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Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology, Kumasi, Ghana PARTS OF SPEECH OBJECTIVES By the end of the lesson, the student will be able to : 1. Identify the various parts of speech in the English language 2. Explain the form, positions and functions of the various parts of speech in English se...

Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology, Kumasi, Ghana PARTS OF SPEECH OBJECTIVES By the end of the lesson, the student will be able to : 1. Identify the various parts of speech in the English language 2. Explain the form, positions and functions of the various parts of speech in English sentences 3. Use these parts of speech to form correct sentences in English  Nine main parts of speech are going to be discussed in this lesson.  They are: Nouns, Verbs, Adjectives, Adverbs, Prepositions, Pronouns, Conjunctions, Determiners and Interjections.  They have been categorized into lexical items and non-lexical items. www.knust.edu.gh The lexical items are going to be discussed before the nonlexical items. The lexical items are those that carry semantic content. This means they have meaning in them even when they stand alone. They are also called open class items, meaning that, they accept new members. The lexical items are: Nouns, Verbs, Adjectives and Adverbs. www.knust.edu.gh  Each lexical item can be defined based on its form, its positions in sentences and its functions.  By form, we mean the shape that it can take, how it is built up and the changes that it can undergo.  By position, we mean the kind of words that it occurs with in sentences.  By function, we mean its usage or its role in a sentence. www.knust.edu.gh NOUNS  Traditionally, nouns have been identified as words that name people, places or things. Identification of nouns according to form/structure  Nouns and some suffixes: Generally these suffixes are associated with nouns and so words that end with these suffixes are identified as nouns: -er..............teacher, preacher, player, writer -ion..............nation, consultation, meditation -or................doctor, pastor, mentor, actor -ness.............Fitness, dryness, foolishness, etc. -hood...........womanhood, childhood, neighbourhood, etc. www.knust.edu.gh Nouns and number: Nouns can also be identified based on how they are built up according to number. Number refers to the distinction between singular and the plural. Most count nouns form their plural by adding ‘s’. E.g. Bookbooks, pen-pens, dog-dogs, etc. Nouns which end in ‘y’ that follow a consonant form their plural by dropping ‘y’ and adding ‘ies’. E.g. Lady-ladies, country-countries, baby-babies, pantry-pantries, etc. www.knust.edu.gh Nouns ending in ‘o’, ‘ss’, ‘sh’, ‘ch’, or ‘x’ form their plural by the addition of ‘es’. E.g. Mango-mangoes, kiss-kisses, brush-brushes, church-churches, box-boxes, etc. There are however some exceptions such as photos, pianos, etc. Some non-count nouns retain their form whether singular or plural. E.g. news, luggage, knowledge, etc. Nouns and possession: Nouns can also be identified based on the inflection they take to indicate possession. A noun which indicates possession shows that it is the owner of thing(s) or person(s). www.knust.edu.gh Singular nouns which end in ‘s’ or not indicate possession with an apostrophe sign and an ‘s’. For example: John’s bag, James’s bag, etc. Plural nouns which end in ‘s’ indicate possession with the addition of only an apostrophe sign. For example: The players’ ball Plural nouns which do not end in ‘s’ indicate possession with the addition of an apostrophe sign and an ‘s’. For example: The children’s ball NB: Read on Types of Nouns and other ways by which certain nouns form their plurals. (Afreh 2006)www.knust.edu.gh Identification of nouns based on their positions in sentences Nouns can be identified based on their positions in sentences. In sentences, nouns come after determiners (a, an, the, his, her, etc.) Proper nouns do not take determiners unless in certain instances where they are accompanied by dependent clauses. E.g. She is the Ama I met yesterday. www.knust.edu.gh Identification of nouns based on their functions in sentences There are four main functions of nouns in sentences. A noun can function as a subject, object, complement or appositive. A noun as a subject According to its position in a sentence, a noun functions as a subject when it comes before the main verb of the sentence. E.g. Kwame goes to school S V www.knust.edu.gh Based on the meaning it conveys, a noun functions as a subject of a sentence when: - It is the performer of an action. E.g. Esi writes slowly. - It is the possessor or recipient of an action. E.g. Kwasi has a car. - It designates places. E.g. Rooms are always stuffy. - It indicates time. E.g. Yesterday was his birthday. - It indicates events. E.g. Parties are always lovely. www.knust.edu.gh Other items can also function as the subject of a sentence. These are: Noun phrases: e.g. The woman in white is my mother. Noun clauses: e.g. The woman that came here is my mother. Pronouns: e.g. She is my mother. Grammatically, the subject of a sentence agrees in number and person with the main verb of the sentence. NB: Subject-verb-agreement will be treated in detail in another lesson. www.knust.edu.gh Nouns as objects of sentences Based on their positions, nouns can function as objects of sentences when they occur after action verbs. E.g. Kofi eats rice. Based on the meaning they convey, nouns function as objects of sentences when: - They are the entities that are affected by the action of the verb. E.g. The man beats his wife. - They indicate location. E.g. Kofi climbed the mountain. - They are results of the activity indicated by the verb. E.g. Mummy prepares rice. www.knust.edu.gh There are two main types of objects. These are the direct and indirect objects. Both can be used in a sentence and when both are used, the indirect object is preceded by a preposition in certain kinds of sentences. E.g. Kofi gave the book to Mary. DO P IO In other instances, the indirect object comes before the direct object. E.g. Kofi gave Mary the book. IO DO www.knust.edu.gh A noun as a complement Nouns as well as other items such as noun phrases, noun clauses, adjectives or adjective phrases can function as complements in sentences. These items are called subject complements when they follow a copular or linking verb and describe the subject of a clause. E.g. My father is a farmer. They are also called object complements when they directly follow and modify the direct objects of sentences. E.g. They consider their puppy their baby. www.knust.edu.gh A noun as an appositive A noun, a pronoun, a noun phrase or a noun clause set beside another noun or pronoun to rename, explain or identify it is termed as an appositive. E.g. Nana Akufo Addo, the President of Ghana, is a brave man. There are other instances where the appositive precedes the word that it renames, explains or identifies. E.g. The president of Ghana, Nana Akufo Addo, is a brave man. www.knust.edu.gh VERBS  Traditionally, verbs have been identified as action words or doing words. Identification of verbs according to form/structure and their functions Verbs can be identified based on their form or the structural changes they undergo usually to indicate tense. Tense can be said to be the shape a verb takes to indicate distinctions in time. There are instances where the verb does not undergo any structural change and this is referred to as the verb in its bare form. This form of the verb is used with the first person singular or plural and the third person plural as subjects of sentences. E.g. The woman and her son / they eat. www.knust.edu.gh Verbs form their simple present tense with the addition of –s, -es or –ies. This depends on the type of verb and it is used with only the third person singular subjects. e.g. Esi / she carries the bag. The simple present tense is used to express present events, habitual events, universal truths, actions simultaneous with the present moment, future time and past time. www.knust.edu.gh Regular verbs form their simple past and the past participle with the addition of –d or –ed depending on the type of verb. Irregular verbs form their simple past tense by going through other structural changes. Eg. Come – came, sit – sat, run – ran, etc. Verbs also add –ing, -d or –ed to together with a helping indicate the aspect. this is used to show whether an action that takes place at a particular time is progressive or completed( perfective). E.g. She is going to school. she has gone to school. www.knust.edu.gh The three perfective aspects are the present perfect ,past perfect and future perfect. The present perfect is composed of have/has and the past participle The present perfect is used to describe unfinished event that took place and continue to the present EG:I have known Pat since 2018. She has lived in Ghana for three years www.knust.edu.gh the past perfect is formed with had and the past participle of a verb. It is used to describe an action that took place before another action. Eg. I had turned 18 years before I took my driver’s licence www.knust.edu.gh the future perfect is composed of a helping verbs :will have/ shall have with the past participle of a verb. It is used to describe a future action that will be completed before another future action Eg. you will have lost ten pounds before you complete college www.knust.edu.gh Verbs are used to indicate future time. It does this with the auxiliaries ‘will’ and ‘shall’ and the bare form of the verb. E.g. She will go to school. Identification of verbs based on their positions Verbs usually come after the subject of sentences and begin the predicate of that sentence. (It happens only in active sentences which will be treated in another lesson) In this instance, even if an item looks like a different word class, it can still be considered a verb. E.g. The chairman tabled the motion before the house. www.knust.edu.gh Identification of verbs based on their functions in sentences Verbs can express three main functions in sentences and these are states, actions and processes Verbs as expressing states Some verbs in English express the states or conditions of people or things. Such verbs include the forms of the verb to be(is, are, was, were, etc.), seem, taste, appear, look, etc. Eg. He is a good man. The woman looks beautiful. www.knust.edu.gh Verbs as expressing actions Some verbs express actions and are therefore referred to as action words. Examples are talk, eat, dance, jump, etc. E.g. She sweeps the compound everyday. Verbs as expressing processes Some verbs express processes. These are series of changes, especially the ones that happen naturally or unconsciously. Examples are grow and digest E.g. Babies grow other examples are sleep, think, eat NB: Read on other types of verbs www.knust.edu.gh VERBS OFTEN CONFUSED -lie/lay, sit/set, rise/raiseare frequently confused because they sound alike and have similar meanings. www.knust.edu.gh LIE/LAY Lie and lay are easy to use correctly if you remember their principal parts. PRESENT PAST Lie lay Lay laid PAST PARTICIPLE (has, have, had) lain (has, have, had) laid www.knust.edu.gh Lie means to rest in, or to get into, a horizontal position. Eg: I lie on the bed. I lay on the beach. I have lain on the bench. www.knust.edu.gh Lay means “to place or put something.” when using the verb lay, state the object that is being put or placed. Eg. I lay the mail on the counter. I laid the mail on the www.knust.edu.gh RISE/RAISE Rise means “to go up” or “to get up.” EG:1. The temperature rises every afternoon. Rise from your slumber 2. The temperature rose ten degrees yesterday afternoon. 3. The temperature has risen twenty degrees since this morning www.knust.edu.gh Raise means “to move something upward.” When using the verb raise, tell the object that is being moved upward. Eg. Julio raises the flag on holidays. Julio raised the flag yesterday. Julio has raised the flag again. www.knust.edu.gh Raise is a regular verb, but rise is an irregular verb. Notice the principal parts: PRESENT PAST PART PARTICIPLE Rise rose (has, have, had) risen Raise raised (has, have, had) raised www.knust.edu.gh SIT/SET Sit means “to be seated.” Set means “to place something” or “to put it somewhere.” When you use the verb set, tell what object is being placed. www.knust.edu.gh EG: The cat sits on the porch. [the cat is seated] I set the dishes on the table. [I placed the dishes.] PRESENT PAST PAST PARTICIPLE Sit sat (has, have, had) sat Set set (has, have, had) set www.knust.edu.gh EG: Miriam sits at the first desk. Miriam sat at the first desk. Miriam has sat at the first desk. Example for set: He sets extra chairs for the visitors. www.knust.edu.gh ADJECTIVES Traditionally, they are identified as words that modify or describe a noun or a pronoun in a sentence. Adjectives answer certain questions about nouns or pronouns. What kind? New car, old car, inexpensive car, etc. Which one? This car, that car, those cars What quantity? Three cars, few cars, all cars, several cars. How much or How many? Limited quantity www.knust.edu.gh Identification based on form Many adjectives can be identified by their suffixes. Some adjective forming suffixes are: -ic – romantic -ful – faithful -al – logical -ous – famous -ive – attractive -y – rainy -less – friendless -ish – childish -some – awesome -al – national -able – honorable -like – childlike www.knust.edu.gh Many adjectives use the suffix –er and –est to mark comparative and superlative degrees respectively. The comparative is used when two items are being compared. E.g. Esi is bigger than Ama. The superlative is used when three or more items are being compared. E.g. Esi is the biggest of them all. -The spelling of some adjectives must be changed before the –er and –est suffixes are added. Positive comparative superlative silly sillier silliest lively livelier liveliest spicy spicier Spiciest www.knust.edu.gh Also, Adjectives may follow intensifiers. Intensifiers are words that modify other modifiers, including adjectives, by telling “to what extent.” eg, very, quite, rather, really, too, and fairly. www.knust.edu.gh Identification based on position to indicate function Based on position, adjectives can occur attributively. This means that they can appear inside a noun phrase and modify that noun phrase. E.g. A hardworking player was on their team. Adjectives can also occur predicatively. This means they can appear outside the noun phrase that they modify. Here, they usually follow a linking verb. E.g. He is hardworking. www.knust.edu.gh Adjectives are often placed near the words they modify, but sometimes other words separate an adjective from the word it modifies. EG; 1.The book was funny. 2. The bus is usually late during the rush hour. www.knust.edu.gh CATEGORIES OF ADJECTIVES Some adjectives, such as pretty, hungry, old and new, do not belong to special class. Other adjectives, however, fall into one of five categories: Articles, proper adjectives, pronouns used as adjectives, nouns used as adjectives, and predicate adjectives. The most frequently used group of adjectives is articles-(the, a, an) www.knust.edu.gh The is called a definite article because it refers to a definite person or object. A and an are called indefinite articles because they do not indicate a specific person or object. 1. We saw the movie last night. [specific movie] 2. Should we go out and get a sandwich? [no particular sandwich] 3. This recipe calls for an orange www.knust.edu.gh The word a is used before words that begin with consonant sounds; an is used before words that begin with vowel sounds. Eg, an apple, an hour, a grape, a minute, etc. Proper adjectives are formed PROPER NOUN PROPER ADJECTIVE from proper nouns. America American wheat East Eastern climate Boston Bostonian accent Africa African continent Japan Japanese pottery www.knust.edu.gh Some pronouns can act as adjectives in a sentence. PRONOUN ADJECTIVE That is right That answer is right We need more. We need more lumber Please hold these Please hold these eggs. The word is used as a pronoun if it stands alone and replaces a noun or other pronoun within the sentence. The word is an adjective if it modifies a noun or pronoun but does not replace one. Examples of words that may be used as both pronouns and adjectives; all, much, some, those,few, neither, either, other, these,this, www.knust.edu.gh most,which,what,etc. Also, nouns are frequently used as adjectives to describe or clarify another noun or pronoun. EG; Where is the gasoline pump. A winter coat must be warm. Have a cheese sandwich for lunch. That cement mixer is huge. When a word that is normally a noun does the work of an adjective in a sentence or phrase, it is considered an adjective. www.knust.edu.gh Note: A possessive noun is considered a noun, not an adjective. The sentence ‘John’s book has been lost’ contains no adjectives. Again, adjectives that follows a linking verb and modifies the subject of the sentence is a predicate adjective. A predicate is the part of sentence(or clause) which states something about the subject or the object of the sentence. Eg, Alaska is cold in the winter. www.knust.edu.gh ADVERBS Traditionally, adverbs have been defined as words that modify verbs, adjectives or other adverbs and answer the questions how, where, why or when an action takes place. Identification based on form Just like adjectives, some adverbs also use the suffixes –er and –est to indicate comparative and superlative degrees respectively. E.g. He is faster than you. He is the fastest of them all. Some adverbs are also identified with the suffix –ly. www.knust.edu.gh In terms of their positions in sentences, adverbs have the property of mobility and can therefore begin the sentence, end the sentence or in some instances, come immediately after the subject of the sentence as indicated in the examples below. E.g. Usually, we go on holidays. We go on holidays usually. We usually go on holidays. However, when adverbs are not properly placed, they can cause ambiguity. When it happens like that, it is advisable to place the adverb next to the headword it is intended to modify. www.knust.edu.gh Identification based on function 1. Adverbs modifies a verb Marissa left early so she could practice longer 2. Adverbs modify an adjective. The fog was unusually thick. 3. Adverbs modify an adverb. He behaved very cleverly. www.knust.edu.gh It must be indicated that adverb phrases can also perform all these functions. Again, these functions that adverbs perform are what lead to the types of adverbs. 1. Adverbs are used to indicate time. E.g. The alarm went off yesterday. www.knust.edu.gh 2. They are used to indicate manner. E.g. Present your case carefully. 3. They are used to indicate place E.g. Here, the situation is different. 4. They are used to indicate frequency. E.g. She comes here often. 5. They are used to indicate reason. E.g. As it’s Friday, you can stay up another hour. 6. They are used to indicate degree. E.g. She is not as poor as she could have been. www.knust.edu.gh Now, let us turn our attention to the non-lexical items. The non-lexical items do not carry semantic content. This means that, they do not make meaning on their own. They get their meaning mainly from the lexical words in context. They are also called closed class items, meaning that they do not accept new members. The non-lexical items are: prepositions, pronouns, conjunctions, determiners and interjections. www.knust.edu.gh Form of Closed word Classes NB: It must be noted that the closed word classes do not have a specific form. This means there are no specific suffixes or affixes that can be used to identify them. www.knust.edu.gh Prepositions Prepositions are words that link nouns, pronouns and phrases to other words in a sentence. A word or phrase that a preposition introduces is called the object of the preposition. For example in the sentence, “The book is leaning on the table”, “the table” is the object of the preposition “on”. www.knust.edu.gh The Positions of Prepositions Prepositions normally precede their objects. Sometimes, the preposition is separated from its complement as in: The man whom we gave the book to – instead of The man to whom we gave the book. NB: The word complement is being used here in a literal sense to refer to whatever completes or comes after the preposition. www.knust.edu.gh Prepositional phrases tend to be built the same: a preposition followed by a complement. This is usually referred to as the object of the preposition. The complement may be a pronoun, noun phrase or a gerund (a verb in its –ing form). Some examples are: I bought a bag for him (prep+pronoun). The cat is under the table (prep+noun phrase). www.knust.edu.gh Functions of Some Prepositions Prepositions fall into different types. These types have different uses in phrases or clauses. Some of the types and their uses are presented in the following slides. www.knust.edu.gh Prepositions of Time: At, On, and In We use at to designate specific times. E.g. The will leave at 4:00am tomorrow. We use on to designate days and dates. E.g. My father is coming on Monday. We use in for non-specific times during the day, month, season, or year. E.g. He started the job in 1982. www.knust.edu.gh Prepositions of Place: At, On, and In We use at for specific addresses. E.g. The ceremony will be held at Bomso L/A Primary. We use on to designate names of streets, avenues, etc. E.g. Her house is on Ridge Road. We use in for the names of land-areas (towns, countries, states, and continents). E.g. She lives in Kumasi. www.knust.edu.gh Prepositions of Movement: to and No Preposition We use to in order to express movement towards a place. E.g. They were walking to school together. Toward and towards are also helpful prepositions to express movement. www.knust.edu.gh Pronouns Pronouns are anaphoric elements used to replace nouns. E.g. The lady opened the refrigerator. She opened it. (The pronoun she replaces ‘the lady’, and the pronoun it replaces ‘the refrigerator’) Position of Pronouns Pronouns can occur as subjects or as objects. Example of a pronoun as a subject: She is happy Example of a pronoun as an object Kofi gave the book to me. www.knust.edu.gh Functions of Pronouns They are used to identify nouns, they show possession, they designate places, etc. It must be noted that there are many other functions of pronouns which are all linked to the types of pronouns. The types of pronouns have therefore been discussed below. Types of Pronouns Pronouns have been grouped into several types. These are: personal pronouns, demonstrative pronouns, relative pronouns, interrogative pronoun, indefinite pronouns , reflexive pronouns and intensive pronouns. www.knust.edu.gh Personal Pronouns Personal pronouns refer to specific people or things and change their forms to indicate person, number, gender, and case. Person English indicates three types of persons – first person ,second person and third person. “I” and “We” are the first person pronouns in English. “I” is the singular first person pronoun and “They” is the plural first person pronoun. E. g. I am happy. www.knust.edu.gh “You” is the second person pronoun in English. It can either be used as singular or plural. E.g. You are my friend. “He”, “She”, “It” and “They” are the third person pronouns in English. “He”, “She” and “It” are the singular third person pronouns in English whilst “They” is the plural third person pronoun in English. E.g. She is a lecturer. They were writing. www.knust.edu.gh Demonstrative Pronouns A demonstrative pronoun points to, and identifies a noun or a pronoun. The demonstrative pronouns are this, that, these and those. Examples are: This tastes good. That phone is mine. Those are my friends. These cakes are delicious. www.knust.edu.gh Interrogative Pronouns The interrogative pronouns introduce questions. The interrogative pronouns are the wh-words. These are: what, which, who, whom, when and whose. Whereas “who” and “whom” are used to refer to people, “which” and “what” are used to refer to things or to animals. www.knust.edu.gh Examples of interrogative pronouns used in sentences: What did he say to you? Who asked the question? What is that? Who will buy me a pen? Which do you prefer? Reading Assignment Read on relative pronouns, indefinite pronouns, reflexive pronouns and intensive pronouns. www.knust.edu.gh Determiners Determiners “are those little words that precede and modify nouns.” (Afreh 2006: 149). Examples are: the, a, that, a bit of, etc. Position Determiners precede nouns and noun phrases. As a result of the position they take in a noun phrase, determiners are said to mark nouns. That is, determiners are always followed by nouns. www.knust.edu.gh Functions of Determiners 1. They specify nouns E.g. The cat is mine. 2. They show possession. E.g. That is hers. 3. They show quantity. How many books are they? www.knust.edu.gh Conjunctions Conjunctions are words that are used to join similar grammatical units like words and words, clauses and clauses or phrases and phrases. Some examples of conjunctions are but, or, while, before, or, yet, and, so. www.knust.edu.gh Functions 1. Conjunctions are used to join words, phrases and clauses. Examples of such conjunctions are but, and, or, so, yet and, for Examples: The boy and girl.( phrase and noun ) The girl is good but the boy is naughty. (clause and clause) 2. Conjunctions show contrast between two grammatical units. Examples of such conjunctions are but and yet www.knust.edu.gh 3. Conjunctions are used to indicate subordination in clauses. Examples of such conjunctions include because, while, if and since. www.knust.edu.gh Interjections Interjections are words used to express strong emotions or excitement. An interjection can be just one word or a group of words. Because they express strong emotions, they are identified in sentences with exclamations. Examples of interjections include ouch!, hey!, shhh! Position Like adverbs, interjections are very mobile. Their positions in sentences can change. www.knust.edu.gh Functions They are used to demand or request something, usually in a forceful manner. They are used to express emotions like disgust. They are used in greetings tings. E.g. Hello! They mark hesitation. E.g. Errm! They express surprise. E.g. Wow! www.knust.edu.gh The actual part of speech of a word is realised when that word is in context. Therefore, for example, for a word to be identified as a verb in a sentence, it has to take the form that a verb should take, it has to take the position that a verb should take. It has to also function as a verb. This explains why we can have a sentence like: They chair the occasion. www.knust.edu.gh Assignment Identify the parts of speech of “up” in the following sentences 1. He looked up and saw the stars. 2. The time is up. 3. The list is full of some ups and downs. 4. He has just been upped to the position of a president. www.knust.edu.gh