The Eight Parts of Speech Flashcards
NOUN
A noun is the name of a person, place, thing, or idea.
man… Butte College… house… happiness
A noun is a word for a person, place, thing, or idea. Nouns are often used with an article (the, a, an), but not always. Proper nouns always start with a capital letter; common nouns do not. Nouns can be singular or plural, concrete or abstract. Nouns show possession by adding ‘s. Nouns can function in different roles within a sentence; for example, a noun can be a subject, direct object, indirect object, subject complement, or object of a preposition.
The young girl brought me a very long letter from the teacher, and then she quickly disappeared. Oh my!
See the TIP Sheet on “Nouns” for further information.
PRONOUN
A pronoun is a word used in place of a noun.
She… we… they… it
A pronoun is a word used in place of a noun. A pronoun is usually substituted for a specific noun, which is called its antecedent. In the sentence above, the antecedent for the pronoun she is the girl. Pronouns are further defined by type:
personal pronouns refer to specific persons or things;
each of the pronouns in English ( I, you, he, she, it, we, they, me, him, her, us, and them ) comprising a set that shows contrasts of person, gender, number, and case.
possessive pronouns indicate ownership;
a pronoun indicating possession, for example mine, yours, hers, theirs.
reflexive pronouns are used to emphasize another noun or pronoun;
A reflexive pronoun is a specific type of pronoun that is used for the object of a verb when it refers to the same noun as the subject of that verb. In English, these are the pronouns that end with “self” or “selves”: e.g., “himself,” “myself,” “ourselves,” etc.
relative pronouns introduce a subordinate clause;
A relative pronoun is a word that introduces a dependent (or relative) clause and connects it to an independent clause
List of relative pronouns
Who: Refers to a person (as the verb’s subject)
Whom: Refers to a person (as the verb’s object)
Which: Refers to an animal or thing
What: Refers to a nonliving thing
That: Refers to a person, animal, or thing
The woman who came to the door left flowers for you.
I am not sure whom this book belongs to.
Interpretative dance, which I find a bit disconcerting, is all the rage.
Is this what you were talking about?
She finally visited the coffee shop that had such great reviews.
demonstrative pronouns identify, point to, or refer to nouns.
A demonstrative pronoun is a pronoun used to point to specific people or things. For example, imagine there was a chair right next to you and a chair across the room from you. When talking about the chair nearer to you, you would say This is a chair.
People: This is my friend Lance.
Animals: That looks like a poisonous snake.
Objects: The cars in the front are worth more than those in the back.
VERB
A verb expresses action or being.
jump… is… write… become
The verb in a sentence expresses action or being. There is a main verb and sometimes one or more helping verbs. (“She can sing.” Sing is the main verb; can is the helping verb.) A verb must agree with its subject in number (both are singular or both are plural). Verbs also take different forms to express tense.
The young girl brought me a very long letter from the teacher, and then she quickly disappeared. Oh my!
See the TIP Sheet on “Verbs” for more information.
ADJECTIVE
An adjective modifies or describes a noun or pronoun.
pretty… old… blue… smart
An adjective is a word used to modify or describe a noun or a pronoun. It usually answers the question of which one, what kind, or how many. (Articles [a, an, the] are usually classified as adjectives.)
The young girl brought me a very long letter from the teacher, and then she quickly disappeared. Oh my!
See the TIP Sheet on “Adjectives” for more information.
ADVERB
An adverb modifies or describes a verb, an adjective, or another adverb.
gently… extremely… carefully… well
An adverb describes or modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb, but never a noun. It usually answers the questions of when, where, how, why, under what conditions, or to what degree. Adverbs often end in -ly.
The young girl brought me a very long letter from the teacher, and then she quickly disappeared. Oh my!
See the TIP Sheet on “Adverbs” for more information.
PREPOSITION
A preposition is a word placed before a noun or pronoun to form a phrase modifying another word in the sentence.
by… with…. about… until
(by the tree, with our friends, about the book, until tomorrow)
A preposition is a word placed before a noun or pronoun to form a phrase modifying another word in the sentence. Therefore a preposition is always part of a prepositional phrase. The prepositional phrase almost always functions as an adjective or as an adverb. The following list includes the most common prepositions:
The young girl brought me a very long letter from the teacher, and then she quickly disappeared. Oh my!
See the TIP Sheet on “Prepositions” for more information.
CONJUNCTION
A conjunction joins words, phrases, or clauses.
and… but… or… while… because
A conjunction joins words, phrases, or clauses, and indicates the relationship between the elements joined.
Coordinating conjunctions connect grammatically equal elements: and, but, or, nor, for, so, yet.
We listened eagerly, for he brought news of our families
she did not speak to anyone, and nobody spoke to her
i will go shopping, or i will go camping
he was convicted criminal, yet many people admired him
Subordinating conjunctions connect clauses that are not equal: because, although, while, since, etc.
As Sherri blew out the candles atop her birthday cake, she caught her hair on fire.
Sara begins to sneeze whenever she opens the window to get a breath of fresh air.
When the doorbell rang, my dog Skeeter barked loudly.
correlative conjunctions correlate, working in pairs to join phrases or words that carry equal importance within a sentence.
She is both intelligent and beautiful.
I will either go for a hike or stay home and watch TV.
Jerry is neither rich nor famous.
He is not only intelligent, but also very funny.
Would you rather go shopping or spend the day at the beach?
Conjunctive adverbs are parts of speech that are used to connect one clause to another
Jeremy kept talking in class; therefore, he got in trouble.
She went into the store; however, she didn’t find anything she wanted to buy.
I like you a lot; in fact, I think we should be best friends.
Your dog got into my yard; in addition, he dug up my petunias.
You’re my friend; nonetheless, I feel like you’re taking advantage of me.
My car payments are high; on the other hand, I really enjoy driving such a nice vehicle.
INTERJECTION
An interjection is a word used to express emotion.
Oh!… Wow!… Oops!
An interjection is a word used to express emotion. It is often followed by an exclamation point.
The young girl brought me a very long letter from the teacher, and then she quickly disappeared. Oh my!
See the TIP Sheet on “Interjections” for more information.
