The Parts of Speech

Nouns - (word used as names)

A noun is one of the most important words that you use when either speaking or writing. It is the word that tells what you are talking about. A noun is a word that names something. There are names for persons, animals, places, and objects that can be pointed out and recognized. There are also names for substances, qualities, actions, and measires of time or quantity.

The following list includes examples of different kinds of nouns:

Persons: soldier - John - friend

Animals: elephant - mouse - zebra

Places: home - Chicago - school

Objects: desk - picture - computer

Substances: iron - air - water - food

Qualities: kindness - heroism - beauty

Actions: climbing - cooking - reading

Measures: year - pound - inch - day

Nouns Used in Sentences

The words in italics in the following sentences are nouns.

The soldier is wearing his new uniform.

Chicago is a great industrial city.

Iron is a useful metal.

Pronouns - (substitutes for nouns)

You will often find it necessary to refer to a name a number of times in a single sentence. This repetition usually results in a sentence that is very awkward or monotonous.You can readily see what might happen from the following illustration:

Without pronouns: Jack went to Jack’s closet and took out Jack’s new suit because Jack was going to a dance given by Jack’s company.

With pronouns: Jack went to his closet and took out his new suit because he was going to a dance given by his company.

The words his and he is used in the revision of the sentence are called pronouns. They are substitutes for the noun Jack. The prefix pro in the word pronoun means for. The word pronoun simply means for a noun, or in place of a noun.

In the following sentences, the pronouns and the nouns to which they refer are underlined.

Mary said she was going.

The men forgot their tickets.

The officer blew his whistle.

Verbs - (action and linking verbs)

The verb is the most important part of speech. It is the only part of speech that can make a statement about the subject. The subject is the part of a sentence that names the person, place, or thing that is talked about. If you wanted to write or say something about a hunter, you could not complete your statement without the use of verbs. You must have a verb in every sentence. The following illustration will make this clear.

The hunter shot the deer.

(the verb is the word shot)

Most of the verbs in common use express action.The action is not always physical action like the action expressed in the sentence, The hunter shot the deer. In the sentence, I solved the problem, the meaning of the verb solved implies both mental and physical activity.

A small but very important group of verbs do not express action. The verb to be is the most important verb in this group. The most common forms of verb to be included is, are, was and were. Since the verb to be does not express action. It must have another function in the sentence. With the help of some other word or words, it makes a statement about the condition of the subject, or the person, place or thing that is talked about.

In the sentence, Henry is ill, the verb 'is' does not express action of any kind, but it serves two purposes in the sentence. With the help of the word ill it makes a statement about the subject, Henry. It also serves to connect the word ill with Henry.  The sentence really means ill Henry, but you need the verb is to make the statement a complete sentence. Because the verb has this connecting function, it is called a linking verb.

Adjectives - (modifiers)

You can add words to nouns and pronouns that tell what kind, what color, which one, etc. If you wanted to tell about the hat a woman was wearing, you would describe the hat in some way. You might say that it was a large hat, an atrocious hat, or a red hat, depending upon the meaning which you intended to convey.

When you add one or more of these describing words to hat, you give a clearer picture of what the hat is like. Words which add new ideas to nouns and pronouns are called adjectives.

In grammar, we say that the adjective the meaning of the noun or pronoun. The word modify means to change the meaning slightly by describing or limiting the meaning to a certain kind or to a certain number.

When we speak of a hat as an attractive hat, we are limiting the meaning because we are leaving out all the hats that are not attractive. If a word describes, limits, or restricts the meaning in any way, it is called a modifier.

Adjective Modifying Nouns

The following examples show how adjectives modify nouns and how their use makes the meaning clearer or more explicit.

long road

rusty nail

old piano

good friend

worthy cause

steep hill

rainy day

rapid typist

essential parts

Adverbs - (modifier)

Another interesting group of words that serve as modifiers are adverbs. The prefix ad in the word adverb means to, toward, or in addition to. An adverb is a word that you add to a verb to modify or expand the meaning of the verb. Adverbs may also modify adjectives or other adverbs as a modifier of the verb.

Adverbs are easy to identify because they usually answer the questions when, where, how, in what manner, or to what extent or degree. The following illustrations will make this clear:

You must set up the copy now.

(now tells when to set it up)

We put the desk there.

(there tells where it was put)

Mary walks gracefully.

(gracefully tells how she walks)

Prepositions - (words that show a relationship)

Another important part of speech is the preposition. A preposition is not a modifier. The only parts of speech that are modifiers are adjectives and adverbs. The preposition has a different function to perform in the sentence. A preposition shows the relationship that exists between certain words in a sentence. The word preposition comes from two Latin words which mean placed before. A preposition is a word that is placed before a noun or pronoun. It shows the relationship that exists between that noun or pronoun and some other word in the sentence. When we say “a bag for the mail”, the word 'for'  is a preposition. It shows a relationship between bad and mail. The word mail which follows the preposition is called the object of the preposition.

You should become acquainted with the words that are commonly used as prepositions. A list of these prepositions is given here for your reference. Refer to this list repeatedly until you are able to identify the prepositions that are in common use.

A List of Commonly Used Prepositions

above

about

across

after

against

along

among

around

at

before

behind

below

beneath

beside

between

beyond

by

down

during

except

for

from

in

inside

into

like

near

of

off

on

since

to

toward

through

under

until

up

upon

with

within

Conjunctions - (connecting words)

In many sentences you need words that serve to join words or groups of words. In grammar, words that have this connecting function are called conjunctions.

The word conjunction comes from two Latin words which mean to join with or to join together. In the sentence, Jane and Alice are secretaries, the word and connects the two nouns, Jane and Alice. The word and in this sentence is a conjunction. In the sentence, The manager or his secretary will see you, the word or connects the words manager and secretary. The word or in this sentence is a conjunction. In the sentence, Her small but attractive apartment is for rent, the word but joins the words small and attractive.

The conjunctions that were used in the preceding illustrations were and, but, and or. These conjunctions always connect words or groups of words of equal rank. For the present, we shall limit our discussion to the use of these three conjunctions. In the following sentences, the underlined words are the words joined by the conjunction.

Mark drives too fast and too recklessly.

(joins two adverbs)

He or I will audit the account.

(joins two pronouns)

I twisted and sprained my ankle.

(joins two verbs)

He gave it to Mary or Jane.

(joins two nouns)

It is a large but attractive home.

(joins two adjectives)

Interjections - (exclamatory words)

In English, we have a number of words that are used to express strong feeling or sudden emotion. Words that serve this purpose are called interjections. The word interjection comes from two Latin words which mean to throw between. Interjections are really thrown into the sentence to express some type of emotion such as disgust, joy, excitement, enthusiasm, etc.

Interjections have no grammatical relation to any word or group of words in the sentence. In grammar, we call words of this type independent elements. Sometimes words which are independent elements stand for an entire sentence. The following illustrations show the kinds of words that are commonly used as interjections. The interjections are the underlined words in the following sentences.

Alas! This is the end!

Hey! Where are you going?

Pshaw! Why did I do that?