Understanding parts of speech is a necessary step in understanding how to improve one’s writing. While studying parts of speech may seem elementary, there are many intricacies to how parts of speech affect the meaning of a sentence and the idea the writer is trying to relay. To gain a better understanding of these intricacies, this page will provide definitions and examples of parts of speech.
Nouns: The name of a person, place, thing, or idea. Nouns are most often categorized as being either a proper noun (specific name of the given noun) or a common noun (general name of the given noun).
- Person: Tom, man
- Place: Denver, city
- Thing: Mac, computer
- Idea: Buddhism, religion
Subject: The main noun within a sentence. It is the person, place, thing, or idea that is conducting the action of the verb.
- The deans met to discuss new curriculum and student concerns. (While “curriculum” and “students” are nouns, “deans” is the main noun, or subject, of the sentence.)
Above, “deans” would be considered a simple subject, as it is one noun. If there were a larger phrase, such as “The deans of the university,” this entire phrase would be considered the complete subject, with “deans” remaining the simple subject.
Pronouns: Words that replace the name of another noun which has previously been stated.
- Jon likes to go on hikes. He has gone on several this month. (“He” is replacing “Jon.”)
There are seven classes of pronouns:
Personal: Replaces a person or thing.
- Me, you, I, she, he, him, her, it, us, them, they
Possessive: Represents ownership.
- Mine, yours, his, hers, theirs, ours, its
Demonstrative: Points out someone or something.
- This, that, these, those
Relative: A pronoun that connects to another noun in the sentence.
- Who, whom, whoever, which, that, whose (ex. “The man who was there.” The pronoun “who” connects to the noun “man.”)
Reflexive: A pronoun that connects to another pronoun in the sentence.
- Myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, themselves, ourselves, yourselves. (ex. “You must ask yourself.” The pronoun “yourself” connects back to the pronoun “you.”)
Interrogative: Asks a question.
- Who, whom, whose, which, that
Indefinite: A pronoun that does not replace a specific noun, but acts as a noun itself.
- All, any, anyone, anything, both, either, each, everyone, few, many, most, neither, nobody, none, one, other, some, someone, something (Note: As there are many indefinite pronouns, this is not a comprehensive list.)
Adjectives: A word that modifies, or gives further meaning, to a noun or pronoun. It will typically answer the question “Which one?” “What kind of?” or “How many?”
- The red car is mine. (Which one? The red one.)
- A tempting offer was made. (What kind of offer? A tempting offer.)
- Ten athletes played the game. (How many athletes? Ten athletes.)
Articles: A type of adjective that indicates if there is a specific noun or not. There are three articles:
- a, an, the
“the” is referred to as a definite article, as it points to a specific noun. (The book. The man. The author.)
“a/an” is referred to as an indefinite article, as it does not point to a specific noun. (A book. A man. An author.)
As you can see, there is a difference in meaning created between using “the” and “a/an”:
- Please buy me the book.
- Please buy me a book.
Verbs: A word that expresses action or being in the sentence.
Action verbs express an action and are typically easy to spot in the sentence:
- ran, jumped, laughed, write, wrote, sank, sunk
“To be” verbs express a state of being. These can be more difficult to identify and include:
- am, is, are, was, were, be, been, being
Verb Tenses: There are several variations of English language verb tenses. Below are comparisons between past, present, and future tense of verbs:
Past: They learned; they have learned; he taught
Present: They learn; they are learning; he teaches
Future: They will learn; they will have learned; he will teach
Predicate: Consists of a verb, verb string, or compound verb. A simple predicate will refer to the verb, verb phrase, or compound verbs within a sentence. A complete predicate will include the main verb along with its modifiers.
- Jon taught. (Simple predicate.)
- Jon has taught. (Simple predicate.)
- Jon taught and tested the material. (Simple predicate.)
- Jon taught with enthusiasm about the book. (Complete predicate.)
Adverbs: A word that modifies a verb, adjective, or another adverb. They will typically address the question “How?” “When?” “Where?” or “Why?” Adverbs often end with –ly.
- He read slowly. (How did he read? Slowly.)
- He read a very boring book. (How boring of a book? A very boring book. “Very” modifies the adjective “boring.”)
- He read quite slowly. (“Quite” modifies the other adverb “slowly.” Both answer how he read the book.)
Prepositions: Words that indicates time or place. Some examples are:
- above, after, at, by, during, for, from, in, into, of, on, off, through, under, until, with, within
Since the preposition alone doesn’t provide much information on the relationship to time or place, a preposition almost always beings a prepositional phrase:
- above the shelf
- for the moment
- by the time
- with the candlestick
Note: Nouns and verbs within a prepositional phrase will never be the main noun or verb of the sentence. Prepositional phrases should be able to be omitted and a full sentence should remain. (Prepositional phrases are highlighted in the sentence below.)
- From the moment he sat down, Tom laughed after each joke and was crying by the time he left.
Conjunctions: Connects parts of a sentence together. There are three types of conjunctions.
Coordinating: These help to join two related sentences and each has its own specific result when used within a sentence. Coordinating conjunctions are:
- and, but, or, yet, for, nor, so
Correlative: These show relationships within a sentence. Therefore, these will come in pairs:
- both/and, either/or, neither/nor, not only/also, not only/but also
Subordinating: These are used in the beginning of a dependent clause and help to establish the relationship between this dependent clause and remainder of the sentence:
- After he slept, he felt much better.
- We won’t make the movie, unless we go now.
- Whenever it rains, her joints will ache.
Interjections: Used to express emotion or act as filler. It can stand alone or, if part of the sentence, have no grammatical connection. If it represents strong emotion, use an exclamation mark. If the emotion is less forceful, use a comma to set apart.
- Hey! Where are you going?
- Well, I didn’t see that coming.
Direct Object: The part of the sentence which the action (verb) is being performed upon. The direct object will answer the question “What?” or “Whom?”
- The boy swung the bat. (“Boy” is the subject. “Swung” is the action (verb). The boy swung “what?” The bat.)
- I met the teacher. (“I” is the subject. “Met” is the action (verb). I met “whom?” The teacher.)
Indirect Object: The part of the sentence which is the recipient of the direct object. The indirect object will answer the question “to whom?” or “for whom?”
- The boy gave her the bat. (The boy gave the bat “to whom?” Her.)
- Michael bought his wife a rose. (Michael bought a rose “for whom?” His wife.)
Infinitive: A verb paired with the word “to.”
- I do not like to study.
- To think is to create.
Participle: A verb form that acts as an adjective instead.
- The snoring man woke his sleeping wife.
- The loved teacher retired last year.
Gerund: A verb form that ends in –ing but acts as a noun.
- Swimming after you eat is dangerous.
- Studying notes can improve test scores.