Special Sub-Topic: Parts of Speech Click Here To Play: Parts of Speech

Choose the word that best fits this definition: a word, or words, that relates a noun or pronoun to another word in the same sentence.

preposition. Prepositions can also connect a pronoun to a noun in a sentence, as in "He went under the table". "Under" connects the pronoun "he" to the noun "table" by telling us where he went. Prepositions tells us where something is, where it is going, and when it is happening. Prepositions are words like: about, beyond, from, near, out, and under.

What part of speech is the word "barely" in the sentence "She barely passed the test?"

adverb. Adverbs can modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs. They are words that make the meaning clearer, descriptive, and more precise by answering these four questions: how? when? where? and to what extent? Adverbs can modify sentences as well, which are adverbial phrases or prepositional phrases. (Everyone went to the beach--to the beach modifies the verb "went".) Adverbs like "therefore" link together sentences: "She knew her grammar; therefore, she did well on the quiz". Tip: many adverbs end in "-ly", but this isn't decisive.

"Julia was a talented, lovely, gracious girl." What part of speech are "talented", "lovely," and "gracious"?

adjective & adjectives. Adjectives have it easy, that is, compared to adverbs. All they have to do is modify nouns. They tell us what kind, how many, which one. So we now know what kind of girl Julia is (and let's hope she is humble about her attributes!)

Sentences must usually contain at least two parts of speech. A subject is one part; do you know the other?

a verb. A sentence must have a subject and a predicate to be a true sentence. The subject is either a noun or a pronoun, and the other essential part of speech is the verb, which shows what the subject is doing. "Bob ran home". "Bob was tired". If the verb is imperative there is an implied subject as in, "Hurry up".

Aha! Oops! Wow! are all examples of what part of speech?

interjections & interjection. Interjections are words, phrases, and even nonsense words that interrupt, or interject feelings into the sentence. They are often at the beginning of the sentence, and are punctuated with an exclamation point. "Yay! We are almost done with the quiz".

Pronouns replace what part of speech?

noun & nouns. We all should know that nouns name persons, places, and things. Nouns can be common or proper. The noun "teacher" is a common noun, while "Mr. Thomas" as in "Mr. Thomas is my language arts teacher." is a proper noun (proper nouns are capitalized).

"The dog came in and shook his wet fur, with the result that the water went all over the kitchen, but instead of being mad, Grandma just laughed, since Barkley looked so apologetic". How many conjunctions were used in the previous sentence?

4. Conjunctions join words, phrases, and clauses in sentences. Do you remember "Conjunction Junction" from Schoolhouse Rock? The conjunctions used are two coordinating conjunctions: "and", "but" and two subordinating conjunctions: "that", "since".

Congratulations! You have just been introduced to PAPA VINC, which is one way of remembering the eight traditional parts of speech. What is the word for forming words from the first letters of each word?

acronyms. Acronyms are a great tool for remembering information, and many of our everyday words are acronyms: ZIP code (Zone Improvement plan), LASER (Light Amplificatiaon by Stimulated Emission of Radiation). So PAPA VINC stands for Prepostions, Adverbs, Pronouns, Adjectives, Verbs, Interjections, Nouns, Conjunctions.

Bonus Question: What do you call nouns that are capitalized?

proper & proper nouns & proper noun. Proper nouns are those nouns that name a specific noun, as in Shakespeare, instead of the common noun "poet". Adjectives can be proper also: "She bought a Persian rug". "Persian" is telling me what kind of rug it is, and since is a capitalized adjective it is a proper adjective.