Know Grammar Terms

KNOW GRAMMAR TERMS

8 PARTS OF SPEECH

There are eight parts of speech in the English language: nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections. 

(1) Nouns are names of things (book, chair, pen), people (boy, David, policeman)

(2) Pronouns stand for nouns: I (me); we (us); he (him); she (her); it (it); they (them); who (whom). The words in brackets are object pronouns.

e.g. I like him.

e.g. We like it.

e.g. He likes her.

e.g. She likes him.

e.g. It likes them.

e.g. They like it.     

e.g. Who likes it?

e.g. Whom do you like?

(3) Verbs are words that show being:

e.g. I am a student.

e.g. You are happy.

e.g. He is poor.

e.g. We are doctors.

e.g. They are nurses.

Verbs are also words that describe an action:

e.g. I love you.

e.g. You go away!

e.g. She cries a lot.

e.g. We sleep at night.

e.g. They work in the office.

Some verbs are transitive: they need an object; some verbs are intransitive: they do not need an object; some verbs are both transitive and intransitive.

e.g. Please bring a chair. (transitive)

e.g. The sun rises. (intransitive)

e.g. He sings a song. (transitive)

e.g. He sings every morning. (intransitive)

(4) Adjectives describe nouns: e.g. a heavy chair; e.g. a pretty dress; e.g. You are happy.

(5) Adverbs describe verbs or adjectives: e.g. He eats slowly. e.g. You look very pretty.

(6) Prepositions are words that show the relationship between words.

e.g. I depend on you.

e.g. Give this to him.

e.g. We live in the United States.

e.g. They go with you.

(7) Conjunctions are words that are used to join sentences: and, but, or, nor, for, so, yet.

e.g. Get up and go to bed.

e.g. You like him, but he does not like you.

e.g. Put it here, or put it there.

e.g. I do not eat this, nor do I drink that.

e.g. You can stay, for it is raining.

e.g. I am tired, so I lie down.

e.g. You are tired, yet you do not want to go to bed.

(8) Interjections are words used to express different levels of emotions, such as surprise: e.g. Wow! My goodness!

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau