English Grammar: Parts of Speech

Parts of Speech

• Nouns:
  • Proper nouns: names of specific people, places, or things (e.g. John, London, Google)
  • Common nouns: general terms for things (e.g. dog, city, company)
  • Collective nouns: groups of people, animals, or things (e.g. family, herd, team)
  • Abstract nouns: concepts or ideas (e.g. happiness, freedom, love)
• Verbs:
  • Action verbs: express action or occurrence (e.g. run, jump, read)
  • Linking verbs: connect subject to additional information (e.g. be, seem, appear)
  • Helping verbs: used with main verbs to form verb phrases (e.g. will, would, shall)
• Adjectives:
  • Modify nouns or pronouns (e.g. happy, big, blue)
  • Quantitative adjectives: describe quantity (e.g. three, five, some)
  • Qualitative adjectives: describe quality (e.g. good, nice, beautiful)
• Adverbs:
  • Modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs (e.g. quickly, very, well)
  • Manner adverbs: describe how something is done (e.g. loudly, wisely, quickly)
  • Time adverbs: describe when something happens (e.g. yesterday, soon, already)
• Pronouns:
  • Replace nouns in sentences (e.g. he, she, it, they)
  • Personal pronouns: replace names of people or animals (e.g. I, you, he, she)
  • Possessive pronouns: show ownership (e.g. my, your, his, her)
• Prepositions:
  • Show relationships between nouns or pronouns (e.g. in, on, at, with)
  • Common prepositions: of, from, by, with, about
• Conjunctions:
  • Connect words, phrases, or clauses (e.g. and, but, or, so)
  • Coordinating conjunctions: connect equal clauses (e.g. and, but, or)
  • Subordinating conjunctions: connect dependent clauses (e.g. because, since, after)
• Interjections:
  • Express emotion or feeling (e.g. oh, wow, ouch)

Sentence Structure

• Simple sentences: one independent clause
• Compound sentences: two or more independent clauses joined by conjunctions
• Complex sentences: one independent clause and one or more dependent clauses
• Compound-complex sentences: multiple independent clauses and dependent clauses

Verb Tenses

• Present tense: actions happening now (e.g. I am writing, she is studying)
• Past tense: actions completed in the past (e.g. I wrote, she studied)
• Future tense: actions that will happen in the future (e.g. I will write, she will study)
• Perfect tenses: actions started in the past and continued up to the present (e.g. I have written, she has studied)
• Progressive tenses: actions in progress at a specific time (e.g. I was writing, she was studying)

Clauses and Phrases

• Independent clauses: complete sentences with a subject and verb
• Dependent clauses: cannot stand alone as complete sentences
• Relative clauses: begin with relative pronouns (e.g. who, which, that)
• Adjective clauses: describe nouns or pronouns
• Adverbial clauses: describe verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs
• Phrases: groups of words that function as a single part of speech (e.g. noun phrase, verb phrase)

Parts of Speech

• Nouns:
  • Can be proper (names of specific people, places, or things), common (general terms), collective (groups), or abstract (concepts or ideas)
• Verbs:
  • Can be action verbs (expressing action), linking verbs (connecting subject to additional information), or helping verbs (used with main verbs to form verb phrases)
• Adjectives:
  • Modify nouns or pronouns, and can be quantitative (describing quantity) or qualitative (describing quality)
• Adverbs:
  • Modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs, and can be manner adverbs (describing how) or time adverbs (describing when)
• Pronouns:
  • Replace nouns in sentences, and can be personal (replacing names of people or animals), possessive (showing ownership), or other types
• Prepositions:
  • Show relationships between nouns or pronouns, and can be common (e.g. of, from, by, with, about)
• Conjunctions:
  • Connect words, phrases, or clauses, and can be coordinating (connecting equal clauses) or subordinating (connecting dependent clauses)
• Interjections:
  • Express emotion or feeling, and can be words like "oh", "wow", or "ouch"

Sentence Structure

• Simple sentences: have one independent clause
• Compound sentences: have two or more independent clauses joined by conjunctions
• Complex sentences: have one independent clause and one or more dependent clauses
• Compound-complex sentences: have multiple independent clauses and dependent clauses

Verb Tenses

• Present tense: describes actions happening now
• Past tense: describes actions completed in the past
• Future tense: describes actions that will happen in the future
• Perfect tenses: describe actions started in the past and continued up to the present
• Progressive tenses: describe actions in progress at a specific time

Clauses and Phrases

• Independent clauses: are complete sentences with a subject and verb
• Dependent clauses: cannot stand alone as complete sentences
• Relative clauses: begin with relative pronouns (e.g. who, which, that)
• Adjective clauses: describe nouns or pronouns
• Adverbial clauses: describe verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs
• Phrases: are groups of words that function as a single part of speech (e.g. noun phrase, verb phrase)