[PartsOfSpeech.pptx]
The foundation for all of our writing and speaking in English Major Parts of Speech noun, pronoun, adjective, verb, adverb, preposition, conjunction, and interjection.
Nouns Refer to people, places, things, including intangible or abstract things. Sally doesn’t use an iPhone. Jared doesn’t eat subs. The Earth is not the center of the universe.
Pronouns Pronouns are words that replace nouns: I, me, she, we, they, who, that, yours, his, her, it. Pronouns need antecedents (a noun mentioned already). The ocean was so warm I swam in it.
Adjectives Adjectives are descriptive words that add detail to a sentence. They describe nouns. They can give important or necessary information (e.g., Please hand me the blue paper), or they can just make the sentence more interesting (e.g. A frigid wind blew around the icy town). More
Verbs Action words or being words. Verbs tell you what the subject of the sentence is up to. He ran into the wall. She buys new shoes. I am crazy.
Prepositions Prepositions are little words that tell where or when (among other things) something is. The monkey is on his back. The glue is behind the board. The dreamcatcher is above the bed.
Conjunctions Conjunctions are words like and, but, and or that connect concepts, clauses, or parts of sentences. I wanted to meet her there on time, but I got stuck in traffic. You can’t wear socks and sandals.
Interjections Words like wow and yay. Sounds we make to convey extreme emotion or to create emphasis when we’re talking, sometimes when we can’t think of a good way to express ourselves. The problem with interjections is that they require a great deal of context to be understood. For instance, hey can mean hello, or that’s great, or stop doing that. Hey! How’s it going? Wow! Those fireworks are impressive. Yay! I passed calculus!
Verb Tenses Past, present, and future tenses. The past is used to describe things that have already happened (e.g., earlier in the day, yesterday, last week, three years ago). The present tense is used to describe things that are happening right now, or things that are continuous. The future tense describes things that have yet to happen (e.g., later, tomorrow, next week, next year, three years from now).
Tenses (continued) Past Pefect I had lived there before I left. Past tense I lived here when I was ten. Present tense I live here now. Future tense I will live there when I am retired.
Subject-Verb Agreement Singular subjects take singular verbs and plural subjects take plural verbs. (In this example, the subject is in bold and the verbs are italicized.) My brother is a doctor. My parents are yoga teachers.
Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement When a pronoun replaces a noun, the noun is called an antecedent. On Michael’s first day of work, he was a little nervous. Michael is the antecedent and he is the pronoun. The antecedent doesn’t have to go before the pronoun, but in longer sentences it can be confusing to introduce the pronoun before the antecedent. On his first day of work, Michael was a little nervous.