PARTS OF SPEECH
Words can be divided into eight categories, or “parts of speech.”
1.Nouns
2.Pronouns
3.Verbs
4.Prepositions
5.Adjectives
6.Adverbs
7.Conjunctions
8.Interjections
NOUNS
A noun is a word that is used to name something: a person, place, object or idea.
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Most nouns begin with a lowercase letter & are called common nouns (e.g. book,
woman, college, possibility)
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Some nouns begin with an uppercase letter & names a specific person, place or
thing; these are called proper nouns (e.g. Benjamin Franklin, Carneys Point,
Salem Community College)
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A singular noun names one person, place, object or idea. A plural noun refers to
two or more people, places, objects or ideas. Most singular nouns can be made
plural by adding the letter “s.” (e.g. friend – friends; truth – truths)
PRONOUNS
A pronoun is a word that stands for a noun. Pronouns eliminate the need for
constant repetition.
Lisa met Lisa’s friends in the music store at the mall. Lisa meets Lisa’s friends
at the music store in the mall every Saturday.
Lisa met her friends in the music store at the mall. She meets them there every
Saturday.
TYPES OF PRONOUNS
Personal pronouns:
1st PERSON
2nd PERSON
3rd PERSON
SINGULAR I, me, my, mine
You, your, yours
He, him, his, she
her, hers, it, its
PLURAL
You, your, yours
They, them, their,
theirs
We, us, our, ours
*Generally, the 2nd person pronoun “you” is not formal
enough for academic papers. This semester, we’ll work
on eliminating “you” from a lot of your writing!
TYPES OF PRONOUNS
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Relative pronouns refer to someone or something already mentioned in the
sentence (who, whose, whom, which, that)
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Interrogative pronouns are used to ask questions (who, whose, whom, which,
what)
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Demonstrative pronouns are used to point out particular persons or things (this,
that, these, those)
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Reflexive pronouns are those that end in –self or –selves (herself, ourselves)
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Indefinite pronouns do not refer to a particular person or thing (each, either,
everyone, nothing, both, several, all, any, most, none)
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Reciprocal pronouns express shared actions or feelings (each other, one another)
VERBS
There are three types of verbs: Action verbs, linking verbs and helping verbs:
Action verbs tell what is being done in a sentence.
 Rainwater poured into the storm sewer.
Linking verbs link a noun to something that is said about it.
 The clouds are steel grey.
Common linking verbs: am, are, is, was, were, look,
feel, sound, appear, seem, become
Helping verbs (auxiliary verbs) help the main verb convey when the action occurred
 The teacher had graded the tests.
Common helping verbs: am, are, is, was, were, been, did, do,
does, had, has, have
PREPOSITIONS
A preposition is a word that connects a noun or pronoun to another word in the
sentence.
 A man in the bus was snoring loudly.
A group of words beginning with a preposition is called a prepositional phrase.
The subject of a sentence cannot be within a prepositional phrase.
 An ant was crawling up the teacher’s leg.
Common Prepositions
about
among
behind
between except
into
on
to
above
around
below
by
for
like
over
toward
across
at
beneath down
from
of
since
under
after
before
beside
in
off
through
up
during
ADJECTIVES
An adjective is a word that describes a noun (the name of a person, place or
thing). Including adjectives helps your writing become more vivid and specific.
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The dog lay down on a mat in front of the fireplace.
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The shaggy dog lay down on a worn mat in front of the cozy fireplace.
Adjectives can come right before the words they are describing (e.g. damp night)
or may come after a linking verb (e.g. he is furious)
WHAT ARE SOME ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE YOU?
Witty
Hard
Working
Handsome
YOU
Dedicated
Passionate
Smart
ADVERBS
An adverb is a word that describes a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. Most
adverbs end in the letters –ly.
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The chef yelled angrily at the young waiter.
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I have an extremely busy schedule on Mondays and Wednesdays.
CONJUNCTIONS
A conjunction is a word that connects. There are two types of conjunctions:
coordinating and subordinating.
Coordinating conjunctions join two equal ideas (and, but, so, or, nor, for, yet)
 Kevin interviewed for the job, but his friend got it instead.
* A comma usually comes before a coordinating conjunction.
When a subordinating conjunction is added to a group of words, the word group can
longer stand as an independent sentence. Subordinating conjunctions are also called
dependent words.
 Karen fainted in class.
 When Karen fainted in class
 When Karen fainted in class, we propped her feet up on some books.
Common subordinating conjunctions
After, although, as, because, before, even if, even though, if, since, though, unless,
until, when, whenever, where, wherever, whether, while
INTERJECTIONS
An interjection is a word that can stand independently and is used to express
emotion.
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Oh,
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Wow!
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Hey!
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Oops.
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Ouch!
REVIEW
Words can be divided into eight categories, or “parts of speech.”
1.Nouns: person, place, object idea
2.Pronouns: word that replaces noun
3.Verbs: action or linking
4.Prepositions: connects a noun to another part of the sentence
5.Adjectives: describe nouns
6.Adverbs: describe verbs
7.Conjunctions: words that connect
8.Interjections: independent; express emotion
PRACTICE: IDENTIFY THE PARTS OF SPEECH
1. The lost dog has fleas and a broken leg.
2. Have you gotten used to working at night?
3. I love Mexican and Italian foods.
4. Paul’s favorite pastime is going to rock concerts.
5. Even though Elena doesn’t like Stephanie, she should have invited her to the
party.
6. Words—the building blocks of sentences—can be divided into eight parts of
speech.
7. Two bats swooped over the heads of the frightened children.