2. Parts of Speech There are nine types of word called Parts of Speech. These are: (a) Noun: used to name a person or thing. There are two types: (i) Proper nouns name a person, place, etc., and are usually written with an initial capital letter: John and Mary went to London on Tuesday. (ii) Common nouns name general things, both concrete and abstract: The love of money is the root of all evil. (b) Pronoun: used instead of a noun to designate a person or thing without naming it: He kissed her when they met; she enjoyed it. Note: nouns and pronouns are categorized according to number, gender and case. (c) Adjective: qualifies a noun or pronoun: The happy dog wagged its long tail at the familiar figure. (d) Article: a name for the three adjectives 'a', 'an', 'the': A boy gave an apple to the teacher. (e) Preposition: 'governs' a following noun or pronoun, expressing its relation to another noun or pronoun or to the verb: As the sun rose in the East, the girl stepped from the house into the garden. (f) Conjunction: connects one word or phrase or sentence, with another: Jack and Jill wanted to go, but were detained. (g) Interjection: an exclamation expressing emotion: Alas Oh Ah Ahoy (h) Adverb: qualifies a verb or adjective or another adverb: The very tall man spoke quite softly. (i) Verb: expresses the activity of the sentence: He built a house. They dig a hole. She was here. 3. Finite Verb Forms The activity of the sentence is expressed by the verb. There are three types: transitive, intransitive, and auxiliary. (a) A verb taking an object is called transitive (the 'energy' of the activity is transferred to the object, as it were), and one that doesn't is called intransitive. Verbs are typically one or the other, but may often be used either way: He beat the drum. I live. The children are playing [a game]. (b) The main verb may be accompanied by one or more auxiliary verbs used to express tense or mood: I had slept. I will sleep. I must have been sleeping. (c) The verb is the dynamic part of the sentence, animating the relatively static nouns etc. As such it is the most flexible of the parts and appears in a wide variety of forms to express its manifold potential. Among these are:
