Parts of Speech and Word Forms: notes

The Main Parts of Speech

• Noun: names a person, place, thing or idea. Collective nouns name a group: a flock of birds, a class of learners.
• Pronoun: stands in for a noun. Use I, he, she, we, they as subjects and me, him, her, us, them as objects.
• Adjective: describes a noun. A tall boy. Comparing: tall, taller, tallest; beautiful, more beautiful, most beautiful.
• Adverb: describes a verb, adjective or another adverb. She sings well. Do not write good for well.
• Preposition: shows position or link. In the bag, on the table, between two people, among many.
• Conjunction: joins words or clauses: and, but, because, although.

Word Forms

• Prefix: added at the front: unhappy, disagree.
• Suffix: added at the end: careful, happiness, quickly.
• Word family: succeed, success, successful, successfully. Pick the form that fits the gap.
• Plurals: most add -s; words ending in a consonant plus y change to -ies (city, cities); some are irregular (child, children; man, men).
• A or an: use an before a vowel sound: an hour, an umbrella, a university.