The Parts of Speech
Objectives:
To be able to identify the function of
a word, phrase, or clause as one of
the eight parts of speech.
To identify the roles each part of
speech plays in the sentence.
To use appropriate grammar.
Parts of Speech
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Nouns
Pronouns
Verbs
Adjectives
Adverbs
Prepositions
Conjunctions
Interjections
Noun: Definition
 Definition – A word, phrase, or clause that names
a person, place, thing, or idea
 Examples:
 Words: car, London, toy, hate
 Gerund phrases: Recording a top ten hit is the
musician’s primary ambition.
 Infinitive phrases: To serve in the Peace Corps
remains her intention.
 Noun subordinate clauses: Whoever finishes the test
first will probably fail it.
 If a word can be preceded by an article (a, an, the)
without requiring another word, and it is logical in the
context, it is a noun.
 Example: an advantage, but not an advantageous
Noun: Function
 Nouns can be the subject (S) of a clause or sentence.
 What is a subject?
 Who or what the clause or sentence is about.
 The town of Weatherford celebrates its Peach Festival
every July.
 town – single word
 Listening to her favorite singer puts Alicia in a
splendid mood.
 Listening to her favorite singer – gerund phrase
 To speak slowly and distinctly is something that Jackie
rarely does.
 To speak slowly and distinctly – infinitive phrase
Noun: Function
 Subject (S) of a clause or sentence:
 Which of the hockey teams will win the
Stanley Cup is anybody’s guess at this point
in the series.
 Which of the hockey teams will win the
Stanley Cup (Which) – noun subordinate
clause
 That he risks injury and even death makes
his job as a stunt man especially uninviting
for most people.
 That he risks injury and even death (he) –
noun subordinate clause
Noun: Function
 Nouns can be the predicate nominative
(PN) of a clause or sentence.
 What is a predicate nominative?
 A noun that follows a linking verb (am, is,
are, was, were, be, being, been, become,
seem, grow, appear, look, feel, taste,
smell, remain, sound, stay, etc.) and
identifies the subject. PNs and Ss can be
interchanged without any change in
meaning.
 William Faulkner was a winner of the Nobel
Prize for Literature.
 winner is the PN
Noun: Function
PNs
Karen’s future goal is singing for a living.
singing for a living – gerund phrase
Tabitha’s favorite line from Shakespeare
has always been “to be or not to be.”
 to be or not to be – infinitive phrase
 Kevin is who will receive my vote for class
president.
 who will receive my vote for class president
– noun subordinate clause
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Noun: Function
 Nouns can be the direct object (DO) of a clause or
sentence.
 What is a direct object?
 A noun that follows action verbs and receives the
action of that verb. DOs answer the questions
what? or whom? after an action verb.
 Randolph tossed his cap into the air at graduation.
 cap
 Carla Sue’s dad enjoys dancing to the music of the
Rolling Stones.
 dancing to the music of the Rolling Stones – gerund
phrase
Noun: Function
 DOs
 Judge Holland decided to dismiss the case for lack
of evidence.
 to dismiss the case for lack of evidence – infinitive
phrase
 Because my sister likes eating pineapple pizza, I
knew that she would not even taste any of the
pepperoni.
 that she would not even taste any of the pepperoni
– noun subordinate clause
 eating pineapple pizza – gerund phrase as DO of
adverb subordinate clause
Noun: Function
 Nouns can be the indirect object (IO) of a
clause or sentence.
 What is an indirect object?
 The IO always comes between the action
verb and the DO and answers: to/for
whom/what?
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Henry handed his best friend the diary.
friend
Juanita will bring the class doughnuts.
class
Noun: Function
 IOs
 Kimberly gives making straight A’s
her undivided attention.
 making straight A’s – gerund phrase
 This particular class has shown
whoever teaches them a masterful
approach toward studying.
 whoever teaches them – noun
subordinate clause
Noun: Function
 Nouns can be the object complement (OC) of a clause
or sentence.
 What is an object complement?
 The OC always comes after a DO following an
action verb with the meaning of make or
consider. It answers what? after the DO.
 The new couple painted their living room red.
 red
 The student class voted her their president.
 president
 We consider that argument ill-reasoned.
 ill-reasoned
Noun: Function
 Nouns can be the object of a preposition (OP)
in a clause or sentence.
 Paul listens to music around the clock.
 music, clock
 Jaye believes that she lost her hearing from
playing in a heavy metal band.
 playing in a heavy metal band – gerund phrase
 I addressed the letter to whom it may concern.
 whom it may concern – noun subordinate
clause
Noun: Function
 Nouns can be the appositive in a clause or
sentence.
 What is an appositive?
 A noun that is located next to
another noun and identifies it in
some way.
 My friend Erica sends all of her favorite
singers fan mail.
 Erica
 Jeffrey’s hobby, building model airplanes,
keeps him busy most every weekend.
 building model airplanes – gerund phrase
Noun: Function
 Only a few of us were surprised by
his wish to become a gourmet chef.
 to become a gourmet chef – infinitive
phrase
 The candidate’s belief that the sale of
handguns should be prohibited
caused a major debate.
 that the sale of handguns should be
prohibited – noun sub clause
Noun Categories
 Nouns can be common or proper, abstract or
concrete, and collective.
 Common: woman, city, building
 Proper: Jennifer, Birmingham, Eiffel Tower
 Abstract: beauty, strength, love, courage, hate,
independence
 Concrete: hat, desk, book, odor, leaf
 Collective: crowd, team, class, herd, gaggle
 Collective nouns can be treated either as singular or
plural depending on context!
 Compound nouns are made up of more than one
word: Ringling Brothers Circus, high school, White
House
Pronoun: Definition
 Definition – A word used in place of a noun.
Pronouns can perform any of the previous
noun functions.
 Examples:
 I, me, you, he, him, her, it, myself, herself,
yourself, each, neither, who, which, somebody,
few, most
 There are 8 types of pronouns:
 personal, possessive, intensive, reflexive,
interrogative, relative, demonstrative,
indefinite
 What is an antecedent?
 An antecedent is the word to which a pronoun
refers.
Personal Pronouns
1st
person
2nd
person
3rd
person
Nominative Case
– Can be S or PN
Objective Case –
Singular Plural
Singular Plural
I
we
me
us
you
you
you
you
him,
her, it
them
he, she, they
it
Can be DO, IO, OC, or
OP
Personal Pronouns
 What does nominative case mean?
 Nominative case pronouns act as
subjects and predicate nominatives.
 What does objective case mean?
 Objective case pronouns act as DOs,
IOs, and OPs.
Possessive Pronouns (and Adjectives)
First Person
Second Person
Third Person
Singular
mine
yours
his, hers, its
*Possessive Adjectives*
Singular
First Person
my
Second Person
your
Third Person
his, her, its
Plural
ours
yours
theirs
Plural
our
your
their
The above possessive adjectives are usually listed with the possessive
pronouns because they refer to antecedents. However, the
possessive adjectives occur in front of nouns, whereas possessive
pronouns stand on their own.
Practice: Identify the antecedent of
the italicized words.
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1. In Whitman’s poetry, he wrote about the importance of self;
in hers, Emily Dickinson wrote about love, nature, and
immortality.
2. “I never saw a Moor” and “The Sky is low – the Clouds are
mean” are both about nature.
3. For many years, Emily’s father did not support her in her
interest in poetry.
4. Emily, her brother Austin, and her sister Vinnie grew up in
Amherst, MA. They continued to live there as adults.
5. Emily seldom left Amherst. She spent many years as a
recluse.
6. Some of Emily’s acquaintances urged their friend to publish
her poems.
7. Emily sent a few poems to a poetry critic at The Atlantic
Monthly and asked for his opinion.
8. They corresponded until Emily’s death in 1886.
9. Emily found beauty in nature and all its variations.
10. Emily wrote of herself: “I am small, like the Wren.”
Practice – Identify each pronoun as either first person,
second person, or third person, then tell if it’s singular or
plural. If the word is possessive, decide whether it’s a
pronoun or an adj.
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1. Mike hit a home run today; it is his first at this school.
2. Lupe and Lisa took their books to lunch.
3. Loren and her brother Patrick are taking a course in CPR;
they would like a career in medicine.
4. A lizard tastes and smells with its tongue.
5. “You probably won’t believe us,” said Ross, “but Sam and
I saw a UFO last night on our way home.”
6. Alanna cut her finger, but it is bandaged now.
7. When Tran Chu left for the Math Olympiad, his entire
class showed up to wish him luck.
8. Sipra forgot her lunch, but two classmates shared theirs
with her.
9. How quickly we forget past favors; the big question
today is “What have you done for me lately?”
10. “This knapsack is mine,” said Omar. “You must have left
yours back at the campsite, Frank.”
Reflexive and Intensive Pronouns
First Person
Second Person
Third Person
Singular
myself
yourself
himself, herself,
itself
Plural
ourselves
yourselves
*themselves
*theirselves is IMPROPER GRAMMAR;
What is the difference between
reflexive and intensive pronouns?
Reflexive and Intensive Pronouns
 Reflexive pronouns always add information to a
sentence. They are most often used as DOs or IOs.
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Ex/ Jim uses a stopwatch to time himself on the track.
She taught herself to play the piano.
We gave ourselves a party.
 Intensive pronouns only add emphasis to another
noun or pronoun in the same sentence.
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Ex/He himself delivered the flowers.
You must sign the application yourself.
Mariko herself made the bridesmaids’ dresses.
Pepe, Jaime, and Caesar designed the float themselves.
 If a pronoun is intensive, you can remove it without
losing meaning in the sentence. A reflexive pronoun
cannot be removed without changing the meaning
of the sentence.
Demonstrative Pronouns
NEAR
FAR
Singular
this
that
Plural
these
those
 Demonstratives point out persons or things.
 Be careful! This, that, these, and those can
also be Demonstrative Adjectives.
 Demonstrative pronoun: Because of this, I
no longer wear those shoes.
 Demonstrative adjective: Because of those
chew marks, I no longer wear those shoes.
Interrogative Pronouns
who
whom
what
which
whomever whatever
whose
whoever
whichever
 Interrogative pronouns are used in
questions.
 Who borrowed my pen?
 What was the name of the book?
Relative Pronouns
*that
who
whom
whose
what
which
whoever
whomever whatever
whichever
 Relative pronouns are used to
introduce adjective and noun
subordinate clauses.
 The question that is on everyone’s
mind is “when is the test?”
 I will agree with whatever you decide.
Indefinite Pronouns
 Singular: anybody, anyone, anything, each,
either, everyone, everybody, everything,
one, no one, nobody, nothing, neither,
somebody, someone, something
 Each of the boys is ready to play.
 Neither of the boys knows about the accident.
 Plural: both, few, many, others, several
 Both senators are in agreement.
 Many have come.
 Singular or plural (depending on context):
all, any, most, none, some
 Most of the band practices on Tuesdays.
 Most of the cinnamon rolls still need icing.
Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement
 Agreement is especially tricky with indefinite
pronouns.
 A pronoun must agree with its antecedent in number.
If the antecedent is singular, the pronoun should be
singular.
 Everyone must sit down quietly at their desks before
receiving their test. Though this is incorrect in written
English, it is spoken quite a lot. What’s the solution?
 His or her: Everyone must sit down quietly at his or
her desk before receiving his or her test.
 Plural: Students must sit down quietly at their desks
before receiving their tests.
 No pronouns: Students must be seated in order to
receive tests.
Verbs
Two categories:
1. Main verbs
2. Auxiliary (helping) verbs
There are also two types of main verbs:
1. Linking verbs
2. Action verbs (of which there are two
types)
 1. transitive and 2. intransitive
 The main verb preceded by one or more
helping verbs makes up a verb phrase.
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Verbs
Verb Phrase
Auxiliary
Main
Linking
Action
transitive
intransitive
Auxiliary Verbs
 MUST be followed by another verb
(main verb), helps that verb show
tense. There are 23 auxiliary verbs:
 Be: am, is, are, was, were, be, being,
been
 Have: have, has, had
 Do: do, does, did
 Modals: may, might, must, shall,
should, will, would, can, could
Linking Verbs
 Are a type of main verb, and therefore are either
the only verb in that clause or the last verb in the
verb phrase.
 Be verbs: am, is, are, was, were, be, being, been
 Sensory verbs: sound, taste, appear, feel, look,
smell
 Condition verbs: become, remain, seem, stay, grow
 Sensory and condition verbs can be either action or
linking. How do you tell?
 If you can substitute a be verb and the sentence
makes sense, it’s linking.
 If what follows the verb is a PN or PA, it’s linking.
Action or Linking?
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Tybalt looked surly.
Juliet looked at the stars in the sky.
The Friar grows a variety of herbs.
Mercutio grows more and more
belligerent.
If it’s not linking, it’s ACTION:
 Actions expressed by an action verb can be
physical actions or mental actions. I thought it
was wonderful!
 Action verbs are either transitive or intransitive.
 Intransitive verbs have no direct object: I ran. I
fell down the steps. You can’t fall something, so
fall is intransitive.
 Transitive verbs, however, have direct objects,
and can therefore also take indirect objects or
object complements along with the DOs:
 I gave the cat a bath.
 The senior class elected Jamie president.
Transitive or Intransitive?
He talked to the professor after class.
She might join the sorority this year.
When I get home from school, I feed Jolie.
She waits for me at the door everyday.
Jolie likes to run around the front yard.
I thought for a long time about the tough
decision.
 I wondered where everybody went.
 Please turn in your homework.
 The little girl, on being punished by her
mother, said, “This stinks!”
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Side Note: Intransitive Descriptors
 Slang expressions such as “bites, blows,
rocks, rules, smells, stinks, and sucks” play
a unique role in American English. They are
a class of intransitive verbs used as
modifiers. They are an economical way of
expressing opinion: “English rocks!”
 However, due to their informal nature, they
are not to be used in any kind of formal
writing assignment. Because they are so
economical and imprecise, they are also
not to be used in descriptive writing, as
they tend to oversimplify description.
Side Note: Troublesome Verbs
 Lie & Lay
 Lie is intransitive. You cannot “lie” anything down.
 Lay is transitive. You can “lay” something down.
 Sit & Set
 Sit is intransitive. You “sit,” but you do not “sit”
something down.
 Set is transitive. You do not “set,” but you can “set”
something down.
 Rise & Raise
 Rise is intransitive. You “rise” in the morning, but you
do not “rise” your hand. (Bread rises, the sun rises,
etc.)
 Raise is transitive. You can raise your hand or raise
the flag, but you cannot “raise” from your bed in the
morning.
Verb forms - Tense
 There are four basic forms of a verb.
Every other tense uses one of these
forms as a base:
 Present: go/goes, bring/brings, talk/talks
 Past: went, brought, talked
 Past participle: (has) gone, (has)
brought, (has) talked
 Present participle: (is) going, (is)
bringing, (is) talking
Verb forms - Tense
 Other tenses are formed by adding
auxiliaries to one of those original four
forms:
 Future: will/shall go, will bring, will talk
 Past perfect: had gone, had brought, had
talked
 Present perfect: has gone, has brought, has
talked
 Future perfect: will have gone, will have
brought, will have talked
Verb forms - Tense
 Progressive forms indicate an action or state of being
that is in progress at a specified time.
 Past Progressive: was going
 Present Progressive: am going
 Future Progressive: will be going
 Past Perfect Progressive: had been going
 Present Perfect Progressive: has/have been going
 Future Perfect Progressive: will have been going
 Use: Use it to specify order of events.
He had been going to the store when another car ran a
red light.
We will have been traveling for 3 days by the time we
reach California.
I have been staying after school a lot this week.
Modifiers: Adjectives, Adverbs, and
Prepositional Phrases
 Three parts of speech are modifiers,
meaning that modify in some way another
part of speech.
 Adjectives modify nouns: The blue car sped
off.
 Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, and
other adverbs: The rather pretty girl
daintily made her bed very quickly.
 Prepositional phrases act as adjectives or
adverbs: The pizza in the fridge is left over.
My brother put it in the fridge last night.
Adjectives
 Definition: a word, phrase, or clause
that describes, specifies, limits, or
modifies nouns or pronouns. They
answer the following four questions:
 What kind?
 Which one?
 How many?/How much?
 Whose is it?
Adjectives
 Words as adjectives:
 a rotten apple, the green ink, several
assignments, my computer, Charlie’s pen
 Prepositional phrases:
 the house on the corner
 a teacher with a strict demeanor
 Present participial phrases:
 The student hurtling down the hallway fell into
the trash can.
 Finishing her homework, Carol suddenly noticed
the distinct smell of chocolate chip cookies
wafting in from the kitchen.
Adjectives
 Past participial phrases:
 Knocked down by an inside fast ball, the batter
slowly dusted himself off and prepared for the next
pitch.
 Sonja Martinez, disturbed by the raucous behavior of
her classmates, asked the counselor for a transfer.
 Infinitive phrases:
 The most important team to beat this time is the
Yankees.
 The counselor to see about college applications is
Mrs. Strickland.
 Adjective subordinate clauses:
 Maya, who missed 2 weeks of school due to
pneumonia, asked for tutorial assistance from her
teachers.
 The twenty-two answers that I missed on my
Summer Reading Test certainly didn’t help my grade.
Adverbs
 Definition: a word, phrase, or clause that
modifies a verb, an adjective, or another
adverb. They answer six questions:
 How?
 When?
 Where?
 Why?
 To what extent?
 Under what condition?
Adverbs
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Words as adverbs:
 I cautiously approached the stray dog.
 We will attend the play tomorrow.
 He looked rather ridiculous in that chicken suit.
 The children ran outside to play after the thunderstorm.
Prepositional phrases:
 The children ran outside to play after the thunderstorm.
 Underneath the bed, Jolie hides from the storm.
Infinitive phrases:
 To irritate his older sister, Chris repeated every word.
 The children ran outside to play after the thunderstorm.
Adverb subordinate clauses:
 Because I could not locate my tennis shoes, I wore high
heels to school.
 No one should fail a vocabulary quiz unless he forgets to
study.
Prepositions
 Definition: a word that connects the noun
or pronoun that follows it to some other
word in the clause or sentence.
 A prepositional phrase begins with a
preposition and ends with a noun or
pronoun, the object of the preposition.
 Examples:
 to the moon
 in my neighbor’s yard
 Throughout the history of time and space
Common prepositions—KNOW!
aboard
at
down
off
to
about
before
during
on
toward
above
behind
for
onto
under
across
below
from
out
underneath
after
beneath
in
outside
until
against
beside
inside
over
up
along
between
into
past
upon
among
but
(except)
like
since
with
around
by
near
through
within
as
concerning of
throughout without
Compound Prepositions—KNOW!
according to
because of
in front of
next to
ahead of
by means of
in spite of
on top of
along with
in addition to
instead of
out of
Prepositions – Functions
 Prepositional phrases function as modifiers
– either adjectives or adverbs. (They can
rarely function as nouns, but I am not
going into that just yet.)
 Adjective prepositional phrases modify a
noun or pronoun. They tell which one? Or
what kind? about the noun or pronoun, and
they DIRECTLY FOLLOW THE NOUN OR
PRONOUN THEY MODIFY.
 Examples:
 The bench beneath the elm trees needs repair.
 The debate concerning school vouchers is
Friday.
Prepositions – Functions
 Adverb prepositional phrases modify a verb,
adjective, or an adverb. They tell how?
when? where? why? to what extent? or
under what condition? about the verb, adj,
or adv. AdvPPs may appear anywhere in the
sentence:
 Kaneisha walked around the track 16 times.
 Underneath the open prairie sky, the imposing
farm house stood alone.
 Mr. Davis exercises seriously because of health
problems.
Conjunctions
 Definition: a word that joins words, phrases, or
clauses together
 Four types of conjunctions:
 Coordinating: and, or, nor, for, yet, so, but ( or use
acronym FANBOYS)
 Punctuation Rule: When joining two independent
clauses, you must place a comma before the
conjunction: She saw the art work, and she liked it.
 However, when joining words or phrases, no comma is
necessary: Freshmen and juniors must pay $15 for
their PSAT tests.
 Correlative: work in pairs
 both…and
 either…or
 neither…nor
 not only…but also
Conjunctions
 Conjunctive Adverbs (transition words): used to join
independent clauses.
 to show contrast: however, nevertheless, instead, on the
other hand, still
 to add information: furthermore, moreover, in addition
 to show the effect or result: therefore, consequently, as a
result
 To show similarities: likewise, similarly
 To show the opposite of what is intended: otherwise
 To emphasize a fact in a stronger or more specific way: in
fact, indeed
 Punctuation rule: When joining two independent clauses
together with a conjunctive adverb, put a semicolon before
it and a comma after it:
 I wanted to go to Europe; therefore, I saved my
money.
Subordinating Conjunctions
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Used to form a
subordinate
clause; appear
at beginning of
sub clause.
Usually begin
adverb
subordinate
clauses. Those
marked with
asterisks may
sometimes begin
adjective or
noun
subordinate
clauses.
after
because
that
when*
although
before
since
whenever
as
even
though
so that
where*
as if
if
than
wherever
as long as
in order
that
though
while
as soon as
once
unless
till
as though
provided
until
Interjections
 Words or phrases that have no
grammatical function but express
emotion.
 Because they have no grammatical
value, they should not appear in
formal writing, only informal writing.
 Examples: Oh! Golly gee willikers!
Holy rusted metal, Batman! Whoa!
Review
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What parts of the sentence can nouns be?
What phrases and clauses function as nouns?
What parts of the sentence can pronouns be?
What are the two categories of main verbs?
What are the complements that follow action
verbs?
What are the complements that follow linking
verbs?
What are the four forms of the verb?
What are the two verb forms that require a helping
verb in front of them in order to function as a verb
in the sentence?
What are the 23 helping verbs?
Review
 Is a subject or complement in a prepositional
phrase?
 What do adjectives modify?
 What are the questions that adjectives
answer?
 What phrases and clauses function as
adjectives?
 What do adverbs modify?
 What are the questions that adverbs answer?
 What phrases and clauses function as
adverbs?