Parts of Speech Part 01

 

A part of speech is a term used in traditional grammar for one of the nine main categories into which words are classified according to their functions in sentences, such as nouns or verbs. Also known as word classes, these are the building blocks of grammar.
 

Parts of Speech

• Word types can be divided into nine parts of speech:
• nouns
• pronouns
• verbs
• adjectives
• adverbs
• prepositions
• conjunctions
• articles/determiners
• interjections
• Some words can be considered more than one part of speech, depending on context and usage.
• Interjections can form complete sentences on their own.
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Lexical meaning :

part of speech

/pɑːt əv ˈspiːtʃ/

Learn to pronounce

noun

plural noun: parts of speech

1. a category to which a word is assigned in accordance with its syntactic functions. In English the main parts of speech are noun, pronoun, adjective, determiner, verb, adverb, preposition, conjunction, and interjection.

Every sentence you write or speak in English includes words that fall into some of the nine parts of speech. These include nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, articles/determiners, and interjections. 

Learning the names of the parts of speech, you will gain a basic understanding of sentence structure and the English language by familiarizing yourself with these labels.

The parts of speech are commonly divided into  two classes. They are :

• open classes

1.   They comprise of nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. 
2. They are called open classes as they are open to modifications and can be altered and added to as language develops.
3. For example, new nouns are created every day new nouns are created every day and are appended to the dictionary.

• closed classes

1. They comprise of pronouns, prepositions, conjunctions, articles/determiners, and interjections.  
2. They are called  closed classes as their every possibility of being modified is closed. as if they are pretty much set in stone. and they never change even over centuries.
3. For example, conjunctions never change.

  

  

Noun

Nouns are a person, place, thing, or idea. They can take on a myriad of roles in a sentence, from the subject of it all to the object of an action. They are capitalized when they're the official name of something or someone, called proper nouns in these cases. 

Examples: Bengal, India, Mumbai, Arabian, Caribbean, Island, ship, freedom, Captain Amar Biden, Putin Brahma, Rahul Paddra, etc.

Pronoun

Pronouns stand in for nouns in a sentence. They are more generic versions of nouns that refer only to people.

 Examples:​ I, you, he, she, it, ours, them, who, which, anybody, ourselves.

Verb

Verbs are action words that tell what happens in a sentence. They can also show a sentence subject's state of being (is, was). Verbs change form based on tense (present, past) and count distinction (singular or plural). 

Examples: sing, dance, believes, seemed, finish, eat, drink, be, confused, became

Adjective

Adjectives describe nouns and pronouns. They specify what kind, which one, how many, how  much  and more.  Adjectives add to the better comprehension and clear cut understanding., they  allow readers and listeners to use their senses to imagine something more clearly. 

Examples: hot, lazy, funny, unique, bright, beautiful, poor, smooth.

Adverb

Adverbs describe verbs, adjectives, and even other adverbs. They specify when, where, how, and why something happened and to what extent or how often.

 

Examples: softly, lazily, often, only, hopefully, softly, sometimes.

Preposition

Prepositions show spacial, temporal, and role relations between a noun or pronoun and the other words in a sentence. They come at the start of a prepositional phrase, which contains a preposition and its object. 

Examples: up, over, against, by, for, into, close to, out of, apart from.

Conjunction

Conjunctions join words, phrases, and clauses in a sentence. There are coordinating, subordinating, and correlative conjunctions. 

Examples:  and, but, or, so, yet, with.

Articles and Determiners

Articles and determiners function like adjectives by modifying nouns, but they are different from adjectives in a way  that they are necessary for a sentence to have proper syntax. Articles and determiners specify and identify nouns, and there are indefinite and definite articles. 

Examples: 

Articles: 

a, an, the; 

Determiners: 

these, that, those, enough, much, many , few, little , which, what.


Some traditional grammars have treated articles as a distinct part of speech. Modern grammars, however, more often include articles in the category of determiners, which identify or quantify a noun. Even though they modify nouns like adjectives, articles are different in that they are essential to the proper syntax of a sentence, just as determiners are necessary to convey the meaning of a sentence, while adjectives are optional.

Interjection

Interjections are expressions that can stand on their own or be contained within sentences. These words and phrases often carry strong emotions and convey reactions. 

Examples: 

alas,  ah, oh, wow , whoops, ouch, bingo etc.  

Some practical thoughts :

Adverbs are a major part of speech that we use to both provide more information and jazz up our sentences. For example, the sentence Jenifer walked is a fine sentence but a little unexciting. However, we can spice things up with an adverb, as in the sentence Jenifer walked gracefully. If Jenifer is a little clumsy, we could alternatively say Jenifer walked awkwardly. If we want to add a little suspense, we can say Jenifer walked suspiciously. Finally, we can travel under the sea by saying Jenifer walked underwater. (Aren’t adverbs amazing?)

In all of our example sentences, we used adverbs to modify a verb. However, adverbs can do so much more than that! Let us start by figuring out what an adverb is.

An adverb is a word that is used to modify verbs, adjectives, clauses, and other adverbs. Many adverbs end in -ly, and they usually appear next to the word that they modify. In the sentence "Hagara Barik  carefully built a sandcastle", the word carefully is an adverb that modifies the verb built.

Parts of Speech Table

Part of speech	function or "job"	example words
Determiner	limits or "determines" a noun	a/an, the, two, few, some, much, many
Adverb	describes a verb, adjective or adverb	quickly, silently, well, badly, very, really
Pronoun	replaces a noun	I, you, he, she, some, none, someone
Preposition	links a noun to another word	to, at, after, on, by, till, but

 

 

How To Write Effectively: Part II by Subhas C Chakra

 Most of us think  effective  writing  is  about  grammar,  punctuation, and  spelling. That’s  not  true.

                         Writing  is  about  hitting  your  mark,  whatever  that  may  be. That  is  the single  most  important  thing  when  you  put  your  words  to  use.  Writing  that  hits its  mark  is  effective. 

But  what is  effective  writing  exactly? 

A  writing  would  be  termed  effective  when  it  has  the  following  characteristics: 

1. Clear: Write in a way that people always understand what you’re saying. Clear writing only has one interpretation. That’s what makes it effective.
2. Credible: You can’t  frame someone ! You can't make the reader believe you. Your reader only believes you if you write credibly. Know what you’re talking about. If you ramble or are dishonest, a reader will sense it immediately. 
3. Persuasive: An effective writer inspires people with words. When you write persuasively, it sparks a reaction within your reader. Again, you can’t make people do anything. People are moved by effective writing themselves. 

As you can see, these characteristics have little to do with grammar. An effective writer might make grammar mistakes and get away with it. We all make mistakes in daily life. And when we talk, few of us are perfect in speech.

That’s why almost all I know, hate the grammar police. That includes me. I’m allergic to people who talk about silly details. 

Writing is a tool

Writing effectively has a few things involved with it. It has a few priorities, one must be aware of. And every tool has an optimum effectiveness, when it is properly used.

Effective writing prioritizes clear, credible, and persuasive language over everything else. I don't always have to write a  beautiful sentence or try to impress others by using fancy words or grammar. To me, writing is a way of communication. In today’s world, we communicate more than ever, in the written format. 

You would be astonished to know how in the past, ineffective writing has caused so many  issues in my life:

• Waste of time: There are numerous situations when you  end  up in email exchanges with co-workers in your office, colleagues in your workplace, clients or partners in your business, students and teachers in   academic institutions. People often don’t understand your intention, your mission, what you’re trying to say. That’s because it’s often difficult to translate your thoughts into words, and when it goes wrong, you keep clarifying your messages endlessly. It costs a lot of time. I should  aim at getting it right on the first contact. It means, when I send an email, I must not end up clarifying anything. It has to be clear.
• Arguments: Almost all of us have  experienced this. You write the wrong thing to your boss, employee, employer, partner, spouse, girl or boy friend,  or a classmate. And all of a sudden, you’re in an argument. “I didn’t mean it that way!” Well, then don’t write it that way! Write what you mean.
• Lost opportunities: There are myriad cases in the past I have pitched on this topic, about how you want to work for or work with others. You want to hire someone. You want to attract investors, and so on . But as you reach out to people, it does not work,  no one responds back. That’s ineffective. 

The moment you look at writing as a tool, you can see yourself as an archer. The goal of an archer is to hit the yellow mark in the middle of the target with an arrow. 

How to Fix your writing then?

Fixing a piece of writing is not like fixing a car. If a brake light goes out, the bulb is replaced and the problem is fixed–it’s as easy as that. Writing doesn’t work this way.

So what else has a writer to do?

For beginners, writers need to consider their audience and purpose. If you do not know who you are writing for and why, then perhaps, writing is  already doomed. 

You also need to learn to trust the  process of writing itself, for shaping content into a meaningful one, takes time. And above all , you would have  to consider what is it that makes a good writing  . 

To this end, It would be  helpful to think about the hallmarks of effective writing, what I call the four Cs of effective writing.

Effective writing is clear, complete, concise, and correct.

Clarity

Good writing is clear writing. You need to express your thoughts in a way your reader will understand, what  the point is, what you actually want to say. Clear writing is specific  and  precise. Clear writing is about choosing the best words  to speak your heart out. 

 As a writer, you need to ask yourself: Would my audience understand what I am trying to say?

Let me share my story , so that you can guess what I want to say. My first and foremost  writing mentor was my  Head Master during my High School days, who as  in my memory had a warm smile, deep black, witty eyes, able to see you through your eyes, you can not hide anything from him. 

He was very passionate about writing, that too in the most concise and beautiful manner. . He was encouraging. One of his favorite sayings about writing that has still lingered like colour on the petals of my mind  over all these forty one  years. And it  was “To be brilliant, you must be unique and in a way specific.” 

I have printed those words on the canvas of my heart since those days.. And they still  remind me  every time I sit to write.

In the story Portrait of a Lady, Mr. Khuswant Singh did not write, “My grandmother was  getting old,” would you have understood what he was trying to say? In a general way it may perhaps suffice,  but in terms of communicating a specific meaning to an audience, this remark would not have worked. What exactly did he mean by “old”? A more effective way to communicate his idea  required greater specificity in the words he used. In this case, As he writes, “My grandmother appeared to be a  hundred years old,” you  have a much better understanding of his saying.

Clarity, however, goes beyond words and must be applied to paragraphs and, indeed, to the composition as a whole. What writers need to consider here is how the sentences are organized to form paragraphs, and how the paragraphs are organized to form an essay.

 If you were going to give me directions to your house, how would you organize the content? Would you start in the middle? The end? In all likelihood, you would arrange the directions by some kind of chronology or sequence. 

       To give directions clearly, you would start at point A, proceed to point B, then on to C, and so forth. Right? You would use words such as start, proceed, and then so that the order of the content is logical—I, or anyone else, could follow the directions and reach the destination.

         For the writing to be clear, you need to present your content in a manner that is easy for the reader to follow and, therefore, easy to understand. You need to use words that help guide the reader through a paragraph so that the point you are making is understandable—this what I mean is clear writing. These guiding  words  are the glue to your content; they are the words that help you give order to your writing.

Complete writing

Effective writing is also complete in a sense that you develop your ideas for an audience. You need to take your time and develop your points so that they make  sense to someone else. You need to prove that what you say is true and that takes time; depending on your purpose, you will need to use examples, details, facts, quotes, statistics, and testimony to give meaning to your ideas. Complete writing is sustained writing.

As a way to understand the idea of being complete in your writing, think about this:

 Imagine it is summer. Early May in Bangalore, India or Late July, In New Orleans. If I were to state that it is snowing outside, would you believe me? Probably not, right. After all, it is May in Bangalore or July in New Orleans and there is least  likelihood of snow anywhere here !  But even beyond this fact, a statement with no proof, no development, is just an assertion. And an assertion is incomplete in the sense that it lacks sustained development. 

But what if after I said it’s snowing out  , I said, “Yup, it’s snowing outside. I can see my next-door neighbor, Mr. Chopra, a  man in his 70s, out in his driveway right now, shoveling. He’s wearing a light coffee blazer and blue  gloves. And here comes the snow plow—will you listen to that clatter!” If I said all of that, you would be convinced, right? How could you not be?

While the above example is an exaggeration, the point should be clear: When you express yourself in writing, you need to develop your thoughts completely, taking your time and developing your point with specific, concrete details and examples so that you communicate meaning to an audience. That’s the idea of being complete—show readers the snow!

The next one of the four Cs  is the idea of being concise—of having your ideas understood quickly and easily. The idea of being concise, on the sentence level, is to use only the number of words necessary to convey meaning. Being concise does not suggest brevity; you do not want a lot of short, choppy sentences. If you need fifty words to say what you need to say, use fifty words. But if you can express the same idea with forty-four words, use forty-four words.
Concise writing is tight writing.

Here are a couple of examples to help you understand. Here’s a sentence that’s a bit wordy:

Wordy: The people who are in my writing group help me improve my work.

Tighter: The people in my writing group help me improve my work.

Sometimes all you need to do is cut dead wood—words that are hollow and simply taking up space. Sometimes, though, you will need to overhaul the entire sentence. 

Take one more example:

Wordy: The people who are in my writing group help me improve my work.

Tighter: The people in my writing group help me improve my work.

Even Tighter: My writing group helps me improve my work.


Did you see the difference?

Let’s listen to another example:

Wordy: It is baldness which has caused men to search unceasingly for centuries to find a remedy that would cure their plight.

And here is the same sentence written more concisely: For centuries, men have searched for a remedy for baldness.

concise 

Being concise also applies to paragraphs and the composition as a whole. What the writer needs to think about in these contexts is whether or not the information included is needed. Concise writing is unified writing insofar as the content that is included is relevant and necessary. All the information in a paragraph must contribute to the idea the writer is trying to express; otherwise, the content is superfluous and the paragraph lacks unity.

 correctness

The last of the four Cs concerns correctness. Effective writing is correct in that the writer has taken the time to ensure the writing is free from as many possible errors as possible—errors not only of grammar, usage, and mechanics, but also of format and content. As a writer trying to communicate meaning to an audience, it is your responsibility to check and recheck your document for errors.

In terms of grammar, usage, and mechanics (or, GUM), you want to avoid major sentence errors. Such errors include

• Subject-verb agreement
• Pronoun reference agreement
• Comma splice
• Run-on (also called fused sentence)
• Fragments

These are “major” errors because they involve basic grammar and for most people, with a little practice, such errors can be conquered.

Whenever you are dealing with someone’s name, a title, a place, a date, and the like, you alone are responsible for recording that information accurately.

You must also proofread carefully, watching for typographical errors such as repeated words, wrong letters, omitted words.

You must watch out for homonym errors such as the following:

• There, their, they’re
• It’s, its
• Too, to, two
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• Lastly, you must make sure that your paper is setup correctly and follows the formatting guidelines established for the course.
  
• What this likely means is that you will need to consult a good source for proper setup depending on whether your course uses  APA,  MLA,  or some other format or style.
• Writing requires attention and practice to keep skills sharp. It’s not enough just to put words on the page; indeed, you have to think about whether those words on the page add up to something that is clear, concise, complete, and correct.
•  To this end, keep the four Cs of effective writing in mind when you compose.