1. Parts of Speech Subjects and Verbs
English B60
Parts of Speech
Subjects and Verbs

2. Nouns Nouns name people, places, things, or ideas.
Nouns are used as subjects and objects of sentences
Proper nouns name specific people, places, things, or ideas; these are capitalized and can include more than one word.
Ms. Kim and the other librarians are very proud of the success of the new library.
Hint: Nouns are also words that can be made plural or possessive.
Have you seen my keys?
Here, “keys” is both plural and possessive.

3. Pronouns Pronouns replace nouns in sentences to avoid repeating them.
I, she, him, it, they, who, that, and us are all pronouns.
In fact, they are very proud of it.
In fact, they (the librarians) are very proud of it (the new library’s success).
The words that the pronouns replace are called antecedents.

4. Adjectives
Adjectives describe or modify nouns and pronouns, telling which one, how many, what kind, what color, or what shape they are.
The head librarian designed the new, state-of-the art facilities.
The head librarian designed the new, state-of-the-art facilities.
Note: A, an, and the are special forms of adjectives called articles. They always introduce a noun or pronoun and are used often, so there is no need to label them.

5. Verbs
Verbs show action or link a subject with a description. Verbs can also work together in verb phrases.
She was teaching in France before she retired and became a librarian.
Hint: Verbs are the only part of speech that can change tense.
You seemed tired yesterday.
You seem tired today.
You will seem tired tomorrow.

6. Adverbs
Words that modify or describe verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs.
They add information like when, where, why, or how.
The library steps are marble; people often slip there on the very slick ice.

7. Prepositions
Prepositions show position in space and time and are followed by noun objects to form prepositional phrases.
The computer lounges in the library are full by the middle of the morning.

8. Conjunctions Words that combine parts of sentences.
Coordinating Conjunctions (fanboys) = for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so
They connect parts of equal weight.
Face Off is my favorite TV show, and Glen is my favorite judge.
Subordinating Conjunctions (words like “After,” “Before,” and “Because,”)
They connect parts by making them unequal.
Because she is my friend, I will let her borrow some money.

9. Interjections
Words that convey strong emotions—often followed by exclamation marks.
Ouch! That hurt.
Hey! Come back here with my wallet!

10. Identifying Parts of Speech
The same word can function as different parts of speech in different sentences. You’ll need to look at each sentence individually to determine the parts of speech of each word used.
Our train arrived at exactly three o’clock.
Sammy and Helen train new employees at Sea World.
Students can take a shuttle from the train station.

11. Subjects and Verbs
Complete sentences must contain subjects, verbs, and complete thoughts. A subject of a sentence is almost always a noun or a pronoun. It is who or what the sentence is about, or who is doing the verb. The verb shows the action of the sentence, or tells what is happening.

12. Subjects and Verbs cont’d
Underline the subject once and the verb twice in the following sentences.
The grey and yellow bird whistled loudly.
The vase on the table is full of wilted flowers.
My rabbit has floppy ears.

13. Phrases
Phrases are groups of words that function together as part of a sentence. They are missing either a subject or a verb or both. They cannot stand alone as sentences.
Example phrases
Verb phrase: “was going to call”
Prepositional phrase: “to the store”
Noun phrase: “green and yellow car”

14. Clauses
A clause is a group of words that always has both a subject and a verb
There are two types of clauses: independent and dependent.

15. Independent Clauses
Independent clauses have a subject, a verb, and a complete thought. They can stand alone as complete sentences.
We went to see a movie.

16. Dependent Clauses
Dependent Clauses have a subject and a verb, but not a complete thought. They cannot stand alone as complete sentences.
They are usually started with a subordinating conjunction
Before, because, since, while, after, during, and even though are all subordinating conjunctions
Subordinating conjunctions make clauses dependent because they now require an independent clause to complete the thought.
We went to see a movie
Before we went to see a movie
Before we went to see a movie, we ate dinner.