be9e 02 chp 2

9th Edition, © 2008, Thomson/South-Western

Chapter 2

Parts of Speech

Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 9e 2-2

Learning Objectives

• Define the eight parts of speech.

• Recognize how parts of speech function in sentences.

• Compose sentences showing words playing more than one grammatical role.

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Interjections

Conjunctions

Prepositions

Adverbs

Adjectives

Verbs

Pronouns

Nouns

The EightParts of Speech

2-4Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 9e

Nouns name persons, places, things, qualities, feelings, concepts, activities, and measures.

Persons Ryan, Angelica, employeesPlaces San Francisco, Hawaii, EuropeThings pizza, popcorn, surfboardQualities reliability, flexibility, patienceFeelings happiness, anger, confusionConcepts communication, productivity,

freedomActivities working, snowboarding, dancingMeasures day, week, inch, kilometer

2-5Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 9e

To test for a noun, use the word in

question with the verb is or are.

Try these nouns with is or are.

• Laurie is . . . .• Managers are . . . .• Initiative is . . . .

2-6Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 9e

Pronouns replace nouns. Use them for efficiency and variety.

• Without pronouns, sentences sound like this:

Matt said that Matt must find Matt’s keys before Matt can leave for work.

• How would that sentence sound with pronouns?

Matt said that he must find his keys before he can leave for work.

2-7Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 9e

Verbs express an action, an occurrence, or a state of being.

• Kim drove her car to work. (Action)

• Kim has a bicycle too. (Occurrence)

• Her bicycle is red. (State of being)• For our purposes, we’ll focus on two kinds

of verbs:

• Action verbs

• Linking verbs

2-8Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 9e

Action Verb

Tells what the subject does; includes

physical and mental action

EXAMPLES dances, decides,

works, praises

Linking Verb

Joins words that describe the subject

EXAMPLES is, are, was, were,

am, appears, seems, feels,

smells, tastes, looks

2-9Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 9e

To test for a verb, try the word in question

with a noun.

Try several action and linking verbs with this expression.

The manager(s) _________________.

Make sense?

The manager dances, the manager decides,

and so forth.

2-10Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 9e

Adjectives describe nouns or pronouns. They answer the questions What kind? How many? and Which one?

• A good student submitted excellent work. (What kind?)

• Our manager bought two computers and one printer. (How many?)

• This printer is expensive. (Which one?)

The words a, an, and the form a special group of adjectives called articles.

2-11Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 9e

Adverbs describe or limit verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs. They answer such questions as When? How? Where? and To what extent?

• Yesterday the printer jammed repeatedly. (When and how?)

• The restaurant is over there. (Where?)• We were served very quickly. (How and to

what extent?)

To help you remember the function of an adverb, think of its two syllables: ad meaning to add to or amplify the meaning of a verb.

2-12Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 9e

Prepositions join nouns and pronouns to other words in sentences. For example,

The truck was driven by Kim.for Kim.to Kim.

with Kim.around Kim.

over Kim.

Notice how prepositions change the relationship between Kim and the verb.

2-13Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 9e

How many prepositions do you see in the following

sentence?

After the accident Kim went to Hawaii for a vacation in the sun.

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Conjunctions connect words or groups of words. The coordinating conjunctions are:

Pizza and burritos are Kim’s favorites, but she is also able to tolerate gyros.

• and• or• nor• but

• so (used casually)• yet (used occasionally)• for

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Interjections show surprise, disbelief, or strong feeling.

Oops, I can’t believe I forgot the attachment again!

Wow! Did you feel that tremor?

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TIP

The same word can function as different

parts of speech depending on how it is

used in a sentence. Consider the word

service.

• We received good service here. (Noun)• He operates a service station. (Adjective)• Did you service your car? (Verb)

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ExclaimersInterjections

ConnectorsPrepositionsConjunctions

DescribersAdjectivesAdverbs

PerformersVerbs

NamersNouns

Pronouns

Quick Summary of Parts of

Speech

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NamersNouns Name things

Pronouns Rename things

Performers VerbsShow action or link words

DescribersAdjectives

Describe nouns and pronouns

AdverbsDescribe verbs, adjectives, adverbs

ConnectorsPrepositions

Join nouns, pronouns to sentence

Conjunctions Connect words

Exclaimers Interjections Show strong feeling

2-19Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 9e

Identify the part of speech for each word in the following sentence.

TRY YOUR SKILL

1. Kim becomes angry when she receives spam messages.

Kim (noun)becomes (verb)

angry (adjective)when (conjunction)

she (pronoun)receives (verb)

spam (adjective)messages (noun)

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TRY YOUR SKILL

2. Ryan was upset, but he quickly solved the problem.

Ryan (noun)was (verb)

upset (adjective)but (conjunction)

he (pronoun)quickly (adverb)

solved (verb)the (article-adjective)

problem (noun)

Identify the part of speech for each word in the following sentence.

2-21Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 9e

TRY YOUR SKILL

3. They work carefully on a big project.

They (noun)work (verb)

carefully (adverb)on (preposition)

a (article-adjective)big (adjective)project (noun)

Identify the part of speech for each word in the following sentence.

2-22Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 9e

TRY YOUR SKILL

4. Kim and Ryan prepared two work sheets.

Kim (noun)and (conjunction)

Ryan (noun)prepared (verb)two (adjective)

work (adjective)sheets (noun)

Identify the part of speech for each word in the following sentence.

2-23Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 9e

TRY YOUR SKILL

5. The work for the project is very hard.

The (adjective–article) work (noun)

for (preposition)the (adjective-article)

project (noun)is (verb)

very (adverb)hard (adjective)

Identify the part of speech for each word in the following sentence.

2-24Mary Ellen Guffey, Business English, 9e

Language is like a house that is made of bricks (vocabulary)

and cement (grammar).

Without bricks, you can't build a house; without cement, the

house will fall apart.

Grammar holds your vocabulary together and helps

make your meaning exact.