PARTS OF SPEECH: INTRODUCTION
Learn English: Parts of Speech:
Words are divided into different kinds or classes, called Parts of Speech, according to their use, that is, according to the work they do in a sentence. The Parts of speech are eight in number:-
- Noun
- Adjective
- Pronoun
- Verb
- Adverb
- Preposition
- Conjunction
- Interjection
NOUNS:
DEFINITION: A noun is a word used as the name of a person, place, or thing; as,
Akbar was a great King.
Multan is in Punjab.
The rose smells sweet.
The sun shines bright.
His courage won him honor.
NOTE: The word thing includes (i) all objects that we can see, hear, taste, touch, or smell; and (ii) something that we can think of, but cannot perceive by the senses.
KINDS OF NOUN:
Learn English: Following are the kinds of nouns.
ADJECTIVE:
An adjective is a word used to add something to the meaning of a noun; such as,
- He is a brave boy.
- There are twenty boys in this class.
PRONOUN:
A pronoun is a word used instead of a noun; such as,
- John is absent because he is ill.
- The books are where you left them.
VERB:
A verb is a word used to express an action or state; such as,
- The girl wrote a letter to her cousin.
- Faisalabad is a big city.
- Iron and copper are useful metals.
ADVERB:
An Adverb is a word used to add something to the meaning of a verb, an adjective, or another adverb; such as,
- He worked the sum quickly.
- This flower is very beautiful.
- She pronounced the word quite correctly.
PREPOSITION:
A preposition is a word used with a noun or a pronoun to show how the person or thing denoted by the noun or pronoun stands about something else; such as,
- There is a cow in the garden.
- The girl is fond of music.
- A fair little girl under a tree.
CONJUNCTION:
A Conjunction is a word used to join words or sentences; such as,
- Rehan and Hamid are cousins.
- Two and two make four.
- I ran fast but missed the train.
INTERJECTION:
An Interjection is a word that expresses some sudden feeling; such as,
- Hurrah! we have won the game.
- Alas! she is dead.
Some modern grammars include determiners among the parts of speech. Determiners are words like a, an, the, this, that, those, those, every, each, some, any, my, his, one, two, etc, which determine or limit the meaning of the nouns that follow.
As words are divided into different classes according to the work they do in sentences, it is clear that we cannot say to which part of speech a word belongs unless we see it used in a sentence.
They arrived soon after. (Adverb)
They arrived after us. (Preposition)
They arrived after we had left. (Conjunction)
In this Tutorial, we will discuss all the above things.