Parts of Speech

Chris Giles

The Episcopal Academy

What’s the point of knowing parts of speech?

• “My Mom is a lawyer, and she doesn’t know what an adverb is.”

• “Mozart couldn’t have cared less about prepositions.”

• “I’m going to be a cowboy. They don’t need parts of speech!”

The Point

• You can impress people at parties by reciting the list of prepositions. ”About, Above, Aboard...”

• You can become intimately familiar with our language and use it to express yourself with precision and power.

• You’ll bomb this course if you don’t!

Parts of Speech

• Noun

• Pronoun

• Adjective

• Verb

• Adverb

• Preposition

• Conjunction

• Interjection

Nouns are people, places, things, and ideas.

• There are two main types: Proper Nouns and Common Nouns

Common nouns are nonspecific, places, things, and ideas

• lizard lips

• mountain bike trails

• canoes

• laziness

• Name four common nouns that you can touch right now.

Proper nouns are specific, named people, places, things, and

ideas.• Miles Davis

• Walla Walla, Washington

• The Suez Canal

• The Theory of Relativity

• Name three proper nouns that you can see right now.

Pronouns take the place of nouns.

• Jojo slipped on a banana peel. He broke his chin.– He = Jojo his = Jojo’s

• Laziness is very satisfying. It takes a lot out of you though.– It = laziness you = the lazy person

• Name two pronouns for the person next to you.

Adjectives modify nouns and pronouns

• Waiter, these lizard lips are too hot!

• Think of an adjective to describe the shoes of the person next to you. Don’t tell them...

Verbs show action or state-of-being.

• Action Verbs show action. – Elvis has left the Building.

• Linking verbs don’t.– He was the “King.”

• Create a verb for the act of balancing a chair on your nose.

Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs.

• Renaldo dances gracefully on our dining room table.– How does he dance? Gracefully.

• But his pants are too tight.– How tight are his pants? Too tight.

• He glides so effortlessly across the floor.– How effortlessly does he glide? So effortlessly.

• What letters often come at the end of adverbs?

Conjunctions join words or groups of words.

• It is time that we joined us and them.

• Moose wanted to go to the mall to shop, but Penelope insisted on bowling.

• Knuckles likes a good manicure, however he shies away from pedicures.

• Can you sing that song from Grammar Rock?

Prepositions show relationship between two nouns.

• The cat is in the hat.– Where is the cat in relation to the hat? In it!

• Bonzo climbed aboard the mechanical bull.– Where is Bonzo in relation to the bull?

Aboard it!

• How quickly can you recite the list of prepositions?

Interjections show strong emotion.

• Think of Batman. Biff! Bam! Plowee! Ooooff!

• Think of some interjections that you would use if you wrote an episode of Batman.

•Review

• What are the eight parts of speech?

• Why do we need to learn them?

• Why is it so dark in here?