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Parts of Speech

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With credit to Richard Nordquist

(If you don't have the time or interest, at LEAST study the first section "Nouns". It is critical for correct Bible interpretation.)

A part of speech is a term used in traditional grammar for one of the nine main categories into which words are classified according to their functions in sentences, such as nouns or verbs. Also known as word classes, these are the building blocks of grammar.

Every sentence you write or say in English includes a few words that fall into the nine parts of speech. These include nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, articles/determiners, and interjections.


Nouns

The first real word you ever used probably was a noun - a word like mama, daddy, car, or cookie. Most children begin building their vocabularies with nouns. A noun names something: a person, place, or thing. Most other parts of our language either describe nouns, tell what a noun is doing, or take the place of a noun.

In English, nouns are often preceded by noun markers--the articles/adjectives a, an, the, or some for example; or possessive words like my or your. A noun always follows a noun marker, though adjectives or other words may come between them:

my former roommate
a sunny June day
an objective and very thorough evaluation
some existential angst

Nouns are a person, place, or thing.

Every noun is either abstract, such as an idea (unseen, spiritual) or concrete (seen, physical).

Every noun is either "common" (generic) or "proper".
A proper noun identifies a particular, specific person, animal, place, thing, or idea, so is their proper name. Proper nouns (names) are capitalized. Typically, English proper nouns are not preceded by an article (the or a) or other determiners (not "a John", "the Kennedy", or "many Hebrides"). Common nouns are NOT proper names. They may be "Titles" and may be preceded by an article (the or a) or other determiners. Typically, common nouns are NOT capitalized but custom has made an exception to denote holiness. Lord (literally meaning "master") is NOT a proper name but is usually capitalized to show reverence. LORD (all capital letters) on the other hand is a substitute for (used in place of) the proper name of our Father, Yahweh.

Most nouns are either singular or plural...
Most nouns are made plural with the addition of s or es. Thus, instructor becomes instructors, and class becomes classes. Some nouns have irregular plural forms: man becomes men, and woman becomes women. Child becomes children, and person becomes people.

Some nouns are collective.
A collective noun names a collection or group of things. Although a collective noun refers to a group of many things, it is usually singular in form. We think of a collective noun as singular because its members act in one accord:

To skip the rest of this page and continue to "Difficult Bible Words" click here.

(for further study, see Nouns)


Pronouns

Pronouns stand in for nouns in a sentence. Examples:​ I, you, he, she, it, ours, them, who, which, anybody, ourselves


Verbs

Verbs are what happens in a sentence. They're either action words or show the state of being (is, was) of the subject of the sentence. They change form based on tense (present, past) and the subject of the sentence (singular or plural). Examples: sing, dance, believe, seem, finish, eat, drink, be, become


Adjective

Adjectives describe nouns or pronouns. They specify which one, how much, or what kind. Examples: hot, lazy, funny, unique, bright, beautiful, poor, smooth


Adverb

Adverbs describe verbs, adjectives, or even other adverbs. They specify when something happened, where, how, why, and how much. Examples: softly, lazily, often, only, hopefully, softly, sometimes


Preposition

Prepositions show a relationship between a noun (or a pronoun) and the other words in a sentence. They come at the start of a prepositional phrase. For example: up, over, against, by, for, into, close to, out of, apart from


Conjunction

Conjunctions join words, phrases, and clauses in a sentence. Examples: and, but, or, so, yet, with


Articles and Determiners

Articles and determiners function like adjectives by modifying nouns, but they are different than adjectives, in that they are necessary for a sentence to have proper syntax. Examples: articles: a, an, the; determiners: these, that, those; enough, much, few; which, what


Interjection

Interjections are expressions that can stand on their own as complete sentences. They are words that often carry emotion. Examples: ah, whoops, ouch, yabba dabba do!


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