Grammar: Main Parts of Speech
Definitions and Examples
Noun
The name of something, like a person, animal, place, thing, or concept. Nouns are typically
used as subjects, objects, objects of prepositions, and modifiers of other nouns.
o I finished the study.
o I = subject
o Maggie wrote the dissertation.
o the dissertation = object
o The author presented the results in Chapter 4.
o in Chapter 4 = object of a preposition
o His research findings can contribute to social change.
o research = modifier
Verb
This expresses what the person, animal, place, thing, or concept does. In English, verbs
follow the noun.
o It takes a good deal of dedication to complete a doctoral degree.
o She studied hard for the test.
o Writing a dissertation is difficult. (The "be" verb is also sometimes referred to as a
copula or a linking verb. It links the subject, in this case "writing a dissertation," to
the complement or the predicate of the sentence, in this case, "hard.")
Adjective
This describes a noun or pronoun. Adjectives typically come before a noun or after a stative
verb, like the verb "to be."
o The diligent student completed her assignment early.
o Diligent describes the student and appears before the noun student.
o It can be difficult to balance time to study and work responsibilities.
o Difficult is placed after the to be verb and describes what it is like to balance
time.
Remember that adjectives in English have no plural form. The same form of the adjective is
used for both singular and plural nouns.
o A different idea
o Some different ideas
o INCORRECT: some differents ideas
Adverb
This gives more information about the verb and about how the action was done. Adverbs
tells how, where, when, why, etc. Depending on the context, the adverb can come before or
after the verb or at the beginning or end of a sentence.
o He completed the course enthusiastically.
o Enthusiastically describes how he completed the course and answers the how
question.
o Steven recently enrolled in the Graduate Certificate in Communication program at
Walden.
o Recently modifies the verb enroll and answers the when question.
o Then, I verified that most of my sources were peer-reviewed.
o Then describes and modifies the entire sentence. See this link on transitions
for more examples of conjunctive adverbs (adverbs that join one idea to
another to improve the cohesion of the writing).
Pronoun
This word substitutes for a noun or a noun phrase (e.g. it, she, he, they, that, those,…).
o Smith (2014) interviewed the applicants as they arrived.
o they = applicants
o He was interested in ideas that were never previously recorded, not those that have
already been published.
o He = Smith; that = ideas; those = those ideas
Determiner
This word makes the reference of the noun more specific (e.g. his, her, my, their, the, a, an,
this, these,…).
o Jones published her book in 2015.
o The book was very popular.
Preposition
This comes before a noun or a noun phrase and links it to other parts of the sentence. These
are usually single words (e.g., on, at, by,…) but can be up to four words (e.g., as far as, in
addition to, as a result of, …).
o I chose to interview teachers in the district closest to me.
o The recorder was placed next to the interviewee.
o I stopped the recording in the middle of the interview due to a low battery.
Conjunction
A word that joins two clauses. These can be coordinating (an easy way to remember this is
memorizing FANBOYS = for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so) or subordinating (e.g., because,
although, when, …).
o The results were not significant, so the alternative hypothesis was accepted.
o Although the results seem promising, more research must be conducted in this area.
Auxiliary Verbs
Helping verbs. They are used to build up complete verbs.
Primary auxiliary verbs (be, have, do) show the progressive, passive, perfect, and
negative verb tenses.
Modal auxiliary verbs (can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will, would) show a
variety of meanings. They represent ability, permission, necessity, and degree of
certainty. These are always followed by the simple form of the verb.
Semimodal auxiliary verbs (e.g., be going to, ought to, have to, had better, used to,
be able to,…). These are always followed by the simple form of the verb.
o Researchers have investigated this issue for some time. However, the cause of the
problem has not been determined.
o primary: have investigated = present perfect tense; has not been determined
= passive, perfect, negative form
o He could conduct more research, which may lead to the answer.
o The modal could shows ability, and the verb conduct stays in its simple form;
the modal may shows degree of certainty, and the verb lead stays in its
simple form.
o Future researchers are going to delve more into this topic. They are about to make a
breakthrough discovery.
o These semimodals are followed by the simple form of the verb.
Common Endings
Nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs often have unique word endings, called suffixes.
Looking at the suffix can help to distinguish the word from other parts of speech and help
identify the function of the word in the sentence. It is important to use the correct word
form in written sentences so that readers can clearly follow the intended meaning.
Here are some common endings for the basic parts of speech. If ever in doubt, consult the
dictionary for the correct word form.
Common Noun Endings
-age: suffrage, image, postage
-al: arrival, survival, deferral
-dom: kingdom, freedom, boredom
-ee: interviewee, employee, trainee
-ence/ance: experience, convenience, finance
-er/or: teacher, singer, director
-ery: archery, cutlery, mystery
-hood: neighborhood, childhood, brotherhood
-ics: economics, gymnastics, aquatics
-ing: reading, succeeding, believing
-ism: racism, constructivism, capitalism
-ity/ty: community, probability, equality
-ment: accomplishment, acknowledgement, environment
-ness: happiness, directness, business
-ry: ministry, entry, robbery
-ship: scholarship, companionship, leadership
-tion/sion/xion : information, expression, complexion
-ure: structure, pressure, treasure
Common Verb Endings
-ate: congregate, agitate, eliminate
-en: straighten, enlighten, shorten
-(i)fy: satisfy, identify, specify
-ize: categorize, materialize, energize
Common Adjective Endings
-able/ible: workable, believable, flexible
-al: educational, institutional, exceptional
-ed: confused, increased, disappointed
-en: wooden, golden, broken
-ese: Chinese, Portuguese, Japanese
-ful: wonderful, successful, resourceful
-ic: poetic, classic, Islamic
-ing: exciting, failing, comforting
-ish: childish, foolish, selfish
-ive: evaluative, collective, abrasive
-ian: Canadian, Russian, Malaysian
-less: priceless, useless, hopeless
-ly: friendly, daily, yearly
-ous: gorgeous, famous, courageous
-y: funny, windy, happy
Common Adverb Endings
-ly: quickly, easily, successfully
-ward(s): backward(s), upwards, downwards
-wise: clockwise, edgewise, price-wise
Placement and Position of Adjectives and Adverbs
Order of Adjectives
If more than one adjective is used in a sentence, they tend to occur in a certain order. In
English, two or three adjectives modifying a noun tend to be the limit. However, when
writing in APA, not many adjectives should be used (since APA is objective, scientific writing).
If adjectives are used, the framework below can be used as guidance in adjective placement.
1. Determiner (e.g., this, that, these, those, my, mine, your, yours, him, his, hers they,
their, some, our, several,…) or article (a, an, the)
2. Opinion, quality, or observation adjective (e.g., lovely, useful, cute, difficult,
comfortable)
3. Physical description
(a) size (big, little, tall, short)
(b) shape (circular, irregular, triangular)
(c) age (old, new, young, adolescent)
(d) color (red, green, yellow)
4. Origin (e.g., English, Mexican, Japanese)
5. Material (e.g., cotton, metal, plastic)
6. Qualifier (noun used as an adjective to modify the noun that follows; i.e., campus
activities, rocking chair, business suit)
7. Head noun that the adjectives are describing (e.g., activities, chair, suit)
For example:
o This (1) lovely (2) new (3) wooden (4) Italian (5) rocking (6) chair (7) is in my office.
o Your (1) beautiful (2) green (3) French (4) silk (5) business (6) suit (7) has a hole in it.
Commas With Multiple Adjectives
A comma is used between two adjectives only if the adjectives belong to the same category
(for example, if there are two adjectives describing color or two adjectives describing
material). To test this, ask these two questions:
1. Does the sentence make sense if the adjectives are written in reverse order?
2. Does the sentence make sense if the word “and” is written between them?
If the answer is yes to the above questions, the adjectives are separated with a comma. Also
keep in mind a comma is never used before the noun that it modifies.
o This useful big round old green English leather rocking chair is comfortable. (Note
that there are no commas here because there is only one adjective from each
category.)
o A lovely large yellow, red, and green oil painting was hung on the wall. (Note the
commas between yellow, red, and green since these are all in the same category of
color.)
Position of Adverbs
Adverbs can appear in different positions in a sentence.
o At the beginning of a sentence: Generally, teachers work more than 40 hours a week.
o After the subject, before the verb: Teachers generally work more than 40 hours a
week.
o At the end of a sentence: Teachers work more than 40 hours a week, generally.
o However, an adverb is not placed between a verb and a direct object. INCORRECT:
Teachers work generally more than 40 hours a week.
More Detailed Rules for the Position of Adverbs
1. Adverbs that modify the whole sentence can move to different positions, such as
certainly, recently, fortunately, actually, and obviously.
o Recently, I started a new job.
o I recently started a new job.
o I started a new job recently.
2. Many adverbs of frequency modify the entire sentence and not just the verb, such as
frequently, usually, always, sometimes, often, and seldom. These adverbs appear in
the middle of the sentence, after the subject.
o She frequently gets time to herself. (The adverb appears before the main verb.)
o INCORRECT: Frequently she gets time to herself.
o INCORRECT: She gets time to herself frequently.
o She has frequently exercised during her lunch hour. (The adverb appears after the
first auxiliary verb.)
o She is frequently hanging out with old friends. (The adverb appears after the to be
verb.)
3. Adverbial phrases work best at the end of a sentence.
o He greeted us in a very friendly way.
o I collected data for 2 months.
