Parts of Speech

What are the parts of speech?

The parts of speech are the primary categories of words according to their function in a sentence. In the
English language, words can be considered as the smallest elements that have distinctive meanings.
Based on their use and functions, words are categorized into several types or parts of speech.
1. Noun - This part of a speech refers to words that are used to name persons, things, animals, places,
ideas, or events. Nouns are the simplest among the 9 parts of speech, which is why it is the first part of
speech taught to students in primary school.
There are many different types of nouns, and it’s important to know the different way each type can be
used in a sentence.
Types of Nouns
Common and Proper Nouns
Common Nouns
- Nouns that identify general people, places, or things are called common nouns—they name or identify
that which is common among others.
Examples: toothpaste, car, city, pizza, television, cellphone, laptop
Proper Nouns
-Proper nouns, on the other hand, are used to identify an absolutely unique person, place, or thing, and
they are signified by capital letters, no matter where they appear in a sentence.
Examples: Colgate, Andrew, Philippines, Mazda, Pizza Hut, Oppo, Asus
CLUE!
Common Nouns -the generic names of people,
places, or things
Proper Nouns - the specific names of people,
places, or things

Concrete and Abstract Nouns

Concrete Nouns
- Concrete nouns is a noun that refers to the name of such objects or substances that are physically
tangible—that is, they can be seen or touched, or have some physical properties.
Examples: table, book, bag, water, bed, drum
Abstract Nouns
An abstract noun is a noun that names something that you cannot taste, touch, smell, hear, or see. An
abstract noun usually names an idea, feeling, or concept.
Examples: love, hate, happiness, justice, freedom
Countable and Uncountable Nouns
Countable Nouns
- Countable nouns (also known as count nouns) are nouns that can be considered as individual,
separable items, which means that we are able to count them with numbers—we can have one, two,
five, 15, 100, and so on.
Examples: two apples, 1 boy, 100 dresses, 5 cups
Uncountable Nouns
- Uncountable nouns are for the things that we cannot count with numbers. They may be the names for
abstract ideas or qualities or for physical objects that are too small or too amorphous to be counted
(liquids, powders, gases, etc.). Uncountable nouns are used with a singular verb. They usually do not
have a plural form.
Examples: tea, sugar, water, air, rice
Collective Nouns
- Collective nouns are nouns that refer to a collection or group of multiple people, animals, or things.
However, even though collective nouns refer to multiple individuals, they still function as singular nouns
in a sentence. This is because they still are technically referring to one thing: the group as a whole.
Examples:
People: 
Choir - group of singers
Class - group of students
Committee - a group of people appointed for a specific function in an organization
Family - a group of two or more persons related by birth, marriage, or adoption who live together
Jury - a group of people summoned and sworn to decide on the facts in issue at a trial
Panel - a small group of people chosen to give advice, make a decision, or publicly discuss their
opinions
Staff - a group of employees
Compound Nouns
- A compound noun is a noun consisting of two or more words working together as a single unit to name
a person, place, or thing.
There are three forms for compound nouns:
open or spaced - space between words (tennis shoe)
hyphenated - hyphen between words (six-pack)
closed or solid - no space or hyphen between words (bedroom, sunset)

2. Pronoun - are words that are used in place of nouns in a sentence. The noun being replaced is known
as the antecedent of the pronoun.
Types of Pronouns
Personal
- These are pronouns that refer to the person speaking, the person to, or the person or thing spoken
about.
Singular Plural
First Person I and Me We and Us

Second Person You You

Third Person She, He, Her, Him, It They and Them

Possessive Pronouns
- Pronouns that show possession.
Possessive Adjectives Possessive Pronouns
- a type of pronoun that qualifies a noun - a type of pronoun that represents a noun
Examples: Examples:
This is my book. This book is mine.
That is our house. That house is yours.
These are their bikes. These bikes are theirs.
My, Our, Your, Their, His, Her, Its Mine, Ours, Yours, Theirs, His, Hers

Reflexive and Intensive Pronouns

Singular Plural
Myself, Yourself, Himself, Herself, Itself, Oneself Ourselves, Yourselves, Themselves

Reflexive
- The pronoun refers to the subject.
a. I see myself in his actions.
b. He cut the paper himself.
c. They were shocked about themselves.
Intensive
- The pronoun shows emphasis.
a. I, myself is the culprit.
b. He, himself cut the paper.
c. They, themselves were shocked.

Indefinite Pronouns
- An indefinite pronoun is used in place of a noun without specifying a particular person or thing that is
being represented.
Singular Plural
Any, Everyone, Anybody, No one, Both, Several, Few, Many, Some
Everybody, Anyone

Example: Anyone can join the contest.

Interrogative Pronouns
- used in asking questions
Interrogative Pronouns
Who, What, Which, why, How, Whom, Whose, When, How Much, How Many

Demonstrative Pronouns
Demonstrative Pronouns Near Far
Singular This That
Plural These Those
3. Adjectives – an adjective qualifies and tell something about a NOUN or PRONOUN through
descriptions.
It answers the questions:
What kind?
Which one?
How many?
How much?
Degrees of Comparison of Adjectives
Positive Comparative Superlative
-This offers no comparison. It - This compares two things to - This compares more than two
just tells us about the existence show which has the lesser or things to show which has the
of a quality. greater degree of the quality.  least or greatest degree of the
Example: Anna is brave. Example: Anna is braver than quality.
Jew. Example: Liam is the bravest in
our class.
Big Bigger Biggest
Useful More useful Most Useful
Active Less active Least active
Bad Worse Worst
ORDER OF ADJECTIVES --- (DNOSASCOMP)
Determiner – article- a, an, the
Number – cardinal—one, two, three – ordinal –1 st, 2nd, 3rd
Opinion—judgemement
Size—describes how big or small
Age—how old or young
Shape—shape of something (circular, rectangular)
Color—color of something
Origin—where the noun made off
Material—what the noun made of
Purposes—where the noun is used for
Ex. I saw a scary large black bird in the backyard.

4. Verbs- Verbs are used to indicate the actions, processes, conditions, or states of beings of people or
things. These
Action Verbs
-is a word that shows action.
-tells what the subject of the sentence does.
Examples:
- A student talks to her friend every day.
- Everyone eats lunch.

Linking Verbs/Copula
- A linking verb connects the subject of a sentence with a word that gives information about the subject,
such as a condition or relationship. They do not show any action; they simply link the subject with the
rest of the sentence. 
Examples:
am, is, are, was, were,

Many farmers were happy with the rain.

Helping Verbs/Auxiliary Verbs

--a verb that combines with a main verb to form a verb phrase
( am, is, are, was, were, be, been, being, do, does, did, have, may, must and etc.)
Ex. The smells of pizza is making me hungry. ( is- helping verb while making—is the main verb.)

5. Adverb- An adverb refers to any element in a sentence used to modify a verb, adjective, another
adverb, or even an entire clause.
Adverbs can be single words, as in:
You write beautifully.
He slowly walked towards the bus.
Categories of Adverb Function Example Adverbs Example Sentences
Adverbs of Time Describe when or for now, tomorrow, We are eating now.
how long something yesterday, still, yet, later
 happens or is the case.
Adverbs of Frequency Describe how always, usually, I rarely eat breakfast
frequently something sometimes, often, in bed.
happens or is the case. rarely, daily, weekly,
A subset of Adverbs of monthly
Time.
Adverbs of Place Describe the direction, north, everywhere, I absolutely hate
distance, movement, or here, there, forward, running uphill.
position involved in the downward, up, uphill,
action of a verb. behind
Adverbs of Manner Describe how beautifully, wonderfully, He walked slowly
something happens or slowly, deliberately, toward the bar.”
how someone does happily
something. Usually
formed from adjectives.
Adverbs of Degree Describe the intensity, undoubtedly, truly, I'm very certain this
degree, or extent of the very, quite, pretty, is correct.”
verb, adjective, or somewhat, fairly
adverb they are
modifying.

6. Prepositions-A preposition is a word or group of words used before a noun, pronoun, or noun phrase
to show direction, time, place, location, spatial relationships, or to introduce an object.
Preposition How It’s Used Example
Showing Time
At exact times at 3pm
meal times at dinner
parts of the day at sundown
age at age 21
By a limit in time by sundown
in the sense of at the latest by the due date
In seasons months In the summer
years in November
durations in1992
after a certain period of in the same year
time in an hour
On days of the week on Wednesday
parts of the day where the day is on Friday night
named on December 4th
dates
Ago a certain time in the past 2 years ago
After a point in time that follows After the game; after the
another point in time surgery
Before a point in time that precedes before leaving; before
another point in time breakfast; before2004
During something that happened/will During the night; during war
happen in a specific period of
time

Preposition How It’s Used Example

Showing Place
At an object’s settled position or at the airport
position after it has moved at the ceremony
meeting place or location at home
point of direction at the desk turning
a target at the intersection
‘At’ is a preposition of location throwing the snowball at Lucy
that is used to specify the point
where an object or person is at
the moment. It indicates an
exact position of an object.
By close to by the school
alongside of by the window
 In in an enclosed space In the garage
in a geographic location in an envelope
in a print medium in San Diego
in Texas
in a book
in a magazine
On On SURFACE on the floor
This preposition indicates a on a bus
position that is open and on the on the table
surface. You should use ‘on’
when the object being
described is in contact with
something on the surface. 
Above suspended higher than above the door
something else superior to above me in rank
After pursuit a point further from an chasing after the robbers
earlier point the corner after the big house
Against leaning on opposite to or facing against the door
against the wall

7. Conjunctions- A conjunction is a word that connects elements of a sentence, such as words, phrases,
or clauses. The three types of conjunctions are: subordinating conjunctions, coordinating conjunctions,
and correlative conjunctions.
SUBORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS
A subordinating conjunction is a word that links together an independent clause and a dependent
clause. They can help a sentence describe time, cause-and-effect, and place. A subordinating
conjunction can be placed in between an independent and dependent clause. It can also be placed in
front of a dependent clause.
Remember!
An independent clause is a complete thought or sentence that includes a subject and a verb.
A dependent clause often has a verb and subject but is not a complete thought.

COORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS
Coordinating conjunctions are single words that connect similar parts of a sentence, such as adjectives,
nouns, and clauses. The acronym FANBOYS is often used to refer to coordinating conjunctions.
For, And, Nor, But , Or, Yet, So
Examples:
I am going on a cruise to Mexico, Jamaica, and Aruba.
I really want to go skiing, but there isn’t enough snow on the slopes.
Meredith wants an orange or a grapefruit for lunch.
Danny would rather have a chocolate bar or hot cocoa than a granola bar.
Jenny could not find her notes last night, so she could not study for her test.
Her dress was blue and purple.
CORRELATIVE CONJUNCTIONS
Correlative conjunctions connect similar parts of a sentence, such as adjectives, nouns, and clauses.
However, unlike coordinating conjunctions, correlative conjunctions are combinations of coordinating
conjunctions, not only a single word. They always come in pairs and link grammatically equivalent items.
Correlative Conjunctions Examples
Both…and Both the dog and the cat knocked over the
 trashcan.
*The correlative conjunctions link two nouns, the
dog and the cat.*
Either…or Nadine wants to go to either Rutgers University
or James Madison University.
*The correlative conjunctions link two nouns, RU
and JMU.*
Neither…nor Neither Molly nor Emma wants to see the new
Batman movie.
*The correlative conjunctions connect two
pronouns, Molly and Emma.*
Not only…but also To alleviate stress, you should not only identify
the stressors but also find ways of coping with
them.
*The correlative conjunctions link two clauses
identify the stressors and find ways of coping.*

8. Interjection
– A word that expresses strong or sudden emotion
– Used exclamation (!)
Examples:
– Oh dear!
– My goodness!
– Wow!
– Ouch!
– Yes!
– No!
Oh, no! The boat is leaking.
Wow! That was easy!
Wait! I am not finished.
9. Articles
-There is no doubt that articles are adjectives since they modify the nouns after them. But articles have
some special significance as determiners. Articles determine the standard of nouns.

There are two types of articles:

Definite Article – THE

“The” makes the noun something particular and definite.

Example:

Give me the ball.

(Here, the speaker is telling someone to give him/her a particular ball about which the speaker and the
listener both are aware. There is no possibility of the ball to be anything else rather than the speaker
and the listener idea of that particular ball.)

Indefinite Article -A & An

“A & an” - make the noun something general and indefinite.

Example:

Give me a ball.

(Here, the speaker is telling someone to give him/her a random ball about which the listener is not
particularly aware of, and s/he might ask ‘which/what kind of ball you want?’.)

Give me an egg. (It can be any kind of egg – the possibility is open.)

Words beginning with CONSONANT

SOUNDS
Words beginning with VOWEL
SOUNDS
References:

https://www.csuchico.edu/slc/_assets/documents/writing-center-handouts/subordinating-
conjunctions-handout.pdf

https://www.molloy.edu/Documents/English/GrammarNotes.pdf