Parts of Speech

Introduction
Parts of speech are the basic types of words that English has. Most grammar books say that there are eight parts of speech: nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns,

conjunctions, prepositions and interjections. We will add one more type: articles.
It is important to be able to recognize and identify the different types of words in English, so that you can understand grammar explanations and use the right word form in the right place. Here is a brief explanation of what the parts of speech are:

A noun is a naming word. It names a person, place, thing, idea,

Noun

living creature, quality, or action. Examples: cowboy, theatre, box, thought, tree, kindness, arrival A verb is a word which describes an action (doing something) or

Verb

a state (being something). Examples: walk, talk, think, believe, live, like, want An adjective is a word that describes a noun. It tells you

Adjective

something about the noun. Examples: big, yellow, thin, amazing, beautiful, quick,

important
An adverb is a word which usually describes a verb. It tells you how something is done. It may also tell you when or where

Adverb

something happened. Examples: slowly, intelligently, well, yesterday, tomorrow, here,

everywhere
A pronoun is used instead of a noun, to avoid repeating the

Pronoun

noun. Examples: I, you, he, she, it, we, they

Conjunction

A conjunction joins two words, phrases or sentences together. Examples: but, so, and, because, or A preposition usually comes before a noun, pronoun or noun

Preposition

phrase. It joins the noun to some other part of the sentence. Examples: on, in, by, with, under, through, at An interjection is an unusual kind of word, because it often

Interjection

stands alone. Interjections are words which express emotion or surprise, and they are usually followed by exclamation marks. Examples: Ouch!, Hello!, Hurray!, Oh no!, Ha!

Article

An article is used to introduce a noun. Examples: the, a, an

Review: Parts of Speech

Identify the part of speech of the highlighted word in each of the following sentences:

1. The clown chased a dog around the ring and then fell flat on her face. 1. Verb 2. Noun 3. Pronoun 4. Adjective 5. Adverb 6. Preposition 7. Conjunction 8. Interjection

2. The geese indolently waddled across the intersection. 1. Verb 2. Noun 3. Pronoun 4. Adjective

5. 6. 7. 8.

Adverb Preposition Conjunction Interjection

3. Yikes! I'm late for class. 1. Verb 2. Noun 3. Pronoun 4. Adjective 5. Adverb 6. Preposition 7. Conjunction 8. Interjection

4. Bruno's shabby thesaurus tumbled out of the book bag when the bus suddenly pulled out into traffic. 1. Verb 2. Noun 3. Pronoun 4. Adjective 5. Adverb 6. Preposition 7. Conjunction 8. Interjection

5. Mr. Frederick angrily stamped out the fire that the local hooligans had started on his verandah. 1. Verb 2. Noun 3. Pronoun 4. Adjective 5. Adverb 6. Preposition 7. Conjunction 8. Interjection

6. Later that summer, she asked herself, "What was I thinking of?"

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Verb Noun Pronoun Adjective Adverb Preposition Conjunction Interjection

7. She thought that the twenty zucchini plants would not beenough so she planted another ten. 1. Verb 2. Noun 3. Pronoun 4. Adjective 5. Adverb 6. Preposition 7. Conjunction 8. Interjection

8. Although she gave hundreds of zucchini away, the enormous mound left over frightened her. 1. Verb 2. Noun 3. Pronoun 4. Adjective 5. Adverb 6. Preposition 7. Conjunction 8. Interjection

9. Everywhere she went, she talked about the prolific veggies. 1. Verb 2. Noun 3. Pronoun 4. Adjective 5. Adverb 6. Preposition 7. Conjunction 8. Interjection

10. The manager confidently made his presentation to the board of directors. 1. Verb 2. Noun 3. Pronoun 4. Adjective 5. Adverb 6. Preposition 7. Conjunction 8. Interjection

11. Frankenstein is the name of the scientist, not the monster. 1. Verb 2. Noun 3. Pronoun 4. Adjective 5. Adverb 6. Preposition 7. Conjunction 8. Interjection

12. Her greatest fear is that the world will end before she finds a comfortable pair of panty-hose. 1. Verb 2. Noun 3. Pronoun 4. Adjective 5. Adverb 6. Preposition 7. Conjunction 8. Interjection

13. That suitcase is hers. 1. Verb 2. Noun 3. Pronoun 4. Adjective 5. Adverb 6. Preposition

7. Conjunction 8. Interjection

14. Everyone in the room cheered when the announcement was made. 1. Verb 2. Noun 3. Pronoun 4. Adjective 5. Adverb 6. Preposition 7. Conjunction 8. Interjection

15. The sun was shining as we set out for our first winter camping trip. 1. Verb 2. Noun 3. Pronoun 4. Adjective 5. Adverb 6. Preposition 7. Conjunction 8. Interjection

16. Small children often insist that they can do it by themselves. 1. Verb 2. Noun 3. Pronoun 4. Adjective 5. Adverb 6. Preposition 7. Conjunction 8. Interjection

17. Dust covered every surface in the locked bedroom. 1. Verb 2. Noun 3. Pronoun 4. Adjective

5. 6. 7. 8.

Adverb Preposition Conjunction Interjection

18. The census taker knocked loudly on all the doors but nobody was home. 1. Verb 2. Noun 3. Pronoun 4. Adjective 5. Adverb 6. Preposition 7. Conjunction 8. Interjection

19. They wondered if there truly was honour among thieves. 1. Verb 2. Noun 3. Pronoun 4. Adjective 5. Adverb 6. Preposition 7. Conjunction 8. Interjection

20. Exciting new products and effective marketing strategies will guarantee the company's success. 1. Verb 2. Noun 3. Pronoun 4. Adjective 5. Adverb 6. Preposition 7. Conjunction 8. Interjection

Look at the word in bold. Which part of speech is it? When in doubt, use a dictionary! Press "Check" to check your answers. Use the "Hint" button to get a free letter if you don't know. Note that you will lose points if you ask for hints! 1. Remember to drive safely. Part of speech: 2. Don't talk like that. Part of speech: 3. Sally and Tom are coming back soon. Part of speech: 4. This is a pretty vase. Part of speech: 5. Let's do it. Part of speech: 6. The cat is on the table. Part of speech: 7. Oh, I didn't know that. Part of speech: 8. Do you want to go out or stay home? Part of speech: 9. New York is a big city. Part of speech: 10. I want the blue ball. Part of speech: 11. We finished it yesterday. Part of speech: 12. What am I going to do without you? Part of speech: 13. He will come. Part of speech: 14. Wow, those are great news! Part of speech: 15. We have pens, pencil, notebooks and markers. Part of speech: 16. They went into the hall. Part of speech:

Grammatical Categories and Word Classes

Exercise 5.5: Word Classes

1. Identify the word class of up in each of the following: ( a) ( b) ( c) ( d) ( e) ( f) ( g) us. They live just up the street from Life is full of ups and downs. The balloons rose up into the sky. The dog tore up the slipper. He upped the ante. She's in an up mood. Your time is up.

2. Identify the word class of down in each of the following: ( a) ( b) ( c) ( d) ( e) ( f) ( He looked down because he was He ran down the stairs. The computers are down today. That was a first down, wasn't it? Would you write your address down for me? On a dare, he downed the whole beer. Alex is feeling rather down today.

g)

embarrassed.

3. In the passage from E. B. White's "The Ring of Time" given below, identify the words in bold as belonging to one of the following categories: count noun mass noun abstract noun concrete noun collective noun attributive adjective auxiliary It has been ambitious and plucky of me to attempt to describe what is indescribable, and I have failed, as I knew I would. But I have discharged my duty to my society; and besides, a writer, like an acrobat, must occasionally try a stunt that is too much for him. At any rate, it is worth reporting that long before the circus comes to town, its most notable performances have already been given. Under the bright lights of the finished show, a performer need onlyreflect the electric candle power that is directed upon him; but in the dark and dirty old training rings and in the makeshift cages, whatever light is generated, whatever excitement, whatever beauty, must come from original sources - from internal fires of professional hunger and delight, from the exuberance and gravity of youth. It is the difference between planetary light and the combustion of the stars. (White 1934: 145) transitive verb copulative verb intransitive verb adverb degree word preposition

predicative adjective determiner