The Eight Basic Parts of Speech

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In English, words are classified into eight basic parts of speech based on their use in a sentence. NOUN: A noun names a person, place or thing. Words like William, New York, sofa, and patriotism are nouns. There are three different types of nouns:
Proper Nouns: name particular people, places and things and are capitalized: Professor Smith, Lake Michigan, Pepsi, Buddhism. Common Nouns: Name people and things in general and are not capitalized: doctor, river, soda, religion. Group (Collective) Nouns: refer to groups of people or things as if they were one unit: team, audience, flock.

VERB: verbs say what the sentence does: The boy ran. Often, verbs are action words, like walking or talking.
Linking Verbs: connect the subject to a word that identifies or describes the subject: The boy was tired. Transitive Verbs: have an object that receives the action of the verb: The car hit the hydrant. Intransitive Verbs: do not take an object: Birds fly. Verb Phrase: a verb phrase is made up of more than one word: has run, could have run, will be running. Active Voice: a verb in active voice shows the subject acting: The singer also played a guitar. Passive Voice: a verb in passive voice shows the subject being acted upon: A guitar was played by the singer.

ADJECTIVE: A word that describes a noun or a pronoun: Talented actress or she is talented. An adjective tells which one, what kind or how many.

ADVERB: A word that describes a verb (ran slowly). An adverb tells how, when, or to what extent. Adverbs can also describe an adjective (very beautiful), or another adverb( moved rather quickly)

INTERJECTION: A word showing strong feelings or emotions, such as Wow, Oh, No, Ah, Oh, I could hardly believe my eyes!

PREPOSITION: A word like to, for, of, in, with, between, that connects a noun or a pronoun (its object) to the rest of the sentence and forms a prepositional phrase: They went swimming in the river. Prepositions, often describe time, place and location.

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PRONOUN: is a word that takes the place of a noun. AThe students entered slowly. They dreaded Professor Higgins exams. For Example: We gave them our tickets. Personal Pronouns: Refer to people or things: Subject Forms: I, we, she, he, it, they Object Forms: me, us, her, him, them Possessive Forms: my, mine, your, yours, his, hers, their, theirs, its Indefinite Pronouns: Do not refer to any specific person or thing. (each, neither, anyone, everybody, etc). For example: Nobody knows the answer. Interrogative Pronouns: Begin questions. (who, whom, whose, what, which). For example: Whose book is it? Relative Pronouns: The interrogative pronouns, plus whoever, whomever, whichever, whatever, begin dependent clauses. For example: The books were free to whoever needed them. Intensive Pronouns: Words ending in -self or -selves, give emphasis to a noun or other pronoun. For Example: The doctor himself set the appointment. / We ourselves will pay the bill. Reflexive Pronouns: Words ending in -self or -selves, show the subject acting upon itself. For example: The carpenter hit himself on the thumb. Demonstrative Pronouns: This, that, these, those, point to a particular person or thing: For example: These are my favorite flowers.

CONJUNCTION: A word that joins other words. Conjunctions also join clauses. There are three types of conjunctions: Coordinating Conjunctions: Connectors In the English language there are seven coordinating conjunctions, (and, but, or, for, nor, yet, so). They join grammatically equal units, such as two independent clauses: Sylvia attended the concert, but Glenn was out of town. When using a coordinating conjunction to join two independent clauses, a comma is placed before the conjunction. Subordinating Conjunctions: Dependent Words Subordinating conjunctions join dependent clauses to independent clauses. They include words like (although, because, since, unless). For Example: We went by train because Ernie doesnt like to fly. If the dependent clause comes at the beginning of the sentence, use a comma to connect it to the rest of the sentence. For example: Because I was tired, I fell asleep in class. Conjunctive adverbs or Transitions: Transitions (however, moreover, nevertheless, finally) Conjunctive adverbs are also called transitions they are also used to join independent clauses. For Example: Bernice got a pay raise; however, she remained unhappy. Notice, when using a conjunctive adverb to join independent clauses, you use a semicolon before the conjunction and a comma after the conjunction.

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