The Eight Parts of Speech Yes!! Awesome!! Finally!! English is so much fun!!

1. Verb A verb asserts something about the subject of the sentence and expresses actions, events, or states of being. Every sentence will contain at least one verb. The verb is the key element of the predicate of a sentence. Kinds of verbs: active, passive, helping

Sample Verb Usage 1.Susie jogs for exercise (active verb - present tense). 2.After the game we visited with our friends. (active verb - simple past tense) 3.I have* applied for a new job. (active verb - present perfect tense) * have is being used as a helping verb 4.The coach is a great motivator. (passive or linking verb)

2. Noun A noun is a word used to name a person, animal, place, thing, or an abstract idea.

Common nouns: (see next slide) Proper nouns: titles*, people or place names * ONLY when they refer to a specific person: e.g. President Bush, the president of the company Collective nouns: one word used to define a group of objects – e.g. team, a pack of wolves) Verbal nouns (gerunds): a verb that ends in – ing and acts like a noun – e.g. Swimming is fun. Kinds of Nouns

Categories of Common Nouns People individualcitizenperson Places beachhotelheaven Visible Things moosetreebench Ideas freedomreligionfriendship Actions decisiontreatmentreward Conditions healthdismayhappiness Qualities wisdomstrengthcourage

Places for Nouns The subject of the sentence OR clause e.g. He wanted pizza for dinner. When I went to Italy, I had fun. The direct object of an action verb e.g. I sent Colin to the store. The predicate noun that follows a linking or passive verb e.g. Swimming is fun. The object of a preposition e.g. I sent Colin to the store.

3. Pronoun A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun. Proper pronoun usage helps sentences to be less cumbersome and repetitive. The antecedent is the noun for which the pronoun stands. For pronouns we need to think in terms of number and person.

Examples of Types of Pronouns Personal pronouns ~ she, he, it, they Reflexive pronouns ~ myself, itself, themselves Interrogative pronouns ~ who, whom, whose, which Possessive pronouns ~ mine, yours theirs Indefinite pronouns** **see next slide

Indefinite Pronouns These pronouns can refer to people, places, and things in general. They can be used without an antecedent. Most English students hate grammar. alleithermostother anotherenoughmuchplenty anyeverybodyneitherseveral anybodyeveryonenobodysome anyoneeverythingnonesomebody anythingfewnothingsomeone bothmanyno onesomething eachmoreone

Common Pronoun Errors 1. Failure to establish noun before using pronoun: He wants you to bring it to him. (Who is he ? What is it ?) Mr. Hicks wants you to bring the book to him. 2. Failure to correctly match pronoun with its antecedent in terms of number: Each student should bring their books to class. (student – singular, their – plural) Each student should bring his or her books to class.

Places for Pronouns Subject: I have ninety-five American Literature students! It is dark in the cave. They and we liked that movie. Object: I went to the dance with him. My father made a homework chart for us. The report was read by Maggie and him.

4. Adjective An adjective is a word that describes a noun or pronoun. An adjective can answer one of these questions: What kind? Which one? How many?

Adjective placement Normally, adjectives come before the nouns they describe. e.g. The pretty girl answered her phone. PREDICATE ADJECTIVE: When the verb in a sentence is a special verb ( be, feel, taste, smell, sound, look, appear, seem ) then the adjective comes AFTER the noun it describes. e.g. The dog was ugly. The food tasted bad. The music sounded good.

5. Adverb An adverb describes (modifies) a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. An adverb can answer one of these questions: How (or in what manner)? When? Where? How often? To what extent or degree? MANY, but NOT ALL, adverbs end in –ly!!

Modifying with adverbs Modifying verbs: She sang beautifully. (beautifully tells how she sang) Modifying adjectives: That woman is extremely nice. (nice is an adjective that modifies woman) Modifying adverbs: Becky learned her lines very quickly. ( very describes how quickly; quickly is an adverb that tells how she learned her lines)

6. Preposition A preposition is a word that relates a noun or pronoun that appears with it to another word in the sentence. The preposition, any adjectives, and the word it appears with ( object of the preposition) make up the prepositional phrase.

Prepositional expressions Time (on, in, at, since, during, for, within) Place (on, in, at, inside, over) Direction (to, onto, in, into) Spatial relationship (ahead, against, across, above) Introduce objects of verbs (You didn’t laugh at his joke.) at, of, for

Example Prepositional Phrases 1.The dog chased the cat under the bed. 2.After class the students raced down the hall. 3.Without help we would have been trapped under the bridge. 4.After the council meeting I got a letter regarding my dog. 5.During the game we went to the new restaurant.

7. Conjunction A conjunction is a word used to connect words, phrases, or clauses.

Most Common Conjunctions Coordinating Conjunctions – connect similar kinds of words or groups of words that are grammatically alike for and nor but or yet so Subordinating Conjunctions conjunctions that connect two ideas by making one of the ideas subordinate or less important, than the other idea. after as soon aseven thoughsinceunless although as thoughifso thatuntil as becausein order thatthanwhen as if beforelestthoughwhenever as long aseven ifnow thattillwhere

8. Interjection An interjection is a word that expresses feeling or emotion and functions independently of a sentence. Wow! That was a great game! Hey! That kid just stole my lunch money!