What are prepositions in English Grammar?
Parts of Speech Meaning | All Types with Examples and Exercises
Meaning of Parts of Speech
“Parts of speech” are the categories or divisions in which words are divided into different categories and these words show different functions. The simple concept is that the parts of speech are the syntactic functions in the sentence; a single word may play more than one function.
The question arises that why parts of speech are important? So, it is crucial to identify the parts of speech so that we can construct productive sentences and analyze sentences.
Outline:
- Definition of parts of speech:
- Basic parts of speech in English Grammar
- Types of parts of speech
- Examples of parts of speech in English Grammar
Types of Parts of Speech in English Grammar
1. NOUN (N)
Noun represents the names; the names of a person, place, thing, idea, concept, animal, etc. The noun may be common or proper.
Mostly, articles (a, an, the) are used before nouns. A noun may function as a subject, object, subject complement, modifiers, or object of a preposition.
Examples of Noun:
Common Noun:
Boys, pets, president, temple, glass, tree, highway, mountains, printer, toys, dissertation, research, class, etc.
Proper Noun:
New York, Pakistan, Europe, Nigeria, Oxford University, London, Mount Everest, James, Hamid, etc.
Example Activity of Noun
The young girl (N) hurriedly entered in the fascinated hotel (N) and she sat on the couch (N). The gentle waiter (N) arrived to her and he asked about the menu (N) from her. When she received the call (N), she laughed excitedly and said “Hurrah!”; definitely, she heard the good news (N).
2. PRONOUN
It is the word which is used in replacement of a noun or substitution of a noun.
Examples of pronoun:
He, I, we, she, it, they, you etc.
Example Activity of Pronoun
Trace pronoun in this example:
The young girl hurriedly entered in the fascinated hotel and she (Pronoun) sat on the couch. The gentle waiter arrived to her (Pronoun) and he (Pronoun) asked about the menu from her (Pronoun). When she (Pronoun) received the call, she (Pronoun) laughed excitedly and said “Hurrah!”; definitely, she (Pronoun) heard the good news.
3. VERB
The verb is also a main category of speech which represents an action or being.
The numbers of verb and subject should be equal. There are 3 kinds of verbs: action verb, auxiliary verb, and linking verb. The verb is also divided into other types.
Examples of verbs
play, watch, run, talk, type, take, study, see, like, read, walk, be, do, has, can, etc.
Example Activity of Verb
The young girl hurriedly entered (V) in the fascinated hotel and she sat (V) on the couch. The gentle waiter arrived (V) to her and he asked (V) about the menu from her. When she received (V) the call, she laughed (V) excitedly and said (V) “Hurrah!”; definitely, she listened (V) good news.
4. ADJECTIVE
An adjective modifies or describes a noun or pronoun. The articles (a, an, the) are used
with nouns and these are also classified as an adjective. It tells us about nouns and
answers how many, what kind, which one, how long, frequency, etc. generally, it comes before
noun.
Examples of adjectives
Nice, pretty, beautiful, beside, long, noisy, calm, well, interesting, spicy, small, diligent,
difficult, etc.
Example Activity of Adjective
The young (Adj) girl hurriedly entered in the fascinated (Adj) hotel and she sat on the couch.
The gentle (Adj) waiter arrived with her and he asked about the menu from her. When she received
the call, she laughed excitedly and said “Hurrah!”; definitely, she heard a good (Adj) news.
5. ADVERB (Adv)
An adverb modifies or describes a verb, an adjective or another adverb.
It may come before or after verb. Often it ends in –ly. It answers wh-(when, why, where, how, etc.) questions.
Examples of an adverb
Quickly, smoothly, slowly, peacefully, interestingly, enthusiastically, recently etc.
Example Activity of Adverb
The young girl hurriedly (Adv) entered in the fascinated hotel and she sat on the couch. The gentle waiter arrived with her and he asked about the menu from her. When she received the call, she laughed excitedly (Adv) and said “Hurrah!”; definitely, she heard the good news.
6. PREPOSITION
A preposition is a word that comes before a noun or pronoun; it is the part of a prepositional phrase and it modifies or describes another word in the sentence.
Examples of prepositions:
To, from, at, in, on, into, onto, about, with, by, under, behind, etc.
Example Activity of Preposition
The young girl hurriedly entered in (Prep) the fascinated hotel and she sat on (Prep) the couch. The gentle waiter arrived to (Prep) her and he asked about the menu from (Prep) her. When she received the call, she laughed excitedly and said “Hurrah!”; definitely, she heard the good news.
7. CONJUNCTION
A conjunction joins clauses, phrases or words or shows the relationship between them.
Coordinating conjunctions join two or more independent clauses or equal elements; these include for, and, nor, but, or, yet and so. On the other hand, subordinating conjunctions join dependent clauses with independent clauses or unequal elements; because, since, while, as, so, although, when, etc.
Example Activity of Conjunction
The young girl hurriedly entered in the fascinated hotel and (conj) she sat on the couch. The gentle waiter arrived with her and (conj) he asked about the menu from her. When she received the call, she laughed excitedly and (conj) said “Hurrah!”, definitely, listened the good news.
8. INTERJECTION
An interjection is a word which expresses emotions.
In English writings, an exclamation mark (!) is used to represent interjection or emotions.
Examples of Interjection
Hurrah!
Alas!
Ouch!
Hello!
Example Activity of Interjection
The young girl hurriedly entered in the fascinated hotel and she sat on the couch. The gentle waiter arrived with her and he asked about the menu from her. When she received a call, she laughed excitedly and said “Hurrah!”; definitely, she heard a good news
9.Articles
Articles are the special type of determiners in the English Grammar, as they determine the noun and they are also called adjectives because articles qualify the noun. These articles come directly before the noun.
Definite and Indefinite Articles
There are two kinds of articles in English Grammar. These are definite and Indefinite articles; however, it’s not necessary that articles always appear with the nouns.