Parts of Speech
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Parts of Speech :
Words are divided into eight classes according to the work they do in a sentence.
They are….
1. Nouns
2. Pronouns
3. Adjectives
4. Verbs
5. Adverbs
6. Prepositions
7. Conjunctions
8. Interjections
These word classes arc called the parts of speech.
There is also another word class called determiners.
A noun is a word which names or refers to a person, animal, place, thing, idea or quality. The words student, Gopal, dog, city, Delhi, computer, electricity, noise, cleverness and friendship are all nouns.
Places, ideas, etc. can also be called things. A noun is simply a word referring to somebody or something. A noun answers the questions….Who is it? or What is it?
A pronoun is a word used in place of a noun to indicate someone or something already mentioned or known.
1. Tom is absent because he is ill. (HE in place of TOM…)
2. Read this book. It is very useful. (IT instead of BOOK)
3. You look tired. (YOU in place of the name of the person spoken to.)
The main pronouns are…
1. I
2. We
3. You
4. He
5. She
6. It
7. They
An adjective is a word such as lazy, brave, beautiful interesting, tall which describes or tells more about a noun or pronoun.
1. A lazy student rarely succeeds. (The adjective describes the noun “student”)
2. He is lazy- (The adjective describes the pronoun “he”.)
3. What an expensive camera!
4. The camera is expensive.
A determiner is a word that goes before a noun and limits the meaning of the noun or shows which person or thing is being talked about. Determiners include the, a, an, this (used as in “this CD”), these, that(used as in “that girl”), those, each (“each student”), every, all(“all people”), both, some (“some sugar”), any, my, your, her, their, one, two, etc.
Most of the determiners (almost all except THE & A, AN) are usually treated as adjectives in traditional grammars.
A verb is mainly a “doing word”. It says what somebody or something does.
1. She acts on TV. (What does she do? She acts.)
2. The bird flew away. (What did the bird do? It flew.)
3. A verb may also say what happens to a person or thing.
4. She died in an accident. (What happened to her? She died)
5. The plate broke. (What happened to the plate? It broke.)
A few verbs (like be, become, remain, have, seem) express a state of condition.
1. She is tired.
2. The computer has a plastic cover.
3. The news seems true.
4. They kept silent
To sum up, a verb expresses an action, event or condition.
An adverb is a word that limits or adds to the meaning of a verb, an adjective or mother adverb. It usually gives information about manner, time, place, cause or degree. In grammatical terms, an adverb “modifies” a verb, an adjective or another adverb.
1. Rahim drives carefully. (The adverb says how Rahim drives. It modifies the verb “drives”.)
2. They will leave tomorrow. (The adverb gives information about the time of the action. It modifies the verb “will leave”.)
3. The bus stops here (The adverb says where the bus stops. It modifies the verb 4. “stops”.)
5. You are quite right. (The adverb modifies the adjective “right”.)
6. She spoke very well. (The adverb “very” adds to the meaning of another adverb “well”.)
Sometimes an adverb adds to the meaning of a whole sentence.
1. He will probably come this evening.
2. Luckily, no one was hurt.
A preposition is a word (or group of words) such as at, in, on, to, with, behind, out of, in front of, used before a noun or pronoun to show time, place, method, etc.
1. I got up at 5.30.
2. The DVDs are on the top shelf.
3. We travelled by bus.
4. They got out of the spaceship.
A conjunction is a “joining word”. It joins words or groups of words. Some common conjunctions are….and, but, or, so, if, though, although, when, as, because, till, until.
Peter and Krishna are friends.
The conjunction joins the words - Peter and Krishna.
Have you come by bus or on foot?
The conjunction joins the word groups - by bus and on foot.
Be careful when you cross the road.
The conjunction joins the word groups - Be careful and you cross the road.)
An interjection is a word spoken suddenly to express some strong feeling.
1. Hurray! Pratap has won. (Hurray is a shout of joy.)
2. Ouch! You have trodden on my toes! (Ouch is used to express sudden pain.)
3. Bravo! Well hit. (We use bravo to express our pleasure when somebody has done something well.)
4. Wow! What a tall building! (Wow is used to express great surprise.)
5. Hey! What are you doing there? (Hey is used to attract someone’s attention.)
Some words belong to more than one - parts of speech.
Study the following and refer the Parts of Speech.
1. The phone is ringing. (noun)
2. I phone my uncle every day. (verb)
3. I have a pain in the back. (noun)
4. I will come back in five minutes, (adverb)
5. Have you closed the back door? (adjective)
6. We backed his car through the gate. (verb)
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