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9 Parts of Speech

This document discusses the nine traditional parts of speech in English grammar: nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, articles/determiners, and interjections. It explains that parts of speech are categories that words are classified into based on their functions in sentences. The document also notes that some words can belong to more than one part of speech depending on context. It provides examples and definitions for each part of speech.

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242 views4 pages

9 Parts of Speech

This document discusses the nine traditional parts of speech in English grammar: nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, articles/determiners, and interjections. It explains that parts of speech are categories that words are classified into based on their functions in sentences. The document also notes that some words can belong to more than one part of speech depending on context. It provides examples and definitions for each part of speech.

Uploaded by

FACHRIANI -2020-BLOK 3
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© © All Rights Reserved
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9 Parts of Speech

A part of speech is a term used in traditional grammar for one of the nine main categories into which
words are classified according to their functions in sentences, such as nouns or verbs. Also known as
word classes, these are the building blocks of grammar.
Word types can be divided into nine parts of speech:
 nouns
 pronouns
 verbs
 adjectives
 adverbs
 prepositions
 conjunctions
 articles/determiners
 interjections
Some words can be considered more than one part of speech, depending on context and usage.
Interjections can form complete sentences on their own.
Every sentence you write or speak in English includes words that fall into some of the nine parts of
speech. These include nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions,
articles/determiners, and interjections. (Some sources include only eight parts of speech and leave
interjections in their own category.)
Learning the names of the parts of speech probably won't make you witty, healthy, wealthy, or wise. In
fact, learning just the names of the parts of speech won't even make you a better writer. However, you
will gain a basic understanding of sentence structure and the English language by familiarizing yourself
with these labels.

Open and Closed Word Classes


The parts of speech are commonly divided into open classes (nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs)
and closed classses (pronouns, prepositions, conjunctions, articles/determiners, and interjections). The
idea is that open classes can be altered and added to as language develops and closed classes are pretty
much set in stone. For example, new nouns are created every day, but conjunctions never change.
In contemporary linguistcs, the label part of speech has generally been discarded in favor of the term
word class or syntactic category. These terms make words easier to qualify objectively based on word
construction rather than context. Within word classes, there is the lexical or open class and the function or
closed class.
The 9 Parts of Speech
Read about each part of speech below and get started practicing identifying each.
Noun
Nouns are a person, place, thing, or idea. They can take on a myriad of roles in a sentence, from the
subject of it all to the object of an action. They are capitalized when they're the official name of
something or someone, called proper nouns in these cases. Examples: pirate, Caribbean, ship, freedom,
Captain Jack Sparrow.
Pronoun
Pronouns stand in for nouns in a sentence. They are more generic versions of nouns that refer only to
people. Examples: I, you, he, she, it, ours, them, who, which, anybody, ourselves.
Verb
Verbs are action words that tell what happens in a sentence. They can also show a sentence subject's state
of being (is, was). Verbs change form based on tense (present, past) and count distinction (singular or
plural). Examples: sing, dance, believes, seemed, finish, eat, drink, be, became
Adjective
Adjectives describe nouns and pronouns. They specify which one, how much, what kind, and more.
Adjectives allow readers and listeners to use their senses to imagine something more clearly.
Examples: hot, lazy, funny, unique, bright, beautiful, poor, smooth.
Adverb
Adverbs describe verbs, adjectives, and even other adverbs. They specify when, where, how, and why
something happened and to what extent or how often. Examples: softly, lazily, often, only, hopefully,
softly, sometimes.
Preposition
Preposition show spacial, temporal, and role relations between a noun or pronoun and the other words in a
sentence. They come at the start of a prepotional phrase, which contains a preposition and its object.
Examples: up, over, against, by, for, into, close to, out of, apart from.
Conjunction
Conjunction join words, phrases, and clauses in a sentence. There are coordinating, subordinating, and
correlative conjunctions. Examples: and, but, or, so, yet, with.
Articles and Determiners
Articles and determiners function like adjectives by modifying nouns, but they are different than
adjectives in that they are necessary for a sentence to have proper syntax. Articles and determiners specify
and identify nouns, and there are indefinite and definite articles. Examples: articles: a, an, the;
determiners: these, that, those, enough, much, few, which, what.
Some traditional grammars have treated article as a distinct part of speech. Modern grammars, however,
more often include articles in the category of determiners, which identify or quantify a noun. Even though
they modify nouns like adjectives, articles are different in that they are essential to the proper syntax of a
sentence, just as determiners are necessary to convey the meaning of a sentence, while adjectives are
optional.
Interjection
Interjection are expressions that can stand on their own or be contained within sentences. These words
and phrases often carry strong emotions and convey reactions. Examples: ah, whoops,
ouch, yabba dabba do!
How to Determine the Part of Speech
Only interjections (Hooray!) have a habit of standing alone; every other part of speech must be contained
within a sentence and some are even required in sentences (nouns and verbs). Other parts of speech come
in many varieties and may appear just about anywhere in a sentence.
To know for sure what part of speech a word falls into, look not only at the word itself but also at its
meaning, position, and use in a sentence.
For example, in the first sentence below, work functions as a noun; in the second sentence, a verb; and in
the third sentence, an adjective:
 Bosco showed up for work two hours late.
o The noun work is the thing Bosco shows up for.

 He will have to work until midnight.


o The verb work is the action he must perform.

 His work permit expires next month.


o The attributive noun [or converted adjective] work modifies the noun permit.

Learning the names and uses of the basic parts of speech is just one way to understand how sentences are
constructed.
Dissecting Basic Sentences
To form a basic complete sentence, you only need two elements: a noun (or pronoun standing in for a
noun) and a verb. The noun acts as a subject and the verb, by telling what action the subject is taking, acts
as the predicate. 
 Birds fly.
In the short sentence above, birds is the noun and fly is the verb. The sentence makes sense and gets the
point across.
You can have a sentence with just one word without breaking any sentence formation rules. The short
sentence below is complete because it's a command to an understood "you".
 Go!
Here, the pronoun, standing in for a noun, is implied and acts as the subject. The sentence is really saying,
"(You) go!"
Constructing More Complex Sentences
Use more parts of speech to add additional information about what's happening in a sentence to make it
more complex. Take the first sentence from above, for example, and incorporate more information about
how and why birds fly.
 Birds fly when migrating before winter.
Birds and fly remain the noun and the verb, but now there is more description. 
When is an adverb that modifies the verb fly. The word before is a little tricky because it can be either a
conjunction, preposition, or adverb depending on the context. In this case, it's a preposition because it's
followed by a noun. This preposition begins an adverbial phrase of time (before winter) that answers the
question of when the birds migrate. Before is not a conjunction because it does not connect two clauses.

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