PARTS OF SPEECH NOTES

Eight Parts of Speech:

noun (names)

adverb (describes, limits)

pronoun (replaces)

preposition (relates)

verb (states action or being)

conjunction (connects)

adjective (describes, limits)

interjection (expresses strong feeling)

N
No
ou
un
n::

a word that names a person, place, thing, or idea.

common noun: is general name of person, place, or thing.

example: That boy is four years old.
proper noun: is a name of a particular person, place, or thing.
example: My son goes to Northwoods Elementary School.
abstract noun: is a name of an idea or feeling. It cannot be seen, heard or touched.
example: Honesty is the best policy.

P
Prro
on
no
ou
un
n:: a word that takes the place of one or more nouns
Max always supports his soccer team.
Antecedent: the word or group of words that a pronoun replaces, or refers to.
Max always supports his soccer team.
personal pronoun (refers to a specific person/thing or shows possession)
first person: I, me, my, mine, we, us our, ours
second person: you, your, yours
third person: he, him, his, she, her, hers, it , its, they, them, their, theirs
reflexive pronoun (has self/selves in it): myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves,
yourselves, themselves
indefinite pronoun (do not refer to a specific person/thing and dont have antecedents):
all, another, any, anybody, anyone, anything, both, each, either, everybody, everyone,
everything, few, many, most, neither, none, no one, nothing, one, several, some, someone,
something
demonstrative pronoun (points out certain people or things): this, that, these, those
interrogative pronoun (used to ask a question): who, whom, which, what

V
Ve
errb
b::

a word used to express action (run), existence (is) or occurrence

(happen).
action verb: tells what the action a subject is performing. (shows action, movement, mental
action or ownership)
First find the subject. Then ask yourself what did the subject do?
example: The bat flew silently across the dark sky.
(The subject is bat. What did the bad do? Flew is the action verb.)
Physical Action: lives

Mental Action: believe

Ownership: have

helping verb: auxiliary verb that helps to make up a verb phrase.

VERB PHRASE: is the main verb plus one or more helping verbs.
example: We have been asking for a pet for a long time.

Common Helping Verbs

be

am, is, are, was, were, be, being, been

have

has, have, had

do

do, does, did

others

may, might, must, can, could, shall, should, will, would

linking verb: links the subject with another word that renames or describes the subject. also
called state-of-being verbs; verbs that do not show action.
example: Last month was unusually cold.
(was links month with cold.)
Common Forms of BE Used as
Linking Verbs

Additional
Linking Verbs

be

was

could be

have been

appear

look

sound

is

were

should be

has been

become

remain

stay

am

shall be

may be

could have
been

feel

seem

taste

might be

must have
been

grow

smell

turn

are

will be

V
Ve
errb
b::

CONTINUED..

regular verb: forms its past and past participle by adding ed or d to the present..
examples:
PRESENT
stretch
jog
bury

PRESENT
PARTICIPLE
(is) stretching
(is) jogging
(is ) burying

PAST
stretched
jogged
buried

PAST
PARTICIPLE
(have) stretched
(have ) jogged
(have) buried

irregular verb: does not form its past and past participle by adding ed or d to the present..
example: See the Irregular Verbs hand out!!!!! Six groups and a set of six problem verbs.

A
Ad
djje
ec
cttiivve
e::

a word that is used to describe or modify a noun or pronoun.

It answers questions = Which one? What kind/type? How many?
What Kind? :

fresh water

hot, dry day

southern state

How Many/Much? :

three days

many nights

no rain

Which One? :

that desert

those camels

this jeep

A
Ad
dvve
errb
b::

a word that used to describe or modify a verb, adjective, or other

adverb. it makes writing more precise or exact.
It answers questions = How? Where? When? To What Extent?
How? :

The giraffe stepped carefully.

Where? :

The zebra headed north.

When? :

Then it reached for a leaf.

To What Extent? :

The reporter almost photographed the antelope.

P
Prre
ep
po
ossiittiio
on
n::

a word that shows the relationship between a noun/pronoun

and another word in the sentence. It shows position, direction, or time and
introduces a prepositional phrase.
before the intersection
at the intersection
across the intersection
after the intersection

The building

is the school.

examples:
about
above
across
after
against
along
among
around
at
before

behind
below
beneath
beside
between
beyond
by
down
during
for

from
in
inside
into
near
of
off
on
out
outside

over
through
into
toward
under
until
up
with
within
without

C
Co
on
njju
un
nc
cttiio
on
n::

a word that connects words or groups of words. Used with a

comma, they can make a compound sentence.
and

but

or

yet

IIn
ntte
errjje
ec
cttiio
on
n::
some examples: aha
well

both either

neither/nor

a word that expresses a strong feeling.

oh

ugh

yes

yikes

goodness

wow

oops

ouch

yippee

hooray

A
Arrttiic
clle
e::

a word that modifies a nouns; make nouns more specific; NOT an

adjective (a, an, the)
Use a before a word that begins with a consonant sound.
Use an before a word that begins with a vowel sound.
examples:

a wildflower

a dune

an hour

an oasis