MORPHOLOGY

PARTS OF SPEECH

The Group 4

1. Aminus Sholihin (1522500027)

2. Ayuliza Sri Andriyani (1522500030)

The Lecturer : Dr. Dian Erlina, S.Pd.M.

ENGLISH EDUCATION
TARBIYAH FACULTY
ISLAMIC STATE UNIVERSITY RADEN FATAH
PALEMBANG
2017

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 Parts of Speech

I. Preface
A. Background
Language is an important element in human’s life. It is a mean of
communication which can be in spoken language, in a written text, in speech, or
in teaching-learning process. The language used in communication must be clear,
well organized, and understandable. Otto Jepersen says “The essence of language
is human activity – activity on the part of one individual to make himself
understood by another, and activity on the part of that other to understand what
was in the mind of the first”.
In learning a language, especially English, there are some categories that we
need to focus on, and they also must be completed right. Those categories are
called parts of speech. Why parts of speech? Because they are the parts of a
sentence and they are the systems which needed to make a sentence. Besides,
parts of speech are the basic needs to learn and understand English well. In this
paper, the writers are discussing and focusing on the definition of parts of speech,
and what kinds of part of speech and their examples.

B. Research Questions
Based on the background above, the writer wants to take the research questions as
follow:
1. What is the definition of part of speech?
2. What are kinds of parts of speech and their examples?

C. Objectives of the Research

The objectives of this paper based on research problem above are:
1. To know the definition of parts of speech.
2. To know the different kinds of parts of speech and their examples.

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II. Discussion
A. Definition
There is a couple of definitions about parts of speech. Waldhron and Zeiger
says ‘The term of part of speech refers to the job that a word does in a sentence to
its function or use”. Another, Trask says “Part of speech is any one of the
grammatically characterized classes into which the words of a language are
grouped”.
In short, parts of speech are class of words based on their function the way
they work in a sentence. There are nine parts of speech in English. They are
articles, nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions,
and interjenctions. Every single one of them has different function in a sentence.

B. The nine parts of speech

1. Articles
They are used to indicate whether a noun in a sentence is spesific or
general. There are two distinct forms of the indefinite article; a and an, there
are one form of the indefinite article; the.
A. a/an (the indefinite article)
The form a is used before a word beginning with a consonant, or a
vowel with a consonant sound. For examples, a man, a university, and a
one-way street.
The form an is used before a word beginning with a vowel (a, e, i, o,
u) or a word beginning with a mute ‘h’. For examples, an apple, an uncle,
and an hour. 1

If a singular noun is modified by an adjective, the initial sound of the

adjective that immediately follows the indefinite article will determine
wheter it should be a or an. For example, a new car, an expensive bike,
an old woman, a beautiful girl.

1
Thompson and Martenet, A Practical English Grammar Fourth Edition, (Oxford University
Press: London, 1989), Page. 9-10.

3
 B. The. (definite article)
It is used to indicate something that we already know about,
something that is in spesific term. For examples:
a. The furniture in my room is from Jepara. In this sentence, the is
used for spesific statement.
b. I have a grammar book. The book is thick. The in this sentence is
used for second mention.

This is a guide for using “THE” with name 2

USE THE DON’T USE THE

With the name of ethnic groups With title names
e.g. e.g.
the Indians Village, The Eskimos The Professor, the Mr., the governor
With the names of plural lakes With the names of singular lakes
e.g. the Great Lakes e.g. the lake Toba
With names of only a few countries With the names of most countries.
e.g. the United States, the United e.g. the Indonesia, The Spain
Kingdom
With the names of rivers With the names of continents
e.g. the Musi river, the Nile river e.g. the Europe, the Asia
With the names of seas With the names of states
e.g. the Red Sea, The Yellow Sea e.g. the California, the Florida
With the names of oceans With the names of cities
e.g. the Pacific Ocean, the Indian e.g the London, the Palembang
Ocean.

2
Lecturers of PBI at UIN Raden Fatah Palembang. Structure 1 Handbook for Students of
English Education Study Program. Page. 9-11.

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 2. Nouns
They are words that allow to name and label the persons, entries, objects,
places, and concepts that make up the world. According to Cambridge
English Dictionary, Nouns are words that refer to a person, place, event, or
thing.
Nouns are classified as proper, common, abstract, collective, countable,
and uncountable nouns. Each noun has its own group. 3

A. Proper Nouns.
They are the names given to spesific people, places, time, units,
nationalities, religions, languages, inhabitants, holidays, institutions,
brand names, or trademarks. They are always capitalized, no matter where
they occur in a sentence. For examples:
Everybody likes Morphology lesson
English is an interesting language
September is one of the months
People drive only Fords

B. Common Nouns.
They are the more general version of proper nouns. That means, they
have the opposite meaning to Proper nouns. They are not capitalized
unless they start a sentence or a part of name, like Aunt Sarah or General
Amin. For other examples:
Palembang is a city
Thanksgiving is a holiday
Earthquake is one of the natural disasters

3
Suryadi Junaida, Complete English Grammar, (Pustaka Pelajar, Yogyakarta, 2007), Page. 3-5.

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 C. Abstract Nouns.
They are things that are not concrete. Five physical senses cannot
detect an abstract noun. Things that cannot be seen, smelled, tasted, heard,
or touched called abstract nouns.
For examples: intelligence, love, bravery, happiness, friendship, patience,
movement, settlement, and so on.

D. Collective Nouns.
In linguistics, collective nouns are words wich refer to a collection of
things taken as a whole. In short, collective nouns are words for groups of
people, animals or things. For examples: a family, a pack of wolves, a
gang of robbers, a deck of cards, a team of players, a class of pupils, and
so on.

E. Countable and Uncountable Nouns. 4

Countable nouns are things that can be counted (every single one of
them), such as dog, cat, glass, table, chair, person, man, child, and so on.
On the contrary, uncountable nouns are the things that cannot be counted,
such as money, sugar, water, information, furniture, music, sand, and so
on.
Sometimes, the same noun can be countable and uncountable, often
with a change meaning. Here are the examples.

4
Anne Seaton, Basic English Grammar for English Language Learners. (Saddleback
Educational Publishing: United States, 2007), Page. 34-35.

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 COUNTABLE UNCOUNTABLE

There are two hairs in my Hair He doesn’t have much hair

coffee!
There are two lights in our Light Close the curtain. There’s too
bedroom much light!
Sshhhhtt! I thought I heard a Noise It’s difficult too work when
noise. there is too much noise.
Have you got a paper to Paper I want to draw a picture. Have
read? (=newspaper) you got any paper?
Our house has seven rooms Room Is there room for me to sit
here?
We had a great time at the Time Have you got time for a
party coffee?
Macbeth is one of Work I have no money. I need work!
Shakespeare’s greatest
works.

3. Pronouns
They are words used in place of nouns, substantives (words taking on the
function of nouns), or noun pharases (nouns accompanied by articles,
demonstratives, adjectives, and so on). The noun that a pronoun replaces is
called an antecedent. In short, pronouns are words that take the place of
5nouns. There are different kinds of pronouns.
A. Personal Pronouns.
The words I, you, he, she, it, we, and they are called subject
pronouns. They take the place of nouns and are used as subject of the verb
in a sentence.. 6

5
Anne Seaton, Basic English Grammar for English Language Learners. (Saddleback
Educational Publishing, New York, 2007), Page. 44.
6
Suryadi Junaida, Complete English Grammar, (Pustaka Pelajar, Yogyakarta, 2007), Page. 14-15

7
 The words me, you, him, her, it, us, and them are called personal
pronouns. They also take the place of nouns.

B. Reflexive Pronouns. 7

The words myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves,

yourselves and themselves. They refer to the person or animal that is the
subject of the verb. In another definition, reflexive pronouns are words
that reflect the subject of a verb; that is, they refer to the same person or
thing as the subject of the sentence. For examples in the sentences:
Be careful with the knife. You will cut yourself
I made this cake myself
They have already introduced themselves 8

C. Demonstrative Pronouns.
They are used for pointing out things or people. The words this,
these, that, and those. For examples in the sentence:
This is my book
These are your pens
That is her father
Those are our friends.

D. Possesive Pronouns.
They replace antecedent noun phrases that contain a possesive
adjective. They are used to talk about things that belong to people or
animals. The possessive pronouns are mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours,
and theirs. for examples in the sentences:
It is not my idea. It is not mine.
This is cat’s milk. This is its.

7
Betty Schrampfer Azar, Fundamental of English Grammar, (Azar Associates, New York,
2006), Page. 70-72.

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 4. Adjectives
They are words that modify or describe nouns; that is, they give further
information about nouns.
They can also be seperated from the nouns they modify by a linking or a
sense verb. A linking verb such as (verb) be, seem, or become is one that
links the adjective to the subject. A sense verb such as taste, smell, feel,
sound, or look also links the adjective to the subject. 9

In linguistics, there are some kinds of adjectives. They tell about sizes,
colors, qualities, what things made of, origin, quantity, and ownership.
a. Some adjectives tell about the size of people or things. For examples:
A big house a large army tiny feet

b. Some adjectives tell about the color of things. For examples:

A red carpet a blue uniform black shoes 10

c. Some adjectives tell what people or thing are likey describing their
quality for examples, smart, wild, naughty. For examples in the sentences:
Hot weather an old man a good-looking man

d. Some adjectives tell what things are made of. They refer to substances.
For examples:
A paper bag a metal box a clay pot

e. Some adjectives are made from proper nouns of place. These are called
adjectives of origin. For examples:
An indian temple an Indonesian lady a Filipino dress

f. Some adjectives tell about the quantity of things. For examples, a few,
few, a little, little, many, much, some, any. For examples in the sentences:

8
Marcel Danesi, BasicAmerican Grammar and Usage, (Barron’s, New York, 2006), Page. 62-63
9
Easypacelearning.com. Learning Basic Grammar. Page. 32-32.

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 He has little knowledge.
I ate some rice.
There is no food in the fridge.

g. Possessive adjectives show possession or ownership: my, your, our, their,

his, her, its. For examples in the sentences:
That cat is licking its paws
Mike and Jessica invited me to their party.

5. Adverbs
They words that modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs. They
convey meanings that involve relations of manner, time, frequency, degree,
and place.
A. Adverbs of Manner.
They provide information on how people or things do something.
For examples: angrily, badly, rudely, quietly, carefully, slowly,
suddenly, impatiently, and so on. For examples in the sentences.
You must drive your car carefully
You walk slowly
He answer the teacher rudely, so he is punished.

B. Adverbs of Time.
They provide information on when something happens. For
examples: today, tomorrow, now, last month, three years ago, in the
near future, yesterday evening, and so on. For examples in the
sentences.
I will see you in five minutes
I have not seen her recently
My familiy went to America last month. 11

10
Lecturers of PBI at UIN Raden Fatah Palembang. Structure 1 Handbook for Students of
English Education Study Program. Page. 31-36.

10
 C. Adverbs of Frequency.
They provide infomation on how often something happen.

Here are a guideline for using adverbs of frequency.

PERCENT EXAMPLES
100 Always He always gives flowers to Mary.
85 Usually She usually gives that kid 5 dollars.
75 Frequently She frequently goes to the park.
60 Often We often miss the English class.
50 Sometimes They sometimes play soccer until the night.
40 Occasionally I am occasionally late.
30 Rarely You rarely call on me.
20 Seldom He seldom lends something.
10 Hardly ever We hardly ever play videogame.
0 Never I have never been there.

D. Adverbs of Degree.
They provide information about the intensity of something. The
words enough, very, and too are examples of adverbs of degree.
1. Enough.
It means a satisfactory amount or degree. It comes after
adjectives and adverbs, and before nouns. For examples:
This jacket is not big enough for me.
Amin has enough money to buy a new bike.

2. Very.
It means something is done to a high degree, it is usually
factual. It comes before adjectives or other adverbs. For examples: 12

11
Lecturers of PBI at UIN Raden Fatah Palembang. Structure 1 Handbook for Students of English
Education Study Program. Page. 38-43.

11
 He finishes his work very quickly.
She is very interested in me.

3. Too.
It means more than enough, an excessive amount or degree. It
comes before adjectives. For examples:
The hot and sour pork is too spicy for me to eat.
This shirt is too small. I cannot wear it.

E. Adverbs of Place. 13

They indicate where something happens. These include; here, there,

underground, somewhere, anywhere, everywhere, London, Indonesia,
hell, heaven, and so on. For examples in the sentences.
There is a football match in London.
I cannot find you anywhere.
They are playing football outside.

6. Verbs
They refer the words that show an action or state. In another definition,
verbs are words that indicate the action performed by the subject of a
sentence. There are different kinds of verbs. They are state (stative), action
(dynamic), main, auxiliary, transitive, and intransitive verbs.
A. Stative Verbs.
According to British Council Learn English, stative verbs are the
verbs that describe things that are not actions (dynamic). Stative verbs are
often connected with thinking and opinions. For examples: guess,
imagine, mean, remember, believe, think, doubt, believe, know,
understand, agree.

12
Lecturers of PBI at UIN Raden Fatah Palembang. Structure 1 Handbook for Students of English
Education Study Program. Page. 44.

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 Besides, other stative verbs are connected with feelings and emotions.
For examples: like, dislike, enjoy, prefer, want, love wish.

B. Dynamic Verbs.
According to ThoughtCo.com by Richard Nordquist, in English
Grammar, dynamic verbs are verbs used primarily to indicate an action
and process as opposed to states. For examples: kick, shout, make, learn
study, hit, and so on. For examples in the sentences.
I learn to fly.
We make this cake together.
She pronounces that word correctly.

C. Main Verbs.
Main verbs or ordinary verbs which complete action alone in a
sentence; that is, they do not require additional verbs to communicate. For
examples in the sentences:
I go to school every day.
She usually writes a letter for her parents.
They played football yesterday.

D. Auxiliary Verbs.
Auxiliary verbs or helping verbs are verbs which support the main
verbs in the sentences. They need to be paired with main verbs in order to
communicate action. Helping verbs change verb tense and meaning.
There are two kinds of auxiliary verbs. They are primary and secondary
auxiliary verbs.
1. Primary auxiliary verbs. 14

13
Suryadi Junaida, Complete English Grammar, (Pustaka Pelajar, Yogyakarta, 2007), Page. 134-
136.

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 They are derived from the verbs be, have, do. Primary auxiliary
verbs which derived from the verb be are: am, is, are, was, were. For
examples in the sentences.
She is working now.
Are they playing football?
He wasn’t waiting for you.
I am coming now.
Primary auxiliary verbs which derived from the verb have are: have,
has, had. For examples in the sentences:
We have visited UK four times.
She has had difficulties in learning English.
They had cooked.
Primary auxiliary verbs which derived from the verb do are: do, does,
did. For examples in the sentences:
She doesn’t do that.
Do they steal my car? No, they don’t steal your car.
Did it rain yesterday? No, it didn’t rain yesterday.

2. Secondary auxiliary verbs.

They are derived from modals: can, will, might, must, shall,
should, and so on. For examples in the senences:
My team might win this competition. (showing the possibily).
You can pass the exam if you study. (showing the ability).
She musn’t smoke here. (showing the prohibition).

E. Transitive and Intransitive Verbs. 15

Transitive verbs are verbs that need an object in a sentence or they

always take the objects. For examples: kick, make, take, answer, give,
climb, kill, and so on. In contrast, intransitive verbs are verbs that need an

14
Suryadi Junaida, Complete English Grammar, (Pustaka Pelajar, Yogyakarta, 2007), Page. 137-
141.

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 object in a sentence. For examples: cry, die, arrive, scream, yawn, happen,
occur, and so on.

7. Prepositions
Prepositions (literally, “something positioned before”) are words that
come before some other parts of speech, generally a noun to show their
relationship to some other parts in the sentences. They are short words such
as in and by that indicite location, direction, position, and time . 16

IN ON AT
Used to indicate TIME; Used to indicate Used to indicate TIME;
year, century, month, TIME; days of the hour and minutes,
morning, afternoon, week, and dates. noon, night.
evening.
Used to indicate Used to indicate Used to indicate
PLACE; continent, PLACE; street PLACE; Complete
country, state, (without number), adresses, school,work,
province, city, inside island, river, beach. church.
buildings.

Preposition have many, many uses. You can look up your dictionary and
each preposition in it and then read the examples. Here are common
prepositions that always found in daily activities; beside, behind, for, at, in,
on, from, near, through and without. 17

15
Marcel Danesi, BasicAmerican Grammar and Usage, (Barron’s, New York, 2006), Page. 92-
94.

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8. Conjunctions
They are words that connect a part of the sentence. They can connect to
words, phrases, even clauses. For examples:
When you go to London, you must try fish and chips.
My cell phone is not either in the table or in the drawer.
Jessie went to see her manager, but he wasn’t in his office.
There are four major kinds of conjunctions. They are coordinating,
subordinating, correlative, and conjunctive conjunctions.
A. Coordinating Conjunctions.
According to ThoughtCo.com by Richard Nordquist, coordinating
conjunctions are conjunctions that join two similiary constructed and/or
syntactically equal words, phrases, or clauses within a sentence. Also
called coordinators. For examples, and, or, but, so, yet. For examples in
the sentences:
Dom gifted his mother an iPad for her birthday, and she like it.
Kim wants to work in Paris, but he cannot find a job there.
I’m not very hungry, so I will just have a milkshake.
Jack is an expert programmer at computer programming, yet he
teaches economics.

B. Subordinating Conjunctions.
According to ThoughtCo.com by Richard Nordquist, subordinating
conjonctions are conjunctions that introduce a dependent clause, joining
it to a main clause, and called subordinator. For examples, before, after,
because, when, although, if, unless. For examples in the sentences:
After Amin gets home from school, he likes to play PS for an hour.
Tedy and Ari are going to hit the book all night because they are
going to have an exam tomorrow.
if you do not come with us, you can just stay here.

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C. Correlative Conjunctions.
According to ThoughtCo.com by Richard Nordquist, correlative
conjunctions are paired conjunctions that link balanced words, phrases,
and clauses. Also known as paired coordinator and conjunctive pair.
For examples: both....and, either....or, neither....nor, not only.... but also,
as....as, the more....the more, the more....the less. For examples in the
sentences.
Both Zoe and John decided to go on holiday this April.
Either Mike or Susan will help me with the money.
Not only was it raining all day at the wedding but also the band
was late. The car not only is economical but also it feels good to
drive. Not only did john ignore Susan at the party but also he
pretended not knowing her.

D. Conjunctive Adverbs.
According to ThoughtCo.com by Richard Nordquist, conjunctive
adverbs or cohesive conjunctions are adverbs or adverbial phrases that
indicate the relation in meaning between two sequential main clauses.
For examples, however, therefore, as a result, moreover, futhermore,
for example, finally. For examples in the sentences:
Zach loves living in Palembang; however, his wife hates the
traffic.
Swimming is an essential skill life; therefore, all children should
have swimming lesson.
Our head of university will be at the conference; moreover, she is
going to give the opening speech.

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 9. Interjections 18

They are words that express a sudden, strong feeling such as surprise,
pain, or pleasure. In another definition, interjections are words that express
some emotion or attitude that is capable of standing alone. For examples,
well done, gosh, oh my god, hooray, ouch, I’m sorry to hear that, and so on.
For examples in the sentences:
How come? (expresses disbelief)
You are late! How come?
Wow! (expresses amazement or great pleasure)
Wow! Our team finally won.
Ouch! (expresses sudden pain or displeasure)
Ouch! I did not realize that the stove was on.

16
Anne Seaton, Basic English Grammar for English Language Learners. (Saddleback
Educational Publishing: United States, 2007), Page. 138-140.

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III. Closure
A. Conclusion
From the explanation, it is known that parts of speech are class of words
based on their function the way they work in a sentence. They are basic needs
to make a sentence. In addition, part of speech have nine major categories or
classes. They are articles which determine whether nouns are spesific or not.
Nouns are names of things, and pronouns which take the place of subject or
object. There is also adjectives which describe nouns, and adverb which
describe or modify verbs, adjective, and adverbs. Verbs which show the state
or action, and prepositions which indicates position, location, and time. Then,
conjunctions which connect to words in a sentence, and interjections which
express the emotion or feeling. They are needed to communicate both oral and
written.

B. Suggestion
For the readers, the writer hopes this paper can be useful in terms of
enriching and expanding our knowledge about parts of speech. In contrast, the
writer realizes that this paper is not perfect yet due to the writer’s knowledge
and experience. Therefore, some good suggestion are really expected for better
paper.

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 REFERENCES

Azar, Betty. Schrampfer. (2006). Fundamentals of English Grammar. New York:

Azar Associates.

Danesi, Marcel. (2006). Basic American Grammar and Usage. New York:
Barron's.

Easypacelearning.com. Learning Basic Grammar

Junaida, Suryadi. (2006). Complete English Grammar. Yogyakarta: Pustaka

Pelajar.

Lecturers of PBI at UIN Raden Fatah. Structure 1 Handbook for Sttudents of

English Education Study Program. Palembang.

Thompson. Martnet. (1989). A Practical Englsih Grammar Fourth Edition.

London: Oxford University Press.

Seaton, Anne. (2007). Basic English Grammar for English Language Learners.
New York: Saddleback Educational Publishing.

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