The word could part of speech

modal verb.
language note: Could is a modal verb. It is used with the base form of a verb. Could is sometimes considered to be the past form of can1, but in this dictionary the two words are dealt with separately. You use could to indicate that someone had the ability to do something.

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Contents

  • 1 Which part of speech is could?
  • 2 What part of the sentence is the word could?
  • 3 What part of the speech is the word can?
  • 4 What type of word is May and could?
  • 5 Is could a verb or adverb?
  • 6 Could what kind of verb?
  • 7 Is could a helping verb?
  • 8 Can could grammar?
  • 9 Is could a linking verb?
  • 10 Can on be a verb?
  • 11 Can an adjective be?
  • 12 Can as a noun?
  • 13 Is could a modal verb?
  • 14 Is it can or could?
  • 15 Can you or could you or would you?
  • 16 Is could a past participle?
  • 17 Is could see a verb?
  • 18 Would you have pp grammar?
  • 19 What is another word for could?
  • 20 Could is singular or plural?

Would, should and could are three auxiliary verbs that can be defined as past tenses of will, shall, and can; however, you may learn more from seeing sentences using these auxiliaries than from definitions.

What part of the sentence is the word could?

Could comes first in the verb phrase (after the subject and before another verb): We could have lunch early. Not: We could might drive to France. or We might could drive to France.

What part of the speech is the word can?

A verb expresses action or being.
(“She can sing.” Sing is the main verb; can is the helping verb.) A verb must agree with its subject in number (both are singular or both are plural).

What type of word is May and could?

These verbs are all modal verbs, which means that they are generally used in combination with other verbs, and are used to change the verb’s meaning to something different from simple fact. Modals express possibility, ability, prediction, permission, and necessity.

Is could a verb or adverb?

Could is used as both an auxiliary verb and a modal verb.

Could what kind of verb?

modal verb
language note: Could is a modal verb. It is used with the base form of a verb. Could is sometimes considered to be the past form of can1, but in this dictionary the two words are dealt with separately. You use could to indicate that someone had the ability to do something.

Is could a helping verb?

The modal auxiliary verbs
The subgroup of auxiliary verbs known as modal auxiliary verbs, or modal verbs, include words such as can, could, should, might, must, may, will, and shall. Generally speaking, these words are used as helping verbs to establish the mood of a verb.

Can could grammar?

Can, like could and would, is used to ask a polite question, but can is only used to ask permission to do or say something (“Can I borrow your car?” “Can I get you something to drink?”). Could is the past tense of can, but it also has uses apart from that–and that is where the confusion lies.

Is could a linking verb?

Besides, verbs that have to do with the five senses are linking verbs: feel, look, smell, sound and taste. So we come to the point that linking verb is not an action verb.
List of linking verbs:

Is Can be May be
Are Could be Might be
Am Will be Must be
Was Would be Has been
Were Shall be Have been

Can on be a verb?

The word “on” can also serve as an adverb on various instances, when it modifies a verb. Take for example, the sentence below: He put his new shoes on. In this sentence, the word “on” modifies the verb “put,” and is therefore considered as an adverb.

Can an adjective be?

Use this phrase to describe a negative characteristic that a person sometimes has: She can be really hard to work with sometimes. He can be painfully shy when he’s around people he doesn’t know, but to those of us who know him he’s actually really talkative.

Can as a noun?

noun. ˈkan Kids Definition of can (Entry 2 of 4) 1 : a metal container usually shaped like a cylinder a soda can. 2 : the contents of a can Add a can of tomatoes.

Is could a modal verb?

These are verbs that indicate likelihood, ability, permission or obligation. Words like: can/could, may/might, will/would, shall/should and must.

Is it can or could?

‘Can’ is a modal verb, which is used with the main verb to express the ability of a person or thing in doing something. On the other extreme, ‘could’ is the past participle or second form of the verb, which is used with the main verb to talk about a past the ability of an individual in doing something.

Can you or could you or would you?

Could You‘ imply that somebody has the ability to do something. ‘Could’ can also be termed as Can in the grammar but have a distinct meaning. ‘Could’ is used in case if someone is requesting to do something. ‘Would You’ is similar to ‘Could You’, but ‘Would You’ is an appropriate way of asking something to someone.

Is could a past participle?

Could has no tenses, no participles, and no infinitive form. There is no past tense, but could have followed by a past participle is used for referring to something in the past that was not real, or something that may possibly have been real: I could have been killed.

Is could see a verb?

Verb could see – English conjugation.

Would you have pp grammar?

2: Because ‘would’ (and will) can also be used to show if you want to do something or not (volition), we can also use would have + past participle to talk about something you wanted to do but didn’t. This is very similar to the third conditional, but we don’t need an ‘if clause’.

What is another word for could?

What is another word for could?

would can
may might
is able to may perhaps
may possibly may well
possibly will might perhaps

Could is singular or plural?

Answer. The plural form of could is coulds.

Continue Learning about English Language Arts

When the word if begins a sentence what is the part of speech?

it depends what word it is it could be any part of speech
depending on the sentence


What part of speech is the word my-?

The part of speech that the word my is used as is an
adjective.


What part of the speech is the word warily?

what part of speech is the word warily


Does a dictionary determine the part of speech of a word?

A dictionary can show a word’s part of speech, but it does not
determine it. How a word is used in a sentence determines its part
of speech.


What part of speech is the word specifically?

The part of speech for the word specifically is an adverb.

1. Theoritical grammar studies the grammatical structure of the language and the way the utterances are formed.

2. Two main branches of theoretical grammar are morphology and syntax.

3. Syntagmatic relations appear between words in a line of speech.

4. Paradigmatic relations appear between words united by common features.

5. Paradigm is all the possible grammatical forms of the word.

6. Synchronic variations are variants of the word form, existing at the same time.

7. Diachronic variations are variants of the word form, existing at different time.

8. Systemic approach to grammar study relies upon the notion that the language is a system of phonetical, grammatical and lexical signs.

9. First grammars of English were based upondead languages.

10. Comprehensive grammar announced that the role of grammar in communication is determined by understanding. 

11. Synthetic languages express(convey) grammatical forms(meaning) by means of morphemes. 

12. Feature of analytical structure in Modern English (Analytical languages have) is fixed order of words. 

13. Old English was a synthetic language. 

14. In middle english morphemic system of marking grammatical form simplified.

15. Auxiliary verbs appeared in Middle English. 

16. Modern English an analytical language with some elements of synthetic structure. 

17. The minimum segmental unit of a word with the potential to convey the meaning is a morpheme.

18. The morpheme that can be used independently without any other ones is calledfree. 

19. Grammatical categories carries abstract meaning. 

20. The structure of the category can be presented as the opposition.

21. The categories of English noun are plurality, number, case.

22. The parts of speech with individual meaning are called notional. 

23. Modal verbs belong to the group of semi-notional words. 

Test 2.

1) Paradigmatic series is similar grammatical forms of words.

2) Generative grammar studies origin and development of grammar.

3) Universal grammar studies grammatical phenomena, typical for all languages.

4) Pedagogical grammar studies grammar teaching.

5) Descriptive grammar announced that grammar should be studied on the basis of oral speechreal speech situations.

6) English belongs to the family of Indo-European languages.

7) English belongs to the group of Germanic languages.

8)  Declension is the change of nouns in case and number.

9) Conjugation is the change of verbs in tense, person and number.

10) Synthetic languages express grammatical forms by means of morphemes.

11) Analytical languages have a fixed order of words.

12) Old English was a synthetic language.

13) In Old English article was absent.

14) In Old English order of words was free.

15) In Old English adverb was developing.

16) In Middle English morphemic system of marking grammatical form simplified.

17) Auxiliary verbs appeared in Middle English.

18) Modem English is an analytical language with some elements of synthetic structure.

19) Feature of analytical structure in Modem English is fixed order of words (и можетбыть auxiliaries).

20) Feature of synthetic structure in Modem English is foreign endings for plural.

21) Ablaut is vowel interchange in the root of the verb.

22) Suppletion is the use ot ditferent words for denoting grammatical forms.

23) Two contradicting factors, balancing the development of language aregeneration and economy.

24) morpheme that can be used independently used without any other ones is called free.

25) minimum segmental unit of a word with the potential to convey the meaning is famous a morpheme.

26) The morpheme that changes the meaning of the word is called lexical.

27) — The morpheme that indicates grammatical form is called grammatical.

28) The morpheme that denotes grammatical class and changes the meaning of the word is called lexico-grammatical.

29) Foreign grammatical morphemes came to English from French and Latin.

30) Grammatical category carries abstract meaning.

31) Grammatical category can be expressed by the grammatical means only.

32) Semantic category can be expressed by any linguistic means.

33) The structure of the number category can be presented as an opposition.

34) The categories of English noun are number, gender, case.

35) The categories of English verb are tense, aspect, person.

36) The category of English adjective is comparison.

37) The category of English adverb is Case.

38) The categories of English pronoun are nominative case, genitive case.

39) Morphemic structure of the word “revolution” is Root + suffix.

40) Morphemic structure of the word “unreal” is prefix+root.

41) Morphemic structure of the word “intricacies” is root + suffix+ending.

42) Morphemic structure of the word “unpredictable” is prefix+ root + suffix.

43) In the word “steamboat” the morpheme “steam” is free.

44) In the word “divers” the morpheme “s” is bound.

45) In the word “garments” the morpheme “garment” is lexical.

46) In the word “uncertain” the morpheme “un” is lexical.

47) In the word “probably” the morpheme “ly” is lexico-grammatical.

48) In the word “welcomed” the morpheme “ed” is grammatical.

Тест №3

1) In the form “hastened” we can see such categories as aspect, tense.

2) In the form “this” we can see such categories as number.

3) In the form “those” we can see such categories as number.

4) In the form “us” we can see such categories as person, number.

5) In the form “was provided” we can see such categories as aspect, tense, voice.

6) The parts of speech with individual meaning are called notional.

7) Modal verbs belong to the group of semi-notional words.

8)  The ending –s used in the structure of nouns indicates the plural of nouns in some cases.

9) Gender of English nouns is in most cases determined by the meaning of the word.

10) The adjectives in the English language can be classified as relative and qualitative.

11) Double comparison can be exemplified by the form “much more beautiful”.

12) Demonstrative, personal, indefinite – these are the groups of pronouns.

13) Animate, inanimate – these are the groups of nouns.

14) Relative, qualitative – these are the groups of adjectives.

15) In the sentence “Every train brought squads, companies, battalions of them.” the word “train” is a notional part of speech.

16) In the sentence “The barracks were over-run.” the word “were” is a semi-notional part of speech.

17) In the sentence “They could not be permitted to starve” the word “could” is a semi-notional part of speech.

18) In the sentence “The weather was on the side of the newcomers to begin with; such an open, friendly winter was never known in Kansas before” the word “open” is anadjective.

19) In the sentence “The weather was on the side of the newcomers to begin with; such an open, friendly winter was never known in Kansas before” the word “before” is an adverb.

20) Countable nouns can be exemplified be the word effort.

21) Proper nouns can be exemplified by the word London.

22) Common nouns can be exemplified by the word poverty.

23) Animate nouns can be exemplified by the word bull.

24) Qualitative adjectives can be exemplified by the word acute.

25) Positive degree can be exemplified by the word old.

26) Triple comparison can be exemplified by the word much more better.

27) Superlative degree can be exemplified by the word the least.

28) Analytical comparison can be exemplified by the word more cunningly.

29) Suppletive comparison can be exemplified by the word worse.

30) The pronoun “You” is personal.

31) The pronoun “anything” is indefinite.

32) The case of the pronoun “me” is objective.

33) The case of the pronoun “I” is nominative.

Тест 4. (Морфология)

1) The verb form in the sentence “The house had smelled for a week.” is an example ofactive voice.

2) An example of back-shift is a sentence Tomorrow they arrive at six sharp.

3) An example of a stative verb is to know.

4) An example of a non-finite form of the verb is reading.

5) Qualitative adverbs can be exemplified by the word…easily.

6) Qualitative adverbs can be exemplified by the word…dryly.

7) Circumstantial adverbs can be exemplified by the word..Here.

8) Intensifying adverbs can be exemplified by the word…highly.

9) The case of the pronoun “her”…objective.

10) The case of the pronoun “I” is…nominative.

11) The numeral “tenth” is…ordinal.

12) In the sentence “And then too, there was the matter of his working weekends and evenings at the boat yard” the word “of’ is…preposition.

13) In the sentence “And then too, there was the matter of his working weekends and evenings at the boat yard” the word “too” is…particle.

14) In the sentence “It would be two months before all the lobster boats and the few pleasure-craft were scraped, painted, and hauled out of that sagging, leaking old boat-house and launched” the word “the” is…article.

15) In the sentence “»Well,» he said, coming back to the task at hand, «lunch time is over. Back to work. the word “to” is…preposition.

Training test 4 (syntax)

1. A unit of syntax, presenting a lexico-grammatical unity and separated by pauses is called syntagma.

2. Asyndatic connection between units of syntax is performed though the absence of connecting elements.

3. Syndatic connection between units of syntax is performed though the use of connecting elements.

4. Syndatic connection between words can be exemplified by a word-combination full of journalists.

5. Syndatic connection between words can be exemplified by a word-combination preceded by part.

6. Syndatic connection between words can be exemplified by a word-combination easy on problems.

7. Asyndatic connection between words can be exemplified by a word-combination places are marked.

8. Asyndatic connection between words can be exemplified by a word-combination he wrote.

9. Asyndatic connection between words in a word-combination can be exemplified by word-combination slightly older.

10. Coordinative connection between words in a word-combination «»can be exemplified by a word-combination public and private.

11. Coordinative connection between words in a word-combination «» can be exemplified by a word-combination weeks and weeks.

12. Coordinative connection between words can be exemplified by a word-combination paper, ink and pen.

13. Dominational connection between can be exemplified by word-combination places are marked.

14. Dominational connection between words can be exemplified by a word-combination he wrote.

15. Dominational connection between words can be exemplified by a word-combination slightly older.

16. Word-combination «This toast» is attributive.

17. Word-combination «banquet room» attributive.

18. Word-combination «places are marked» is predicative.

19. Word-combination «was widely reprinted» is primary adverbial.

20. Word-combination «sent copies» is direct objective.

21. Word-combination «him writing» is semi-predicative.

22. Word-combination «genteel audiences» is attributive.

23. Word-combination «became easily» is primary adverbial.

24. Word-combination «he was trying» is predicative.

25. Word-combination «initially delighted» is secondary adverbial.

26. Word-combination «to adapt persona» is direct objective.

27. Word-combination «slightly older» is secondary adverbial.

28. Idiomatic word-combinations can be exemplified by mixed feeling.

29. Idiomatic word-combinations can be exemplified by full of beans.

30. Culturally marked word-combinations can be exemplified Punch and Judy.

31. Connotative word-combinations can be exemplified by was praised by Mrs. Mary Fairbanks.

32. Culturally marked word-combinations can be exemplified black pudding.

33. Connotative word-combinations can be exemplified by even and nice.

34. Grammatical homonymy is The use of the same form with different grammatical meanings.

35. A factor of syntagmatic connection in English language is specific rhythmic structure.

Тест №5.

1. The main parts of the sentence are subject and predicate.

2. Secondary parts of the sentence are attribute, adverbial modifier, object.

3. Additional elements of the sentence are parenthesis, adressing enclosure.

4. Theme is old infromation, starting point of communication.

5. Rheme is new information, the main point of communication.

6. Chain and parallel are the ways of connecting clauses in complex sentences.

7. Ellipsis is omission of sentence parts /word parts (тут я в замешательстве.)

8. Inversion in English can be grammatical and stylistic.

9. The use of a shorter word instead of a phrase or a clause is called substitution.

10. Addition, morphological arrangement, deletion are transformations of the grammatical structure of the sentence.

11. Simple sentence can be exemplified by Don’t abuse me on account of that dinner-speech in reply to the toast to Woman.

12. One-member sentence can be exemplified by Rise and shine!

13. Composite sentence can be exemplified by Look at George Francis Train and don’t laugh. 

14. The sentence “Look.” is imperative.

15. The sentence “How about if I take the kids?” is interrogative-declarative.

16. Actual division of the sentence presupposes its division into theme and rheme.

17. The sentence “O.K.” is interrogative-declarative.

18. In the sentence “On the way home he stopped at a general store and bought a Popsicle for each of the boys.” the word “for boys” is indirect object.

19. In this compound sentence “Spring comes slowly in upstate Maine, and this was still the mud season.” connection between clauses is additive.

20. In this complex sentence “Little Chandler’s thoughts ever since lunch-time had been of the great city London where Gallaher lived.” subbordinate clause is adverbial.

21. Punctuation mark with an external function in the sentence “I know this dumb.” is full stop.

22. Comma in the sentence “THIS country, during the last thirty or forty years, has produced some of the most remarkable cases of insanity.” is used for marking the end of the clause.

23. The use of quotation marks in the sentence “Teacher says, “Couldn’t your ol’ man do it?” is obligatory.

24. The use of comma in the sentence “Oh, cup a Java.” is optional.

Тест №6 (Macro syntax)

1. A sentence «He lost his way.» in a cluster of sentences «A man wanted to drive to Littlemorehampton. He lost his way.» is a….cumuleme.

2. A sentence «Short waves cannot pass aroud objects.» in a cluster of sentences «Short waves cannot pass around objects. Long waves can.»is a….dycteme.

3. Means of prospection in the sentence «There are three dictionaries of neologisms for Modern English, see further.» is ….see further.

4. Means of retrospection in a sentence «Dictionaries of slang, as it was mentioned, contain elements from areas of substandart speech such as vulgarisms, jargonisms, taboo words. curse-words, colloquialisms, etc.» is….as it was mentioned

5. In the dialogue «A: What are you doing at Christmas? B: We’re having my brother ang a friend for lunch on Christmas Day. A: Right.Mm» reference is the word….We at Christmas

6. In the dialogue «A: What are you doing at Christmas? B: We’re having my brother ang a friend for lunch on Christmas Day. A: Right.Mm» response token is the word ….Right

7. In the sentence «I’ll see you around six.» the word «around» is ….approximation

8. In the sentence «I’ll have to call you back, I’m afraid.» the phrase «I’m afraid» is ….stance marker

9. In the sentence «Paul, in this job that he’s got now, when he goes into the office, he’s never quite sure ehere he’s going to be sent.» the word «Paul» is ….reference

10. In the sentence «We can then have toxic effects. Right.» the word «Right» is ….pragmatic marker

11. In the sentence «I’ve told him hundreds of times to put the alarm clock on but he just doesn’t listen.» The phrase «hundreds of times» is ….stance marker

12. When we were on holiday, we the sentence «I had the goldfish for about three years.» the word  «about» is ….approximation

13. In the sentence «Now Rio de Janeiro, there’s a fabulous city.» the word  «Rio de Janeiro» is ….header

14. The question «You know what? is ….preface

15. The question «A: The shuttle would be out of the question, you see. B: How come?» is ….formulaic

16. The question «The what, sorry?» is ….follow — up

17. The question «A: Are you going to the match tonight? B: Yeah, I am. A: Do you mind if I tag along?» is ….two — step

18. The question «A: Margaret wants to talk to you. B: Oh, what about?» is ….follow — up

19. The question «Where are you going? Into town?» is ….two — step

20. In the sentences «Right, I suppose we should begin by considering the tricky question of the Norman invasion.» pragmatic markers have a function of ….opening

21. In the sentences «Anyway erm.Where was I?» pragmatic markers have afunction of  ….resuming

22. In the sentences «B: Six sets of each. A: Fine.» pragmatic markers have a fnction of ….closing

23. In the sentences «He’s been too easy — going, not to say careless and stupid, walking across that mountain at nighfall and on his own too.» pragmatic markers have a function of ….reformulating

24. In the sentences «B: Never really thought abot it like that. Oh I forgot. Your washing’s up there. Sorry just noticed it.» pragmatic marker «oh «has a function of ….shifting

25. Pragmatic marker «and then» usually has a function of ….sequencing

26. In the sentences «A: Did you enjoy the film? B: Well, we enjoyed the first half but after that I’m not sure.» pragmatic markers have a function of ….diverting

A part of speech is a term used in traditional grammar for one of the nine main categories into which words are classified according to their functions in sentences, such as nouns or verbs. Also known as word classes, these are the building blocks of grammar.

Parts of Speech

  • Word types can be divided into nine parts of speech:
  • nouns
  • pronouns
  • verbs
  • adjectives
  • adverbs
  • prepositions
  • conjunctions
  • articles/determiners
  • interjections
  • Some words can be considered more than one part of speech, depending on context and usage.
  • Interjections can form complete sentences on their own.

Every sentence you write or speak in English includes words that fall into some of the nine parts of speech. These include nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, articles/determiners, and interjections. (Some sources include only eight parts of speech and leave interjections in their own category.)

Learning the names of the parts of speech probably won’t make you witty, healthy, wealthy, or wise. In fact, learning just the names of the parts of speech won’t even make you a better writer. However, you will gain a basic understanding of sentence structure and the English language by familiarizing yourself with these labels.

Open and Closed Word Classes

The parts of speech are commonly divided into open classes (nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs) and closed classes (pronouns, prepositions, conjunctions, articles/determiners, and interjections). The idea is that open classes can be altered and added to as language develops and closed classes are pretty much set in stone. For example, new nouns are created every day, but conjunctions never change.

In contemporary linguistics, the label part of speech has generally been discarded in favor of the term word class or syntactic category. These terms make words easier to qualify objectively based on word construction rather than context. Within word classes, there is the lexical or open class and the function or closed class.

Read about each part of speech below and get started practicing identifying each.

Noun

Nouns are a person, place, thing, or idea. They can take on a myriad of roles in a sentence, from the subject of it all to the object of an action. They are capitalized when they’re the official name of something or someone, called proper nouns in these cases. Examples: pirate, Caribbean, ship, freedom, Captain Jack Sparrow.

Pronoun

Pronouns stand in for nouns in a sentence. They are more generic versions of nouns that refer only to people. Examples:​ I, you, he, she, it, ours, them, who, which, anybody, ourselves.

Verb

Verbs are action words that tell what happens in a sentence. They can also show a sentence subject’s state of being (is, was). Verbs change form based on tense (present, past) and count distinction (singular or plural). Examples: sing, dance, believes, seemed, finish, eat, drink, be, became

Adjective

Adjectives describe nouns and pronouns. They specify which one, how much, what kind, and more. Adjectives allow readers and listeners to use their senses to imagine something more clearly. Examples: hot, lazy, funny, unique, bright, beautiful, poor, smooth.

Adverb

Adverbs describe verbs, adjectives, and even other adverbs. They specify when, where, how, and why something happened and to what extent or how often. Examples: softly, lazily, often, only, hopefully, softly, sometimes.

Preposition

Prepositions show spacial, temporal, and role relations between a noun or pronoun and the other words in a sentence. They come at the start of a prepositional phrase, which contains a preposition and its object. Examples: up, over, against, by, for, into, close to, out of, apart from.

Conjunction

Conjunctions join words, phrases, and clauses in a sentence. There are coordinating, subordinating, and correlative conjunctions. Examples: and, but, or, so, yet, with.

Articles and Determiners

Articles and determiners function like adjectives by modifying nouns, but they are different than adjectives in that they are necessary for a sentence to have proper syntax. Articles and determiners specify and identify nouns, and there are indefinite and definite articles. Examples: articles: a, an, the; determiners: these, that, those, enough, much, few, which, what.

Some traditional grammars have treated articles as a distinct part of speech. Modern grammars, however, more often include articles in the category of determiners, which identify or quantify a noun. Even though they modify nouns like adjectives, articles are different in that they are essential to the proper syntax of a sentence, just as determiners are necessary to convey the meaning of a sentence, while adjectives are optional.

Interjection

Interjections are expressions that can stand on their own or be contained within sentences. These words and phrases often carry strong emotions and convey reactions. Examples: ah, whoops, ouch, yabba dabba do!

How to Determine the Part of Speech

Only interjections (Hooray!) have a habit of standing alone; every other part of speech must be contained within a sentence and some are even required in sentences (nouns and verbs). Other parts of speech come in many varieties and may appear just about anywhere in a sentence.

To know for sure what part of speech a word falls into, look not only at the word itself but also at its meaning, position, and use in a sentence.

For example, in the first sentence below, work functions as a noun; in the second sentence, a verb; and in the third sentence, an adjective:

  • Bosco showed up for work two hours late.
    • The noun work is the thing Bosco shows up for.
  • He will have to work until midnight.
    • The verb work is the action he must perform.
  • His work permit expires next month.
    • The attributive noun [or converted adjective] work modifies the noun permit.

Learning the names and uses of the basic parts of speech is just one way to understand how sentences are constructed.

Dissecting Basic Sentences

To form a basic complete sentence, you only need two elements: a noun (or pronoun standing in for a noun) and a verb. The noun acts as a subject and the verb, by telling what action the subject is taking, acts as the predicate. 

  • Birds fly.

In the short sentence above, birds is the noun and fly is the verb. The sentence makes sense and gets the point across.

You can have a sentence with just one word without breaking any sentence formation rules. The short sentence below is complete because it’s a command to an understood «you».

  • Go!

Here, the pronoun, standing in for a noun, is implied and acts as the subject. The sentence is really saying, «(You) go!»

Constructing More Complex Sentences

Use more parts of speech to add additional information about what’s happening in a sentence to make it more complex. Take the first sentence from above, for example, and incorporate more information about how and why birds fly.

  • Birds fly when migrating before winter.

Birds and fly remain the noun and the verb, but now there is more description. 

When is an adverb that modifies the verb fly. The word before is a little tricky because it can be either a conjunction, preposition, or adverb depending on the context. In this case, it’s a preposition because it’s followed by a noun. This preposition begins an adverbial phrase of time (before winter) that answers the question of when the birds migrate. Before is not a conjunction because it does not connect two clauses.

It is a fact that almost every word of English has got the capacity to be employed as a different part of speech. At one place, a particular word may be used as a noun, at another as a verb, and yet at another place as an adjective.

These words enable the learners of the English language to understand the behavior of a particular word in various positions.

Importance of Parts of Speech in Communication

As you know, English sentences are used to communicate a complete thought. The importance of parts of speech lies in their proper utilization, which can help your understanding and confidence grow immensely.

Proper usage of parts of speech means that you can impart clear messages and understand them because you know the rules of the language.

Each word in a sentence belongs to one of the eight parts of speech according to the work it is doing in that sentence. There are 8 parts of speech.

  1. Noun
  2. Verb
  3. Adjective
  4. Adverb
  5. Pronoun
  6. Prepositions
  7. Conjunctions
  8. Interjections

1 – Noun (Naming words)

The nouns stand for the names of people, places, animals, and things. The word noun means name. Look at these sentences.

John lives in Chicago. He has two bikes. He is fond of riding bikes.”

In the above example, John is the name. We cannot use the same name again and again in different sentences. Here, we used “he” in the next two sentences instead of “John”. “He” is called the pronoun.

Types of nouns are

1.1 – Common Noun

It describes a person, place, and thing.

Examples: City, country, town, boy.

1.2 – Proper Noun

It includes a particular person, place, thing, or idea and begins with a capital letter.

Examples: Austria, Manchester, United Kingdom, etc.

1.3 – Abstract Noun

An abstract noun describes names, ideas, feelings, emotions or qualities, the subject of any paragraph comes under this category. It does not take “the”.

Examples: grief, loss, happiness, greatness.

1.4 – Concrete Noun

It describes material things, persons or places. The existence of that thing can be physically observed.

Examples: Book, table, car, etc.

1.5 – Countable and Uncountable Noun

Countable nouns can be singular or plural. It can be counted.

Examples: Ships, cars, buses, books, etc.

The uncountable noun is neither singular nor plural. It cannot be counted.

Examples: Water, milk, juice, butter, music, etc.

1.6 – Collective Noun

It includes the group and collection
people, things or ideas. It is in unit form and is considered as singular.

Examples: Staff of office, group of visitors.

However, people and police can be
considered both singular and plural.

1.7 – Possessive Noun

It shows ownership or relationship.

Examples: Jimmy’s pen.

Further Reading: 11 Types of Nouns with Examples

2 – Verb (Saying words)

These are used for saying something
about persons or things. The verb is concerned with doing or being.

Examples

  • A hare runs (action) very fast.
  • Aslam is a good student.

Types of verbs

2.1 – Actions verbs

(run, move, write etc)

2.2 – Linking verbs

(to be (is, am, are, was, were), seem, feel, look, understand)

2.3 – Auxiliary (helping) verbs 

(have, do, be)

2.4 – Modal Verbs

(can, could, may, might, will/shall)

2.5 – Transitive verbs

It takes an object.

Example – He is reading a newspaper.

2.6 – Intransitive verbs

It does not take the object.

Example – He awakes.

Further Reading: What are the verbs in English?

3 – Adjectives (describing words)

These are joining to nouns to describe
them.

Examples

  • A hungry wolf.
  • A brown wolf.
  • A lazy boy.
  • A tall man.

It is used before a noun and after a linking verb.

Before noun example

A new brand has been launched.

After linking verb example

Imran is rich.

It is used to clarify nouns.

Example: smart boy, blind man

Types of adjectives

3.1 – Simple degree

He is intelligent.

3.2 – Comparative

Ali is intelligent than Imran.

3.3 – Superlative

Comparison of one person with class,
country or world. In this type “the” is used.

Example: Ali is the wisest boy.

3.4 – Demonstrative adjective

It points out a noun. These are four
in number.

This     That    These        Those

3.5 – Indefinite adjectives

It points out nouns. They often tell
“how many” or “how much” of something.

Interrogative adjectives: it is used to ask questions

Examples

  • Which book?
  • What time?
  • Whose car?

Further Reading: More About Adjectives

4 – Adverbs

Describing words that are added to verbs. Just as adjectives are added to describe them, adverbs are added to verbs to modify their meaning. The word “modify” means to enlarge the meaning of the adverbs.

Examples

  • Emma sings beautifully. (used with verb)
  • Cameron is extremely clever. (used with adjective)
  • This motor car goes incredibly fast. (used with another adverb)

Types of adverb

4.1 – Adverb of manner

This type of adverb deals with the
action something

Example

  • I walk quickly.
  • He wrote slowly.

4.2 – Adverb of place

Happening of something or the place where it happens.

Examples:

There was somebody sitting nearby.

Here, these, upstairs, nowhere everywhere, outside, in, out, are called adverb of place.

4.3 – Adverb of time

It determines the time of the happening of something.

Examples

  • She went there last night.
  • Have you seen him before?
  • He wrote a letter yesterday.

Tomorrow, today, now, then,
yesterday, already, ago.

4.4 – Linking adverbs (then, however)

It creates a connection between two clauses or sentences.

Example

There will be clouds in Lahore. However, the sun is expected in Multan.

Note: Besides modifying the meaning of a verb, adverbs also modify adjectives and other adverbs.

Examples

  • It is a very large house.
  • He is too weak to walk.
  • He ran too fast.

Further Reading: 11 Types of Adverbs with Examples

5 – Pronouns

Words that are used instead of nouns to avoid tiresome repetition. Instead of using the word man in a composition, we often write he, him, himself. In place of the word “woman”, we write she, her, or herself. For both the nouns ‘men’ and ‘women’ we use, they, them, themselves.

Some of the most common pronouns are

Singular: I, he, she, it, me, him,
her

Plural: We, they, out, us, them.

Examples

Imran was hurt. He didn’t panic.

He checked the mobile. It still
worked.

Types of Pronouns

It stands instead of persons. They have different forms according to the person who is supposed to be speaking.

First person: I, we, me, us, mine, our, ourselves.

Second person: thou, you, there.

Third person: He, she, it, his, him

5.1 – Possessive pronouns

Such as mine, ours, yours, hers and theirs.

  • This book is mine.
  • My horse and yours are tired.

5.2 – Relative pronoun

Who, whom, which and they are called relative pronouns. They are called relative because they relate to some word in the main clause. The word to which pronoun relates is called the antecedent.

Example

I saw a boy who was going.

In this sentence, who is the relative pronoun and boy is its antecedent.

This is the girl who won the prize.

“which” is used for animals and things.

The dog which barks.

That is used instead of who or which in this case.

This is the best picture that I ever saw.

5.3 – Interrogative pronouns

It is used to introduce or create an asking position in a sentence. Who, whom, which, and whose are interrogative pronouns.

Examples

Who wrote this book? (for persons
only)

What is your name? (for things)

Which boy here is your friend?

5.4 – Demonstrative pronoun

It points out a person, thing, place
or idea. This, that, these and those are called demonstrative pronouns.

That is a circuit-breaker.

These are cups of a team.

5.5 – Reflexive pronoun

The type of pronoun that ends in self or selves is called a reflexive pronoun.

Examples: myself, ourselves, yourself, herself, himself, itself, themselves.

Use in sentence: They worked hard to
get out themselves from the debt.

Indefinite pronoun: An indefinite
pronoun does not refer to a specific person, place thing or idea.

Examples

Nothing lasts forever.

No one can make this design.

Further Reading: Different Types of Pronouns with 60+ Examples

6 – Prepositions

Words placed before a noun or pronoun
to show how the person or thing denoted stands in relation to some other person
or thing.

Examples: A house on a hill. Here, the word “on” is a preposition.

The noun and pronoun that follow the preposition are called its object. We can identify prepositions in the following examples.

In 2006, in March, in the garden,

On 14th August, on Friday, on the table

At 8:30 pm, at 9 o’clock, at the door, at noon, at night, at midnight

However, we use “in” for morning and evening.

Further Reading: Preposition Usage and Examples

7 – Conjunctions (joining words)

They join words or sentences.

Examples: Jimmy and Tom are good players.

In the above sentence, “and” is a conjunction.

Types of conjunctions

These are the types of conjunctions.

  1. Nor (used in later part of the negative sentence)
  2. But (when two different ideas are described in a sentence)
  3. Yet (when two contrast things are being described in a sentence)
  4. So (To explain the reason)
  5. For (it connects a reason to a result)
  6. Or (to adopt two equal choices)
  7. And (to join two things or work)

Further Reading: Conjunction Rules with Examples

8 – Interjections

Interjection words are not connected with other parts of a sentence. They are through into a sentence to express some feeling of a mind.

Examples: Hurrah! We won the match.

Alas, hurrah, wow, uh, oh-no, gush, shh are some words used to express the feeling.

It is important to note that placing a word in this or that part of speech is not fixed. It depends upon the work the words are doing in a particular sentence. Thus the same word may appear in three or four parts of speech.

Further Reading: More about Interjections

You can read a detailed article about parts of speech here.

Parts of Speech Exercise with Answers

8 Parts of SpeechPin

8 Parts of Speech

Read also: 71 Idioms with Meaning and Sentences

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