Parts of Speech
To recognize parts of speech of words, it is essential to first understand the function of a word in a sentence and recognize its form, since many words can act as more than one part of speech. There are, however, a few words that have only one classification, such as notify (verb), sleepy (adjective), and practically (adverb).
Words are grouped into the following eight classes: noun, verb, pronoun, adjective, adverb, preposition, conjunction, and interjection. Of those classes, nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs make up more than 99% of all words in the dictionary. Only prepositions, conjunction, and interjections never change their form.
Watchful kittens typically pounce at bugs.
|
Word |
Form | Function | Part of Speech |
| Watchful | -ful ending | Modifier | Adjective |
| Kittens | -s (plural) | Subject | Noun |
| Typically | -ly ending | Modifier | Adverb |
| Pounced | -ed (past tense) | Verb of predicate | Verb |
| At | Invariable | Connector | Preposition |
| Bugs | -s (plural) | Object of the preposition | Noun |
Try It!
1. Classify each word in the following sentences.
a. He met the woman in the park on a Saturday afternoon.
b. Gladys wrote three poems last week.
c. Jason writes computer programs for his company.
d. The two boys bought flowers for Stacy.
e. The vagrant lives on 21st Street.
2. Select a word and write sentences using it in as many different parts of speech as possible.