Parts of Speech: Nouns, Pronouns, Verbs

Word Classes/Parts of Speech

• Word classes, also known as parts of speech, consist of eight parts: Nouns, Verbs, Adjectives, Adverbs, Pronouns, Prepositions, Conjunctions, Interjections/Exclamations

Nouns

• A noun is a word that names something—a person, place, thing, or idea
• Common nouns refer to general classes of people, places, or things (e.g., student, university, computer)
• Proper nouns refer to specific people, places, or things, and are always capitalized (e.g., Mahathir Mohamad, Cyberjaya, National Stadium)

Pronouns

• Pronouns are words that substitute for nouns
• Examples include: I, me, my, mine; You, your, yours; He, him, his; She, her, hers; It, its; We, us, ours; They, them, their, theirs; Who, whose, whom; Anybody, everybody, somebody; Everyone, no one, someone; Something, some, all, many, any; Each, none, one, this, that, these; Those, which, what

Verbs

• A verb expresses action or state of being, telling what a noun or pronoun does or is
• Action verbs describe what a noun or pronoun does
• Helping verbs (auxiliary verbs) are forms of "be", "have", and "do" verbs
• Modal verbs include can, could, may, might, shall, should, will, would, must

Adjectives

• Adjectives modify nouns and pronouns, answering questions like "How many?", "What kind?", "Which one?", and "What color?"
• Examples - Many students, Old pairs of jeans, Angry refugees

Adverbs

• Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs, answering questions like "When?", "How?", "To what extent?"
• Examples - Quickly, Extremely, Slowly, Very

Conjunctions

• Conjunctions join words or groups of words, connecting concepts
• Coordinating conjunctions connect similar ideas (FANBOYS: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so)
• Correlative conjunctions connect paired ideas (e.g., both...and, either...or)
• Subordinating conjunctions connect a dependent clause to an independent clause

Interjections/Exclamations

• Interjections express emotion and have no grammatical relationship with the rest of the sentence (often followed by a comma)
• Examples: Wow!, Ouch!, Help!

Verb Tenses

• Verb tenses express time (present, past, future).
• Present tenses include Simple Present, Present Progressive/Continuous, Present Perfect, Present Perfect Progressive
• Past tenses include Simple Past, Past Progressive/Continuous, Past Perfect, Past Perfect Progressive
• Future tenses include Simple Future, Future Progressive/Continuous, Future Perfect, Future Perfect Progressive

Explore the fundamental parts of speech: nouns, pronouns, and verbs. Learn to identify common and proper nouns, different types of pronouns, and the role of verbs in expressing action or state of being. Understand the basics of English grammar.