REVIEW OF THE PARTS

OF SPEECH
The Parts of Speech
• Nouns
• Pronouns
• Verbs
• Adjectives
• Adverbs
• Prepositions
• Conjunctions
• Interjections
What is a Noun?
 What is a Noun?
• A word used to name a person, animal,
place, thing and abstract idea.

• Types of nouns:
- common nouns - proper nouns
- concrete nouns - abstract nouns
- countable nouns - non-countable nouns
(mass nouns)
- collective nouns - compound nouns
• Common nouns
– Refer to a person, place, or thing in general
sense
– E.g. people, city, river…

• Proper nouns
– Write with a capital letter
– Represent the name of a specific person, place,
or thing
– E.g. Christopher, Kuala Lumpur, Mississippi
River…
• Concrete nouns
– Refer to anything (or anyone) that you
can perceive through your physical
senses
– E.g. book, chair, clerk

• Abstract nouns
– Refer to anything that you cannot
perceive through your physical senses
– E.g. childhood, happiness, love…
• Countable nouns
– Can be in singular or plural forms
– Refer to anything (or anyone) that you
can count
– E.g. table, tables, baby, babies…

• Non-Countable nouns (Mass nouns)

– Does not have a plural form
– Refer to something you could not count
– E.g. oxygen, water…
• Collective nouns
– Refer to a group of things, animals, or
persons
– Usually think the group as a unit
– E.g. class, committee, swarm…

• Compound nouns
– A noun made up of 2 or more words
– E.g. shoelace, keyboard, flashlight…
 Possessive nouns
• A noun changes its forms to show
that it owns or is closely related to
something else.

• Nouns > Possessive nouns

– Add apostrophe [’] and the letter [s]
• Singular noun that does not end with ‘s’
 Cassandra - Cassandra’s
 friend - friend’s
• Singular noun that ends with ‘s’
 Chris - Chris’s / Chris’
 bus - bus’s / bus’
• Plural noun that does not end with ‘s’
 children - children’s
 sheep - sheep’s
• Plural noun that ends with ‘s’
 dogs - dogs’
 babies - babies’
 Noun Plurals
• Most nouns change their forms by adding ‘-s’
– E.g. dog - dogs
bus - buses

• Nouns that end with -s, -ch, -sh, -x, or -z, add
‘-es’
– E.g. witness - witnesses
church - churches
dish - dishes
box - boxes
buzz - buzzes
• Nouns that end with -y and the letter
before -y is a vowel, add ‘-s’
- e.g. boy - boys
key - keys

• Nouns that end with -y and the letter

before -y is a consonant, change -y to -I
and add ‘-es’
- e.g. army - armies
baby - babies
• Nouns that end with -ff, add ‘-s’
- e.g. tariff - tariffs

• Nouns that end with -f or -fe:

- Some become plural by replacing -f
to -v and adding -s or -es
• E.g. knife - knives wife - wives
half - halves leaf - leaves
- Some become plural by only adding
-s
• E.g. belief - beliefs proof - proofs
 Noun Gender
• Masculine
– E.g. Peter, actor, waiter…
• Feminine
– E.g. Sarah, actress, waitress…
• Common
– E.g. teacher, doctor,
engineer…
• Neuter
– E.g. table, chair, book…
VERBS
 What is a Verb?
• Assert something about the subject
of the sentence
• Express actions, events, or
states of being
• Action verbs, Compound verbs,
Auxiliary verbs, Linking verbs
• Action verbs: identify physical or mental
activities
– Dracula bites his victims on the neck
• Auxiliary verbs: is, are, was, were, will…
• Compound verbs: combination of auxiliary
verb and action verb
– The book Seema was looking for is under the sofa.
• Linking verbs: connects a subject to a subject
complement which identifies or describes the
subject.
– The play is Waiting for Godot.
ADVERBS
 What is an Adverb?
• a word or phrase that modifies an adjective, verb,
or other adverb or a word-group, expressing a
relation of place, time, circumstance, manner,
cause, degree, etc.
• Usually identifiable by ‘ly’ suffix: unfortunately,
quickly, beautifully…
– Unfortunately, the bank closed at three today.
– The students waited patiently through the long
hours.
– He turned up unexpectedly.
 Conjunctive Adverbs
• To join two clauses together.
• Common conjunctive adverbs:
– hence, however, therefore, then,
thus, nevertheless, consequently,
finally…
• With the aid of semicolon [;]
– He did not have all the ingredients the
recipe called for; therefore, he decided
to make something else.
PRONOUNS
 What is a Pronoun?
• Can replace a noun or another pronoun.
• To make your sentences less cumbersome
and less repetitive
• Personal pronoun, demonstrative pronoun,
interrogative pronoun, indefinite pronoun,
relative pronoun, reflexive pronoun,
intensive pronoun
 Personal Pronoun
• Personal Pronouns
– refer to a specific person or thing and
changes its form to indicate person,
number, gender and case

• Subjective Personal Pronouns

– The pronoun is acting as the subject of the
sentence: I, you, she, he, it, we, they
– They returned to their homeland.
• Objective Personal Pronouns
– The pronoun is acting as the object: me, you, her,
him, it, us, them
– Give the list to me.

• Possessive Personal Pronouns

– The pronoun is acting as a marker of possession and
defines who owns a particular object or person:
mine, yours, hers, his, its, ours, theirs
– The smallest gift is mine.
• Demonstrative Pronouns
– Identifies a noun or pronoun: this, that, these, those
– Subject or object
• That is the tree I want.
• Three customers wanted these.

• Interrogative Pronouns
– Used to ask questions: who, whom, which, what
[compounds formed with the suffix “ever”: whoever,
whomever, whichever, whatever
• Who wrote the novel?
• Relative Pronouns
– Link one phrase or clause to another phrase or clause: who,
that, which…
• You may invite whomever you like to the party.

• Indefinite Pronouns
– Referring to an identifiable but not specified person or thing.
– Conveys ideas of all, any, none, or some; any, anybody,
everything, someone…
– Everything was thrown on the floor.
• Reflexive Pronouns
– To refer back to the subject of the clause or sentence:
myself, yourself, themselves…
• We ended up painting the apartment ourselves.
• Intensive Pronouns
– To emphasize its antecedent: myself, yourself,
themselves…
• I myself believe that aliens should abduct my brother.
 ADJECTIVES
• An adjective is a word that modifies a
noun or pronoun
• It describes a quality or state of an
object, usually relating to taste,
colour, size, shape or judgments.
– E.g. pretty, ugly, good, bad…
 Categories of Adjectives
• Possessive Adjectives
– Refer to the owners
– My, your, her, his, their, its, our
• Those are their bags.
• Our house is on the hill.

• Demonstrative Adjectives
– Point out which person or thing is being described
– This, these, that, those
• That studio is close.
• These cows need some care.
• Quantitative / Indefinite Adjectives
– To show how much of the thing is being
described
– Many, few, several, some…
• She wants some salt.
• They lost all their property.

• Descriptive Adjectives
– To show the kind or quality of persons or
things
– Thin, dirty, short, wet…
• That tall building is for sale.
• She bought a beautiful painting.
• Interrogative Adjectives
– Used with nouns to ask questions.
– Which, what, whose
• What method did you use?
• Which car did he buy?
 CONJUCTIONS
• Used to link words, phrases, clauses or
sentences.

• Coordinating conjunctions
– To link 2 individual unit of the same category (2
words, 2 phrases, 2 clauses)
– And, but, or, yet…
• Jude and Susie saved the boy. (nouns)
• My sister did not call or write to my parents. (verbs)
• The game was good but slow. (adjectives)
• Twenty-three plants were planted, but only twenty are
alive. (clauses)
• Subordinating Conjunctions
– To join and show the relationship between
dependent clauses and independent
clauses.
– After, although, because, before, since,
until…
• Unless you save some money, you will not be
able to buy a car.
• If my father comes before ten, he will take us to
the library.
• Correlative Conjunctions
– Appear in pairs
– Link equivalent sentence elements
– Either…or, neither…nor, so…as, not
only…but also, whether…or,…
• The customer wanted either a soft drink or a hot
drink.
• The landslide destroyed not only the bungalow
but also the fruit trees.
 PREPOSITIONS
• To show relationship between a noun
or pronoun that follows it, and
another word in the same sentence.
• To show the position of a subject
or where it is located.
• Simple prepositions
– In, on, till, with, at, for, from, up, out…

• Compound prepositions
– Among, inside, outside, across,
without, around, below…

• Phrasal prepositions
– Instead of, in comparison to, in favour
of, with references to…
 Functions of Prepositions
• Time
– To indicate the time or duration of the
activities
• We have to wait until the meeting is over.
• Place or position
– To indicate the place of the activities
• The competitors are from Brunei.
• Direction
– To indicate the direction of the verb
• She is going down the hill.
• Manner
– To indicate the manner or the verb
• I sang the song with courage.
• Similarity
– To indicate similarity between a comparison
• He talks like a professor.
• Agent
– To act as an agent
• The movie was directed by Samson.
• Measure
– To show the amount or rate
• She is shorter than you by 4cm.
• Accompaniment
– To show accompaniment
• Can you go with him?
• Reason
– To show cause or reason
• He was late because of the rain.
• Possession
– To show possession
• Their players are with yellow shorts.
 DETERMINERS
• Words that ‘determine’ nouns
• Articles
– a / an ( indefinite articles)
• a: consonants
• an: vowels
– the (definite articles)
• I want a book.
• I want the book.
• Demonstratives
– Refer to something that is known and specific
– Point out the thing that a noun refers to.
– This, that, these, those
• This is our house.
• Those boys come here every Friday.

• Possessives
– Used before nouns to indicate ownership
– My, your, his, her, its, our, their
• This is my car.
• WH-determiners
– To indicate that noun phrase is the focus of
questions
– Which (persons & things)
• Which is your bicycle?
• Which boy are you referring to?
– Whose (possessive form of who & which)
• I don’t care whose fault it was.
– What (things only)
• What is your ambition?
 INTERJECTIONS
• Brief expressions to express strong
or sudden feelings or emotion.
• Punctuated by an exclamation mark
[!]
• No grammatical connection but help
to create atmosphere or mood for
the sentence.
– Ouch! Hey! Yes!
Damn!
Well done! Look
out!