The document discusses the eight parts of speech in English: nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections. It provides examples and classifications for each part of speech. Key points include: nouns name people, places or things, pronouns substitute for nouns, adjectives describe nouns, verbs express actions or states of being, adverbs modify verbs, adjectives or other adverbs, prepositions link words and phrases, conjunctions join words and sentences, and interjections express emotions. The document emphasizes that words are classified by their function in sentences.

1. UNIT TWO
PARTS OF SPEECH
The words that compose the English language –or any other language- can be classified
in various ways. The most familiar definitions of all of them will be given here. Under this
system all the words in the English language can be grouped, according to the work they
do, into eight classes. These are the parts of speech.
I- NOUNS: Words that are names of things or people or places. Examples: house, hat,
iron, Mary, Russia, London, speech, happiness. Among other classifications, they can be
categorized into proper and common nouns
- A proper noun names a particular person, place or thing that is capitalized. Examples:
Coro, White House, Albert
- A common noun does not name a particular person, place or thing. They are not
capitalized. Examples: woman, city, desk
II- PRONOUNS: Words used as substitutes for nouns, so we can refer to people or
things without really naming them and being compelled to repeat the names too frequently.
Examples: I, you, them, who, that, himself, someone.
Here, we continue with more pronoun types:
- Reflexive pronouns: they are usually used when the object of a sentence is the same
as the subject. For instance: I hurt myself. These pronouns are: myself, yourself, himself,
herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves.
- Relative pronouns: They are used to introduce subordinate clauses. These are: what,
who, whom, that, whose and which.
- Interrogative pronouns: They are used in questions. These are: who, whom, which,
whose and what.
III- ADJECTIVES: Words that describe nouns by making their meaning clearer or
more exact. Examples:
A bad egg, a blue dress, the book is new.

2. Adjectives can be, among other classifications, of type (taste, size, colour, cost,
age, etc): egg: Apples are tasty, big, green, expensive and fresh. Derived (egg: smelly from
smell), compound (egg: an upside-down car), of number (egg: a thousand pounds), etc.
IV- VERBS: Words that express the idea of action or being. Verbs affirm that a
person is, does or suffers something. Examples:
The boys played football.
He is hungry.
The enemy was defeated.
Verbs can be transitive (they need a direct object, egg: I like apples) or intransitive
(they can stand alone, egg: Birds fly). Moreover, verbs can be marked for aspect
(combinations of auxiliaries and main verbs: I’ve walked) tense (time: I walked) and voice
(active or passive)
V- ADVERBS: Words that describe or modify a verb, an adjective, or another adverb.
An adverb may tell how, when, where or to what extent (how often, how much) the extend
of the verb is done. Examples:
He ran quickly.
I saw him yesterday
She is a really good driver
Adverbs can be of manner (He swims well), time (I cleaned the house yesterday) place
(I looked everywhere), certainty (he’s probably in the park), Relative –to join clauses
or sentences- (where, when and why), degree (the water was extremely cold),
frequency (Kate always calls me), etc.
VI- PREPOSITIONS: A preposition links nouns, pronouns and phrases to other words in a
sentence. The word or phrase that the preposition introduces is called the object of the
preposition. Examples:
I sent the book to him, it went by air mail.
The smoke went up the chimney.

3. The desk was near the window.
They can be, among other types, of time (I’ll meet you at 5) and place (Mary is at
school)
The most common prepositions are:
About, above, across, after, against, along, among, around, at, before, behind, below,
beneath, beside, between, by, down, for, from, in, into, like, of, off, on, over, since,
throughout, to, towards, until, onto, up, upon, with, within, without, etc.
Also, a group of words may act as prepositions: In front of, in spite of, etc.
VII- CONJUNCTIONS: Words that are used to join words, phrases or sentences.
There are three types of conjunctions:
- Coordinating conjunctions: Coordinating conjunctions may join single words, or they
may join groups of words, but they must always join similar elements (subject + subject;
sentence + sentence). They are: and / but / or / for / so / yet / nor
- Example: A boy with a dirty face but pleasant smile
- Correlative conjunctions: They also connect sentence elements of the same kind:
however, unlike coordinating conjunctions, correlative conjunctions are always used in
pairs. Examples: either… or/ neither… nor/ whether… or/ not only… but also.
- Do you know whether Sara is coming alone or with her parents?
- Subordinating conjunctions: They connect subordinate clauses to a main clause. They
can be used in the middle or the beginning of the clause.
Examples: We stayed indoors until the storm abated
Since we have lived in Atlanta, we have gone to every exhibit at the High
Museum
The most common subordinating conjunctions are: After, although, as, as much as,
because, before, how, if, since, that, while, etc.
VII- INTERJECTIONS: Words that express sudden feeling or emotion. Examples:
Wow! Oh! Ah!

4. CLASSIFICATION BY FUNCTION
It is important to remember that words are classified into parts of speech
according to their function, that is, according to the work they do. There are many words
that can be two, three or even more parts of speech. Take for example these sentences.
(1) He came by a very fast train.
(2) William ran very fast.
(3) They are going to fast for three days; during that time they
won’t eat anything.
(4) At the end of his three day fast he will have a very light meal.
In (1) fast is an adjective; in (2) it is an adverb, in (3) a verb, and in (4) a noun.
Or note the different uses of watch in:
- My father gave me a watch for my birthday.
- I am going to watch a football match.
- Rex is a good watch dog.
EXERCISES:
Say the function of the underlined words in the sentences.
1. I don’t like pop songs
2. They popped the news yesterday
3. Rebecca usually sleeps at 10 pm
4. Venezuela is a rich country
5. The audience cheered the actor
6. Gosh! What a nice girl!
7. We must go or we’ll be late
8. He definitely left the house at 5
9. Jelly is soft
10. She loved the fall; however, she also enjoyed winter
11. Don’t look at her
12. The bank is next to the hotel

5. Use the following in sentences as (a) nouns, and (b) verbs:
Object, present, record, produce, conflict, conduct, desert, iron, tie, book and house.
References:
http://www2.gsu.edu/~wwwesl/egw/bryson.htm
http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/330/grammar/parts.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Part-of-speech