Parts of speech
Parts of Speech
- see List of word parts of speech & their grammar rules for list of commonly used words, their parts of speech category, and rules governing their use
- Note on abbreviations
- IC = "independent clause"
- DC = "dependent clause"
- SV = "subject + verb"
- SVO = "subject + verb + object"
- CB = College Board
- all practice tests referenced or excerpted here are from the [College Board Official Practice Test Suite]
adjective[edit | edit source]
- modify nouns
adverb[edit | edit source]
- in general, adverbs provide additional information about an action
- how, when, where, degree, or state of an action
- modify verbs
- "He shopped quickly"
- modify adjectives:
- in the sense of describing "the state", degree, or situation of the descriptor
- Sources:
article[edit | edit source]
- also called "determiner"
- definite article:
- the
- refers to a specific noun, usually already stated or defined
- indefinite article:
- a or an
- refers to a general noun, usually not already stated or defined
- indefinite articles are not used to refer to a general noun or one that cannot be counted
- click on EXPAND to see examples of articles:
- ex. "water" cannot be counted, so "a water" is incorrect
- "may I have a water" should be instead "may I have some water"
- ex. "water" cannot be counted, so "a water" is incorrect
- zero articles
- when the noun represents a generic idea, the article can be omitted
- ex.
- "They went on vacation" as opposed to "they went on a vacation "
- see
- [https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/grammar/using_articles.html Purdue OWN Using Articles}
- What Are Articles?
conjunction[edit | edit source]
interjection[edit | edit source]
- aside remarks or interruptions
- an exclamation
- expresses a spontaneous reaction or emotion
- click EXPAND to see examples of interjections:
- "no!"
- "okay"
- "damn!"
- "heh!"
noun[edit | edit source]
- persons, places, things
- proper nouns
subject[edit | edit source]
object[edit | edit source]
- direct object
- indirect object
noun as modifier[edit | edit source]
- one type of consecutive nouns may be a noun acting as a modifier, as if an adjective (but not one)
- such nouns are called "attributive" nouns
- also called "adjunct" (supporting of) nouns or "apposite" (related to)
- attributive nouns modify or qualify another noun
- modify = change or add to the meaning of
- qualify = limit the meaning of
- attributive = provides an "attribute" or characteristic or quality to the other noun
- ex.: "dog food"
- i.e.: "dog food" = "a type of food that is for dogs"
- "dog" thereby indicates an attribute, or type or characteristic, of "food"
- example of multiple objects + a attributive nouns:
- "The pitcher threw the batter a hardball pitch"
- S: pitcher V: threw IO: catcher ADJ: hardball (appositive noun) DO: pitch
- could also be expressed as: "the pitcher threw a (hardball) pitch to the catcher"
- "hardball" = a noun, but here it is describing the direct object "pitch"
- thus "hardball" is acting like an adjective
- could also be expressed as: "the pitcher threw a (hardball) pitch to the catcher"
- the attributive noun is (almost) always singular
- = because it is acting like an adjective, which always remains in the singular form ("red shoes" as opposed to "reds shoes")
- = as a category or type, the noun must remain singular
- exception for plural attributive nouns = special words such as "arms race" or "rewards card"
- possessive attributive noun:
- ex.: "the National's game"
- these are often morphed into plural attributive, thus "National's game" becomes "Nationals game", "reward's card" becomes "rewards card", or "lady's night" becomes "ladies night"
- multiple attributives
- ex.: "beef dog food" or "
- news headlines often use multiple attributives, such as "South Park man Kenneth "Kenny" McCormick dies again"
- strict grammatical terms does now apply the "attributive" label for "adjective homograph" nouns (such as "iron" or "paper") or "compounds" or "open compounds"
- attributive nouns are not adjectives
- the only syntactic form of an adjective that the attributive noun employs is the "prepositive" position
- i.e., preceding the noun it modifies
- big dog, small house
- i.e., preceding the noun it modifies
- attributive nouns cannot operate as post-positive adjectives (following the noun):
- whereas an adjective can be a subject complement:
- boring meeting >> the meeting is boring
- dog food >> food dog or business meeting >> meeting business << don't work
- whereas an adjective can be a subject complement:
- attributive nouns cannot operate as subject complements (as do adjectives)
- the food is dog or the meeting is business << don't work
- attributive nouns cannot take on a comparative form (as do adjectives)
- whereas nouns can go from big to bigger
- big test >> bigger test
- attributive nouns cannot: businesser meeting << doesn't work
- whereas nouns can go from big to bigger
- the only syntactic form of an adjective that the attributive noun employs is the "prepositive" position
- see also additional entry on
- "appositive phrase"
- compound noun
- noun adjunct
- see:
Consecutive nouns as multiple objects[edit | edit source]
- consecutive nouns can act as multiple objects of a verb
- i.e., two nouns next to one another
- as in "I gave the boy a donut"
- when the action has a direct and indirect object, the indirect object is often preceded by "to" in order to indicate the direct object
- however, we frequently drop the "to", which remains implied in the sentence
- so instead of "I gave a donut to the boy" we simply say, "I gave the boy a donut"
- another ex. "She gave the man grief"
- can also be expressed as "She gave grief to the man"
- the noun "grief" is what was given (direct object) and the noun "man" is to whom the grief was given (indirect object)
- however, we frequently drop the "to", which remains implied in the sentence
Click expand for an example of multiple nouns as objects from CB Writing practice test 10, question 36:
Tuition-reimbursement programs signal that employers offer their [36] [workers’ opportunities] for personal and professional development. A) worker's opportunities [NO CHANGE] B) workers opportunities’ C) workers opportunities D) worker’s opportunity’s
- elimination
- x A) the possessive "worker's" confuses the direct object "opportunities" with the indirect object "workers"; in other words, "employers" don't offer "workers" they offer "opportunities"
- x B) and x D) the noun "opportunities" cannot possess the preposition "for"
- Correct answer C) = SUBJECT: employers VERB: offer INDIRECT OBJECT: workers DIRECT OBJECT: opportunities
preposition[edit | edit source]
- express relationship in time, place, or sequence
- add information to a sentence
- can relate other word forms to one another, including nouns (usually), adjectives, and verbs
- categories of prepositions:
time or sequence | at, after, between, during, since, etc. |
place | above, across, along, among, behind, beneath, etc. |
direction or movement | at, between, for , into, onto, etc. |
manner or way | by, in, like, on, with, etc. |
click EXPAND for list of prepositions:
across | after | among | |||
before | behind | beneath | |||
by | down | during | |||
from | in | into | |||
like | next | near | of | off | on |
over | past | since | |||
throughout | to | toward/s | |||
under | until | up | |||
upon | with | within/out |
according to | as of | ahead of |
aside from | at the risk of | by means of |
except for | in addition to | in case of |
next to | on top of | up against |
- See
Overlap of prepositions, adverbs & subordinating conjunctions[edit | edit source]
- some words operate or "overlap" in their grammatical roles
click EXPAND for more on the overlap of prepositions & adverbs and prepositions & subordinating conjunctions
- overlap of prepositions and adverbs:
- = "intransitive preposition"
- = prepositions may or may not define a "noun phrase" (which prepositions would normally accompany)
- note:
- transitive verb = must be accompanied by an object
- intransitive verb = does not need an object ("I feel happy")
- so intransitive prepositions do not need a noun or noun phrase
- note:
- most dictionaries qualify intransitive prepositions as adverbs, such as "abroad," "now," "until"
- ex. of intransitive preposition: "They went ahead" or "The dog is outside"
- with a noun these would be more clearly prepositions: "They went ahead of the others" or "The dog is outside the fence"
- ex. of intransitive preposition: "They went ahead" or "The dog is outside"
- overlap of prepositions and subordinating conjunctions
- = a "conjunctive preposition"
- ex.: "I got my license before last year" (before= preposition that defines when "I went to school")
- vs.: "I got my license before last year ended" (before = combines "I got my license" and "last year ended" and defines which came first)
- we can view "before" as subordinating the phrase, "last year ended," which is technically a complete thought and sentence
- however, since "before" is defining the "when," which is a core function of a preposition, we can call it one, or call it a "conjunctive preposition" when also acting as a #subordinating conjunction.
- ex.: "She paid the bill after dinner"
- vs.: "She paid the bill after she ate dinner"
- ex.: "He played like a pro"
- vs.: "He played like he was a pro"
prepositional phrase[edit | edit source]
- = a phrase created by a preposition + its object
- = dependent clauses, so are separated from a main or dominant clause by a comma
- prepositional phrases that modify verbs are called ""adverbial phrases"
- see
other exceptions[edit | edit source]
- prepositional phrases can also act as nouns, usually as the subject of a sentence
- and usually in reference to a location or time that has an action (verb), such as:
- "During the summer is the best time to play outside"
- "After I exercise is when I feel best"
- and usually in reference to a location or time that has an action (verb), such as:
- see:
pronoun[edit | edit source]
- "pro" = for; "noun"
- refer to a noun in oder to avoid repetition
- pronoun forms
- subject
- object
- possessive
- comparisons
- see How to Pick Pronouns for Comparisons (Dummies)
verb[edit | edit source]
- express action
- verb phrases
- verb forms
- verbs, or an action of a subject, can be expressed by a single verb or by a phrase, or multiple words, that expresses an action
- such phrases are known as "predicates"
- technically = "predicate"
- predicate = "the portion of a sentence which makes a claim about the subject" Predicate (grammar) (wiki)
Verb "moods"[edit | edit source]
- Indicative mood
- Imperative mood
- Subjunctive mood
transitive and intransitive verbs[edit | edit source]
- transitive verbs act upon a direct object
- ex. "The soccer player kicked the ball"
- intransitive verbs do not have a direct object
- ex. "The soccer player played hard"
<< to complete / expand
infinitives[edit | edit source]
- infinitives use "to"
- ex. "I go to see the game"
- root forms act like infinitives but without the "to"
- infinitive and base forms are generally interchangeable:
- ex. "He helped her clean her desk" (root form)
- v. "He helped her to clean her desk" (infinitive form)
- note that "root" and "base" forms are used interchangeably
- except "base form" of a verb includes infinitive and simple present forms of the verb
present tense forms[edit | edit source]
- simple present
- denotes a single action that is repeated, always happens, or the present condition of something
- examples
- repeated action: "I eat lunch at noon."
- action that always (or, in the negative, never) happens: "I can't speak Latin"
- denotes the condition or state of something: "The car is clean" or "I feel great!"
- simple present form is also considered as a "base" verb form
- present progressive
- = -ing form for a verb to express an ongoing action
- used with "to be" conjugations ("am" "is", etc.) the -ing verb form denotes an ongoing action
- ex. "She is dancing"
- see participle for the -ing form of a verb that acts as an adjective or a noun (called a gerund)
- note that present progressive verb forms are frequently used to combine sentences or independent clauses
- click EXPAND to see examples of present progressive verbs used to combine independent clauses
- = -ing form for a verb to express an ongoing action
- ex. "I went to see the sequel, and I hoped it would be as good as the first
- the two independent clauses (complete sentences) can be combined by converting the "I hoped" to the present progressive form, "hoping"
- "I went to see the sequel, hoping it would as good as the first"
- note that "hoping" renders the second clause dependent (not a complete sentence or thought), thus employing only a comma and not a comma + conjunction
- present progressive verbs subordinate clauses:
- "Hoping it would be as good as the first" is not a complete sentence or thought
- thus it is a dependent or subordinate clause
- "Hoping it would be as good as the first" is not a complete sentence or thought
- see also:
- present perfect
- indicates an action that happened at one point or that just happened and that consequences on the present
- usually uses the "has" or "have" forms of a verb
- "Yes, I have eaten dinner already"
- "I have played soccer since I was five"
- "I haven't seen her in years"
past tense forms[edit | edit source]
- past simple
- an action that happened in the past
- click EXPAND for past simple examples:
- "I ate before they showed up"
- "I played soccer yesterday"
- "I lived in Brazil"
- past progressive
- actions that were ongoing at some point in the past or that were repeated in the past
- uses the -ing form of a verb
- * click Expand for past progressive examples:
past progressive examples:
- "I was eating when they showed up"
- "I was playing soccer all last year"
- "I was living in Brazil"
- past perfect
- an action that happened before something else happened (both in the past)
- uses "had" to show the earlier event
- and compares it to another even with "before", "because" or "by the time", etc.
- click Expand for past perfect examples:
- "I had already eaten when they showed up"
- "I had played soccer long before I learned rugby"
- "Because I had lived in Brazil, I already knew some Spanish"
future tense forms[edit | edit source]
- future simple
- an action that will take place in the future, usually with "will"
- click Expand for future simple examples:
- "I will eat after they show up"
- I will play soccer tomorrow"
- I will live in Brazil next year"
- future simple also indicates a promise to do something in the future
- "I will play harder next time"
- future progressive
- an action that will be ongoing in the future, usually with "will" and "-ing"
- click Expand for future progressive examples:
- "I will be eating with them when they show up"
- "I will be playing soccer again after my ankle heals"
- "I will be living in Brazil all next year"
- future perfect
- an action that will happen before something else, usually with "will have"
- future perfect combines the future "will" with a past tense verb form
- future perfect also indicates an ongoing future state or condition
- click Expand for future perfect examples:
- "I will have eaten before they show up"
- "I will have played much better by the time we got to the playoffs"
- "I will have lived in Brazil by the end of next summer"
- or
- "If they show up late, I will have been eating already."
- "By next year, I will have played soccer for 12 years"
- "I will have lived in Brazil a full year as of next week"
- future perfect progressive
- an action that will be going on until something else happens
- uses the "will have been" and -ing form of the verb
- click Expand for future perfect progressive examples:
- "I will have been eating by the time they show up"
- "By the end of the season, I will have been playing better"
- "By next week, I will have been living in Brazil a full year"
participles and gerunds[edit | edit source]
- verb forms that act like an adjective or a noun
- types:
- present participle:
- verb form using -ing that acts as an adjective
- past participle:
- past tense verb form that acts as an adjective
- gerund
- verb form using -ing that acts as a noun
- present participle:
- click on EXPAND for explanation and examples of present participles:
- present participle
- uses the -ing form of a verb as an adjective
- click EXPAND to see examples of past participles:
- "The boiling water is hot" (describes the water)
- "This trip is exciting" (modifies or describes the trip)
- "The directions are confusing" (modifies the directions)
- past participle
- verbs in the past tense used as an adjective
- where the simple past tense of a verb is used to show a condition of something
- typically are -ed -en and -t forms
- includes irregular verbs in the past tense, such as "to be" "to go" etc.
- click on EXPAND for past participles as adjectives examples:
- "Boiled water is sanitized" ("boiled" and "sanitized" describe the water)
- "The glass was broken when I found it" ("was broken" describes the glass)
- "The cut flowers are pretty" ("cut -
- gerunds
- verbs that act as nouns
- use the -ing form of the verb
- click on EXPAND for gerund (participles as nouns) examples:
- "to swim" + -ing = "swimming" = a noun for the act of swimming
- "Swimming is fun"
- "Boiling water sanitizes it" ("boiling" is an act, therefore a noun, from the verb "to boil")
- Note: gerunds are often interchangeable with infinitives
- "I hate doing math" versus "I hate to do math"
- however, note that gerunds and infinitives may act differently in terms of the object of the sentence
- Note: gerunds are often interchangeable with infinitives
- click on EXPAND for how gerunds and infinitives change the meaning of a sentence using College Board Writing practice test 6 question 21:
"Burland advocated using soil extraction:"
- A) NO CHANGE
- "Burland advocated using..." = he advocates for the use of soil extraction (he advocates the the object)
- B) advocated to use
- "Burland advocated to use..." = he advocates "to use" (he advocates the action)
- A) NO CHANGE is correct because it is the object of the sentence, "soil extraction," that Burland advocates, not the action of its use (to use")
- See
subjunctive[edit | edit source]
- also called "subjunctive mood"
- expresses a hypothetical or possible scenario
- called "mood" because it often expresses an emotion or desire for something to happen or exist
- subjunctive phrases usually pair verbs of opposing tenses, as in "if I had, I would"
- ex.: "If I had studied harder, I would have done better on the test."
- "had studied" = past perfect (an action that happened at one time)
- "would have studied" = conditional perfect tense (also "past tense modal")
- "would" = past tense of "will" thereby represents an imaginary action from the past
- ex.: "If I had studied harder, I would have done better on the test."
- see
verb conjugations[edit | edit source]
- students of Latin, Spanish or French verb conjugations while not learning about them in English
- English has conjugations, just like many other languages
- however, the conjugations in English do not vary as much
- conjugations work by changing the verb suffix or form to match subject case
>> to chart out comparison of Latin, Spanish, French and English cases << to do