Parts of Speech, Phrases, and Clauses

Parts of Speech Words in the English language are divided up into eight categories called parts of speech based on their function. The eight parts of speech are Noun—person, place, thing, or idea Pronoun—a word that takes the place of a noun Adjective—a word that describes a noun or pronoun Verb—an action word Adverb—a word that describes a verb, adjective or other adverb Conjunction—a word that links words, phrases, or clauses together Preposition—a word that describes position Interjection—a word that is uttered in surprise or pain

Why is this Important for Writing? Knowing the parts of speech tends to give us terminology that helps us describe parts of the language, so we can describe how it works and what types of mistakes are frequently made (for example subject/verb agreement errors).

The parts of speech in action In the following sentence, the parts of speech are labeled: James ran down the street and waved his arms frantically. Green=Noun Olive Green=article (a form of Orange=Verb adjective) Preposition=Blue Conjunction=Red Pronoun=Black Adverb=Aqua

Phrases: Phrases are groups of words, but are not complete sentences. There are a few types of phrases in English two of which are Prepositional phrase: this phrase starts with a preposition and ends with a noun (for example “under the bed”) Verb phrase: This phrase consists of verbs, frequently a main verb and a helping verb (for example “had read”) We use phrases to help us describe the function of groups of words that are parts of a sentence.

Clauses A clause is a group of words that have a subject and a verb. There are two types of clauses in English: Dependent (the clause cannot stand on its own as a sentence) Independent (the clause can stand on its own as a sentence) Dependent clause example: “Because it rained” Independent clause example: “I kicked the ball”

Clauses continued The English language connects clauses together to form more sophisticated sentences. As you study this, you will run into the four sentence types: Simple Compound Complex Compound Complex Some errors are created by not joining clauses together correctly to create these types of sentences.

Examples of Sentence Types: Simple Sentence: I drove home. Compound Sentence: I drove home, and I cleaned the garage. Complex sentence: Because I brought my umbrella, I won’t get wet walking home. Compound Complex: Because I brought my umbrella, I won’t get wet walking home, and I won’t catch cold.

Coordination, Subordination, and Emphasis Note that the emphasis of the paragraph changes when the idea that was in the dependent clause is put in the independent clause and the idea in the independent clause is put in the dependent clause. Look at the following paragraphs and note the difference.

First Part of the Sentence is in the Dependent Clause While I love my car, it can be very temperamental at times. Even though I take very good care of it, the other morning it wouldn’t start and I had to take the bus to work. While I do like taking the bus, it isn’t the fastest way to get to work. Also, even though the ride was enjoyable, I was late for work. Since I have a great relationship with my boss, and he understood my predicament, he did write me up for being late. All I can say is that it’s been an interesting day, and my car will definitely be in the shop for a while.

Second Part of the Sentence is in the Dependent Clause I love my car, even though it can be temperamental at times. I take very good care of it, even though the other morning it wouldn’t start and I had to take the bus to work. I do like taking the bus, although it isn’t the fastest way to get to work. The ride was enjoyable even if I was late for work. I have a great relationship with my boss, and he understood my predicament, even though he did write me up for being late. All I can say is that it’s been an interesting day, and my car will definitely be in the shop for a while.