Parts of Speech-Word Power

If writers understand the function of every part of speech, they can make their sentences vivid with meaning and significance! Use specific nouns, the most accurate verbs, fewer adverbs and more directed adjectives. Avoid using pronouns that don’t have clear antecedents.

(For a quick summary of Parts of Speech, scroll down to the end of this page.)

Verbs
The verb is the most important word in the sentence since it creates the movement or establishes the importance of the subject.  English uses three types of verbs: action, linking, and helping verbs.

Action verbs tells what the subject is doing.  Examples of action verbs in the present tense are: limps, mumbles, jogs, dances. 
Example of an action verb in a sentence: Sarah limps to the finish line.

Linking verbs tell what the subject feels or looks like.  Examples of linking verbs are: looks, was, is, feels.
Examples of linking verbs in a sentence: Sarah is an engineer.  Sarah feels chilly. 

Helping verbs are verbs that add information such as when an action is taking place.  Some verb tenses are created with the use of helping verbs and a main verb.  For these tenses, a complete verb consists of a helping verb plus an action verb.  Some examples of helping verbs are: is, are, have, was.
An example of a helping verb in a sentence: Sarah was limping to the finish line (present progressive verb tense).

Nouns
Nouns are naming words for people (student, teacher, Alan, uncle), places (San
Francisco, church, park, street), or things (freedom, library, classroom,
truth).   Common nouns name something general like “church.”  A proper noun names something specific like “San Francisco.” 

Pronouns
The function of pronouns is to substitute for nouns.  Without pronouns, writers find themselves repeating nouns and producing boring sentences.  Compare the following sentences:
Henry drove Henry’s car to Henry’s house.
Henry drove his car to his house. 

There are different types of pronouns for different uses in sentences:

Subject pronouns (to use to substitute for subjects):
singular: I, you, he, she, it
plural: we, you, they

Object pronouns (to use to substitute for objects):
singular: me, you, him, her, it
plural: us, you, them

Demonstrative pronouns (to point out something or someone)
singular: this, that
plural: these, those

Relative pronouns (to introduce a dependent clause)
who, whom, whose, which, that

Indefinite pronouns (to refer to someone or something general)
singular: examples include — another, anyone, one, other, someone, something
plural: examples include — both, few, many, others, several

Adjectives
Adjectives modify or describe nouns and they help to make sentences more vivid and clear. 

Without adjectives: Richard took an apple, water, and a hat on the hike.
With adjectives: Richard took a Granny Smith apple, sparkling water, and a baseball hat on the hike.

Adverbs
Adverbs modify or describe verbs and adjectives.  They answer the following questions:
How?  Examples include: kindly, safely, carefully
When?  Examples include: soon, later, early
Where?  Examples include: away, far, inside
How often?  Examples include: daily, often, never
To what extent?  Examples include: exactly, very, specifically

Prepositions
Prepositions indicate relationships between words in sentences.  A preposition is always followed by a noun or a pronoun, referred to as the object of the preposition.  Together, they form a prepositional phrase.

Examples of prepositions: up, down, across, over, under, behind, beneath, in.

Examples of prepositional phrases: up the street; down the chute; across the driveway; over the moon; under the tree; behind the door; beneath the table; in the house.

Conjunctions
Conjunctions connect words or groups of words.

The most common conjunctions are known as “coordinating” conjunctions.  There are only seven of them: and, but, for, so, yet, nor, or.  Some people remember them by using the acronym “fanboys.”  They connect parts of a sentence that are of equal importance–independent clauses.

Example: The bears growled, and the lions roared.
Example: I wanted to buy an ice cream cone, but he wanted to get a milkshake.

Another type of conjunction is a “subordinating” conjunction.  Examples of subordinating conjunctions are: although, when, whenever, until, after, since.

This type of conjunction makes one idea dependent upon another.  The idea that becomes dependent is a dependent clause.  The idea that becomes dominant is the independent clause.

Examples:
They will dance after the dinner is over.
Unless you call me, I will not meet you at the store.

Articles
An article is a word used with a noun to indicate the reference used by the noun.  In English, there are only three articles: a/an and the.  If the reference is definite, “the” is used, as in “the apple.”  If the reference is indefinite, “a” or “an” is used, as in “a pie” or “an apple.” 

Interjections
Interjections are words that express strong emotion, and they are frequently followed by an exclamation point or a comma.

Examples:
Hey!  Get out of my bedroom.
Wow!  That was a great movie.

Summary of Parts of Speech