Parts of Speech

Nouns, Pronouns, Verbs, Adjectives

Nouns• A noun is a word or word group that is

used to name a person, a place, a thing, or an idea.– Persons: Alice Walker, Dr. Lacy, women,

team– Places: forest, town, Canada, Grand Rapids– Things: jewelry, rain, pets, Skylab, Eiffel

Tower– Ideas: fairness, care, loyalty, idealism, beauty

Identifying Nouns• Identify all the nouns in the following sentences.

1. Many American Indian leaders have been known for their courage and wisdom.

2. Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce was a wise leader.

3. He was an educated man; he wrote that his people believed in speaking only the truth.

4. Satanta, a Kiowa chief, wore a silver medal with the profile of President James Buchanan on it.

5. Satanta wore the medal during a famous council for peace at Medicine Lodge Creek in Kansas.

Compound Nouns• A compound noun is made up of two or

more words used together as a single noun.• The parts of a compound noun may be

written as one word, separate words, or as a hyphenated word.– One Word: basketball, filmmaker, drugstore– Separate Words: fire drill, chain reaction, North

America– Hyphenated Word: self-control, cross-

reference, fund-raiser

Identifying Compound Nouns

• Identify the compound noun in each sentence.

1. Did you know that the most famous alphabet used by people with visual impairments was invented by a fifteen-year-old?

2. Louis Braille was born in 1809 in France.

3. His father was a saddlemaker who often let Louis play with pieces of leather.

4. In 1812, when the three-year-old tried to punch a hole in a piece of leather, the tool slipped and injured his left eye.

5. Infection from the wound spread to both eyes, and Louis completely lost his eyesight.

Common Nouns and Proper Nouns

• A common noun names any one of a group of persons, places, things, or ideas.– Does not begin with a capital letter

• A proper noun names a particular person, place, thing, or idea.– Begins with a capital letter

Common Proper poem “The Raven”

country Spain

athlete Joe Montana

Identifying Common and Proper Nouns

• Identify the nouns in the following sentences and label them as common or proper.

1. I went camping in Cibola National Forest during the summer.

2. Are there forests near your home?3. Forests exist in many shapes, sizes, and kinds.4. The boreal forests in Canada contain mostly

evergreens, which grow well in cold climates.5. Rain forests, however, are usually located in

tropical regions.

Concrete,Abstract, and Collective Nouns

• A concrete noun names a person, place or thing that can be perceived by one or more of the senses– EX: hummingbird, telephone, teacher, popcorn

• An abstract noun names an idea, feeling, quality, or characteristic.– EX: knowledge, patriotism, love, humor, beauty

• A collective noun is a word that names a group.– EX: audience, brood, batch, chorus, flock, bundle

Identifying and Classifying Nouns

• Identify the nouns in each sentence and classify each noun as common or proper and concrete or abstract, and tell if it’s collective.

1. I went with a group of students to see the monument that commemorates Abraham Lincoln.

2. Each day huge crowds visit the Lincoln Memorial, which is in Washington, D.C.

3. The memorial is in a beautiful setting not far from two other presidential monuments.

4. The Lincoln Memorial is separated from the Jefferson Memorial by the Tidal Basin.

5. Between the memorial and the Washington Monument are two long, shallow pools.

Pronouns• A pronoun is a word used in place of one

or more nouns or pronouns.

• The word that a pronoun replaces is called its antecedent.– EX: Elena read a book and returned it to the

library.– EX: The models bought themselves new

dresses.

Identifying Pronouns• Identify the pronoun or pronouns in the following

sentences, then identify its antecedent.1. When the luggage cart fell on its side, the bags and

their contents scattered everywhere.2. The passengers scrambled to find their luggage

and even got down on hands and knees to pick up their belongings.

3. In no time, the travelers found themselves arguing.4. One person shouted, “The brown bag belongs to

me!”

Personal Pronouns

• A personal pronoun refers to the one speaking (first person), the one spoken to (second person), or the one spoken about (third person).

• EX: First Person – I, me, my, mine, we, us

• EX: Second Person – you, your, yours

• EX: Third Person – he, him, her, it, they

Reflexive and Intensive Pronouns

• A reflexive pronoun refers to the subject and functions as a compliment or an object of a preposition.– Juan wrote himself a note.

• An intensive pronoun emphasizes a noun or another pronoun.– I myself sold more than fifty tickets.

• EX: myself, ourselves, yourself, himself

Identifying Pronouns and Antecedents

• Identify the pronoun or pronouns in each sentence as personal, reflexive, or intensive. Also identify the antecedent for each pronoun.

1. Italian explorer Marco Polo traveled to China, were he and Emperor Kublai Khan became friends.

2. The British explorer Sir Richard Burton himself wrote many books about his adventures in Africa.

3. We watched the movie about Robert O’Hara Burke’s trip across Australia in the 1800s.

4. Queen Isabella of Spain herself gave approval for the famous voyages of Christopher Columbus.

5. Matthew Henson prided himself on being part of the first expedition to reach the North Pole.

Demonstrative Pronouns

• A demonstrative pronoun points out a person, place, thing, or idea.– EX: this, that, these, those– This is the most valuable baseball card I have.

• An interrogative pronoun introduces a question.– EX: what, which, who, whom, whose– What is the largest planet in our solar system?

• A relative pronoun introduces a subordinate clause.– EX: that, which, who, whom, whose– The Bactrian camel, which has two humps, is native to

central Asia.

Identifying Demonstrative, Interrogative, and Relative Pronouns

• Identify the demonstrative, interrogative, and relative pronouns in each sentence.

1. Which of you has heard of The Mustangs of Las Colinas, a sculpture that is located Irving, Texas?

2. The nine mustangs that make up the work appear to gallop across Williams Square in the Las Colinas Urban Center.

3. The Mustang Sculpture Exhibit, which is housed in a building near the statue, provides more information.

4. The horses, whose images are cast in bronze, form the world’s largest equestrian sculpture.

5. That is an amazing sight!

Indefinite Pronouns

• An indefinite pronoun refers to a person, place, thing, or idea that may or may not be specifically named.

• EX: Everyone completed to test before the bell rang.

• Common Indefinite Pronouns: all, both, everything, neither, other, another, each, few, nobody, several, any, many, none, some, anybody, everybody, most, one, nothing…etc.

Identifying Indefinite Pronouns

• Identify the indefinite pronouns in each sentence.

1. We hope everyone in the Science Club knows about the meeting.

2. All of the members are working their science fair projects.

3. Several of these reports on pollution levels in Smith’s Pond are by Aba and Benito.

4. They need many of the science students to collect and test water.

5. Kwan, Lucy, and William have taken each of the pictures themselves.

Adjectives

• An adjective is a word used to modify a noun or pronoun.

• Adjectives answer the questions what kind, which one, or how many.

• EX: stone house, another one, seven rings, rushing river, next customer, more money.

Articles

• The most frequently used adjectives are a, an, and the. These adjectives are called articles.

• EX: How is a gerbil different from a hamster.

• EX: An accident stalled traffic for an hour.

• EX: The key would not open the lock.

Demonstrative Adjectives

• The demonstrative pronouns this, that, these, and those can also be used as demonstrative adjectives.

• EX: Did Jessica win this trophy?

• EX: These flags are much more colorful than those banners.

Adjectives in Sentences

• An adjective may come before or after the word it modifies.– EX: Each one of us brought used books for the

auction.

– EX: The blouse, once bright, now looks faded.

– EX: These rare coins are extremely valuable.

• An adjective that follows a linking verb and modifies the subject of the sentence is called a predicate adjective.

Identifying Adjectives and the Words they Modify

• Identify the adjectives and the words they modify in each sentence. Do not include articles.

1. Many people consider the old man unlucky.2. For eighty-four days, Santiago, an elderly Cuban

fisherman, had not caught a single fish.3. Despite his bad luck, he remained hopeful.4. On the eighty-fifth day, he caught a ten-pound

albacore.5. Soon after this catch, he hooked a huge marlin.

Proper Adjectives

• A proper adjective is formed from a proper non and begins with a capital letter.

• Proper Noun Proper AdjCanada Canadian citizenChina Chinese calendarNew Jersey New Jersey coast

• Some proper nouns do not change spellings when they are used as adjectives.

Identifying Proper Adjectives

• Identify the proper adjectives in each sentence and the words they modify.

1. In recent years, many American tourists have visited the Great Wall of China.

2. Early Spanish explorers built forts along the Florida coast.3. The professor of African literature gave a lecture on the

novels of Camara Lay, a writer who was born in Guinea.4. Which Arthurian legend have you chosen for your report?5. The program about the Egyptian ruins was narrated by a

British scientist and a French anthropologist.

Review

• Identify the italicized word in each sentence as a noun, pronoun, or adjective.

1. This new computer program makes printers work twice as fast.

2. The program runs on this computer.

3. The football hit the ground and bounced right into his arms.

4. Are you going to the football game?

5. The book is much better than the movie.

6. The movie star rode at the front of the parade.

7. We’ll start painting that section next.

8. That must be an interesting job.

9. One of the trees still has all its leaves.

10. The raccoon carried one baby at a time back to the nest.

Review• Identify the italicized word in each sentence as a noun, pronoun, or adjective.1. Two brothers, Lawrence and Lorne Blair, went on an amazing adventure that

began in 1973.2. For ten years they traveled among the nearly fourteen thousand islands of

Indonesia.3. Each of them returned with remarkable tales about the lands, animals, and people

they had seen.4. Their adventure story began when some pirates guided them through the Spice

Islands.5. There, the brothers located one of the world’s rarest and most beautiful animals –

the greater bird of paradise.6. Another island animal that the brothers encountered was the frightening Komodo

dragon.7. Some Komodo dragons are eleven feet long and weigh more than five hundred

pounds.8. Each day brought startling discoveries, such as flying frogs and flying snakes.

Review

• Identify each noun, pronoun, and adjective in the following sentences. Don’t include articles.

1. Charles Drew developed innovative techniques that are used in the separation and preservation of blood.

2. During WWII, Dr. Drew himself was the director of donation efforts for the American Red Cross.

3. He established blood-bank programs.

4. His research saved numerous lives during the war.

5. Dr. Drew set up centers in which blood could be stored.