Review the Parts of

Speech
Nouns

Prepositions

Verbs

Conjunctions

Adjectives

Pronouns

Determiners

Adverbs

(Auxiliari
es)

Identifying parts of speech

Most important rule:

You do not need to guess!!!

Parts of speech are identified based
on

Distribution!

The distribution of Nouns

I. Nouns may follow

determiners
The house, most people, some
ideas, few years, each person,
their dog
II. Nouns may follow

The distribution of Nouns

I. Proper Nouns are simply

names, and they do NOT follow
determiners
John, Queens College, U.S.A
II. Count Nouns follow many

many houses, many people,

many ideas

Question
How many nouns are below?
1. John knows a lot of people.
a bunch of
people.
a number of people.

Question
Why are the following sentences
starred?
1. *John ate many rice.
2. *The New York is a great city.
3. *I have now few money than
before.
4. *She needs to get a furniture.

The distribution of Verbs

I. Verbs may follow auxiliaries

should go, must do, will come,

is studying, have eaten
II. Verbs may follow infinitive
to
to go, to do, to have, to believe

The distribution of Verbs

I. Linking Verbs may be

followed by Adj.
is thirsty, was cold, feels great
II. Transitive Verbs are
followed by NPs
Met Sam, saw a movie, sold her
car,

Question
Why are the following sentences
starred?
1. *John bought.
2. *Mary slept her child.
3. *He loves great.
4. *She washed tired.
5. *He loves to me.
6. *Who did you die?
7. *What did you laugh?

The distribution of Adjectives

I. Adjectives may come

between a determiner and a
noun
a nice boy, the perfect time, one
lovely afternoon, that incredible
book
II. Adjectives may follow

Question
Why are the following phrases
starred?
1. *these kids happy.
2. *the lovely.

The distribution of
Determiners
Determiners
are followed by

nouns
a boy, the desk, one afternoon,
that book, his laughter, those
chairs, these movies, some
people, every summer

Question
Why are the following phrases
starred?
1. *the.
2. *an.

The distribution of
Prepositions
Prepositions are followed by

NPs
for the man, around that time,
with her, by my side, up the
hill, from Mary, over the
rainbow, at school, before
class, across the street, on
your shirt, in her apt., out the
door, near this lake.

Question
Why are the following sentences
starred?
1. *She asked for.
2. *He lives in.
3. *We believe in so.
4. *I put it on table.
5. *its around corner

The distribution of
Conjunctions
Conjunctions
must relate

constituents of the same category:

relating nouns: John and Mary
relating adjectives: sad but true
Relating verbs: eat or drink
relating clauses: [He thinks] that
[he is smart]
[Mary slept] while [John studied].
[She ate] after [she ran].

Question
Why are the following phrases
starred?
1. *apples and happy.
2. *He reads while he.

The distribution of Pronouns

Pronouns have the distribution

of NPs!
Subject Pronouns:
Can only be the subject of a
sentence
I, we, you, he, she, it, they
Object Pronouns:

The distribution of Pronouns

Reflexive Pronouns:
Must have an antecedent in their
clausemyself, ourselves, yourself,
himself, herself, itself,
themselves
Demonstrative Pronouns:
Can NOT be followed by a Noun

The distribution of Pronouns

Possessive Pronouns:
Can NOT be followed by a Noun
mine, ours, yours, his, hers, its,
theirs
Interrogative Pronouns:
Are used to ask a question
how, what, when, where, which,

The distribution of Pronouns

Relative Pronouns:
Follow a NP (which they replace)
and start a relative clause
(which describes the NP)The man [who lives here]
That book [which you told me
about]
A woman [that I met]

Question
Why are the following sentences
starred?
1. *Him loves she.
2. *Mary is proud of himself.
3. *Yours laptop works well.
4. *Sam believes in he.
5. *They live near she.
6. *He saw they in the street.

The distribution of Adverbs

I. Adverbs may follow verbs

Eat quietly, sleep peacefully,
speak well
II. Adverbs may precede
adjectives
very happy, so tired, quite
wonderful

Question
Why are the following sentences
starred?
1. *He speaks English good.
2. *She runs quick.
3. *You are very intelligence.

The distribution of Auxiliaries

Auxiliaries precede verbs, or

other Aux.
Modals precede verbs in Base
Form:
Should eat, will have, must see
Have precedes verbs in Past
Participle:
Have eaten, has seen, have

Question
Why are the following sentences
starred?
1. *John should coffee.
2. *Mary must beautiful.
3. *They will at.
4. *John has ate.
5. *She is sing.
6. *I have drove.
7. *Bill may coming to the party.

Distribution exists only in

Question: Whatcontext
part of speech is the
word fax?
Answer: It depends!
If the preceding word is the, then fax
is
Noun
But if the preceding word is to, then
fax is
Verb
If the following word is machine, then
fax is
Adjective

Distribution is relevant only in

context
Question: What
part of speech is
that?
1. John likes that movie.
Determiner
2. John thinks that the movie is good.
Conjunction
3. The man that lives here is nice.
Relative Pronoun
4. John likes that.

Distribution is relevant only in

context
Question: What
part of speech is
when?
1. John knows when the movie is over.
Conjunction
2. When are you coming?
Interrogative Pronoun
3. That time when you came over was
great.
Relative Pronoun

Distribution is relevant only in

context
Question: What
part of speech is
before?
1. John studies before he watches T.V.
Conjunction
2. We had lunch before our long class.
Preposition
3. I never realized this before.
Adverb

Distribution is relevant only in

context
Question: What
part of speech is
book?
1. I love this book.
Noun
2. Can I please book a flight to
Denver?
Verb
3. Mary enjoys attending her book
club.

Distribution is relevant only in

context
Question: What
part of speech is
who?
1. Who is the best one here?
Interrogative Pronoun
2. I wonder who is the best one here?
Conjunction
3. The student who is absent is sick.
Relative Pronoun

Distribution is relevant only in

context
Question: What
part of speech is
since?
1. We didnt see you since last year.
Preposition
2. Lets order lunch since were both
hungry.
Conjunction

Distribution is relevant only in

context
Question: What
part of speech is
why?
1. We dont know why you even came
here.
Conjunction
2. Why did you even come here?
Interrogative Pronoun
3. The reason why he came here is
unclear.

Distribution is relevant only in

context
Question: What
part of speech is
have?
1. They have so much homework to
do.
Verb
2. Have you ever been to Disneyland?
Auxiliary

Distribution is relevant only in

context
Question: What
part of speech is
on?
1. The lights are on.
Adjective
2. Youll see the supermarket on Elm
street.
Preposition

Distribution is relevant only in

context
Question: What
part of speech is
out?
1. The birds flew out the window.
Preposition
2. John went out.
Adverb
3. Silly John, you came in through the
out door.
Adjective

Distribution is relevant only in

context
Question: What
part of speech is
were?
1. They were homesick.
Verb
2. Sam and Rachel were traveling
together.
Auxiliary
3. Werent you going to the movies
tonight?

Distribution is relevant only in

context
Question: What
part of speech is
home?
1. They miss their home in Chicago.
Noun
2. Sam is going home now.
Adverb
3. I work from home.
Noun
4. She has been home all day.

Distribution is relevant only in

context
Question: What
part of speech is
did?
1. They did their homework.
Verb
2. Sam didnt laugh at that joke.
Auxiliary
3. Did you see me on T.V?
Auxiliary
4. You are wrong, Mary did do her

Combining categories
These are the word categories:

N, V, Adj., D, P, Conj., Pro., Adv.,

Aux.
- List 12-15 possible combinations of
categories.
- Give two example sentences for each
combination.
Example:
N Aux. V D N
John should eat an apple.

Identify the part of speech

of all words

1. He is sitting in the grand library.

2. Valerie was uncomfortable in that
situation.
3. His confession is surprising.
4. The experienced physician made a
correct diagnosis.
5. Charles stopped at the garage outside.
6. I have seen the Eiffel Tower last year.
7. Her sister resembles her.
8. Children usually like ice cream.
9. Has the board made a decision yet?
10. She will find a useful answer tomorrow.

Identify the part of speech

all
words
1. Do you worryof
about
their
actions?
2. Teachers who have large classes have assistants.
3. He had worked at a mortgage company in Texas.
4. That aqueduct has been bringing water to the city
for many years.
5. They had dinner after he arrived.
6. Melissa received good nursing care as a child.
7. I cant decide between those two options.
8. The man at the airport carried the luggage up.
9. The horse which won the race was very quick.
10. His house is near the school, around that corner.