The Eight Parts of Speech

Noun, Verb, Adjective, Adverb, Pronoun,

Preposition, Conjunction, Interjection

NounA person, place, thing, or idea.

Dog SALLY

Chippewa Fallscapitalism

Nouns

• Paper, pen, book, marker, floor, wall, door, flag, whiteboard, desk, chair, student, teacher, boy, girl, backpack, cellphone, poster, computer, box, timer, clock, shelf, cabinet, window, speakers, stapler, remote, light, bottle, dictionary, conversation, discussion, joke, argument, intelligence, stupidity, patience, effort, head, hands, shoes, shirt, idea, inspiration, thought…

NounsNouns can be proper, common, concrete, abstract,

count, and noncount.• Proper: Mr. Felice, Dr. Zhivago, Bob, Colonel

Sanders, Daffy Duck. (names)• Common: chair, tree, table, dog, idiot. (there

are many of the category.)• Concrete: a physical person, place or thing.• Abstract: An idea (freedom, attractiveness)• Count: things that are counted. (Pencils, cats)• Noncount: things that are not counted. (Rain,

snow, sand, wind)

Pick the Nouns

It was a pleasure to burn. It was a special pleasure to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changed. With the brass nozzle in his fists, with this great python spitting its venomous kerosene unto the world, the blood pounded in his head, and his hands were the hands of some amazing conductor playing all the symphonies of blazing and burning.

Pick the Nouns

It was a pleasure to burn. It was a special pleasure to see things eaten, to see books blackened and changed. With the brass nozzle in his fists, with this great python spitting its venomous kerosene unto the world, the blood pounded in his head, and his hands were the extremities of some amazing conductor playing all the symphonies of blazing and burning.

Verb“It’s what you do”An Action or State

of BeingShe IS

annoying. He RAN

to the

store.

Verbs

• Sitting, running, talking, arguing, chatting, working, reading, writing, breathing, drinking, debating, cooperating, yawning, dozing, disrupting, flirting, ignoring, annoying, walking, eating, sneezing, scratching, thinking, interacting, listening, leaving, smiling, gesturing, eyerolling, lecturing, challenging, drawing, cheating, tipping, snoring, stretching, staring, frowning, spilling, dancing…

VerbsVerbs can be transitive, intransitive, and linking.Transitive: Action directly acts upon an object.

(He threw the cat.)Intransitive: Action does not directly act upon an

object. (Tempers flared.)Linking: Links the subject to the subject

complement. (He is an idiot.)Verbs can also be active or passive voice.• The baseball hit the runner. -vs- The runner

was hit by the baseball.

Pick the Verbs

He flicked the igniter and the house jumped up in a gorging fire that burned the evening sky red and yellow and black. He strode in a swarm of fireflies. He wanted above all, like the old joke, to shove a marshmallow on a stick in the furnace, while the flapping pigeon-winged books died on the porch and the lawn of the house. The books went up in sparks and blew away on a dark wind.

Pick the Verbs

He flicked the igniter and the house jumped up in a gorging fire that burned the evening sky red and yellow and black. He strode in a swarm of fireflies. He wanted above all, like the old joke, to shove a marshmallow on a stick in the furnace, while the flapping pigeon-winged books died on the porch and the lawn of the house. The books went up in sparks and blew away on a dark wind.

AdjectiveDescribes a noun.

The

FAT

walrus

The PRETTY tree

The LITTLE kid

Adjectives

• Bald, blond, bearded, short, distinguished, intelligent, attractive, verbose, lively, humorous, irritating, demanding, loud, challenging, skillful, sarcastic, amusing, restless, awake, interactive, hungry, thirsty, patient, talented, athletic, talkative, attentive, quiet, thoughtful, well-dressed, seated, standing, active, pensive, cheerful, blue-eyed, overworked, punctual, busy, talented, interactive, somber, serious, wise, musical, eloquent, accurate, discreet, discerning, judgmental, sneaky, predatory, malevolent, …

Adjectives• Adjectives are binary; they always work with a

noun. If a sentence has an adjective, it must have a noun. (The big fat blue….)

• Adjectives can be proper; Roman, Greek, etc.• Adjectives can be comparative, with three

degrees: (hot, hotter, hottest, good, better, best, bad, worse worst, etc.)

• Articles are adjectives: (a, an, the, any, etc)

Find the AdjectivesThe men with the long cigarettes in their straight-lined mouths, the men with the snakelike eyes, took up their load of machine and tube, their case of liquid melancholy and the slow dark sludge of broken dreams and strolled nonchalantly out the front door. Montag sank wearily into a straight-backed chair and looked at the peaceful woman. The blackness of the dark room closed around him. “Mildred,” he whispered.

Find the AdjectivesThe men with the long cigarettes in their straight-lined mouths, the men with the snakelike eyes, took up their load of machine and tube, their case of liquid melancholy and the slow dark sludge of broken dreams and strolled nonchalantly out the front door. Montag sank wearily into a straight-backed chair and looked at the peaceful woman. The blackness of the dark room closed around him. “Mildred,” he whispered.

AdverbDescribes a verb.

She

QUICKL

Y ate

the

steak

The tree fell HEAVILY

The kid whined ANNOYINGLY

Adverbs

• Quickly, slowly, neatly, sloppily, tiredly, loudly, quietly, attentively, distractedly, disruptively, lazily, sleepily, intensely, cheerfully, grumpily, reluctantly, happily, sadly, cooperatively, irritably, wisely, sarcastically, gloomily, ….

Find the Adverbs

A great gout of fire leaped hungrily out of the nozzle to lap greedily at the books on the shelves and knock them to the floor. He stepped swiftly into the bedroom and fired twice, and the twin beds erupted with more heat and passion than he ever imagined them to contain. He fired savagely at Millie’s makeup table, and grinned humorlessly, satisfied that he had done his job well.

Find the Adverbs

A great gout of fire leaped hungrily out of the nozzle to lap greedily at the books on the shelves and knock them to the floor. He stepped swiftly into the bedroom and fired twice, and the twin beds erupted with more heat and passion than he ever imagined them to contain. He fired savagely at Millie’s makeup table, and grinned humorlessly, satisfied that he had done his job well.

PronounTakes the place of a noun. I, Me, You, He, She, It, We, They, Us, Them

My, Your, Its, His,

Her, Their, OurWho,

whom

ConjunctionJoins sentences

and phrases.

And, Or, But, Although, Since, Because

“Conjunction Junction, what’s your function?

ConjunctionsThree kinds:

• Coordinating- they connect: And, but, or, nor, for, yet, so

• Subordinating- they make one thing dependent on another: If, as, since, when, because

• Correlative- they describe a relationship between each: Either or, neither nor, not only but also

PrepositionTells WHERE.

About, above, across,

after, against, among,

around, at, before,

between, beside, by

beyond, down,

during, except, for, ….

IN the box, UNDER the

box, BESIDE the box, ABOVE the

box, etc.

Where (heh-heh) are the Prepositions?

When the firetruck stopped at the house, Beatty jumped out of the truck and gave the nozzle to Montag. Standing beside Montag, he reminded him that the Hound was somewhere behind the scene. Montag stepped into the house and sprayed the flaming kerosene around the parlor. Wandering dazedly about the house, he saw the flames leap across the rooms and over the furniture. Embers flew everywhere as the roof fell down with a shower of sparks.

Where (heh-heh) are the Prepositions?

When the firetruck stopped at the house, Beatty jumped out of the truck and gave the nozzle to Montag. Standing beside Montag, he reminded him that the Hound was still behind the scene. Montag stepped into the house and sprayed the flaming kerosene around the parlor. Wandering dazedly about the house, he saw the flames leap across the rooms and over the furniture. Embers flew everywhere as the roof fell down with a swirling sparks.

InterjectionAdds emphasis to the words.

Wow! Yikes! Hey!

Holy Moly!

The SentenceA sentence meets

three requirements1. It has a subject2. It has a verb3. It is a complete

thought

The SentenceLike a 3-legged barstool, it needs all three, or it falls down.

Subj

ect

Verb

Complete Thought

The SentenceA sentence has a Subject

and a Predicate1. Subject- who or what the

sentence is about: “Mr. Morton”

2. Predicate- what the subject does: “Mr. Morton wrote a letter.”

Sentence or Fragment?

• The two guys from the motor pool.• They ran to the next house.• With all their equipment, and their tools.• When they got home, they worked hard.• No.• Tomorrow at the VRHS basketball game.• If he goes to the movies, and she goes along.• I see.• Go away!

Subject/Verb Agreement

• The subject and the verb have to be compatible• If the subject is singular, the verb must also be

singular• “The hamburger is overcooked.”, not “The

hamburger are overcooked.”• If the subject is plural, the verb must also be

plural.• “The tickets were cheap”, not “The tickets was

cheap.”

Subject/Verb Agreement

• Beware of difficult subjects– Either = 1– Neither = 0

• COUNT the number of subjects• Do not be confused by appositives (definitions

inside sentences)

Subject/Verb Agreement

• The Chevy and the Ford was/were broken down.• Neither the Chevy nor the Ford is/are working.• Ham and eggs is/are a popular breakfast.• The author, as well as the actors,

deserve/deserves a lot of credit.• Either Joe or Bob is/are going to the game.• Both Jim and Lenny has/have great speed.• Each of the clocks has/have been reset.

Pronoun Agreement

• Formally known as “Pronoun/antecedent agreement”

• The ‘Antecedent’ is ‘what comes before’.• These are ALWAYS getting messed up, mostly

because of laziness!• For example, one person is ‘him’ or ‘her’, NEVER

‘they’ or ‘them’.

Pronoun Agreement

• Someone dropped his or her/their hat.• All of the gym mats have rips in its/their covers.• The cake or the bread will lose its/their taste.• The rest of the team has its/their orders to work.• Each of the guys is in charge of his/their section.• Neither of them has remembered his/their books.• Both of them brought his/their guitars.

Objects

• If the verb is transitive, (remember those?) then the sentence has a subject AND an object, and the action verb applies to the object.

• Intransitive – The girl screamed.• Subject– girl. Verb- screamed. Object- none• Transitive – The boy threw the cat.• Subject – boy. Verb – threw. Object – cat.

Direct –vs- Indirect Objects

• The action verb applies directly to the direct object.

• The action verb applies indirectly to the indirect object.

• The indirect object is nearly always found between the verb and the direct object.

• The cheerleader gave the quarterback a black eye.• Subject – cheerleader. Verb – gave.• Direct object – eye. Indirect object - quarterback

Direct –vs- Indirect Objects• I threw up.• I threw my dog.• I threw my dog a bone. • The girl groaned in a disgusted manner. • The girl threw her cafeteria tray. • The girl threw her food into the trash. • The lunch lady gave the girl an evil stare.• The principal gave the girl detention.• The girl’s mother gave the principal a cease-and-

desist writ.

Subject Complements• A subject complement (not a compliment)

modifies or defines the subject.• It can be a noun or an adjective.• It is connected (linked) to the subject with a linking

verb. (Am, are, is, was, were, be, being, been.)• The girl is fat. • The boys are totally stupid. • The teacher was being a jerk today. • School has been a nightmare this week. (These sentences prove that a complement is not necessarily a compliment.)

Subject Complements• A predicate nominative is a subject complement

that is a noun or pronoun. (‘Nom’ = name)• Mr. Sack is a cop• A predicate adjective is a subject complement that

is an adjective.• Mr. Johnson is tall.

Phrases Phrase: A of words that does not have a

subject and predicate

Prepositional phrase: a phrase beginning with a preposition, used as a modifier

• At the game, the coach had a heart attack.• We waited impatiently for the ambulance.• The paramedics took him to the hospital.• We waited for hours.• It was the longest day of the year.

Verbals

Verbs that are now being used as nouns, adjectives, or adverbs.

It was once a verb, but now it had a career change. • Gerunds• Infinitives• Participles

Gerunds

A verb that is being used as a noun, in its ‘-ing’ form

• Going to school is a pain.• Running is not my favorite sport.• The meeting was so bad I fell asleep.• Snoring in class can be disruptive. • Punching the teacher is dangerous.

Infinitives

A verb that functions as a noun or adjective, in its ‘to’ form.

• To pass this class, pay attention.• To be, or not to be; that is the question.• I like to ride my bike.• If you want to make the team, you must practice.• It is impossible to lick your own elbow.

Participles

A verb that functions as an adjective.

• Two ways of saying the same thing. • The raging river swept the school away.• The rushing water destroyed the campus.• The flying debris shattered the windows.• I ran from the roaring lion.

Name the verbal• The screaming cougar got on my nerves.• Shooting the cougar was not allowed.• To shut him up, I gave him a raw steak.• Feeding the cougar was the only option.• I managed to get away from the cougar.• I got into an argument with the nagging clerk.• Running to the car was impossible.• To pass the grammar test, study the worksheet.• The bossing cop was ignored by us.• Are you looking forward to fall break?