Parts of Speech Table

parts of speech examples

part of speech

function or "job" example words example sentences

Verb action or state (to) be, have, do, like, work, sing, can, must

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Noun thing or person pen, dog, work, music, town, London, teacher, John

This is my dog. He lives in my house. We live in London.

Adjective describes a noun a/an, the, 2, some, good, big, red, well, interesting

I have two dogs. My dogs are big. I like bigdogs.

Adverb describes a verb, adjective or adverb

quickly, silently, well, badly, very, really

My dog eats quickly. When he is veryhungry, he eats reallyquickly.

Pronoun replaces a noun I, you, he, she, some Tara is Indian. She is beautiful.

Preposition links a noun to another word

to, at, after, on, but We went to school onMonday.

Conjunction joins clauses or sentences or words

and, but, when I like dogs and I like cats. I like cats anddogs. I like dogs but I don't like cats.

Interjection short exclamation, sometimes inserted into a sentence

oh!, ouch!, hi!, well Ouch! That hurts! Hi! How are you? Well, I don't know.

* Some grammar sources categorize English into 9 or 10 parts of speech. At EnglishClub, we use the traditional categorization of 8 parts of speech. Examples of other categorizations are:

Verbs may be treated as two different parts of speech:o Lexical Verbs (work, like, run)o Auxiliary Verbs (be, have, must)

Determiners may be treated as a separate part of speech, instead of being categorized under Adjectives

Parts of Speech Examples

Here are some sentences made with different English parts of speech:

verb

Stop!

 noun verb

John works.

 noun verb verb

John is working.

 

pronoun verb noun

She loves animals.

 noun verb adjective noun

Animals like kind people.

 

noun verb noun adverb

Tara speaks English well.

 noun verb adjective noun

Tara speaks good English.

 

pronoun verb preposition adjective noun adverb

She ran to the station quickly.

 

pron. verb adj. noun conjunction pron. verb pron.

She likes big snakes but I hate them.

Here is a sentence that contains every part of speech:

interjection pron. conj. adj. noun verb prep. noun adverb

Well, she and young John walk to school slowly.

Words with More than One Job

Many words in English can have more than one job, or be more than one part of speech. For example, "work" can be a verb and a noun; "but" can be a conjunction and a preposition; "well" can be an adjective, an adverb and an interjection. In addition, many nouns can act as adjectives.

To analyze the part of speech, ask yourself: "What job is this word doing in this sentence?"

In the table below you can see a few examples. Of course, there are more, even for some of the words in the table. In fact, if you look in a good dictionary you will see that the word "but" has six jobs to do:

verb, noun, adverb, pronoun, preposition and conjuction!

word part of speech example

work noun My work is easy.

verb I work in London.

but conjunction John came but Mary didn't come.

preposition Everyone came but Mary.

well adjective Are you well?

adverb She speaks well.

interjection Well! That's expensive!

afternoon noun We ate in the afternoon.

noun acting as adjective We had afternoon tea.

Exercise :-

1 I bought a beautiful _________ dress at the mall.

2 What did she   _______ ask you to do?

3 I left my shoes under     __________ the kitchen table.

4 If we finish our work quickly  _________ we can go to the movies.

5 On Saturdays I work   __________ from nine to five.

6 I want to go to a university  __________ in the United States.

7 I'm sure I have met  ____________ your girlfriend before.

8 Well,  ___________ don't think I will be here to answer the phone.

9 Andy knocked on the door but  _________ nobody answered.

10 After  ________ lunch let's go out for a coffee.

TYPES OF SENTENCES :-

INTRODUCTION

English sentence structure includes three basic types of sentences: simple, compound, and complex. These types indicate how the information in the sentence is organized, not the content of the sentence.

The grammatical term for a sentence is an independent clause.

We will look at four different types of sentences:

1. Simple Sentences

2. Compound Sentences

3. Complex Sentences

4. Compound –Complex Sentences

Simple sentences:

Simple sentences express one idea. They usually contain a subject and a finite verb (a verb with a subject).

Here are some examples:

The patient got into bed.

The patient was put in the bed.

Processed foods contain high levels of fat, sugar and salt.

Some nurses were eating lunch.

Some nurses were eating lunch and talking.

The patient and the nurse were talking.

Let’s look at an example of a simple sentence:

The patient got into the bed.

We can describe different parts of the sentence like this:

The patient got into the bed.

The predicate completes the meaning of the verb or adds more information to the sentence.

subject verb predicate

Now let’s look at some of the other examples again. This time, the subject is in bold and the verb is in italics and underline.

1. The patient got into bed.2. The patient was put in the bed.3. Processed foods contain high levels of fat, sugar and salt.4. Some nurses were eating lunch5. Some nurses were eating lunch and talking . 6. The patient and the nurse were talking.

All of the examples are simple sentences, but two of them are different from the rest.

Number 5 & Number 6

Number 5: Some nurses were eating lunch and talking .

This sentence has more than one verb. We can say it has a compound verb. Here are some more examples of simple sentences with compound verbs.

Examples of simple sentences with compound verbs:

The nurse took his temperature and checked his pulse.

Most of the students found doing the practical easy but writing the lab report difficult.

She had breakfast, took the dog for a walk, woke up the kids, gave them breakfast, dropped them off at school and then went to work.

Although there is more than one verb in these sentences, they all have a single subject.

Now let’s look at another kind of simple sentence:

Number 6 : The patient and the nurse were talking.

This sentence has more than one subject. We can say it has a compound subject.

Examples of simple sentences with compound subjects:1. The doctor and the nurse checked the patient’s vital signs.2. The femur, pelvis, sacrum, five ribs, humerus, scapula and collar bone were fractured.

Compound Sentences:

Compound sentences are usually made up of two simple sentences (or independent clauses). Compound sentences need a coordinating conjunction (connector) to combine the two sentences. The most common coordinating conjunctions are (FANBOYS):

for and nor but or yet

Remember that a comma is always used before the coordinating conjunction to separate the two independent clauses. This time also, the subject is in bold and the verb is in italics and underline.

EXAMPLES :

for Meagan studied hard, for she wanted to pass the test.

and Meagan studied hard, and her classmates studied, too.

nor Meagan didn't study hard, nor did she pass the test.

but Meagan studied hard, but her brother didn't study at all.

or Meagan studied hard, or she would have failed the test.

yet Meagan studied hard, yet she wasn't happy with her grade.

so Meagan studied hard, so the test was easy for her.

Here are some more examples to show how and where the above

Conjunctions can be used to form compound sentences :

We will look at the first four of those conjunctions:

And But Or So

To combine sentences that are alike, use and:

1. The students sat down, and the lecturer began to speak.2. The lecturer wrote notes on a white board, and the students copied them down.3. The patient was brought back to the ward, and the nurse gave her some painkillers.

To combine sentences that have contrasting ideas, use but :

1. The patient’s breathing was irregular, but her pulse was normal.2. The nurse had called for the doctor, but she still had not arrived.3. The patient wanted to go home, but the doctor said no.

To combine sentences that provide choices or alternatives, use or:

1. The patient could go to the clinic, or a nurse could make a home visit.2. That skin cancer should be removed, or it might develop into something more serious.3. The students could do the degree in three years full time, or they could take up to seven years to

do the degree part time.

To combine sentences when the second sentence expresses a result of something in the first sentence, use so:

1. She had been coughing badly for three days, so she decided to see a doctor.2. The couple were worried that they were unable to conceive a baby, so they went to a fertility

clinic.3. He had asthma, so he often used an inhaler.

Complex sentences:

Like compound sentences, complex sentences are made up two parts. Complex sentences, however, contain one independent clause and (at least) one dependent clause. The most common type of complex sentence uses adverb clauses. Here are some examples given below:

Complex Sentences (with Adverb clauses):

The hurricane struck while we were at the mall.

After the president gave his speech, he answered most of the reporter's questions.

Adverb clauses contain subordinating conjuctions such as:

while although after because if before

These subordinating conjunctions are actually part of half of a complex sentence.

Joe played tennis after Vicky watched TV.

The other two types of complex sentences use adjective and noun clauses.

Complex Sentences (with Adjective clauses):

A girl whom I know was recently accepted to Harved University.

The Eiffel Tower, which is located in Paris, is visited by millions of tourists annually.

Complex Sentences (with Noun clauses);

What you need to do is buy a new computer.

The students wanted to know when their teacher would return.

The word after is not a part by itself between the two sentences as a coordinating conjunction is in a compound sentence. Instead, the subordinating conjunction belongs grammatically to Vicky watched TV.

Remember that sentences beginning with these subordinating conjunctions are dependent. They must be attached to an independent clause. They cannot stand alone as a sentence. If they are not attached to another sentence, they are called fragments, or incomplete sentences. Fragments are incomplete ideas, and they cause confusion for the reader. In a complex sentence, both clauses are needed to make a complete idea so the reader can understand what you mean. Look at these examples:

Fragment After Vicky watched TV

Complete sentence Joe played tennis after Vicky watched TV. Or

Complete sentence After Vicky watched TV, she went to bed.

Note: In compound sentences, you must put a comma at the end of the first clause.

Complex sentences, however, do not need a comma if the conjunction is part of the second sentence. Study these examples:

1. Taiwanese culture puts a strong emphasis on university admission because getting into the right university can guarantee future success.

2. I watched in despair as the elevator doors closed.

3. If the same amount of attention were given to proper diets, exercise, and sunscreens, perhaps the number of overall cancer cases would be reduced.

Complex – Compound sentences:

A sentence with at least two independent clauses and one or more dependent clauses (which can also be called

subordinate clause) are referred to as a complex-compound sentence. It is sometimes called a compound-complex

sentence.

Examples1. The cat lived in the backyard, but the dog, who knew he was superior, lived inside the house.

Independent clauses:

The cat lived in the backyard.

The dog lived inside the house.Dependent clause:

who knew he was superior

2. Though the movie had been tested on the market, The LastShadow did not fare well in the United States, but it did develop a huge following in Europe, which usually does not go for this movie genre.

Independent clauses:

The Last Shadow did not fare well in the United States.

It did develop a huge following in Europe.Dependent clauses:

though the movie had been tested on the market

which usually does not go for this movie genre

2. Gene thought that Finny wanted venerability, but Finny, who did not care, thought that he was just being a friend.

Independent clauses:

Gene thought that Finny wanted venerability.

Finny thought that he was just being a friend.Dependent clause:

who did not care