Part of Speech

In the English language, words can be considered as the smallest elements that have distinctive meanings. Based on their use and functions, words are categorized into several types or parts of speech. Commonly listed English parts of speech are noun, verb, adjective, adverb, pronoun, preposition, conjunction and interjection.

A part of speech can also be called a word class. Word class can be classified as open classes like nouns, verbs and adjectives that acquire new members constantly, while closed classes such as pronouns and conjunctions that acquire new members infrequently, if at all.

In this article i will explain about the common word type, which are nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and pronouns.

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1.     Nouns

This part of speech refers to words that are used to name persons, things, animals, places, ideas, or events. Nouns are the simplest among the 8 parts of speech.

From words in nouns we can make two classifications: common nouns and proper nouns. Proper nouns is refer to specific names of people, things and places.

While common nouns are actually generic names of nouns. Hmm like things in supermarket? Milk, bread, beef, eggs, coffee, chips, ice cream, etc. That’s the examples of common nouns. Aside from naming or labeling general things, this kind of nouns can also refer to general names of places, people, ideas, events, or animals.

Examples:

• I went to the park with my little brother.
• He proudly said that he is an actor.
• The lake is literally freezing.
• When I was a kid, I wanted to become a doctor.
• Spongebob’s friend, Patrick, is a starfish.

*notes : when used in sentences, common nouns are introduced by the articles “the”, “an” or “a”.

Another thing that you should know about common nouns is that they can come in either singular or plural form. You probably already know that “singular nouns” refer to only only one person, animal, place, thing, idea, or event, while the term “plural nouns”means that you are talking about two or more persons, animals, things, places, ideas, or events.

The most common rule for transforming a common noun into its plural form is to add “s” or “es” at the end of the word.

Examples: 

•  cap-caps
•  bottle- bottles
•  speaker- speakers
•  astronaut- astronauts
•  dinosaur- dinosaurs 

However, there are also some irregular plurals which don’t actually follow a standard set of rules such as these:

What are the Different Usage of Common Nouns?

Common nouns can act as the subject, the direct object, the indirect object, or the predicate nominative.

Common nouns are usually used as the subject in the sentence. Simply put, the subject refers to the doer of the action or to what or who the sentence is all about.

Examples:

•      The painter sold his awesome painting for just a hundred bucks.

In the sentence above, the common noun “painter” is the one who performed the action of selling his painting.

•     A doctor must always do his best to save the lives of his patients.

The underlined common noun (doctor) is the one being talked about in the sentence above.

Common nouns can function as the direct object in the sentence. The direct object is the receiver of the action and answers the question “What?”

Example:

•     Luke built a treehouse.

The verb in the sentence above is “built.” Now, you can ask “What did Luke build?” Obviously, it was a treehouse. Therefore, the underlined common noun serves as the direct object in the sentence.

Common nouns can serve as the indirect object in the sentence. Basically, the indirect object refers to the receiver of the direct object and answers the question “For whom?”

Example:

•     Luke built his daughter a treehouse.

The verb in the sentence above is “built” and the direct object is “treehouse.” Now, you can ask “For whom did Luke build a treehouse?” Just by reading the sentence above, you can easily see that it is for his daughter. Therefore, the underlined common noun is the indirect object in the sentence.

Common nouns can function as the predicate nominative. The predicate nominative always comes after the linking verb and is used to restate the subject.

Example:

•        Marion is an athlete.

In the sentence above, you can notice that the underlined common noun restates or stands for the subject “Marion.” Basically, the subject and the predicate nominative are the same thing.

2.     Pronouns

One of the eight parts of speech in the English language is the pronoun. In order to be able to write great compositions and communicate well, you must learn how to use this type of word properly.

What exactly is a pronoun?

For you to understand the concept easily, you can look at nouns as actors and pronouns as stuntmen in movies. When a stuntman takes the place of an actor for a particular scene, he represents the same character. Just the same, a pronoun replaces a noun in a particular sentence, but it still refers to the same noun.

For example:

• Mr. White was a high school teacher turned race car driver. He was able to win 99.1% of the races because of his extensive knowledge in racing.
• In the sentence, the person is ­Walter White. Instead of repeating his name in the next sentence, the pronouns “he“ and “his” were used to refer to him.

What would happen if there were no pronouns?

The previous example would look like this:

• Mr. White is a high school teacher turned race car driver. Mr. White was able to win 99.1% of the races because of Mr. White’s extensive knowledge in racing.

It sounds awkward, right?

So you see, pronouns are very important in written and verbal communication because they avoid repetitiveness and ensure a good flow of words. They serve as stuntmen that are always ready to replace the real actors when the actors start to wear out.

Below is a list of the most common pronouns that you can use to replace different kinds of nouns.

The Antecedent

As previously mentioned, a pronoun is used to replace a noun. This noun is called the antecedent.

The prefix “ante” means before, so for example:

•          The police officers rushed into their headquarters.

In this example, the pronoun “their” refers back to the police officers. The underlined noun is therefore, the antecedent of “their.”

In a simple sentence such as that stated above, it is very easy to identify the antecedent that the pronoun is referring to. However, you should be very careful with the use of pronouns in writing complicated sentences or paragraphs. If not used properly, these can confuse readers as to what you’re talking about. Make sure that your antecedent will not get lost to avoid this confusion.

Kinds of Pronouns

There are six kinds of pronouns with different functions:

1. Personal pronouns

This kind of pronoun refers to a particular person or thing. The form of the personal pronoun that is appropriate to use for a specific sentence depends on the gender and number of persons or things that serve as the antecedents.

For example, you are referring to a female subject in the sentence, the pronouns that are appropriate to use are: she, her, and hers. If you are referring to a male, you can use: he, him, and his. For a group of persons, not including yourself, the appropriate pronouns are: they, them, and theirs.

Personal pronouns can serve as the subjects, objects of the verb or preposition, and can also show possession. They are formally classified into: subjective personal pronouns, objective personal pronouns, and possessive personal pronouns.

Examples:

• You are definitely the biggest science nerd I’ve ever met.
• In the example above, the underlined pronoun serves as the subject.
• Harry persuaded her to come with him.
• The pronoun “her” is the object of the verb persuaded. Him, on the other hand, is the object of the preposition with.
• Ours is the one on the left.
• The pronoun “ours” signifies possession.

2. Demonstrative pronouns

The function of this kind of pronoun is to point to a noun. Examples are: this, these, that, and those. The pronouns “this” and “these” points to things that are nearby while the other two are for things that are far. Aside from proximity, you must also consider the number of things you are pointing out. For singular nouns, “this” and “that” should be used, while for plural nouns “these” and “those” are appropriate.

Examples:

•   That is the car that I’ll buy for my birthday.
•     The speaker is pointing out to a singular noun that is far from him/her.
•   She said she wanted these.
•    The underlined pronoun refers to a plural noun and also serve as the object of the verb wanted.

3. Indefinite pronouns

This kind of pronoun refers to unspecified things. Some examples are: any, all, another, each, anyone, anything, anybody, nobody, everyone, everybody, someone, somebody, few, and many.

Examples:

•    Many were called for the interview but only 3 were hired.
• He’s ready to give up everything for his family’s safety.

4. Intensive pronouns

The function of intensive pronouns is to give emphasis to the antecedent. Examples of this kind of pronoun are: myself, itself, himself, herself, yourself, yourselves, themselves, and ourselves.

Examples:

•   The president himself said that it was a terrorist attack.
•   I myself knew that it was a mistake.

5. Interrogative pronouns

As the title implies, the function of this kind of pronoun is to ask questions. Examples of interrogative pronouns are: who, what, which, whom, whoever, whatever, whichever, and whomever.

Examples:

•   Who wrote the book 1984?
•   What did the doctors say?

6. Relative pronouns

This kind of pronoun links one clause or phrase to another. Some of the most common relative pronouns are: who, whoever, whomever, that, and which.

Examples:

•   The contestant who gets the highest score wins the million dollar jackpot.
•   In this sentence, the underlined pronoun is the subject of the verb gets. The subordinate clause, “who gets the highest score wins the million dollar jackpot,” describes the noun contestant.
•   He will accept whichever project comes first.
•   The subordinate clause, ”whichever project comes first,” serves as the object of the verb “will accept.”

7. Reflexive pronouns

This kind of pronoun is used to refer back to the subject. Some of the reflexive pronouns are: yourself, myself, ourselves, himself, herself, themselves, and itself.

Example:

•   Sandra never forgets to send a copy of the email to herself.
•   The pronoun “herself” refers back to the subject of the sentence, which is Sandra.
•   He promised to repair the broken fence, however, we ended up fixing it ourselves.
•   The underlined reflexive pronoun refers back to the subject we.

3.     Adjectives

One of the most important components of a sentence is the adjective. This part of speech is so common that people use it almost automatically, both in speech and in writing. For you to understand the concept of adjectives better this article will answer the following questions :

• What is an adjective?
• What are the functions of adjectives?
• What are the different kinds of adjectives?
• What are the degrees of adjectives?

Aside from answering the basic questions and defining the related terms, various examples will also be included in this short write-up.

What is an Adjective and its Functions?

An adjective is a part of speech which describes, identifies, or quantifies a noun or a pronoun. So basically, the main function of an adjective is to modify a noun or a pronoun so that it will become more specific and interesting. Instead of just one word, a group of words with a subject and a verb, can also function as an adjective. When this happens, the group of words is called an adjective clause.

For example:

• For example: My brother, who is much older than I am, is an astronaut.

In the example above, the underlined clause modifies the noun ”brother.” But what if the group of words doesn’t have a subject and a verb? What do you think the resulting group of words will be called?

If you think it’s called an adjective phrase, you are right. As you might recall, phrases and clauses are both groups of words and the main difference is that clauses have subjects and verbs, while phrases don’t.

• For example: She is prettier than you.

What are the Different Kinds of Adjectives?

Now that you already know the answer to the question, “What is an adjective?” you should know that not all adjectives are the same. They modify nouns and pronouns differently, and just like the other parts of speech, there are different kinds of adjectives. These are:

1. Descriptive Adjectives

Among the different kinds of adjectives, descriptive adjectives are probably the most common ones. They simply say something about the quality or the kind of the noun or pronoun they’re referring to.

Examples:

• Erika is witty.
• She is tired.
• Adrian’s reflexes are amazing.

 2. Adjectives of Number or Adjectives of Quantity

As the name suggests, this kind of adjective answers the question, “How many?” or “How much?”

Examples:

• Twenty-one students failed the exam.
• The plants need more water.

 3. Demonstrative Adjectives

Demonstrative adjectives point out pronouns and nouns, and always come before the words they are referring to.

Examples:

• I used to buy this kind of shirts.
• When the old man tripped over that wire, he dropped a whole bag of groceries.

 4. Possessive Adjectives

Obviously, this kind of adjectives shows ownership or possession. Aside from that, possessive adjectives always come before the noun.

Examples: 

• I can’t answer my seatwork because I don’t have a calculator.
• Trisha sold his dog.

 5. Interrogative Adjectives

Interrogative adjectives ask questions and are always followed by a noun.

Examples:

• What movie are you watching?
• Which plants should be placed over here?

What are the Degrees of Adjectives?

There are only three degrees or levels of adjectives (also known as degrees of comparison) namely, positive, comparative, and superlative. When you talk about or describe only a single person, place, or thing, you should use the positive degree.

Examples:

• She is a beautiful lady.
• It was a memorable trip.

If on the other hand, you are comparing two persons, places, or things, it is appropriate to use the comparative degree of the word. Normally, you will need to add “-er” to transform the word into its comparative form or add the word “more.” Also, the word “than” should be added after the adjective in the comparative degree.

Examples:

• This swimming pool is bigger than that one.
• Ashley is more intelligent than Aldrin.

*Note: For words ending in “y,” you should first change the “y” into “i,” and then add “-er” (e.g., lovely-lovelier; pretty- prettier; tasty- tastier)

Lastly, if you are comparing more than two things, the superlative form of the adjectives should be used and the word “the” should be added before the adjective. In order to transform the adjective into its superlative form, you just have to add the suffix “-est” or the word “most.”

Examples:

• That is by far, the tallest tree I have ever seen in my entire life.
• This is the most crucial match of the season.

*Note: For words ending in “y,” you should first change the “y” into “i,” and then add “-est” (e.g., lovely-loveliest; pretty- prettiest; tasty- tastiest)

4.     Verbs

What is a Verb?

A verb can be considered as one of the most important parts of a sentence. You probably already know that a sentence must be composed of a subject and a predicate, so what makes a verb so important? Well, the verb is the main component of a predicate. Without it, there won’t be a sentence, just a bunch of words with an incomplete thought. Simply defined, the verb is a part of speech which is used to demonstrate an action or a state of being.

What are the Different Kinds of Verbs?

Your primary school teachers must have defined verb as an “action word.” That is right, however, verbs are more than just words that express an action done physically like:

run, jump, dance, write, kick, etc.

In reality, verbs may also refer to an action done mentally such as:

think, ponder, guess, imagine, wonder, etc.

1. Normal Verbs and Non-Continuous Verbs

The first type of verb used to express physical action is called  a Normal Verb, while the second one, which refers to an action you can’t see someone do, is called a Non-Continuous Verb.

Sample Sentences:

• Jesse Pinkman laughed hysterically.
• The verb in this sentence is laughed and the subject who does the action is Jessie Pinkman.
• Aegon Targaryen and his sisters conquered the Seven Kingdoms.
• The verb is conquered, while the subject in this sentence is Aegon Targaryen and his sisters.
• Darth Vader thought of an evil plan to get rid of Darth Sidious.
• Thought is the mental action word done by the subject Darth Vader in the sentence above.
• I wonder what will happen on the next episode.
• The pronoun, I, is the subject in the last sentence and the verb is wonder.

2. Linking Verb

Aside from the Normal Verbs and Non-Continuous Verbs, there is another type which is called the Linking Verb.

As the name suggests, a linking verb is a kind of verb that links a subject to the complement. A complement is the part of a sentence which modifies or provides more information about the subject. Examples of linking verbs are:

am, is, was, are, were, has been, might have been, become, etc.

The words listed above are just some of the “true linking verbs.” They are called that way because they have no other functions but to serve as linking verbs. However, just like some people, certain verbs also have dual personalities. Take a look at the two sentences below:

• Irine tasted the exotic food.
• The exotic food tasted great!

In the first sentence, you can easily say that the italicized word is an action word done by Irine. However, in the second sentence, the same word has a different function. It serves as a linking verb that connects exotic food with the word, great.

What are Multi-Part Verbs?

Do not assume that verbs are limited to a single word. Sometimes, they come in two to four words. The basic formula for verbs with multiple parts is:

The auxiliary verbs, also called “helping verbs,” allow you to write in various verb tenses and voices when combined with a base or main verb.

Take a look at the examples below:

• I was given a two-week notice by the sales agent.
• The sentence above is written in the passive voice.  Was is the auxiliary verb and given is the main verb.
• It must have been raining very hard.
• The main verb is raining and the auxiliary verbs are must have been.

What are the Different Forms of Verbs?

In order to be able to construct a grammatically correct sentence, it is very important that you know how to write in the proper verb tense. The three basic forms of verbs are past, present, and future. The first one obviously refers to an action that was already done, the second is for present action, and the third is for an action that will be done.

Examples:

Past	Present	Future
aimed	aim/s	will aim
counted	count/s	will count
marched	march/es	will march
picked	pick/s	will pick
walked	walk/s	will walk

You will notice that:

1. The present form is just the basic form of the verb (add –s or –es for a singular subject)

•  Example: He marches; Soldiers march

2. The past tense is the basic form plus –ed.

*Note: The past tense of a verb pertaining to a singular subject and a plural subject is the same.

• Example: She walked; They walked

3. The future tense is the word will plus the basic form of the verb.

*Note: The future tense of a verb pertaining to a singular subject and a plural subject is the same.

• Example: Andrea will count; The teachers will count

Although most verbs follow these rules, there are still some exceptions. Take a look at the examples below:

Past	Present	Future
drove	drive/s	will drive
read	read/s	will read
felt	feel/s	will feel
taught	teach/es	will teach
thought	think/s	will think

The verbs presented in the table above are called irregular verbs. There are actually no specific rules on how to form this kind of verb. But don’t worry because you can easily find a complete list on the internet.

1.     Adverbs

Since adjectives are more common compared to adverbs, this article will focus on explaining the concept of adverbs. It will answer the most basic questions like:

• What is an adverb?
• What are the different kinds of adverbs?
• What are the most important tips for using adverbs?

1st : What is an adverb?

An adverb is a part of speech used to describe a verb, adjective, clause, or another adverb. It simply tells the readers how, where, when, or the degree at which something was done.

Examples:

1.  The manager accepted the challenge very nicely.

The italicized word is an adverb that describes nicely, which is another adverb.

2.      Tears began to fall as he saw the completely lifeless body of his wife.

 The adverb in this sentence is completely, which describes the adjective lifeless.

3.      Surprisingly, the cubicles of the public restroom are clean.

 Surprisingly is the adverb in this sentence. It modifies the clause that comes right after it.

Even though all of the sample sentences above have one-word adverbs, adverbs are not limited to a single word. Sometimes, adverbs come in phrases. Take a look at the example below.

•                At 4 a.m., a stray cat jumped into the open window.

The italicized part is a prepositional phrase with an adverbial function. It tells when the event occurred.

2nd : What are the Different Kinds of Adverbs?

Aside from answering the main question “What is an adverb?” it is also important to explore the different kinds of this part of speech. Basically, there are four kinds of adverbs:

• Adverbs of Manner

This kind of adverb describes the manner by which something was done or something happened. Adverbs of manner answer the question “How?”

Examples:

1.     The students measured the volume of the chemicals accurately.

 The italicized adverb describes the verb “measured.”

2.      She walks gracefully.

 Gracefully modifies the verb “walks.”

• Adverbs of Place

Adverbs of place simply answer the question “Where?” Here are some examples:

1.      Heisenberg looked away from the dead body.

 The adverb away answers the question, “Where did Heisenberg look?”

2.   They built a huge toy factory nearby.

 The adverb nearby answers the question, “Where did they build the huge toy factory?”

You will notice based on these examples that adverbs of place can be placed right after the verb or after the object of the verb.

• Adverbs of Time

Aside from answering when an event occurred, adverbs of time also answer questions like, “How long?” and “How often?”

Examples:

1.      Syndra lived in Germany for a year.

For a year tells how long something happened (how long Syndra lived in Germany).

2.      I’m going to the dentist tomorrow.

The adverb tomorrow indicates when something will be done.

• Adverbs of Degree

This kind of adverb indicates the degree at which something will be done. It tells something about the intensity.

Examples:

1.      You didn’t try hard enough.

 Hard enough is an adverb pertaining to the verb, “try.”

2.      The temperature of the room was extremely

 Extremely describes the adjective, “high.”

3rd : What are the Most Important Tips for Using Adverbs?

Sometimes, students know what adverbs are but don’t know how to use them properly. So here are the most useful tips that you should keep in mind:

1. In writing an adverb of manner, you must never write the adverb in between the verb and the object of the verb.

Example (from above):

• The students measured accurately the volume of the chemicals. (wrong)
• The students measured the volume of the chemicals accurately. (correct)
• The first sentence is wrong because the adverb is located somewhere between “measured” (verb) and “volume” (object of the verb).

2. Know when to use the comparative or superlative forms of adverbs. Words like more or less are added to the main adverb when comparing two things. Most or least are used if there are three or more things to compare.

• Examples: most often; more frequently

3. Not all words ending in –ly are adverbs. This is pretty obvious, but some students assume that a word is an adverb just because it ends in –ly.

4.  Do not overly use adverbs. If there are single alternative words, you can use those.

Examples:

• Instead of walk heavily –> trudge
• Instead of ate hurriedly –> gobbled