Parts of speech

What are parts of speech?

Words are divided into

different categories based
on their functions in a
sentence.
 Noun

A noun is a word used as a name of a person, place, or things; as

• Ratan Tata was a renowned philanthropist.
• Paris is on the Seine.
• Dogs are loyal animals.

The category thing includes not only all objects that we can see, hear,
taste, touch, or smell but also includes things that we can think of, but
cannot perceive by the senses.
• His perseverance is unparalleled.
 • Proper noun- is the name of
some particular person or place.
Kinds of Nouns (Rohit, Hyderabad, Charminar)

• Common noun- name given in • Countable nouns are the

common to to every person or names of objects, people, etc.
thing of the same class or kind. that we can count (Tree,
(Boy, City, Building) Animal, Pen, Car)

Things to remember: • Uncountable nouns are the

• Collective noun- is the name of a
• We don’t use any article names of things that we
number (or collection) of persons
(a, an, the) before or things taken together and cannot count. They mainly
abstract nouns. Also, it is spoken of as one whole (Class, denote substances and
always used in singular Army, Crowd, Community, Jury) abstract things. (Advice,
form. Information, Time, News,
• Since uncountable nouns Furniture, Intelligence,
are singular, they also • Abstract noun- the name of a Homework)
require singular verbs. quality, action, or state considered
apart from the object to which it
• Proper nouns always start belongs (Kindness, Darkness,
with a capital letter. Laughter, Bravery, Childhood)
 • To find the
Nominative and Accusative Nominative, put
Who? or What?
Case before the verb.
• Nominative case- When a noun (or pronoun) is used as the • To find the
Subject of the verb Accusative, put
• John threw a stone. (John- Subject) Whom? or What?
before the verb and
its subject.
• Accusative or Objective case- When a noun (or pronoun) is
used as the Object of a verb
• The horse kicked the boy (horse- subject; boy- object) Nominative generally
• A noun which comes after a preposition is also said to be in comes before the verb,
the Accusative Case. and the Accusative after
the verb. Hence they
• The book is on the desk. are distinguished by the
• The noun desk is in the Accusative Case, governed by the order of words, or by
preposition on. the sense.
 The Possessive
answers the question,
Possessive or Genitive Case ‘Whose?’

• The Possessive Case does not always denote possession. It is

used to denote authorship, origin, kind, etc. as,

• Shakespeare’s plays = the plays written by Shakespeare

• A mother’s love = the love felt by a mother
• The President’s speech = the speech delivered by the President
• Mr Aggarwal’s house = the house where Mr. Aggarwal lives
• Ashok’s school = the school where Ashok goes
• A children’s playground = a playground for children
• A week’s holiday = a holiday which lasts a week
 Pronoun

A pronoun is used in place of a noun. There are many subcategories of pronouns,

such as:
• Personal pronouns refer to people and things. They are divided into three categories called
first person, second person, and third person.
• I, you, he, she, we, they, him, her, us, them
• Possessive pronouns are used show ownership or possession.
• Mine, yours, theirs, ours, his
• Reflexive pronouns are words ending in -self or -selves that are used when the subject and
the object of a sentence are the same.
• Myself, himself, themselves
• Interrogative pronouns are used to ask questions about person and things.
• Who, whom, whose, which, what
 Pronoun cont…
• Demonstrative pronouns are pronouns Relative clauses are dependent clauses that
describe or provide more information about a
that are used to point to specific objects. noun in the main clause. They are introduced
• This, that, these, those by relative pronouns (such as who, whom,
whose, which, and that) and function like
adjectives, modifying nouns or pronouns.
• Relative pronouns introduce relative • Who: The teacher who helped me is
clauses. very kind.
• Who, whom, whose, which, that, whomever, • Whom: The student whom the
whoever principal praised won an award.
• Whose: The artist whose painting won
first place is famous.
• Compound relative pronouns are • Which: The car which broke down
pronouns formed by adding ever, so, or was repaired.
• That: The book that I read was
soever to who, which and what
fascinating.
• whoever, whosoever; whichever; whatever,
whatsoever
• Indefinite pronouns are pronouns that do not refer to any particular person, place,
or thing.
• Someone, somebody, somewhere, something, anyone, anybody, anywhere,
anything, no one, nobody, nowhere, everyone, everybody, everywhere,
everything, none, few, many

• Distributive pronouns refer to persons or things one at a time.

• Each, either, neither.

• Reciprocal pronouns: The term, ‘reciprocal’ is defined as involving two people or

groups who agree to help each other or behave in the same way to each other.
• Each other, one another
 Adjective

• Adjectives are words used to describe nouns or pronouns, providing additional information about them.
• Adjectives can be in different degrees: positive, comparative, and superlative.

Types of adjectives include:

• Attributive Adjectives: Describe a characteristic of the noun (e.g., beautiful, purple, hard). They are generally kept
just before the noun it qualifies.

• Distributive Adjectives: Specify individual items in a group (e.g., each, every, either, neither).

• Possessive Adjectives: Indicate ownership (e.g., his, her, our, their, your).
• They are sometimes called pronominal adjectives as they are formed from pronouns.
• The word his is used both as an Adjective and as a Pronoun; as
• This is his book. (Possessive Adjective)
• This book is his. (Possessive Pronoun)

• In modern English, the possessive, demonstrative, and indefinite adjectives are called determiners.
• Indefinite adjective is an adjective used to describe a noun in a non-specific sense.

• Some: She bought some flowers for the party.

• Any: Do you have any suggestions?
• Several: I saw several birds in the park.
• Few: There are only a few seats left.
• Many: There are many books on the shelf.
• Much: He has much experience in that field.
• Most: Most people enjoy traveling.
• All: All students should attend the meeting.
• Each: Each student received a certificate.
• Every: Every child loves ice cream.
• No: There is no milk in the fridge.
• Another: Can I have another piece of cake?
• Other: We need to find another solution.
• Various: The store offers various products.
• Certain: I have a certain feeling about this situation.
• Interrogative Adjectives: Used to ask
questions about nouns
• whose, what, which

• Demonstrative Adjectives: Point to specific

nouns
• this, that, these, those

• Quantifiers (or Infinite Adjectives): Express

quantity or degree
• any, each, few, many, much, most, several,
some
Types of Adjectives
Verb

• A word that expresses some action is a verb, or a state of being;

such as:
• The earth is round.
• Cats love wet food.
• Kurosawa directed multiple films.

• A verb often consists of more than one word

• The watch has been found.
• I have finished my work.
 • Auxiliary verbs: The verbs be (am, is, was, etc), have
and do, when used with ordinary verbs to make tenses,
passive forms, questions and negatives, are called
auxiliary verbs or auxiliaries. (Auxiliary = helping)

Types of Verbs • Modal verbs or modal auxiliaries: The verbs can,

could, may, might, will, would, shall, should, must,
and ought, are called modal verbs or modals. They are
used before ordinary verbs and express meanings such
as permission, possibility, certainty and necessity.
Need and dare can sometimes be used like modal
verbs.
• Modals are often included in the group of auxiliaries. In
some grammars they are called “modal auxiliaries”.
 Types of Verbs Cont…

• Linking verbs: A linking verb, just like the name suggests, is a type of
verb that is used to link the subjects in a sentence to the other parts of the
sentence so that it is meaningful.
• Linking verbs are verbs that don’t show an action but rather describe the
subject. While verbs like walk or jump represent an action, linking verbs
like be or seem add more details to the subject, such as he seems nice or she is
an architect.

• Phrasal verbs are made up of a verb and a particle or, sometimes, two
particles. The particle often changes the meaning of the verb.
Types of verbs

• Action Verbs: • Phrasal Verbs:

• Eat, dance, love, hate, trust, write • Get rid of, log in, ran out

• Auxiliary/Helping Verbs: • Linking Verbs/Copular Verbs:

• am, is, are, was, were, be, being, been • Am, is, are, was, were, be, being, been
• Appear, seem, feel, look, sound, taste,
smell
• Modal Verbs/modal auxillaries:
• Become, get, grow, remain, stay, turn
• can, could, will, may, should, must,
ought to
 Adverb

• An adverb is a word that modifies (describes) or Adverbs often end in -ly,

adds something to but some (such as fast) look
• a verb exactly the same as their
• He sings loudly. adjective counterparts.
• an adjective
• She is very tall. Types of adverbs:
• Adverb of place
• another adverb • Adverb of manner
• The song ended too quickly. • Adverb of time
• or even a whole sentence • Adverb of degree
• Fortunately, I had brought an umbrella. • Adverb of frequency
Adverbs cont…

• Adverb of Manner: Describes how an action is done.

• quickly, promptly, clearly, slowly, gradually, eventually, rapidly, seriously,
instantly, keenly, etc.

• Adverb of Time: Describes when an action occurs.

• now, soon, today, tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, next month, recently,
forever, etc.

• Adverb of Place: Provides information about the location of an action.

• somewhere, anywhere, nowhere, here, outside, inside, wherever,
elsewhere, left, right, etc.
Adverb

• Adverb of Frequency: Indicates how often an action occurs.

• seldom, rarely, never, often, weekly, monthly, yearly, annually, usually,
sometimes, occasionally, constantly, frequently.

• Adverb of Degree: Describes the intensity or degree of an action,

often modifying another adverb or adjective.
• very, too, extremely, much, more, most, little, less, incredibly, totally,
greatly, hardly, deeply, barely, etc.
 Preposition

• Words or groups of words used before a noun or pronoun to show place, position, time, or
method.
• A preposition is used with a noun or a pronoun to show how the person or thing denoted by the
noun or pronoun stands in relation to something else.

Types of Prepositions:
• Prepositions of Direction: Indicate movement or direction
• towards, into, to, from, across, through

• Prepositions of Time: Specify time-related information

• on, from, at, since, for, during, after, before, ago

• Prepositions of Place/Location: Describe the location or position of something

• at, on, in, over, behind, above, in front of, between, opposite, beside, against
Determiners
• Some modern grammars include determiners among the parts of
speech.

• Determiners are words like a, an, the, this, that, these, those, every,
each, some, any, my, his, one, two, etc., which determine or limit the
meaning of the nouns that follow.

• Often, as in many traditional grammars, all determiners except a, an

and the are classed among adjectives.
 Words that connect words, phrases, and clauses in a sentence.

• Coordinating Conjunctions: Connect words, phrases, or

clauses of equal rank
• and, nor, but, or, yet

• Subordinating Conjunctions: Introduce subordinate

clauses and indicate relationships of dependence

Conjunction • if, although, though, after, before, because, as if,

unless, until, when, while

• Correlative Conjunctions: Work in pairs to connect

equivalent elements
• not only…but also, either…or, neither…nor, if…then
Interjection

• Words used to show a short, sudden expression of emotion or reaction.

They often stand alone and are used to convey feelings or responses
spontaneously.

• Examples of Interjections:
• Expressions of Surprise or Excitement: wow, hurray, yippee, bravo
• Expressions of Relief or Disgust: phew, ew, ah
• Expressions of Regret or Sorrow: alas
• General Expressions: hey, well
We cannot determine a word’s part of speech without seeing
it in context.
• After
• Adverb: They arrived soon after.
• Preposition: They arrived after us.
• Conjunction: They arrived after we had left.

• All
• Adjective: All men are mortal. It was all profit
and no loss.
• Adverb: He was all alone when I saw him.
• Pronoun: All spoke in his favour.
• Noun: He lost his all in speculation.
Hope you unleash this knowledge in your exams!