PARTS OF SPEECH
Nouns
A
noun is a word used to name a person, place, thing, an idea or quality of mind.
For
example:
A noun John refers to a name of person
A noun Mtwara refers to a name of place
A noun book refers to a name of thing
A noun anger refers to a name of an idea of
mind
Types of Nouns
Nouns
are divided into the following kinds
A. Proper nouns
A
proper noun is the name of particular people or places
For
example: Tames, Juma, Asha, Aneth, Mtwara, Lindi, Tanzania, etc
B. Common nouns
A
common noun is a name given in common to every person, place, or thing of the
same class or kind.
For
example: Boy, woman, teacher, student, region, district, village, book, chair,
phone etc
C. Collective nouns
They
are names indicating a collection of things or people
For
example: Band for musicians, batch/class for students, bench for magistrates,
bevy for ladies, bunch for flowers or keys, army for soldiers, team for people,
flock for sheep etc
D. Abstract nouns
An
abstract noun is a name of quality, action or state which exists in the mind.
The abstract noun cannot be realized by any organ sense
For
example: Freedom, anger, beauty, joy, sorrow, love, death, kindness, etc
Formation
of singular and plural nouns
The plural nouns in English language are formed in
different ways.
i.
The plural of nouns is
generally formed by adding-s to the
singular.
For example:
Singular Plural
Girl girls
Boy boys
Pen pens
Desk desks
Book books
ii.
But nouns ending in –o, –s, -sh, ch, -x, form the
plural by adding –es to the
singular; as
Singular Plural
Mango mangoes
Wish wishes
Church churches
Box boxes
Brush brushes
iii.
Nouns ending in –y
preceded by a consonant, form their plural by changing –y into –i
and then adding –es.
For
example: Singular Plural
Baby babies
Army armies
Family families
Lady ladies
Story stories
iv.
Some nouns ending in –f or
–fe form their plural by changing –f or –fe into –v and then adding –es:
as
Singular Plural
Thief thieves
Life lives
Loaf loaves
Wife wives
Wolf wolves
v.
Few nouns form their
plural by changing the vowel which is found inside the word of the singular
form : as
Singular Plural
Man men
Woman women
Goose geese
Mouse mice
Tooth teeth
Foot feet
vi.
There are few
nouns which form their plural by adding
–en to the singular; as
Singular Plural
Ox oxen
Child children
vii.
Some nouns have the
singular and plural alike; as
Swine, sheep, deer, salmon,
aircraft, spacecraft, series, species etc
viii.
Some names of
instruments and dresses which have two parts form a kind of pair use only
plural form; as
Bellows, scissors, tongs, pincers, spectacles, trousers, drawers, jeans,
tights, shorts, pajamas,
etc
PRONOUNS
Pronouns are words used in place of nouns. They are
used in a piece of writing or speech to avoid repeating a previously stated noun.
Pronouns are used instead of noun
For example: he , she, it, they,
that, this, mine, yours, etc
Types of Pronouns
Pronouns are of different types depending on the
grammatical functions they perform in a sentence. Here are some pronoun types.
i. Personal
Pronouns
Personal pronouns are those used in place of names
of people: as
He, she he, it, I, we, you , they, me, us, etc
Personal
Pronouns show Number and Person
Personal pronouns can be in: (a) Singular number e.g.
he/she, it, and I,
(b) Plural number, e.g. we, you,
they
ii.
Reflexive Pronouns
A reflexive pronoun refers back to the subject of a
sentence. Reflexive pronouns always end in – ‘self’ (for singular) and - ‘selves’
(for plural). They appear as: myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself,
oneself (for singular) and ourselves, yourselves, themselves (for plural).
iii. Possessive
pronouns
Possessive pronouns are used to show possession.
That is, showing something belongs to someone or something. It includes words
like: hers, yours, his, theirs, ours, mine, its etc
iv.
Interrogative Pronouns
To interrogate means to ask questions. Interrogative
pronouns therefore are used to ask questions and they include such words as:
who, whom, whose, what, which, where, whoever. They are also referred to as WH
- questions.
v.
Demonstrative Pronouns
The word ‘demonstrate’ means to show. Demonstrative
pronouns therefore are used to show or point at things or people. In English
language, the following words are used to point at things or people:
This (singular), these (plural), that (singular) and those (plural)
vi.
Relative Pronouns
They are formed by Wh- words to represent things,
people, and places. It includes words such as who, whom, whose, and which.
vii.
Indefinite Pronouns
Indefinite pronouns as the name suggests, are not
definite or specific in their function. For instance, they do not point out any
particular thing or person. They are used for both persons and things when
these are used in general terms. Here are some indefinite pronouns:
Everybody,
everyone, anyone, anybody, someone, somebody, some, several, all, few, none,
both, one, any, neither, either, each, much, many
VERBS
Is a word that expresses an action. Verbs are
divided into two groups, namely, Main / lexical verbs, and Auxiliary verbs
i.
MAIN or EXICAL
VERBS
Lexical verbs are verbs that have lexical or
denotation meaning rather than grammatical,
e.g. Burst,
run, Change, contain
Lexical verbs are
sometimes called full verbs, a term which is used to indicate that they can
combine with auxiliaries but can also do without them.
Verbs conjugation
Lexical verbs have
different verb forms called
‘conjugation’ e. g.
Base form s-form ing form ed-form en form
walk, walks, walking walked walked
Play plays, playing played played
Eat eats eating ate eaten
Buy, buys, buying bought bought
ii.
AUXILIARY
VERBS
They mark grammatical function to help the
main/lexical verbs; as
•It is
shining
• We are
students
•A boy has gone away
•He did
not come early
The italized words from the above examples are
auxiliary verbs
Types of auxiliary verbs
i.
Primary auxiliary
ii.
Secondary auxiliary
i.
Primary
auxiliary
The primary auxiliary verbs are helping verbs
that can sometimes stand on their own without main or lexical verbs. These are
‘be’, ‘do’ and ‘have’
The form of verb “Be” are:
Present: Be Am, Is,
Past: Was, Were
Participle: being . been
Form of verb ‘do’
are:
Present do/does
Past did
Form of have are:
Present: have/has
Past: had
ii.
Modal
Auxiliary verbs
Modal auxiliaries are also called secondary
auxiliary verbs .Modal auxiliaries do not have –s , -ing form or -ed participle. However, some of the
modal verbs have special form to make past
Present Past
•
May might
•
Shall should
•
Will would
•
Can could
Modal auxiliary verbs that do not have past from include:
•
Must
•
Dare
•
Need
•
Ought
•
Used to
Contraction of negative modal verbs
•
Positive
unconstructed contrasted
•
Can cannot can’t
•
Could could not couldn’t
•
Might might not mightn’t
•
Shall shall
not shan’t (AE)
•
Should should
not shouldn’t
•
Would would not wouldn’t
•
Must must not mustn’t
Asking question using auxiliary verbs
i. Yes/No question using Primary auxiliary
verbs
When forming yes/no questions using auxiliary
verbs usually the auxiliary verbs are
placed at the sentence initial position followed by the noun or pronoun.
For example:
Is he…….
Are they……
Was it……
Have you…….
ii. Wh- questions
Wh – questions are introduced by wh- words
such as what, why, where, when etc
For example: Who
said ………?
Who came?
Who is your brother?
Where are you?
Giving answers to Yes/no Question
Response to yes/no question begins with Yes/No
followed by the a noun or pronoun then the auxiliary verbs . When the response
is No, the negation is put to auxiliary.
For example:
Are you happy?
Yes I am happy or
No I am not happy
Can you read?
Yes I Can read or No
I cannot read
Giving answers to Wh-Question
The response to Wh –question is relatively
depending with one’s opinion.
ADJECTIVES
An adjective is the word that is used to describe a
noun or pronoun. That is they give more information about the nouns or pronouns
For example: The
tall man crossed the road.
An adjective makes a noun or pronoun more specific
by giving details about it. It helps you have a clearer picture of what is
being talked about.
Positions of Adjectives
Adjectives occupy two typical positions in a
sentence.
(a) An adjective may come before the noun it
qualifies as in the following sentences:
The
young man helped the girl.
The excited boy
received his reward.
We can say that an adjective can occupy the position
immediately before the noun or pronoun it modifies. Such adjectives are called attributive adjectives.
(b) An adjective can also be separated from the noun
and put after a verb to function as the complement of the verb. In this case,
such adjectives are called predicative adjectives.
For examples: He
appears happy.
The case became serious.
Miss Ane is beautiful.
Types of Adjectives
Adjectives are of
different types such as
i.
Adjectives
of quality
They give a quality of a
noun
Examples: The tall boy
The beautiful girl
The small dog
ii.
Adjectives
of quantity
These adjectives show the
quantity of nouns
For example: Little water
in the bucket
Much salt to the food
Many students in the class
iii. Possessive Adjectives
They show ownership or belongings of something or
somebody. They include words like his, her, my, our, their, etc. They show
possession. A possessive adjective makes the meaning of noun more definite.
Examples: This is his jacket.
These are our pens.
IV.
Demonstrative
Adjectives
These are adjectives that point out nouns.
Examples:
I like this tree.
I don’t like that tree.
‘This’ and ‘these’ are generally used for things
that are near. ‘That’ and ‘those’ are generally used for things that are
further away. ‘This’ and ‘that’ go with singular countable nouns while ‘these’
and ‘those’ are used with plural countable nouns.
V.
Interrogative Adjectives
These adjectives are used with nouns to ask
questions.
Examples: What
book are you studying?
Which car is yours?
Whose money was found?
Vi. Distributive adjectives
They show the distribution
of nouns
For example: Each student
Every teacher
ROLES OF
ADJECTIVES
Adjectives show degree
existing to a noun. There are three
levels of degree which are:
Positive Comparative Superlative
Tall taller tallest
Happy happier happiest
Handsome more handsome most handsome
ADVERBS
They are words which describe or modify verbs,
adjectives or other adverbs
For
example: I entered slowly
I was very happy
He was so
quickly
Position of Adverbs
Adverbs can stand at the beginning, mid or at the end
of the sentence
For example: Slowly, I approached to the man
I slowly approached the man
I approached the man slowly
Types of adverbs
i.
Adverbs of time
They tell us when something happens or is done
For example: He passed away yesterday
I shall come few minutes
We shall remember you always
ii.
Adverbs of place
They tell us where something is done or happens
For example: She entered in the class
We cannot stop here for lunch
I went there early
iii.
Adverbs of manner
These adverbs show how something is done or happens
For example: I kissed her quickly
I spoke beautifully
She smiles well
iv.
Adverbs of degree
They show the level or extent that something is done
or happens. It includes words like very, so, too, fairly, etc
For example: The game was very interesting
We are so proud of you
They are too lazy
v.
Adverbs of frequency
They show how often something is done or happens. It
includes words like again, almost, always, ever, never, frequently, often,
rarely, normally, occasionally, etc
For example: I always visit my friends
She often comes to me
We rarely go to the class
CONJUNCTIONS
Conjunction is a word that connects
other words, phrases or sentences
For example: Ally and Juma are
friends
Boys and girls are late
Mary is playing but
Helena is studying
Types of conjunctions
i.
Coordinate conjunctions
They are used to join words or group
of words which have the same grammatical level. They include words like But,
and, or, etc
For example: I like mangoes and
apples
Jane is sad but Anna is
happy
You can ask me or my friend
ii.
Subordinate conjunctions
They are the words that are used to
join units of different levels, and they normally appear at the begging of the
dependent clause. They include words like if, unless, while, though, although,
despite, inspite of, however, moreover, even if, even though etc
For example: Peter sings well although he is sick
Though it was raining,
she managed to come
I cannot stop loving
you despite you are going to marry
iii.
Correlative conjunctions
They are pair of conjunctions used
to join group of words in a sentence. This includes words like:
Not only.....but also.....,
....either....or..., .....neither.......nor....., too.....to etc
For example: Mary is ether in the
class or in the room
We saw neither the
teacher nor students coming to help us
It is too early to
propose you
Not only me but also my
friends saw the thief
PREPOSITIONS
Preposition is a word placed before
a noun or pronoun to show the position, time, and intention
For example: I went near Mikindani
We saw a bird on the house
I found the new pen in my
bag
I will come to you at
Easter
Types of prepositions
i.
Simple prepositions
They are made up by single
preposition. It includes words like at, off, in, on, from, by etc
For example: I went on foot
She put off the light
She was found in bed
ii.
Complex prepositions
These prepositions contain more than
one word. It includes words like according to. Near to, besides of, beside of,
among of, etc
For example: We went out of the
class
Inspite of being the
first, she is not happy
We stood near to our
teacher
In order to pass the exam
you need to study hard
INTERJECTIONS
These are words which express
feelings or emotion of the speaker: This includes words like: Hush!, ouch!,
ah!, woh!, bravo!, gosh!, my God! etc
For example: my God! Are the one?
Ah! What is wrong with
you?
Bravo! You have won
