MATERIA:  IDIOMA BASICO (INGLES)

Profesora:  Neyda Díaz

Elaborado por:  Betsy Argüelles

The Parts of Speech

Traditional grammar classifies words based on eight parts of speech: the verb, the noun, the pronoun, the adjective, the adverb, the preposition, the conjunction, and the interjection.

Each part of speech explains not what the word is, but how the word is used. In fact, the same word can be a noun in one sentence and a verb or adjective in the next. The next few examples show how a word's part of speech can change from one sentence to the next, and following them is a series of sections on the individual parts of speech, followed by an exercise.

The next few sections explain each of the parts of speech in detail.  When you have finished, you might want to test yourself by trying the exercise.

Review: Parts of Speech

Identify the part of speech of the highlighted word in each of the following sentences:

1. The clown chased a dog around the ring and then fell flat on her face. 
1. Verb 
2. Noun 
3. Pronoun 
4. Adjective 
5. Adverb 
6. Preposition 
7. Conjunction 
8. Interjection 
2. The geese indolently waddled across the intersection. 
1. Verb 
2. Noun 
3. Pronoun 
4. Adjective 
5. Adverb 
6. Preposition 
7. Conjunction 
8. Interjection 
3. Yikes! I'm late for class. 
1. Verb 
2. Noun 
3. Pronoun 
4. Adjective 
5. Adverb 
6. Preposition 
7. Conjunction 
8. Interjection 
4. Bruno's shabby thesaurus tumbled out of the book bag when the bus suddenly pulled out into traffic. 
1. Verb 
2. Noun 
3. Pronoun 
4. Adjective 
5. Adverb 
6. Preposition 
7. Conjunction 
8. Interjection 
5. Mr. Frederick angrily stamped out the fire that the local hooligans had started on his verandah. 
1. Verb 
2. Noun 
3. Pronoun 
4. Adjective 
5. Adverb 
6. Preposition 
7. Conjunction 
8. Interjection 
6. Later that summer, she asked herself, "What was I thinking of?" 
1. Verb 
2. Noun 
3. Pronoun 
4. Adjective 
5. Adverb 
6. Preposition 
7. Conjunction 
8. Interjection 
7. She thought that the twenty zucchini plants would not be enough so she planted another ten. 
1. Verb 
2. Noun 
3. Pronoun 
4. Adjective 
5. Adverb 
6. Preposition 
7. Conjunction 
8. Interjection 
8. Although she gave hundreds of zucchini away, the enormous mound left over frightened her. 
1. Verb 
2. Noun 
3. Pronoun 
4. Adjective 
5. Adverb 
6. Preposition 
7. Conjunction 
8. Interjection 
9. Everywhere she went, she talked about the prolific veggies. 
1. Verb 
2. Noun 
3. Pronoun 
4. Adjective 
5. Adverb 
6. Preposition 
7. Conjunction 
8. Interjection 
10. The manager confidently made his presentation to the board of directors. 
1. Verb 
2. Noun 
3. Pronoun 
4. Adjective 
5. Adverb 
6. Preposition 
7. Conjunction 
8. Interjection 
11. Frankenstein is the name of the scientist, not the monster. 
1. Verb 
2. Noun 
3. Pronoun 
4. Adjective 
5. Adverb 
6. Preposition 
7. Conjunction 
8. Interjection 
12. Her greatest fear is that the world will end before she finds a comfortable pair of panty-hose. 
1. Verb 
2. Noun 
3. Pronoun 
4. Adjective 
5. Adverb 
6. Preposition 
7. Conjunction 
8. Interjection 
13. That suitcase is hers. 
1. Verb 
2. Noun 
3. Pronoun 
4. Adjective 
5. Adverb 
6. Preposition 
7. Conjunction 
8. Interjection 
14. Everyone in the room cheered when the announcement was made. 
1. Verb 
2. Noun 
3. Pronoun 
4. Adjective 
5. Adverb 
6. Preposition 
7. Conjunction 
8. Interjection 
15. The sun was shining as we set out for our first winter camping trip. 
1. Verb 
2. Noun 
3. Pronoun 
4. Adjective 
5. Adverb 
6. Preposition 
7. Conjunction 
8. Interjection 
16. Small children often insist that they can do it by themselves. 
1. Verb 
2. Noun 
3. Pronoun 
4. Adjective 
5. Adverb 
6. Preposition 
7. Conjunction 
8. Interjection 
17. Dust covered every surface in the locked bedroom. 
1. Verb 
2. Noun 
3. Pronoun 
4. Adjective 
5. Adverb 
6. Preposition 
7. Conjunction 
8. Interjection 
18. The census taker knocked loudly on all the doors but nobody was home. 
1. Verb 
2. Noun 
3. Pronoun 
4. Adjective 
5. Adverb 
6. Preposition 
7. Conjunction 
8. Interjection 
19. They wondered if there truly was honour among thieves. 
1. Verb 
2. Noun 
3. Pronoun 
4. Adjective 
5. Adverb 
6. Preposition 
7. Conjunction 
8. Interjection 

20. Exciting new products and effective marketing strategies will guarantee the company's success.

1. Verb 
2. Noun 
3. Pronoun 
4. Adjective 
5. Adverb 
6. Preposition 
7. Conjunction 
8. Interjection 

 

SUMMARY OF PARTS OF SPEECH

 

Part of Speech	Use	Examples
Noun	names	Maria had an idea.
Pronoun	takes the place of a noun	He is cute.
Adjective	modifies a noun or pronoun	He is a Mexican boy.
Verb	shows action or state of being	Ada has met  you.
Adverb	modifies a verb, adjective, or adverb	We lef  early.
Preposition	relates a noun or pronoun to another word	We looked for you.
Conjunction	joins words or groups of words	Bill or she will call.
Interjection	Shows strong feeling	Ouch!Myarmhurts.