PARTS OF SPEECHMurni Salina

B.Sc Ed (TESL) UTM Skudai

Malaysia

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PARTS OF SPEECH

NOUNS VERBS ADJECTIVES ADVERBS

PREPOSITIONS CONJUNCTIONS DETERMINERS AUXILIARIES

A NOUN

a word which names a person, place or thing proper nouns and common nouns 

Most nouns are common nouns and do not begin with a capital letter.Proper nouns are nouns which begin with a capital letter because it is the name of a specific or particular person place or thing.

Mexico John F. Kennedy Atlantic Ocean February Monday New York City Susan Maple Street Burger King

If you see a word beginning with a capital letter in in the middle of a sentence, it is probably a proper noun. 

Many nouns have a special plural form if there is more than one.  For example, we say one book but two books.  Plurals are

usually formed by adding an -s (books) or -es (boxes)

some plurals are formed in different ways (child - children, person - people, mouse - mice,

sheep - sheep)

A VERB

a word which shows action or state of being every sentence must have a verb

The dog bit the man.

bit is the verb and the word which shows the action of the sentence. 

The man is sitting on a chair. even though the action doesn't show

much activity, sitting is the verb of the sentence.

She is a smart girl.

there is no action but a state of being expressed by the verb is.

the word be is different from other verbs in many ways but can still be thought of as a verb.

Verb ‘To Be’

Subject Present Past Perfect(past

participle)

Progressive(present

participle)

I am was have been am being

We are were have been are being

You are were have been are being

They are were have been are being

He is was has been is being

She is was has been is being

It is was has been is being

verbs change their form Sometimes endings are added

learn - learned sometimes the word itself becomes different

teach-taught The different forms of verbs show different

meanings related to such things as : tense (past, present, future) person (first person, second person, third person) number (singular, plural) voice (active, passive)

An Adjective

modifies a noun or a pronoun by describing, identifying, or quantifying words.

An adjective usually precedes the noun or the pronoun which it modifies.

The truck-shaped balloon floated over the treetops.

Mrs. Morrison papered her kitchen walls with hideous wall paper.

The small boat foundered on the wine dark sea. The coal mines are dark and dank. Many stores have already begun to play irritating

Christmas music. A battered music box sat on the mahogany

sideboard. The back room was filled with large, yellow rain

boots.

ADJECTIVES

An Adverb

can modify a verb, an adjective, another adverb, a phrase, or a clause.

An adverb indicates manner, time, place, cause, or degree and answers questions such as "how," "when," "where," "how much".

Unlike an adjective, an adverb can be found in various places within the sentence.

The seamstress quickly made the mourning clothes.

In this sentence, the adverb "quickly" modifies the verb "made" and indicates in what manner (or how fast) the clothing was constructed.

The midwives waited patiently through a long labour. Similarly in this sentence, the adverb

"patiently" modifies the verb "waited" and describes the manner in which the midwives waited.

The boldly spoken words would return to haunt the rebel.

In this sentence the adverb "boldly" modifies the adjective "spoken."

Fill in the blanks

On a _____________ day at the end of March, ____________ decided that he/she was tired of playing inside. ________________ needed some adventure. So he/she grabbed his/her ________________ and his/her _____________ and set off. There was fresh snow on the ground and the clouds were ___________________. The first thing _____________ saw was a ___________________ standing beside a tree. He/She __________ over to the _______________. "What's your name?" asked ____________. The ___________ replied, "__________________." Was this the beginning of the adventure ______________ was seeking?

On the ground Brother saw a coyote. It was the color of dark brown trees and had a texture like a soft rabbit. It reminded him of the bear.

modals

Verbs are also often accompanied by verb-like words called modals (may, could, should, etc.) auxiliaries (do, have, will, etc.) 

to give them different meanings