8 PARTS OF SPEECH (ADV.

)
NOUN: PRONOUN; ADJECTIVE; VERB; ADVERB; PREPOSITION
(NOTE: Hyperlinks have been provided for all the 6 parts of speech mentioned
above)

1. NOUN:
1.A: COMMON NOUN:
A common noun is a name given in common to every person (or) thing of the
same class (or) kind.

Ex: (THINGS) – chain, bicycle, television, ladder, computer, calculator, computer,

cooker, book, crayons, ruler, dictionary, courage etc.,

Ex: (ANIMALS) – cat, kitten, lion, dog, tiger, puppy, elephant, whale, goat, sheep, bear,
lamb etc.,

Ex: (PLACES) – Airport, hostel, temple, hotel, university, mosque, stadium, post office,
farm, mall, zoo, theater, park, school etc.

Ex: (WORDS FOR PEOPLE WHO DO CERTAIN THINGS) – Artist, singer, teacher,
headmaster, plumber, dancer, writer, driver, director, magician, farmer, clerk,
manager etc.

1.B: PROPER NOUN:

A proper noun is the name of some particular person, thing, particular event
(or) group. Proper noun begins with a Capital letter.

Ex: (SPECIFIC) – World War II, English class, The Indian fitness association.

Ex: (NAMES) – Aladdin, Hitler, Santa Claus, Confucius, Jackie Chan, Nelson Mandela,
Uncle David etc.,

Ex: (DAYS OF WEEK; MONTHS OF YEAR) – Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, January,

February, April etc.,

Ex: (NAMES OF SPECIAL DAYS; CELEBRATIONS) – New Year’s Day, Friendship day,
Labour day, Republic day, Diwali, Rakshabandhan etc.,

Ex: (NAMES OF FAMOUS PLACES, BUILDINGS & MONUMENTS) – The Taj Mahal, The
Eiffel tower, The Golden Gate bridge, The Great Wall of China, The Statue of Liberty,
The leaning tower of Pisa, Buckingham Palace.
Ex: (PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN A PARTICULAR COUNTRY) – Afghans, Australians, The
British, Germans, Americans, Indians.

1.C: COLLECTIVE NOUN:

Noun that refers to a specific group of persons (or) things are called Collective
Nouns.

Ex: (GROUPS OF PEOPLE) - a family, a community, a band, a choir, an audience, a

committee, a company, the government, the army, A crowd of people, a panel of
judges, a class of school children, an army of soldiers, A team of players, a company of
actors, a band of musicians.

Ex: (GROUPS OF ANIMALS) – A brood of chickens, a litter of puppies, a school of fish,

a flock of birds, a pack of wolves, a swarm of bees, a drove of sheep, a pride of lions, a
herd of cattle, a pod of dolphins, a gaggle of geese.

Ex: (GROUPS OF THINGS) – A bunch of bananas, a deck of cards, a fleet of vehicles, a

bunch of flowers, a cluster of grapes, a suite of rooms, a bunch of keys, a grove of
trees, a suite of furniture, a bouquet of flowers, a fleet of ships, a set of tools.

1.D: ABSTRACT NOUN:

An abstract noun is usually the name of feelings, ideas, action, state,
characteristics or qualities considered apart from the object to which it
belongs.

Abstract noun cannot be seen, heard, touched (or) tasted, but it can only be felt
by our sense. The abstract noun is not visible.

Ex: wiseness, goodness, kindness, darkness, honesty, wisdom, bravery, poverty,

childhood, boyhood, manhood, youth, slavery, sleep, dream.

1.E: CONCRETE NOUN:

In contrast to abstract noun, the concrete nouns can be seen (or) touched by us.

Ex: Building, Iron, Gold, Silver, Aluminium etc.

1.F: COUNTABLE NOUN:

They are the names of objects, people etc., that we can count. They have their
own singular (or) plural forms.

Ex: Book – books; Apple – apples; Horse – horses.

1.G: UNCOUTABLE NOUN:
They are the names of things, which we cannot count.

Ex: coffee, tea, milk, oil, petrol, air

1.H: MATERIAL NOUN:

These are the raw materials (or) objects exiting in nature.

Ex: Iron, Gold, Brass, Aluminium, Plastic, mat etc.

EXERCISE – 1: (DO IT YOURSELF) (IDENTIFY THE NOUN TYPE THAT IS BOLD

AND UNDERLINED)

1. The Book was lying on the table

2. The jury has given its verdict.

3. Gold is a precious metal.

4. Rice is the staple food of South Indians.

5. The Earth moves round the sun.

6. Honesty is the best policy

7. A committee of five was appointed.

8. Solomon was famous for his wisdom.

9. My Family is going to Bangalore next month.

10. There is a pile of books on the table.

(ANSWERS: 1 – common noun; 2 – collective noun; 3 – material noun; 4 –

material noun; 5 –common noun; 6 – abstract noun; 7 – collective noun; 8 –
proper noun, abstract noun; 9 – collective noun; 10 – countable noun)

2. PRONOUN:
2.A: SUBJECT PRONOUN:
Pronouns that are formed to the left of the main verb are called as Subject
pronouns, because they tell us who (or) what the doer of the verb is, or who or
what is described the verb.

Ex: I, you, he, she, it, we, you, they.

2.B: PERSONAL PRONOUN:
Personal pronouns stand for the names of persons. They take the place of
nouns.

Ex: I, me, my, mine, we, our, ours, us.

2.C: POSSESSIVE PRONOUN:

Possessive pronoun stands for the possessive noun of the personal pronoun.
These pronouns are used to talk about things that belong to people. The words
mine, yours, his, hers, theirs and ours are possessive pronouns.

Ex: mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs.

2.D: REFLEXIVE PRONOUN:

These pronouns end in self and selves. A class of pronouns beginning with the
form of personal pronouns and ending with –self / -selves.

Ex: myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves.

2.E: DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUN:

They point out things, as this, these, that and those, because they convey a
high degree of specificity and distinctiveness in pointing out.

Use ‘this’ and ‘these’ when you are talking about things near you. Use ‘that’ and ‘those’
when you are talking about things farther away.

2.F: RELATIVE PRONOUN:

Which relate to some noun going before in the sentence as who, whose, whom,
which, what, that.

2.G: INTERROGATIVE PRONOUN:

They ask questions as – who, which, what, whom, whose. They are here for
asking questions, and are therefore called Interrogative pronouns.

2.H: INDEFINITE PRONOUN:

Indefinite pronouns, which refer to persons (or) things in a general (or)
indefinite way.

Pronoun that typically indicates an unspecified, even generic, person (or) thing.

Ex: Anybody, everybody, nobody, somebody, anyone, everyone, no one, someone,

anything, everything, nothing, something.

EXERCISE – 2: (DO IT YOURSELF) (IDENTIFY THE PRONOUN TYPE THAT IS

BOLD AND UNDERLINED)

1. She wants to do it herself.

2. Nobody said a word all day.

3. I can’t find them

4. Jim gave me the last copy.

5. This is a book.

6. They didn’t give themselves a chance to think before beginning the

competition.

7. The studio plans to give them each a fruit basket.

8. My brother mike who lives in Florida, will be here any minute.

9. Anyone who likes this music can let me know.

10. What is that noise I keep hearing from your book bag?

(ANSWERS: 1 – Reflexive pronoun; 2 – indefinite pronoun; 3 – personal pronoun;

4 – personal pronoun; 5 – Demonstrative pronoun; 6 – reflexive pronoun; 7 –
personal pronoun; 8 – relative pronoun; 9 – indefinite pronoun; 10 – interrogative
pronoun)

3. ADJECTIVE:
3.A: ADJECTIVE OF QUALITY:
Adjective showing the kind or quality of nouns (or) pronouns are called as
Adjective of Quality.

Ex: Nice, bold, heavy, good, wonderful, wise, smart, clever.

3.B: DEGREES OF ADJECTIVE:

Every adjective has three degrees of its own. They are positive, comparative
and superlative.

POSITIVE COMPARATIVE SUPERLATIVE

Bold Bolder Boldest

Bright brighter brightest

Great greater greatest

Old older oldest

Proud prouder proudest

Mean meaner meanest

Able abler ablest

True truer truest

Simple simpler simplest

Nice nicer nicest

Fat fatter fattest

Sad sadder saddest

Busy busier busiest

Early earlier earliest

Ugly uglier ugliest

Good better best

Bad worse worst

Little less least

Old older oldest

Far farther farthest

4. VERB:
4.A: REGULAR VERBS:
A regular verb forms we can add –d (or) –ed to the end of its base form.

The present participle is formed by adding –ing to the end of it base form and the past
is formed by adding –ed.
PRINCIPAL PARTS OF REGULAR VERBS:
PRESENT PAST PAST PARTICIPLE PRESENT PARTCIPLE

Book booked booked booking

Erase erased erased erasing

Form formed formed forming

Pick picked picked picking

Purchase purchased purchased purchasing

Question questioned questioned questioning

Bat batted batted batting

Dot dotted dotted dotting

Fit fitted fitted fitting

Allow allowed allowed allowing

Alter altered altered altering

Cook cooked cooked cooking

Corner cornered cornered cornering

Apply applied applied applying

Carry carried carried carrying

Gratify gratified gratified gratifying

Buoy buoyed buoyed buoying

Convey conveyed conveyed conveying

4.B: TO BE VERBS:
Verbs like am, is, are, was, were do not show action. They are verbs of being.
They tell us about a state of being (or) existence. They don’t give any meaning
but they are used to describe a subject.

THE VERB ‘BE’:

PERSON SUBJECT PRESENT TENSE PAST TENSE

First-singular I am was

First-plural We are were

Second-singular You are were

Second-Plural You are were

Third-singular he, she, it is was

Third-plural they are were

5. ADVERB:

5.A: ADVERBS OF MANNER:

Adverbs of manner are mostly formed from adjectives by adding –ly.

These adverbs express in what manner (or) how an action is done.

Ex: Wisely, quickly, cleverly, foolishly, wonderfully.

Ex: Mr. David speaks English fluently.

5.B: ADVERBS OF DEGREE (or) QUANTITY:

Adverbs of degree that show how much, (or) in what degree, (or) to what extent.

Ex: very, extremely, too, completely, greatly, nearly, well, almost, here, hardly, fully,
enough, altogether, for, in this, for this, quite, rather.

6. PREPOSITION:
6.A: SIMPLE PREPOSITION:
Simple prepositions are ‘short’ (or) ‘little’ words that express relationships
including those of space, time and degree.

Ex: at, by, for, from, in, into, of, off, on, out, over, till, to, up, upon, with, under, down.

1. AT: (near, close to, with a purpose)

Ex: My son is sitting at the table, doing his homework.

There’s someone at the front door.

1.A: At a position (or) point in time (or) stages

At is used with expression in time.

Ex: The concert starts at 6.30 p.m on Saturday evening.

1.B: At with numbers

Ex: She lives at 244, North Street, London.

-The police arrested him for driving a car at 120 kmph.

1.C: At for towards (a goal for the action)

Ex: Aim at the blue balloon.

1.D: By (Place, means and time)

By as a word indicating place.

By (preposition) referring to position means ‘near’ (or) ‘beside’ (or) ‘next to’

Ex: There’s a policeman standing by my car.

We drove by your house.

1.E: For (only, particular)

For indicates: a recipient of beneficiary.

Ex: We have a present for you.

I have news for you.

For indicates: a special purpose

Ex: you need a coat for winter.

He has a bicycle for transportation.

For indicates: the intended result of an action.

Ex: The boys were asking for help.

What are you looking for?

We need room for ten people for our party.

2. FROM:

From indicates: a source, point of departure, separation, motion (or) movement.

Ex: I hear from him every week.

Keep away from the crowd.

I come from London.

3. IN:

IN Indicates: location inside, place, time, within, membership of group.

Ex: The pens are in the box / cupboard.

He sat down in the chair and read his novel.

4. INTO:

INTO indicates: motion, entrance, forced contact, conversion.

Ex: He went into the room.

They went into business together in 1979.

She cut the pie into eight wedges.

5. OF:

OF indicates: belonging (or) connection.

Ex: The pages of the book.

6. OUT:

OUT indicates: removal, distribution, movement from inside, absence, a distance from,
no longer in supply, position.

- The first player to go out loses the game. (REMOVAL)

- Please take the trash out. (REMOVAL)

- The teacher told me to hand these papers out. (DISTRIBUTION)

- She took the cake out of the oven. (MOVEMENT FROM INSIDE)

- The boss is out of the office. (ABSENCE)

- The restaurant is about three miles out of town (A DISTANCE FROM)

7. OVER:

OVER Indicates: motion, above, higher than, more than, to the other side.

Ex: The boy jumped over the fence (MOVEMENT ABOVE)

- He ran over the bridge (MOVEMENT ABOVE)

-We often walk over the fields (TO THE OTHER SIDE, ACROSS)

8. TILL:

TILL indicates: A particular time

- I waited till 10 ‘o’ clock.

- The boys studied till midnight.

9. TO:

TO indicates: destination, movement and direction, time, receiver, idioms.

- Count from one to hundred. (MOVEMENT)

- The traffic lights changed from red to green. (DESTINATION)

- Normal working week is from Monday to Friday. (TIME)

10. UP:

UP indicates: movement to a higher place, next

- He always walks up the steps to the sixth floor. (MOVEMENT)

- The balloon is up.

-She lives two blocks up the street. (LOCATION FURTHER ALONG)

- She is going to travel up route 55. (MOVEMENT ALONG A WAY)

- They swam up the river for exercise.

11. WITH:

WITH Indicates: in the company of, instrument, having

-She left her children with the babysitter. (IN THE SAME PLACE)

- She always drinks her coffee with sugar. (HAVING (or) ADDING)

- I have an article with pictures for my presentation.

- She sang with great skill.

-he hit me with a stick.

12. UNDER:

UNDER indicates: motion, place, control.

Ex: Children under the trees. (IN A LOWER POSITION)

- The children hid under the table. (COVERED BY SOMETHING ELSE)

- You are under arrest. (CONTROL)

- I paid under ten dollars for this camera. (LESS THAN)

- The game is only for under 19. (LESS THAN)

13. DOWN:
DOWN indicates: movement.

-The road runs down into a valley – (MOVEMENT FROM A HIGHER PLACE)

- The man went down the road on foot – (COVERED BY SOMETHING ELSE)

6. B: COMPOUND PREPOSITION:
Which are generally formed by prefixing a preposition to a noun, an adjective
(or) an adverb.

Ex: above, about, across, along, among, against, after, around, between, beyond,
before, behind, beside, besides, through, towards, since, inside, outside, within,
without.

1. ABOVE (higher than):

It indicates: at a higher place, at a higher level, earlier, negative action, expressions.

2. ABOUT (on the topics (or) subjects):

It indicates: identifies a topic, to get information, not exactly.

3. ACROSS (on the other side of)

It indicates: movement from one side, otherside, facing, in every area of.

4. ALONG (following)

It indicates: together, movement (or) place, from one end towards the other end.

5. AMONG (surrounded by)

It indicates: with each other, to the individuals in a group.

6. AGAINST (in the opposite side to)

It indicates: touching something to support, touching forcibly in opposition to, toward

a force in the opposite direction.

7. AFTER (following on)

It indicates: later than, behind.

8. AROUND (on all sides)

It indicates: movement in a circular direction in place, following a boundary in all

areas of, on another side of.
9. BETWEEN (in (or) within two)

It indicates: separation of two things, a choice of, together.

10. BEYOND (on the other side of, farther on)

It indicates: past the limits of, later than, more distance after that.

11. BEFORE (advance, about priority in a sequence)

It indicates: earlier than, in a more important position than, facing, in the future, in
the presence of.

12, BEHIND (in the rear of)

It indicates: at the back, less advanced than, left in the past, late, encouraging (or)
supporting.

13. BESIDE (by the side of, near)

It indicates: next to

14. BESIDES (in addition to)

It indicates: excepting, apart from.

15. THROUGH (movement)

It indicates: length of time, passage within, vision beyond something, parts beginning,
between, and including, finish something that requires effort.

16. TOWARDS (in the direction of)

It indicates: near a period of time, moving

17. SINCE (time up to now)

It indicates: length of time.

Ex: Since you have finished your homework, you can help me make dinner.

I have been living here since 1980.

18. INSIDE (within)

It indicates: indoors, within.

Ex: Is there anybody inside? (INDOORS)

- The dentist looked inside his mouth? (WITHIN)

- She put the money inside the envelope? (WITHIN)

19. WITHIN (inside the limits)

It indicates: length of time, less than a distance, not outside a place, possible, not
exceeding the limits of something.

Ex: He will return within a week (LENGTH OF TIME)

- I live within 3 miles of the city central less than a distance.

- At last, the beach is within sight possible.

20. WITHOUT (not having)

It indicates: absence of somebody, not using, not performing an action, negative of

with.

Ex: We had to cook without gas. (NOT USING)

- She can’t read without her glasses. (NOT USING)

- He left without saying goodbye. (NOT PERFORMING AN ACTION)

- No entry without permission. (NOT HAVING)