Lesson Six: Parts of Speech

Nouns: A noun is a word that names a person, place, thing, or idea. Nouns may be classified as common
nouns, proper nouns, abstract nouns, concrete nouns, or collective nouns.
Common nouns name a class of persons, places, or things. They are not specific, and they are not
capitalized. Ex. actor, country, holiday
Proper nouns name specific persons, places, events, or things and must be capitalized. Ex. Tom
Cruise, France, Thanksgiving

Concrete nouns name things that can be observed or understood through the senses (touch, sight,
taste, hearing, or smell). Ex. rose, telephone, snow, train, bell
Collective nouns name groups of persons, animals, or things. Ex. flock, family, army
Pronouns:

A pronoun is a word used in place of a noun.

John is late; he is always late.
The train is on time; it is always on time.

Pronouns are classified as personal, demonstrative, interrogative, possessive, reflexive, and relative. Explanations and examples of these different types of pronouns follow.
Personal pronouns refer to persons or things.
Ex. I, you, he, she, it, we, they, him, her, them
I gave the message to her early this morning.
Demonstrative pronouns are used to identify specific nouns without naming them.
Ex. this, that, these, those
I want those.
Those flowers were picked from Mr. Jones garden this morning.
Interrogative pronouns are used in questions.
Ex. who, which, what, whom, whose
Which student won the $10,000 scholarship?
Possessive pronouns are used to show possession.
Ex. my, mine, your, yours, his, her, hers, its, our, ours, their, theirs
The sweater lying on the chair is mine.
Reflexive pronouns indicate that someone or something previously mentioned in the sentence acts
upon itself.
Ex. myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves
John bought himself a brand new car.

60

Lesson Six

Abstract nouns name abstract ideas and qualities. Ex. loyalty, love, freedom, faith

Noun Markers (Articles): The words a, an, and the are called noun markers (articles) because a noun
always follows one of these words. These noun markers (articles) serve as adjectives. At times, an
adjective or two may get between a noun marker and its noun, but it is certain that there is a noun
there somewhere.
Ex.

Jack bought a new, blue car at the foreign automobile store.

nm
noun nm
noun

or

Jack bought a car at the store.

nm noun nm noun

Remember: You may have a noun without having a noun marker immediately before it, but wherever you see a noun marker, you know a noun has to follow close by.

Ex.

The marines loyalty. or The loyalty of the marine

nm
noun

Adjectives: An adjective is a word that describes or limits a noun or pronoun. Most often an adjective is
found right before the noun or pronoun.
The red car raced down the street. Five men ran in the race.
Stupid me, I flunked the test.
He was happy that he won the race.
On rare occasions you may find the adjective coming right after the noun.
The new, red car raced down the street.
The car, new and red, raced down the street.
The tall, lean man left the room.
The man, tall and lean, left the room.
Or you may find it at the end of a sentence after a linking verb.
The car is red.
The man was tall.
Students can recognize adjectives by asking: Which one? What kind? How many?
Ex. I lost a blue tie. (What kind)
He is the mean boy. (Which one)
Sometimes a word that is usually a noun is used to describe another noun.
My brother bought a Persian cat.
Persian describes a cat, so it is an adjective.

61

Lesson Six

Because words like river and stadium are the names of things that may be visualized, it is easy to
see them as nouns. With words that name abstract thoughtsloyalty, justice, bravery, honor, courage, faithit is sometimes harder to see them as nouns, but they are. They, too, may have noun
markers and descriptive adjectives before them.

The following suffixes are frequently found on adjectives.

er
taller, better, cooler
ous
est tallest, best, prettiest
ic

ful beautiful, careful, mindful

less
en wooden, flaxen, rotten
Verbs:

marvelous, nervous, boisterous

meteoric, comic, artistic
lawless, faithless, hopeless

A verb is a word that expresses action or a state of being.

Action verbs: describe an action. For examplehit, throw, jump, run, catch, think, carry, speak,
smack, pull, believeplus many other words are action verbs.
The forms of the verb to be are called linking verbs because they link other

These words are always verbs: am, are, is, was, were, be, being, been. They may be used alone or
with another verb to indicate passive tense.
He hit the ball. (Hit is the verb)
He was hit by the ball. (both was and hit are verbs)
Helping verbs: The following words are called helping verbs because they are usually found
helping out some other verb, but they, too, may be used alone.
do
does

will
would

can
could

have

had
has

Mary had broken my ruler. (had and broken are both verbs)
Joan had her own rules. (had is the only verb in this sentence.)
Adverbs:

An adverb is a word that modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb.

The main function of an adverb is to tell you a little more about the action of the verb by telling
how, when, where, or to what extent.
Ex.

He is working quietly. (How is he working?)

She will be leaving shortly. (When will she be leaving?)

The most distinctive characteristic of the adverb is the use of the ly suffix. Frequently, this suffix
is tagged on to words that had been adjectives.
Adjective
nervous
careful

Adverb
nervously
carefully

62

Lesson Six

Linking Verbs:
words.

He spoke nervously. (Adverbtelling how he spoke.)

He spoke with a nervous tremor. (Adjectivemodifying the noun tremor.)
Students can learn to recognize adverbs by asking the questions where? when? how? and how
much? Note the examples:
He went away. (Went where?)
They are leaving soon. (Leaving when?)
She plays beautifully. (Plays how?)
He is too eager. (How eager?)
Thus, when you see a word and you are not sure it is an adverb, ask if it answers any of these four
questionsWhere? When? How? How much? Or to what degree?

Any one word that may be substituted for early in this sentence will be an adverb.
I will be going home

presently
soon
later
quietly

then
now
tomorrow
quickly

A second function of an adverb is to modify an adjective or another adverb. Note the word very in
our example.
She was a very pretty girl.
Girl is a noun, which is modified by the word pretty.
Pretty is an adjective because it modifies a noun.
Therefore, since very tells how or to what degree she is pretty, very is an adverb because an adverb
modifies an adjective.
Note the difference in the next two sentences.
It was a new, red car. (Because new modifies car, new is an adjective.)
It was a very red car. (Because very modifies red, very is an adverb.)
Memorize the following words which are always adverbs:
very

not

never

always

sometimes

Here and there are adverbs except when they begin a sentence.
In the next sentence, the word very modifies the adverb quickly. Quickly tells how he walked.
He walked very quickly.
Thus, when you have a word modifying an adverb, that word will also be an adverb. To sum up:
an adverb may modify a verb, an adjective, or another adverb.

63

Lesson Six

While this method works for some students, other students find it more helpful to memorize adverb
patterns and then substitute other words in the adverb pattern.
Here is a pattern. I will be going home early.

Prepositions: A preposition is a connective word that shows the relation of a pronoun or noun to another
word in the sentence. Prepositions frequently indicate direction or position. A preposition is the
first word in a prepositional phrase. While a prepositional phrase may contain more, it generally
contains a preposition, a noun marker, and a noun or pronoun.
Ex.

to the store, on the ship, with my dog, from his bag

The following are the nine most common prepositions, and they should be memorized by everyone.
in
on

to
for

with
from

by
at

of

like
against
around

into
off
below

near
through
upon

up
down
across

over
above
beside

inside
outside
beneath

during
under
between

When any of these words are used and a prepositional phrase doesnt follow, the word is generally
an adverb.
Ex.

On your way to the dock pick the hooks up.

I like tomatoes.

Conjunctions:
Conjunctions are words which connect other words, phrases, or clauses. There are
essentially two kinds of conjunctions coordinating and subordinating.
Coordinating conjunctions link clauses of equal rank. The three most common coordinating conjunctions are and, but, and or. For and now are also coordinating conjunctions.
Ex.

Bill left the party at 11:00 oclock, and Bob left at about 11:15.
He has the money, but he wont go.
Wash the dishes, or Ill tell your father.

Subordinating conjunctions are used to join a subordinate clause to a main clause. The use of a
subordinate clause allows you to show emphasis and relationships. Here are ten common subordinating conjunctions.
as
if

although
because
Ex.

since
when

whether
while

as if
that

If Bill left the party at 11:00 oclock, Bob left at 11:15.

Although he has the money, he wont go.

Interjections:
Interjections are words used to express surprise or strong emotion. Although they are
used infrequently, they are easy to recognize. They are usually found at the beginning of a sentence, and frequently they are followed by an exclamation point.
Ex. Oh!
Well!
Wow!

64

Lesson Six

The following words are also commonly used prepositions. These, too, should be memorized.

Parts of Speech

Practice 1

Identify the part of speech of the underlined word.

Noun

Verb

Adj.

Adv.

Prep.

Conj.

Harry and Michael are still in bed.

_____ 2.

Youd better go and see what hes up to.

_____ 3.

Why did you ask me to go with you?

_____ 4.

I cant believe I let it slip from my fingers.

_____ 5.

You really are funny.

_____ 6.

You really are funny.

_____ 7.

My father didnt feel well last night.

_____ 8.

He said his stomach was upset.

_____ 9.

You know I cant hear with the hair-dryer on.

_____ 10.

That movie star gave me her autograph.

_____ 11.

Put the bread in the oven.

_____ 12.

The pianist took lessons for years.

_____ 13.

I cant believe you said wed go.

_____ 14.

He asked the waitress to cash a check.

_____ 15.

They were best friends in high school.

_____ 16.

Its hard to see how you could just leave.

_____ 17.

The hairdresser cut his hair too short.

_____ 18.

He wanted a new haircut.

_____ 19.

I didnt want to go, but she did want to go.

_____ 20.

Since he ate so much, he slept through the entire speech.

_____ 21.

Can he cook a turkey?

_____ 22.

Sometimes I dont know what Im doing.

_____ 23.

He works too quickly.

_____ 24.

I was very surprised by his request.

_____ 25.

Because he left early, I did not see him.

Pro.

Lesson Six

_____ 1.

Intj.

65

Parts of Speech

Practice 2

Identify the part of speech of the underlined word in each sentence.

Verb

Adj

Adv.

Prep.

_____ 1.

I wanted to go, but she wanted to stay home.

_____ 2.

The hurricane caused millions of dollars in damage.

_____ 3.

Ill see you when I get there.

_____ 4.

Did the mechanic really fix the car?

_____ 5.

I never saw a play with you before.

_____ 6.

Dr. Burton said hed come if it didnt snow.

_____ 7.

There are no cookies on the sink.

_____ 8.

He did so badly that I threw the test in the trash.

_____ 9.

My sisters gave me a birthday party.

_____ 10.

He cut his finger on the rusty can.

_____ 11.

It bled profusely for several minutes.

_____ 12.

She directed a puppet show for the hospital.

_____ 13.

She shouted at me.

_____ 14.

He was sorry to see the harm he had done.

_____ 15.

Why cant we go?

_____ 16.

Its unbelievable what he did.

_____ 17.

The show was very good.

_____ 18.

The school bus flashed its red lights, and no one could pass it.

_____ 19.

Its difficult to tell whether shes lying or not.

_____ 20.

It was sad to see how hurt they were.

_____ 21.

You will function poorly in society without a decent education.

_____ 22.

I want you all to be very quiet.

_____ 23.

She did a ballet with a black light and nylon streamers.

_____ 24.

The music was beautiful.

_____ 25.

The music was beautiful, but the sets were awful.

66

Conj.

Intj.

Pro.

Lesson Six

Noun

Parts of Speech

Practice 3

Identify the part of speech of the underlined word in each sentence.

Noun

Verb

Adj.

Adv.

Prep.

Conj.

Intj.

1.

Do you think Im doing the right thing?

____

2.

Its often so hard to know which way to go.

____

3.

Its often so hard to know which way to go.

____

4.

Dont pass notes in class.

____

5.

Thanks for the coffee.

____

6.

Ow! I hit my thumb with the hammer.

____

7.

The rule is that you hide nothing.

____

8.

Its not easy living like this.

____

9.

They are so beautiful!

____

10.

We were all so very excited.

____

11.

We must take care of the tools of our trade.

____

12.

I said Id help her although I know I cant.

____

13.

For the first time in her life shes concerned about her health.

____

14.

Work-related projects are best for these young people.

____

15.

The only way to help them is to be involved.

____

16.

She had a temper tantrum and locked herself in the bathroom.

____

17.

Tom, Gladys, pay attention.

____

18.

She slapped the hysterical girl and ran from the room screaming.

____

19.

Do you want peanut butter or deviled ham?

____

20.

Did you hear the joke about the musician?

____

21.

I promise Ill never act that way again.

____

22.

I wont break my promise.

____

23.

Will you help me?

____

24.

I dont need or want your help.

____

25.

She enjoys being with other people.

69

Lesson Six

____

Pro.

Parts of Speech

Practice 4

Identify the part of speech of the underlined word in each sentence.

Noun

Verb

Adj.

Adv.

Prep.

Conj.

1.

If you leave, I will too.

____

2.

Will Tom or Jerry be going first?

____

3.

She asked me to stay in her office.

____

4.

Without any warning, the house caved in.

____

5.

Im not leaving until you leave.

____

6.

Youve obviously mistaken me for someone else.

____

7.

You dont seem to understand that I dont like you.

____

8.

Do you do it the same way as last years assignment?

____

9.

Its right to only divide by four.

____

10.

I cant believe the electricity went off this morning.

____

11.

The television repair man told us to junk our antique set.

____

12.

Ow! He bit my leg!

____

13.

Youll simply have to do it without my help.

____

14.

Youll simply have to do it without my help.

____

15.

Ive never seen a stranger painting in my life.

____

16.

Jacket and tie are appropriate for that restaurant.

____

17.

The old woman doctored his wounds.

____

18.

Did you do all your homework?

____

19.

You went too?

____

20.

The pint container was full to the brim.

____

21.

They wore identical suits to the dinner.

____

22.

It will be easier for them to see the larger picture.

____

23.

He tried to hurry and finish on time.

____

24.

No one else will dare contradict you.

____

25.

He played the piano quite well.

70

Pron.

Lesson Six

____

Intj.

Lesson Six:

Parts of Speech

Practice 1
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

conj.
verb
prep.
pro.
verb

6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

adj.
pro.
adj.
verb
noun

11.
12.
13.
14.
15.

prep.
noun
verb
verb
prep.

16. verb
17. verb
18. noun
19. conj.
20. conj.

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Practice 2
conj.
6.
verb
7.
conj.
8.
noun
9.
prep.
10.

conj.
prep.
adv.
noun
adj.

11.
12.
13.
14.
15.

adv.
prep.
prep.
adj.
verb

16.
17.
18.
19.
20.

21.
22.
23.
24.
25.

adj.
adj.
conj.
conj.
adj.

noun
verb
adv.
adv.
conj.

21.
22.
23.
24.
25.

adv.
adv.
prep.
adj.
conj.

Mastery Test I
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

A
E
C
D
B

6. B
7. A
8. C
9. B
10. A

11.
12.
13.
14.
15.

A
D
C
D
D

16.
17.
18.
19.
20.

D
A
E
D
B

16.
17.
18.
19.
20.

E
D
D
E
D

Mastery Test II
B
E
B
C
C

Practice 3

6. C
7. E
8. A
9. B
10. A

11.
12.
13.
14.
15.

C
E
C
A
B

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

adj.
adv.
adj.
prep.
prep.

6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

intj.
verb
adj.
adv.
adj.

11.
12.
13.
14.
15.

verb
conj.
prep.
adj.
pro.

16. prep.
17. noun
18. conj.
19. conj.
20. prep.

21.
22.
23.
24.
25.

verb
noun
verb
noun
prep.

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Practice 4
conj.
6.
conj.
7.
prep.
8.
prep.
9.
adv.
10.

prep.
verb
adj.
adv.
verb

11.
12.
13.
14.
15.

adj.
intj.
prep.
adv.
adj.

16. adj.
17. verb
18. adj.
19. verb
20. noun

21.
22.
23.
24.
25.

prep.
adj.
conj.
verb
adv.

135

Answer Key

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Lesson Six:

Parts of Speech

Practice 1
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

conj.
verb
prep.
pro.
verb

6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

adj.
pro.
adj.
verb
noun

11.
12.
13.
14.
15.

prep.
noun
verb
verb
prep.

16. verb
17. verb
18. noun
19. conj.
20. conj.

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Practice 2
conj.
6.
verb
7.
conj.
8.
noun
9.
prep.
10.

conj.
prep.
adv.
noun
adj.

11.
12.
13.
14.
15.

adv.
prep.
prep.
adj.
verb

16.
17.
18.
19.
20.

21.
22.
23.
24.
25.

adj.
adj.
conj.
conj.
adj.

noun
verb
adv.
adv.
conj.

21.
22.
23.
24.
25.

adv.
adv.
prep.
adj.
conj.

Mastery Test I
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

A
E
C
D
B

6. B
7. A
8. C
9. B
10. A

11.
12.
13.
14.
15.

A
D
C
D
D

16.
17.
18.
19.
20.

D
A
E
D
B

16.
17.
18.
19.
20.

E
D
D
E
D

Mastery Test II
B
E
B
C
C

Practice 3

6. C
7. E
8. A
9. B
10. A

11.
12.
13.
14.
15.

C
E
C
A
B

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

adj.
adv.
adj.
prep.
prep.

6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

intj.
verb
adj.
adv.
adj.

11.
12.
13.
14.
15.

verb
conj.
prep.
adj.
pro.

16. prep.
17. noun
18. conj.
19. conj.
20. prep.

21.
22.
23.
24.
25.

verb
noun
verb
noun
prep.

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Practice 4
conj.
6.
conj.
7.
prep.
8.
prep.
9.
adv.
10.

prep.
verb
adj.
adv.
verb

11.
12.
13.
14.
15.

adj.
intj.
prep.
adv.
adj.

16. adj.
17. verb
18. adj.
19. verb
20. noun

21.
22.
23.
24.
25.

prep.
adj.
conj.
verb
adv.

135

Answer Key

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.