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pronoun, the adjective, the adverb, the preposition, the conjunction,and the
interjection. Each part of speech explains not what the word is, but how the word is
used. The same word can be a noun in one sentence and a verb or adjective in the
next.
The verb is perhaps the most important part of the sentence. A verb or compound verb
states something about the subject of the sentence. The verb depicts actions, events,
or states of being.
A noun is a word used to name a person, animal, place, thing, or abstract concepts. A
noun can function in a sentence as a subject, a direct object, an indirect object, a
subject complement, an object complement, an appositive, an adjective or an adverb.
Pronouns as a part of speech can replace a noun, another pronoun, noun phrases and
perform most of the functions of a noun.
VERBS
An auxiliary verb helps the main verb describe an action or state of being.
A ditransitive verb takes two complements, an indirect object and a direct object.
An intransitive verb does not have any complements. Examples: Fred cried. Sally slept.
Infinitives are the word " to + verb" and they act as nouns, adjectives, or adverbs.
NOUNS
Proper nouns are capitalized and include: name of a specific person, place, or thing,
days of the week, months of the year, historical documents, institutions, organizations,
religions, holy texts and religious followers.
A concrete noun is a noun which names everything (or everyone) that you can perceive
through the physical senses of touch, sight, taste, hearing, or smell.
An abstract noun is a noun that names anything that you can not perceive through your
five physical senses.
A countable noun (or count noun) names anything (or anyone) that you can count and
is a noun with both a singular and a plural form.
A non-countable noun (or mass noun) is a noun which does not have a plural form, and
which refers to something that you could (or would) not usually count.
PRONOUNS
A personal pronoun refers to a specific person or thing and changes its form to indicate
person, number, gender, and case.
A subjective personal pronoun indicates that the pronoun is acting as the subject of the
sentence. The subjective personal pronouns: I, you, she, he, it, we, you, they".
Relative pronouns link one phrase or clause to another phrase or clause. The relative
pronouns: "who, whom, that, which.''
The reflexive pronouns identify the "self" such as: "myself, yourself, herself, himself,
itself, ourselves, yourselves, and themselves.''
ADJECTIVES
An adjective usually precedes the noun or the pronoun which it modifies. Gradable
adjectives have a base, comparative and superlative form. The adjective happy is
intensified in the following examples: "very happy, extremely happy, quite happy,
happier, and happiest". Adjectives can have stative or dynamic and inherent or non-
inherent properties.
The demonstrative adjectives ``this, these, that, those, what'' are identical to the
demonstrative pronouns, but are used as adjectives to modify nouns or noun phrases.
An interrogative adjective such as ``which or what'' is like an interrogative pronoun.
The interrogative adjective modifies a noun or noun phrase rather than standing on its
own.
ADVERBS
A degree adverb specifies the degree or cause to which some property applies and
answers questions such as: how, when and where.
The conjunctive adverb can join two clauses together. The most common conjunctive
adverbs: "also, consequently, finally, furthermore, hence, however, incidentally, indeed,
instead, likewise, meanwhile, nevertheless, next, nonetheless, otherwise, still, then,
therefore and thus."
PREPOSITIONS
A preposition usually indicates the temporal, spatial or logical relationship of its object
to the rest of the sentence.
The most common prepositions: "about, above, across, after, against, along, among,
around, at, before, behind, below, beneath, beside, between, beyond, but, by, despite,
down, during, except, for, from, in, inside, into, like, near, of, off, on, onto, out,
outside, over, past, since, through, throughout, till, to, toward, under, underneath,
until, up, upon, with, within and without."
Complex prepositions consist of more than one word: along with, out of, up to.
CONJUNCTIONS
Conjunctions are a part of speech and are a closed word class which includes
coordinating words such as "and, but, and or", and subordinating words such as
"because, if, and when". Some conjunctions can also appear as prepositions or as
adverbs.
Coordinating conjunctions ``and, but, or, nor, for, so, or yet'' are used to join individual
words, phrases, and independent clauses. The conjunctions ``but'' and ``for'' can also
function as prepositions.
Correlative conjunctions always appear in pairs -- you use them to link equivalent
sentence elements. The most common correlative conjunctions: "both... and,
either...or, neither...nor, not only.., but also, so...as, and whether...or." Usually
correlative conjunctions consist of a coordinating conjunction linked to an adjective or
adverb.
INTERJECTIONS