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There are eight parts of speech, or classes of words, in English; nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, conjunctions, prepositions, and interjections. A word may function as more than one of these and what part of speech it is must be determined from the context of its use.
Proper nouns name particular persons, places, or things and are capitalized: George Bush, Los Angeles, Christianity.
Common nouns do no name particular persons, places, or things; therefore, they are not capitalized; actor, city, religion
Abstract nouns name intangible qualities, ideas, or characteristics: love, democracy, courage.
Concrete nouns name tangible things that can be perceived through the senses: wind, rain, pencil.
Collective nouns name groups of individuals: audience, family, army, herd. (see agreement of collective nouns and verbs, collective nouns and pronouns.)
A compound noun, which may be a common or proper noun, is composed of more than one word: high school, crosswalk, siter-in-law, Labor Day. A dictionary will usually list a compound noun as a single entry and referring to it is important for determining capitalization of compound nouns. (See hyphen, possessive, forming plurals, capitalization.)
In the following sentence, pronouns substitute for proper and common nouns.
John Franklin ran eighty yards for a touchdown. Six fans hoisted him overhead before they ran from the field.
The word that a pronoun replaces is called the antecedent of the pronoun. John Franklin is the antecedent of him, and fans is the antecedent of they.
Pronouns are classified as personal, possessive, reflexive, relative, interrogative, demonstrative, and indefinite.
Personal pronouns refer to a person or a thing. They have plural and singular forms.
SINGULAR | PLURAL | |
FIRST PERSON | I, me | we, us |
SECOND PERSON | you | you |
THIRD PERSON | he, she, him, her, it | they, them |
Possessive pronouns are forms of personal pronouns that show ownership or relation. (See case.)
my, mine | his | its | their, theirs |
your, yours | her, hers | our, ours |
Reflexive pronouns are formed by combining personal pronouns with -self and -selves.
myself | ourselves |
yourself | yourselves |
himself, herself, itself | themselves |
A reflexive pronoun indicates that someone or something named in a sentences acts upon itself.
Leo treated himself to shrimp scampi.
A reflexive pronoun can also be used to intensify a noun or pronoun for emphasis.
Leo himself will eat the shrimp scampi.
Relative pronouns introduce adjective clauses. (See dependent clause)
who, whom, whose, that, whichThe couple who performed the tango won first prize.
Interrogative pronouns are used in questions.
who, whom, whose, which, whatWhom did you call?
Demonstrative pronouns are used to point to or identify a noun.
this, that, these, thoseThat is your problem.
This is the question. How will we raise the money?
Indefinite pronouns function as nouns in a sentence but do not take the place of a specific person or thing. Following are some common indefinite pronouns.
all, anyone, many, one
another, each, most, several
any, either, nobody, some
anybody, everybody, none, somebodySomebody will reap the benefits
A verb may express physical action (dance, walk, jump) or mental action (dream, guess, trust). A group of words must have a verb to form a complete sentence. (See sentence, sentence fragments.)
Action verbs are classified by whether they must be followed by an object - a noun or pronoun that completes the action of the verb by showing who or what is acted upon.
A transititve verb expresses action that has an object. (See direct object, indirect object.)
The pitcher tossed the ball. [Tossed what? the ball, the object of tossed.]
The voters believed the politician. [Believed whom? The politician, the object of believed.]
An intransitive verb expresses action that has no object.
The pitcher smiled.
The stream runs through the canyon.
Although some verbs are tranditive only (destroy, send, forbid) and others are intransitive only (tremble, chuckle, happen), most verbscan function as either transitive or intransitive.
The guide explained the danger. [Transitive.]
The guide never explained. [Intransitive.]
Linking verbs express a state of being or a condition rater than an action. The most common linking verbs are forms of be, such as am,is, are, was, and were. Words such as appear, become, feel, grow, look, seem, smell, and taste also are linking verbs. These verbs link the subject of a sentence with a predicate nominative or predicate adjective - a noun, pronoun, or adjective that identifies or modifies the subject. (See subject, kpredicate nominative, predicate adjective.)
The butler is the killer. [The predicate nominative killer identifies the subject butler.]
The silence became frightening. [The predicate adjective frightening modifies the subject silence.]
Many linking verbs also serve as transitive and intransitive verbs.
The butler looked gloomy. [Linking verb.]
The butler looked for an escape. [Intransitive verb.]
Harlod's hair grew gray from shock. [Linking verb.]
Before retiring, Mr. Higgins grew plums. [Transitive verb.]
A verb often includes one of more helping verbs, sometimes called auxiliary verbs. The verb and its helping verb form a verb phrase.
The comet has been approaching earth for two years. [Has and been are helping verbs for the verb approaching.]
In some sentences the verb and its helping verb are separated.
The day has finally arrived.
Did they reach Georgia?
To modify a word means to limit - that is, to make its meaning more
definite. Adjectives limit in three ways.
By describing:
A tall boy stepped from the curious crowd.
The white and black car won the race.
By pointing out which one:
That boy is my brother.
By telling how many:
Twelve children and several parents attended.
Adjectives normally come directly before the words they modify, but sometimes a writer places descriptive adjectives after the words they modify.
The stallion, long and lean, galloped past us.
Predicate adjectives follow linking verbs and modify the subject of a sentence. (See predicate adjective.)
The runners were tired and thirsty. [Tired and thirsty modify the subject runners.]
A word may be used as more than one part of speech. This is especially true of the words listed below, which may serve as ajectives or pronouns depending on how they function in a sentence.
all, either, one, these
another, few, other, this
any, many, several, those
both, more, some, what
each, neither, that, whichThis book is overue. Those books are on reserve. [Adjectives.]
This is the overdue book. Those are the books on reserve. [Pronouns.]
The definite article the and the indefinite articles a (used before words beginning with a consonant sound) and an (used before words beginning with a vowel sound) are also classified as adjectives.
Adverbs most commonly modify verbs by telling how, when, where, or to what extent.
He reads carefully. [How.]
He reads late. [When]
He reads everywhere. [Where.]
He reads widely. [To what extent.]
Adverbs sometimes modify adjectives and other adverbs.
He is truly dedicated. [Modifies the adjective dedicated.]
He studies terribly hard. [Modifies the adjerb hard.]
Adverbs sometimes modify groups of words.
Unfortunately, I cannot attend the wedding. [Modifies the whole sentence.]
Many adverbs end in -ly, but not all words that end in -ly are adverbs.
The day was chilly, but the group jogged briskly through the park. [Chilly is an adjective; briskly is an adverb.]
Prepositions usually introduce a word group called a prepositional phrase, which always consists fo the preposition and an object of the preposition - a noun or pronoun that related to another word on the sentence.
The effect of pesticides threatens wildlife in marshes.
Pesticides is related to effect because it indicates which effect. Marshes is related to wildlife because it indicates where life is threatened. The prepositions of and in create the relations between these words. (See prepositional phrases).
Prepositions usually show direction or position. The following words are among the most common prepositions:
above | at | between | in | through |
across | before | by | into | to |
after | behind | down | of | up |
against | below | during | on | upon |
along | beneath | for | out | with |
among | beside | from | over | without |
Around the corner and beyond the tracks the road turns.
Groups of words, such as along with, according to, and in spite of, sometimes serve as prepositions. (See idioms.)
According to the latest report, the company is nearly bankrupt.
Conjunctionis are usually classified into three categories: coordinating conjunctions, correlative conjunctions, and subordinating conjunctions.
There are seven coordinating conjunctions: and, but, or, yet, for, nor, and so. (See subject and predicate, main clauses, compound sentences.)
Oranges, limons, and limes are citrus fruits. [Joining words.]
The fish bite in the morning or after sundown. [Joining prepositional phrases.]
The comet hit, but no one saw it. [Joining the clauses of a compound sentence.]
Correlative conjunctions are always used in pairs: both ... and; not only ... but also; either ... or; and neither ... nor.
Both Monopoly and Clue are fun to play.
She is neither rich nor poor.
Subordinating conjunctions begin dependent clauses. Some common subordinating conjunctions are after, although, because, before, if since, so that, though, unless, when, where, and while. (See dependent clauses.)
They rescued the child before the roop collapsed.
When the clock struck six, the guests returned.
NOTE: Conjunctive adverbs join main, or independent, clauses. Words such as consequently, furthermore, hence, however, indeed, moreover, nevertheless, subsequently, therefore, thus, and yet are conjunctive adverbs. (See main clauses, semicolon.)
The bumper was not shipped; consequently, the car was not repaired on time.
The ducks did not fly; the hunter, therefore, did not fire.
Ouch! It bit me.
Oh, are you the janitor?