Parts of Speech

Monday, August 07, 2006

Parts of Speech - Words are divided into different kinds or classes, called Parts of Speech, according to their use.

1. Noun - A word used as the name of a person, animal, place, or thing. (Akbar was a great King.)


2. Pronoun - A word used instead of a noun. (He was a great King.)


3. Adjective - A word used to say something more about a noun or a pronoun. (Akbar was a great King.)


4. Verb - A word used to denote action or state of being. (She dances very well.)


5. Adverb - A word used to add something to the meaning of a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. (This flower is very beautiful)


6. Preposition - A word used with a noun or a pronoun to show how the person or thing denoted by the noun or pronoun stand in relation to something else. (There is a cow in the garden)


7. Conjunction - A word used to join words or sentences. (Rama and Hari are cousins)


8. Interjection - A word which expresses some sudden feeling. (Alas! she is dead.)

As the words are divided into different classes according to the work they do in sentences, it is clear that we cannot say to which part of speech a word belongs unless we see it used in a sentence.

1. They arrived soon after. (Adverb)


2. They arrived after us. (Preposition)


3. They arrived after we had left. (Conjunction)

Examples:

1. Still waters run deep.
   ~ Adjective - adds something to the meaning of the noun 'waters'.


2. He still lives in the house.
   ~ Adverb - adds something to the meaning of the verb 'lives'


3. After the storm comes the calm.
   ~ Preposition - shows the relation between 'storm' and 'comes'.


4. The after effects of the drug are bad.
   ~ Adjective - adds something to the meaning of the noun 'effects'.


5. The up train is late.
   ~ Adjective - adds something to the meaning of the noun 'train'.


6. It weighs about a pound.
   ~ Adverb - adds something to the meaning of the verb 'weigh'


7. He told us all about the battle.
   ~ Preposition - shows the relation between 'all' and 'battle'


8. He was only a yard off me.
   ~ Preposition - shows the relation between 'yard' and 'me'


9. Suddenly one of the wheels came off.
   ~ Adverb - adds something to the meaning of the verb 'came'


10. Mohammedans fast in the month of Ramzan
    ~ Verb - says something about 'Mohammedans'


11. He kept the fast for a week
    ~ Noun - the name of something


12. He is on the committee.
    ~ Preposition - shows the relation between 'is' and 'committee'


13. Let us move on.
    ~ Adverb - adds something to the meaning of the verb 'move'


14. Sit down and rest a while.
    ~ Noun - the name of something


15. I will watch while you sleep.
    ~ Conjunction - joins the two parts 'I will watch' and 'you sleep'


16. They while away their evenings with books and games.
    ~ Verb - says something about 'they'

Next, we are going to cover types of nouns in details.