Brigham Young University–Idaho



PARTS OF SPEECH

When we describe language, we talk about different classes of words. We categorize these words according to the jobs they perform. These jobs include naming, describing, connecting, and showing action. In English there are eight classes of words, which are the basic building blocks of the English language. We call them the eight parts of speech. Listed below is a brief description of each of these parts of speech.

NOUN--A word that names a person, place, thing, quality, or idea. A noun may be used as the following parts of speech: subject, direct object, indirect object, predicate nominative, object of the preposition, and apposition. A gerund is a noun.

COMMON NOUN--the name of any object--wall, car, road. PROPER NOUN--the name of a specific noun--IBM, Rick, Rexburg, and Tom.

DIRECT OBJECT--A word that answers "what" to the verb but does not rename the subject. The direct object receives the action of the verb. John hit the ball. Mary drove the car. I ate the whole pie.

INDIRECT OBJECT--A word that answers "to whom" or "to what" of the verb. An indirect object is a word that indirectly receives the action of the verb. Dad gave me a quarter. She told Mother the story.

PREDICATE NOMINATIVE--A word that answers "what" to the verb, renames the subject, and follows the verb (or is found in the predicate). Tom is a good student. My dad is a farmer. She is a fox.

OBJECT OF THE PREPOSITION--The first noun following the preposition. around the corner; under the bed; down the long, dark road; to the store.

APPOSITIVE--A word that renames and directly follows a noun. I like my dog, Spot. My dad, a veterinarian, loves cats.

GERUND--A verb with an added "ing" that is now a

noun. Dancing is fun. I love horsebackriding

PRONOUN--A word that takes the place of a noun or Proper noun. Instead of saying, "Jon's dog likes Jon" we say, "Jon's dog likes him."

NOMINATIVE or subject pronouns include I, he, she, they, it, we, you, and who.

OBJECTIVE or object pronouns include me, him, her, them, us, whom, you, and it. These are direct objects, indirect objects, or objects of prepositions.

POSSESSIVE pronouns tell whose; thus, they are always adjectives. Possessive pronouns include my, mine, your, yours, his, hers, their, and theirs.

VERB--a word that expresses action or state of being.

Use active voice to show that the subject performs the action in the sentence. John drove the truck.

Use passive voice to show that the subject receives the action of the verb. The truck was driven by John.

Linking verbs have predicate nominatives and predicate adjectives.

A transitive verb requires a direct object to complete its meaning.

The boy hit the ball.

I lay the book on the desk.

Marion drives his car twice a week.

An intransitive verb is a verb that does not have an object to complete its meaning.

I lie on the couch.

The boys normally sit on the south end.

Marion drives on the left side of the road.

A linking verb is a verb that links its subject to the subject complement in the form of a predicate nominative or a predicate adjective. Common linking verbs are become, seem, appear, feel, look, taste, smell, sound, and forms of the verb be (is, am, are, was, were, be, been, and being).

Mary is my friend. (Friend is a predicate nominative--answers "what" to verb and renames subject.)

Mary looks pretty. (Pretty is a predicate adjective--describes subject but follows verb.

The person responsible is she. (She is a predicate nominative.)

The tenses of the verbs range as follows:

present tense--I ride my bike.

past tense--I rode my bike.

future tense--I will ride my bike.

present perfect tense--I have ridden my bike.

past perfect tense--I had ridden my bike.

future perfect tense--I will have ridden my bike.

present progressive tense--I am riding my bike.

past emphatic tense--I did ride my bike.

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|Regular Verb--call |

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|Tense |Present |Past |Future |

| | | | |

|Regular |I call. |I called. |I will call. |

| | | | |

|Perfect |I have called. |I had called. |I will have called. |

| | | | |

|Emphatic |I do call. |I did call. | |

| | | | |

|Participle (ing) |I am calling. |I was calling. |I will be calling. |

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|Irregular Verb--swim |

| | | | |

|Tense |Present |Past |Future |

| | | | |

|Regular |I swim. |I swam. |I will swim. |

| | | | |

|Perfect |I have swum. |I had swum. |I will have swum. |

| | | | |

|Emphatic |I do swim. |I did swim. | |

| | | | |

|Participle (ing) |I am swimming. |I was swimming. |I will be swimming. |

VERBAL--A word that was once a verb and is now used in a different way. The three verbals are: gerunds, participles, and infinitives. Verbals cannot be verbs. Gerunds and infinitives are nouns or begin noun phrases, and participles are always adjectives.

GERUND--A verb with an added "ing" that is now a

noun. Dancing is fun. I love swimming.

PARTICIPLE--A verb plus "ing," "ed," or "d" that is

now an adjective. Dressed in white, the bride said her vows. The man standing in the corner is my dad.

INFINITIVE--The word "to" plus an active verb that is now any part of speech EXCEPT a verb OR a prepositional phrase.

To ski is my only desire today (the subject). I want to eat Thanksgiving dinner with you (direct object).

Mood--the property of the verb through which we show the manner of the action. Through the indicative mood, we state a fact or ask a question. (The time has come for you to leave the room.) Through the imperative mood, we express a command or make a request. (Get out of the room now.) Through the subjunctive mood, we express a wish, a statement of doubt, or an impossible fact. (I wish I were going to the reception. If I were you, I would take the job.)

ADJECTIVE--A word that describes only a noun. An adjective tells which, what kind, how many, and whose.

The articles or determiners a, an, and the are always adjectives.

The little brown dog barked loudly. I ate your three hamburgers. The girl in red is my sister. (In red is a prepositional phrase telling which sister and is thus an adjective.)

PREDICATE ADJECTIVE--A word that describes the subject but follows the verb. Verbs of the senses (feel, look, sound, taste, smell) and linking verbs (the various forms of be, seem, appear, become) are followed in most cases by adjectives.

Her dress is pretty. She is so wise. We are late. You are very funny. I feel bad.

PARTICIPLE--see above in VERBALS

POSSESSIVE PRONOUN--always tells whose; thus, a possessive pronoun is always an adjective. (See page 6.)

ADVERB--A word that describes a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. An adverb tells when, where,

how, and how much. Adverbs often end in ly.

The horse raced hurriedly to the finish line. ("To the finish line" is a prepositional phrase telling where--thus the entire phrase acts as an adverb.) Yesterday we drove carefully [to Salt Lake] and were very tired.

PREPOSITION--A word that begins a prepositional phrase. Anything a squirrel can do to two or more trees: in, on, around, over, through, under, beneath, to, at, with, for, from, near, during, above, across, into, upon, up, down, etc.

The squirrel runs through the trees (beneath the trees, near the trees, down the tree, under the tree, beneath the tree, etc.)

The prepositional phrase begins with a preposition and ends with the first noun following the preposition--Known as the OBJECT OF THE PREPOSITION. We went to the store.

She parked around the corner. The pen fell from the table. (not off of--cannot use two prepositions together unless they become one--as: We went into the office.)

Listed below are some common prepositions

|about |before |except |onto |up |

|above |behind |for |out |upon |

|across |below |from |outside |with |

|after |beneath |in |over |within |

|against |beside |inside |through |without |

|along |between |into |throughout |at |

|alongside |beyond |like |to |during |

|among |by |near |toward |on |

|around |despite |of |under |until |

|around |down |off |underneath | |

CONJUNCTION--A word that connects other words, phrases, or clauses. We went to bed and dreamed of Christmas. We saw you when you hollered.

FANBOYS (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so) are coordinating conjunctions. I ate it, but I didn't like it. I was the most qualified applicant, so I was offered the job.

After, since, although, as, because, if, unless are some of the common subordinating conjunctions. Because I was the most qualified applicant, I was offered the job.

INTERJECTION--A word used to make an exclamation. They usually do not contribute to the meaning of the sentence and are seldom used in business writing. (Sometimes they are used in advertising.) Oh! Wow!

Wow! Look at that billboard.

adj adj noun prep adj noun verb adj noun adv adv

The newest member of our faculty does his job very effectively.

adj conj adj noun verb adj noun prep adj noun

Intelligent and enthusiastic employees are an asset to any organization.

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