 Many students finish primary/elementary school without really learning all of the parts of speech, causing unecessary difficulties in middle and high school, and especially in college. If parents help their children while they are still in elementary school, these children will go further with their reading and writing skills and avoid unnecessary problems later on.
The following parts of speech are typically taught to students in 3rd - 6th Grade.
- Noun
- Adjective
- Verb
- Adverb
- Pronouns
- Preposition
- Conjunction
- Interjection
Noun - a word that names a person, a place, a thing, or an idea.
- Person: Jane, friend, Caleb, parent
- Place: home, city, backyard
- Thing: baseball, homework, secret
- Idea: happiness, trouble, friendship
- Common Nouns: A common noun is any noun that does not name a specific person, place, thing, or idea. Common nouns are not capitalized: woman, park, team, holiday
- Proper Nouns: A proper noun names a specific person, place, thing, or idea. Proper nouns are capitalized: Jane Buckley, Regent Park, All Blacks, Anzac Day
Adjective - Words that desribe a noun or pronoun. Adjectives tell what kind, how many, or which one. They usually appear immediately before the word they describe.
Verb - A verb shows action: The girls ran along the riverbank. (The verb ran shows action). An action verb tells what the subject is doing. (Hint: If a word ends in -ing, there's a good chance it's a verb!)
Adverb - Words that desribe a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. Adverbs tell how, when, where, how often, and how much. (Hint: A lot of words that end in -ly are adverbs)
Basically, most adverbs tell you how, where, or when something is done. In other words, they describe the manner, place, or time of an action.
Here are some examples:
Manner |
slowly |
Tom drives slowly. |
Place |
here |
The party is going to take place here. |
Time |
yesterday |
I called him yesterday. |
Pronouns - Pronouns are used instead of a nouns. They act exactly like nouns. So, instead of saying "Caleb went fishing", you could say "He went fishing".
Commonly used pronouns: I, me, my, mine, myself, you, your, ours, yourself, he, him, his, she, her, hers, it, its, we, us, our, they, them, their, this, these, who, whom, whose, which, that, one, ones, everybody, an
Preposition - Prepositions link and relate a noun or pronoun to another word in the sentence. They tell how, where, when, and how something happens.
(Hint: One easy way to tell if a word is a preposition, which almost always works, is to say, "The mouse went _______ the fridge.)
Here are some examples to help you out:
about, above, across, after, against, along, among, around, at, before, behind, below, beneath, beside, besides, between, beyond, but, by, concerning, despite, down, during, except, excepting, for, from, in, inside, into, like, near, of, off, on, onto, out, outside, over, past, regarding, round, since, through, throughout, till, to, toward, under, underneath, until, up, upon, with, within, without
Conjunction - connect individual words or groups of words. 'The river is wide and deep.'
and, but, or, for, nor, so, yet, both-and, either-or, neither-nor, not only-but also, whether-or, because, if, since, until, when, where, while
Interjection - are words or phrases that express strong emotion. They're used to make someone notice them and to show excitement. They are usually followed by and exclamation point (!) or sometimes a comma.
Here are a few interjections: wow, ouch, oops, hey, watch, oh, yes, no, move, stop, help
'Ouch, I stubbed my toe.' 'Hey! Keep your eyes on the road!'
Ways to help your child learn the Parts of Speech:
create a grammar poster with your child. Put headings and cut out examples from magazines, newspapers and their own personal writing to put under the correct headings.
Try telling a story without adjectives. Ask your child if the story sounded different, discuss what was missing and how it made the story sound. Tell the story again adding five to ten adjectives. See if your child noticed a difference and was able to locate which words were the adjectives. Once your child has mastered this activity, ask them to write a story without adjectives. When they have finished their story, read it with your child, and then read it again but this time adding adjectives.
Repeat this exercise again with nouns or verbs. If they have mastered these concepts, they will find very quickly that the task is impossible.
Show your child a piece of writing. Ask them to underline the nouns, adjectives, verbs in different colors. Read the story, each time missing one color and discuss what it sounds like.
Check out the Parts of Speech resources & games available for you to print (see left column)
Online Games to help learn the Parts of Speech:
http://www.funbrain.com/grammar/
Parts of Speech Poem
Every name is called a noun,
As field and fountain, street and town.
In place of noun the pronoun stands,
As he and she clap their hands.
The adjective describes a thing
As magic wand and bridal ring
The verb means action, something done -
To read and write, to jump and run,
How things done the adverb tells
As quickly, slowly, badly, well;
The preposition shows relation,
As in the street or at the station;
Conjunctions join, in many ways
Sentences, words, or phrase and phrase
The interjection cries out "Hark!
I need an exclamation mark."
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