Parts of Speech Review

Nouns	Verbs	Adverbs	Adjectives
Pronouns	Conjunctions	Prepositions	Interjections

Nouns

Persons	Places	Things	Qualities	Concepts	Actions
child typist Mr. Harris Martha	lobby courtroom Chicago college	desk phone computer book	dependability honesty loyalty sincerity	beauty truth knowledge happiness	walking/to walk typing/to type writing/to write thinking/to think

The first letters of some nouns are capitalized to show a specific name or title (Alan). These are called proper nouns. Other nouns that are not specific do not use a capital letter (man). These are called common nouns. Nouns that have a singular and plural form are called count nouns. Nouns that only have a singular form are called non-count nouns. Note: non-count nouns never add -s.

often count nouns { person place thing often non-count nouns { quality concept action

Common Noun Proper Noun Count Non-Count Count Singular girl country car ——– ——– ——– Plural girls countries cars ——– ——– ——– ——– homework honesty beauty typing ——– ——– Singular Maria America Ford ——– ——– ——– Plural Marias Americas Fords ——– ——– ——–

Nouns function in many ways:

Noun Functions
subject:	The car runs well.
direct object:	I bought a book.
complements:	Mary was president.
object of the prep:	He walked to the store.
indirect object:	Sam mailed Joan a letter.
possession:	The woman’s daughter left early.

Verbs

A verb is a word that tells what the subject of the sentence does, says, thinks, or feels. Sometimes the verb shows movement (jump) or sometimes it shows how a thing is or that it exists (is). The verb also shows time which is called tense. The form of the verb or its tense can tell when events take place.
For example, the verb kiss ( *note: kiss is also a count noun):

Present Simple kiss/kisses	Past Simple kissed	Future Simple will kiss
Present Perfect has/have kissed	Past Perfect had kissed	Future Perfect will have kissed
Present Continuous (Progressive) is/am/are kissing	Past Continuous (Progressive) was kissing	Future Continuous (Progressive) will be kissing
Present Perfect Continuous (Progressive) has/have been kissing	Past Perfect Continuous (Progressive) had been kissing	Future Perfect Continuous (Progressive) will have been kissing

Adverbs

Adverbs modify or describe verbs (run fast), adjectives (often sad), or other adverbs ( too often). Adverbs often, but not always, end in -ly. A test for deciding if a word is an adverb is to think about the word’s function. Adverbs tend to tell where, when, or how.

For example: very pretty, most unhappy, never angry, come soon

Adverbs often answer three questions:

every morning
THE ROYAL ORDER OF ADVERBS
Verb	Manner	Place	Frequency	Time	Purpose
Beth swims	enthusiastically	in the pool

before dawn to keep in shape. Dad walks impatiently into town every afternoon before supper to get a newspaper. Tashonda naps in her room every morning before lunch. In actual practice, of course, it would be highly unusual to have a string of adverbial modifiers beyond two or three (at the most). Because the placement of adverbs is so flexible, one or two of the modifiers would probably move to the beginning of the sentence: “Every afternoon before supper, Dad impatiently walks into town to get a newspaper.” When that happens, the introductory adverbial modifiers are usually set off with a comma.

The Royal Order of Adverbs was created by Dr. Charles Darling, Professor of English, Capital Community College.

Adjectives

Adjectives are words that describe a noun. Ugly, funny, big, round , and loose are all examples of adjectives. Some less obvious examples are: that dog, her bone, enough food, every room. Adjectives can also describe how much or how many: fewer friends, less food, more people.

colors	quality	size	emotions	numbers	demonstrative
blue red green orange fuchsia yellow	honest loyal sincere efficient confident rude	big small tiny large minuscule huge	sad angry happy nervous	one two three first second third	this (close) that (far) these (close) those (far)

action verbs of feeling (can be used as adj.)	articles	possessive (+ noun)
interested/interesting satisfied/satisfying bored/boring excited/exciting *	a an the	my (tradition) your (tradition) his (tradition) her (tradition) its (tradition) our (traditions) your (traditions) their (traditions)

Verb+ED becomes an adjective when it is used to describe a person or animal that experiences an emotion We will call this adjective the Experiencer adjective.

One good way to remember to use ED to describe the Experiencer is to remember that both words start with E. The Experiencer is described with ED.
Verb+ING becomes an adjective when it is used to describe the things that cause an emotion. We will call this the Instigator (Causing) adjective.

One good way to remember to use ING to describe the Instigator (or Causing) adjective is to remember that both words start with I. The Instigator is described with ING.

THE ROYAL ORDER OF ADJECTIVES
Determiner	Observation	Physical Description	Origin	Material	Qualifier	Noun
	Size	Shape	Age	Color
a	beautiful			old		Italian		touring	car
an	expensive			antique			silver		mirror
four	gorgeous		long- stemmed		red		silk		roses
her			short		black				hair
our		big		old		English			sheepdog
those			square				wooden	hat	boxes
that	dilapidated	little						hunting	cabin
several		enormous		young		American		basketball	players
some	delicious					Thai			food

The Royal Order of Adjectives was created by Dr. Charles Darling, Professor of English, Capital Community College.

Pronouns

Pronouns are words that take the place of a noun.
Example: Carol is nice. She is also pretty.

	Subject	Object (of verb or preposition)	Possessive	Reflexive
Singular	I you he she it	me you him her it	mine yours his hers ——	myself yourself himself herself itself
Plural	we you they	us you them	ours yours theirs	ourselves yourselves themselves

Conjunctions

A conjunction is a word that connects phrases, words, or clauses. Conjunctions are often used as transitions.
There are two kinds of conjunctions:

COORDINATING: connects words, phrases, or clauses

and, but, or, for Gallaudet teachers communicate in American Sign Language and English. either… or; neither… nor; both… and; not only… but also Most students use either ASL or English. hence, therefore, moreover, however, besides, consequently I like to read; however, I hate to write.

SUBORDINATING: introduces subordinate clauses and connects them with the main clause

who, which, that People who live in glass houses don’t like children to play catch in front of their houses. although, because, since, though, if, as if Although I work hard, I’m still broke.

Prepositions

Prepositions are words that express the relation of a noun or pronoun to another word in the sentence. Prepositions show the relationships among things, people, and places.

Prepositions of	Direction (to & from)	Place (where)	Time (when)
to the store from the library toward the floor	in the hall on the ceiling over the doorway	in a minute on July 4 at lunch time

Interjections

An interjection is an exclamatory word (or words) that shows strong or sudden feeling and has no grammatical function in the construction of a sentence.

Oh! Alas! So! Wow! Cool!

For more detailed parts of speech review, see the Gallaudet University Handbook on Grammar & Usage by Marcia Bordman and Anne Womeldorf.