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There Are Nine Parts of Speech
There Are Nine Parts of Speech
There Are Nine Parts of Speech
Thereareninepartsofspeech
ThePartsofSpeech
A review for ESOL students
Thereareninepartsofspeech.Theyarearticles,nouns,pronouns,
adjectives,verbs,adverbs,conjunctions,prepositions,andinterjections.A
wordofcaution,however,awordcanbemorethanonepartofspeech.You
canfindoutmoreinformationonthepartsofspeechbycheckingthesources
listedatthebottomofthisreview.
ouns
Anounisawordusedtonamesomething:aperson/animal,
aplace,athing,oranidea.Forexample,allofthefollowingarenouns.
Leah,Ignacio,Lan,Marek
Japan,Venezuela,Atlanta,Kroger,theGap
pencil,store,music,air
biology,theoryofRelativity,Pythagoreantheory
Hint:Theyaresometimesprecededbynounmarkers.Nounmarkersarealsocalled
determinersandquantifiers.Theyarewordslikea,an,the,this,that,these,those,each,some,
any,every,no,numbers(1,2,3,etc.),several,many,alot,few,possessivepronouns(his,her,
etc).Seedeterminersformoreinformation.
Nounsareclassifiedinseveralways
1. Nounscanbesingularorplural.
Singularnounsnameonlyoneperson,place,thingoridea.
Oneapple,apencil,thebook
Pluralnounsnametwoormorepersons,places,thingsorideas.Mostsingularnouns
(NotALL)aremadepluralbyaddings.Forexample,(pencilisasingularnoun.The
wordpencilsisapluralnoun.)
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Exception #1:Ifanounendswiththes,sh,ch,orxlikethewords,kiss,church,ash
orbox,thentheyaremadepluralbyaddinges(kisses,churches,ashes,andboxes).
Exception #2:Therearealsoirregularnounsthatdonotfollowanyrules.For
example,thepluralformofthewordchildischildren.
NounscanbeProperNounsorCommonNouns
A.Propernounsrefertospecificpeople,places,thingsandideas.Aperson'sname
(LeahGraham)isapropernoun,forexample.Otherexamplesarenamesofplaces
(Atlanta,Georgia)andnamesofthings(theNavy).Theyarealwayscapitalized!
PeoplesnamesandtitlesKingHenry,Mrs.Smith
Namesfordeity,religions,religiousfollowers,andsacredbooksGod,
Allah,Buddha,Islam,Catholicism,Christians
Races,nationalities,tribes,andlanguagesAfricanAmerican,Polish
American,Black,Chinese,Russian
SpecificPlaceslikecountries,cities,bodiesofwater,streets,buildings,
andparks
SpecificorganizationsCentralIntelligenceAgency(CIA),.
Daysoftheweek,months,andholidays,
Brandnamesofproducts
Historicalperiods,wellknownevents,anddocumentsMiddleages,
BostonTeaParty,MagnaCarta
Titlesofpublicationsandwrittendocuments
b.Commonnounsareallothernouns.Forexample:cat,pencil,paper,etc.Theyarenot
capitalizedunlesstheyarethefirstwordinthesentence.
Nounscanalsobecollective.
Collectivenounsarenounsthataregrammaticallyconsideredsingular,butincludemore
thanoneperson,place,thing,orideainitsmeaning.Wordsliketeam,group,jury,
committee,audience,crowd,class,troop,family,team,couple,band,herd,quartet,and
society.
Generally,collectivenounsaretreatedassingularbecausetheyemphasizethegroupas
oneunit.
Thecommitteeisgoingtomakeadecision.
Nounscanalsobeeithercountornoncount.
Nounsthatarenoncountcannotbecounted.Forexample,
onecannotgooutsidetohavetwofreshairs.Onegoesoutsideforfreshair.
5.NounscanbeAbstractorconcrete
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Concretenounsarenounsthatyoucantouch.Theyarepeople,places,andsomethings.
Wordslikeperson,court,Georgia,pencil,hand,paper,car,anddoorareallexamplesof
concretenouns.
Abstractnounsarenounsthatcannotbephysicallyheld.Forexample,thingslikeair,
justice,safety,Democracy,faith,religion,etc.
6.NounscanbeGerunds
Agerundistheingformoftheverbandisusedasanoun.Forexample,
Runningisgoodforyou.
Runningisthenoun/gerundandisistheverb.
Mycryingupsethim.
Cryingisthesubjectandupsetistheverb
Note:Anouncanfitintomorethanoneofthesecategories.Forexample,thenounAngela
isasingular,concrete,count,propernoun.
ronouns
Apronounisawordthatreplacesanoun.Theyeliminatetheneedforrepetition.
ForExample:
InsteadofEmmatalkedtoEmma'schild,youmightsayEmmatalkedtoherchild.
Heristhepronoun.Itrenamestheantecedent,Emma.
Thereareseveraltypesofpronouns.
PersonalPronounsrefertospecificpersonsorthings.Personalpronounscanactassubjects,
objects,orpossessives.
Singular:I,me,you,she,her,he,him,it
Plural:we,us,you,they,them
I,you,she,he,it,we,andtheyareusedassubjectsofsentences.
Forexample,Sheknewthegrammarrulesverywell.
Thepersonalpronounsthatcanbeusedasobjectsare:
Me,you,him,her,it,them
ForExample:
Theteachergaveallofthemgoodgrades.
Tommygavehispoetrybooktoher.
Then,Azragaveittome.
Them,herandmearepersonalpronounsusedasobjects.TheyareNEVERthesubjectsofthe
sentences.
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PossessivePronounsindicateownershiporpossession.
Singular:my,mine,your,yours,hers,his,its
Plural:yours,ours,theirs,
ForExample:Shereturnedmypenciltomebecauseitwasmine.
3.ReflexivePronounsnameareceiverofanactionwhoisidenticaltothedoeroftheaction.
Singular:myself,yourself,himself,herself,itself
Plural:ourselves,yourselves,themselves
Forexample:Manuelacongratulatedherselfonhergoodgrades.
Here,Manuelaisboththedoerandthereceiveroftheaction.
Q:So,whodidManuelacongratulate?A:Herself.
4.IntensivePronounsemphasizeanounoranotherpronoun.
Singular:myself,yourself,himself,herself,itself
Plural:ourselves,yourselves,themselves
ForExample:IsawBradPitthimselfatthemall.
Here,himselfemphasizestheantecedent,BraddPitt.
5.ReciprocalPronounsexpresssharedactionsorfeelings.Theyare:
EachotherOneanother
ForExample:
YanKoandTaihelpeachotherwiththeirhomework.
Leonandhisgirlfrienddancewithoneanotherwhentheygoclubbing.
6.IndefinitePronounsrefertononspecificpersonsandthings.
All,another,any,anybody,anyone,anything,both,each,either,everybody,everyone,
everything,few,many,neither,nobody,none,noone,nothing,one,several,some,
somebody,someone,something
ForExample:
ManybelievethatUFOsexist,butnobodycanproveit.
Noonecanbesureifaliensreallyexist,butonlyfewwonderifElvisisstillalive.
Theunderlinedindefinitepronounsdonotrefertoanyoneperson.Theyarereferringtopeople
ingeneral.
7.DemonstrativePronounsarealsoconsiderednounmarkers.They"point"towardsnouns.
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this,that,thesethose
ForExample:
ThatwomanattendsGainesvilleCollege.
Thatpointsoutwhichwoman.
ThewomanattendsGainesvilleCollege.
Q:Whichwoman?A:Thatwoman.
8.InterrogativePronounsintroducequestions.
Who,Whom,Whose,Which,What
ForExample:
Whoisgoingonvacation?Towhomwilltheteachergivean"A"?
Whatareyoudoing?
9.RelativePronounsintroducedependentclausesandreferstoapersonorthingalready
mentionedinthesentence(i.e.theantecedent).
Who,whoever,whom,whomever,whose,which,that
ForExample:
TheEnglishthatwelearninclasswillhelpuspassEnglish1101.
thatwelearninclassistheadjectiveclausethatdescribesEnglish.And,thatistherelative
pronoun.
Q:WhichEnglish?
A:TheEnglishthatwelearninclassasopposedtotheEnglishwelearnaroundourfriends.
Note:Adjectivesclausesmodifynounsorpronouns,andusuallyansweroneofthe
followingquestions:Whichone?Whatkindof?Theybeginwitharelativepronounorarelative
adverb(whenorwhere).
djectives
Anadjectivemodifies(describes)anounorpronoun.
NormallyinEnglish,theadjectivecomesbeforethenoun.Forexample:
Thesmartstudentearnedan"A".
Theyalsocomeafterlinkingverbs.Forexample:
Ifeelhappy.
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Adjectivescanbeusedtomakecomparisons.
Formostadjectivesofoneortwosyllables,youcanadder.Forexample,greater,faster,
stronger.
Foradjectiveslongerthantwosyllables,youshouldusethewordmore.
Forexample,Hewasmoreintelligentthanhissisterwas.
Adjectivescanalsobeusedassuperlatives.
Thisisusuallydonebyaddingesttotheendofanadjectivethatisoneortwosyllables.
Forexample,theloudest,thecoolest,thesmartest.
Ifanadjectiveisthreesyllablesorlonger,youmustusethewordsthemost.Forexample:
Katsuisthemostintelligentpersonintheworld!
WARNINGNeverusebothanerendingandthewordmoreoran
estendingandthewordmost.
Forexample,Iamthemosthappiestwhenmystudentslearn.Instead,itshouldbe:Iam
thehappiestwhenmystudentslearn.
Therearesomeirregularadjectiveandadverbforms.Forexample:
Adjective
Adverb
Comparingtwo
Comparingthreeor
more
Bad
badly
Worse
worst
Good
Well
Better
Best
Little
Less
Least
Much
Many
More
Most
PunctuationNote:Adjectivesarenotusuallycapitalizedunlesstheyarethefirstwordina
sentence.BUT,nationalitiesarealsoadjectivesandshouldbecapitalized.Forexample:
RickyMartinisPuertoRicanandMichelleYeohisChinese.
Thesearecalledproperadjectives.And,likepropernouns,properadjectivesarealways
capitalizedinEnglish.Theyarederivedfrompropernounsandarewordslike:African
American,Vietnamese,Latino,Italian,Japanese,Korean,etc.Theycanalsoincludeadjectives
likeCatholic,Jewish,Republican,Democrat,etc.
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Whentheyareusedtogether,theyarearrangedinacertainorder.
Determiner*
Opinion
Size
Age
Color
Origin
Material
Noun
The,This
Pretty
Big
New
Blue
Leather
Sofa
Some
Tall
Thin
Old
Purple
Puerto
Rican
My
Expensive
Small
Ancient
Black
Chinese
Silk
Wood
Scarf
ForExample:
Isawthattall,thin,old,blue,silkscarfatthestoreandIboughtit.
LeondrivesanexpensiveoldItaliancar.
Youwouldntordinarilyusesomanyadjectivesinjustonesentence.
*Note:Determinersincludearticles,demonstrativepronouns,indefinitepronounsand
possessivepronouns.
dverbs
Anadverbisawordthatmodifiesanactionverb,anadjectiveoranotheradverb.
Theteachercarefullygradedthehomework.
Carefullyisanadverbthatmodifiestheactionverbtograde.
Tommywasextremelyenthusiasticaboutdoinghishomework.
Extremelyisanadverbthatmodifiestheadjectiveenthusiastic.
YanKoranoutoftheclassroomveryquickly.
Veryisanadverbthatmodifiestheadverbquickly.
Warning:YouneedanadjectiveafterlinkingverbsNEVERanadverb!
Forexample,Taifeelsbad(guilty)whenhehastoleaveclass.
Here,badisanadjectivethatmodifiesthepropernounTai.Itisanadjectivebecauseitfollows
thelinkingverbtofeel.
HOWEVER,verbslikelook,sound,smell,feel,andtastecanfunctionaseitheranactionverb
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oralinkingverb.
Taifeelsbadly(tothetouch)afterswimminginachlorinatedpool.Hisskinisreallydry.
Here,badisusedinitsadverbialformsinceitfollowsanactionverb,tofeel.
TypesofAdverbs:
RelativeAdverbsintroducequestionsanddependentadverbialclauses.Theyanswerthe
questionsWhen?andWhere?Theyare:
WhenWhere
ForExample:
WhenIwasyoung,Ilikedtoplayoutside.
Q:WhendidIliketoplayoutside?A:WhenIwasyoung.
AdverbsofFrequencyindicateanswerthequestionhowoften?Theyare:
Always,usually,often,sometimes,rarely,never
ThestudentsinESOL98alwaysstudyveryhard.
Theyrarelyforgettodotheirhomework.
NOTE:Generally,theseadverbscomebeforetheverbhoweverthereisanexception.
Inthecaseoftheverbtobe,theadverboffrequencycomesaftertheverb.For
example:Azraisalwaysontimeforclass.
onjunctionsarethescotchtapeofthegrammaticalworld.Theyjointogether
wordsandphrases.Therearethreekindsofconjunctions:coordinatingconjunctions,correlative
conjunctions,andsubordinatingconjunctions.
1.CoordinatingConjunctions
TherearesevencoordinatingconjunctionsinEnglish.Youcanusethemnemonicdevice
fanboystorememberthem.
For
And
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Nor
But
Or
Yet
So
Theycanbeusedwithcommastocreatecompoundsentences.Forexample:
Ignaciolovestodance,butRocohasnorhythm.
KyongMeeworkshard,yetshestillearnslowgrades.
Note:Acompoundsentenceisasentencemadeupoftwoindependentclauses.Thatis,a
compoundsentenceissimplytwocompletesentencesjoinedbyacommaandacoordinating
conjunction(i.e.afanboys).
2. CorrelativeConjunctionsalsojoinideas,buttheyworkinpairs.Theyare:
Bothand
neithernor
whetheror
eitheror
notonlybutalso
ForExample:
NotonlyamIhappyaboutthegrades,butIamalsoexcitedthatyouarelearning!
3.SubordinatingConjunctionsjoinanindependentclausetoasubordinateclause.Thatis,they
joinaclausethatcanstandalonewithaclausethatcannotstandalone.Somefrequentlyused
subordinatingconjunctionsare:
after,although,as,asif,because,before,evenif,eventhough,if,since,sothat,though,unless,
until,when,whenever,where,wherever,whether,while.
ForExample:
Althoughthestudentsweretired,theystillcametoclass.
nterjections
Interjectionsarewordsusedtoexpressemotionalstates.Theycanusuallybefoundinnarrative
writing,interviews,andinspokenEnglish.Theycanstandalone.Forexample:
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Oh!,wow!,Ouch!Oops!Hey!
PunctuationNote:Theyarepunctuatedwitheithercommasorexclamationmarks.Mild
interjectionsarefollowedbyacomma,butstrongerinterjectionsarepunctuatedwithan
exclamationmark(!).
Oh,werelateforthemovie.
Generally,themoviesisnotanimportantdestination.Therefore,thepersonmakingthis
statementwillsoundlessurgentthanthenextexample.
Oh!Imlateforwork.
Work,unlikethemovies,isgenerallyconsideredaveryimportantdestination.Ifonedoesnt
arriveontime,thereisthepossibilityofbeingfiredoroflosingface.Here,thespeakerwill
haveagreatersenseofurgency.
Generally
,youdonotfindinterjectionsinacademicwriting.
repositions
Prepositionsarewordsthat,likeconjunctions,connectanounorpronountoanotherwordina
sentence.Somecommonprepositions:
About
Before
Down
Into
Through
Above
Behind
During
Like
To
Across
Below
Except
Of
Toward
After
Beneath
For
Off
Under
Among
Beside
From
On
Up
Around
Between
Over
With
At
By
Since
Without
In
Insteadof
Aprepositionalphraseisagroupofwordsthatbeginswithaprepositionandendswithanoun
orpronoun.Theycanactasadjectivesorasadverbs.
Manuela,thestudentfromGermany,wroteanexcellentpaperonthecomputer.
erbs
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Verbsgenerallyexpressactionorastateofbeing.Thereareseveralclassificationsforverbs
actionverbs,/linkingverbs,mainverbs/auxiliaryverbs,transitive/intransitiveandphrasalverbs.
1.Actionverbsshowaction.
Heruns.Heplays.Theystudy.
2.LinkingVerbslinkthesubjecttoanadjective.
RickyMartinisbeautiful.
ThelinkingverbislinkstheadjectivebeautifulwiththesubjectRickyMartin.
1.Mainverbscanstandalone.
2.Auxiliaryverbs,alsocalledhelpingverbs,serveassupporttothemainverb.
Themostcommonauxiliaryverbsare:
Have,has,had
Do,does,did
Be,am,is,are,was,were,being,been
Should,could,will,would,might,can,may,must,shall,ought(to)
Forexample:
Taihasruneveryday.
Runisanactionverb.Thesubjectcanactually"do"it.
Hasisthehelpingverb.Ithelpsthemainverbruntobepresentperfecttense.
Verbscanbetransitiveorintransitive.
TransitiveVerbsrequireadirectobjectinordertomakesense.
ForExample:
Yolandatakesaspirinforherheadaches.
Here,takesisatransitiveverbsincethesentenceYolandatakeshasnomeaningwithout
itsdirectobjectaspirin.
IntransitiveVerbsdonotneeddirectobjectstomakethemmeaningful.For
Example:
Julioswims.
Theverbswimhasmeaningforthereaderwithoutanobject.
Caution:Averbcanbeeithertransitiveorintransitivedependingonitscontext.For
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Example:
Thecarsrace.Here,raceisintransitive.Itdoesnotneedanobject.
Myfatherraceshorses.Here,racesistransitive.Itrequirestheobjecthorsesinorderto
makesense.
Verbscanbephrasal.
1. Phrasalverbsaremadeupofaverbandapreposition.Theprepositiongivestheverba
differentmeaningthanitwouldhavebyitself.Forexample,theverblookhasadifferent
meaningfromthephrasalverblookup(inthedictionary).
Somemoreexamples:
callup,findout,handin,makeup,putoff,turnon,writeup
WARNING:Thebaseformofaverbiscalledtheinfinitive.Itisto+verb.Forexample,
todo,towin,tostudy,etc.Undernocircumstancecanaverbprecededbytobeconsidereda
verb.Infinitivesarenotverbs.
rticlesarethe,a,andan.
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Examples:
Julia arrived in a limousine. (a
III.Usethewithmostnounswhosespecificidentityisknowntothereaderbecause:
1.thenounhasbeenpreviouslymentioned:
Yesterday I saw a group of ESL students. The students were playing with a ball. The
ball was white and blue. The ball rolled into a hole. The hole was small.
2.thenounismadespecificbyasuperlative:
I bought thefastest computer they had.
3. the noun describes a unique person, place, or thing:
Please give this to themanager.
Thesun is bright today.
Rain is falling heavily in theNorth.
4. the context or situation makes the nouns identity clear:
Please dont slam the door when you leave.
Bob warned me that the dog playing in his yard is very affectionate and jumps on every
person it meets.
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IV. Do not use the with plural or non-count nouns meaning "all" or "in general" (i.e. generic reference
nouns). Do not use the with most singular proper nouns.
The fountains are an expensive element of landscape design.
In some parts of the world, the rice is preferred to all other grains.
V.Donotusearticleswithothernounmarkersordeterminers,i.e.possessivenouns(Helens)
andsomepronouns(his,her,its,ours,their,whose,this,that,these,those,all,any,each,either,
every,few,many,more,most,much,neither,several,some).
Exceptions:
All the
A few
The most
Examples:
TheHelensbookisonthefloor.
AthisbookbelongstoTrung.
A final caution-Awordcanbemorethanonepartofspeech.
Forexample:
Isatonthesofa.
Above,sofaisusedasanoun(objectofthepreposition).
Isleptonthesofabed.
But,heresofaisusedasanadjectivetomodifythenounbed.
And,nativespeakersoftentakepoeticlicensewithwordsinconversation.Forexample:
ItsSofacityforyou!
Here,sofaactsasanadjectivetodescribethenouncity.Themeaningofthesentenceisthatthe
personwillhavetosleeponthesofa,notabed.
Sources:
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Azar,B.(1992).FundamentalsofEnglishgrammar2nded.EnglewoodCliffs,NJ:PrenticeHall
Regents.
Hacker,D.(1989).Awritersreference.NewYork:St.Martins
Press,Inc.
Hayes,C.(1996).Englishathand.Marlton,NJ:TownsendPress.
Leahshead.
Shono,S.(Fall1998).ESL0650ArticlesHandout.
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