Parts of Speech
© Brent Coley 2009
www.mrcoley.com
Noun
• A noun is a person, place, thing or
idea.
• Examples:
-
boy, girl, Bob, Sally (person)
school, park, San Diego (place)
pencil, book, basketball (thing)
love, joy, friendship (idea)
Noun
• The man walked down the street.
• A large elephant ate the peanuts.
• Susan and Jennifer bought new
computers at Best Buy.
• Her heart was full of joy.
Pronoun
• A pronoun takes the place of a
noun.
• Examples:
-
I
you
he
she
- it
- we
- they
Pronoun
• He walked to the park.
• They gave it to the teacher.
• She and I wanted to go to the
movies, but we had to stay home
and do our homework.
Action Verb
• An action verb shows action.
• It explains what the subject of the
sentence does.
• Examples:
– eat
– throw
– run
– write
- ate
- threw
- ran
- wrote
Action Verb
• The quarterback tossed the ball to
the running back.
• Mrs. Smith wrote the problem on
the whiteboard.
• Angela raised her hand and
answered the question.
Linking Verb
• A linking verb connects the subject
of the sentence with the predicate.
• It explains what the subject of the
sentence is.
• Examples:
– am
– is
– are
- was
- were
- be
- been
- being
Linking Verb
• I am hungry.
• The people were unhappy about
the new taxes.
• It is hot during the summer.
• She was happy at the party.
Helping / Main Verbs
• A helping verb helps the main verb
of the sentence.
• The helping verb usually goes right
before the main verb.
• Examples:
– am
– is
– are
- was
- were
- have
- has
- had
Helping / Main Verbs
• The boy was doing his homework.
(was = helping verb; doing = main
verb)
• I have finished my project.
(have = helping verb; finished =
main verb)
Adjective
• An adjective describes a noun or
pronoun.
• Examples:
– large
– sleepy
– fast
– funny
– hungry
- tired
- excited
- bored
- new
- electronic
Adjective
• The small boy played with his
plastic truck.
• We bought a blue umbrella at
Costco, a big store with low prices.
• The blue water sparkled in the
warm sunlight.
Adverb
• An adverb describes a verb or
adjective.
• Many adverbs end in -ly.
• Examples:
– quickly
– quietly
– safely
– recently
- slowly
- finally
- impatiently
- carefully
Adverb
• The secret agent quietly entered
the building.
• My best friend’s family recently
moved to another state.
• “Drive safely,” she said.
Direct Object
• A direct object is a noun that
receives the action of a verb.
• A direct object usually comes after
the verb.
• A direct object answers the
question, “What?” or “Whom?”
Direct Object
• The author wrote the book.
(What did the author write? The
book)
• My friend gave me a cookie.
(What did my friend give me? A
cookie)
• Susan spoke to Allison.
(To whom did Susan speak? To
Allison)
Prepositional Phrase
• A prepositional phrase is a group
of words that tells where.
• Examples:
– under the desk
– on top of the refrigerator
– in the closet
– behind the barn
– through the tunnel
Prepositional Phrase
• She put the roses on the table.
• The class took a fieldtrip to the
park.
• I parked my bicycle near the fence.
• He hid under the bed.
Practice Time
On the following slides,
you will see a sentence
with a green, underlined
word. See if you can
identify what part of
speech it is.
What part of speech
is the word in orange?
• The children played in the
sandbox.
Action Verb –
played shows action. It
tells what the children did.
What part of speech
is the word in orange?
• Since it was such a
beautiful day, my family
decided to walk to the
park.
Adjective –
beautiful describes the
noun (day). It tells what
kind of day it was.
What part of speech
is the word in orange?
• My teacher returned the
assignments to the
students.
Direct Object –
Assignments is a noun that
receives the action of the
verb, so that makes it a
direct object. What did the
teacher return?
Assignments
What part of speech
is the word in orange?
• The hockey player
skillfully skated down the
ice.
Adverb –
skillfully describes the verb
(skated). It tells how the
hockey player skated.
What part of speech
is the word in orange?
• The restaurant was
crowded.
Linking Verb –
was connects the subject
(the restaurant) with the
predicate (crowded). It is a
linking verb because it
does not show action.
What part of speech
is the word in orange?
• I parked my car in the
garage.
Prepositional Phrase –
in the garage tells where I
parked the car.
What part of speech
is the word in orange?
• We bought a new
telephone because our
old one was broken.
Noun –
telephone is a thing.
Nouns can be people,
places, things, or ideas.
What part of speech
is the word in orange?
• They came over to our
house to watch the Super
Bowl.
Pronoun –
they is a word that takes
the place of some people’s
names.
What part of speech
is the word in orange?
• I was eating a sandwich
when the phone rang.
Helping / Main Verb –
was is the helping verb, and
eating is the main verb.