Parts of Speech

Nouns Names of persons, places, things, or ideas

Proper – names a particular person, place or thing

Common – in general, not specific

Abstract – names ideas or things you cannot touch

Concrete – names things you can touch, taste, see, hear, or smell

Collective – names a group of people, animals, or things

Compound – two or more words as one, separated, or hyphenated

Pronouns takes the place of a noun, noun phrase, or noun clause.

Examples… Ian Somerhalder becomes “he”

Jennifer Lawrence becomes “she”

A group becomes “they”

The puppy becomes “it” and also the iPad.

The lonely girl becomes “herself”.

Personal Pronouns Are either singular or plural. Singular

Plural

Exercise Circle the pronoun in each sentence. 1. Mary gave me the letter. 2. You can sit down by the fire. 3. They are going to watch a movie at the new theater. 4. Peter and Cindy can go with us tomorrow. 5. We have been friends for many years.

Reflexive Pronouns Are used when the object of a verb in a sentence is the same as its subject. The sentence would not have the same meaning without the reflexive pronoun.

Intensive Pronouns Are used for emphasis, to intensify the meaning of the sentence. The sentence would still have the same meaning without the intensive pronoun.

Exercise

Demonstrative Pronouns Points out a noun or another pronoun. This, that, these, those Examples: Is this the one you want? That may be the only reasonable solution. These or those are the picture from our vacation.

Exercise

Interrogative Pronouns Introduces a question.

Examples: What is the capital of the Hawaiian Islands? Whose is this red sweater? To whom should I direct your call?

Exercise Which Whom Whose What

Relative Pronouns Introduces an adjective clause

Indefinite pronouns Refers to a person, a place, a thing, or an idea that may or many not be specifically named. In other words, the pronoun may not have a specific antecedent.

Examples: All of the members have voted. [All refers to members.] Does everyone favor a weekly meeting? [Everyone has no specific antecedent.] The fallen tree provided homes for several of the creatures of the woods. [Several refers to creatures.]

Exercise Identify the pronouns in the following sentences. Last year my school gave two photography courses, neither of which had been offered before. The course that I took dealt with the ways in which people perceive their environment. Many of us block out much in our everyday surroundings. You can demonstrate to yourselves how unaware of our surroundings nearly all of us are. Which of you, on returning home from a trip, hasn’t noticed how different all of the rooms look to you? Some of your possessions may seem unfamiliar to you, and a few of them may appear quite peculiar. Eventually the sensation fades, and your surroundings assume their usual background role. Each of us can regain the ability to see freshly if we learn to make full use of our sense of sight. We can train ourselves to perceive the objects as shapes instead of thinking about their functions.

Pronoun or Adjective? Many of the words that can be used as pronouns can also be used as adjectives. Examples This is the best baklava I have tasted. [This is a pronoun referring to baklava, the predicate nominative.] This baklava is delicious. [This is an adjective modifying baklava]

The Adjective Modifies a noun or a pronoun. To modify means “to describe” or “to make more definite.” And adjective modifies a noun or a pronoun by telling what kind, which one, hoy many, or how much.