The eight parts of speech

Noun - Words that are used to name persons, things, animals, places, ideas, or events. Nouns are the
simplest among the 8 parts of speech, which is why they are the first ones taught to students in primary
school.
Examples:
Tom Hanks is very versatile. (The underlined noun refers to a name of a person.)
Dogs can be extremely cute.
Types of Noun
Proper Nouns always start with a capital letter and refer to specific names of persons, places, or
things.
Examples: Volkswagen Beetle, Shakeys Pizza, Game of Thrones
Common Nouns generic names of persons, things, or places.
Examples: car, pizza parlor, TV series
Concrete Nouns refers to nouns which you can perceive through your five senses.
Examples: folder, sand, board
Abstract Nouns - refers to nouns which you cant perceive through your five senses.
Examples: happiness, grudge, bravery
Count Nouns refers to anything that is countable, and has a singular and plural form.
Examples: kitten, pencils, rings
Mass Nouns also called non-countable nouns, and they need to have counters to quantify them.
Examples of Counters: kilo, cup, meter
Examples of Mass Nouns: rice, flour
Collective refers to a group of persons, animals, or things.
Example: faculty (group of teachers), class (group of students)

Pronouns words that takes the place of a noun.

Examples: I, me, my, you, your, he, she, it, us, we, they, them, his, her, their, mine, our, myself, himself, herself,
itself, yourself, themselves, ourselves, who, whose, whom, anybody, anyone, everybody, nobody, someone,
somebody.
Sample Sentences:
Janice is a very stubborn child. She just stared at me and when I told her to stop.
The largest slice is mine.
We are number one.

Adjective - used to describe a noun or a pronoun. Adjectives can specify the quality, the size, and the
number of nouns or pronouns.
Sample Sentences:
The carvings are intricate. (The underlined word describes the appearance of the noun carvings.)
I have two hamsters. (The underlined word two, is an adjective which describes the number of the
noun hamsters.)
Verbs - The most important part of a speech, without a verb, a sentence would not exist. A verb is the
action of the sentence. It shows what someone or something is doing.
Sample Sentence:
As usual, the Stormtroopers missed their shot. (The underlined word expresses the action of the subject
Stormtroopers.)
Adverb - Describes how the action is performed. They tell how much, how often, when and where
something is done. Just like adjectives, adverbs are also used to describe words, but the difference is that
adverbs describe adjectives, verbs, or another adverb.
Type of adverbs
Adverb of Manner refers to how something happens or how an action is done.
Example: Annie danced gracefully. (The word gracefully tells how Annie danced.)
Adverb of Time- states when something happens or when it is done.
Example: She came yesterday. (The underlined word tells when she came.)
Adverb of Place this tells something about where something happens or where something is done.
Example: Of course, I looked everywhere! (The adverb everywhere tells where I looked.)
Adverb of Degree this states the intensity or the degree to which a specific thing happens or is done.
Example: The child is very talented. (The underlined adverb answers the question, To what degree is
the child talented?)
Conjunction - Words that joins words, phrases, or clauses together.
Coordinating conjunctions connects words or group of words
Coordinating conjunctions: and, for, or, yet, but, nor, so
Correlating conjunctions joins equal elements in the sentences but always work in pairs
Correlating conjunctions: Bothand, eitheror, neithernor, not onlybut also, whetheror
Subordinating conjunctions join two complete ideas by making one.
Subordinating conjunctions: After, although, as, as if, as long as, as much as, as soon as, as though,
because, before, even if, even though, how, if, inasmuch as, in order that, lest, now that, provided, since,
so that, than, that, though, till, unless, until, when, whenever, where, wherever, while
Sample Sentences:
This cup of tea is delicious and very soothing.
Kiyoko has to start all over again because she didnt follow the professors instructions.
Homer always wanted to join the play, but he didnt have the guts to audition.

Preposition - Words that shows position, direction or location in time.

Examples: aboard, about, above, according to, across, after, against, ahead of, along, alongside, amid, among,
apart from, around, aside from, as of, at, atop, barring, because of, before, behind, below, beneath, beside,
between, beyond, but, by, by means of, concerning, considering, despite, down, during, except, for, from, in, in
addition to, in back of, in front of, in place of, in regard to, inside, in spite of, instead of, into, in view of, like,
near, next to, of, off, on.
Sample Sentences:
Micah is hiding under the bed. (The underlined preposition introduces the prepositional phrase under
the bed, and tells where Micah is hiding.)
During the game, the audience never stopped cheering for their team. (The underlined preposition
introduces the prepositional phrase during the game, and tells when the audience cheered.)
Interjection - A word that shows strong emotion. It livens up a sentence. They help to add voice to your
writing.
Examples: Wow!, Ouch!, Hurray!, and Oh no!
Sample Sentences:
Ouch! That must have hurt.
Hurray, we won!
Hey! I said enough!

Improving your vocabulary

Prefixes - A non-separable syllable or syllables affixed at the beginning of a root word to modify its meaning
PRE means before and FIX means to attach
Prefixes that signal negativity : a-, ir-, il-, un-, im-, non-, in-
 Suffixes - A letter or letters added to the end of a word or root. May not only change the meaning of a word
but also its grammatical function or part of speech
Example
Noun: Memory
Adjective: Memorable
Verb: Memorize

Denotation refers to the real meaning of a word.

Connotation refers to the implied or inferred meaning of a word.
For example:
Denotative meaning of the word snake is a cold, scaly reptile
Connotative meaning is betrayal, evil, or danger.
For example:
fat, chubby, and obese have the same denotative meaning - excess flabby tissue.
Connotative meaning saying someone is fat may be taken offensively; therefore, we use the term chubby to
somehow imply that the person is still cute in spite of being a little fat.
Obese- refer to someone with a medical condition characterized by excess fat in the body
 Context clues - The words or sentences surrounding the unfamiliar word that give hints. Can be explicit
definitions and synonyms
Types of context clues
Example Clues or Exemplification - The author will mention a word and then give examples that either
describe or explain it. Signal words or phrases indicating that example clues are on their way are such as,
like, for example, for instance, and as an illustration
Example:
1. Carbohydrates such as pasta, bread, and rice may contribute to weight gain.
Synonym or Definition Clues - The meaning of an unfamiliar word is given in the sentence if a similar
word is also used to make the meaning clearer. Signal words for synonym clues are: or, in other words,
that is, by this we mean, that is to say, and also known as.
Example:
1. Caught in an epiphany, that is, a sudden, strong, and clear realization, I suddenly knew how to solve
my dilemma.
Antonym or Contrast Clues - The meaning of an unfamiliar word is given in the sentence is an opposite
word is used to suggest the meaning. Signal word for antonym clues are but, however, on the other
hand, nevertheless, yet, and in contrast.
Example:
1. Jogging long distances exacerbate the pain in my feet. However, soaking my feet in warm water
after jogging feels relaxing and soothing.
Exacerbate means to aggravate or increase the pain
General Clues or Experience Clues - Making sense of a words meaning by largely depending of your
common sense requires you to use your knowledge and experience. The more you read the more youll
know and the more you know, the stronger your capability to figure out things based on what you
already know.
Example:
1. Paul knew he just made a cultural faux pas when he kissed the Muslim woman on the cheek and he
was met with a dead, stunned stare!
- In Muslim culture, you would know that it is conservative in the sense that there should be no physical
contact between people of the opposite gender. Faux pas refers to committing a mistake or an
unacceptable action. dead, stunned stare is an indicator that the action of kissing is not acceptable
based on your prior knowledge and that this a mark of a displeased behavior or reaction