Includes explanation for each of the 8 parts of speech plus

1. David Amigo Henríquez.
ESL Teacher.

2. Why are the Parts of Speech
important?
 Knowing the Parts of Speech will
improve your writing.
 Knowing the Parts of Speech will
improve your speaking.
 Knowing the Parts of Speech will
help you be more successful in your
schoolwork.

3. There are 8 Parts of Speech.
 Noun
 Verb
 Pronoun KEY ELEMENTS
 Adjective
 Adverb
 Preposition
 Conjunction
 Interjection

4. The NOUN
A NOUN is the name of:
a person: Bill, boy, teacher, engineer, Natalie
a place: New York, website, river, beach
a thing: computer, dog, chicken, book
an idea: freedom, truth, love, justice
There are different types of nouns:
Singular or plural (girl or girls)
Common or proper (boy or Peter)
Concrete or abstract (book or freedom)

5. The NOUN

6. The NOUN: Practice
Write or find your own examples of NOUNS.
 Person:
 Place:
 Thing:
 Idea:

7. The NOUN: Practice
Underline the NOUNS in the sentences below.
 The boy went to New York on the train to see the Empire
State Building.
 The exchange student is living in the same city she studies.
 If you go to London, make sure you visit the famous abbey
road street where The Beatles recorded most of their
albums at the EMI studios.
 James Cameron has directed several blockbusters like
Aliens, Terminator 2, Titanic and Avatar just to name a few.

8. The NOUN: Practice

9. The VERB
A VERB is a word that:
Shows action (physical or mental): play, jump, think, dream
OR
Shows a state of being: am, are, is, was, appear, seem
 Barack Obama is the president of the USA.
 You are a highschool student.
 Scott likes old american cars.
 Chile sells salmon to Japan and the USA.
A verb is the heart of communication.

10. The VERB

11. The VERB: Practice
Write or find your own examples of VERBS.
Physical Action:
Mental Action:

12. The VERB: Practice
Underline the VERBS in the sentence below.
 Julie ran into the street to see the new car her aunt
bought.
 They found the person who stole the watch.
 Peter Venkman is the leader of the Ghostbusters.
 Bruce Wayne is the dark hero that lives in Gotham city.
 Adele is the new musical sensation from the UK.

13. The VERB: Practice

14. The PRONOUN
A PRONOUN takes the place of a noun.
Instead of John, use he. Instead of Mary, use she. Instead
of John and Mary, use they.
Subject Pronouns:
I, you, he, she, it, we, you, they
Object Pronouns:
me, you, him, her, it, us, you, them
Possessive Pronouns:
mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, yours, theirs

15. The PRONOUN
Subject Pronouns:
The subject pronoun performs the action.
 I love chocolate.
 You cook italian food.
 He lives in Springfield.
 She comes from Shelbyville
 It runs very fast.
 We eat french fries.
 You study hard next time.
 They drink beer very often.

16. The PRONOUN
Object Pronouns:
The object pronoun receives the action.
 Natalie loves me.
 I can help you .
 Springfield needs him.
 Robert calls her everyday.
 Pablo trained it.
 The Doctor tells us the medications we need.
 The bus driver takes you home.
 The president trusts them.

17. The PRONOUN
Possessive Pronouns: Refer to our belongings.
 The white computer is mine.
 The blue hat is yours.
 This is his black jacket.
 The yellow pencil case is hers.
 This is its ball.
 The classroom is ours.
 The truck is yours.
 This is their house.

18. The PRONOUN: Practice
Fill in the blank with the correct pronoun.
 Robert asked Cindy for help.
_____ asked ______ for help
 Carol told Peter the truth.
____ told ____ the truth.
 James taught Paul & Katherine.
_____ taught ______________
 Eric sold Johnny his favorite guitar.
____sold______ his favorite guitar.

19. The ADJECTIVE
An ADJECTIVE tells more about a noun or
pronoun.
It may describe: a red bicycle, a happy child, a
blonde girl.
 The orange car. WHICH?
 I like Natalie’s leather jacket. WHAT KIND?
 David has two electric guitars. HOW MANY?

20. The ADJECTIVE: Practice
Write an adjective on each line to describe the dog.
Write 3 sentences using the adjectives above.
Each sentence should have 2 adjectives in it.
1.
2.
3.

21. The ADVERB
An ADVERB tells more about a verb, adjective or
another adverb.
Adverbs answer three questions:
1) How?
2) When?
3) Where?

22. ADVERBS OF MANNER
Describe how something happens.
 carefully, correctly, eagerly, easily, fast
loudly, patiently, quickly, quietly and well.
Consider the following example:
 She decided to write her paper. (no adverbs)
She quickly decided to write her paper. (her
decision was quick)
She decided to write her paper quickly. (her
writing was quick)

23. ADVERBS OF PLACE
Describe where something happens.
 Abroad, anywhere, downstairs, here, home
in, nowhere, out, outside, somewhere
there, underground, upstairs.
 I wanted to go upstairs.
She has lived in the city since June. (in the
city –prepositional phrase)

24. ADVERBS OF PURPOSE
Describe why something happens.
 So, so that, to, in order to, because, since,
accidentally, intentionally and purposely.
 Jenny walks carefully to avoid falling.
Bob accidentally broke the vase.

25. ADVERBS OF FREQUENCY
Describe how often something happens.
 Always, every, never,often,rarely,seldom,,
sometimes and usually.
 Mackenzie gets a ride from her brother every
day.
The fish usually swims near the top of its tank.

26. ADVERBS OF TIME
Describe when something happens.
 After, already, during, finally, just, last, later
next, now, recently, soon, then, tomorrow
when, while and yesterday.
 He came home before dark.
It will be too dark to play outside soon.
Jessica finished her supper first.
Andy left school early.

27. The ADVERB: Practice
Highlight the adverb in each sentence. In the blank after the
sentence, write if the adverb tells HOW, WHEN or WHERE.
1. The mail carrier finally arrived. __________
2. We ran out to meet her.__________
3. Maggie clapped her hands excitedly. _________
4. I quickly opened the gold envelope. __________
5. Then Maggie read the letter.__________
6. "We won the contest!" she shouted proudly.__________
7. He keeps his collection upstairs. _________
8. He works on it often. __________
9. Sometimes friends send Butch new stamps. _______
10. He buys unusual stamps downtown. _________

28. The PREPOSITION
A PREPOSITION is a word that shows the relationship of
one word in a sentence to another word.
The four things that prepositions tell are:
1) Where something is (location): in, on, under
2) Where something is going (direction): to, around
3) When something happens (time): until, during
4) The relationship between a noun or pronoun and another
word in a sentence: with, by

29. The PREPOSITION: Practice
Circle the correct preposition.
1. Are you sure (about, around) that?
2. Are you familiar (in, with) that textbook?
3. Mrs. Smith worries (about, of) everything.
4. I asked the nurse (to, for) some help.
5. They borrowed money (of, from) me.
6. Don’t wait (until, during) tomorrow to do your homework.
7. My grandmother arrived (in, to) Washington, DC, today.
8. The garage is right next (from, to) the house.

30. The CONJUNCTION
A CONJUNCTION is a word that joins other words or parts
of sentences together.
Here are examples of conjunctions joining words together:
David and Jennifer are brother and sister.
Choose a pen or a pencil from the stack.
Here are examples of conjunctions joining parts of a
sentence together:
You’ll receive a good grade if you study for the test.
I walked fast to get to class but I was tardy anyway.

31. The INTERJECTION
INTERJECTIONS are special words that show strong
feelings like excitement, shock, anger or happiness.
Here are some common interjections:
Wow Hey
Hooray Ugh
Yuck Phew
Oops Yikes
Ouch Yippee

32. The INTERJECTION

33. The INTERJECTION: Practice
 Underline the INTERJECTIONS
1. Hey! You left me behind.
2. Ouch! That soup is hot.
3. Oops! The plate broke.
4. Well, I guess I’ll go.
5. Hurray! We won the game.
6. Wow! John hit the ball far.
7. Hurry! I saw something scary in the cave.
8. Alas! I cannot go with you.
9. Shh! I heard something.
10. Ah, I see what you mean.

34. The INTERJECTION: Practice
 Fill in the blanks with correct INTERJECTIONS
Eek!, Oh!, Oops!, Wow!, Hey!, Aha!, Ouch!, Ah!, Well,
Ugh!
1. ________ He stole my watch.
2. ________ That hurts.
3. ________ I think I’ll go.
4. ________ I hate rats.
5. ________ What a cute kitten.
6. ________ I lost my pencil.
7. ________ The bus left.
8. ________ How exciting.
9. ________, I guess you can have my
soup.
10. ________ I slipped.

35. Now that you know everything…
 …An extra exercise to check your
understanding as a whole.

36. Reading Comprehension
The Crimson Candle
A man lying at the point of death called his wife to his bedside
and said:
"I am about to leave you forever; give me, therefore, one
last proof of your affection and fidelity, for, according to our
holy religion, a married man seeking admittance at the gate of
Heaven is required to swear that he has never defiled himself
with an unworthy woman. In my desk you will find a crimson
candle, which has been blessed by the High Priest and has a
peculiar mystical significance. Swear to me that while it is in
existence you will not remarry."
The Woman swore and the Man died. At the funeral the
Woman stood at the head of the bier, holding a lighted crimson
candle till it was wasted entirely away.

37. Parts of Speech Organizer
Copy this table in your copybooks right away! Complete
it with the information provided by the text.
ADJECTIVE NOUN VERB ADVERB MEANING
PRONOUN

38. Bibliography
Textbooks:
 Advanced Grammar in Use, Cambridge.
 English Grammar for the Utterly Confused,
McGraw Hill
 How to Teach English, Longman.

39. Bibliography
Online sources:
 www.wordreference.com
 http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglis
h/
 http://englishtips.org
 www.slideshare.net

40. David Amigo Henríquez.
ESL Teacher.