Understanding Parts of Speech
What are parts of speech?
Each part of speech serves a different purpose in communicating ideas. They can be identified by their purpose, location in a clause, and endings. This handout identifies and defines each part of speech and provides bolded examples in the section where they are discussed to demonstrate their purpose, placement, and endings.
Parts of Speech and Their Forms
Noun: Commonly described as a person, place, or thing, a noun is the subject or object of a sentence, i.e. the thing that is acting or receiving an action in a sentence. Pronouns, a type of noun, substitute for and refer back to a previously mentioned noun in the same sentence. Nouns are an extremely diverse group of words, but some common noun endings are -tion, -er, -ism, -ist, -ity, and -hood.
Verb: A verb describes the action, occurrence, or state of the subject of a sentence. Verbs tell the tense –past, present, future– of an action, as well as whether it is a complete (perfect) or continuous action. This creates multiple forms of the same verb.
Example: Live
Past/Present/Future: lived/live/will live
Continuous/Perfect/Perfect Continuous: am living/have lived/have been living
Adjective: Adjectives add information about a noun or pronoun and come before or after the noun they add to. There can be multiple adjectives both before and after a noun describing tangible and intangible attributes. Adjectives have many different forms and are identified by their proximity to a noun and their endings. Common adjective endings are -able, -ful, -ive, -ic, -less, -ish, -ous, and -y.
Adverb: Adverbs clearly and concisely add information about a verb. They come before or after the verb they describe. Adverbs almost always end in -ly or -ally but can also have the same form as an adjective. To differentiate between an adjective and adverb, pay attention to the word’s location in a sentence and whether it modifies the noun or verb.
Article: A/An or The. These appear before a noun or noun phrase. A/An is an indefinite article used before a nonspecific or general noun. The is a definite article used before a specific or identifiable noun.
Preposition: Prepositions come before a noun or noun phrase and give information about time, place, location, direction, and spatial relationships. Commonly used prepositions include about, above, on, under, in, next to, between, after, and before.
Conjunction: Conjunctions are used to connect one clause or idea to another. Coordinating conjunctions (for, and, nor, but, or, yet) are used to connect two clauses or ideas of equal importance and structure, while subordinating conjunctions like “since”, “although”, and “while” connect clauses and ideas of different importance.
Changing Parts of Speech
Many words in English can be turned into a noun, verb, adjective, or adverb by using different endings for the word and changing its placement in a sentence. By familiarizing yourself with the common endings of these parts of speech, you can use your vocabulary in new ways.
Example: Live
Lives change when college starts. - Noun form
Students are living in dorms. - Verb form
Lively orientation leaders welcome students to campus. - Adjective form
Students can see music performed live during student events. - Adverb form
By Laura Widman, Writing Center Assistant Director
Copyright 2024
Nesbitt-Johnston Writing Center, Hamilton College
Hamilton.edu/writing
