Lecture#2

An Introduction To the Parts Of Speech

The parts of speech are the classes into which words are placed
according to the work that they do in a sentence. There are eight
parts of speech:

Noun, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions,

conjunctions, interjections.

Noun:

The English word noun comes from the Latin word nomen,
meaning name.

The function of a noun is to name someone or something.

Examples:

Helen wrote to Jean.

Justice need not exclude mercy.
A crowd gathered to watch the fleet sail.
His father bought him a bicycle.

There are two nouns in each of these statements, and each pair is
an example of a different kind of noun.

Helen Jean: proper noun

Justice mercy: abstract noun
Crowd fleet: collective noun
Father bicycle: common noun

Proper nouns, when written, begin with a capital letter.

Abstract nouns name qualities or states of being that exist only

in our minds. e.g. cleverness, courage, happiness, sorrow,
wisdom, loyalty.
 Collective nouns name groups of people or collection of things
regarded as a whole. e.g. crew, crowd, forest, team, library.

Common nouns names members of or items in a whole class of

people or things. e.g. brother, father, bicycle, party, pencil,
sister, woman.

Pronouns:

A pronoun is a word used in place of a noun. The name provides

the clue: Pronoun. In sentences they do the work of nouns. They
do not describe nouns.

Examples:

That is very beautiful.

These seem much better value than those.
Everything seemed secure when I left at five o clock.
Anybody will tell you how to find the museum.

Verb:

The word that performs the essential telling function in the

sentence is called the Verb. The word Verb comes from the Latin
word Verbum meaning the word . That is useful clue to the
importance of the work that the verb does. A verb denotes action
or being. Its function in a sentence is to tell us what the subject
does or is. A sentence cannot function without a verb.

Examples:

Fish swim.
The detective found three witnesses.
My sister emptied the bag of sweets.
Over-stressed girders collapse.
The verbs used in the examples are as action words. Though
many verbs have function, some do not.

Examples:

Tom Bradley is a mechanic.

The clowns were very funny.
Her daughter seems intelligent.
The farm appears profitable.

Each of these verbs tells us something about the subject of the

sentence, but it is not an action word, it is a being word.

Adjectives:

In grammatical terms, the adjective that adds to the meaning of a

noun or a pronoun is said to qualify that noun or pronoun.
Descriptive adjectives frequently come immediately before the
noun or pronoun that they qualify.

Examples:

My father bought a large house.

It was not a happy place.
Weird noises disturbed us in the night.
At midnight a terrible vision appeared.
The wealthy farmer surveyed his fertile fields.

Adjective noun or pronoun qualified

Wealthy farmer (noun)

Fertile fields (noun)

The definite and indefinite articles:

Although the and a or an function as adjectives, qualifying the
nouns that follow them, they are generally referred to as the
definite article (the) and the indefinite article (a or an).

Other adjectives often come between the articles and the nouns
that they qualify.

Examples:

The treaty was a botched-up job, doomed to failure.

An immense but misdirected effort resulted in the ruin of the

participants.

Adverbs:

The name adverb establishes the link between adverbs and

verbs. Adverbs add

to the meaning of a verb, an adjective or another verb.

Adverbs add to the meaning of verbs:

Examples:

Joans aunt drove quickly.

We arrived early to avoid the crowds.
Write your name there.

Adverbs add to the meaning of adjectives:

Examples:

Is this room too hot for you?

The crops were almost ripe when the storms began.

Adverbs add to the meaning of other adverbs:

Examples:
 He arrived too late to see the first act.
She paints extremely well.

Prepositions:

A preposition is the first word of a phrase that contains a noun or

a pronoun. A phrase of this kind does the work of an adjective or
an adverb.

Examples:

The car in the garage had a flat battery.

The river flowed under a bridge.
She reached the house before me.
The bad-tempered man replied with a grunt.

Prepositional Phrase= preposition+ noun or pronoun

The name preposition means placed before. A preposition is

placed before a noun or a pronoun to make a prepositional
phrase.

Examples:

In the garage preposition in + noun garage

Under a bridge preposition under + noun bridge
Before me preposition before + pronoun me
With a grunt preposition with + noun grunt

Conjunctions:

A conjunction is a word used to join, together or connect words or

group of words. Conjunctions often work in pairs.

Examples:
 My dog is small but ferocious.
The tourists arrived by road and by rail.
The happy man is neither poor nor wealthy.

Interjections:

Interjections play no part in the grammar of a sentence.

Interjections are words thrown in to express feelings or attitudes.
When written, an interjection is often followed immediately by an
exclamation mark.

Examples:

What a shame, hes failed!

Thank goodness, theres a vacancy.
Really, I am amazed!