MODUL 1

PARTS OF SPEECH
Name: ________________ Class : _______________

Word classes such as noun, verb, adjective, etc., are traditionally called parts of speech. There is
not a fixed number of word classes. We can set up as many classes and subclasses as we need for
our analysis. The more detailed our analysis, the more classes and subclasses we need.
Each part of speech explains not what the word is, but how the word is used. In fact, the same
word can be a noun in one sentence and a verb or adjective in the next.
Listed below, with examples, are the classes that we will be examining in this chapter. They will be
further divided into subclasses.

Open classes
noun Paul, paper, speech, play
adjective young, cheerful, dark, round
main verb talk, become, like, play
adverb carefully, firmly, confidentially

Closed classes
pronoun she, somebody, one, who, that
determiner a, the, that, each, some
auxiliary (verb) can, may, will, have, be, do
conjunction and, that, in order that, if, though
preposition of, at, to, in spite of
interjection oh,uh,phew, yike, huh

NOUN
A noun is the name of a person, place, thing, or idea:
People farmer, mechanic, father, Professor Haskins, editors, Marcia
Places ocean, Canada, porch, Spain, classroom
Things scissors, giraffe, pen, smiles, tugboat, skateboard, braces, drill
Ideas love, inspiration, courage, anxiety, eagerness, happiness

All nouns are either common or proper nouns:

A common noun names any person, place, or thing. Examples are basketball, video, wizard, coin,
woman, and coach.
A proper noun names a particular person, place, or thing and begins with a capital letter. Examples
are Winston Churchill, Babe Ruth, Mr. Richard Turner, and Chicago.

6|Page
Know the difference between a common and a proper noun:
Common Nouns Proper Nouns
hospital Mercy General Hospital
woman Martha Washington
school Sayville Middle School
newspaper The New York Times

Here are some specific types of nouns:

A collective noun names a group of people or things. Examples of collective nouns are jury, herd, fl
ock, family, fl eet, club, class, and group.
A compound noun is a noun consisting of more than a single word. It could be separate words such
as social studies, physical education, and dining room. It could be two words joined by a hyphen
such as merry-go-round, thirty-three, sister-in-law, and great- grandmother.
It could be a combined word such as schoolteacher, bookkeeper, landlord, and headmaster.
EXERCISE 2.1 : Underline the nouns and identify their types!
1. Wendy located her housekeeper.
2. Some answers on this test are about electricity.
3. Her violin and easel were missing.
4. Their rabbit that left the yard was returned by the officer.
5. He used this umbrella in Alabama.
6. After the rain, the electrician checked the box.
7. The end of the afternoon arrived quickly.
8. This group is funny.
9. The ostrich and the orangutan are interesting.
10. My doctor and my orthodontist are neighbors.
11. In the evening, Archie likes to go boating.
12. Unfortunately, he had a rash and an allergy.
13. Her height and agility helped her win the match.
14. Linda cared for the infant throughout the night.
15. The garbage carton near the oven had licorice and noodles in it.

PRONOUN
A pronoun is a word used in place of one or more nouns.
We use pronouns to:

◗ Refer to a noun (called its antecedent) that usually comes before the pronoun

◗ Make our writing clearer, smoother, and less awkward

In the sentence, “Roberto feels that he can win the race,” he is the pronoun, and Roberto is the
antecedent.

7|Page
In the sentence, “Terry and Jim know that they are best friends,” they is the pronoun, and Terry
and Jim are the noun antecedents.
There are several types of pronouns.
- Personal pronouns refer to people and things. They are divided into three categories called
first person (referring to the person who is speaking: I went to the mall), second person
(referring to the person spoken to: Joey, can you see the bus?), and third person (referring
to anyone or anything else: Bob saw us do this assignment). The pronouns in the two
example sentences above are personal pronouns.
The following list shows these three categories of personal pronouns:
Singular Plural
First person I, my, mine, me we, our, ours, us
(the person speaking)
Second person you, your, yours you, your, yours
(the person spoken to)
Third person he, his, him, they, their, theirs, them
(some other person or thing) she, her, hers,
it, its
In addition to personal pronouns, there are several other types of pronouns: reflexive pronouns,
relative pronouns, interrogative pronouns, demonstrative pronouns, and indefinite pronouns.
A reflexive pronoun is formed by adding - self or - selves to certain personal pronouns. Examples of
refl exive pronouns are myself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, themselves, yourself, and
yourselves. The sentence, “I found it myself,” contains the personal pronoun I and the refl exive
pronoun myself.
Hisself and theirselves are NOT real words.
An interrogative pronoun is used to ask a question. These pronouns are which, who, whom, and
whose.
A demonstrative pronoun is used to point out a specific person or thing. These pronounsinclude this,
that, these, and those. In the sentence, “Theresa, is this yours?” this is the demonstrative pronoun,
and yours is the personal pronoun.
An indefinite pronoun often does not refer to a specific or defi nite person or thing. Itusually does
not have a definite or specific antecedent as a personal pronoun does. In the sentence, “ Everybody
will select another to help with everything, ” the three italicized words are all indefi nite pronouns
since they take the place of a noun and do not refer to a specific or definite person or thing.
These are all indefinite pronouns:
Singular another, anybody, anyone, anything, each, either, everybody, everyone,
everything, little, much, neither, nobody, no one, nothing, one, other,
somebody, someone, something
Plural: both, few, many, others, several
Singular or Plural: all, any, more, most, none, some

EXERCISE 2.2 : Underline the two pronouns found in each sentence. Above each pronoun label its
type using these abbreviations: personal (PER), reflexive (REF), demonstrative (DEM), interrogative
(INT), or indefinite (IND) pronoun.
1. This is the way to do it.
2. He hurt himself during gym class.

8|Page
3. Can you and they finish the cleaning by three o’clock?
4. Who is the person with her?
5. I held the door for them.
6. Please tell him that we said hello.
7. Ours is older than theirs.
8. Neither of them is the clear winner of the race as of now.
9. Will she watch someone while Sarah goes shopping?
10. Those are the best ones to buy.
11. Please bring yours to us.
12. After Jerry spotted the giraffe, he photographed it.
13. Everything has gone well for us.
14. Will they be able to move the belongings by themselves?
15. All of the students know both.

ADJECTIVE
An adjective modifies (qualifies or limits the meaning of ) a noun or a pronoun. It answers the
questions, What kind? Which one(s)? How many? How much?
- Carrie read an interesting story. ( What kind of story?)
- The recent article has that information. ( Which article?)
- Kent owns those surfboards. ( Which surfboards?)
- Wendy paid fifty dollars for the jacket. ( How many dollars?)
- Much space was devoted to her artwork. ( How much space?)
An adjective can come before or after the noun or pronoun it describes:
- Older cards are found on the table. ( Which cards?)
- Tall players and intelligent coaches were interviewed by the interested reporter.
( Which players? Which coaches? Which reporter?)
- Tired and hungry , the campers reached the lodge. ( What kind of campers?)
- The campers, tired and hungry , reached the lodge. ( What kind of campers?)

EXERCISE 2.3 : There are fourty words. Sixteen of the words in this activity are not adjectives.
Twenty-four are adjectives.
1. nothing 21. plumber
2. pretty 22. brave
3. crust 23. interesting
4. faith 24. marry
5. attractive 25. smart
6. grabbed 26. old
7. nice 27. solitude

9|Page
8. America 28. nasty
9. dainty 29. beautifully
10. agile 30. proud
11. mechanic 31. infantile
12. mean 32. earn
13. they 33. great
14. odd 34. forget
15. noisy 35. zany
16. nor 36. elegant
17. kind 37. boastful
18. neither 38. rigid
19. easy 39. decide
20. young 40. Average

VERB
A. Action Verbs
An action verb tells what action (often a physical action) a subject is performing, has performed, or
will perform.
- My father delivers packages to department stores each day.
- Louie bowled a perfect game last night.
- Suzanne skated across the rink in Central Park.
- Turn at the next corner, Noel.
- Oscar will help Petra with the project.
B. Linking Verbs
A linking verb connects (or links) a subject to a noun or an adjective in the predicate. The most
common linking verbs are the forms of the verb “to be” ( is, are, was, were, been, being, am ) and
appear , become, feel, grow, look, remain, seem, smell, sound, stay, taste, and turn.
- My sister is a doctor. (The linking verb, is, connects the subject, sister, with the predicate
nominative, doctor. )
- My sister is studying to become a doctor. (In this sentence the word is is a helping verb for
the main verb, studying. Is does not function as a linking verb.)
- He appeared tired. (The linking verb, appeared, links the subject, He, with the predicate
adjective, tired. )
- He appeared at the game. (In this sentence the verb, appeared, is an action verb, not a
linking verb.)

EXERCISE 2.4 : In the following group of sentences, the odd-numbered sentences exemplify the
linking verb and the even-numbered sentences show the same verb used as either an action verb or
a helping verb. Discuss why each verb functions as it does.
1. Reggie looked confused.
2. Reggie looked for his missing wallet.

10 | P a g e
3. Tammy grew tired during the long concert.
4. Tammy grew tomatoes in her garden this year.
5. I feel confused in math class.
6. I feel the penny at the bottom of this pool.

C. Helping Verbs
A helping verb assists the main verb in a sentence. There can be more than one helping verb in each
sentence. In a questioning (interrogative) sentence, the helping verb is usually separated from the
main verb.
The common helping verbs are am, is, are, was, were, be, been, being, has, had, have, do, does,
did, may, might, must, can, could, shall, should, will, and would.
The italicized word in each sentence below is the helping verb. The underlined word is the main
verb.
- The members are going to the city tomorrow evening.
- Are the members going to the city tomorrow evening?
- That joke has been heard around the office.
- Has that joke been heard around the office?
- Her brothers are leaving for the train.
- Are her brothers leaving for the train?

EXERCISE 2.5 : Underline the verb in each of the following sentences.

1. Will he remember the name of the boys?
2. Yes, she understands your explanation.
3. Please shuffle the cards now.
4. Send the messenger to the principal’s office.
5. Juan jokes around most of the time.
6. You omitted several names of tonight’s program.
7. The scientists simulated the rocket’s path.
8. Mrs. Simmons, our teacher, erased the board quickly.
9. The plant withered last week.
10. Coach Albers inspired us before the big football game last week.
11. The runner leaped with enthusiasm after her record-breaking performance.
12. They loved last night’s dance recital.
13. The cyclists pedaled through the mountains during the grueling segment of the
Tour de France.
14. He envies the other players.
15. I told you that earlier.
16. The artist etched the rough outline.
17. I forgot my jacket in the music room.

11 | P a g e
18. They easily recalled the unforgettable incident.
19. That game ended his hopes for a professional career.
20. Her parents decided that long ago.

ADVERB
An adverb is a word that modifies (qualifies or limits) a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. Many
adverbs end in - ly .

◗ Adverbs answer any of these four questions: Where? When? How? To what extent?

◗ Adverbs make writing more specific and more exact.

◗ Here are some adverbs that do not end in - ly :

again almost alone already also

always away even ever here
just later never not now
nowhere often perhaps quite rather
seldom so sometimes somewhat somewhere
soon then there today too
very yesterday yet

Adverbs modify verbs:

- John ate quickly . ( How did he eat?)
- I walk there . ( Where did I walk?)
- Ashleigh will eat soon . ( When will Ashleigh eat?)

Adverbs modify adjectives:

Rex is very happy. ( Very modifi es the adjective happy and answers the question, To what extent?)
The program was too unrealistic. ( Too modifi es the adjective unrealistic and answers the question,
To what extent?)
Adverbs modify other adverbs:
- Warren walks too quickly. ( Too modifi es the adverb quickly and answers the question, How
quickly?)
- He moved rather recently. ( Rather modifi es the adverb recently and answers the question,
How recently?)

EXERCISE 2.6 : In each sentence, the letters of the underlined adverb are scrambled. Unscramble
the letters, and write the word on the line provided before the sentence.
1. He walks tsaf.
2. Do you want to stop ehre ?
3. He visits his grandmother ywlkee.

12 | P a g e
4. Do you feel lewl enough to go on the trip?
5. Have you erve been to Mexico City?
6. I wasaly run errands for her.
7. Have I met you foebre ?
8. I would raerht drive to your house tonight.
9. Are you ilslt going to go to summer school?
10. I am tno trying to insult you, Nick.
11. Will you bat frsit tonight?
12. Are you ftneo at this location, Mitch?
13. Let’s start the performance onw.
14. May I aosl assist you, Helene?
15. Thank you nlidyk.

PREPOSITION
A common preposition is a word that shows the relationship between a noun or a pronoun and
- another word in the sentence.
- The man swam under the bridge. ( Under connects the idea of swam and bridge .)
- She walked down the aisle. ( Down connects walked and aisle .)
- Julie walked around the campus and toward town. ( Around connects walked and campus.
- Toward connects walked and town. )

Here are the most commonly used prepositions:

aboard about above across
after against along among
around as at before
behind below beneath beside
besides between beyond but
by concerning despite down
during except for from
in inside into like
near of off on
onto opposite out outside
over past since through
throughout till to toward
under underneath until up
upon with within without

13 | P a g e
But is a preposition only when it can be replaced by the word except. So in the sentence, “All but
Teddy went inside,” but is a preposition since it connects All and Teddy and can be replaced by the
word except.
EXERCISE 2.7: Underline the preposition in each of the following sentences.
1. The teammates walked beyond the bleachers.
2. The track team ran into the hills.
3. The temperature is several degrees below zero.
4. Call me around four o’clock.
5. It is a matter concerning bad behavior.
6. The parents joined in the conversation.
7. Ronnie fell asleep during the professor’s lecture.
8. We found the sleeping cat underneath the blanket.
9. The couple walked near the bridge.
10. The children slid down the slide yesterday.
11. We lost contact over time.
12. This letter is addressed to your sister.
13. The strong man swam across the wide lake.
14. This group is under great suspicion.
15. I pointed toward the tall building.

CONJUNCTIONS
There are are four types of conjunctions: coordinating conjunctions , correlative conjunctions , and
subordinating conjunctions. The first two types of conjunctions are discussed below.
A coordinating conjunction is a single connecting word. These seven words are for, and, nor, but,
or, yet, and so.
- The boys and girls worked at the fair. ( And joins the names boys and girls. )
- Paula or Jeannine can go with you tonight. ( Or joins the names Paula and Jeannine. )
- I would like to help you, but I will be busy tonight. ( But joins two sentences or complete
- ideas.)
- We must leave early so we can get to the wedding reception on time. ( So joins two
sentences
- or two complete ideas.)
Remember the made-up word FANBOYS when you memorize the coordinating conjunctions. Each
letter in this word ( F or, A nd, N or, B ut, O r, Y et, S o) stands for a coordinating conjunction.
Correlative conjunctions are pairs of connecting words. These five pairs of words are both/and,
either/or, neither/nor, not only/but also, and whether/or.
- Both Henry and Henrietta are leaving the dance now. (The correlative conjunctions join two
names.)
- Not only will they leave now, but they will also not be here to help clean up. (The
correlative conjunctions join two sentences or complete ideas.)

14 | P a g e
 - Either go with them or stay here and help. (The correlative conjunctions illustrate a
choice.)
- He went neither to the stadium nor to the concert hall during this vacation. (The correlative
conjunctions join two prepositional phrases.)

EXERCISE 2.8: Circle the conjunction or pair of conjunctions in each sentence!

1. Lyle chose both steak and salad for his dinner.
2. I chose neither steak nor salad for my dinner.
3. Either you or he can drive Dad to the train station tomorrow morning.
4. The panda wanted to eat, for he was hungry.
5. Peanut butter and jelly is Rex’s favorite sandwich.
6. Not only the girls but also the boys will be invited to the assembly.
7. Sara did not know whether to swing at the ball or take the pitch.
8. Mark would like to go, but he cannot.
9. Rich likes the food at this restaurant, yet he seldom eats here.
10. Run with him or her.

EXERCISE 2.9: Decide whether each underlined word is a noun (N), pronoun (PN), verb (V), adjective
(ADJ), adverb (ADVB), conjunction (C), preposition (P), or interjection (I). Then write its
abbreviation on the line before the sentence.
1. Slow down.
2. I would like to go, but I have to help my sister.
3. Can you please drive more slowly ?
4. He is our legislator.
5. The captain looked for a better route.
6. Wow ! Are we there already?
7. The pictures fell from the table.
8. I can certainly use your help during the ordeal.
9. This extravagant home is overpriced even for today’s market.
10. Mom and Dad just returned from Charlotte, North Carolina.
11. Diplomacy is the best tactic.
12. They think that their dog will like it.
13. Some of these stories are discussed often.
14. Either the giraffe or the monkey will be fed now.
15. We will probably hinder the process if we try to help them.
16. Helene cautiously approached the dog.
17. Can you help with the moving?
18. They will do most of the moving themselves.
19. I am not hungry.

15 | P a g e
20. This is a very pretty necklace.

EXERCISE 2.10: For each underlined word in the following sentences, identify and then write the
part of speech on the line next to the number. Use the following abbreviations:
noun—N adverb—ADV
pronoun—PRO preposition—PREP
verb—V conjunction—CONJ
adjective—ADJ interjection—INT

_______1. They attended the concert last weekend.

_______2. Several cats ran into Rob’s garage.
_______3. The truck driver delivered the packages quickly.
_______4. Fast runners won all the awards at the track meet.
_______5. My friends and I walked home after school.
_______6. I wanted a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch yesterday.
_______7. She was counting the ballots during social studies class.
_______8. Hey ! That is my seat.
_______9. Will they finish the test on time?
_______10. The diagram was pretty complicated for us.
_______11. He will practice his musical piece soon.
_______12. Reggie saw the awesome sight from the air.
_______13. Her sister is the oldest member of the group.
_______14. Check the score, Tom.
_______15. Will the students be able to fi nd the answer by themselves ?
_______16. Are you sure of yourself ?
_______17. They slowly carried the couch down the stairs.
_______18. Can you see beyond the hills from the top of the tower?
_______19. Hurray ! Our team has fi nally scored a touchdown.
_______20. The troop had been scattered throughout the woods.

EXERCISE 2.11: Underline the indicated word within the sentences!

1. (preposition) He walked around the corner.
2. (pronoun) Paul hopes that she will sing with the choir.
3. (pronoun) Can Jerry help him with the science project?
4. (noun) Have you seen the eraser?
5. (noun) The lock was stuck.
6. (noun) She purchased the margarine with him.

16 | P a g e
7. (adjective) Older people tire more easily.
8. (adjective) He is agile.
9. (adjective) Kind people are often rewarded.
10. (adverb) The police offi cer ran fast.
11. (adverb) My sister answered the question intelligently.
12. (adverb) You really should see this art exhibit, Kenny.
13. (preposition) Reggie fell by the stairs.
14. (preposition) Can you jump over the hurdle?
15. (preposition) May I sit between you two?
16. (verb) Joke about it now.
17. (verb) They overcharged me.
18. (verb) Ozzie, eat up.
19. (conjunction) I cannot go, for I have much to do.
20. (conjunction) I like peanuts and potato chips.
21. (conjunction) He wants to buy the house, yet he knows it is too expensive.
22. (interjection) Jeepers! This is a great deal.
23. (interjection) Ah! The sun is so warm.
24. (interjection) No! I will never try that.
25. (adverb) Georgette eventually walked her brother to the station.

17 | P a g e