Grammar - Parts of Speech

Nouns

Names persons, places, things, ideas, or qualities.

Pronouns

Words that replace a noun that has already been mentioned.

Verbs

Words that convey action, a state of being, or existence.

Adjectives

Words that describe nouns and pronouns.

Adverbs

Words that modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs. They answer the questions: “When?”, “Where?”, “Why?”, “How?”, “How much?”, and “In what way?”

Preposition

Words that link nouns or pronouns to other words within a sentence

Coordinating Conjunctions

Words that link independent clauses.

Coordinating Conjunctions examples

for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so

Subordinating Conjunction

although, because, whether, while

Interjections

Words that are used as exclamations or to express feeling.

Subject

Word or word group in a sentence that performs the action expressed in the predicate.

Predicate

Word or word group that expresses a certain action or state of being.

Direct Object

Receive the action or complete the meaning of a verb and answer the questions: “What?” or “Whom?”

Indirect Object

Words that follow transitive verbs and come before direct objects. They answer the questions: “To what?”, “For whom?”, or “To whom?”

Object of Prepositions

Nouns or pronouns that follow the preposition.

Subject Complements

Subject modifiers that follow linking verbs. As nouns, they are known as predicate nouns. As adjectives, they are known as predicate adjectives.

Object Complements

Modify or refer to the direct object.

Verb Complements

The direct or indirect objects of a verb.

Prepositional Phrases

This consists of a preposition and an object, and is usually a modifier.

Verb Phrases

Phrases that consist of a verb and other words in the predicate of a sentence.

Verbal Infinitive Phrases

Phrases consisting of infinitives and objects, plus their modifiers.

ex: She seemed to enjoy the movie the teacher played in class. (to enjoy is the infinitive)

Verbal Participle Phrases

Phrases consisting of participles, their objects, and modifiers. The phrases act as adjectives.

ex: I noticed the students pretending to do their homework were all in Mr. Smith’s class. (pretending is the participle)

Verbal Gerund Phrases

Phrases consisting of gerunds, their objects, and modifiers. The phrases act as nouns.

ex: Biking on a busy street can be dangerous. (Biking is the gerund)

Main (independent) Clause

Clauses that are able to stand alone in a sentence. ex: The student completed his paper on time.

Subordinate (dependent) Clauses

Clauses that can’t stand alone in a sentence.

ex: The student completed his paper on time because he started it early.