Every word in English can be classified as one of eight parts of speech. The term part of speech refers to the role a word plays in a sentence. And like in any workplace or on any TV show with an ensemble cast, these roles were designed to work together.
Read on to learn about the different parts of...
Every word in English can be classified as one of eight parts of speech. The term part of speech refers to the role a word plays in a sentence. And like in any workplace or on any TV show with an ensemble cast, these roles were designed to work together.
Read on to learn about the different parts of speech that the words we use every day fall into, and how we use them together to communicate ideas clearly.
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The 8 parts of speech
1 Nouns
A noun is a word that names a person, place, concept, or object. Basically, anything that names a “thing” is a noun, whether you’re talking about a basketball court, San Francisco, Cleopatra, or self-preservation.
Nouns fall into two categories: common nouns and proper nouns. Common nouns are general names for things, like planet and game show. Proper nouns are names or titles for specific things, like Jupiter and Jeopardy!
>>Read more about nouns
2 Pronouns
Pronouns are words you substitute for specific nouns when the reader or listener already knows which specific noun you’re referring to.
You might say, “Jennifer was supposed to be here at eight,” then follow it with “She’s always late; next time I’ll tell her to be here a half hour earlier.”
Instead of saying Jennifer’s name three times in a row, you substituted she and her, and your sentences remained grammatically correct. Pronouns are divided into a number of categories, and we cover them all in our guide to pronouns:
>>Read more about pronouns
3 Adjectives
Adjectives are the words that describe nouns. Think about your favorite movie. How would you describe it to a friend who’s never seen it?
You might say the movie was funny, engaging, well-written, or suspenseful. When you’re describing the movie with these words, you’re using adjectives. An adjective can go right before the noun it’s describing (“I have a black dog”), but it doesn’t have to. Sometimes, adjectives are at the end of a sentence (“My dog is black”).
>>Read more about adjectives
4 Verbs
Go! Be amazing! Run as fast as you can! Win the race! Congratulate every participant who put in the work and competed!
Those bolded words are verbs. Verbs are words that describe specific actions, like running, winning, and being amazing.
Not all verbs refer to literal actions, though. Verbs that refer to feelings or states of being, like to love and to be, are known as nonaction verbs. Conversely, the verbs that do refer to literal actions are known as action verbs.
>>Read more about verbs
5 Adverbs
An adverb is a word that describes an adjective, a verb, or another adverb.
I entered the room quietly.
Quietly is describing how you entered (verb) the room.
A cheetah is always faster than a lion.
Always is
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There are E ight P arts of Speech in the English Some writes and websites count only eight parts of speech and place determiner under the category of adjectives. However , advance studies count determiner as a separate parts of speech. These Eight parts of speech indicate how the words function within the sentence.
Parts of Speech in English Grammar Every language consists on its basic elements that are called words, language is made by words. A word is a speech sound or a combination of sound having a particular meaning for an idea, In English language word is composed by an individual letter ( e.g., 'I'), I am a boy, or by combination of letters Morphology , a branch of linguistics, deals with the structure of words where we learn under which rules new words are formed, how we assigned a meaning to a word? How a word functions in a proper context? How to spell a word? Etc.
Here are the Eight parts of speech in English grammar: 1. Noun 2. Pronoun 3. Verb 4. Adverb 5. Adjective 6. Preposition 7. Conjunction 8. Interjection Determines
Noun A noun is a word used for a place, person, or thing. Some of the examples of noun are written below: People: boy, singer. Animals: Cat, cow, elephant. Places: Karachi, city, street. Objects: Cup, pencil, book. Qualities: Boldness, sorrow. Actions: Writing, listening, running.
1. Proper Noun A proper noun is the given name of a person, or a specific place or thing, i.e. its own name (e.g., Kumar, India). A proper noun always starts with a capital letter. All days and months are proper noun and start with capital letters (e.g. Sunday, March, and December). Name of all Person, name of countries, name of oceans are counted in category of proper nouns (e.g., Mashal , Tamilnadu , Atlantic).
2. Common Noun A common noun is the word used for a class of person, place, or thing (e.g., person, city, and dog). Common nouns are not capitalized unless used in start of a sentence. 3. Concrete Noun Concrete nouns are the things which we can see or touch physically. For example: tree, hammer, and pen. We can see them feel them or touch them. Some time we name it material noun.
4. Abstract Noun Abstract nouns are things you cannot see or touch. Abstract nouns do not have physical existence. These nouns are difficult to guess. Abilities and emotions are abstract noun e.g. bravery, joy, determination etc. 5. Collective Noun: Collective nouns are words that denote groups' collection or multitude of something. These noun are used as singular e.g. team, army, concert.
6. Compound Noun Compound nouns are nouns made up of more than one word. For example: court-martial, pickpocket, water bottle. Some compound nouns are two words (e.g., peace pipe), some are hyphenated (e.g., play-off), and some have become single words (e.g., eye-opener).
.. 7. Countable Noun: A countable noun is a noun that can be counted in numbers like one pen, two cars with both a singular and a plural form. (E.g. dog/dogs, pie/pies). 8. Uncountable Noun: An uncountable noun is a noun without a plural form For example: oxygen, patience. All abstract noun falls under the uncountable category of nouns.
Pronoun A pronoun is used in the place of a noun . It substitutes the noun in a paragraph or piece of writing to avoid repetition of the noun. Pronouns can be used in singular and plural forms. Pronouns are generally classified into three main kinds. First Person Pronoun {S} I, Me – {P} We, Us Second Person Pronoun {S}You, Your – {P} You Third Person Pronoun Singular : He, She, It, Him, Her Plural : They, Them, Their
Types of Pronouns Relative Pronouns are pronouns that are used to relate one part of the sentence to another. Some examples of relative pronouns are that, which, where, when, why, what, whom and whose. Possessive Pronouns are pronouns that are used to show possession. Some examples of possessive pronouns are mine, yours, his, hers, theirs and its. Reflexive Pronouns are pronouns that are used to refer back to the subject in the sentence. Some examples of reflexive pronouns are myself, yourself, herself, himself, oneself, itself, ourselves, themselves and yourselves.
…. Demonstrative Pronouns are pronouns that are used to point to specific objects. Some examples of demonstrative pronouns are this, that, these and those. Interrogative Pronouns are pronouns that are used to ask questions. Some examples of interrogative pronouns are who, what, when, why and where. Indefinite Pronouns are pronouns that do not refer to any particular person, place or thing. Some examples of indefinite pronouns are someone, somebody, somewhere, something, anyone, anybody, anywhere, anything, no one, nobody, nowhere, everyone, everybody, everywhere, everything, each, none, few, and many.
… Personal Pronouns are simple pronouns that are used to substitute proper names. Some examples of personal pronouns are I, you, he, she, we, they, him, her, he, she, us and them. Subject Pronouns are pronouns that perform the action in a sentence. Some examples of subject pronouns are I, you, we, he, she, it, they and one. Object Pronouns are pronouns that receive the action in a sentence. Some examples of object pronouns are me, us, him, her and them. Reciprocal Pronouns are pronouns that are used to express a mutual relationship. Some examples of reciprocal pronouns are each other and one another. Intensive Pronouns are the same as reflexive pronouns, with the only difference being that you can remove the intensive pronoun from the sentence, and the sentence would still make sense.
… I am going home today evening. Personal Pronoun/Subject Pronoun Her aunt will be vacating next week. Possessive Pronoun She is the girl I was talking to you about. Personal Pronoun This is the place where I found my missing bag. Relative Pronoun Did you do it yourself ? Personal Pronoun, Intensive Pronoun It was a time when I was so happy. Relative Pronoun We always help each other out. Reciprocal Pronoun Has everyone completed the work that was assigned for today? Indefinite Pronoun
Verbs Definition of a Verb a ‘verb’ as “a word or group of words that express an action (such as eat ), an event (such as happen ) or a state (such as exist )”. a ‘verb’ is defined as “a word or phrase that describes an action, condition, or experience”. A verb is a word such as ‘ sing’, ‘ feel’, or ‘ die’ which is used with a subject to say what someone or something does or what happens to them, or to give information about them”.
General Classification of Verbs Verbs Referring to Actions ( action verbs ) examples of verbs referring to actions are as follows: Walk Run Talk Sit Read Write Jog Cough Sleep Jump Sing
… Verbs Referring to Experiences or Feelings These are verbs that refer to something that you can feel or experience and do not necessarily involve a movement of any kind. Some examples of verbs referring to feelings and experiences are as follows: Love , Hate , Envy , Believe , Trust , Feel , Entrust Experience , Care , Cherish , Sense
…. Verbs Referring to a State or Condition These verbs are those that refer to situations or the state of being. All forms of ‘to be’ verbs belong to this category. Am , Is . Are Was , Were Have , Has Will be Appear , Seem Become , Been Being
Auxiliary Verbs/Helping Verbs a verb that is used to help another verb sound sensible and meaningful. It is used to change the other verb’s tense, mood or voice. So, every time an auxiliary verb is used, you always have one more verb, which acts as the main verb in a sentence. Examples of auxiliary verbs are as follows: Am , Is , Are , Was , Were , Have , Has , Do , Will , Can
… Modal Verbs Modal verbs are those verbs that are used to denote the possibility, probability, capability or necessity of something happening. Modal verbs, unlike other auxiliary verbs, cannot be used as a main verb in a sentence. Examples of modal verbs are as follows: Can , Could , Will , Would May , Might , Should , Must , Ought to
…. Phrasal Verbs Phrasal verbs include phrases that are formed by combining two or more parts of speech that performs the same function as a verb in a sentence. In most cases, a phrasal verb results from a combination of a verb and a preposition . Some examples of phrasal verbs are as follows: Go by , Lay off , Log in , Get off , Run out , Go all out , Think through , Fed up , Taken aback , Act on , Back away Back up , Look up , Mix up , Opt out , Pop in
…. Linking Verbs A linking verb , just like the name suggests, is a type of verb that is used to link the subjects in a sentence to the other parts of the sentence so that it is meaningful. It connects the subject to the object , an adjective and even a prepositional phrase . Example 1: Connecting Nouns to Other Nouns in a Sentence Danny is my brother. Example 2: Connecting a Noun to a Prepositional Phrase in a Sentence The children were in the park.
Regular Verbs and Irregular Verbs the past form of the verb is formed by adding an ‘ ed ’ to the root verb for regular verbs . On the other hand, there are other verbs that do not follow this rule. They are called irregular verbs . These verbs have their own unique forms. Have a look at the examples given below. Dileep searched for his white shirt in his cupboard, but he did not find it. (Root verb – search) Did you find the book you were looking for? Selena read the book on the evolution of life on earth.
Regular verbs These verbs are a form of verbs that follow the normal rules of conjugation, That is, they follow a typical pattern for changing verbs into their past, past participle, or future tense forms. Usually, - ed or -d is added to regular verbs when used in the past tense or in case the word ends with a ‘y’ then the ‘y’ is removed, and "- ied ” is added.
For example, Pooja accepts the award on his behalf. (Present tense) Pooja accepted the award on his behalf. (Simple past) Pooja will accept the award on his behalf. (Future) Pooja already accepted the award on his behalf. (Past participle)
… If the verbs that end in -e are changed to the past tense by adding -d: For Example, like – liked, love – loved, taste – tasted, live – lived, decide – decided, etc. If the verbs that end with ‘y’: For Example, Marry – Married, Try – tried, Dry – dried, Carry – carried Apply – applied If a verb of a single syllable ends in a vowel and a consonant, then the consonant is doubled and - ed is added to change it to the past tense. For Example, stop – stopped, hop – hopped, Ban – banned Chat – chatted, Drag – dragged
Irregular verbs Verbs do not follow the normal rules of conjugation to form past, past participle, or future tense forms. In other words, any verb that does not add - ed , ‘- ied ’, or -d to its past tense form is considered an irregular verb. Irregular verbs are sometimes also called strong verbs. For Example, I have a lot of work to do . Did you complete the work? The work was done . In the above example, you can see the use of the word ‘do’ in its present(do), simple past (did), and past participle (done) form.
Transitive Verbs and Intransitive Verbs Transitive and intransitive verbs refer to whether or not the verb uses a direct object . Transitive verbs are verbs that use a direct object. Intransitive verbs are verbs that do not use a direct object. Transitive verbs are not just verbs that can take an object; they demand objects. Without an object to affect, the sentence that a transitive verb inhabits will not seem complete. Please bring coffee .
… An intransitive verb is the opposite of a transitive verb : It does not require an object to act upon. They jumped . The dog ran . She sang . A light was shining .
Here are some more examples of transitive verbs and their objects. The girls carry water to their village. Juan threw the ball . Could you phone the neighbors ? I caught a cold . She loves rainbows. Lila conveyed the message.
Gerunds Any verb can be transformed into a gerund by adding ‘ ing ’ to the root verb. A gerund can be used as a verb when used with an auxiliary verb to indicate an action that is continuing at a particular period of time. For example: He is eating an apple. Joy will be coming home next week. Walking every day is good exercise. Drinking and driving is dangerous.
Infinitives Infinitives, like gerunds, can be used to turn verbs into nouns by adding a preposition ‘to’ in front of the root verb. For example: Would you like to have something? I like to dance in my free time. I am going to talk to my friend.
Adverb an adverb is used to provide more information about the verb or the action in the sentence. An adverb, according to the Oxford Learner’s Dictionary, Is “a word that adds more information about place, time, manner, cause or degree to a verb, an adjective, a phrase or another adverb.” an adverb is defined as “a word such as ‘slowly’, ‘ now’, ‘very’, ‘politically’, or ‘ fortunately’ which adds information about the action, event, or situation mentioned in a clause.”
Types of Adverbs Adverbs of Manner Adverbs of Time Adverbs of Place Adverbs of Frequency Adverbs of Degree Conjunctive Adverbs
Adverbs of Manner an adverb of manner as “an adverb that shows how someone does something or how something happens. For example, in the sentences ‘Drive carefully’, ‘He talks too fast’, ‘The moon shone brightly’, an adverb of manner can be said to be one which depicts the way in which an action is done.
Examples of Adverbs of Manner Deepika deeply regretted the damage caused by her son. They waited eagerly for their semester exam results. I can write and listen to music simultaneously . We left the room quietly as we did not want to wake up the baby.
Adverb of Time an adverb of time “can tell us about when an action happens, (now, soon, etc.) or how frequently an action happens (usually, always, etc.)” It can be identified by asking the question ‘when’. I will be going to my cousin’s place tomorrow. Yesterday , I met Anu at the supermarket. I thought I could finish cleaning my house today. Make sure you remind her to take the dried clothes later.
Adverb of Place a sentence to describe the location or the place where an action is taking place are called adverbs of place. They answer the question ‘where’. They are mostly found after the main verb or the object in a sentence. The boy was asked to keep the cups here. Are you going out today? Will you be leaving the chair outside ?
Adverb of Frequency The word ‘frequency’, according to the Cambridge Dictionary, is defined as “the number of times something happens within a particular period, So, an adverb of frequency is an adverb which depicts the number of times an action happens within a particular period of time. Ashish often likes to have food from hotels. Wiley always buys groceries from the supermarket. Everyday , the hospitals see a huge inflow of accident casualties. We never like to have litchi juice from any other store.
Adverb of Degree adverbs of degree ”are used to show the intensity or degree of something. defined as “the extent, measure or scope of an action, condition or relation.” Therefore, an adverb that can describe the extent, measure or scope of an action can be termed as an adverb of degree. Mikki is very tall. The buttermilk we had was too cold. It is extremely cold this time of the year. Gowtham had almost completed his work. The class is unusually quiet today.
Adjective an adjective is defined as “a word that describes a noun or pronoun. that describes a person or thing, or gives extra information about them. “a word that describes a person or thing, for example ‘big’, ‘red’ and ‘clever’ in a big house , red wine and a clever idea .” Forms of Adjectives – Degrees of Comparison Positive or Absolute Form Comparative Form Superlative Form
….. positive degree of comparison is the form of the adjective used in the original form. For example: This book is interesting. Comparative Degree of Comparison the adjective is used when two subjects performing the same action or possessing the same quality are compared. For example: The book I read yesterday was more interesting than the one I read today. Superlative Degree of Comparison and to represent that a subject is superior to two or more subjects in performing an action. For example: This fantasy novel is the most interesting book that I have ever read.
… Possessive Adjectives: These adjectives, like possessive pronouns , are used to show or represent possession of a quality. For example: my, your, his, her, their, its, whose, etc. Interrogative Adjectives: An adjective that is used to modify a noun or a pronoun by asking a question is called an interrogative adjective. There are only a few adjectives that can be termed as interrogative adjectives. They are whose, what and which.
…. Demonstrative Adjectives: are mainly used to describe the position of a subject (a noun or pronoun) in space or time. This, that, these and those are the demonstrative adjectives in English. Compound Adjectives: consist of two or more adjectives that are combined together to form an adjective that can be used to modify the subject. Some examples of compound adjectives are cotton-tailed, curly-haired, absent-minded, happy-go-lucky, etc.
Preposition A preposition is defined as “a word that connects a noun, a noun phrase , or a pronoun to another word, esp. to a verb , another noun, or an adjective ”, a preposition is “a word or group of words, such as in, from, to, out of and on behalf of , used before a noun or pronoun to show place, position, time or method.”
Uses of Prepositions They are used to show the direction of something. They can refer to the time of something happening. They can be used to denote the position or location of an object in the sentence. They are also used to represent spatial relationships. Prepositional phrases, in particular, can be used to do all of these when used in sentences.
… Prepositions of Time – used to show when something is happening. For example: We will be meeting on Friday. The supermarket will be closed from 9 p.m. to 9 a.m. Can you come after some time? We have been asked to work from home until the end of May.
….. Prepositions of Place – indicate the place or position of something. For example: I have kept the book I borrowed from you on the table. Henry hid behind the door. The dog jumped over the fence. Can you place the red roses in between the white daisies? He was waiting in front of the EB office.
….. Prepositions of Direction – used to denote the direction in which something travels or moves. For example: The girl ran toward her father the moment she saw him. Jerry jumped into the river to help his sister. Veena passed the book to Priya . When will Salvia be returning from London? Neena lives across the street.
… Prepositions of Location – employed to denote the location of a particular object. For example: Kenny would be staying at his cousin’s place for the weekend. Make sure you keep all the toys back in its place after you play. I lay on the floor for a really long time.
… Prepositions of Spatial Relationship – used to denote an object’s movement away from the source and towards a source. For example: Navya sat leaning against the wall. The circus was stationed opposite the children’s park. Lakshmi sat beneath the trees. Shankar sat beside the stairs. We spent the evening walking around the lake.
…. Prepositional Phrase – a combination of a preposition and a noun(the object it is affecting). For example: See to it that you reach the venue on time. The medicines you asked for are out of stock . Why don’t we try taking classes outside for a change . Make sure you fill in all the forms at once .
Conjunctions A conjunction, is defined as “a word such as ‘and’, ‘but’, ‘while’, or ‘although’ that connects words, phrases, and clauses in a sentence.” Types of Conjunctions Conjunctions are mainly used to join actions, ideas and thoughts. They are categorised into three main types:
….. Coordinating conjunctions – used to combine two independent clauses . Examples of coordinating conjunctions are for, and, nor, but, or, yet and so. Subordinating conjunctions – used to combine an independent clause and a dependent clause . Examples of subordinating conjunctions are if, although, though, after, before, because, as if, unless, until, when, while, etc. Correlative conjunctions – used to combine two phrases or parts of the sentence which have equal importance within a sentence. Examples of correlative conjunctions are not only…but also, either…or, neither…nor, whether…or, rather…or, if…then, etc.
Examples of Conjunctions Sruthi and I visited Gokarna last weekend. Do you have a rough notebook or at least a rough sheet of paper? I did not go to work today because I was not keeping well. She did not like the food, yet she ate it. I will be leaving tomorrow so I am trying to finish all the pending assignments.
Interjections An interjection, according to the Oxford Learner’s Dictionary, is defined as “a short sound, word or phrase spoken suddenly to express an emotion.” an interjection as “a word or expression which you use to express a strong feeling such as surprise, pain, or horror.” Hurray! We won the match. Ouch! That really hurt badly. Wow! That is a beautiful dress indeed. Oh my God! That was unexpected. Whoa! That guy is unbelievably huge.
Examples of Interjections Interjection Purpose Example Alas To express sadness or pity Alas! That was so unfortunate. Ah To express realisation or surprise Ah, the magic show at the end was a total surprise! Eh To enquire or ask for something to be repeated Eh! I didn’t quite get it. Can you please repeat it? Dear To express pity or surprise Oh dear! I feel really bad for what happened to you. Hey To express surprise or call for attention Hey! Look out for the car. Hurray To express joy Hurray! We finally cleared the test. Oh To express pain or surprise Oh! I have a really bad headache. Ouch To express pain Ouch! You stepped on my toes. Phew To express relief, exhaustion, disgust Phew! That was an extremely long presentation. Uh To express hesitation Uh! I don’t think I want to be a part of this. Well To introduce a remark Well, what you just did was wonderful. Wow To express your admiration for something Wow! Your new bike is amazing. Yippee To express joy Yippee! Tomorrow is a holiday.