The Eight
Parts of Speech
Mrs. Crystal Hurd
John S. Battle High School
1. Noun
A noun is a person, place, thing, or idea.
Ask yourself, “Does the word name a person, place, or
thing?
The theater is playing several movies tonight.
(sing.)
(Plur.)
Noun = Subject
The noun is the subject of a sentence. The
subject is what the rest of the sentence modifies.
Everything else in the sentence is considered
the predicate. The predicate includes the verb
and everything after it.
The sun is very hot today.
subj
predicate
My aunt travels from Florida to New York every
summer.
Direct/Indirect Object
A direct object is a noun that receives the action of the
verb. In the sentence below, ask yourself, made a
what?
She made a phone call
Vb
do
I visited the Air and Space Museum.
Indirect Objects (which may or may not appear in a
sentence) appears with the direct object and names the
person or thing that something is given to or done for.
(For whom or for what?)
We made the couch a slipcover.
vb
IO
DO
2. Pronoun
A pronoun replaces a noun. This prevents
repetition in a sentence or paragraph.
Ask yourself, “Does the word stand for a noun?
Erica mixed the ingredients in the bowl, then she
poured it into a cake pan.
She modifies Erica.
Cody and Veronica love to watch T.V. on
Wednesday nights. They love reality television.
Cody and Veronica = They
3. Verb
Verbs describe an action or state of being and links the
subject to the direct object.
Ask yourself, “Does the word tell what someone or
something did?”
“Does the word link one word wit another word that
identifies or describes it?”
“Does the word merely show that something exists?”
The little girl rides her bike down the street.
Mike walks down the street every morning on his way to
the school bus.
Linking Verbs
Linking verbs link the subject to a word generally
found near the end of the sentence and
identifies, renames, or describes the subject.
Augustus was emperor.
I am thirsty
Was links Augustus to emperor (renames)
Am links I to thirsty (describes)
Verb Forms
SINGULAR (add an –s to the verb)
Tim sings.
She shops as soon as she gets paid!
PLURAL (drop the –s)
We sing carols every Christmas.
They shop every Friday.
Verb forms
• I
walk
We walk
• You walk
You walk
• He/she/it walks
They walk
4. Adjective
Adjectives modify or describe a noun.
Ask yourself, “Does the word tell what kind, which one,
how many, or how much?”
The misty rain made it difficult to see the road.
Misty describes road. The noun being modified usually
proceeds (comes after) the adjective.
Silver hammer
Adj
noun
5. Adverb
An adverb modifies a verb.
Ask yourself, “Does the word tell
Where, when, in what way, or to what
extent?”
*Hint: many adverbs end in -ly
She quickly hid the cookie jar from the
curious child.
6. Conjunction
Conjunctions join two words, phrases, or sentences
together.
Ask yourself,
“Does the work connect other words in the
sentence?”
My elbow hurt so I went to see my physician.
We ate at IHOP because all of the other restaurants
were closed.
*Conjunctions connect two phrases/sentences (they are
7. Preposition
Preposition comes before a noun, pronoun, or noun
phrase and connects it to another part of the sentence.
Prepositions are usually in a phrase (prepositional
phrase).
Ask yourself, “Is the word part of a phrase that includes
a noun or pronoun?”
The dog sleeps under the porch during the summer.
Through the window, I saw snow falling.
I passed by her in K-Mart.
8. Interjection
Interjections stand alone and express surprise and
emotion (usually followed by an exclamation
point).
Ask yourself, “Does the word express emotion
and function independently of the sentence?”
Oh! The new SAW movie is out.
Ouch! I just touched a hot stove.
Ha! That comedian is really funny.
Practice!
Identify the nouns and verbs in each sentence:
My mother makes the best chocolate cake.
Kevin likes to read comic books.
Alisha cleans up after her brothers and sisters.
Answers!
My mother makes the best chocolate cake.
noun/subj
vb
noun/do
Kevin likes to read comic books.
noun/subj vb
noun/do
Alisha cleans up after her brothers and sisters.
noun/subj
vb
prepositional phrase
More Practice
Identify the Adjective or adverb in each sentence.
The child slowly walked away.
The bare trees were evidence that it was winter.
The paper airplane soared lightly through the air
and landed on the teacher’s desk.
More Answers!
The child slowly walked away.
adv (describes how the child walked)
The bare trees were evidence that it was winter.
adj (describes trees)
The paper airplane soared lightly through the air
adj (describes airplane)
adv (describes soared)
and landed on the teacher’s desk.
adj (describes desk)
This is a compound sentence.
More??
Determine whether the underlined word is a
conjunction, a preposition, or an interjection.
Wow! That car is really fast!
There are flowers growing under the bridge.
The sign had fallen so I picked it up.
After the movie, we went to a pizza place.
I called but you were busy.
Gees! Time goes by so quickly.
More Answers
Wow! That car is really fast!
Interjection
There are flowers growing under the bridge.
Prepositional phrase
The sign had fallen so I picked it up.
Conjunction
After the movie, we went to a pizza place.
Prepositional Phrase
I called but you were busy.
Conjunction
Gees! Time goes by so quickly.
Interjection