ESL/EFL: Parts of Speech
Parts of Speech, especially nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs, are extremely important to know.
Parts of speech (articles ‘a’, ‘an’, and ‘the’ are not included in this set)
Parts of Speech | Definition | Types |
Nouns |
a person, place, thing |
+ Gerunds and infinitives |
Verbs |
Action/ non-action or stative |
Count and non-count |
Adjectives |
modify a noun |
-ing and ed endings; a single word |
Adverbs |
Modify a verb, adverb, or adjective |
Adverbs of time/frequency/degree/ manner/place/affirmation |
Pronouns |
Substitute for nouns |
Subject/object/possessive adjectives/possessive/ self-reflexive |
Prepositions |
links nouns/pronouns/phrases |
place/time/objects/people |
Conjunctions |
A word used to connect clause or sentences or to coordinate words in the same clause |
Coordinating Subordinating |
Interjections |
Use of emotion |
Exclamation marks! |
Note: adjectives modify nouns; adverbs can modify adjectives, verbs, and other adverbs. Verbs as either action or nonaction (stative) and either transitive or intransitive while nouns represent persons, places, things, or ideas.
Parts of speech are important not only for noting which part of speech is being used but also for ‘the form’ or the suffix added to the root word being used.
For example: observe the different suffixes added to the end of these words:
Noun | Verb | Adjective | Adverb |
culture | X | cultural | culturally |
distinction | distinguish | distinct | distinctly |
generation | generate | generated | generationally |
investment | invest | invested | X |
link | link | X | X |
negation | negate | X | X |
pity | pity | X | X |
signal | signal | signal | X |
Note: Suffixes indicate a word’s part of speech, or its meaning, or both.
For example, the word distinction as found in the table above tells you just buy its ending ‘tion’ that it is a noun.
The professor has served his country with great distinction (noun).
Likewise, the rest of the word forms can be used in a similar fashion.
The professor has distinguished himself in his field of study. (past participle in a perfect tense)
The professor has a distinct understanding of his scientific field. (adjective modifying understanding).
The professor distinctly understands his field of study (adverb modifying the verb understands).
In each of the examples above the different suffixes of the word have different grammatical uses and different meanings.
Word form Meaning
Distinction (noun) | – a difference or contrast; excellence that separates one from others |
Distinguish (verb) | – recognize or treat someone or something as different |
Distinct (adjective) | – recognizably different in nature from something else |
Distinctly (adverb) | – in a way that is readily or clearly unique |
Different suffix endings are crucial to understanding when you are confronted with blank and different word options.
Here are some typical adjective suffixes: (google ‘adjectives’ for a more comprehensive list)
Adjective suffixes | Common adjectives |
– ible |
delectable, irresistible, permissible, tangible |
– ed |
related, rounded, biased, disinterested, occupied |
– ent |
salient, incoherent, independent, pertinent |
– al |
royal, spiritual, original, emotional, vital, colossal |
– cal |
logical, critical, crucial, principal, central |
– ing |
shocking, touching, appetizing, striking, leading |
– ant |
pliant, relevant, significant, important |
– able |
sustainable, remarkable, teachable |
– ful |
wonderful, pitiful, youthful, harmful, resentful |
– ious |
delicious, precious, luscious, sagacious, |
- Adverbs can be easily identified by their ‘ly’ ending in most cases.
- However, there a several words that end in ‘ly’ that are adjectives, such as: lively, leisurely, early, chilly, beastly
costly, cowardly, crassly, deadly, early, elderly, enormously, fatherly, friendly, gentlemanly, ghastly, godly, greatly, heavenly, holy, homely, humanly, leisurely, lively, lonely, lovely, manly, masterly, miserly, monthly, motherly, nightly, poorly, portly, priestly, princely, saintly, scholarly, shapely, silly, stately, timely, ugly, ungainly, unruly, unsightly, unseemly, unworldly, vastly, weekly, worldly, yearly.
Some typical verb suffixes:
Verb suffixes | Examples |
– ify |
beautify, clarify, identify |
– ate |
complicate, dominate, irritate |
– ise/ize |
economise, realize, industrialize (s or z) |
– en |
harden, soften, shorten |
Luckily, are few suffixes for verbs, so they can be quickly identified by their place in a sentence (S+V + O (or DO)) or by their inherent meaning.
Finally, noun suffixes are many. Here, again, is a general list of noun suffixes:
Common Noun Suffixes | Examples |
– age |
baggage, mileage, postage |
– al |
arrival, deferral, revival |
– ance or ence |
prominence, deliverance, insistence |
– dom |
freedom, fiefdom, kingdom |
– ee |
employee, trainee |
– er/or |
worker, director, player |
– hood |
neighbourhood, fatherhood, childhood |
– ism |
truism, capitalism, socialism |
– ist |
perfectionist, capitalist, trombonist |
– ity/ty |
piety, equality, cruelty |
– ment |
government, firmament, parliament |
– ness |
happiness, selfishness, usefulness |
– ry |
rivalry, robbery, ministry |
– ship |
friendship, membership |
– sion/tion/xion |
nation, pollution, complexion |