Parts of Speech

Parts of speech 1: Nouns vs verbs vs adjectives 

If you know parts of speech it will help you form correct sentences.

He __________ a lot of TV. If you know the part of speech for the missing word/s it is easier to get the correct answer.

• Nouns are usually things you can touch, for example smartphone.
• Verbs are “action” words, for example do or run
• Adjectives describe things. They show what something is like, for example big or hot

The missing word is a verb – watches

Nouns

Nouns are usually things you can touch. Examples of nouns are names: computer, smartphone, TV, man, student, car, horse, camel, Riyadh, KSA, Adel, desk, lamp, door, pen, money, person, brother, shirt, nose, homework, room, house,bed……………..

Some examples of pronouns are: this, he , you, she, they, it

This is my new computer. Don’t touch it.

Some examples of noun phrases: your car is here, the camel can run, his new phone broke

Verbs

Verbs are “action” words. Examples of verbs: listen, speak, read, write, do, ask, touch, answer,have, be, change, start, stop, walk, imagine, help, smile, drive, take, buy, pay, spend, play, read, choose, jump, think, take, bring laugh,watch, ride, swap, swim, smoke.

This is my new computer. Don’t touch it.

Adjectives

Adjectives show what something is like. It describes something, Examples of adjectives: big, small,  slow, fast, beautiful, cheap, expensive, bad, good, red, green, great, terrible, stylish  beautiful.  ugly, tall. short, smart, clean dirty, powerful, strong, weak, safe, dangerous, happy, sad, worried, wet, hot, cold, tasty,young old, bright, dull, heavy, Japanese, French

This is my new computer. Don’t touch it.

Some words are both nouns and verbs e.g,  smile, walk, dream, park, drive, laugh. He  smiles (verb) everyday . They have  big smiles (noun) on their faces.

Now look at some examples:

Example 1,

He __________ a lot of ketchup.   Fill in the blank. Which is correct: expensive,  likes or smartphone?

Hint: it must be a verb! Why? It’s because all sentences have a verb.

Answer = likes.

Expensive is not a verb – it’s an adjective,  smartphone is a noun.

Example 2.

I  always ____ my homework. Which is correct: a lot,  word or do?

Hint: it must be a verb! Why?

Answer = do

Example 3.

They want to write about a ___________ Which is correct: difficult,  city or send?

Hint: it must be a noun! Why?

Answer = city

Example 4.

He bought a________ car. Which is correct: cheap,  drive or tree?

Hint: it must be an adjective! Why?

Answer = cheap

Remember, every must have a verb (an action word), but also every sentence must have a subject (e.g. he,  it, John, you, his new car, Riyadh, the cat, my friend )

The subject is a noun, pronoun or noun phrase.

Test yourself:

Which part of speech is missing? Is it a verb, noun or adjective?

1. He drives/buys/sells a car.     He _______________ a car .  Missing part of speech=verb

2. Dave’s brother is  smart/happy/tall.    Dave’s brother is _____________ . 

Missing part of speech ?

3. It has/ hasn’t,/had /many rooms.      It _____________many rooms.

Missing part of speech ?

4. He/ my friend/ The teacher,  takes a lot of exercise.   ____________  takes a lot of exercise.     Missing part of speech ?

5.  I live in a big/small/expensive house.    I live in a ______________ house.

Missing part of speech ?

6. He showed me his new smartphone,/baby,  He showed me his new ___________ .

 Missing part of speech ?

Answers

6. noun  5.  adj.  4. noun  3. verb   2. adj. 1. verb