Word Classes Summary

Nouns

• Naming words for people, places, objects, etc.

• Answer the question: 'what name do you give this?'

Types of Nouns

• Proper: Specific people/places (e.g., Charlie, Paris) - Capitalized.

• Common: Less specific (types of people, places, feelings).

• Concrete: Physically existing things (e.g., computer, hand, house).

• Abstract: Non-physical things: feelings, ideas, qualities (e.g., friendship, sadness, democracy).

• Collective: Groups of people/animals/objects (e.g., team, community, flock).

• Count nouns: Can be pluralized (birds, trees).

• Non-count nouns: No plural form (courage, rugby).

Adjectives

• Describing words for nouns.

• Comparatives: Comparison, usually ending in -er (colder, faster) or using 'more'.

• Superlatives: Highest degree, usually ending in -est (coldest, fastest) or using 'most'.

Verbs

• Doing words; also mental actions (think, anticipate) and states.

• Tell what the subject does or is.

• Infinitives: Base form (e.g., 'to be', 'to run'). Includes 'to'.

• Dynamic verbs: Physical actions.

• Stative verbs: States or conditions.

• Transitive verbs: Have an object.

• Intransitive verbs: No object.

• Main verbs: Express the main meaning.

• Auxiliary verbs: Helping verbs placed before main verbs.

• Primary verbs: be, have, do - Indicate time, add emphasis, form questions/negatives.

• Modal auxiliaries: can, will, shall, may, must, could, would, should, might - Used with a main verb.

• Active voice: Subject performs the action (e.g., Rachel clipped her nails).

• Passive voice: Subject receives the action (e.g., Rachel’s toenails were clipped).

Adverbs

• Give more information about verbs.

• Describe verbs.

• Often formed by adding $–ly$ to adjectives.

Pronouns

• Words that replace nouns.

• Personal pronouns: Replace subject/object (e.g., I, me, him).

• Possessive pronouns: Show possession (e.g., mine, hers).

• Reflexive pronouns: Object is the same as the subject (e.g., himself, ourselves).

• Demonstrative pronouns: Pointing (this, that, these, those).

• Indefinite pronouns: Non-specific persons/things (someone, anything, no one).

• Relative pronouns: Linking words after a noun (who, whom, whose, which, that).

• Interrogative pronouns: Asking a question (who, whose, which, what).

Conjunctions

• Joining words for sentence parts.

• Coordinating conjunctions: Join equal parts (and, but, or).

• Subordinating conjunctions: Connect subordinate to main clause (because, although, unless, until).

Prepositions

• Show relationship between a noun and something else.

• Relate to position (at, on, opposite), direction (into, past, to), and time (before, during, after).

Determiners

• Precede nouns and refer to them.

• Definite article: the

• Indefinite article: a/an

• Possessive determiners: my, our, your, his, her, its, their

• Demonstrative determiners: this, that, these, those

• Quantity: one, two, three, some, few, many

TIP: determiners precede nouns, pronouns replace nouns