grammar Lesson

Grammar Lesson: The Verb: The Fourth

 Part of Speech

eight parts of speech, is an action word. Since all good writing starts with strong verbs, this part of speech is very important.

The three basic types of verbs are the following:

• The action verb tells what action the sentence's subject (or doer) performs, is performing, has performed, or will perform.

Our lawyer speaks frequently with her clients.

This lawyer has spoken with some clients this week.

These attorneys will be speaking soon.

• The linking verb connects (or links) a subject (or doer) to a noun, pronoun, or adjective in the sentence. The words that follow a linking verb answer the question "What?"

Common linking verbs are am, is, are, was, be, being, appear, grow, seem, smell, stay, taste, turn, sound, remain, look, feel, and become.

These chickens are hungry.

Selena is the club president.

Note: To tell the difference between an action verb and a linking verb, substitute a form of the verb be. If the new sentence seems logical, the verb that you replaced is probably a linking verb.

Sylvia sounded the alarm. (action verb)

Sylvia sounded nervous. (linking verb)

• The helping verb assists the main verb in a sentence. One or more helping verbs can assist the main verb. If a sentence is a question, answer the question, and the helping verb will precede the main verb.

This mechanic will repair the auto this morning.

These mechanics will be inspecting the auto this afternoon.

Has the mechanic spoken with you yet?

Activity

Is it an action, linking, or helping verb?
Indicate the action verbs by writing A on the line before the sentence. Do the same for the linking verbs (L) and the helping verbs (H). There are at least three examples of each of these verbs within these fifteen sentences.

1. Last night's audience members seemed more enthusiastic than tonight's audience members.
2. Warren is going to ask his sister for some advice.
3. Can you remember your teacher's first name?
4. This talented surfer rode the wave all the way to the shore.
5. Since Vicki had not eaten much today, her dinner tasted especially delicious.
6. The doctor examined each patient twice.
7. Hustle to first base, Charles!
8. My niece quickly grew bored with the dull cartoon.
9. Much of the required information will be reviewed during the three-week course.
10. Listen to exactly what the director is telling you.
11. Hear what I have to say.
12. This is the correct answer.
13. Greta felt tired after the grueling boot camp exercises.
14. Each of these fifteen doctors was interviewed by the county health officials.
15. Will you be able to help me move these books today?

The Eight Parts of Speech
Are Super Cool

Every single word belongs to one of eight word groups or parts of speech.

Wow! Did you hear that? Just think about that fact for a minute. We use thousands of words, and they can all be separated into just eight groups!

nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives,
adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, interjections

Isn't that the coolest thing ever? Look, even this walrus thinks it's crazy.

You'll learn about all eight word groups below, and you'll transform into a grammar guru.

Since examples help us understand things, you can also click on "list of..." to see examples of each part of speech.

If you'd rather watch videos and diagram sentences to soak up all of this lovely information, check out the Get Smart program.

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1. Nouns

Nouns name people, places, things, or ideas.

There are many different types of nouns for you to learn about. A few of them include: proper nouns, common nouns, collective nouns, compound nouns, and many more!

• What is a noun?
• See a list of nouns.

2. Pronouns

Pronouns take the place of nouns.

Just like nouns, there are many different types of pronouns. Here are a few of them: reflexive pronouns, indefinite pronouns, possessive pronouns, and relative pronouns.

• What is a pronoun?
• See a list of pronouns.

3. Verbs

Verbs show actions or states of being.

Linking verbs, action verbs, and helping verbs are described on the page above. Modals are described here, and you can learn even more about action verbs here.

• What is a verb?
• See a list of verbs.

4. Adjectives

Adjectives describe or modify nouns or pronouns.

• What is an adjective?
• See a list of adjectives.

5. Adverbs

Adverbs describe or modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs

• What is an adverb?
• See a list of adverbs.

6. Prepositions

Prepositions show the relationship between a noun or a pronoun and some other word in the rest of the sentence.

• What is a preposition?
• See a list of prepositions.

7. Conjunctions

Conjunctions join two or more words, phrases, or clauses

• What is a conjunction?
• See a list of conjunctions.

8. Interjections

Interjections show excitement or emotion. They are not grammatically related to the rest of the sentence.

• What is an interjection?
• See a list of interjections.

·         Parts of Speech Table

·         This is a summary of the 8 parts of speech*. You can find more detail if you click on each part of speech.

part of speech	function or "job"	example words	example sentences
Verb	action or state	(to) be, have, do, like, work, sing, can, must	EnglishClub.com is a web site. I like EnglishClub.com.
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 big dogs.
Adverb	describes a verb, adjective or adverb	quickly, silently, well, badly, very, really	My dog eats quickly. When he is very hungry, he eats really quickly.
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 on Monday.
Conjunction	joins clauses or sentences or words	and, but, when	I like dogs and I like cats. I like cats and dogs. 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.