Parts of Speech Our First Unit in Grammar

What is a noun?

A noun is a person, place, thing or idea.

What would an example of a noun be?

Teacher Ms. Sweeney Table Dog Happiness Love Holyoke

What is a verb?

a word used to describe an action, state, or occurrence, and forming the main part of the predicate of a sentence, such as hear, become, happen.

Action Verb Kick, Run, Write, Read, Sing, Laugh, Say, Shout

STATE OF BEING To be as in…I am, I was, He/She/They are or were, etc….

HELPING VERBS These verbs have no meaning on their own. They help the action of the main verb.

Primary Helping Verbs These are the verbs be, do, and have. Note that we can use these three verbs as helping verbs or as main verbs. On this page we talk about them as helping verbs. We use them in the following cases: be ▫to make continuous tenses (He is watching TV.) ▫to make the passive (Small fish are eaten by big fish.) have ▫to make perfect tenses (I have finished my homework.) do ▫to make negatives (I do not like you.) ▫to ask questions (Do you want some coffee?) ▫to show emphasis (I do want you to pass your exam.) ▫to stand for a main verb in some constructions (He speaks faster than she does.)

Modal Helping Verbs We use modal helping verbs to "modify" the meaning of the main verb in some way. A modal helping verb expresses necessity or possibility, and changes the main verb in that sense. These are the modal verbs: can, could may, might will, would, shall, should must ought to Here are examples using modal verbs: I can't speak Chinese. John may arrive late. Would you like a cup of coffee? You should see a doctor. I really must go now.

What is a pronoun?

Pronouns A Pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun.

Pronouns Examples: I, HE, SHE, THEY, IT

Pronouns Because pronouns take the place of nouns, they must… 1. Agree in number If the pronoun takes the place of a singular noun, you have to use a singular pronoun. EX: If a student parks a car on campus, he or she has to buy a parking sticker. (INCORRECT: If a student parks a car on campus, they have to buy a parking sticker.) Remember: the words everybody, anybody, anyone, each, neither, nobody, someone, a person, etc. are singular and take singular pronouns. Everybody ought to do his or her best.

Pronouns Because pronouns take the place of nouns, they must… 2. Agree in person If you are writing in the first person (I), don't confuse your reader by switching to the second person (you) or third person (he, she, they, it, etc.). Similarly, if you are using the second person, don't switch to first or third. EX: When a person comes to class, he or she should have his or her homework ready. (INCORRECT: When a person comes to class, you should have your homework ready.)

Pronouns Because pronouns take the place of nouns, they must… 3. Refer clearly to a specific noun. Don't be vague or ambiguous. INCORRECT: Although the motorcycle hit the tree, it was not damaged. (Is "it" the motorcycle or the tree?) INCORRECT: I don't think they should show violence on TV. (Who are "they"?) INCORRECT: Vacation is coming soon, which is nice. (What is nice, the vacation or the fact that it is coming soon?) INCORRECT: George worked in a national forest last summer. This may be his life's work. (What word does "this" refer to?)

Adjectives Words which modify nouns and pronouns. Examples: She owns a blue car. He has curly hair. That was a great play!

Adverbs Words which modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs. Examples: MODIFYING A VERB: She runs quickly. MODIFYING AN ADJECTIVE: Her house is very clean. MODIFYING AN ADVERB: She walked very slowly.

Conjunctions Words which join together words, phrases, and clauses. Examples: John and I went to the store. I like doing laundry, but I hate washing dishes. The play is soon, so we have to practice hard!

Prepositions A word which expresses a relationship between another word in the clause. It governs a noun. Examples: The cat sat on the table. The cat ran around the house The cat sat behind the sofa.

Interjections An abrupt remark made as an aside or an interruption. Wow! That was a great show. Shucks! I don’t like the grade I got on my test. Holy guacamole! That play was great.