some religions will be fasting.   (Will be fasting is a compound verb which describes an action that will take place in the future.)

Clara was going to the museum, but she forgot a previous appointment.  (This sentence has a compound verb:   was going, describes a planned action, and forgot describes a mental action.)

All the film of the original Marx Brothers movies was ruined by improper storage.  (Was ruined is a compound verb describing a past action or event.)

2.  Nouns

A noun is a word used to name a person, animal, place, thing, and abstract idea.  Nouns are usually the first things learned when learning a language.  A noun can function in a sentence as a subject, a direct object, an indirect object, a subject complement, an adjective, or an adverb.

• Cats eat small furry rodents.  (Nouns are cats and rodents.  Cats is the subject; rodents is a direct object.)

• Mr. Magoo is a cartoon character.  (Mr. Magoo is a proper noun; cartoon is a noun acting as an adjective, character is a noun acting as a subject complement.)

• Airport security checked all the passengers' tickets.  (Nouns are:  airport—acting as an adjective; security acting as the subject; passengers’ acting as an adjective; tickets acting as a direct object.)

 Noun Gender:  Gender-specific nouns are very rare today in English.  Most common nouns can refer to either gender.  You will still see some nouns (especially in writings of some years ago) that change form depending on the gender of the person being described (waiter, waitress; actor, actress, comedian, comedienne, author, authoress; blond, blonde) Those that are still used occasionally tend to refer to occupational categories.

Possessive Nouns

Usually, nouns become possessive by adding a combination of an apostrophe and the letter s.  

• The dog was Nadine’s.

• The plum-colored van with the flowers painted on it was the hippy’s.

• Greg’s mother had a terrible yell when she tried to wake him in the mornings.

If a singular noun ends in s, add an apostrophe alone (cat's) or add an apostrophe and s to form the possessive (Jones's).  Adding  the apostrophe and another s is considered more correct, but language and usage changes, and adding the apostrophe after the final s is considered acceptable (Jones').  Whichever option you choose, be consistent.  Don't write it one way in part of your work and the other in a different part. 

• The foxes' (foxes's) den was over the hill.

• The Jones’ (Jones’s) house burned down last night.

A plural noun that does not end in "s" forms the possessive by adding an apostrophe and an "s," as in the following examples:

• The firemen’s suspenders were red.

• The mice’s squealing kept Ruby awake all night.

• All the geese’s feathers are grayish-white.  (We use this form because we are talking of specific geese--'the' geese.  If we were talking about geese in general we would say:  All geese feathers are grayish-white.)

  A plural noun that does end in s forms the possessive by adding an apostrophe:

• The dogs' howling, the cats’ yowling, the bears’ growling

• The hens’ nesting, the rabbits’ resting, the cops’ arresting

• The babies’ crying, the trees’ dying, the husbands’ lying

• The singers’ crooning, the lovers’ spooning, the daredevils’ ballooning

Using Possessive Nouns:  Nouns in the possessive case often act as adjectives describing or modifying another noun.

• The boat’s sails were tattered and dirty.  (Boat’s modifies sails, and together with the article the, they form a noun phrase which is the subject of the sentence.)

• The dogs’ howling, the cats’ yowling, etc.

This example, as do the ones above, shows a possessive noun modifying a gerund.  A gerund is a noun formed from a verb. To make a gerund, you add -ing to the verb.  This is also how a present participle is formed, but a gerund acts as a noun.  A participle acts as an adjective.

3.  Pronouns

A pronoun can replace a noun or another pronoun.  Pronouns help make sentences less bulky and repetitive. 

Noun, Verb, or Adjective?

4. Adjectives

Adjectives modify nouns and pronouns by describing, identifying, or quantifying words. An adjective usually precedes the noun or the pronoun that it modifies.  Adjectives can themselves be modified by an adverb, or by a phrase or clause acting as an adverb.  Articles (a, an, the) are also considered adjectives.

5. Adverbs

Adverbs can modify verbs, adjectives, other adverbs, phrases and clauses.  Adverbs answer how?  when?  where?  how much?, thus indicating manner, time, place, cause, and degree.  Some adverbs are easy to identify because they end in ly, but if you know your grammar, you will soon be able to recognize them no matter in what form they are.  Adverbs can be found in various positions in a sentence.  Remember, they answer how, when, where, how much. 

• The thief ran swiftly down the alley.  (The adverb swiftly modifies the verb ran and shows HOW fast the thief was moving.)

• Most men do not wait happily when their wives are shopping for clothes.  (Happily modifies the verb wait and describes the manner in which the men wait.)

• Carl spoke brashly to the police office about a traffic ticket.  (Brashly shows HOW or in what manner Carl spoke.)

• Bonny’s supervisor instructed her to speak more pleasantly to the customers.  (The adverb more modifies the adverb pleasantly and together they modify the intransitive to speak.)

• Amazingly, no one was hurt when the tornado wrecked the building.  (The adverb amazingly modifies the entire sentence.)

Conjunctive Adverbs

A conjunctive adverb joins two clauses.  If the clauses being joined are independent clauses (independent clauses can stand alone as a complete sentence), you need to use a semicolon also.  Some common conjunctive adverbs are:

• The teacher has Internet connection problems; therefore class is often cancelled.

• Superman battled the alien mutant for hours; finally the alien surrendered.

• Sheila was angry with Abe; furthermore, she was angry at his dog too.

6.  Prepositions

A preposition links nouns, pronoun, and phrases to other words in sentences.  The word or phrase that the preposition introduces is called the object of the preposition.  A preposition usually indicates the relationship (in time, space, or logic) of its object to the rest of the sentence.  Prepositional phrases have a preposition, an object, and may contain adjectives and adverbs.  They may act as a noun, an adjective, or an adverb.

• Chaos reigned throughout the country when a horse was elected leader.  (The preposition throughout introduces the noun phrase the country. The prepositional phrase acts as an adverb describing the location of the rejoicing  (WHERE).

• Miles moved carefully among the shards of glass.   (Among introduces the noun phrase the shards of glass.  The prepositional phrase among the shards of glass works as an adverb showing WHERE Miles moved.  The prepositional phrase of glass is an adjective describing shards.)

• Winnie has gone to the store.  (The prepositional phrase to the store, acts as an adverb showing WHERE Winnie

  has gone.) 

• Waneta looked everywhere for her mouse, but someone had hidden it behind the sofa.  (The preposition for introduces a prepositional phrase for her mouse.  That phrase is the object of the verb looked.  Behind the sofa is another prepositional phrase acting as an adverb describing WHERE it was.)

7.  Conjunctions

Conjunctions link words, phrases, and clauses:  “Judy drank milk and water at lunch.  Give me a call when they arrive."  Types of conjunctions include coordinating (joins words or independent clauses), subordinating (introduces dependent clauses), correlative (both-and, either-or, neither-nor, not only-but also). 

8.  Interjections

Interjections are words added to a sentence (usually at the beginning) to show emotion.  Interjections stand alone in most cases, and are followed by an exclamation point.  Formal writing and speaking seldom use interjections.

• Darn, that stings! 

• Hey!  Get away from that car. 

• Goodness! You startled me.

Test yourself on parts of speech