PARTS OF SPEECH IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE.
The detailed explanation of each part - a new approach.
Written by Mahendiran V, a visiting professor of 'English as a foreign language'.
INTRODUCTION
Any word we use in the language would belong to any one of 10 parts. If we add punctuation in this case , there would be 11 parts of speech in English.
NOUN, PRONOUN, VERB, AUXILIARY, ADJECTIVE, ADVERB, ARTICLES, PREPOSITION, CONJUNCTION, INTERJECTION and PUNCTUATION are those parts.
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01.NOUN
Noun is a word that is seen anything in front of us. Four kinds of nouns are there. See "classification of nouns" in this page.
CLASSIFICATION OF NOUNS
There are 4 kinds of nouns.
PROPER
COMMON
COLLECTIVE
ABSTRACT
PROPER NOUN means
Names of persons/ countries/ months/ days.
(RAJU INDIA CHENNAI TAMILNADU JANUARY MONDAY)
COMMON NOUN means
Common persons, things, places, any living and non living being.
(FATHER MOTHER SISTER TEMPLE PARK FISH SEA TEA TIGER FOREST CROW WATER MAN WOMAN SHOP ROAD RECEIPT CAR VAN DRIVER FOOD and so on...)
COLLECTIVE NOUN means
A bunch of persons/ things..
Anything that is mass of amount.
(MILITARY GANG CROWD POLICE TEAM CATTLE UNIT SQUAD and so on...)
ABSTRACT NOUN means
Quality or status or dignity of a person or a thing or anything.
Can't see or feel but recognize them.
(INVESTIGATION EXAMINATION AWARENESS PRECAUTION VELOCITY GRAVITY POSSESSEVINESS AMBITION ENEMINESS (enemy is common noun) TRUST FUND SUFFICIENCY LACKNESS BEAUTY UGLINESS SENSE KNOWLEDGE FOOLISHNESS CORRECTION and so on...)
CATEGORIES OF NOUNS
There are three categories on which a noun can function.
A. Simple noun
B. Noun phrase
C. Noun clause.
A. Simple noun.
Any noun being a single word is called simple noun.
HOUSE, MAN, PETER RIVER, SKY, CROWD, DENSITY etc.
B. Noun phrase.
A noun with phrasal information is called noun phrase.
SOME OF THE BOYS, THE HEAT OF THE SUN, SHYAMALA'S DRESS, LIVING STYLE OF PEOPLE OF INDIA etc.
C. Noun clause.
A sentence that can be a noun as a subordinate clause and supporting a main clause in complex sentence is known as Noun clause.
(Capitalised is noun clause)
"I don't understand WHAT YOU ARE SAYING."
"May I know WHAT YOUR NAME IS?"
'WHICH WE OFFER AS A COMPLEMENT WITH THE PRODUCT too is under warranty."
(Noun clause is always connected with main clause using a relative pronoun like WHAT, WHICH etc.)
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02. PRONOUN
Pronoun is a word that is used instead of a noun.
Basic pronouns are so important.
I, WE YOU, HE, SHE, IT THEY are SUBJECTIVE BASIC PRONOUNS.
ME, US, YOU, HIM, HER, IT, THEM are OBJECTIVE BASIC PRONOUNS.
MY, OUR, YOUR, HIS, HER, ITS, THEIR are POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVAL BASIC PRONOUNS.
MINE, OURS, YOURS, HIS, HERS, ITS, THEIRS are POSSESSIVE BSSIC PRONOUNS.
MYSELF, OURSELVES, YOURSEF/YOURSELVES, HIMSELF, HERSELF, ITSELF, THEMSELVES are REFLEXIVE BASIC PRONOUNS.
Why are pronouns considered so important?
Millions of nouns can simply be replaced by these pronouns besides some other pronouns seen later.
I WE YOU are called personal pronouns, HE SHE IT are known as third person singular pronouns, and THEY is a third person plural pronoun.
Shall we use them in sentences?
I am a Prof.
All call me Prof.Mahendiran
My ambition is to make all be good in English.
All the matters seen here are mine.
We are of course Indians.
The world respect us.
Our ambition is to develop our nation.
The duty is ours.
Let's keep it clean ourselves.
Are you Mr. Raj?
The MD calls you.
Is it your real name?
Is this bag yours?
Try to finish it yourself.
Is he your friend?
Please ask him to come.
What is his name?
I think that this bike is his.
Did he come himself?
She is Vimala.
All are calling her Vimi.
What is her demand?
Is it hers?
She does her duty always herself.
It is our pet.
We call it Jimmy
Its tail is long.
This food is its.
It would eat itself.
They are my friends.
I am always with them.
Their help to me is very high.
The vehicles seen here are theirs.
They forwarded in life themselves.
Also some additional pronouns are there used obviously in the English language.
What are they?
DEMONSTRATIVE, INDEFINTE, INTERROGATIVE/RELATIVE, RECIPROCAL, DISTRIBUTIVE.
MORE ABOUT THE PRONOUNS.
Besides Basic, some pronouns are so important and to be known.
Demonstrative Pronouns.
THIS, THAT, SUCH, THESE, THOSE
"THIS is my friend"
"THAT is not mine"
[These words are also known as 'demonstrative Adjectives' when they are followed by a noun]
"THIS Bag is not mine" (THIS is adjective here)
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Indefinite Pronouns.
SOME, MANY, ALL, A FEW, ONE, NONE/NOBODY, EVERYBODY/EVERYONE, SOMEBODY/SOMEONE.
"SOME are waiting for the M.D" "A FEW are carrying offer in sales"
(Here too these words can be acting as adjectives if tgey are followed by noun."A FEW items are carrying offer in sales" )
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Interrogative Pronouns.
WHAT, WHICH, WHO, WHOM, WHOSE etc.,
"WHAT are you suggesting about this case?"
"WHICH does trouble you?"
"WHOM do you call as a witness here?"
[Here too, if those words are followed by nouns, it is known as Interrogative adjective.
In WHICH court are you practising?]
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Relative Pronouns.
All interrogative pronouns can act as a relative pronoun.
"WHO doesn't have passion in his profession can't achieve in his field."
"Is the man WHOM you are calling a witness your relative?" Asked Judge.
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Reciprocal Pronouns.
EACH, OTHER, ANOTHER.
"They look like made for EACH OTHER."
"EACH has to submit the details today itself."
"Please go and convince with one and ANOTHER."
"Yes, Call ANOTHER to enquire."
[Note: If they are followed by nouns, Be known that they are reciprocal adjectives]
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Distributive Pronouns.
EITHER, NEITHER.
Likely these are used as a conjunction phrase. But these too are pronouns.
"EITHER of you must be present in the court."
"NEITHER of them has come." ( Both Shankar and Peter haven't come).
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03. VERB
Verb is the soul of the language. A word that gives an action to a sentence is verb.
Millions are there. Every verb functions as four forms.
V1, V2, V3, V4. These are called respectively PRESENT FORM, PAST FORM, PAST PARTICIPLE FORM and PRESENT PARTICIPLE FORM.
(See, the details of verbs in this page)
These are used in 20 tenses with a support of auxiliary. No verb functions without auxiliary in a sentence. ( A.V TABLE FOR 20 TENSES)
VERB IS THE PRIME CHARECTER IN THE ENGLISH PLAY.
SO YOU ARE ADVISED TO STUDY IT IN THE SNIPPET TITLED "THE CATEGORIES OF VERB FORMS"
Presenll, know what the verb is, and how they functuon in a sentence.
CATEGORIES OF VERB FORMS
Verb is well known that a word which gives an action to a sentence and every verb functions as four forms such as present form, past form, past participle form and present participle form.
Based on the variation of spelling of forms, in my approach, verbs are categorized as five types than two types what world English pattern says. Lets go ahead to Introduction to gather more.
INTRODUCTION
Verbs are categorized as weak and strong (or) regular and irregular based on variation in spelling of verb forms in academic pattern probably worldwide. Being similar in spelling past form and past participle form particularly ending as ed is known as weak or regular verbs. Others are known as strong or irregular verbs- is obviously followed academically.
Here, my approach brings a clear cut method in form segregation.
I would say that there are five categories in verbs. They are,
REGULAR VERBS
SEMI REGULAR 1 VERBS
SEMI REGULAR 2 VERBS
SEMI REGULAR 3 VERBS
IRREGULAR VERBS
REGULAR VERBS
Verbs of which present form past form and past participle are similar in spelling eg. put put put putting / spread spread spread spreading / cut cu cut cutting / set set set setting / hit hit hit hitting/ etc are known Regular verbs. Spellings in first three forms are regular, arent they? So, it is called in this approach regular verbs but it is called in world English pattern irregular verbs or strong verbs. No a very big volume of verbs is in this category.
Lets see them in a table.
REGULAR VERBS
SPELLING IS SIMILAR IN PRESENT PAST AND PAST PARTICIPLE
PRESENT FORM
β
PAST FORM
β
PAST PARTICIPLE FORM
β
PRESENT PARTICIPLE FORM
PUT
PUT
PUT
PUTTING
CUT
CUT
CUT
CUTTING
SHUT
SHUT
SHUT
SHUTTING
SEMI REGULAR 1 VERBS
Verbs of which past form and past participle forms are similar in spelling eg. talk talked talked talking / walk walked walked walking /cry cried cried crying / study studied studied studying / teach taught taught teaching / catch caught caught catching/ etc are known semi regular 1 verbs as two forms spellings are regular. But of this ed ending is called regular verbs or weak verbs in world English pattern. There is a very big volume of verbs in this category. Lets see them in a table.
PRESENT FORM
PAST FORM β
PAST PARTICIPLE FORM β
PRESENT PARTICIPLE FORM
SECTION
WALK
WALKED
WALKED
WALKING
..ed Ending
TALK
TALKED
TALKED
TALKING
"
OPEN
OPENED
OPENED
OPENING
"
CRY
CRIED
CRIED
CRYING
..ied Ending
STUDY
STUDIED
STUDIED
STUDYING
"
CARRY
CARRIED
CARRIED
CARRYING
"
FIND
FOUND
FOUND
FINDING
Solid Ending
CATCH
CAUGHT
CAUGHT
CATCHING
"
FIGHT
FOUGHT
FOUGHT
FIGHTING
"
SEMI REGULAR 1 can be divided as 3 sections such as ed ending, ied endingβ and βsolid endingβ.
SR 1 ed ending
TALK WALK OPEN CLOSE KNOCK FINISH START RUB ERASE FACE BOWL BAT FIELD IRON PLAY MOVE etc are known ed ending as they end ased in the suffix of past and past participle forms.
SR 1 ied ending
CRY STUDY CARRY BURY SPECIFY SIGNIFY TARIFY MODIFY etc are known ied ending as they end as ied in the suffix of past and past participle forms.
SR1 solid ending
TEACH CATCH SLEEP THINK FIND BUY BRING STAND etc are known solid ending as they do not end as said above but solidly in the suffix of the past and past participle forms.
SEMI REGULAR 2 VERBS
Verbs of which present form and past participle form are similar in spelling e.g. come came come coming / run ran run running / become became become becoming / etc are known semi regular 2 verbs as two forms spellings are regular. But it is called irregular verbs or strong verbs in world English pattern. Only a few verbs are found in this category.
PRESENT FORM
β
PAST FORM
PAST PARTICIPLE FORM β
PRESENT PARTICIPLE FORM
COME
CAME
COME
COMING
BECOME
BECAME
BECOME
BECOMING
OVERCOME
OVERCAME
OVERCOME
OVERCOMING
SEMI REGULAR 3 VERBS
Verbs of which present form and past form are similar in spelling. e.g. beat beat beaten beating are known semi regular3 verbs as two forms spelling are regular. But it is called irregular or strong verbs in standard pattern. Rarely verbs are found in this category.
PRESENT FORM
β
PAST FORM
β
PAST PARTICIPLE FORM
PRESENT PARTICIPLE FORM
BEAT
BEAT
BEATEN
BEATING
IRREGULAR VERBS
Verbs of which forms are varying with each other among four forms e.g. write wrote written writing/ speak spoke spoken speaking / drive drove driven driving / go went gone going/ etc are known irregular verbs as spellings are seen irregular with each other. This is called the same in the world English pattern. A very big volume of verbs can be found in this category.
PRESENT FORM
PAST FORM
PAST PARTICIPLE FORM
PRESENT PARTICIPLE FORM
GO
WENT
GONE
GOING
WRITE
WROTE
WRITTEN
WRITING
FALL
FELL
FALLEN
FALLING
CONCLUSION
REGULAR------------------------(similar spelling in present, past and past participle forms.
SEMI REGULAR 1 -------------(similar spelling in past and past participle forms [3 branches: ed ending, ied ending, solid ending]
SEMI REGULAR 2 -------------(similar spelling in present and past participle form.
SEMI REGULAR 3--------------(similar spelling in present and past forms.
IRREGULAR---------------------(each form has different spelling.
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04. AUXILIARY
Auxiliary is a word that supports to a verb for its action.
A verb cannot function in a sentence without an auxiliary.
There are only 26 auxiliaries in the language.
AM, IS, ARE, WAS, WERE
These are called DESIGNATED AUXILIARY CUM VERB. These words can function as an auxiliary and as a verb in different situations.
The feature of these words is, when these are used as a verb, they will not take any auxiliary for support.
DO, DOES, DID, HAVE, HAS, HAD, BE, BEEN, BEING - are called AUXILIARY CUM VERB.
These too can be used as an auxiliary and as a verb in different situations.
When they are used as a verb they would need an auxiliary for support.
MAY CAN SHALL WILL - are called PURE AUXILIARIES.
They cannot be used as a verb at any situation but as an auxiliary that is a big role to determine the tenses.
MIGHT COULD WOULD SHOULD MUST OUGHT TO - known as Premium pure auxiliaries. They too can be used only as an auxiliary. Can never be used as a verb.
DARE and NEED are also called as featured auxiliaries though they can be used as a normal verb.
05. ADJECTIVE
Adjective is a word that describes quality of a noun, placing before or placing after a be form verb is called ADJECTIVE.
" She is a BEAUTIFUL girl"
" She is BEAUTIFUL"
BEAUTIFUL is adjective here. It is describing the girl's quality.
First one is ATTRIBUTIVE ADJECTIVE and the second one is PREDICATE ADJECTIVE.
Another one is there, that is, POST POSITIVE POSITION.
"Kamarajar THE GREAT was genius and honest in politics"
(Genius and honest also adjectives here. They are in PREDICATE position.)
This position is used rarely in the language.
Anyway, an adjective can function in three positions.
Attributive position (placing before a noun) and Predicate position (placing after a 'be' form verb in pure present or past tense) are frequently used in the language. The last one is post positive position. Rarely it is used.
ATTRIBUTIVE position. That is very important.
SMART BOY
MINI SKIRT
ROYAL FAMILY
INTELLIGENT PERSON
POOR MAN
RICH WOMAN
CRITICAL STATUS
FREQUENT ABILITY
TOUGH QUESTION
EXAMINATION HALL
HALL SUPERVISOR
SUPERVISOR ROLE
GOOD BOOK
BOOK STALL
STALL ITEMS
RUNNING RACE
RACE CAR
CAR DRIVER
DRIVER DUTY
DUTY DOCTOR
DOCTOR'S ROOM
ROOM MATE
SPOKEN ENGLISH
ENGLISH TEACHER
TEACHER JOB
JOB SEEKER
DRIVING LICENCE
LICENCE HOLDER
Of these, the first word in each is ADJECTIVE. It describes the status or quality of the second word, that is NOUN .
As the adjective in each set is placed before the noun, it is called ATTRIBUTIVE POSITION.
Many varieties are there in this position.
1.Standard adjective
2.Noun adjective
3.Past participle adjective
4.Present participle adjective
5.Definite/Demonstrative adjective
6.Indefinite adjective
7.Possessive adjective
1.Standard Adjective means, a stamp marked adjective. Only This is called ADJECTIVE in parts of speech whereas other types belong to other parts of speech.
This type adjective ends in ...al,
.....ive, .......ous, ......nt, ......full.
NATURAL scene
ACTIVE person
MISCELLANEOUS file
CONSTANT idea
BEAUTIFUL bungalow.
The feature of this type of adjective is that, only it can be used in ATTRIBUTIVE and PREDICATE positions whereas other types cannot be used.
2. Noun adjective means that a noun can describe an another one noun adjecently.
ENGLISH teacher
ROOM mate
CLASS room
ELECTION booth
*You can frame many like these.
3. Past participle adjective means that a past participle form of verb can describe the quality of a noun.
SPOKEN English
BROKEN pieces
CLOSED file
SENTENCED accused
RESERVED seat
4. Present participle adjective means that a present participle form of a verb can be an adjective.
SPEAKING toy
RUNNING race
SWIMMING pool
SMOKING room
LISTENING skills
DRIVING licence
5. Definite or Demonstrative adjective means that some definite pronouns can be an adjective.
THAT boy
THESE persons
THOSE students
THIS guy
SUCH matter
6. Indefinite adjective means that some indefinite pronouns can be an adjective.
SOME boys
A FEW members
ANY person
ALL participants
MANY voters
7. Possessive adjective means that some possessive nouns/pronouns can be an adjective.
COLLECTOR'S bungalow
PETER'S purse
PEOPLE'S money
MY name
OUR village
YOUR country
HIS idea
HER hair
ITS tail
THEIR team
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06. ADVERB
Adjective is a word that amplifies a verb's action.
One that looks like an answer to the Questions HOW, WHERE, WHEN will be an adverb.
Quality of action is the answer to HOW. That is called ADVERB OF QUALITY.
Place where an action goes is ADVERB OF PLACE.
Time when an action goes on is ADVERB OF TIME.
Some other adverbs are there like FREQUENCY, EFFECT.
Answer to the Questions HOW OFTEN/HOW LONG/HOW FAR will be ADVERB OF FREQUENCY.
Answer to the questions WHY/FOR WHAT will be an ADVERB OF EFFECT.
Of these ADVERB OF QUALITY is knowns as ABSOLUTE ADVERB while in others, likely noun and noun with adjective are fulfilled in a sentence.
ADVERB OF QUALITY likely end in spelling as "........ly" except some words like ALONE SPEED FAST and so on.
Eg.
I finished the job correctly.
He came here alone .
They bowl always fast.
You must know fundamentally to drive a car.
Intelligently he has answered.
ADVERB OF QUALITY can be placed before the subject or verb or object wherever we wish although its place is after the object.
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07. ARTICLES
There are 3 words in the language.
A
An
THE
These are called ARTICLES. They just denote some nouns or noun phrase.
A and AN are called INDEFINITE ARTICLES while the remain THE is called DEFINITE ARTICLES.
A boy (any boy)
An Institution (any institution)
The boy (the particular boy)
The Institution (the particular Institution)
In Indefinite,
A is used before a word that starts a consonant sound.
AN is used before a word that begins a vowel sound.
The same thing happens in Definite article.
THE is used and pronounced as "DHA' when it is used before a word that begins a consonant sound, while it is sounded as "DHI" when it appears before a word that begins a vowel sound.
How to identify the place whether one is indefinite or definite..?
"I saw A man with AN umbrella in his hand. THE man was struggling with THE umbrella to fold it.
A boy came and helped THE man. In ending THE boy asked THE man where he was from.
THE man replied that he was AN MLA of A constituency."
Take care of using indefinite articles before a word that may not begin with vowel letter but vowel sound
AN MLA (EMELYAE),
AN MD (EMDEE)
AN HOUR (AUR)
Sometimes, some vowel letters might not give vowel sound.
A UNIT (YOONIT)
A EUROPEAN (YOOROPEAN)
A EUCALYPTUS TREE (YOOKOLIPTAS)
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08. PREPOSITION
Preposition is a word that links two words in a sentence or phrase.
"I am living IN Nagapattinam"
"Is she going TO Chennai?"
"Where are you FROM?"
"Keep it INTO your pocket"
"English is spoken ACROSS the world BY millions OF People"
"One OF pens is INSIDE the drawer OF my table located NEAR the wall mirror"
Capitalised above are prepositions.
Leading prepositions are,
ON, IN, UNDER, NEAR, ACROSS, AROUND, ABOVE, BELOW, BETWEEN, INSIDE, OUTSIDE, INTO, ONTO, UP TO, TILL, ABOUT, OF, AT, AMONG, OVER, WITH, WITHIN, WITHOUT and so on.
We can't make sentences without contribution of PREPOSITIONS, so that the role of preposions is so important in the language.
PREPOSITON PHRASES are there in the language besides PREPOSITIONS.
Leading pre.phrases are,
ACCORDING TO
WITH A VIEW TO
BY VIRTUE OF
BY DINT OF
DUE TO
WITH REFERENCE TO
and so on.
These are used likely in simple sentences for wrapping a matter that may be expressed in a complex sentece.
"DUE TO heavy rain, the match was collapsed"
The complex sentence -"As it rained heavily, the match was collapsed" has been wrapped as a simple sentence by using the preposional phrase DUE TO.
This is the main advantage of PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES.
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09. CONJUNCTION
Conjunction is a word that connects two different clauses. (Sub-ordinate clause + Main clause ; Main clause + Main clause)
Clause means sentence.
Main clause means that a sentence stands alone and completing a meaning.
Sub-ordinate clause means that a clause is depending a main clause. It can't stand alone.
"As I was busy, I couldn't attened your call."
β‘οΈAs - is conjunction here.
β‘οΈAs I was busy - is sub-ordinate clause.
β‘οΈI couldn't attend your call - is main clause.
If a conjunction connects a sub-ordinate clause with a Main clause, that is known as a sub-ordinate conjunction.
AS is a sub-ordinate conjunction here since it acts as said above.
The combination of these two sentences is called COMPLEX SENTENCE.
"It is raining but the match is going on."
But - is conjunction here.
It is raining - is Main clause.
The match is going on - is also a main clause.
Since BUT connects two different main clauses, it is called a Coordinate conjunction.
The combination of these two sentences is called COMPOUND SENTENCE.
β‘οΈLeading Sub-ordinate conjunctions are,
IF, UNLESS, AS, THAT, BECAUSE, NEVERTHELESS, SINCE, TILL, UNTIL, WHEREAS, HOWEVER, THOUGH, ALTHOUGH, EVEN THOUGH etc.,
The relative pronouns/adverbs - WHO, WHOM, WHOSE, THAT, WHICH/WHEN, WHERE, are also called sub-ordinate conjunction though these are labelled as relative pronouns/adverbs.
β‘οΈLeading Absolute* Coordinate conjunctions are,
BUT, YET, STILL etc.,
Non-absolute** Coordinate conjunctions are,
SO, SO THAT, AND, AND SO, HENCE, THEREFORE, THAT IS WHAT, THST IS WHY etc.,
*ABSOLUTE COORDINATE. Even if you interchange the places of the main clauses, meaning won't be damaged.
**NON-ABSOLUTE COORDINATE.
If you interchange the clauses meaning would change.
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10. INTERJECTION.
Some words are in English language such as WOW, OH, OOH, OOPS, ALAS, HOH, YUP, HURRAY/HURRAH etc., Those may be used by one when the one is surprised or annoyed or startled by another one or thing. Those words are called INTERJECTION.
See some examples.
β‘οΈWow! What a six it is/was!
β‘οΈOops..! You are timeout!
β‘οΈHurray..! CSK win in the game!
β‘οΈAlas...! It's a big calamity..!
β‘οΈOh..! Are you sure...?
β‘οΈOoh...! He has just missed..!
β‘οΈYup..! Just do it one more time !.
Anyway, INTERJECTIONS would give a tune to our expressions hence the exclamation mark is used in the end of the sentences.
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11. PUNCTUATIONS
This is also concerned as one of the parts of speech in this approach.
Punctuations are marks that give a tone and tune to your sentences.
Punctuations are common in almost all languages.
Leading Punctuations
Full stop .
Comma ,
Question mark ?
Exclamation mark. !
Semicolon ;
Colon :
Open bracket (
Close bracket. )
Hyphen -
Underscore _
Open curve {
Close curve }
Open square bracket [
Close square bracket ]
and so on...
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The copyright is reserved by me. Copying plagiarizing or any other activity like photocopying screaning shot without my written permission is prohibited.
MAHENDIRAN V
The Author
poigaimahi@gmail.com
Mobile 91- 9842490745
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