A Quick Glance at the Parts of Speech

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Written by: Saqib Wazir 》

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Parts of Speech are as difficult to comprehend as simple they seem at first. But until now. In this article, I have tried to define, describe, and depict all of the Parts of Speech and show how they are and what their functions are through a few sentences.

Definitions of Parts of Speech:

1. 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. (English Grammar and Composition by Wren and Martin)
2. The Parts of Speech are different linguistic categories of words sharing syntactic or morphological behavior and semantic properties. (Wiktionary) (The bold words in the definition may seem a bit out of the way to beginners like me and you. I will cover them all in a separate article.)

Other Phrases used for Parts of Speech

• lexical categories
• lexical classes
• syntactic categories
• words classes

Explanation

When I say: I want to become a writer. I use certain words, working collectively to make my speech. These words (I, want, to, become, a, writer) don’t have the same function. Rather, they have different functions to perform.

We put these words in different groups according to their functions in a sentence. When this job completed, we come up with eight different categories of words, which are called the Parts of Speech. Let’s have a quick look at them now. With time, however, I will come up with a separate detailed article on each of the eight parts of speech.

1.  Noun

The name of a person, thing or place, is called noun, as illustrated in the following sentences:

• There is a cat in the room, and a lion in the courtyard.
• We all belong to this beautiful world and should work for its prosperity.
• Car and motorcycle are different sources of transportation.
• The love of the country is instilled in the people.
• Physics, chemistry and biology are different branches of science.

2.  Adjective

It is the category of all those words which add something to the meaning of nouns or pronouns (on pronoun later), as in the following sentences:

(The bold words being nouns, the italicized ones are adjectives, which add to these nouns’ meanings.)

• I am writing with a blue pen.
• The car you are driving is beautiful and awesome.
• He got frightful, when spotting a black dog.
• You really did a great job, when you denoted the entire sum of money to the foundation.
• Different parts of Pakistan have been hit by devastating floods and continual rain since last month.

3.  Pronoun

It is a group of words that contains all such words that can be used instead of a noun, or that can do the job of a noun, if the noun somehow omitted. The following sentences will portray this:

(The bold words being nouns, the italicized ones are pronouns, used instead of the nouns.)

• Ali is a doctor. He can do his job well.
• Sun rises in the east. It sets in the west.
• Shakespeare was a great playwright, who has written many plays.

4.  Verb

The category of all those words which express actions or states. As in the following sentences, the italicized words being verbs, show different actions.

• We played cricket; however they went out on a picnic.
• He was a remarkable footballer and a kindhearted man at the same time.
• The pen writes smoothly.
• Can you please write a letter for me.
• Tragedy has befallen the country.

5.  Adverb

All those words that modify the meaning of verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs. Thus, they have three functions to perform:

1. Add to the meaning of a verb; as in, The stars shine continuously in the sky. (The italicized word being adverb, the bold one is the verb modified.)
2. Add to the meaning of an adjective; as in, I like it very much to go on hiking. (The italicized being adverb, the bold is the adjective modified.)
3. Add to the meaning of another adverb; as in, He quite accurately defined the subject. (The italicized word being adverb, the bold one is the another adverb modified.)

6.  Preposition

Preposition is a word used with a noun or pronoun to show how this noun or pronoun is related with something else in the rest of the sentence.

It can relate a noun with another noun, an adjective, or a verb. Thus, it has three functions to perform:

1. He was writing a letter with a pencil. (Here in this sentence, the bold words are nouns related by the italicized preposition.)
2. She is excited about learning letter-writing. (Here in this sentence, the underlined word is an adjective and the bold word is a noun. The italicized preposition has shown the relationship between them.)
3. He was sleeping in the courtyard. (Here in this sentence, the underlined word is a verb, the bold word is a noun and the italicized  word is a preposition, having related them with each other.)

7.  Conjunction

A conjunction is a word which is used to combine words or sentences. In the following sentences, the italicized words are conjunction:

• Ali and Ahmad are brothers.
• There is a cat in the room, and a lion in the courtyard.
• We all belong to this beautiful world, so we should work for its prosperity.
• I drive extremely fast, but missed the flight.
• Two and two make four.

8.  Interjection

Interjection is that group of words which are used to show some sudden feeling. As in the following sentences, the italicized words belong to Interjection:

• Hurrah! We won the match.
• Alas! He got out of breath.
• Wow! There will be a great fun today.

There are a great many words used to show some sudden feelings, which I would cover in a separate detailed article.

In the course of this article, you must have noticed that I did not talk about Articles, which is sometimes considered a separate part of speech. In some standard grammar books, however, they have been considered as adjectives. Thus, I will cover Articles in detail.

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About the Writer

Saqib Wazir is a matric student, who aspires to become a fiction writer.

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