Parts of Speech

This lecture is dedicated to coping with eight parts of speech in a general way so that you can gain a general knowledge about them. By the way, there will be separate chapters for conversing each part of speech elaborately.

A part of speech refers to a word in a sentence, and that word belongs to a particular class, be it a noun, pronoun, adjectives, verb, adverb, preposition, conjunction, or interjection, etc. This class or category of the word has its own placement depending on its function in the sentence. Therefore, your ability to comprehend parts of speech will enable you to understand the relationships among words, as well as functions and placements of words in the sentence.  

A. Noun 

A noun refers to a naming word. It means that any name is a noun. It may refer to any particular name (Nasima, Rohit, Dhaka, Bangladesh, Earth, etc.), any general name (girl, boy, table, city, country, planet, etc.) any name of a group (bunch, army, flock, herd, crowd, etc.), any material name which cannot be counted but only be measured (salt, sugar, iron, water, milk, etc.), and any abstract name (courage, love, affection, hate, frustration, etc.) which cannot be experienced through our five senses but only be experienced or felt. 

Based on five types of names, a noun can be classified into five types: proper noun, common noun, collective noun, material noun, and abstract noun.  

Proper noun 

Proper noun indicates specific name such as Nasima, Rohit, Dhaka, Bangladesh, planet, etc. If I say ‘Rohit,’ everybody will look at Rohit, not any other name because ‘Rohit’ is a definite name. Some examples of proper noun include ‘Earth,’ ‘Bangladesh,’ ‘Sylhet,’ ‘John,’ etc.

Common Noun 

‘Table’ is a general name. It refers to any table in the world. Similarly, if I say ‘city,’ it is not any particular city like Dhaka or Kolkata. ‘City’ refers to a general name. So, it is a common noun. 

Collective Noun 

A collective noun indicates a group of people, animals or things. 'Bunch', 'herd'', flock', and 'crowd' are some of the examples.

Material Noun 

We cannot count material nouns, but we can only measure them. We cannot count milk, water, sugar, rice, iron, etc. However, we can measure the a mal

Here, ‘glass,’ ‘tube,’ and ‘kilograms’ are measurement words.

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Abstract Noun 

An abstract noun cannot be experienced through our five senses, but we can only feel them. ‘Love,’ ‘patriotism,’ ‘hate,’ ‘fate,’ ‘affection,’ ‘courage,’ etc. are some examples of abstract nouns.  

B. Pronoun  

A pronoun replaces a noun. It means a pronoun sits in the place of a noun. Look at the examples below: 

In the first sentence, ‘Karim’ is a noun. Specifically, it is a proper noun because ‘Karim’ is a particular name. On the other hand, ‘he,’ in the second sentence, is a pronoun because ‘he’ has replaced the noun ‘Karim.’ This is the function of a pronoun: pronoun sits in the place of a noun.

 Pronouns can be classified into eight types. They are: 

USAGE OF PRONOUN 

Usage of pronouns is not limited to the clarity of speaking and writing. It is more than that. When we do not use someone’s name, we use a pronoun to refer to him or her. Incorrect or careless use of pronouns may lead to feelings of disrespect, exclusion, and alienation. The chapter ‘Pronoun Explained in Detail’ will discuss the way pronoun has been divided and sub-divided into many groups.   

C. Adjectives 

An adjective qualifies a noun, a noun phrase, or a pronoun; an adjective provides additional information about that particular noun, or pronoun. For example, Karim is a boy. Here, you don’t know anything about the boy. Now, if you want to insert more details about the boy, you can add an adjective. Look at the examples below:

The words highlighted in bold are adjectives because they provide more information about the nouns ‘boy,' ‘person,’ and the pronoun ‘he.’ Keep in mind that an adjective can provide additional information sitting before or after a noun. However, an adjective cannot modify a pronoun sitting before it. So, though an adjective can pre-modify and post-modify a noun, an adjective can only post-modify a pronoun. You will learn about pre-modifiers and post modifiers in detail in the chapter "Modifiers."

Adjectives can be categorized into many types: Look at the diagram below to get a summary of what an adjective is. Later, in a separate chapter, adjectives will be discussed thoroughly. 

D. Verb 

If I were to ask students what a verb is, some might say that a verb carries an action of the subject. This answer is partly right because verbs not only denote actions but also indicate the state of being, show the possession of the subject, or form the main part of the sentence's predicate section. Let's look at the examples below:

So, when we perform actions, those actions are carried by the action verbs. In the examples given above, the words in bold represent action verbs because they describe what subjects ‘I’ and ‘He’ are doing. 

A verb also conveys information about the subject. Examples given below will surely clarify your understanding:

Here, the verbs ‘am,’ ‘is’ and ‘looks’ are not carrying any action. They are simply giving extra information about the subject. This kind of verb only talks about the subject’s condition or state of being. 

Verbs also convey information about the possession or ownership of the subject. Please see the examples below to gain a better understanding.

When the auxiliary verbs ‘have,’ ‘has,’ and ‘had’ are used as the main verb, they indicate possession or ownership of the subjects. Possession of the items such as a ‘pen,’ ‘a beautiful house,’ and ‘a nice backpack’ has been expressed by the 'have' verbs (‘have,’ ‘has’ and ‘had).'                                                            

Verbs can be primarily divided into two main kinds: finite and non-finite verbs. There are two sub-categories of finite verbs: principal and auxiliary verbs. Principal verbs again break down into three different kinds. They are transitive, intransitive and linking, and auxiliary verbs can break down into 'be' verbs, 'do' verbs, 'have' verbs, and model auxiliary verbs. Conversely, nonfinite category includes gerund, participle, and infinitive.

You will get a comprehensive explanation about these divisions and sub-divisions of verbs from a separate chapter. 

E. Adverb 

While an adjective describes or qualifies a noun or pronoun, an adverb qualifies all other parts of speech except nouns, pronouns, and interjections. An adverb is a versatile word that can even modify a complete sentence. Let's look at some examples: 

The words in bold have modified two verbs, an adjective, an adverb, and a preposition respectively. Similarly, an adverb can modify conjunction and a complete sentence too. There will be a complete chapter where you will gain a comprehensive understanding of adverbs. You will learn how adverb modifies different parts of speech and complete sentences. Additionally, you will also come to know about the classification of adverbs with ample examples.

F. Preposition 

Prepositions refer to words that appear before nouns, pronouns, and noun phrases and make a relationship with other words in the sentence. For example: 

Here, the preposition ‘on’ establishes a relationship between ‘Pen’ and ‘the table.’ This is what a preposition does. A preposition's object can be a noun, pronoun, or noun phrase. For example:

‘Him’ is a pronoun and it is a pronoun object. An object of a preposition can be a noun phrase too. For example: 

‘The Kin Bridge’ is a noun phrase functioning as the object of the preposition ‘under.’ Here, we can see that a noun phrase can function like an object of a preposition. So, the word or words which follow a preposition function as the object of a preposition. This object of a preposition can be a noun, pronoun, or noun phrase. Now, we can go to discuss about the kinds of a preposition. There are seven types of prepositions:

Dealing with prepositions requires much space. A big chapter will be dedicated to explaining prepositions.  

G. Conjunction  

A Conjunction connects two words, phrases, and clauses. In other words, it connects parts of a sentence. Keep in mind that the function of a conjunction is limited to connecting parts of a sentence; a conjunction does not connect two sentences. Connecting sentences is the function of connectors. Examples: 

 H. Interjection  

Interjection helps us express our sudden emotions. We use some noises, sounds or words to express our sudden emotion. These noises may consist of one or more actual words, and they are not connected to the sentence structure. Removing them from the sentence will not affect the sentence structure. Let's have a couple of examples: 

In these two sentences, we have used two interjectional expressions. The two expressions— ‘Hurrah!’ and ‘Alas’—are widely used worldwide to express our sense of joy and grief.

However, if you exclude these two expressions from the sentence, there will be no impact on the overall structure of these sentences. We will still have the same subject and predicate.

At the same time, interjection can exist alone. We can use them in our writing without connecting them to the sentences.

Now, it’s time to know about the most commonly used expressions of interjection. You can learn about these common expressions from the separate chapter called ‘Interjection Explained in Detail.’  

Answer the following questions: 

What is a noun? How many ways has the noun been classified? What are they? 

2. Give some examples of the proper noun. 
3. What is the difference between common and collective nouns? Make it clear with a couple of examples. 
4. What do you mean by a material noun? Give some examples.  
5. Define the abstract noun and make us understand by giving some examples. 
6. What is the pronoun? How many ways pronoun can be classified? What are they? 
7. Discuss each type of pronoun briefly. 
8. What is a qualitative adjective? 
9. Give some examples of cardinal, ordinal and multiplicative adjectives. 
10. Discuss what you know about the pronominal and proper adjective. 

11. Define the verb and discuss the classification of the verb briefly. 
12. What is a linking verb? 
13. Mention the difference between transitive and intransitive verbs.  
14. What is the infinitive verb? Can you differentiate the participle from the gerund?  
15. Make us understand with examples how an adverb modifies adjective, verb, adverb, preposition, and conjunction. 
16. Mention what you know about the preposition.   
17. What is the conjunction? How many types have the conjunction been classified?  
18. What is an interjection? Can we separate an interjection expression from a sentence without harming the structure of the sentence? 

Note: You can answer all the questions mentioned above if you read all the separate chapters of parts of speech. Let’s begin with the noun.