Parts of Speech Exercise
Parts of Speech Exercise
Parts of Speech Exercise
Nouns
A noun is a word used to name a person, animal, place, thing, and abstract idea.
Types Of Nouns
There are many different types of nouns. As you know, you capitalize some nouns, such as
"Canada" or "Louise," and do not capitalize others, such as "badger" or "tree" (unless they
appear at the beginning of a sentence). In fact, grammarians have developed a whole series of
noun types, including the proper noun, the common noun, the concrete noun, the abstract noun,
the countable noun (also called the count noun), the non-countable noun (also called the mass
noun), and the collective noun. You should note that a noun will belong to more than one type: it
will be proper or common, abstract or concrete, and countable or non-countable or collective.
You always write a proper noun with a capital letter, since the noun represents the name of a
specific person, place, or thing.
A concrete noun is a noun which names anything (or anyone) that you can perceive through
your physical senses: touch, sight, taste, hearing, or smell.
An abstract noun is a noun which names anything which you can not perceive through your five
physical senses, and is the opposite of a concrete noun, such as, liberty, love or justice.
A countable noun (or count noun) is a noun with both a singular and a plural form, and it
names anything (or anyone) that you can count.
A non-countable noun (or mass noun) is a noun which does not have a plural form, and which
refers to something that you could (or would) not usually count, such as, oxygen, furniture or
gravel.
A collective noun is a noun naming a group of things, animals, or persons, such as, flock, jury,
committee or class.
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Nouns A
Circle all the nouns in the following sentences.
1. The announcer said that the bus for Minneapolis would leave in thirty minutes.
3. John wanted to change the ribbon on his typewriter, but the ribbon would not cooperate.
4. There was a scream of skidding tires and then a metallic thud, followed by the sound of
splintered glass.
5. Bob and his brother crossed the continent in their old car last summer.
6. Bob drove through the desert at night and slept in the daytime.
8. Brad wrote a paper about Willa Cather and her life in Pittsburgh.
9. Half of the people in the world can neither read nor write.
10. There is a fine exhibition of paintings by Thomas Hart Benton at the Cleveland Public
Library.
Nouns B
Decide which of the following words are common nouns and which are proper nouns. Begin
each proper noun with a capital letter.
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9. cathedral, saint, saint luke’s church, church
10. college, harvard college, university, jefferson high school, indiana state university
Verbs
A verb or compound verb asserts something about the subject of the sentence and express
actions, events, or states of being. The verb or compound verb is the critical element of the
predicate of a sentence.
7. Once, a circus horse literally stuck his right hind foot into his mouth.
Helping Verbs
You construct a compound verb out of a helping verb and another verb. The most common
helping verbs are: have, had, were, is, are, been, will, would, could, should, may, might, do, and
does.
3. The truck driver was completely blinded by the sudden flash of oncoming lights.
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4. Our people have always had enough to eat.
10. The fog was now rapidly lifting from the field.
Pronouns
A pronoun can replace a noun or another pronoun. You use pronouns like "he," "which,"
"none," and "you" to make your sentences less cumbersome and less repetitive.
1. The doctor told the boys that they could use his boat.
3. Helen and Karen finished the test first; they found it easy.
5. Jane has her own ideas, but her family does not agree with the,.
6. On the third try, the Nautilus made her way under the North Pole.
8. Then Jim’s power mower broke, the neighbors let him use theirs.
9. Betty has a driver’s license, but she doesn’t have it with her.
10. The police found the car, but they couldn’t move it.
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14. Is this the face that launched a thousand ships?
Adjectives
An adjective modifies a noun or a pronoun by describing, identifying, or quantifying words. An
adjective usually precedes the noun or the pronoun which it modifies.
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6. The new atomic submarines are spacious and comfortable.
12. A cold wind drove the deep snow into the huge drifts.
13. Some small economy cars are neither small nor economical.
Adverbs
An adverb can modify a verb, an adjective, another adverb, a phrase, or a clause. An adverb
indicates manner, time, place, cause, or degree and answers questions such as "how," "when,"
"where," "how much".
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Conjunctions
You can use a conjunction to link words, phrases, and clauses.
You use a coordinating conjunction (and, but, or, nor, for, so, yet) to join individual words,
phrases, and independent clauses.
A subordinating conjunction introduces a dependent clause and indicates the nature of the
relationship among the independent clause(s) and the dependent clause(s). The most common
subordinating conjunctions are: after, although, as, because, before, how, if, once, since, than,
that, though, until, when, where, whether, and while.
Correlative conjunctions always appear in pairs -- you use them to link equivalent sentence
elements. The most common correlative conjunctions are: both...and, either...or, neither...nor,
not only...but also, so...as, and whether...or.
2. Both the Japanese and the Italian delegates opposed the attack.
7. The dictionary is a valuable tool; however we must know how to use it.
8. The outfielders wear glasses so that the sun will not blind them.
10. The burglars went down the alley, into the basement, and up the stairs.
Prepositions
A preposition links nouns, pronouns and phrases to other words in a sentence. Some common
prepositions are: at, under, over, of, to, in, out, beneath, beyond, for, among, after, before,
within, down, up, during, without, with, outside, inside, beside, between, by, on, out, from, until,
toward, throughout, across, above, about, around.
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Find the prepositions and their objects.
1. The truck was stopped at the border and searched for arms.
4. For many years, there have been bad feelings between the towns.
5. After the game, the crowd rushed for the goal posts.
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11. Dad is using his power saw.
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