ISFD Nº23 – Prof. de Inglés - PDCE I – Prof.

María Eugenia Ianiro ©

PARTS OF SPEECH

Parts of speech are the classification of words categorized by their roles and

functions within the structure of the language.

Parts of speech encompass everything a language has in itself. They play

different roles in the structure of a language.

In English, there are eight parts of speech:

• Noun
• Pronoun
• Verb
• Adjective
• Adverb
• Preposition
• Conjunction
• Interjection

NOUNS: Noun refers to people, places, things, ideas, concepts, etc.

Example: Michael is a good boy. Melbourne is the best city.

PRONOUNS: A pronoun is used to refer to a noun/noun phrase, or nouns/noun

phrases; instead of the repeated use of the same noun(s)/noun phrase(s).

Example: Michael is a good boy. He gets up early in the morning.

VERBS: Verb shows an action or an ongoing condition. It is considered as the

heart of a sentence.

Example: Alex is going home. He loves his home.

ADJECTIVES: Adjective modifies or describes noun in a sentence.

Example: Alex loves his beautiful daughters. His daughters also love

their caring father.

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ADVERBS: Adverbs modify or describe adjectives, verbs, or other adverbs. It

answers the questions When? Where? How? or How much?

Example: He is running fast. She always reads attentively.

PREPOSITIONS: Preposition gives context to nouns in relationship to other

nouns or pronouns.

Example: I am going to France. France is in Europe.

CONJUCTIONS: A conjunction connects nouns, noun phrases, clauses or

sentences together.

Example: Julie love chocolate and chips. She loves pasta, but she hates pizza.

INTERJECTIONS: Interjections are brief and abrupt pauses in speech, usually

used for expressing emotions.

Example: Oh! That feels terrible. Alas! They have lost the match.

NOUNS

Nouns refer to persons, animals, places, things, ideas, or events, etc. Nouns

encompass most of the words of a language.

Noun can be a/an:

o Person – a name for a person: - Max, Julie, Catherine, Michel, Bob, etc.

o Animal – a name for an animal: - dog, cat, cow, kangaroo, etc.

o Place – a name for a place: - London, Australia, Canada, Mumbai, etc.

o Thing – a name for a thing: - bat, ball, chair, door, house, computer, etc.

o Idea – A name for an idea: - devotion, superstition, happiness, excitement,

etc.

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Proper Noun:

A proper noun is a name which refers only to a single person, place, or thing

and there is no common name for it. In written English, a proper noun always

begins with capital letters.

Example: Melbourne (it refers to only one particular city), Steve (refers to a

particular person), Australia (there is no other country named Australia; this

name is fixed for only one country).

Common Noun:

A common noun is a name for something which is common for many things,

person, or places. It encompasses a particular type of things, person, or places.

Example: Country (it can refer to any country, nothing in particular), city (it can

refer to any city like Melbourne, Mumbai, Toronto, etc. but nothing in

particular).

So, a common noun is a word that indicates a person, place, thing, etc. in

general, and a proper noun is a specific one of those.

Abstract Noun:

An abstract noun is a word for something that cannot be seen but is there. It

has no physical existence. Generally, it refers to ideas, qualities, and conditions.

Example: Truth, lies, happiness, sorrow, time, friendship, humor, patriotism, etc.

Concrete Noun:

A concrete noun is the exact opposite of abstract noun. It refers to the things

we see and have physical existence.

Example: Chair, table, bat, ball, water, money, sugar, etc.

Countable Noun:

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The nouns that can be counted are called countable nouns. Countable nouns

can take an article: a, an, the.

Example: Chair, table, bat, ball, etc. (you can say 1 chair, 2 chairs, 3 chairs – so

chairs are countable)

Non-countable Noun:

The nouns that cannot be counted are called non-countable nouns.

Example: Water, sugar, oil, salt, etc. (you cannot say “1 water, 2 water, 3 water”

because water is not countable)

Abstract nouns and proper nouns are always non-countable nouns,

but common nouns and concrete nouns can be both count and non-count

nouns.

Collective Noun:

A collective noun is a word for a group of things, people, or animals, etc.

Example: family, team, jury, cattle, etc.

Collective nouns can be both plural and singular. However, Americans prefer to

use collective nouns as singular, but both of the uses are correct in other parts

of the world.

Compound Noun:

Sometimes two or three nouns appear together, or even with other parts of

speech, and create idiomatic compound nouns. Idiomatic means that those

nouns behave as a unit and, to a lesser or greater degree, amount to more than

the sum of their parts.

Example: six-pack, five-year-old, and son-in-law, snowball, mailbox, etc.

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Functions of Nouns

Nouns can be used as a subject, a direct object, and an indirect object of a verb;

as an object of a preposition; and as an adverb or adjective in sentences. Nouns

can also show possession.

Subject: The company is doing great. Roses are the flowers of love.

Direct object: I finally bought a new mobile.

Indirect object: Max gave Carol another chocolate.

Object of preposition: Roses are the flowers of love.

Adverb: The train leaves today.

Adjective: The office building faces the mall.

Possession: The lion’s cage is dangerous. My brother’s daughter is adorable.

PRONOUNS

A pronoun is used in place of a specific noun mentioned earlier in a sentence

so that you don’t have to keep saying/writing that particular noun.

Example:

o Michael is a good boy. Hegets up early in the morning. (Here, you don’t
have to mention ‘Michael’ again)
o The coach selected several key points. He wanted the team to
memorize them. (‘He’ replaces ‘the coach’; ‘them’ replaces ‘several key
points’)
The word or phrase that a pronoun replaces is called the antecedent of the

pronoun. In the previous example, original noun ‘the coach’ is the antecedent

and the pronoun ‘he’ is the referent because it refers back to the original noun.

The antecedent and the pronoun/s must agree in terms of number and gender.

Types of pronouns

• Subject Pronouns
• Object Pronouns

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• Possessive Pronouns
• Reflexive Pronouns
• Intensive Pronouns
• Relative Pronouns
• Demonstrative Pronouns
• Interrogative Pronouns

Subject Pronouns:

Subject pronouns work as the subject of the verb in a sentence. A subject

pronoun normally replaces the subject/object (a noun) of the previous sentence.

Example:

o Mike can’t attend the party. He has gone to his grandparents.

o Marta is a good storyteller. She told a ghost story that scared everyone.
o Julie made some cakes. They look tasty. (Here, the subject pronoun
replaced the object of the previous sentence)

Object Pronouns:

Object pronouns work as the object or indirect object in a sentence replacing

the antecedent object. This form of the pronoun is also used after prepositions.

Example:

o I’ll give you a present on your birthday. I have a great idea for you. (after
preposition)
o Tell her that you’ll take the job.
o I have a gift for your boss. Give it to your boss. (Here, ‘it ‘works as an
object)

Possessive Pronouns:

Possessive pronouns replace the nouns of the possessive adjectives: my, our,

your, her, his, their. The possessive pronouns are mine, ours, yours, hers, his,

its, theirs. The pronoun ‘who’ also has a possessive form, whose.

Example:

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o I thought my bag was lost, but the one Kesrick found was mine. (Here,
‘mine’ refers to ‘my bag’)
o Their vacation will start next week. Ours is tomorrow. (Here, ‘ours’ refers
to ‘our vacation’)
o Those four suitcases are ours.
o Is this yours?

You have to take either her car or theirs. Hers is better than theirs. (Here, ‘her’

is possessive adjective and ‘hers’ and ‘theirs’ are possessive pronouns which

replaced ‘her car’ and ‘their car’)

Reflexive Pronouns:

Reflexive pronoun redirects a sentence or a clause back to the subject, which

is also the direct object of that sentence. A reflexive pronoun comes when the

subject performs its action upon itself. Here, ‘itself’ is a reflexive pronoun.

Example:

o Since she is her own boss, she gave herself a raise. (Here, ‘herself’ is the
direct object of the clause and the same person is the subject)
o She allowed herself more time to get ready.
o The computer restarts itself every night.
o We told ourselves that we were so lucky to be alive.

Intensive Pronouns:

Intensive pronouns add emphasis/importance but do not act as the object in

the sentence. They can appear right after the subject.

Example:

o I will do it myself. (Here, ‘myself’ is not an object)

o I myself saw the missing boat into the harbor.
o We intend to do all the work ourselves.
o You yourselves are responsible for this mess.

Relative Pronouns:

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Relative pronouns introduce the relative clause. They are used to make clear

what is being talked about in a sentence. They describe something more about

the subject or the object.

The relative pronouns are:

Subject Object Possession Uncertainty

Which Which Whose Whichever ---- (for things)

That That ---- (for both things and people)

Who Whom Whose Whoever/whomever/whosever ----

(for person)

Example:

o The car that was stolen was the one they loved most.
o A person who loves nature is a good person.
o Our school, which was founded in 1995, is being renovated.
o I will accept whichever party dress you buy me on Valentine's Day.
o Whoever you are behind this great initiative, I want to thank you.

Demonstrative Pronouns:

Demonstrative pronouns normally indicate the closeness of or distance from

the speaker, either literally or symbolically. This, these, that, and those are the

demonstrative pronouns. They also work as demonstrative adjectives when they

modify a noun. However, demonstrative pronouns do not modify anything

rather replace the nouns/noun phrases.

Sometimes neither, none and such are also used as demonstrative pronouns.

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Example:

o That is a long way to go. (demonstrative pronoun)

o This is my car. (demonstrative pronoun)
o Hand me that cricket bat. (demonstrative adjective)
o Neither is permitted to enter the building.
o Such are ways of life.

Interrogative Pronouns:

Interrogative pronouns produce questions. They are what, which, who, whom,

and whose.

Who, whom, and whose refer to questions related to a person or

animal; what refers to an idea, object, or event; and which can indicate either a

person/s or a thing/s.

Example:

o What was the name of your dog?

o Which is your favorite movie?
o Who works for you?
o Whom do you prefer in this competition?
o There’s a new bike on the lawn. Whose is it?

VERBS

A verb is a word or a combination of words that indicates action or a state of

being or condition. A verb is the part of a sentence that tells us what the subject

performs. Verbs are the hearts of English sentences.

Examples:

o Jacob walks in the morning. (A usual action)

o Mike is going to school. (A condition of action)
o Albert does not like to walk. (A negative action)
o Anna is a good girl. (A state of being)

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Verbs are related to a lot of other factors like the subject, person, number,

tense, mood, voice, etc.

Basic Forms of Verbs

There are six basic forms of verbs. These forms are as follows:

o Base form: Children play in the field.

o Infinitive: Tell them not to play

o Past tense: They played football yesterday.

o Past participle: I have eaten a burger.

o Present participle: I saw them playing with him today.

o Gerund: Swimming is the best exercise.

Different types of verbs

• Finite Verbs
• Non-finite Verbs
• Action Verbs
• Linking Verb
• Auxiliary Verbs
• Modal Verbs

Finite Verbs:

Finite verbs are the actual verbs which are called the roots of sentences. It is a

form of a verb that is performed by or refers to a subject and uses one of the

twelve forms of tense and changes according to the number/person of the

subject.

Example:

o Alex went to school. (Subject – Alex – performed the action in the past.
This information is evident only by the verb ‘went’.)
o Robert plays hockey.
o He is playing for Australia.

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o He is one of the best players. (Here, the verb ‘is’ directly refers to the
subject itself.)

Non-finite Verbs:

Non-finite Verbs are not actual verbs. They do not work as verbs in the

sentence rather they work as nouns, adjectives, adverbs, etc. Non-finite verbs

do not change according to the number/person of the subject because these

verbs, also called verbals, do not have any direct relation to the subject.

Sometimes they become the subject themselves.

The forms of non-finite verbs are – infinitive, gerund, and participle (participles

become finite verbs when they take auxiliary verbs.)

Example:

o Alex went abroad to play (Infinitives)

o Playing cricket is his only job. (Present participle)
o I have a broken bat. (Past participle)
o Walking is a good habit. (Gerund)

Action Verbs:

Action verbs indicate what the subject of a sentence performs. Action verbs

can make the listener/reader feel emotions, see scenes more vividly and

accurately.

Action verbs can be transitive or intransitive.

Transitive verbs must have a direct object. A transitive verb demands

something/someone to be acted upon.

Example:

o I painted the car. (The verb ‘paint’ demands an object to be painted)

o She is reading the newspaper. (The verb ‘read’ asks the question “what is
she reading?” – the answer is the object)

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Intransitive verbs do not act upon anything. They may be followed by an

adjective, adverb, preposition, or another part of speech.

Example:

o She smiled. (The verb ‘smile’ cannot have any object since the action of
‘smiling’ does not fall upon anything/anyone)
o I wake up at 6 AM. (No object is needed for this verb)

Note: {Subject + Intransitive verb} is sufficient to make a complete sentence but

{Subject + Transitive verb} is not sufficient because transitive verbs demand a

direct object.

Linking Verbs:

A linking verb adds details about the subject of a sentence. In its simplest form,

it connects the subject and the complement — that is, the words that follow the

linking verb. It creates a link between them instead of showing action.

Often, what is on each side of a linking verb is equivalent; the complement

redefines or restates the subject.

Generally, linking verbs are called ‘be’ verbs which are - am, is, are, was, were.

However, there are some other verbs which can work as linking verbs. Those

verbs are:

Act, feel, remain, appear, become, seem, smell, sound, grow, look, prove, stay,

taste, turn.

Some verbs in this list can also be action verbs. To figure out if they are linking

verbs, you should try replacing them with forms of the be verbs. If the changed

sentence makes sense, that verb is a linking verb.

Example:

o She appears ready for the game. (She is ready for the game.)

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o The food seemed delicious. (The food was delicious.)

o You look happy. (You are happy.)

Auxiliary Verbs:

Auxiliary verbs are also called helping verbs. An auxiliary verb extends the

main verb by helping to show time, tense, and possibility. The auxiliary verbs

are – be verbs, have, and do.

They are used in the continuous (progressive) and perfect tenses.

Linking verbs work as main verbs in the sentence, but auxiliary verbs help main

verbs.

Do is an auxiliary verb that is used to ask questions, to express negation, to

provide emphasis, and more.

Example:

o Alex is going to school.

o They are walking in the park.
o I have seen a movie.
o Do you drink tea?
o Don’t waste your time.
o Please, do submit your assignments.

Modal Verbs:

A modal verb is a kind of an auxiliary verb. It assists the main verb to indicate

possibility, potentiality, ability, permission, expectation, and obligation.

The modal verbs are can, could, must, may, might, ought to, shall, should, will,

would.

Example:

o I may want to talk to you again.

o They must play their best game to win.
o She should call him.
o I will go there.

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ADJECTIVES

An adjective describes or modifies noun/s and pronoun/s in a sentence. It

normally indicates quality, size, shape, duration, feelings, contents, and more

about a noun or pronoun.

Adjectives usually provide relevant information about the nouns/pronouns they

modify/describe by answering the questions: What kind? How many? Which

one? How much? Adjectives enrich your writing by adding precision and

originality to it.

Example:

o The team has a dangerous batsman. (What kind?)

o I have ten candies in my pocket. (How many?)
o I loved that red car. (Which one?)
o I earn more money than he does. (How much?)

However, there are also many adjectives which do not fit into these questions.

Adjectives are the most used parts of speech in sentences. There are several

types of adjectives according to their uses.

Types of adjectives

• Descriptive Adjectives
• Quantitative Adjectives
• Proper Adjectives
• Demonstrative Adjectives
• Possessive Adjectives
• Interrogative Adjectives
• Indefinite Adjectives
• Articles
• Compound Adjectives

Descriptive Adjectives:

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A descriptive adjective is a word which describes nouns and pronouns. Most

of the adjectives belong in this type. These adjectives provide information and

attribute to the nouns/pronouns they modify or describe. Descriptive adjectives

are also called qualitative adjectives.

Participles are also included in this type of adjective when they modify a noun.

Examples:

o I have a fast car. (The word ‘fast’ is describing an attribute of the car)
o I am hungry. (The word ‘hungry’ is providing information about the subject)
o The hungry cats are crying.
o I saw a flying Eagle.

Quantitative Adjectives:

A quantitative adjective provides information about the quantity of the

nouns/pronouns. This type belongs to the question category of ‘how much’ and

‘how many’.

Examples:

o I have 20 bucks in my wallet. (How much)

o They have three children. (How many)
o You should have completed the whole task. (How much)

Proper Adjectives:

Proper adjectives are the adjective form of proper nouns. When proper nouns

modify or describe other nouns/pronouns, they become proper adjectives.

‘Proper’ means ‘specific’ rather than ‘formal’ or ‘polite.’

A proper adjective allows us to summarize a concept in just one word. Instead

of writing/saying ‘a food cooked in Chinese recipe’ you can write/say ‘Chinese

food’.

Proper adjectives are usually capitalized as proper nouns are.

Example:

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o American cars are very strong.

o Chinese people are hard workers.
o I love KFC burgers.
o Marxist philosophers despise capitalism.

Demonstrative Adjectives:

A demonstrative adjective directly refers to something or someone.

Demonstrative adjectives include the words: this, that, these, those.

A demonstrative pronoun works alone and does not precede a noun, but a

demonstrative adjective always comes before the word it modifies.

Examples:

o That building is so gorgeously decorated. (‘That’ refers to a singular noun

far from the speaker)
o This car is mine. (‘This’ refers to a singular noun close to the speaker)
o These cats are cute. (‘These’ refers to a plural noun close to the speaker)
o Those flowers are heavenly. (‘Those’ refers to a plural noun far from the
speaker)

Possessive Adjectives:

A possessive adjective indicates possession or ownership. It suggests the

belongingness of something to someone/something.

Some of the most used possessive adjectives are my, his, her, our, their, your.

All these adjectives always come before a noun. Unlike possessive pronouns,

these words demand a noun after them.

Examples:

o My car is parked outside.

o His cat is very cute.
o Our job is almost done.
o Her books are interesting.

Interrogative Adjectives:

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An interrogative adjective asks a question. An interrogative adjective must be

followed by a noun or a pronoun. The interrogative adjectives are: which, what,

whose. These words will not be considered as adjectives if a noun does not

follow right after them. ‘Whose’ also belongs to the possessive adjective type.

Examples:

o Which phone do you use?

o What game do you want to play?
o Whose car is this?

Indefinite Adjectives:

An indefinite adjective describes or modifies a noun unspecifically. They

provide indefinite/unspecific information about the noun. The common

indefinite adjectives are few, many, much, most, all, any, each, every, either,

nobody, several, some, etc.

Examples:

o I gave some candy to her.

o I want a few moments alone.
o Several writers wrote about the recent incidents.
o Each student will have to submit homework tomorrow.
Articles:

Articles also modify the nouns. So, articles are also adjectives. Articles

determine the specification of nouns. ‘A’ and ‘an’ are used to refer to an

unspecific noun, and ‘the’ is used to refer to a specific noun.

Examples:

o A cat is always afraid of water. (Here, the noun ‘cat’ refers to any cat, not
specific.)
o The cat is afraid of me. (This cat is a specific cat.)
o An electronic product should always be handled with care.

Compound Adjectives:

When compound nouns/combined words modify other nouns, they become a

compound adjective. This type of adjective usually combines more than one

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word into a single lexical unit and modifies a noun. They are often separated by

a hyphen or joined together by a quotation mark.

Example:

o I have a broken-down sofa.

o I saw a six-foot-long snake.
o He gave me an “I’m gonna kill you now” look.

The Degree of Adjectives:

There are three degrees of adjectives: Positive, comparative, superlative.

These degrees are applicable only for the descriptive adjectives.

Examples:

Positive degree: He is a good boy.

Comparative degree: He is better than any other boy.
Superlative: He is the best boy.

ADVERBS

An adverb is a word/a set of words that modifies verbs, adjectives, and other

adverbs. It tells when, where, and how an action is performed or indicates the

quality or degree of the action.

Many adverbs end in -ly but some words which end in -ly (such as friendly) are

not adverbs. Many words can be both adverbs and adjectives according to their

activity in the sentence.

Example:

o Robin is always hungry for success.

o I love her very much.
o He is running fast.
o Alex works hard.
o He wrote that willingly.

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Adverb Clauses and Adverb Phrases are clauses and phrases that modify the

verbs, adjectives or other adverbs in the sentence.

Example:

o He ran toward the bus until he was tired. (Adverb Clause)

o He came carrying his box with two hands. (Adverb Phrase)
o We were panicked without any reason. (Adverb Phrase)

Types of adverbs:

• Conjunctive Adverbs
• Sentence Adverbs
• Adverbs of Time/Frequency (When?)
• Adverbs of Place/Direction (Where?)
• Adverbs of Degree (How Much?)
• Adverbs of Manner (How?)

Conjunctive Adverbs:

A conjunctive adverb connects phrases or independent clauses. It provides

transitions between ideas and shows relationships.

Conjunctive adverbs are also called connectors.

Example:

o It rained last night. Nonetheless, the final match has not been canceled.
o We are still confused, however, if the umpires will come.
o Last season there was a great drought; consequently, we could not grow
crops.

Sentence Adverbs:

A sentence adverb starts the sentence and modifies the whole sentence.

Example:

o Hopefully, we will win the match.

o Apparently, the sky is getting cloudy.
o Certainly, I did not think of coming here.

Adverbs of Time/Frequency (When?)

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Adverbs of time/frequency indicate time or frequency of the action in the

sentence. They answer the question ‘when/how frequently is the action

performed?’.

Always, never, often, eventually, now, frequently, occasionally, once, forever,

seldom, before, Sunday, Monday, 10 AM, 12 PM, etc. are common adverbs of

time/frequency.

Example:

o I went to school a little late yesterday.

o He always gets a good result.
o I will leave Monday.
o He smokes occasionally.

Adverbs of Place/Direction (Where?)

Adverbs of place/direction that indicate place/direction of the action in the

sentence. They answer the question ‘where is the action performed?’.

Across, over, under, in, out, through, backward, there, around, here, sideways,

upstairs, in the park, in the field, in that place, etc. are some common adverbs

of place/direction.

Example:

o I went through the jungle.

o He plays in the field.
o Alex is going to school.
o He is staying at my home.

Adverbs of Degree (How Much?)

Adverbs that express the importance/degree/level of the action in the sentence

are called adverbs of degree. They answer the question ‘how much is the action

performed?’.

Completely, nearly, entirely, less, mildly, most, thoroughly, somewhat,

excessively, much, etc. are common adverbs of degree.

Example:

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o She completely forgot about her anniversary.

o I read the newspaper thoroughly.
o I am so excited about the new job.
o Robin hardly studies

Adverbs of Manner (How?)

Adverbs that express the manner/approach/process of the action in the

sentence are called adverbs of manner. They answer the question ‘how is the

action performed?’.

Beautifully, equally, thankfully, carefully, handily, quickly, coldly, hotly,

resentfully, earnestly, nicely, tirelessly, etc. are common adverbs of manner.

These adverbs usually end in ly.

Example:

o Let's divide the prizes equally.

o Please, handle the camera carefully.
o Mike is walking slowly.
o He is running fast.

PREPOSITIONS

A preposition is a word that indicates the relationship between a noun and the

other words of a sentence. They explain relationships of sequence, space, and

logic between the object of the sentence and the rest of the sentence. They

help us understand order, time connections, and positions.

Example:

o I am going to Canada.
o Alex threw a stone into the pond.
o The present is inside the box.
o They have gone out of the town.

There are a few interesting linguistic facts about preposition.

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First, they are a closed class of words which means no new preposition gets

added to the language. We use a fixed set of prepositions.

Second, prepositions do not have any other form. They cannot be plural,

possessive, inflection, or anything else.

Third, most of the prepositions have many different contextual and natural uses.

So, it is easy to be confused about preposition.

Fourth, sometimes a preposition works as nouns, adjectives, and adverbs.

Prepositions can be of one, two, three, or even more words. Prepositions with

two or more words are called phrasal prepositions.

There are some commonly used phrasal prepositions: because of, in case of,

instead of, by way of, on behalf of, on account of, in care of, in spite of, on the

side of, etc.

Types of prepositions

Most of the prepositions have many uses. There are some prepositions which

are common in every type of preposition as they function in a versatile way.

• Prepositions of Time
• Prepositions of Place and Direction
• Prepositions of Agents or Things
• Phrasal Prepositions

Prepositions of Time:

Prepositions of time show the relationship of time between the nouns to the

other parts of a sentence.

On, at, in, from, to, for, since, ago, before, till/until, by, etc. are the most

common preposition of time.

Example:

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o He started working at 10 AM.

o The company called meeting on 25 October.
o There is a holiday in December.
o He has been ill since Monday.

Prepositions of Place and Direction:

Prepositions of place show the relationship of place between the nouns to the

other parts of a sentence.

On, at, in, by, from, to, towards, up, down, across, between, among,

through, in front of, behind, above, over, under, below, etc. are the most

common prepositions of place/direction.

Example:

o He is at home.
o He came from England.
o The police broke into the house.
o I live across the river.

Prepositions of Agents or Things:

Prepositions of agents or things indicate a casual relationship between nouns

and other parts of the sentence.

Of, for, by, with, about, etc. are the most used and common prepositions of

agents or things.

Example:

o This article is about smartphones.

o Most of the guests have already left.
o I will always be here for you.
o He is playing with his brothers.

Phrasal Prepositions:

A phrasal preposition is not a prepositional phrase, but they are a combination

of two or more words which functions as a preposition.

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Along with, apart from, because of, by means of, according to, in front of,

contrary to, in spite of, on account of, in reference to, in addition to, in

regard to, instead of, on top of, out of, with regard to, etc. are the most

common phrasal prepositions.

Example:

o They along with their children went to Atlanta.

o According to the new rules, you are not right.
o In spite of being a good player, he was not selected.
o I’m going out of the city.

CONJUCTIONS

Conjunctions are used to join clauses, phrases, and words together for

constructing sentences. Conjunctions make a link between/among words or

groups of words to other parts of the sentence and show a relationship

between/among them.

Example:

o Alex and Robin are playing together.

o Alex plays well, but Robin plays better than him.
o I play cricket, and Robin plays football.
o When he was sick, I went to see him.

Types of conjunctions

• Coordinating Conjunctions
• Correlative Conjunctions
• Subordinating Conjunctions

Coordinating Conjunctions:

The job of a coordinating conjunction is to join two words, phrases, or

independent clauses, which are parallel in structure. There are seven

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coordinating conjunctions which are by far the most common

conjunctions: and, but, for, nor, or, so, yet.

Example:

o We went to the stadium and enjoyed the cricket match.

o Do you want an ice cream or chocolate?
o Go away and never come back.

Correlative Conjunctions:

A correlative conjunction uses a set of words in a parallel sentence structure to

show a contrast or to compare the equal parts of a sentence. The words of

correlative conjunctions have a special connection between them.

The correlative conjunctions are not only - but also, either- or, neither - nor,

both - and, not - but, whether - or.

Example:

o Neither Alex nor Robin can play baseball.

o I want both ice cream and
o He ate not only the ice cream but also the chocolate.

Subordinating Conjunctions:

A subordinating conjunction joins elements of an unparallel sentence

structure. These elements are usually a dependent clause and an independent

clause.

Most commonly used subordinating conjunctions are:

After, how, than, when, although, if, that, where, as, in order that, though, which,

as much as, inasmuch as, unless, while, because, provided, until, who/whom,

before, since, what, whoever/whomever.

Example:

o Before we left home, I had had my breakfast.

o Provided they come, we can start class Tuesday.
o When he was washing my car, I went to the store.
o Even though the weather was horrible, they still went outside.

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INTERJECTIONS

An interjection is a kind of exclamation inserted into regular speech. Actually,

it is a brief and abrupt pause in speech for expressing emotions.

Interjections are unique and have some interesting features:

o Interjections don’t have a grammatical function in the

sentence construction.

o They usually cannot be modified or inflected.

o They do not have to have a relation to the other parts of the sentence.

o They are highly context-sensitive.

In spoken language, interjections are the words we instantly use to show our

reaction to something which influences our emotion. They are the initial reaction

and sometimes do not even make sense. However, for formal speech or writing,

using interjections is not appropriate.

Interjections mainly have four roles:

Rule 1: Interjections express a sudden mood, emotions, and feeling with

emphasis. There are also many taboo words that are usually used in everyday

conversation but not in formal aspects. These words fall into the category of

interjections.

Example:

o Wow! That’s an amazing scene.

o Aw, I did not want him to come.
o What? You never told me that!

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Rule 2: Some interjections interrupt a conversation or a thought or hold

someone’s attention for a moment. These are just sounds, not words because

these sounds do not make any sense.

Example:

o Your, um, shirt has a stain on the back.

o I want to, uh, ask you out on a date.

Rule 3: Some interjections express only yes or no.

Example:

o Yes! I will most definitely do it.

o Nah, we are not going.

Rule 4: Some interjections are used to get someone’s attention.

Example:

o Yo, Alex! Get in the car!

o Hey! Will you give me that ball?
o Yoo-hoo! Is there anyone?

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