Basic
English Structure
The Parts
of Speech ¤¤^ĒŠ
All English words
can be grouped into eight classes.
1. Nouns
Words that are the names of people, things or places.
e.g.
Carl is an American.
Health is better than wealth.
English is an international language.
Exercise 1
I. Recognizing nouns
II. Countable & uncountable nouns
2. Pronouns
Words that replace the nouns.
e.g.
Tom is a Chinese. He was born in Hong Kong.
Someone is calling you
outside.
I have a gold watch, and my sister has also one.
Mine is better than hers.
Pronoun Chart: Subject Pronouns,
Object Pronouns, Possessive Adjectives, Possessive Pronouns
Exercise
2
I. Recognizing pronouns
II. Subject & objective pronouns
3. Adjectives
Words that qualify nouns by making its meaning clearer, fuller,
or more exact.
Articles can be classified as Adjectives.
e.g.
a rich
man
The apple is ripe.
I am interested in painting.
A smiling
baby
Order of adjectives: The
usual order is: Opinion/Value, Size, Age, Shape, Colour, Origin, Material
Exercise
3
I. Recognizing adjectives
II. Adjective order
4. Verbs
Words that express the idea of action or being.
e.g.
Snow is white.
The enemy was defeated.
The earth moves round the sun.
He has been painting the wall for four
hours.
Exercise
4
I. Recognizing verbs
5. Adverbs
Words that we can add to a verb to make its meaning clearer,
fuller, or more exact.
e.g.
He ran slowly. (slowly
modifies the verb 'ran')
I will see her tomorrow. (tomorrow
modifies the verb 'will see')
He speaks English very well. ( well
modifies the verb 'speaks', very modifies another
adverb 'well')
His father is quite old. (quite
modifies the adjective 'old')
Exercise
5
I. Recognizing adverbs
II. Adjective or Adverb
6. Prepositions
Words that are used to show the relationship between the noun
or pronoun and another word.
e.g.
The lamp hangs over the table.
The smoke went up the chimney.
I sent the parcel to him; it went by
airmail.
I am sitting in front of John.
Exercise
6
I. Recognizing Prepositions
7. Conjunctions
Words that are used to join words, phrases or sentences.
e.g.
A boy and a girl were walking together.
He can't read or write.
He worked hard because he wanted to succeed.
She liked neither the food nor
the drink.
Although he started poorly, he won the game.
Exercise
7
I. Recognizing Conjunctions
8. Interjections
Words that express a sudden feeling or emotion.
e.g.
Oh! What shall I do?
Alas! How foolish I was!
Exercise
8
I. Recognizing Interjections
Revision
I
Revision II (higher level)
A
good grasp of the concept of the parts of speech is basic to an understanding
of English structure. It is also important to learn the basic unit of English
grammar -
sentences.
Basic
English Structure