The 8 Parts of Speech [Grammarly] Flashcards
What are the 8 parts of speech?
The 8 parts of speech are:
Nouns, Pronouns, Adjectives, Verbs, Adverbs, Prepositions, Conjunctions and Interjections
What is a noun?
A noun is a word that namesa “person”,”place”,”concept”,or “object”.
Basically, anything that names a “thing” is a noun, whether you’re talking about a basketball court, San Francisco, Cleopatra, or self-preservation.
Nouns fall into two categories: common nouns and proper nouns.
“Common nouns”are general names for things, like”planet”and”game show”.
“Proper nouns”are specific names for individual things, like”Jupiter”and”Jeopardy!”
What is a Pronoun?
Pronouns are the words you substitute for specific nouns when the reader or listener knows which specific noun you’re referring to.
You might say
-Jennifer was supposed to be here at eight
then follow it with
-“she’s”always late; next time I’ll tell”her”to be here a half-hour earlier.
Instead of saying Jennifer’s name three times in a row, you substituted”she”and”her”and your sentences remained grammatically correct.
Pronouns are divided into a range of categories, and we cover them all in our guide to pronouns:
What is an Adjective?
Adjectives are the words that describe nouns.
Think about your favorite movie. How would you describe it to a friend who’s never seen it?
You might say the movie was”funny”,”engaging”,”well-written”, or”suspenseful”.
When you’re describing the movie with these words, you’re using adjectives.
An adjective can go right before the noun it’s describing (I have a”black”dog), but it doesn’t have to.
Sometimes, adjectives are at the end of a sentence (my dog is”black”).
What is a Verb?
“Go!”“Be”amazing!”Run”as fast as you can!”Win”the race!”Congratulate”every participant who”put”in the work and”competed!”
These bolded words are verbs.
Verbs are words that describe specific actions, like”running”,”winning”, and”being”amazing.
Not all verbs refer to literal actions, though.
Verbs that refer to feelings or states of being, like”to love”and”to be”, are known as”nonaction verbs”.
Conversely, the verbs thatrefer to literal actions are known as”action verbs”.
What is an Adverb?
An adverb is a word that describes an adjective, a verb, or another adverb.
Take a look at these examples:
Here’s an example: I entered the room”quietly”.”Quietly”is describing how you(verb) the room.
Here’s another example: A cheetah is”always”faster than a lion.
“Always”is describing how frequently a cheetah is>faster<(adjective) than a lion.
What is a Preposition?
Prepositions tell you the relationship between the other words in a sentence.
Here’s an example: I left my bike leaning against the garage.
In this sentence,”against”is the preposition because it tells us I left my bike.
Here’s another example:
She put the pizza”in”the oven.
Without the preposition”in”, we don’t know where the pizza is.
What is a Conjunction?
Conjunctions make it possible to build complex sentences that express multiple ideas.
I like marinara sauce. I like alfredo sauce. I don’t like puttanesca sauce.
Each of these three sentences expresses a clear idea.
There’s nothing wrong with listing your preferences like this, but it’s not the most efficient way to do it.
Consider instead: I like marinara sauce”and”alfredo sauce,”but”I don’t like puttanesca sauce.
In this sentence,”and”and”but”are the two conjunctions that link your ideas together.
What is an Article?
Note: article is not a part of speech
“A”pear.”The”brick house.”An”exciting experience.
These bolded words are known as articles.
Like nouns, articles come in two flavors: “definite articles” and “indefinite articles”.
And just like the two types of nouns, the type of article you use depends on how specific you need to be about the thing you’re discussing.
A “definite article” describes one specific noun, like”the”and”this”.
Example: Did you buy”the”car?
Now swap in an indefinite article: Did you buy”a”car?
See how the implication is gone and you’re asking a much more general question?
