1) The 8 Parts of Speech
2) The Use of Nouns
The parts of speech tell you how
words function in a sentence, rather than what words are or mean. (ie. the same
word may be a noun in one sentence, but a verb in another.)
Words can also be altered to
function as different parts of speech.
The 8 Parts are:
1. Nouns
2. Pronouns
3. Verbs
4. Adverbs
5. Adjectives
6. Conjunctions
7. Interjections
8. Prepositions
Below each of these parts of speech is
explained further.
1. Nouns
a)
Words that name things (ie. persons,
places, things, ideas, or qualities)
b) Can be categorized into 5
groups:
1. Common Noun
- Names a generic type of person, place, or thing. They can be further divided
up into Count, Abstract, and Collective Nouns.
2. Proper Noun – Name unique people,
places, or things, rather than identifying them based on the categories to
which they belong. They always start with a capital letter.
3. Count Noun – Occur in both
singular and plural forms. They express enumerable things (ie. Book or books,
pen or pens)
4. Collective Noun – Also called mass
nouns. Refer to things that are not normally countable, either because they are
abstract or because they denote an indeterminate number of people or things
(ie. Money or management)
5. Abstract Noun – Name things that
can’t be seen, heard, smelled, tasted, or touched. They describe feelings, ideas,
or concepts (ie. Honesty, justice)
2.
Pronouns
a)
Replace nouns. (ie. He, hers, him,
his, it, she, their, themselves, they, our, ourselves, we, you)
b)
Make sentences less cumbersome and
repetitive.
c)
May have different forms or cases,
depending on how they function in a sentence.
They can be:
1.
Subjective
Pronoun – Replace nouns that act as the
subjects (nouns describing who or what performs the action) in sentences. (ie.
I, you, he, she, we, they, and it)
2.
Objective
Pronoun – Act as the objects in sentences.
They preplace nouns identifying who or what is the recipient of the action
expressed by a verb.
3.
Possessive
Pronoun – Indicate ownership, or
possession. The possessive pronouns my, our, your, his, her, its, and their can
be used as adjectives to qualify nouns. Each possessive pronoun also has a
corresponding independent form that can stand alone, without a noun. (ie. Mine,
ours, yours, his, hers, its, and theirs) With the independent form, the thing
possessed may be either an antecedent or something understood. The independent
form can also be the subject or object of a verb.
d)
Some personal pronouns are compounds
that use the suffix self or selves. These are: my-myself, our-ourselves,
your-yourself, your-yourselves, him-himself, her-herself, it-itself and
them-themselves. They are used for two main purposes, for emphasis (called
intensive pronouns) or to refer to the subject of the verb (called reflexive
pronouns). Although they look alike, a Reflexive Pronouns reflect the action
that the verb describes by renaming the subject, whereas an Intensive pronoun
adds emphasis and gives force to a sentence. (ie. Intensive: I myself wrote
the story. Reflexive: I prepared myself.)
3.
Verbs
a)
Commonly described as action words
because they usually describe the performance or occurrence of actions. They
can also indicate a state of being or condition. (ie. Is or imagine)
b)
Helping verbs, known as auxiliary
verbs, combine with some verb forms. The combinations are known was verb
phrases. They many indicate tense or obligation, or provide other additional
meaning. Commonly used helping verbs are versions of the verb: to be.
Present
tense (to be): am, is, and are
Past
tense (to be): was and wereFuture tense (to be): will
4.
Adverbs
a)
Describe, qualify, limit, or modify
verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs.
b)
Can be classified into three types
1.
Adverbs of
time tell when something occurs
2.
Adverbs of
manner describe how something is done.
3.
Adverbs of
place tell you where something occurs.
c)
Commonly end in the letters: ly.
(ie. Carefully, quickly, slowly, particularly, only)
d)
Do NOT modify a nouns or pronouns.
5.
Adjectives
a)
Describe nouns or pronouns.
b)
They answer the questions: Which
one? What kind? How many? Or How much?
6.
Conjunctions
a)
Join words, phrases, or sentences.
b)
Two types of conjuctions:
1.
Coordinating – Join words or groups of words that are of equal
importance. (ie. And, but, nor, or, for, so, yet)
2.
Subordinating – Introduces a clause that is dependent on the main clause
of sentence. (ie. Until, because, although, as, since, if, so that, when)
c) It is now thought to be acceptable to begin a sentence with a conjunction such as (and, but, so) as long as the previous sentence makes it clear what the conjunction is referring to. Or begin with a conjunction such as (because, since) if the sentence begins with an introductory clause that modifies another clause that follows.
7.
Interjections
a)
Words, phrases, or clauses that
denote strong felling or emotion.
b)
Often followed by exclamation marks.
(ie. Oh!, Goodness!, Oh dear!)
8.
Prepositions
a)
A word or phrase that links an object to another
word in a sentence to show the relationship between them.
b)
A preposition’s object is usually a noun or
pronoun.
c)
Different prepositions indicate different types
of relationships.
1.
Prepositions such as (on, above, under, and
below) identify spatial relationships – they specify where something is in
relation to something else
2.
Prepositions like (before, after, at, during,
and until) indicate time relationships.
3.
Prepositions such as (by, to, for, and with)
identify logical relationships.
d)
Usually placed before its object. However it may
sometimes end a clause or sentence. (ie.
A preposition used with the relative pronoun (that) always comes after
the object.
e)
Almost always follows the pronoun (which). (ie.
Which opinion is your approach aligned with?)
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