HICHAM ZMOUR

Parts of Speech
Skills Team, University of Hull

Language comes before grammar, which is only an attempt to describe a language.

Knowing the grammar of a language does not mean you can speak or write it fluently, but it
helps. Knowing the names for the various elements which make up language (the
terminology) and the functions they perform (the parts of speech) also helps us talk about it
so we present these here. If you wish to skip the following preamble and go straight to the
table of the main parts of speech, then scroll down to page 3; otherwise, read on.

All words in a language should have a function or a purpose. The exception to this is much
of the spoken language we use where some words are often included which have neither
meaning nor function other than to make the utterance longer. Some examples are:

To miss (out on) To head (up) a team

To meet (up with) (up) until

To listen (up) To start (off)

and many, many more.

As a student in higher education, therefore, your written work will not contain such
superfluous vocabulary; it will be more academic. For more detail on what this means, see
the Skills Guide on Academic Writing Style on the web at http://libguides.hull.ac.uk/skills

So what are the various functions of words in formal written and spoken sentences? These
can be summarised very well by identifying them as parts of speech. The diagram below
sets them out, followed by a table giving in each case a definition and the function of each
one, along with examples, and a second table for other grammatical concepts.

Web: www.hull.ac.uk/skills
Email: skills@hull.ac.uk
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Occasionally, words can become other parts of speech, according to the function they perform in a particular sentence. There are no rules about this.

Part of speech Function or purpose Example

1 Nouns To name or label things

(a) Common To name or label things, places, Dog, elephant, hospital, cupboard, girl, sunlight, idealism
people, animals, ideas, concepts,
groups of things etc. The dog buries the bone.

(b) Proper To name or label a specific item Mary, John, Wednesday, Birmingham, University of Hull.
(usually one of a kind). Starts
with a capital letter no matter Shall we go and visit Carolyn in Scarborough on Tuesday?
where it occurs in a sentence.

(c) Collective To name or label a group of Committee, team, class, group, collection, set.
people or a collection of things
(more than one). (One can often treat the collective noun as singular or plural).
Wigan has (or have) been promoted. The government was (or were) at fault.

2 Adjectives To say more about (qualify) a Small, square, blue, old, beautiful, broken, dangerous, terrible.
noun or nouns.
It is a beautiful day. The brown dog wagged its short tail. The tall man won the race.

(a) Comparative To compare two things or Quicker, more expensive, easier.

people.
I am taller than Jim. The vase is more expensive than the teapot. Porto is the better team.

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 (b) Superlative To compare more than two Tallest, fastest, most interesting, best.
things or people.
Peter is the tallest in the group. I am the eldest of five sisters.

(c) Possessive An adjective which shows My; your; his; her; its; our; their.
possession who owns what
and which is always followed by This is my desk. Thats our house.
a noun or nouns
phrase
(d) Demonstrative An adjective which indicates the This, that, these, those.
relative position of something or
someone. This car has better brakes than that one.

3 Verbs To describe an action, an event

or a state of affairs. See Tense
below.

(a) Infinitive The most basic form of the verb To be or not to be, that is the question To sleep, perchance to dream.

(b) Transitive Transitive verbs have direct I like the film (present tense). The dog catches the ball (present tense). She sang in the
objects. choir (past tense). Philip will post the letter tomorrow (future tense). He will see his friends
next week (future tense).

Ditto but intransitive verbs only Mike thought about Sue (past tense). She is going for a walk (present tense).
take indirect objects.
(c) Intransitive (You cant think a Sue or go a walk! The objects - Sue and walk - need prepositions to connect
Some verbs can be both them to their respective verbs. They are therefore indirect objects of their transitive verbs.)
transitive and intransitive.

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 (d) Modal A verb or part of a verb which If I were you, I would not do that.
indicates the attitude of the
speaker or writer. May I come in?

(e) Auxiliary A type of verb which helps to He might arrive tomorrow. They will be very happy about that. We have been duped.
form the complete verbal
expression. Often used to form
tenses.

(f) Phrasal A verbal construction having a To climb up. He found out. You went away.
verb and a particle (often a
preposition).

4 Adverbs To describe the way an action is Slowly, carefully, often, never, high, shyly, loudly.
carried out or how someone
does something.

(a) Time When I often go to the cinema. Later, the snow stopped.

(b) Place Where. The arrow flew upwards and straight.

(c) Manner To say more about (qualify) a Later on would be an adverbial phrase. The postman runs quickly when he sees the dog.
verb. The driver sounded the horn angrily.

5 Determiners An item that occurs before a The, some, each, every, numerals.
noun (or noun phrase) to
express e.g. number or quantity. Three players were booked. Some fans were unhappy. Each was fined a weeks wages.

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 (a) Definite (the) Used with a noun to define a The describes a particular thing. This is the car I would like (a specific car).
particular thing or person.

(b) Indefinite (a, an, Used with a noun to define any, A or an describe any thing. I would like a car (any car).
some) unspecified thing or person .

6 Pronouns To replace a noun (see above)

thus avoiding repetition.

(a) Personal These stand for nouns (or noun I, you, he, she, it, we, they.
phrases) which are the subject
Subject (see next table) (initiate or perform) an action. When George got up he had his breakfast. She phoned to cancel the appointment.

(b) Personal To replace a noun (see above) Me, you, him, her, it, us, them.
that is an object of a verb.
Object (see next table) We met them when we were on holiday.

(c) Possessive To replace a noun (see above) Mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs.
to show ownership.
This handbag is mine. Yours is the correct answer.

(d) Demonstrative To demonstrate (indicate) This, that, these, those.

something or someone, as if
pointing. This is more expensive than that.

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 (e) Relative A pronoun which relates what Which, that, who, whom, when, where
precedes to what follows.
He met him in the office where they last met. God helps those who help themselves.
Therefore, enquire not for whom the bell tolls.

7 Conjunctions To join two sentences, two And, because, or, but, although, whereas, if, as, for, yet, that, when, since, while, until, though,
phrases or two words. unless, whether.
Men and women. I was late because I missed the bus. The wind was cold although it was
May.

8 Prepositions To link a noun (see above) to In, at, on, from, to, until, since, for, before, after, during, by, with, without, about, above, of.
other words to give a sense of
time, place, direction etc. I will see you on Tuesday. The purse is under the table.
Look at those children. I have been waiting since yesterday.

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Short descriptions of some other key concepts in language:

Concept Description Example

Sentence The largest unit [of language] to which syntactic rules apply. 1 The best way out of this dilemma is to seek advice.
A meaningful sequence of words, usually containing a t least
one complete verb and ending with a full stop or semi-
colon.

Clause: A meaningful sequence of words containing a complete verb and He contributed to charity although he had very little
forming part of a sentence. A main clause is the essential part of a income
main & subordinate sentence (normal type above right); a subordinate clause offers
information additional to the main clause (in italics above right). Verbs are shown in bold.

Phrase A meaningful sequence of words not containing a complete (finite) Too many. Formerly known as the DfES.
verb but making a grammatical unit.

Tense Time. The way in which time is expressed by the verb. There are Past: e.g. I went; I was going; I used to go
many past tenses in English, two present tenses and one future
tense. Present: I am going; I go.
Future: I shall go.
Subject The person or thing which performs or initiates an action.
Direct object The person or thing to or upon whom an action is performed. Dave gave a present to John.

Indirect object The person or thing who/which is a secondary object (in some
way one stage removed from the object of the action).

1
Crystal D. (1997) The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language Cambridge : C.U.P. p. 94

You are also referred to the Skills Guide Sentences and Paragraphs at http://libguides.hull.ac.uk/skills

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The boxes below show how each sentence is constructed.

Sentence, containing a finite (complete)

verb

We humans are fitted with a means of sharing our ideas, in all their unfathomable vastness.

Noun
phrase

When we listen to speech, we can be led to think thoughts that have never been thought before

Subordinate clause Main clause Subordinate clause

Recommended reading:

Arscott, D. (n.d.) Good English: the witty, in-a-nutshell, language guide. Lewes, Sussex :
Pomegranate Press. (Highly recommended. The first section, Nuts and bolts, page 3, is a
brief summary of the main parts of speech.)

For a complete summary of all grammatical categories of language, the reader is referred to
Crystal, D. (1987) The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language Cambridge : CUP p. 95

By Phil Farrar and Peter Wilson.

The information in this leaflet can be made available in an alternative format on request email skills@hull.ac.uk