The parts of speech underpin all that comprises good writing. They make up good grammar and describe how the word is used within a sentence. The different parts of speech include: the noun; pronoun; verb; adverb; adjective; preposition; conjunction; and, interjection (University of Ottawa 2008).
Nouns are used in sentences to name people, places, locations, and ideas (University of Ottawa 2008). For example, 'this year we bought a pool'. Year and pool are nouns.
There are also elements of grammar called noun gender. These are nouns that can relate to both genders. For example, an 'author' or 'teacher' can refer to either a male or a female author or teacher. There are some nouns still left over from the older use of grammar that refer to one gender, such as 'actor' versus 'actress'.
Nouns can also be plurals. Usually you just add s or es. One example of this is when you talk about only telling 'half-truths'. Apart from adding s or es, there are plurals where you drop letters prior to adding the plural s or es. For example, when you write about more than one city, it becomes cities.
Possessive nouns are when the noun takes ownership of something. This is often accompanied by a possessive apostrophe and the letter s. For example, 'This is John’s bag'.
Pronouns are another one of the parts of speech. When writing pronouns, they are often used to substitute for a noun, such as the use of 'he', 'you', and 'which' (University of Ottawa 2008). They streamline sentences and make writing more interesting by not replicating certain words.
The verb is a central element of the sentence. It makes a statement about the subject of the sentence and refers to how the subject acts, a happening, or some other circumstance (University of Ottawa 2008). For example, in 'The dog will run at the postman', ‘run’ is the verb. This is because it describes how the dog acts when the postman is around. Verbs are 'power words'.
Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, phrases, and clauses (University of Ottawa 2008). You will often see adverbs in different locations throughout a sentence. You can normally tell it is an adverb if it provides the answer to such queries as how it was done (e.g. rapidly); when it was done (today); where it was done; and how much. Many adverbs possess ly at the end of the word.
Often placed before a noun or pronoun in the sentence, the adjective offers descriptions and transforms the noun or pronoun (University of Ottawa 2008). For example, in the sentence 'The small car crashed into the big truck', both ‘small’ and ‘big’ are adjectives. They describe the car and truck. There are also possessive adjectives, such as my, our, their, your. Other types of adjectives include demonstrative, interrogative, and indefinite.
Prepositions are the parts of speech that connect nouns, pronouns, or phrases in a sentence (University of Ottawa 2008). For example, 'on' is the preposition in the sentence 'The knife is on the table'. Another example of a preposition is the use of the word 'inside' in the sentence 'The dog is inside the kennel'.
Conjunctions connect words, phrases, and clauses in sentences (University of Ottawa 2008). For example, 'and' is the conjunction in 'We went to the shop and then we went to the pool'.
The interjection is a word that is not grammatically associated with the sentence (University of Ottawa 2008). When used, it adds emotion to the sentence. Interjections might include 'Ouch'; 'Hey'; 'Oh no'.
Possessing knowledge of the parts of speech when writing can really make the difference between good and poor writing. Learning these rules is not difficult. It just requires practice and patience. You don’t have to be a word wizard to understand them. In fact, there are software products and tutorials on the market that help to increase such knowledge. One such tutorial is Write 101’s How to Write Well. This actually includes four tutorials – grammar; vocabulary; punctuation; sentences and paragraphs – and will get you well on the way to getting the parts of speech under your belt.
References
University of Ottawa 2008, The Parts of Speech, The Writing Centre — HyperGrammar, viewed 9 July, 2009.