The Parts of Speech, or sorts of words, in English, are ten; namely, the Article, the Noun, the Adjective, the Pronoun, the Verb, the Participle, the Adverb, the Conjunction, the Preposition, and the Interjection. 1. THE ARTICLE. An Article is the word the, an, or a, which we put before nouns to limit their signification: as, The air, the stars; an island, a ship. 2. THE NOUN. A Noun is the name of any person, place, or thing, that can be known or mentioned: as, George, York, man, apple, truth. 3. THE ADJECTIVE. An Adjective is a word added to a noun or pronoun, and generally expresses quality: as, A wise man; a new book. You two are diligent. 4. THE PRONOUN. A Pronoun is a word used in stead of a noun: as, The boy loves his book; he has long lessons, and he learns them well. 5. THE VERB. A Verb is a word that signifies to be, to act, or to be acted upon: as, I am, I rule, I am ruled; I love, thou lovest, he loves. 6. THE PARTICIPLE. A Participle is a word derived from a verb, participating the properties of a verb, and of an adjective or a noun; and is generally formed by adding ing, d, or ed, to the verb: thus, from the verb rule, are formed three participles, two simple and one compound; as, 1. ruling, 2. ruled, 3. having ruled. 7. THE ADVERB. An Adverb is a word added to a verb, a participle, an adjective, or an other adverb; and generally expresses time, place, degree, or manner: as, They are now here, studying very diligently. 8. THE CONJUNCTION. A Conjunction is a word used to connect words or sentences in construction, and to show the dependence of the terms so connected: as, Thou and he are happy, because you are good.-- L. Murray. 9. THE PREPOSITION. A Preposition is a word used to express some relation of different things or thoughts to each other, and is generally placed before a noun or a pronoun; as, The paper lies before me on the desk. 10. THE INTERJECTION. An Interjection is a word that is uttered merely to indicate some strong or sudden emotion of the mind: as, Oh! alas! ah! poh! pshaw! avaunt! aha! hurrah! OBSERVATIONS. OBS. 1.--The first thing to be learned in the study of this the second part of grammar, is the distribution of the words of the language into those principal sorts, or classes, which are denominated the Parts of Speech. This is a matter of some difficulty. And as no scheme which can be adopted, will be in all cases so plain that young beginners will not occasionally falter in its application, the teacher may sometimes find it expedient to refer his pupils to the following simple explanations, which are designed to aid their first and most difficult steps. How can we know to what class, or part of speech, any word belongs? By learning the definitions of the ten parts of speech, and then observing how the word is written, and in what sense it is used. It is necessary also to observe, so far as we can, with what other words each particular one is capable of making sense. 1. Is it easy to distinguish an ARTICLE? If not always easy, it is generally so: the, an, and a, are the only English words called articles, and these are rarely any thing else. Because an and a have the same import, and are supposed to have the same origin, the articles are commonly reckoned two, but some count them as three. 2. How can we distinguish a NOUN? By means of the article before it, if there is one; as, the house, an apple, a book; or, by adding it to the phrase, I mentioned; as, I mentioned peace;--I mentioned war;--I mentioned slumber. Any word which thus makes complete sense, is, in that sense, a noun; because a noun is the name of any thing which can thus be mentioned by a name. Of English nouns, there are said to be as many as twenty-five or thirty thousand. 3. How can we distinguish an ADJECTIVE? By putting a noun after it, to see if the phrase will be sense. The noun thing, or its plural things, will suit almost any adjective; as, A good thing--A bad thing--A little thing--A great thing--Few things--Many things-- Some things--Fifty things. Of adjectives, there are perhaps nine or ten thousand. 4. How can we distinguish a PRONOUN? By observing that its noun repeated makes the same sense. Thus, the example of the pronoun above, The boy loves his book; he has long lessons, and he learns them well,--very clearly means, The boy loves the boys book; the boy has long lessons, and the boy learns those lessons well. Here then, by a disagreeable repetition of two nouns, we have the same sense without any pronoun; but it is obvious that the pronouns form a better mode of expression, because they prevent this awkward repetition. The different pronouns in English are twenty-four; and their variations in declension are thirty-two: so that the number of words of this class, is fifty-six. 5. How can we distinguish a VERB? By observing that it is usually the principal word in the sentence, and that without it there would be no assertion. It is the word which expresses what is affirmed or said of the person or thing mentioned; as, Jesus wept.--Felix trembled.--The just shall live by faith. It will make sense when inflected with the pronouns; as, I write, thou writst, he writes; we write, you write, they write.--I walk, thou walkst, he walks; we walk, you walk, they walk. Of English verbs, some recent grammarians compute the number at eight thousand; others formerly reckoned them to be no more than four thousand three hundred.[131] 6. How can we distinguish a PARTICIPLE? By observing its derivation from the verb, and then placing it after to be or having; as, To be writing, Having written--To be walking, Having walked--To be weeping, Having wept--To be studying, Having studied. Of simple participles, there are twice as many as there are of simple or radical verbs; and the possible compounds are not less numerous than the simples, but they are much less frequently used. 7. How can we distinguish an ADVERB? By observing that it answers to the question, When? Where? How much? or How?--or serves to ask it; as, He spoke fluently. How did he speak? Fluently. This word fluently is therefore an adverb: it tells how he spoke. Of adverbs, there are about two thousand six hundred; and four fifths of them end in ly. 8. How can we distinguish a CONJUNCTION? By observing what words or terms it joins together, or to what other conjunction it corresponds; as, Neither wealth nor honor can heal a wounded conscience.-- Dillwyns Ref., p. 16. Or, it may be well to learn the whole list at once: And, as, both, because, even, for, if, that, then, since, seeing, so: Or, nor, either, neither, than, though, although, yet, but, except, whether, lest, unless, save, provided, notwithstanding, whereas. Of conjunctions, there are these twenty-nine in common use, and a few others now obsolete. 9. How can we distinguish a PREPOSITION? By observing that it will govern the pronoun them, and is not a verb or a participle; as, About them--above them-- across them--after them--against them--amidst them--among them--around them--at them-- Before them--behind them-- below them--beneath them-- beside them--between them-- beyond them--by them--For them--from them--In them--into them, &c. Of the prepositions, there are about sixty now in common use. 10. How can we distinguish an INTERJECTION? By observing that it is an independent word or sound, uttered earnestly, and very often written with the note of exclamation; as Lo! behold! look! see! hark! hush! hist! mum! Of interjections, there are sixty or seventy in common use, some of which are seldom found in books.
Posted on: Wed, 26 Nov 2014 09:29:17 +0000
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