Basics of Writing Series: Parts of Speech

Basic Parts of Speech

Part of becoming a writer and being a teacher is learning the very basics of a sentence.  This is important for students to learn the foundation of language.  Grammar can be tedious to learn, but these posts are intended to break down the basics in manageable sections.

There are so many words are used in English language and these words are divided into different classes, according to their use in sentences. This division is called parts of speech. In English grammar there are seven parts of speech. Here in this article we are explaining about all 7 parts of speech. These are:

(1) Noun

(2)   Pronoun

(3)   Verb

(4)   Adjective

(5)   Adverb

(6)   Preposition

(7)   Conjunction

Definitions of Parts of Speech

Each part of speech has, as I usually say, a large family tree which means, for example, withing the pronoun part of speech – there are many types of pronouns that do different things.  Here is a list of the major parts of speech.

(1) Noun: Words which are used as the name of the persons, places,  or things, is called a noun.    

The chair is comfortable.
Charleston is a coastal city.

(2) Pronoun:  Words which are used in place of noun is called a pronoun. The word that it replaces is called the antecedent.

  Jack is absent because he is ill.

   The purse is where you left it.

   Delhi is a large city and it is the capital of India.

(3) Verb: Words which are used to express an action or state is called a verb. Verbs that don’t show action but reflect a relationship is called a linking verb.

                  I read story books.

                  He is playing football.

                     Girls Charleston is a coastal city..

                     He drinks milk.

(4) Adjective: Words which are used to add something to the meaning of a noun or pronoun or descriptions.

 Emily is an obedient girl.

                 There are thirty students going for a trip.

    I like blue pillows.

(5)Adverb: Words which are used to add something to the meaning of a verb, an adjective or another verb. Well describes how John speaks; thus, it’s an adverb.

                 John speaks Spanish well.

                They worked the sum quickly.

                 This rose is very beautiful.

Definitions of Parts of Speech Continued…..

(6) Preposition: Words which are used with a noun or a pronoun showing how the person or thing denoted by the noun or pronoun stands in relation to something else. {Italics show the prepositional phrases in the sentence as it functions.}

Children are playing in the field.

                A man is sleeping under a tree.

                He fell into the river.

                I am fond of music.

(7) Conjunction: Words which are used to join words or sentences.

 Thomas and Percy are good friends.

             She likes dogs, but I hate them.

          You may take this pencil or that one.

Students who can identify the function of a word usually have an easier time putting together the words correctly in a sentence which leads to less grammatical errors (and more time to focus on content).  How do you teach the Parts of Speech? Any ideas that work well for students? 

Check out the next posts in the series where we take these parts of speech, discuss their rules and counter-parts as well as how they function within sentences.