Parts of Speech in English Grammar

Parts of Speech

• Nouns:
  • Proper nouns: names of specific people, places, or things (e.g. John, London)
  • Common nouns: general terms for things (e.g. dog, city)
  • Collective nouns: groups of people, animals, or things (e.g. family, flock)
  • Abstract nouns: intangible concepts (e.g. happiness, love)
• Verbs:
  • Action verbs: describe actions (e.g. run, eat)
  • Linking verbs: connect subject to additional information (e.g. be, seem)
  • Helping verbs: used with main verbs to form tense, mood, or voice (e.g. will, would)
• Adjectives:
  • Describe nouns or pronouns (e.g. happy, big)
  • Quantitative: describe quantity (e.g. three, five)
  • Qualitative: describe quality (e.g. happy, tall)
• Adverbs:
  • Modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs (e.g. quickly, very)
  • Describe manner, time, place, frequency, or degree
• Pronouns:
  • Replace nouns in sentences (e.g. he, she, it)
  • Personal pronouns: replace nouns referring to people or animals (e.g. I, you, he)
  • Possessive pronouns: show ownership (e.g. mine, yours, his)
• Prepositions:
  • Show relationships between words (e.g. in, on, at)
  • Indicate location, direction, time, or manner

Sentence Structure

• Independent clauses: complete sentences with a subject and predicate
• Dependent clauses: cannot stand alone as a complete sentence
• Clause types:
  • Independent clause + independent clause = compound sentence
  • Independent clause + dependent clause = complex sentence
  • Dependent clause + dependent clause = compound-complex sentence

Verb Tenses

• Present tense: action happening now (e.g. I am, you are, he is)
• Past tense: action happened in the past (e.g. I was, you were, he was)
• Future tense: action will happen in the future (e.g. I will, you will, he will)
• Aspect: describes the duration or completion of an action (e.g. continuous, perfect)

Modality

• Modal verbs: express possibility, necessity, or obligation (e.g. can, should, must)
• Degrees of modality: express varying levels of certainty or possibility (e.g. might, may, could)

Clause and Phrase Functions

• Subject: performs the action described in the sentence
• Object: receives the action described in the sentence
• Complement: completes the meaning of the subject or object (e.g. predicate nominative, predicate adjective)
• Modifier: provides additional information about a word or phrase (e.g. adjective, adverb)

Parts of Speech

• Nouns can be proper (specific names), common (general terms), collective (groups), or abstract (intangible concepts)
• Verbs can be action (describe actions), linking (connect subject to additional information), or helping (used with main verbs to form tense, mood, or voice)
• Adjectives describe nouns or pronouns and can be quantitative (describe quantity) or qualitative (describe quality)
• Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs and describe manner, time, place, frequency, or degree
• Pronouns replace nouns in sentences and can be personal (replace nouns referring to people or animals), possessive (show ownership), or other types
• Prepositions show relationships between words and indicate location, direction, time, or manner

Sentence Structure

• Independent clauses are complete sentences with a subject and predicate
• Dependent clauses cannot stand alone as a complete sentence
• Sentence types include compound (two independent clauses), complex (independent clause and dependent clause), and compound-complex (two independent clauses and a dependent clause)

Verb Tenses

• Present tense describes actions happening now
• Past tense describes actions that happened in the past
• Future tense describes actions that will happen in the future
• Aspect describes the duration or completion of an action and can be continuous or perfect

Modality

• Modal verbs express possibility, necessity, or obligation (e.g. can, should, must)
• Degrees of modality express varying levels of certainty or possibility (e.g. might, may, could)

Clause and Phrase Functions

• The subject performs the action described in the sentence
• The object receives the action described in the sentence
• The complement completes the meaning of the subject or object
• Modifiers provide additional information about a word or phrase