Parts of Speech

An Overview

Why study the parts of speech?

SAT Prep:●7 out of 8 parts of speech are tested on the

SAT• In order to be successful on other portions

of the SAT, you need to be comfortable identifying them.

Why study the parts of speech?SAT Error-Identification questions fall into 16 major categories, listed below in approximate descending order of frequency. Verbs:1. Subject-Verb Agreement2. Verb Tense/FormPronouns:3. Pronoun-Antecedent4. Pronoun CaseAdditional Errors:5. Adjectives vs. Adverbs6. Parallel Structure: Lists7. Prepositions/Idioms8. Faulty Comparisons9. Word Pairs10. Noun Agreement11. Comparatives vs. Superlatives12. Relative Pronouns13. Double Negatives/Double Positives14. Conjunctions15. Redundancy16. Diction

1. NounsDefinition: ● A noun is a person, place, thing, or idea. ● Answers the questions: What? Who?● There are 6 different types of nouns:

1. Concrete noun: a person, place, or thing that has physical shape; can touch it

a. Examples: rabbit, museum, sister

NounsDefinition: ● A noun is a person, place, thing, or idea. ● There are 6 different types of nouns:

2. Abstract Noun: an idea, quality, or emotion that has no physical shape; cannot be touched

- Example: happiness, trust, liberty

NounsDefinition: ● A noun is a person, place, thing, or idea. ● There are 6 different types of nouns:

3. Common noun: a person, place, thing, or idea that is not specific; begins with a lower-case letter

-Examples: manager, ocean, desk, justice

NounsDefinition: ● A noun is a person, place, thing, or idea. ● There are 6 different types of nouns:

4. Proper noun: a name of a specific person, place, thing, or idea; begins with a capital letter

-Example: George, Atlantic, Montana, Tuesday, Valentine’s Day

NounsDefinition: ● A noun is a person, place, thing, or idea. ● There are 6 different types of nouns:

5. Compound noun: a noun formed when two nouns are put together to form one noun

-Example: firefly, bathtub, homework

NounsDefinition: ● A noun is a person, place, thing, or idea. ● There are 6 different types of nouns:

6. Gerund: a noun formed by adding “ing” to a verb (verb + ing)

-Examples: teaching, writing, eating-Sentence: Blogging is my favorite activity.

Definition:●A verb expresses an action or a state of being●Answers: What is being said about “subject”?●There are 3 different kinds:

1.Action verbs:

a. a physical action verb describes an action that can be seen or heardi. run, hit, jump, dance, sing

b. a mental action verb describes an action that CANNOT be seen or heard.i. think, worry, wonder, believe, feel, anticipate

2. Verb

Action verbs are classified as either:

• Transitive verbs: Transitive verbs are action verbs that have an object to receive that action.

Example: The batter hit the ball.

• Intransitive verbs: Intransitive verbs are action verbs but unlike transitive verbs, they do not have an object receiving the action.

Example: The bird sang.

Verb

Definition:●A verb expresses an action or a state of being●There are 3 different kinds:

2. Linking Verbs:● connects the subject to the word that completes the

subject (the compliment)● shows a state of being● sometimes relates to the five senses

Example: The squid eyeball stew tasted good.

Verb

2. Linking Verbs: The following verbs are true linking verbs: any form of the verb be (am/is/are/was/were/ has been/are being/might have been, etc) become, and seem.

Then you have a list of verbs with multiple personalities: appear/feel/grow/look/prove/remain/smell/sound/taste/turn. Sometimes these verbs are linking verbs; sometimes they are action verbs.**If you can substitute am, is, or are and the sentence still makes sense, then the verb is acting as a linking verb.Sylvia tasted the spicy squid eyeball stew. (action)

Verb

Definition:●A verb expresses an action or a state of being●There are 3 different kinds:

3. Auxiliary Verbs (helping verbs): accompanies an action verb or a linking verb, and it forms a phrase showing the verb’s tenseExample: Sue is meeting her friend. They are going to the movies.

(There are 24 helping verbs.)

Verb

Auxiliary Verbs (all 24)Be Do Haveamis

arewaswerebe

beingbeen

doesdodid

have hashad

Modal Auxiliaries (Never change form)can, could, may, might, must, ought to, shall, should, will, would

Definition:●An adjective is a word that modifies (describes) a

noun or pronoun.●Adjectives answer the following questions:

1. What kind?Sue has a small, hairy mole which she hides

from important people.2. Which one?Sue’s recent trip was long but more rewarding than her previous trip.3. How many/much?I have four years of college and some time in law school.

3. Adjective

Indefinite article:●Refers to an unspecified noun: a, ano I would have been late if not for a man on the

subway.

Definite article:● Refers to a specific person, place or thing: the

o Brent was told to address the president as “sir.”

Articles as special Adjectives

Definition - an adverb is a word modifying:1. a verb

a. Jessica sings well. (How does she sing?)2. an adjective

a. We went for a very long car ride. (How long was the ride?)

3. or another adverb.a.To escape the storm, we left more quickly than

usual.(How quickly did we leave? Why did we leave?)Adverbs can answer: 4.How? (directly, very, acutely)5.When? (again, often, sometimes, yesterday)6.Where?(here, there, everywhere, up, down)7.To what extent?8.Why?

4. Adverb

Definition - Like nouns, pronouns represent a person, place, thing, or idea. Pronouns are different from nouns because they stand in the place of a specific noun.

-There are 5 classes of pronouns:1.Personal: a personal pronoun refers to people and

things. (Subjective: I/we/you/he/it. Objective: me/you/her/him/us/them/it. )

2.Possessive: a possessive pronoun shows possession or ownership. (my/mine/your/yours/his/our/their)

3.Demonstrative: a demonstrative pronoun points out specific persons or things. (this/that/these/those)

5. Pronoun

Definition - Like nouns, pronouns represent a person, place, thing, or idea. Pronouns are different from nouns because they stand in the place of a specific noun.

-There are 5 classes of pronouns:4. Indefinite: an indefinite pronoun does not refer to anyone or anything in particular. (everything/anything/no one/nothing/anyone/few/one)5. Interrogative: interrogative pronouns are used to ask questions. (who/whom/whose/what/which)

Antecedent: the noun the pronoun replaces.Mark likes driving. He thinks it is relaxing.

5. Pronoun

Definition - A preposition shows relationship between a noun, or pronoun, and its objects.

Examples: about/above/across/after/at/before/behind/by/between/beyond/but*/by/down/for/from/in/into/like/of/since/through/to/under/up/with/within/

* But is very seldom a preposition. When it is used as a preposition, but means the same as except—Everyone ate frog legs but Jamie. But usually functions as a coordinating conjunction.

6. Preposition

Definition - A preposition shows relationship between a noun, or pronoun) and its objects.

Prepositional Phrases: a prepositional phrases starts with a preposition, ends with its object (a noun or pronoun), and includes all the words in between.

Preposition + optional modifying words + noun/pronoun

Sue stood away from her annoying menace.

6. Preposition

Definition - a conjunction joins words, phrases, and clauses.

-There are 3 kinds of conjunctions:1.Coordinating Conjunctions: links two nouns, two

independent clauses, or two phrasesa. (FANBOYS - for/and/nor/but/or/yet/so)

Examples: 2. Soccer and hockey are popular sports.3. Jimmy is tired, but he won’t take a nap.4. The monkey likes to swing from ropes and jump on

tires.

7. Conjunctions

Definition - a conjunction joins words, phrases, and clauses.-There are 3 kinds of conjunctions:2. Subordinating Conjunctions: joins a clause that CANNOT stand alone with the rest of the sentence; creates a dependent clause.

a. (AWUBIS: after/although/as/when/where/because/before/unless/until/if/since)

1.Since Autumn is here, we have to rake the leaves.2. Your grades are going to suffer as long as you

continue to deprive yourself of sleep.

7. Conjunctions

Definition - a conjunction joins words, phrases, and clauses.

-There are 3 kinds of conjunctions:3. Correlative Conjunctions: joins equal parts of a sentence together and must include both parts.

a. (either/or; neither/nor; both/and; not only/but also; not/but; whether/or)

1.Neither Joe nor Bob enjoys math class.2.Both Sue and Juan attend college.3. Pan does not know whether she or her sister is

having the party.

7. Conjunctions

Definition - an interjection is a word or short phrase that stands alone, begins a sentence, or is inserted into a sentence to gain attention or add emphasis.

-There are 2 kinds of interjections:1. Strong: a strong interjection expresses surprise,

strong emotion, or urgency and is followed by an exclamation point.

Example: Yikes! The tub is overflowing.Ouch! Who told you a shot only feels like a pinch?I said I want that job done. Now!

8. Interjections

Definition - an interjection is a word or short phrase that stands alone, begins a sentence, or is inserted into a sentence to gain attention or add emphasis.

-There are 2 kinds of interjections:2. Mild: a mild interjection is placed within a sentence with a comma or commas bracketing it.

Example: 1.Well, if you don’t tell, I won’t.2. That shot was a painful experience, indeed.3. I will, certainly, take your feelings into

consideration.

8. Interjections