Parts of speech
Parts of speech:
NOUNS name things
¨ common e.g. the table, the pencil (things you can touch and see)
¨ abstract e.g. the anger, the commitment (things you cannot touch and see)
¨ proper e.g. Peter, South Africa, University of Cape Town (names of people, places and institutions)
¨ collective e.g. the bunch, the pack, the school (words that refer to a group of something)
ADJECTIVES describe nouns
¨ descriptive e.g. green, seven, tall (tell you more about the noun)
¨ proper e.g. American, French (adjectives derived from proper nouns)
¨ demonstrative e.g. this, that, which (distinguish the noun)
¨ definite article e.g. the
¨ indefinite article e.g. a & an
PRONOUNS replace nouns
¨ personal e.g. she, he, it, they (replaces nouns)
VERBS name actions and tense
¨ finite names action & indicates tense e.g. reads, ran, will go
¨ infinite omits one of the above e.g. running, to call,
ADVERBS describe everything except nouns
¨ of manner e.g. hard, quickly, loudly
¨ of time e.g. now, yesterday
¨ of place e.g. here, there
¨ of reason e.g. why, because
¨ of degree e.g. also, too, very
PREPOSITIONS convey relative positions
e.g. in, under, on, behind
CONJUNCTIONS join two parts of a sentence
e.g. and, but, because, although, since