Introduction
In the English language, words can be considered as the smallest elements that have distinctive meanings. It is these words that form every other grammatical structure- be it a phrase, a clause or a full sentence.
Parts of speech therefore is a category to which a word is assigned in accordance with its syntactic functions in any grammatical context.
In its simplest form, parts of speech can be defined as the word class components of our grammatical structure, be it written or spoken.
In English Language, it simply refers to the basic components of our expressed thoughts and communications either orally communicated or in written form.
The best way to understand this is by considering parts of the body, motor parts etc. As the body is made up of different component parts, without which there is no body, so without these parts that make up our grammar, there is no grammar.
Based on their contextual uses and functions, words are categorized into 8 major parts, namely;
*** Noun
*** Pronoun
*** Adjective
*** Verb
*** Adverb
*** Preposition
*** Conjunction
*** Interjection/Exclamation
The implication here is: whenever a speech is made, the words
that make up that speech are derived from any of the foregoing eight parts of
speech.
For example, someone said: "My mother is a very beautiful
woman."
The above speech is made up of seven words. Now let’s see the
family of words each of them belongs to based on the context of the statement:
**’My’ here is from the family of adjective.
** ‘mother’ is from the family of noun.
** ‘is’ is from the family of verb.
** ‘a’ is from the family of adjective (though it belongs to
a special class, called ‘articles’).
** ‘very’ is from the family of adverb.
** ‘beautiful’ is from the family of adjective.
** ‘woman’ is from the family of noun.
This is just an idea of what parts of speech is all about.
We are now going to look at each of these parts of speech one
by one.
NOUN
Noun is simply defined as a naming word. Conventionally, we
define a noun as a name of persons, animals, places, things and ideas.
Meanwhile, beyond this definition, students can identify a noun in any
grammatical context based on the questions it answers. A noun answers the
question, ‘what?’ or ‘who?’.
Examples of nouns include Smith, Adewumi, Bassey, Chidimma,
Ibrahim, goat, dog, Lagos, London, Japan, chair, laptop, intelligence, beauty,
teacher etc.
Examples in
sentences
1. Ujunwa is a
pretty girl.
2. Our teacher
flogged John for bullying.
3. I prefer
spending money for the laptop to receiving the free gift.
PRONOUN
Pronoun is simply defined as a word used instead of a noun.
This simply means that instead of repeatedly using a particular in a context, a
pronoun can come in to avoid monotonous use of words.
For example, let’s look at this grammatical structure:
“Franklin was not in school yesterday and when Franklin
was asked why Franklin was absent; Franklin confessed that Franklin
slept very late the previous night because Franklin was watching a movie
deep into the night, which made Franklin to wake up very late the
following morning that Franklin could not make it to school”.
Guess you enjoyed the repeated use of the noun, ‘Franklin!
I am sure your answer is a resounding ‘NO’!
Now try to replace each of the word, ‘Franklin’ (exception to
the first one) with the pronoun, ‘he’ or ‘him’ (where applicable) and see how
meaningful it will appear.
“Franklin was not in school yesterday and when he was
asked why he was absent; he confessed that he slept very late the previous
night because he was watching a movie deep into the night, which made him to
wake up very late the following morning that he could not make it to
school”.
The term, ‘pronoun’ simply means ‘for noun’. Anywhere you see
it, it is actually representing a noun. Examples include I, he, she, they, us,
her, it, our, theirs etc.
Example in
sentences
1. He is an
American pilot.
2. She was asked
to give them the books.
3. Do you
know these books are mine?
ADJECTIVE
Adjectives are simply defined as words used to describe a
noun or a pronoun. One other way to identify an adjective in a grammatical
context is the question it answers. It answers the question, ‘which?’.
Examples of adjective include good, brilliant, wicked, ugly,
sweet, young, red, big, magnificent, industrious, fast, slow, harmful,
faithful, Nigerian etc.
Examples in
sentences
1. Accra is a big
city.
2. My father
bought me a brown sandal yesterday.
3. Neymar is a
Brazilian footballer.
VERB
Verbs are simply defined as action words or doing words. Any
word in a grammatical context that indicates action or state is basically a
verb. Examples include jumping, clap, look, fried, applauded, cook, write,
disturb, hear etc.
Examples in
sentences
1. Ada came
to our house yesterday.
2. We are
writing continuous assessment test now.
3. I will
preach in our church this evening.
ADVERB
Adverbs are simply defined as words that modify a verb. In
practice, adverbs also modify adjectives and fellow adverbs. It describes the
how, the when, the where, the condition, the frequency etc of a verb action in
a grammatical context. We have different types of adverb, which is treated
extensively under the topic: ADVERBS.
Examples of adverb include slowly, angrily, yesterday, now,
today, tomorrow etc.
Examples in
sentences
1. The
Headmistress shouted angrily at the teachers for their misdemeanor.
2. My uncle
travelled to Abuja yesterday.
3. Mrs Jide is
a very good chef.
PREPOSITION
Prepositions are words placed before nouns or pronouns to
show the relationship between one side of a grammatical structure and the
other. It is called pre-position,
because it usually takes position before the noun or pronoun it is linking up.
Examples include on, in, under, from, for, of, with, through,
over, along etc.
Examples in
sentences
1. The cat is under
the table.
2. The bird
flew through the window.
3. I received
the letter from the post master.
CONJUCTION
Conjunctions are simply defined as linking or joining words
as they are used to join words, phrases and clauses together. The term con-junction connotes creating a junction between two sides of a grammatical structure. Examples include:
and, but, yet, because, if, before, though, unless, except etc.
Examples in
sentences
1. Chris and
Coleman are good friends.
2. He failed
the test because he did not prepare for it.
3. I will help
you if you promise to keep the secret.
INTERJECTION/EXCLAMATION
Exclamations are words used to indicate outburst of emotion,
such as anger, surprise, command etc. They are usually indicated with the
exclamation mark,’!’. Examples include: wow!, hello!, oops!, oh! Etc.
Examples in
sentences
1. Oh! My God!
2. Wow! What a
wonderful performance!
3. Oops! This is
rubbish!
Class
exercises
1. Define the
following parts of speech;
a. Verb
b. Preposition
c. Adjective
d. Pronoun
2. Give two
examples each of the following:
a. Noun
b. Adverb
c. Conjunction
d. Exclamation
3. Make any
good and correct sentence with each part of speech.
*** Note: the first 5 persons to get it all correct will win a star*** point each, which will be converted to cash subsequently.
