CHAPTER 1 Parts of Speech

BySabiha Saleem

PARTS OF SPEECH• The 8 “building blocks” of

• the English language…• The 8 “building blocks” of

• the English language…

NOUN

• A noun is a word used to name a person, animal, place, thing, or an idea. • Nouns are the subject of a

sentence.

Kylie is a pro-golfer.

The bakery has fresh baked goods.

Love is a beautiful thing.

Types of Noun • There are several types of nouns. • The most common are:

– Proper noun– Common noun– Abstract noun– Concrete noun– Countable noun– Uncountable noun

Proper Noun

• Proper nouns name specific persons, places or things.

• The first letter is always capitalized to distinguish them from common nouns.

Example:

• Jonathan is my best friend.

• I want to go to New York.

• I love the Harry Potter series.

Common Noun • Common nouns refer to general, unspecific

things, person, or place.

• Whereas New York is a proper noun because

it is a specific state, the word state itself is a common noun because it can refer to any 50 states in the US.

• Tom is a proper noun because it is naming a

specific boy. But the word boy itself is a common noun because a boy could be any boy.

Concrete Noun• Concrete nouns are nouns that can be touched,

smelled, seen, felt, or tasted.

Examples:

• Please pass the salt so I could add it to my soup.

• Your sweater is made of fine wool.

• Can I pet your dog?

• Your car is looking very shiny.

Abstract Noun • Abstract Nouns name concepts, ideas or

emotions.• If you cannot taste, touch, hear, smell or see

something, it is an abstract noun.Examples: • Love is kind and gentle.• His courage saved the day.• Forgiveness is part of life.• I want freedom! • Hate can sometimes be stronger than love.

Countable Noun

• Countable nouns are things that we can count.

• Such as: pen, book, dog, cat, coin, person…

• Countable nouns can be singular or plural.

Example:

• My dog is playing.

• My dogs are hungry.

Uncountable Noun

• Things that we cannot count.

• Such as: milk.

• We can say bottles of milk or liters of milk, but we can not say: there are 2 milks here.

• Hence it is uncountable.

Countable Uncountable

dollar money

song music

suitcase luggage

table furniture

battery electricity

bottle wine

report information

tip advice

journey travel

job work

view scenery

Singular and Plural Nouns• A singular noun names one person, place, thing or idea. • Examples:My pencil is broken. May I borrow a piece of paper?

• A plural noun names more than one person, place, thing or idea.

• Examples: My pencils are broken. My papers are scattered around the floor.

When a noun ends in y and the letter before the y is a vowel, add an s to make the noun plural.

Plural Forms of Nouns . . .

PP 4-9

delaykeyboyplayessay

delayskeysboysplaysessays

delaykeyboyplayessay

delayskeysboysplaysessays

When a noun ends in y and the letter before the y is a consonant, change the y to i and add es to make the noun plural.

PP 4-10

policy copy accessoryfacility

policiescopiesaccessoriesfacilities

• lady– Ladies

• fry– fries

policy copy accessoryfacility

policiescopiesaccessoriesfacilities

Add es to make nouns plural that end with:• s– buses

• x– taxes

• ch– benches

• sh– dishes

Some nouns that end in f or fe change to ves when made plural:

• calf– calves

• knife– knives

Some nouns that end in o change to es when made plural. Some change to s:

• kangaroo– kangaroos

• potato– potatoes

Some nouns do not change at all when made plural:

• sheep– sheep

• deer– deer

Some nouns become a new word when made plural:

• man– men

• goose– geese

Can you make these nouns plural?

1. half

2. foot

3. piano

4. spy

5. brush

Can you make these nouns plural?

1. halves

2. feet

3. pianos

4. spies

5. brushes

Can you make these nouns plural?

1. mouse

2. memo

3. shelf

4. leaf

5. child

Can you make these nouns plural?

1. mice

2. memos

3. shelves

4. leaves

5. children

Can you make these nouns plural?

1. thief

2. woman

3. fish

4. photo

5. tooth

Can you make these nouns plural?

1. thieves

2. women

3. fish

4. photos

5. teeth

Some singular nouns have irregular plurals.

Irregular Noun Plurals and Special Nouns

woman

foot

mouse

goose

child

ox

women

feet

mice

geese

children

oxen

Singular Plural

Some nouns have the same singular and plural forms.

Irregular Noun Plurals and Special Nouns

deer

sheep

moose

species

series

deer

sheep

moose

species

series

Singular Plural

continuedcontinued

Some nouns that end in s look like plurals; but, depending on their use, they may have singular meanings.news physics ethics politics

Most nouns that represent ideas or qualities have no plural forms.honesty integrity patience innocence

Some nouns are never singular.proceeds savings goods earnings

Irregular Noun Plurals and Special Nouns

continuedcontinued

A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun.

What is a pronoun?• It’s a word used instead of a noun (or a phrase

containing a noun)Example: `He', `it', `who', and `anything' are pronouns.

• When the pronoun is the subject (the person doing the action) of the sentence, it is called a Subject Pronoun.

Example: Bob is swimming. He is swimming.

What are the English subject pronouns?

Singular Plural

1st person I We

2nd person You

3rd person He, She, It They

I

You

He, She, It

Single Subject pronouns?

We

They

Plural Subject pronouns?

Make Sentences for all Subject pronouns.

Verb

A verb is a word which describes the action in a sentence (the doing word)

Examples

I play football.They skip quickly.We eat spaghetti.Bob is seven today.

A

C

T

I

O

N

V

E

R

B

S

Physical

write

block

tackle

catch

charge

Mental

remember

honor

prefer

excel

regarded

• An action verb can express physical actions, such as writing and running, or mental activities such as thinking and honoring.

Linking Verbs and Predicate Words

A linking verb connects the subject of a sentence with a noun or an adjective in the predicate.

John McGraw was the manager.

Linking verbs tell what the subject is or is like.

Linking Verb

Subject Noun

Common Linking Verbsbe becomegrowseem turnappear tastelook feelsmell sound

Many of these linking verbs can also be used as action verbs.

Chandra turned thirteen. (Linking Verb)

The car turned the corner. (Action Verb)

Predicate Nouns

Sam is a pitcher.

Susan was our best player.

Will you be my friend?

A predicate noun follows a linking verb. It tells what the subject is.

Predicate Adjectives

Samantha is beautiful.

Susan was bored with sports.

Will the game be interesting?

A predicate adjective follows a linking verb. It describes the subject by telling what it is like.

Helping Verbs Defined

A helping verb is a verb that helps the main verb tell about an action or make a statement.

Helping Verbs List

is have should shall

was has could will

were had would do

are did

am may does

be might can

been, being must

A verb phrase consists of one or more helping verbs followed by a main verb.

Helping Verbs and Verb Phrases

In the sentence above, the word are is the helping verb, and the present participle jumping is the main verb. Together they form a verb phrase.

A verb phrase consists of one or more helping verbs followed by a main verb.

The students are jumping rope now.

ADVERB• An adverb is a descriptive word

that tells more about a verb, an adjective or another adverb.

• Adverbs tell how, where and when:

“Yesterday, she ran quickly downtown.”

• The most commonly used adverb in English is “very.”

• Many adverbs end in “ly”: quickly, carefully, & slowly…

ADJECTIVESAdjectives tell about nouns.

They usually answer 2 questions.

•HOW MANY?

•WHAT KIND?

One sad little girl was in our class.

•HOW MANY?

•WHAT KIND?

One sad little girl was in our class.One sad little girl was in our class.

•HOW MANY?

•WHAT KIND?

One sad little girl was in our class.One sad little girl was in our class.

Let’s Practice!

Robert had four books on his shelf.

Can you find the adjectives and the nouns they describe?

four describes

The scary ghost was not smiling!

scary describes

Jessimine looked into the clear ball.

clear describes

The colorful butterfly was Evan’s.

colorful describes

Brittany wore a pink dress!

pink describes

Frankie saw a funny clown at the circus.

funny describes

Hilary wore a striped shirt.

striped describes

Chasitie bounced the round basketball.

round describes

Adjectives answer two questions.

•HOW MANY?

•WHAT KIND?

some few many

several lots four

green crunchy smooth

new smart beautiful

What is the adjective?What noun does it tell about?

The blue notebook is closed.

Adjective?

Noun?

PREPOSITION• A preposition shows a position

relationship between two or more nouns or pronouns.

• “She walked through the door into the room.”

• The relationship can be spatial, as in the sentence above, or in time, as in the sentence below:

• “After the track meet, he was very tired.”

CONJUNCTION• A conjunction is a short

joining word, such as “and, or, but, for, so & yet.”

• The main function of a conjunction is to join words, phrases and clauses together:

• Slowly and carefully

• A red hat and a white shirt

• He had no ticket, but he went anyway.

INTERJECTION

• An interjection is a word (or words) of shock or surprise.

• It is usually used by itself and is followed by an exclamation point.

• Examples are: Wow!, Cool!, Awesome! and so on…

“Watch out! Where’d this rocket come from???”

Definite And Indefinite Articles

• Definite article is “the”

• It is called definite article because it is used to refer to a specific person, place, or thing

• i.e., the girl next door, the school, etc

• Indefinite article “a” “an”

• Refers to any person, place, or thing,

not a specific one.

• i.e., a girl, a school.

Definite and indefinite articlesThe indefinite article refers to a non-specific

item.

It’s a book, any old book.

The definite article refers to a specific item.

It’s the book we use in the English class.

Definite and indefinite articles

It’s a chair, any old chair.

It’s the chair we use in the Spanish class.

Definite and indefinite articlesThe plural indefinite article can be translated

as “some” or “a few.”

There are a few books in the classroom.

There are some chairs, too.

Definite and indefinite articlesThe plural definite article , just like the

singular, refers to specific things.

They’re the books for the class.

They’re the chairs for the students.

Contraction ActionI am =

I’myou

are = you’re

it is = it’s

he

is = he’s

Contraction Actionshe

is = she’sis not = isn’t

let us = let’s

did not = didn’t

Contraction Actionwe will =

we’llcould

not = couldn’t

will not = won’t

you

will = you’ll