Words can be considered as the smallest independent elements in language and communication. In the English language, words can be classified under 8 major word types or parts of speech namely, nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, conjunctions, prepositions, and interjections. In this article, you will learn more about the most common and simplest word type, which are the nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, and adverbs.

Noun

What is a Noun?

In the simplest sense, a noun is any word that names people, things, animals, places, events, or ideas. Take a look at the sentences below :

Ø Jack Gleeson, the actor who plays as Joffrey in Game of Thrones, was the boy saved by Batman in Batman Begins.

Ø Beatrice and Carla will meet at the coffee shop on Tuesday.

Ø For me, birthdays are just ordinary days.
All of the underlined words in the sample sentences above are nouns.

Classification of Noun

Nouns can be classified into following categories :

1. Common Nouns

It’s a name given to a group of similar things or persons.

Example: Man, woman, country, city, airline, building, university, School etc.

2. Proper Nouns

It is the name of a person, place or a thing in particular. In proper nouns, the first letter is always in capital.

Examples:

· He is visiting Spain this summer.

· The conference will be held in Chennai.

· Thomas studied in Harvard University.

3. Abstract Nouns

It is the name of a quality, action or state of a noun or we can say the name of something we can’t touch, smell, see or taste.

The words like advice, information, kindness, goodness, discussion etc. fall under this category.

The following sentences may give more clarifications about Abstract Nouns (marked in bold).

Examples :

· Rohit is well known for his kindness.

· The childhood is a golden period of one’s life.

· The Youth is a biggest strength of any nation.

4. Collective Nouns

A collective noun is a particular name given to the collection of persons/ things taken together. Examples: Family, Nation, Army, Association, Committee, team, bunch etc.

5. Countable Nouns

The things which can be counted are called as Countable nouns.
Examples : Book. It can be counted as a book, 2 books, many books etc.

Other examples are dog, cat, animal, man, person, bottle etc.
Note : We add “s” at the end of the countable noun to make it plural.

Example : Plural of book is books, chair is chairs, pen is pens etc.

6. Uncountable Nouns

These are the things which cannot be counted.

Examples : Tea, Sugar, Water, Air, Rice, Work, Information, Coffee, Sand etc

Note : They do not have Plural Form.

7. Possessive Nouns

The possessive form of a noun expresses the ownership or belonging. It also expresses the relationships like a family relationship, where somebody stays, works or spends time.

Note: Add apostrophe and‘s’ after a noun to make its possessive form

Example: The words marked in bold are possessive nouns.

· This is Mike’s bike. This sentence shows that ‘Mike’ is the owner of the bike.

· These are men’s wear.

· She is Priya’s mother.

· Are we going to Jack’s party?

· He is Charlie’s friend.

· This is my children’s room.

What are the Functions of a Noun?

A noun can function as a subject, an object (object of the preposition, direct object, indirect object), and a subject complement in a sentence.

Examples :

Ø Arya Stark is really cool.
In this example, the underlined noun serves as the subject in the sentence.

Ø They were supposed to meet at noon.
The noun in this sentence functions as an object of the preposition. (at is the preposition)

Ø Jeremy is a swimmer.
This sample sentence has two nouns, “Jeremy” and “swimmer”. “Jeremy” is a noun that serves as the subject, while the underlined noun acts as the subject complement.

Ø The beavers built a dam.
In this sentence, “beavers” is the subject, the word “built” is the verb, and the underlined word is the noun that serves as the direct object (the thing that is acted upon).

Ø He gave Maria a love letter.
This example has two nouns, “Maria” and “love letter.” The thing that is acted upon (direct object) is the “love letter,” while the indirect object is “Maria.” Simply put, an indirect object refers to the recipient or the one who gets the direct object.

What are the Different Genders of Nouns ?

Basically, there are four genders of nouns, and these are: masculine, feminine, common, and neuter.

1. Neuter – this gender simply refers to nouns that have no sex.

Examples: book, tree.

2. Common– is the gender of nouns which can refer to either the male or female sex.

Examples: student, driver, lawyer, criminal, leader, visitor.

3. Masculine– this refers to nouns of the male sex

Examples: sorcerer, actor, tiger, rooster, prince, fox, stag, bull, ram.

4. Feminine– this denotes nouns of the female sex.

Examples: sorceress, actress, tigress, hen, princess, vixen, doe, cow, ewe.

What are the Different Forms of Nouns?

Nouns normally come in their singular form, however, if these nouns name more than one person, place, thing, animal, event, or idea, it is necessary for you to transform them into their plural form.

These are most common ways of pluralizing nouns:

1. Add “s”

Examples:

· bike- bikes

· trap- traps

· coin- coins

· game- games

· swimming pool- swimming pools

2. Add “es”

Examples:

· beach- beaches

· potato- potatoes

· hero- heroes

· box- boxes

· torch- torches

3. Change “y” to “i,” and then add “es”

Examples:

· butterfly- butterflies

· party- parties

· reply- replies

· factory- factories

· baby- babies

Note: Sometimes, you just have to add “s” without changing “y” to “i” (e.g., chimney- chimneys; trolley- trolleys).

4. Change “f” to “v,” and then add “s” or “es”

Examples:

· wife- wives (“s” only)

· thief- thieves (“es”)

· loaf- loaves (“es”)

· knife- knives (“s” only)

· wolf- wolves (“es”)

Note: Sometimes, you only need to add “s” without changing “f” to “v” (e.g., cliff- cliffs; chef- chefs).

Other ways of pluralizing nouns:

1. For some nouns ending in “um,” change “um” to “a”

Examples:

· medium- media

· curriculum- curricula

· bacterium- bacteria

· ovum- ova

· datum- data

2. For some nouns ending in “is,” change “is” to “es”

Examples:

· crisis- crises

· analysis- analyses

· thesis- theses

· axis- axes

· oasis- oases

3. For some nouns ending in “us” change “us” to “i”

Examples:

· radius- radii

· nucleus- nuclei

· fungus- fungi

· stimulus- stimuli

· bacillus- bacilli

4. Some nouns have the same singular and plural form

Examples:

· sheep

· deer

· moose

Verb

What is a Verb ?

A verb can be considered as one of the most important parts of a sentence. You probably already know that a sentence must be composed of a subject and a predicate, so what makes a verb so important? Well, the verb is the main component of a predicate. Without it, there won’t be a sentence, just a bunch of words with an incomplete thought. Simply defined, the verb is a part of speech which is used to demonstrate an action or a state of being.

What are the Different Kinds of Verbs ?

Your primary school teachers must have defined verb as an “action word.” That is right, however, verbs are more than just words that express an action done physically like:

run, jump, dance, write, kick, etc.

In reality, verbs may also refer to an action done mentally such as:

think, ponder, guess, imagine, wonder, etc.

1. Normal Verbs and Non-Continuous Verbs

The first type of verb used to express physical action is called a Normal Verb, while the second one, which refers to an action you can’t see someone do, is called a Non-Continuous Verb.

Sample Sentences :

Ø Jesse Pinkman laughed hysterically.
The verb in this sentence is laughed and the subject who does the action is Jessie Pinkman.

Ø Aegon Targaryen and his sisters conquered the Seven Kingdoms.
The verb is conquered, while the subject in this sentence is Aegon Targaryen and his sisters.

Ø Darth Vader thought of an evil plan to get rid of Darth Sidious.
Thought is the mental action word done by the subject Darth Vader in the sentence above.

Ø I wonder what will happen on the next episode.
The pronoun, I, is the subject in the last sentence and the verb is wonder.

2. Linking Verb

Aside from the Normal Verbs and Non-Continuous Verbs, there is another type which is called the Linking Verb.

As the name suggests, a linking verb is a kind of verb that links a subject to the complement. A complement is the part of a sentence which modifies or provides more information about the subject. Examples of linking verbs are :

am, is, was, are, were, has been, might have been, become, etc.

The words listed above are just some of the “true linking verbs.” They are called that way because they have no other functions but to serve as linking verbs. However, just like some people, certain verbs also have dual personalities. Take a look at the two sentences below :

· Irine tasted the exotic food.

· The exotic food tasted great!

In the first sentence, you can easily say that the italicized word is an action word done by Irine. However, in the second sentence, the same word has a different function. It serves as a linking verb that connects exotic food with the word, great.

What are Multi-Part Verbs ?

Do not assume that verbs are limited to a single word. Sometimes, they come in two to four words. The basic formula for verbs with multiple parts is:

The auxiliary verbs, also called “helping verbs,” allow you to write in various verb tenses and voices when combined with a base or main verb.

Take a look at the examples below:

· I was given a two-week notice by the sales agent.
The sentence above is written in the passive voice. Was is the auxiliary verb and given is the main verb.

· It must have been raining very hard.
The main verb is raining and the auxiliary verbs are must have been.

What are the Different Forms of Verbs?

In order to be able to construct a grammatically correct sentence, it is very important that you know how to write in the proper verb tense. The three basic forms of verbs are past, present, and future. The first one obviously refers to an action that was already done, the second is for present action, and the third is for an action that will be done.

Examples:

You will notice that:

1. The present form is just the basic form of the verb (add –s or –es for a singular subject)
Example: He marches; Soldiers march

2. The past tense is the basic form plus –ed.
*Note: The past tense of a verb pertaining to a singular subject and a plural subject is the same.
Example: She walked; They walked

3. The future tense is the word will plus the basic form of the verb.
*Note: The future tense of a verb pertaining to a singular subject and a plural subject is the same.
Example: Andrea will count; The teachers will count

Although most verbs follow these rules, there are still some exceptions. Take a look at the examples below:

The verbs presented in the table above are called irregular verbs. There are actually no specific rules on how to form this kind of verb.

Adjective

One of the most important components of a sentence is the adjective. This part of speech is so common that people use it almost automatically, both in speech and in writing.

What is an Adjective and its Functions ?

An adjective is a part of speech which describes, identifies, or quantifies a noun or a pronoun. So basically, the main function of an adjective is to modify a noun or a pronoun so that it will become more specific and interesting. Instead of just one word, a group of words with a subject and a verb, can also function as an adjective. When this happens, the group of words is called an adjective clause.

For example : My brother, who is much older than I am, is an astronaut.

In the example above, the underlined clause modifies the noun ”brother.” But what if the group of words doesn’t have a subject and a verb? What do you think the resulting group of words will be called?

If you think it’s called an adjective phrase, you are right. As you might recall, phrases and clauses are both groups of words and the main difference is that clauses have subjects and verbs, while phrases don’t.

For example: She is prettier than you.

What are the Different Kinds of Adjectives ?

Now that you already know the answer to the question, “What is an adjective?” you should know that not all adjectives are the same. They modify nouns and pronouns differently, and just like the other parts of speech, there are different kinds of adjectives. These are :

1. Descriptive Adjectives

Among the different kinds of adjectives, descriptive adjectives are probably the most common ones. They simply say something about the quality or the kind of the noun or pronoun they’re referring to.

Examples:

· Erika is witty.

· She is tired.

· Adrian’s reflexes are amazing.

2. Adjectives of Number or Adjectives of Quantity

As the name suggests, this kind of adjective answers the question, “How many?” or “How much?”

Examples:

· Twenty-one students failed the exam.

· The plants need more water.

3. Demonstrative Adjectives

Demonstrative adjectives point out pronouns and nouns, and always come before the words they are referring to.

Examples:

· I used to buy this kind of shirts.

· When the old man tripped over that wire, he dropped a whole bag of groceries.

4. Possessive Adjectives

Obviously, this kind of adjectives shows ownership or possession. Aside from that, possessive adjectives always come before the noun.

Examples:

· I can’t answer my seatwork because I don’t have a calculator.

· Trisha sold his dog.

5. Interrogative Adjectives

Interrogative adjectives ask questions and are always followed by a noun.

Examples:

What movie are you watching?

Which plants should be placed over here?

What are the Degrees of Adjectives ?

There are only three degrees or levels of adjectives (also known as degrees of comparison) namely, positive, comparative, and superlative. When you talk about or describe only a single person, place, or thing, you should use the positive degree.

Examples :

She is a beautiful lady.

It was a memorable trip.

If on the other hand, you are comparing two persons, places, or things, it is appropriate to use the comparative degree of the word. Normally, you will need to add “-er” to transform the word into its comparative form or add the word “more.” Also, the word “than” should be added after the adjective in the comparative degree.

Examples :

This swimming pool is bigger than that one.

Ashley is more intelligent than Aldrin.

*Note: For words ending in “y,” you should first change the “y” into “i,” and then add “-er” (e.g., lovely-lovelier; pretty- prettier; tasty- tastier)

Lastly, if you are comparing more than two things, the superlative form of the adjectives should be used and the word “the” should be added before the adjective. In order to transform the adjective into its superlative form, you just have to add the suffix “-est” or the word “most.”

Examples :

That is by far, the tallest tree I have ever seen in my entire life.

This is the most crucial match of the season.

*Note: For words ending in “y,” you should first change the “y” into “i,” and then add “-est” (e.g., lovely-loveliest; pretty- prettiest; tasty- tastiest)

Adverb

What is an Adverb ?

An adverb is a part of speech used to describe a verb, adjective, clause, or another adverb. It simply tells the readers how, where, when, or the degree at which something was done.

Examples :

1. The manager accepted the challenge very nicely.
The italicized word is an adverb that describes nicely, which is another adverb.

2. Tears began to fall as he saw the completely lifeless body of his wife.
The adverb in this sentence is completely, which describes the adjective lifeless.

3. Surprisingly, the cubicles of the public restroom are clean.
Surprisingly is the adverb in this sentence. It modifies the clause that comes right after it.

Even though all of the sample sentences above have one-word adverbs, adverbs are not limited to a single word. Sometimes, adverbs come in phrases. Take a look at the example below.

At 4 a.m., a stray cat jumped into the open window.

The italicized part is a prepositional phrase with an adverbial function. It tells when the event occurred.

What are the Different Kinds of Adverbs ?

Aside from answering the main question “What is an adverb?” it is also important to explore the different kinds of this part of speech. Basically, there are four kinds of adverbs:

1. Adverbs of Manner

This kind of adverb describes the manner by which something was done or something happened. Adverbs of manner answer the question “How?”

Examples :

· The students measured the volume of the chemicals accurately.
The italicized adverb describes the verb “measured.”

· She walks gracefully.
Gracefully modifies the verb “walks.”

2. Adverbs of Place

Adverbs of place simply answer the question “Where?” Here are some examples:

· Heisenberg looked away from the dead body.
The adverb away answers the question, “Where did Heisenberg look?”

· They built a huge toy factory nearby.
The adverb nearby answers the question, “Where did they build the huge toy factory?”

You will notice based on these examples that adverbs of place can be placed right after the verb or after the object of the verb.

3. Adverbs of Time

Aside from answering when an event occurred, adverbs of time also answer questions like, “How long?” and “How often?”

Examples :

· Syndra lived in Germany for a year.
For a year tells how long something happened (how long Syndra lived in Germany).

· I’m going to the dentist tomorrow.
The adverb tomorrow indicates when something will be done.

4. Adverbs of Degree

This kind of adverb indicates the degree at which something will be done. It tells something about the intensity.

Examples:

· You didn’t try hard enough.
Hard enough is an adverb pertaining to the verb, “try”.

· The temperature of the room was extremely
Extremely describes the adjective, “high”.

What are the Most Important Tips for Using Adverbs ?

Sometimes, students know what adverbs are but don’t know how to use them properly. So here are the most useful tips that you should keep in mind:

1. In writing an adverb of manner, you must never write the adverb in between the verb and the object of the verb.

Example (from above):

· The students measured accurately the volume of the chemicals. (wrong)

· The students measured the volume of the chemicals accurately. (correct)

The first sentence is wrong because the adverb is located somewhere between “measured” (verb) and “volume” (object of the verb).

2. Know when to use the comparative or superlative forms of adverbs. Words like more or less are added to the main adverb when comparing two things. Most or least are used if there are three or more things to compare.

Examples :

· most often; more frequently

3. Not all words ending in –ly are adverbs. This is pretty obvious, but some students assume that a word is an adverb just because it ends in –ly.

4. Do not overly use adverbs. If there are single alternative words, you can use those.

Examples :

· Instead of walk heavily –> trudge

· Instead of ate hurriedly –> gobbled

Pronoun

What is a pronoun ?

A pronoun is a word that is used instead of a noun or noun phrase. Pronouns refer to either a noun that has already been mentioned or to a noun that does not need to be named specifically.

The most common pronouns are the personal pronouns, which refer to the person or people speaking or writing (first person), the person or people being spoken to (second person), or other people or things (third person). Like nouns, personal pronouns can function as either the subject of a verb or the object of a verb or preposition: "She likes him, but he loves her." Most of the personal pronouns have different subject and object forms:

Kinds of Pronouns

There are seven kinds of pronouns with different functions :

1. Personal pronouns

This kind of pronoun refers to a particular person or thing. The form of the personal pronoun that is appropriate to use for a specific sentence depends on the gender and number of persons or things that serve as the antecedents.

For example, you are referring to a female subject in the sentence, the pronouns that are appropriate to use are: she, her, and hers. If you are referring to a male, you can use: he, him, and his. For a group of persons, not including yourself, the appropriate pronouns are: they, them, and theirs.

Personal pronouns can serve as the subjects, objects of the verb or preposition, and can also show possession. They are formally classified into: subjective personal pronouns, objective personal pronouns, and possessive personal pronouns.

Examples :

Ø You are definitely the biggest science nerd I’ve ever met.
In the example above, the underlined pronoun serves as the subject.

Ø Harry persuaded her to come with him.
The pronoun “her” is the object of the verb persuaded. Him, on the other hand, is the object of the preposition with.

Ø Ours is the one on the left.
The pronoun “ours” signifies possession.

2. Demonstrative pronouns

The function of this kind of pronoun is to point to a noun. Examples are: this, these, that, and those. The pronouns “this” and “these” points to things that are nearby while the other two are for things that are far. Aside from proximity, you must also consider the number of things you are pointing out. For singular nouns, “this” and “that” should be used, while for plural nouns “these” and “those” are appropriate.

Examples :

Ø That is the car that I’ll buy for my birthday.
The speaker is pointing out to a singular noun that is far from him/her.

Ø She said she wanted these.
The underlined pronoun refers to a plural noun and also serve as the object of the verb wanted.

3. Indefinite pronouns

This kind of pronoun refers to unspecified things. Some examples are: any, all, another, each, anyone, anything, anybody, nobody, everyone, everybody, someone, somebody, few, and many.

Examples :

Ø Many were called for the interview but only 3 were hired.

Ø He’s ready to give up everything for his family’s safety.

4. Intensive pronouns

The function of intensive pronouns is to give emphasis to the antecedent. Examples of this kind of pronoun are: myself, itself, himself, herself, yourself, yourselves, themselves, and ourselves.

Examples :

Ø The president himself said that it was a terrorist attack.

Ø I myself knew that it was a mistake.

5. Interrogative pronouns

As the title implies, the function of this kind of pronoun is to ask questions. Examples of interrogative pronouns are: who, what, which, whom, whoever, whatever, whichever, and whomever.

Examples :

Ø Who wrote the book 1984?

Ø What did the doctors say?

6. Relative pronouns

This kind of pronoun links one clause or phrase to another. Some of the most common relative pronouns are: who, whoever, whomever, that, and which.

Examples :

Ø The contestant who gets the highest score wins the million dollar jackpot.
In this sentence, the underlined pronoun is the subject of the verb gets. The subordinate clause, “who gets the highest score wins the million dollar jackpot,” describes the noun contestant.

Ø He will accept whichever project comes first.
The subordinate clause, ”whichever project comes first,” serves as the object of the verb “will accept”.

7. Reflexive pronouns

This kind of pronoun is used to refer back to the subject. Some of the reflexive pronouns are: yourself, myself, ourselves, himself, herself, themselves, and itself.

Example :

Ø Sandra never forgets to send a copy of the email to herself.
The pronoun “herself” refers back to the subject of the sentence, which is Sandra.

Ø He promised to repair the broken fence, however, we ended up fixing it ourselves.
The underlined reflexive pronoun refers back to the subject we.

Pronoun Rules

There are a few important rules for using pronouns. As you read through these rules and the examples in the next section, notice how the pronoun rules are followed. Soon you’ll see that pronouns are easy to work with.

· Subject pronouns may be used to begin sentences. For example: We did a great job.

· Subject pronouns may also be used to rename the subject. For example: It was she who decided we should go to Hawaii.

· Indefinite pronouns don’t have antecedents. They are capable of standing on their own. For example: No one likes the sound of fingernails on a chalkboard.

· Object pronouns are used as direct objects, indirect objects, and objects of prepositions. These include: you, me, him, her, us, them, and it. For example: David talked to her about the mistake.

· Possessive pronouns show ownership. They do not need apostrophes. For example: The cat washed its whiskers.

Reference

Krohn, Robert. 1990. English Sentence Structure. Jakarta : Binarupa Aksara.

http://partofspeech.org/

https://storify.com/englishleap/

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/

http://www.gingersoftware.com/content/grammar-rules/