Daniela Ferreira Solorio English Grammar I

WORD CLASSES

“There is a long tradition of classifying words, for the purpose of grammatical description,
into the word classes (or parts of speech) noun, verb, adjective, adverb, pronoun,
preposition, conjunction, determiner and interjection.” (Martin Haspelmath, 2001)

All words have a category according to the function they develop in a sentence. Like it is
mentioned above there are 9-word categories in English language. Four of them are
cataloged as major word classes:

- “Nouns: are words that give a name to people, places, or things, though they can
also refer to ideas and other abstract objects.” (Learn English – British Council)
-For example: Henry has a Dog. / This cup is broke.
- “Verbs: are words that describe an action or talk about something that happens.
They take many different forms depending on their subjects, the time they refer to
and other ideas we want to express.” (Learn English – British Council)
-For example: Mary arrived today. / I went to the movies.
- “Adjectives: are words that give more information about a noun or pronoun and
can go in different positions in a sentence.” (Learn English – British Council)
-For example: Peter loves your long hair. / That cute dog is lost.
- “Adverbs: are words that we use to give more information about a verb. They can
be one word or phrases and often say how, where, when or how often something
happens or is done, though they can also have other uses.” (Learn English –
British Council)
-For example: My Grandfather barely walks. / You never came to the party.
- “Determiners: are words we use in front of nouns. We use determiners to identify
things.” (Learn English – British Council)
-For example: This milk is expired. / We have our own band.
- “Pronouns: are words that take the place of nouns. We often use them to avoid
repeating the nouns that they refer to. Pronouns have different forms for the
different ways we use them.” (Learn English – British Council)
-For example: They have a lot of things to do. / Erika is tired, or at least that is what
she said.
- “Prepositions:  are a group of words used before a noun, pronoun, or noun phrase
to show direction, time, place, location, spatial relationships, or to introduce an
object.”(Academic Guides – Walden University)
-For example: Jim is at the Supermarket. / Your glasses are on the desk.
- “Conjunctions: are words that join two clauses. These can be coordinating or
subordinating.” (Academic Guides – Walden University)
-For example: We went to the mall and then we went back home. / Mom is not
coming home so let’s cook something for dinner.
- “Interjections: are words or  expressions  which you use to express
a strong feeling such as surprise, pain, or horror. (Academic Guides – Walden
University)
-For example: ¡Wow! This videogame is amazing. / ¡Oops! I just tripped and almost
fell.