The 8 Principal Parts of Speech

Noun
A noun names a person, place, thing, quality, or condition. Nouns have number: singular and plural and gender: masculine, feminine or neuter. Types of Nouns Proper nouns name a specific person, place, thing, quality, or condition. They are always capitalized. Common nouns name ordinary persons, places, things, qualities, or conditions. *Frequent noun suffixes: -ion, -er/-or, -on, -ity, -ing (without a preceding helping verb).

Pronoun
A pronoun replaces a noun or other pronoun. All pronouns have number and gender.

ALL pronouns need clearly stated antecedents. Antecedent: a noun to which the pronoun refers or a noun the pronoun replaces.

Types of Pronouns
(Examples and explanations follow.)
Personal: replace people; reflect CASE (usage) and PERSON (who is speaking) Reflexive: refer to self/-selves Demonstrative: replace by pointing out nouns/pronouns Interrogative: ask questions Indefinite: replace non-specific nouns/pronouns Relative: connects a noun or adjective clause to the independent clause

Personal and Reflexive Pronouns

Nominative
Used as subject or predicate nominative

Objective
Used as direct or indirect object or object of a preposition

Possessive Reflexive
Used to show ownership; may also be possessive adjectives Used to refer to self

1st 2nd 3rd 1st

I you

me you

my, mine your, yours his, her, hers, its our, ours your, yours their, theirs

myself yourself
himself, herself, itself

he, she, him, her, it it we us

ourselves

2nd
3rd

you
they

you
them

yourselves
themselves

Types of Pronouns
Demonstrative
singular
near far this that

plural
these those

Interrogative: when response is a noun/pronoun

Who? Whose? Whom? Which? replaces people; nominative case replaces people; possessive case replaces people; objective case replaces objects/places; nominative, objective, possessive case replaces objects/places; nominative or objective case

What?

Types of Pronouns
Indefinite
Always singular: each, either, neither, one noevery-one someany-body Always plural: both, few, several, many Either depending on antecedent: some, all, any, none, most

Types of Pronouns
Relative
who whom whose which that refers to people; nominative case refers to people; objective case refers to people; possessive case refers to things/places; all cases refers to all; all cases

Adjective
An adjective describes a noun or pronoun. It will answer the following questions: - What kind of noun/pronoun? - Which noun/pronoun? - How many noun/pronoun?

*Frequent adjective suffixes: -ive, -ous, -ate, -al, -ful

Types of Adjectives
(Examples and explanations follow.)

Article: state a noun/pronoun will follow Demonstrative: show nouns/pronouns Interrogative: ask questions about nouns/pronouns Indefinite: describe non-specific nouns/pronouns

Types of Adjectives
Articles (the, a/an)
Definite: speaker and audience share specific noun/pronoun Indefinite: speaker and audience relate unknown noun/pronoun

Demonstrative (used before a noun/pronoun)

singular near this far that plural these those

Types of Adjectives
Interrogative (used before a noun/pronoun)
What? Which?

Indefinite (used before a noun/pronoun)

Each Either Neither Some Any - Most - No - All - One

Verb
A verb is a word that shows action, state of being, links a word in the subject to a word in the predicate, or helps another verb show tense.

A verb phrase is one or more helping verbs and a main verb that show action, state of being, or link a word in the subject to a word in the predicate. The group of words functions as one verb.

Types of Verbs
(Examples and explanations follow.)

Action: Can you or could you do it? Linking: functions like an = Helping: helps other verbs show tense Tense is the time the verb shows. Frequent verb suffixes: -ed, -ing

Types of Verbs
Action Verbs
Transitive: must be used with a direct object
Direct Object: Find these three criteria:
Noun or pronoun After Action Verb Answers: (Action Verb) whom? (Action Verb) what?

Intransitive: never a direct object after it

Types of Verbs
Linking Verbs
seem smell taste look feel sound stay grow remain appear become being is are was were be been

Types of Verbs
Helping Verbs (always followed by another verb in a
am is are was were be being been
verb phrase) can may must might could would should

shall will have has had do did does

An adverb is a word that modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb.

It will answer the following: (verb/adjective/adverb) how? when? where? why? to what extent? how long/much? under what conditions? Frequent adverb suffixes: -ly (Not all -ly words are adverbs.)
Always adverbs: not, never, always, very, soon, too, also

Adverb

Prepositions
A preposition is a word that relates a noun or pronoun after it to another word in the sentence. The noun or pronoun after the preposition is called the Object of the Preposition. A preposition may not exist in a sentence without an object. Think of it as anywhere a cat can be or go in relationship to a house. (p. 352)

Conjunction
A conjunction connects words or groups of words. Types of Conjunctions
(Examples and explanations follow.)

- Coordinate/coordinating - Correlative - Subordinate

Types of Conjunctions
Coordinate/Coordinating: joins equal words or groups of words and: joins equals but: excludes equals or: allows choice nor: negative choice for: similar to because yet: similar to but

Types of Conjunction
Correlative Conjunctions: joins equal words or groups of words; found in pairs -either or -neither nor -both and -not only but also

Types of Conjunctions
Subordinate: joins unequal parts of sentences; usually an adverb clause to an independent clause Examples: because, so, when, if, where, while (p. 419)

Interjection
An interjection shows emotion or strong feeling but has no other grammatical tie to the sentence. Types of Interjections Mild interjections are punctuated with a comma and are not separated from the rest of the sentence Strong interjections are punctuated with an exclamation point and are separated from the rest of the sentence.