Verbs, Adverbs, Prepositions,
Conjunctions, Interjections
Verbs
A verb is a word that shows an action, an
occurrence, or a state of being:
He ran. He screamed. He threw a ball.
He happened to see his friend. He became a teacher.
He is a teacher. He is sick. He is here.
In reality, a verb is relatively easy to identify.
Most of the time, it shows an action or is one of
the following: is/are/was/were/be/being/
been/am or have/has/had.
Identify the verb in each of the following sentences
before clicking to see the answer:
The boy followed the dog across the field.
have a wild imagination.
Children frequently have
The screams terrified all the people.
The new president was never in the Oval Office.
Over the river and through the woods to
grandmother’s house we go.
go
Verbs come in several shapes & sizes & can even have
helping (auxiliary) verbs.
He has eaten.
They had seen him.
We are reading.
We will read.
I did read the book. They would buy more.
The verbs in blue are helping verbs. The verbs in red are main
verbs. Main verbs are the ones with meaning. In the first
sentence, “eaten” tell you what action we’re talking about.
We need “has” because it tells us something about WHEN
the action happened. Similarly, in “we will read,” “read” tells
you what the action in the sentence is. “Will” doesn’t tell you
anything about what the action is; it tell you about the time
of the action.
When you identify the verb of the sentence, you give both the
helping verb & the main verb. For example, if I asked you
what the verb in the first sentence is, you’d say, “has
eaten.”
It’s very important to know what linking verbs are. Linking verbs link the
subject to what follows.
Linking verbs: is, are, was, etc.; become; appear; seem; remain; taste;
smell; feel; sound; look
The above verbs CAN be linking verbs but don’t have to be. If a noun
that follows the verb renames the subject, the verb is a linking verb:
Susan is a teacher. – “Teacher” is the same person as “Susan.”
John became president. – “John” is the same person as “president.”
Likewise, if an adjective that follows the verb renames the subject, the
verb is a linking verb:
The girl is tall. – “Tall” describes “girl.”
Your boyfriend seems calm. – “Calm” describes “boyfriend.”
Addison looks beautiful. – “Beautiful” describes “Addison.”
The soup tastes great. – “Great” describes “soup.”
Now consider this:
How do you keep a fish from smelling?
Cut off his nose.
That joke works because sometimes “smell” is a linking verb, & sometimes it isn’t.
How do you keep a fish from smelling bad?
How do you keep a fish from smelling the rocks?
In the first sentence, “smell” is a linking verb because “bad” describes “fish.” In the
second, it’s NOT a linking verb, because “rocks” is not the same thing as “fish.”
“Taste,” “feel,” “sound,” & “look” are the same way:
The soup tastes good. – I taste the soup.
The fabric feels soft. – I feel the fabric.
The music sounds pretty. – I sounded the alarm.
That girl looks pretty. – He looked at the girl.
In the first sentence of each pair, the verb is a linking verb, because the adjective that
follows the verb describes the subject. That’s not true in the second sentence.
There’s a TON more to learn about verbs,
so they have their own slide show ( or two
or three).
Identifying verbs
• http://www.ucl.ac.uk/internet-grammar/verbs/ex1.htm
Adverbs
Adverbs describe verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs.
Adverbs usually answer the questions when, why, where,
or how.
He walked (how?) slowly.
We arrived (when?) late.
He’s sitting (where?) here.
When adverbs answer questions like that, they’re describing
the verb. If they describe an adjective or another adverb,
they usually come right before that adjective or adverb.
The puppy is very sad. (“Very” describes the adjective “sad.”)
He walked very slowly. (“Very” describes the adverb “slowly.”)
Identifying adverbs
• http://www.proprofs.com/quiz-school/quizshow.php?title=adverbsquiz&quesnum=1
• http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/410/grammar/adverb1.htm
• http://www.tolearnenglish.com/exercises/exercise-english2/exercise-english-78027.php
• http://www.dukeofdefinition.com/adverbs_01.htm
• http://www.grammaruntied.com/adverbs/advpractice.html (write
answers on your paper & then click on “Are you prepared?”)
• http://depts.dyc.edu/learningcenter/owl/exercises/adjectives_and_ad
verbs_ex1.htm
• http://www.ucl.ac.uk/internet-grammar/adverbs/ex1.htm
Prepositions
A preposition links nouns, pronouns and phrases
to other words in a sentence. It comes before a
noun or pronoun to show that noun/pronoun’s
relationship to other words.
I met the man from Barcelona.
“From” links “Barcelona” to “man.” “From
Barcelona” tells us WHICH man.
They walked through the woods.
“Through” links “woods” to “walked.” “Through the
woods” tells us WHERE they walked.
Prepositions are always followed by a noun or pronoun—or could be, if you
wrote the sentence “properly”:
This is the guy we went with. = This is the guy with whom we went.
This is the house I used to live in. = This is the house in which I used to live.
Consider the following:
The dog is inside his house.
He sleeps under the bed.
“Inside” & “under” are prepositions. But look:
The dog lives inside.
I knew I couldn’t save the man when I saw him go under.
In these cases, “inside” & “under” are not prepositions. You could add a noun,
but you can’t just rearrange the sentence, like above, & end up with a
preposition + pronoun. Here, “inside” & “under” are ADVERBS answering
the question “where.”
Prepositions are probably the hardest parts of speech to
identify. But let’s see how you do. Identify the
preposition in each sentence before clicking to see if
you’re right.
My friend joined me for lunch yesterday afternoon.
I ran beside
beside the train but couldn’t keep up.
I counted the money you had sent me but didn’t arrive at
at
the total you had.
Although he sings well, he won’t do a duet with
with his sister.
That guy lives near me & offered me a ride yesterday.
We’re going to meet after work & go camping.
Below is a list of prepositions. But don’t bet
that it’s a complete list. Also, remember that
some of them can be adverbs too.
above, about, across, against, along, among,
around, at, before, behind, below, beneath,
beside, between, beyond, by, down, during,
except, for, from, in, inside, into, like, near,
of, off, on, since, to, toward, through, under,
until, up, upon, with, within
Identifying prepositions
• http://depts.dyc.edu/learningcenter/owl/exercises/preposi
tions_ex1.htm
• http://depts.dyc.edu/learningcenter/owl/exercises/preposi
tions_ex2.htm
• http://www.phschool.com/atschool/writing_grammar_08/
grade6/exercise_bank/chapter17/wag6_act_17-1a.cfm
• http://www.ucl.ac.uk/internet-grammar/preps/ex1.htm
• http://www.grammaruntied.com/prepositions/preppractic
e.html (write answers on your paper & then click on “Are
you prepared?”)
Conjunctions
Conjunctions connect parts of a sentence. There are two types of conjunction:
coordinating & subordinating.
Coordinating conjunctions connect EQUAL parts of a sentence--two nouns, two verbs,
two adjectives, etc. They are easier to identify than subordinating conjunctions,
because there are only 7 of them:
and, but, or, nor, for, so, yet
Jake and Addison got married.
She was laughing or crying.
Ted is gorgeous but stupid.
In these sentences, “and” connects 2 nouns, “or” two verbs, & “but” two adjectives.
Coordinating conjunctions can also link two complete, independent sentences:
I made the meal. Alex baked the cake. – I made the meal, and Alex baked the cake.
Both sentences are equally important, so “and” can link them.
It’s important to remember that coordinating
conjunctions link EQUAL sentences, because
subordinating conjunctions link sentences & show
one to be more important than the other:
I made the meal. Alex baked the cake.
I made the meal before Alex baked the cake.
I made the meal because Alex baked the cake.
I made the meal while Alex baked the cake.
In all of the sentences with subordinating
conjunctions, “I made the meal” is more important
than “Alex baked the cake.” “Alex baked the cake”
is SUBORDINATE to “I made the meal.”
Following are some common subordinating conjunctions, but don’t consider
the list complete. Also, just as some words can be a preposition or an
adverb depending on their usage, so also some words can be a
subordinating conjunction, a preposition, or some other part of speech
depending on usage.
after
since
when
although
so that
whenever
as
supposing
where
because
than
whereas
before
that
who
no matter
until
why
how
what
even though
wherever
but that
though
whether
if
though
which
in order that
till
while
lest
unless
Let’s look briefly at clauses. Clauses have a subject & a verb. If a group of
words don’t have a subject AND a verb, they form a phrase, not a
clause.
As mentioned before, coordinating conjunctions can link any two equal
parts. Subordinating conjunctions link CLAUSES & make one less
important than the other.
Look at the following sentences; in every one, the subordinating
conjunction links 2 CLAUSES, not 2 nouns, 2 verbs, 2 adjectives, etc.
I made the meal because Alex baked the cake.
He went camping after he finished the paper.
We will help you if we get home in time.
The subordinate clause can come first:
Because Alex baked the cake, I made the meal.
After he finished the paper, he went camping.
If we get home in time, we will help you.
Identifying conjunctions
• http://www.education.com/studyhelp/article/conjunctions_answer1 (Just do the first
exercise, just write the conjunctions, & check at the
bottom)
• http://www.perfectyourenglish.com/grammar//identifyingconjunctions.htm
• http://www.dukeofdefinition.com/conjunction_01.htm
(write the answers on your paper & check at the bottom)
• http://www.ucl.ac.uk/internet-grammar/conjunct/ex1.htm
Interjections
Interjections are words that express emotion &
are unconnected grammatically to the rest of
the sentence:
Oh, I don’t know about that.
Wow! I hope you’re wrong.
Yes! They’re serving shrimp tonight!
Well, he didn’t seem like he knew very much.
Identifying interjections
• http://www.phschool.com/atschool/writing_grammar_08/
grade11/exercise_bank/chapter17/wag11_act_17-4c.cfm
• http://knowledgesolutionsindia.com/page.php?60 (write
the answers on your paper & click on the answer key)
• http://www.quia.com/cb/56972.html
Click here to go to your assignment.
http://www.myenglishpages.com/site_php_files/grammar-exercise-parts-of-speech.php
http://highered.mcgrawhill.com/sites/0073123587/student_view0/chapter6/parts_of_speech_exercise.html
http://www.writingcentre.uottawa.ca/hypergrammar/rvpartsp.html
http://www.really-learn-english.com/english-parts-of-speech-exercise-02.html
http://a4esl.org/q/f/z/zz30fna.htm (takes a long time to load)
http://www.towson.edu/ows/exercisepos1.htm
http://www.towson.edu/ows/exercisepos2.htm
http://www.towson.edu/ows/exercisepos3.htm
http://www.dukeofdefinition.com/parts_of_speech_01.htm
http://www.dukeofdefinition.com/parts_of_speech_02.htm
http://www.dukeofdefinition.com/parts_of_speech_03.htm
http://www.dukeofdefinition.com/parts_of_speech_04.htm
http://www.dukeofdefinition.com/parts_of_speech_05.htm
http://www.dukeofdefinition.com/parts_of_speech_06.htm