It also helps you to construct good sentences. You can find more detail if you click on each part of speech. Many words in English can have more than one job, or be more than one part of speech. For example, "work" can be a verb and a noun; "but" can be a conjunction and a preposition; "well" can be an adjective, an adverb and an interjection.
In addition, many nouns can act as adjectives. To analyze the part of speech, ask yourself: "What job is this word doing in this sentence? In the table below you can see a few examples. Of course, there are more, even for some of the words in the table. In fact, if you look in a good dictionary you will see that the word " but " has six jobs to do:. This word substitutes for a noun or a noun phrase e.
This word makes the reference of the noun more specific e. This comes before a noun or a noun phrase and links it to other parts of the sentence. These are usually single words e.
A word that joins two clauses. Nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs often have unique word endings, called suffixes. Looking at the suffix can help to distinguish the word from other parts of speech and help identify the function of the word in the sentence.
It is important to use the correct word form in written sentences so that readers can clearly follow the intended meaning. Here are some common endings for the basic parts of speech.
If ever in doubt, consult the dictionary for the correct word form. If more than one adjective is used in a sentence, they tend to occur in a certain order. In English, two or three adjectives modifying a noun tend to be the limit. If adjectives are used, the framework below can be used as guidance in adjective placement. A comma is used between two adjectives only if the adjectives belong to the same category for example, if there are two adjectives describing color or two adjectives describing material.
To test this, ask these two questions:. If the answer is yes to the above questions, the adjectives are separated with a comma. Also keep in mind a comma is never used before the noun that it modifies. Note that these videos were created while APA 6 was the style guide edition in use. There may be some examples of writing that have not been updated to APA 7 guidelines. Note that this video was created while APA 6 was the style guide edition in use.
Didn't find what you need? Search our website or email us. Read our website accessibility and accommodation statement. Grammar: Main Parts of Speech.
Print Page Report a broken link. Definitions and Examples Noun The name of something, like a person, animal, place, thing, or concept.
I finished the study. It takes a good deal of dedication to complete a doctoral degree. The men's hockey team will be playing as soon as the women's team is finished. The hunter followed the moose's trail all morning but lost it in the afternoon. You can form the possessive case of a plural noun that does end in "s" by adding an apostrophe: The concert was interrupted by the dogs' barking, the ducks' quacking, and the babies' squalling.
The janitors' room is downstairs and to the left. My uncle spent many hours trying to locate the squirrels' nest. The archivist quickly finished repairing the diaries' bindings. Religion is usually the subject of the roommates' many late night debates. Using Possessive Nouns When you read the following sentences, you will notice that a noun in the possessive case frequently functions as an adjective modifying another noun: The miner's face was covered in coal dust.
The concert was interrupted by the dogs' barking, the ducks' quacking, and the babies' squalling. Proper Nouns You always write a proper noun with a capital letter, since the noun represents the name of a specific person, place, or thing. A proper noun is the opposite of a common noun In each of the following sentences, the proper nouns are highlighted : The Marroons were transported from Jamaica and forced to build the fortifications in Halifax.
Many people dread Monday mornings. Beltane is celebrated on the first of May. Abraham appears in the Talmud and in the Koran. Common Nouns A common noun is a noun referring to a person, place, or thing in a general sense -- usually, you should write it with a capital letter only when it begins a sentence. In each of the following sentences, the common nouns are highlighted : According to the sign , the nearest town is 60 miles away. All the gardens in the neighbourhood were invaded by beetles this summer.
I don't understand why some people insist on having six different kinds of mustard in their cupboards. The road crew was startled by the sight of three large moose crossing the road. Many child-care workers are underpaid. Sometimes you will make proper nouns out of common nouns, as in the following examples: The tenants in the Garnet Apartments are appealing the large and sudden increase in their rent.
The meals in the Bouncing Bean Restaurant are less expensive than meals in ordinary restaurants. Many witches refer to the Renaissance as the Burning Times. The Diary of Anne Frank is often a child's first introduction to the history of the Holocaust. Concrete Nouns A concrete noun is a noun which names anything or anyone that you can perceive through your physical senses: touch, sight, taste, hearing, or smell.
The highlighted words in the following sentences are all concrete nouns: The judge handed the files to the clerk. Whenever they take the dog to the beach , it spends hours chasing waves. The real estate agent urged the couple to buy the second house because it had new shingles. As the car drove past the park , the thump of a disco tune overwhelmed the string quartet's rendition of a minuet.
The book binder replaced the flimsy paper cover with a sturdy, cloth-covered board. Abstract Nouns An abstract noun is a noun which names anything which you can not perceive through your five physical senses, and is the opposite of a concrete noun. The highlighted words in the following sentences are all abstract nouns: Buying the fire extinguisher was an afterthought.
Tillie is amused by people who are nostalgic about childhood. Justice often seems to slip out of our grasp. Some scientists believe that schizophrenia is transmitted genetically.
Countable Nouns A countable noun or count noun is a noun with both a singular and a plural form, and it names anything or anyone that you can count. In each of the following sentences, the highlighted words are countable nouns: We painted the table red and the chairs blue. Since he inherited his aunt's library , Jerome spends every weekend indexing his books. Miriam found six silver dollars in the toe of a sock.
The oak tree lost three branches in the hurricane. Over the course of twenty-seven years , Martha Ballad delivered just over eight hundred babies. Non-Countable Nouns 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.
The highlighted words in the following sentences are non-countable nouns: Joseph Priestly discovered oxygen. The word "oxygen" cannot normally be made plural. Oxygen is essential to human life. You cannot make the noun "furniture" plural. The furniture is heaped in the middle of the room. Since "furniture" is a non-countable noun, it takes a singular verb, "is heaped.
You cannot make the non-countable noun "gravel" plural. Gravel is more expensive than I thought. Since "gravel" is a non-countable noun, it takes the singular verb form "is. In each of the following sentences, the highlighted word is a collective noun: The flock of geese spends most of its time in the pasture.
The collective noun "flock" takes the singular verb "spends. Here the collective noun "committee" takes a singular verb, "meets. Personal Pronouns A personal pronoun refers to a specific person or thing and changes its form to indicate person, number, gender, and case. Subjective Personal Pronouns A subjective personal pronoun indicates that the pronoun is acting as the subject of the sentence.
You are surely the strangest child I have ever met. He stole the selkie's skin and forced her to live with him. When she was a young woman, she earned her living as a coal miner. After many years, they returned to their homeland. We will meet at the library at p. It is on the counter. Are you the delegates from Malagawatch?
Objective Personal Pronouns An objective personal pronoun indicates that the pronoun is acting as an object of a verb, compound verb, preposition, or infinitive phrase. The pronoun "it" is the direct object of the verb "threw.
Here the objective personal pronoun "us" is the direct object of the compound verb "will meet. Here the objective personal pronoun "me" is the object of the preposition "to. Here the objective personal pronoun "her" is the object of the infinitive phrase "to see. Here the possessive pronoun "mine" functions as a subject complement. This is yours. Here too the possessive pronoun "yours" functions as a subject complement.
His is on the kitchen counter. In this example, the possessive pronoun "his" acts as the subject of the sentence. Theirs will be delivered tomorrow.
In this sentence, the possessive pronoun "theirs" is the subject of the sentence. Ours is the green one on the corner. Here too the possessive pronoun "ours" function as the subject of the sentence. Demonstrative Pronouns A demonstrative pronoun points to and identifies a noun or a pronoun. In the following sentences, each of the highlighted words is a demonstrative pronoun: This must not continue. Here "this" is used as the subject of the compound verb "must not continue.
Three customers wanted these. Here "these" is the direct object of the verb "wanted. The highlighted word in each of the following sentences is an interrogative pronoun: Which wants to see the dentist first? Who wrote the novel Rockbound? Similarly "who" is the subject of the sentence. Whom do you think we should invite? In this sentence, "whom" is the object of the verb "invite. Here the interrogative pronoun "whom " is the object of the preposition "to.
In this example the interrogative pronoun "whom" is the object of the preposition "to. Here the interrogative pronoun "what" is the direct object of the verb "say. In each of the following sentences, the highlighted word is a relative pronoun. You may invite whomever you like to the party. The relative pronoun "whomever" is the direct object of the compound verb "may invite.
Here "whoever" functions as the subject of the verb "broke. The highlighted words in the following sentences are indefinite pronouns: Many were invited to the lunch but only twelve showed up. Here "many" acts as the subject of the compound verb "were invited.
In this example, "everything" acts as a subject of the compound verb "was thrown. In this sentence, "everything" is the direct object of theverb "donated. Here "each" is the object of the preposition "to. Each of the highlighted words in the following sentences is a reflexive pronoun: Diabetics give themselves insulin shots several times a day.
The Dean often does the photocopying herself so that the secretaries can do more important work. So it took a little more work than expected, but I'm happy I kept at it after the first couple of blunders.
Special thanks to the contributors of the open-source code that was used in this project: the UBY project mentioned above , mongodb and express. Currently, this is based on a version of wiktionary which is a few years old. I plan to update it to a newer version soon and that update should bring in a bunch of new word senses for many words or more accurately, lemma.
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