Parts of speech

All the words you say or write, read or hear are one of the 9 parts of
speech*. It is helpful to know the names of the parts of speech (also
known as word classes), and to be able to identify the words you meet
and use as one of those parts of speech. If you don't, you will not be able
to understand some of the grammar explanations you read or that your
teacher gives you. For example, if you don't know what a verb is, you will
not understand when you teacher says: "This sentence is incorrect; it
doesn't have a verb."
Here is a table of the 9 word classes or parts of speech:
Part of speech Most common function Examples
noun to name a person, place, or thing teacher, mountain, idea
verb to do or be something eat, sleep, think, seem
adjective to describe a noun silly, huge, boring
adverb to describe how something is done quickly, well, carelessly
pronoun to take the place of a noun I, she, it, that, them
conjunction to join words, phrases, and clauses and, so, because, when
preposition to introduce a phrase of when, where or how on, in front of, by, with
article to specify or generalize a noun the, a, an
interjection to express emotion hey, wow, ouch
*Some grammar teachers do not include articles as a separate class. They group a, an,
thetogether with the adjectives.











We use some adverbs to describe how frequently we do an activity.
These are called adverbs of frequency and include:
Frequency Adverb of Frequency Example Sentence
100% always I always go to bed before 11pm.
90% usually I usually have cereal for breakfast.
80% normally / generally I normally go to the gym.
70% often* / frequently I often surf the internet.
50% sometimes I sometimes forget my wife's birthday.
30% occasionally I occasionally eat junk food.
10% seldom I seldom read the newspaper.
5% hardly ever / rarely I hardly ever drink alcohol.
0% never I never swim in the sea.
* Some people pronounce the 'T' in often but many others do not.


The Position of the Adverb in a Sentence
An adverb of frequency goes before a main verb (except with To Be).
Subject + adverb + main verb
I always remember to do my homework.
He normally gets good marks in exams.


An adverb of frequency goes after the verb To Be.
Subject + to be + adverb
They are never pleased to see me.
She isn't usually bad tempered.


When we use an auxiliary verb (have, will, must, might, could, would, can,
etc.), the adverb is placed between the auxiliary and the main verb. This is
also true for to be.
Subject + auxiliary + adverb + main verb
She can sometimes beat me in a race.
I would hardly ever be unkind to someone.
They might never see each other again.
They could occasionally be heard laughing.


We can also use the following adverbs at the start of a sentence:
Usually, normally, often, frequently, sometimes, occasionally
Occasionally, I like to eat Thai food.
BUT we cannot use the following at the beginning of a sentence:
Always, seldom, rarely, hardly, ever, never.


We use hardly ever and never with positive, not negative verbs:
She hardly ever comes to my parties.
They never say 'thank you'.
We use ever in questions and negative statements:
Have you ever been to New Zealand?
I haven't ever been to Switzerland. (The same as 'I have never been
Switzerland').
We can also use the following expressions when we want to be more
specific about the frequency:
- every day - once a month - twice a year - four times a day - every other
week



The subject of a sentence is a person or thing that performs the action of
the verb.
Subject pronouns are used to replace the subject (person or thing) of a
verb.
We do NOT normally say:
John is tall and John is intelligent.
Saying the word "John" twice is repetitive and does not sound natural.
We replace the Subject (John) that appears the second time with a subject
pronoun to avoid repetition (and in this case to avoid saying the
name John again.)
So we would say:
John is tall and he is intelligent.
We replace the second "John" with the Subject Pronoun "He".
What are the subject pronouns in English?
These are the subject pronouns we use in English
Subject
Pronoun
Singular or Plural - Who? Masculine or Feminine
I Singular - first person masculine or feminine
You Singular - second person masculine or feminine
He Singular - third person only masculine
She Singular - third person only feminine
It Singular - third person object / thing / animal
We Plural - first person masculine or feminine
You Plural - second person masculine or feminine
They Plural - third person masculine or feminine
When do you use IT?
IT is normally used when we refer to objects, things, animals or ideas (and
not normally people).
The dog is big. It is also hairy. (It = the dog)
My bed is small but it is comfortable. (It = my bed)
Sometimes when we don't know the sex of a baby (we don't know if it is a
boy or girl), then we can use IT.
Their baby is very small. It only weighs 2 kilos. (It = the baby.)
We use IT we when talk about the time, weather or temperature.
It is five o'clock (= the time is five o'clock)
It is cold today. (= the weather is cold today.)
It is 30 outside right now. (= the temperature is 30 outside right now)


















It is used to show that an action will continue up until a particular event or
time in the future. She will have been working for over 8 hours by the time her
children arrive. English tenses
These are examples of the English tenses. The table is provided to help you recall the different
tenses studied in previous lessons. For more detailed explanations you should visit
the Grammar Study Pages and study the different tenses.
Other links related to English tenses
Tenses | Forms and Explanations
Exercises on tenses.
Explanations Present Simple
Action that is repeated every
Friday. Habitual action.
I visit my uncle every Friday
Facts that are believed to be true.
Generalizations
Cats hate mice.
The sun rises in the morning.
Scheduled events in the near future The plane takes off at 10 o'clock tonight
Explanations Present Progressive
Action that takes place now / at
the moment
I am working on my computer
Near future I am leaving tomorrow
Explanations Present Perfect
To talk about experiences I have been to Italy.
Past action that has the result in
the present.
She has read that book.
Action which started in the past
and continued up to now.
I have lived in this town for 12 years.
Explanations Present Perfect Progressive
To show that something started in
the past and has continued up until
now.
He has been sleeping for the last 3 hours
To talk about an action that started
in the past and stopped recently.
The grass is wet because it has been raining all day
long.
To talk about an action that started
in the past and is continuing now.
I have been watching TV for 2 hours / since you left.
Explanations Past Simple
Completed action in the past. She left yesterday.
To talk about an action that started
in the past and stopped recently.
She woke up, had a shower and left.
To talk about an action that started
in the past and is continuing now.
If I had a million dollar, I would help the poor.
An action taking place in the
middle of another action.
She was playing when the accident occurred.
Explanations Past Progressive
Actions happening at the same time
in the past.
He was reading a newspaper while his wife was
preparing dinner.
Interrupted action in the past. Sh was reading a book when the light went off, had
a shower and left.
Explanations Past Perfect Simple
Completed action before another
action in the past.
She had left when I arrived.
Explanations Past Perfect Progressive
To show that something started in
the past and continued up until
another action stopped it.
They had been playing soccer when the accident
occurred
To show that something started in
the past and continued up until
another time in the past.
I had been living in that town for ten years before I
moved to New York.
We use the Past Perfect Continuous
before another action in the past to
show cause and effect.
I was so tired. I had been working for 6 hours.
Explanations Future Simple
Instant decisions I've left the door open; I'll close it.
We use the simple future , when we
predict a future situation
She'll pass the exam. She's hardworking.
We use the simple future with: "I
(don't) think...", "I expect...", "I am
sure...", "I wonder...", "probably".
It will probably rain tonight
Conditional sentence type one If I have enough time, I'll watch the film.
Explanations Future Progressive
Action that will be taking place at
some time in the future.
When you arrive, I'll be sleeping .
Explanations Future Perfect
Completed action before another
action in the past
By tomorrow, I will have finished the work.
Explanations Future Perfect Progressive
It is used to show that an action will
continue up until a particular event
or time in the future.
She will have been working for over 8 hours by the
time her children arrive.

What is the difference between shall and will?
Shall is not used often in modern English especially in American English. In
fact, shall and will have the same meaning and are used to refer to the simple future. They are
use as follows:
will is used with all persons
I, you, he, she, it, we, they will go there
shall is used with the first person singular and plural
I, we shall go
The short form of will and shall is 'll
I, you, he, she, it, we, they will or 'll call you

I, we shall or 'll call you
In the negative, the short forms of will not and shall
not are won't and shan't respectively
I, you, he, she, it, we, they won't give up

I, we shan't give up
Uses of shall
It should be noted that shall is often used to make suggestions, offers or ask for advice. It is
used in questions as follows:
Shall we stay or go out?
Shall we dance?
Shall I get his phone number if I meet him?
What shall I do to get rid of my acne?
As said above shall is used with first person singular and plural (I and we.) But there is a very
special use of shall with other persons to make a promise, command or threat as noted below:
You shall not get in! (Command)
You shall pay for it. (Threat)
You shall get your money back soon. (Promise)
In American English shall is mainly used in formal or legal documents:
You shall abide by the law.
There shall be no trespassing on this property.
Students shall not enter this room.





















What is the difference between shall and will?
Shall is not used often in modern English especially in American English. In
fact, shall and will have the same meaning and are used to refer to the simple future. They are
use as follows:
will is used with all persons
I, you, he, she, it, we, they will go there
shall is used with the first person singular and plural
I, we shall go
The short form of will and shall is 'll
I, you, he, she, it, we, they will or 'll call you

I, we shall or 'll call you
In the negative, the short forms of will not and shall
not are won't and shan't respectively
I, you, he, she, it, we, they won't give up

I, we shan't give up
Uses of shall
It should be noted that shall is often used to make suggestions, offers or ask for advice. It is
used in questions as follows:
Shall we stay or go out?
Shall we dance?
Shall I get his phone number if I meet him?
What shall I do to get rid of my acne?
As said above shall is used with first person singular and plural (I and we.) But there is a very
special use of shall with other persons to make a promise, command or threat as noted below:
You shall not get in! (Command)
You shall pay for it. (Threat)
You shall get your money back soon. (Promise)
In American English shall is mainly used in formal or legal documents:
You shall abide by the law.
There shall be no trespassing on this property.
Students shall not enter this room.