Pengertian Part of SpeechParts of speech adalah bagian-bagian mendasar dari kalimat bahasaInggris. Ada delapan part of speech, yaitu: noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition, conjunction, dan interjection. 

Delapan Part of SpeechPenjelasan singkat dan contoh part of speech adalah sebagai berikut.

Part ofSpeech Pengertian Contoh Kalimat Part

of Speech

Noun(Katabenda)

Part of speechini digunakan untuk menamai orang,benda, hewan, tempat, dan konsepabstrak.

book, house, car, love;Your book is on thetable.(Bukumu di atas meja.)

Pronoun(Kataganti)

Pronoundigunakan untuk menggantikan noun.Part of speech ini bermanfaat untuk menghindarirepetisi penggunaan noun.

I, you, she, this, those, none;

It is on the table.(Itu di atas meja.)

Verb(Katakerja)

Partof speech ini digunakan untuk menunjukkantindakan dari subject,menunjukkan peristiwa, atau keadaan.

hit, touch, write;You hit the nail onthe head.(idiom: melakukan sesuatu dengan carapaling efektif.)

Adjective(Katasifat)

Part of speechini digunakan untuk menerangkan noun atau pronoun.

a beautiful girl,the expensive carVina is a beautifulgirl.(Vinaadalah gadis yang cantik.)

Adverb(Kata

Part of speechini digunakan untuk menerangkan

yesterday, quicky, very, maybe,

keterangan)

verb, adjective,maupun adverb lain. Macam-macam kata ini antaralain: adverbof time, manner,degree,modality,frequency,place& direction, dan focus.

always, there, just

They met by chance yesterday.(Merekabertemu tidak sengaja kemarin.)

Preposition

(Katadepan)

Part of speechini dikombinasikan dengan noun atau pronoun,membentuk phrase (frasa) yang menerangkan verb,noun, atau adjective.

in the classroom, onthe floorIs sleeping on the floor goodfor my back?(Apakah tidur di lantai baik untuk punggung saya?)

Conjunction

(Katasambung)

Part of speechini digunakan untuk menghubungkan dua kata, phrase(frasa), clause (klausa), atau paragraph(paragraf). Kata ini terbagi menjadi coordinate,correlative,subordinate,dan adverbialconjunction.

but, both … and, although, however;I like that car, but I don’thave enough money to but it.(Saya suka mobil itu, tapi saya tidak punya cukup uang untukmembelinya.)

Interjection

Interjection merupakan ucapan pendekdigunakan untuk mengungkapkan emosi.

“Alas, he failed.”“Oy! Look at me!”

Semoga penjelasan materi parts of speech ini bermanfaat dan mohon maaf jika ada kekurangan. Parts of Speech Table

This is a summary of the 8 parts of speech*. You can find more detail if you click on each part of speech.

You can also see these parts of speech examples

part of speech function or "job" example words example sentences

Verb action or state(to) be, have, do, like, work, sing, can, must

EnglishClub is a web site. I like EnglishClub.

Noun thing or person

pen, dog, work, music, town, London, teacher,John

This is my dog. He lives in my house. Welive in London.

Adjective describes a noun

a/an, the, 2, some, good, big,red, well, interesting

I have two dogs. My dogs are big. I like big dogs.

Adverbdescribes a verb,adjective or adverb

quickly, silently, well, badly, very, really

My dog eats quickly. When he is very hungry, he eats really quickly.

Pronoun replaces a noun I, you, he, she,some

Tara is Indian. She is beautiful.

Preposition

links a noun to another word

to, at, after, on, but

We went to school on Monday.

Conjunction

joins clauses or sentences or words

and, but, when

I like dogs and I like cats. I like cats and dogs. I likedogs but I don't likecats.

Interjection

short exclamation, sometimes inserted into a sentence

oh!, ouch!, hi!,well

Ouch! That hurts! Hi!How are you? Well, I don't know.

* Some grammar sources categorize English into 9 or 10 parts of speech. At EnglishClub, we use the traditional categorization of 8 parts of speech. Examples of other categorizations are:

Verbs may be treated as two different parts of speech: o Lexical Verbs (work, like, run)o Auxiliary Verbs (be, have, must)

Determiners may be treated as a separate part of speech, instead of being categorized under Adjectives

Parts of Speech

Introduction“Parts of speech” are the basic types of words that English has. Most grammar books say that there are eight parts of speech: nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, conjunctions, prepositions and interjections. We will add one more type: articles.

It is important to be able to recognize and identify the different types of words in English, so that you can understand grammar explanations and use the right word form in the right place. Here is a brief explanation of what the parts of speech are:

Noun A noun is a naming word. It names a person, place, thing, idea, living creature, quality, or action.Examples: cowboy, theatre, box, thought, tree, kindness, arrival

Verb A verb is a word which describes an action (doing something) or a state (being something).Examples: walk, talk, think, believe, live, like, want

Adjective

An adjective is a word that describes a noun. It tells you something about the noun.Examples: big, yellow, thin, amazing, beautiful, quick, important

Adverb

An adverb is a word which usually describes a verb. It tells you how something is done. It may also tell you when or where something happened.Examples: slowly, intelligently, well, yesterday, tomorrow, here, everywhere

Pronoun A pronoun is used instead of a noun, to avoid repeating the noun.Examples: I, you, he, she, it, we, they

Conjunction

A conjunction joins two words, phrases or sentences together.Examples: but, so, and, because, or

Preposition

A preposition usually comes before a noun, pronoun or noun phrase. It joins the noun to some other part of the sentence.Examples: on, in, by, with, under, through, at

Interjection

An interjection is an unusual kind of word, because it often stands alone. Interjections are words which express emotion orsurprise, and they are usually followed by exclamation marks.Examples: Ouch!, Hello!, Hurray!, Oh no!, Ha!

Article An article is used to introduce a noun.Examples: the, a, an

If you are not sure about the basic parts of speech in English, or you would like some more information, try these pages:

Parts of Speech (includes determiners which includes articles) The Eight Parts of Speech (doesn't include articles)

The Parts of Speech (doesn't include articles)

Don't forget to come back here and go on with the exercises!

When you are sure that you understand the lesson, you can continue with the exercises.

The Parts of Speech

Traditional grammar classifies words based on eight parts of speech: the verb, the noun, the pronoun, the adjective, the adverb, the preposition, the conjunction, and the interjection.

Each part of speech explains not what the word is, but how the word is used. In fact, the same word can be a noun in one sentenceand a verb or adjective in the next. The next few examples show how a word's part of speech can change from one sentence to the next, and following them is a series of sections on the individual parts of speech, followed by an exercise.

Books are made of ink, paper, and glue.

In this sentence, "books" is a noun, the subject of the sentence.

Deborah waits patiently while Bridget books the tickets.

Here "books" is a verb, and its subject is "Bridget."

We walk down the street.

In this sentence, "walk" is a verb, and its subject is the pronoun "we."

The mail carrier stood on the walk.

In this example, "walk" is a noun, which is part of a prepositional phrase describing where the mail carrier stood.

The town decided to build a new jail.

Here "jail" is a noun, which is the object of the infinitive phrase "to build."

The sheriff told us that if we did not leave town immediately he would jail us.

Here "jail" is part of the compound verb "would jail."

They heard high pitched cries in the middle of the night.

In this sentence, "cries" is a noun acting as the direct object of the verb "heard."

The baby cries all night long and all day long.

But here "cries" is a verb that describes the actions of the subject of the sentence, the baby.

The next few sections explain each of the parts of speech in detail. When you have finished, you might want to test yourself by trying the exercise.

Written by Heather MacFadyen

Grammar Writing Activities

Parts ofSpeech

Nouns

Verbs

Pronouns

Adjectives

Adverbs

Prepositions

Conjunctions

Interjections

Articles

Abbreviations

Compound Words Contractions

Prefixes andSuffixes

Punctuation

Parts of Speech:The words that we use can be divided into these classes:

noun - A noun is a type of word that represents a person, thing, or place, like mother, apple, or valley.

verb - A verb is a type of word that describes an action or a state of being, like wiggle, walk, run, jump, be, do, have, or think.

pronoun - A pronoun is a substitute for a noun. Some pronouns are: I, me, she, hers, he, him, it, you, they, them, etc.

adjective - An adjective is a word that describes something (a noun). Some adjectives are: big, cold, blue, and silly. One special type of adjective is an article, a word that introduces a noun and also limits or clarifies it; in English, the indefinite articles are a and an, the definite article is the.

adverb - An adverb is a word that tells "how," "when," "where," or "how much". Some adverbs are: easily, warmly, quickly, mainly, freely, often, and unfortunately.

preposition - A preposition shows how something is related to another word. It shows the spatial (space), temporal (time), or logical relationship of an object to the rest of the sentence. The words above, near, at, by, after, with and from are prepositions.

conjunction - A conjunction is a word that joins other words, phrases, clauses or sentences. Some conjunctions are: and, as, because, but, or, since, so, until, and while.

interjection - An interjection is a word that expresses emotion. An interjection often starts a sentence but it can be contained within a sentence orcan stand alone. Some interjections are oh, wow, ugh,hurray, eh, and ah.

Related Reference Pages, Activities and Worksheets:

Types ofWords,

Phrases, andSentencesLittle

ExplorersPicture

DictionaryA page oftypes ofwords,

phrases andsentencesfrom theLittle

ExplorersPicture

Dictionary inEnglish.

Write Partsof Speech

Write 5 wordsthat belongto each partof speech in

English.Parts ofspeechinclude:

noun, verb,pronoun,

adjective,adverb,

preposition,conjunction,

andinterjection.

Or go tosampleanswers.

Write Partsof SpeechWrite 10

words thatbelong to

each part ofspeech inEnglish.Parts ofspeech

include:noun, verb,pronoun,

adjective,adverb,

preposition,conjunction,

andinterjection.

Or go tosample

Parts of SpeechWord Wheel

Make a wheel aboutthe eight parts of

speech using this 2-page print-out; itconsists of a base

page together with awheel that spinsaround. When you

spin the wheel, theparts of speech

appear together witha definition and twoexamples. The partsof speech are: noun,

pronoun, verb,adjective, adverb,

preposition,conjunction, andinterjection. The

student then writesdown the parts of

answers. speech and anexample for each.

CommonAbbreviationsLearn common

Englishabbreviationsand print

worksheets onabbreviations

.

"leapinglizards"

alliterationAlliteration isthe repetitionof initialsounds in

neighboringwords.

"Slitheringsnake" is analliterationbecause both

word start withthe "s" sound.

"Notable knight"is an

alliterationbecause both

word start withthe "n" sound(even though

they start withdifferentletters).

artrattar

AnagramsAn anagram is aword or phrasethat is made byrearranging the

letters ofanother word.For example,spot is an

anagram of post.

Compound WordsA compound wordis a word thatis made up oftwo or more

other words. Forexample, the

word dragonflyis made up oftwo words,

dragon and fly.Read some commoncompound words

and doactivities oncompound words.

I'll(I will)

ContractionsA contraction isa shortened formof one or twowords (usuallyverbs). Somecontractions

are: I'm (I am),can't (cannot),how's (how is),

and Ma'am(Madam).

Antonyms/Opposites

Opposites(antonyms) arethings that are

very, verydifferent from

each other. Someexamples of

opposites are:left and right,big and small,up and down,

tall and short.

HomophonesHomophones are

words that soundlike one another

but havedifferent

meanings, likeflower and

flour.

. , ? ! ;Punctuation

MarksPunctuation marks

are symbols that areused in sentences

and phrases to makethe meaning clearer.

Some punctuationmarks are the period

(.), comma (,),question mark (?),exclamation point(!), colon (:) andsemicolon(;). Thisis also a page ofpunctuation marksand other commonsymbols from theLittle Explorers

Picture Dictionaryin English.

rhymesWords that rhymehave endingsthat sound thesame, like cat

and hat, or kiteand light.

MOM2002

PalindromesA palindrome isa word, phraseor number thatreads the sameforward and

backward. Somepalindromes are:

MatchPunctuationSymbol Wordsand PicturesMatch 10

punctuationsymbol wordsto their

pictures. Thewords are:

comma,period,

exclamationpoint,

quotationmark,

questionmark,

apostrophe,colon,

semicolon,parentheses,hyphen. Or go

to theanswers.

the name Bob,the number 101,and the phrase,

"Madam, I'mAdam."

SimileA simile is a

way ofdescribing

something bycomparing it tosomething else,often using theword "like" or

"as." Forexample, "He isas brave as alion." Read

common similesand do

activities onsimiles.

MetaphorA metaphor is

a way ofdescribingsomething byequating it

withsomething

else. It is acomparisonbetween twodifferentthings thathave animportant

characteristic in common.For example,

in themetaphor,

VocabularyWorksheetsThese graphicorganizers for

vocabulary wordscan be used tohelp studentslearn newvocabulary

words. For eachnew vocabulary

word, thestudent writesthe word, its

definition, itspart of speech,a synonym, anantonym, the

draws a picturethat illustratesthe meaning ofthe word, and

writes ameaningful

sentence usingthe word.

GrammarPotpourriWorksheets

Findsynonyms,antonyms,homonyms,

anagrams, andcompound

words, thencapitalize,punctuate,and correctthe spellingof sentences.

Parts of Speech:Write a Questionfor Each Answer

In thisworksheet, thestudent is given

a series ofshort answersusing parts ofspeech (nouns,

verbs,adjectives,

adverbs, etc.).For each answer,

the studentwrites a short

question.

"Freddie is apig when heeats," bothFreddie and a

pig aresloppyeaters.

Find a Wordfor EachLetter

See if youcan think ofand writedown a wordthat startswith each

letter of thealphabet. Or

go to asample answer

Parts ofSpeech QuizA Worksheetto PrintA short,printableworksheetquiz about

the parts ofspeech,

nouns, verbs,adjectives,adverbs,

Unscramblethe SentencesWorksheetUnscramble

the words ofsimple

sentences,then use thefirst word ofeach sentenceto find the

secretmessage.

GrammarVocabulary Word

ListA list of words

related to grammar.

page. preposition,conjunctions,

andinterjections. The short-

answerworksheetasks 16general

questionsabout theparts of

speech, forexample, "Aword thatexpresses

action (forexample,

"run") is a___." Or go

to theanswers.

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In grammar, a part of speech (also a word class, a lexical class,or a lexical category) is a linguistic category of words (or moreprecisely lexical items), which is generally defined by the syntactic or morphological behaviour of the lexical item in question. Common linguistic categories include noun and verb, among others. There are open word classes, which constantly acquire new members, and closed word classes, which acquire new members infrequently if at all.

Almost all languages have the lexical categories noun and verb, but beyond these there are significant variations in different languages.[1] For example, Japanese has as many as three classes of adjectives where English has one; Chinese, Korean and Japanesehave nominal classifiers whereas European languages do not; many languages do not have a distinction between adjectives and adverbs, adjectives and verbs (see stative verbs) or adjectives and nouns[citation needed], etc. This variation in the number of categories and their identifying properties entails that analysisbe done for each individual language. Nevertheless the labels foreach category are assigned on the basis of universal criteria.[1]

Contents 1 Controversies 2 English 3 Functional classification 4 See also 5 References 6 External links

ControversiesSince the Greek grammar of 2nd century BC, parts of speech have been defined by morphological, syntactic and semantic criteria. However, there is currently no generally agreed-upon classification scheme that can apply to all languages, or even a set of criteria upon which such a scheme should be based.

Linguists recognize that the above list of eight word classes is drastically simplified and artificial.[2] For example, "adverb" isto some extent a catch-all class that includes words with many different functions. Some have even argued that the most basic ofcategory distinctions, that of nouns and verbs, is unfounded,[3] or not applicable to certain languages.[4]

English

A diagram of English categories in accordance with modern linguistic studies

English words have been traditionally classified into eight lexical categories, or parts of speech (and are still done so in most dictionaries):

Noun

any abstract or concrete entity; a person (police officer, Michael), place (coastline, London), thing (necktie, television), idea (happiness), or quality (bravery)

Pronoun

any substitute for a noun or noun phrase

Adjective

any qualifier of a noun

Verb

any action (walk), occurrence (happen), or state of being (be)

Adverb

any qualifier of an adjective, verb, clause, sentence, or other adverb

Preposition

any establisher of relation and syntactic context

Conjunction

any syntactic connector

Interjection

any emotional greeting (or "exclamation")

Although these are the traditional eight English parts of speech,modern linguists have been able to classify English words into even more specific categories and subcategories based on function.

The four main parts of speech in English, namely nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs, are labelled form classes as well. This is because prototypical members of each class share the ability to change their form by accepting derivational or inflectional morphemes. The term form is used because it refers literally to the similarities in shape of the word in its pronunciation and spelling for each part of speech.[5]

Neither written nor spoken English generally marks words as belonging to one part of speech or another, as they tend to be understood in the context of the sentence. Words like neigh, break, outlaw, laser, microwave, and telephone might all be either verb forms or nouns. Although -ly is a frequent adverb marker, notall adverbs end in -ly (-wise is another common adverb marker) and not all words ending in -ly are adverbs. For instance, tomorrow, fast, very can all be adverbs, while early, friendly, ugly are all adjectives (though early can also function as an adverb). Verbs can also be used as adjectives (e.g. "The astonished child watchedthe spectacle unfold" instead of the verb usage "The unfolding spectacle astonished the child"). In such cases, the verb is in its participle form.

In certain circumstances, even words with primarily grammatical functions can be used as verbs or nouns, as in, "We must look to the hows and not just the whys."

Functional classification

The study of linguistics has expanded the understanding of lexical categories in various languages and allowed for better classifying words by function. Common lexical categories in English by function may include:

Open word classes : o adjectives o adverbs o nouns o verbs (except auxiliary verbs)o interjections

Closed word classes : o auxiliary verbs o clitics o coverbs o conjunctions o determiners (articles, quantifiers, demonstrative

adjectives, and possessive adjectives)o particles o measure words o adpositions (prepositions, postpositions, and

circumpositions)o preverbs o pronouns o contractions o cardinal numbers

A clause is essentially a phrase, but with both a subject and predicate (more on those in the next post). Clauses are either dependent or independent. An independent clause can exist by itself as a complete sentence (as in “I love grammar.“), while a dependent clause cannot.

Dependent or Subordinate ClausesA dependent or subordinate clause depends on an independent clause to express its full meaning (as in “Because I love grammar.”).

These clauses begin with a dependent word, like a subordinating conjunction or a relative pronoun.

Dependent clauses can function as nouns, adjectives, and adverbs:

Noun Clause – “The boy wondered if his parents bought him what he wanted forChristmas.” A noun clause can replace any noun in a sentence, functioning as a subject, object, or complement (see English Grammar: Basic Sentence Elements).

Adjective Clause (or relative clause) – “I listened to the song that you told me about.” An adjective clause describes a noun just likean adjective. Which song? The new song, the good song, the song that you told me about. Often called relative clauses, they’re either restrictive or nonrestrictive (also called defining and non-defining, essential and nonessential, or integrated and supplementary):

o Restrictive Clause – “The building that they built in San Francisco sold for a lot of money.” A restrictive clause begins with a relative pronoun like that or who (or sometimes which – see Which Versus That). It specifies or restricts the noun; in this case, it specifies which building the speaker is referring to. Note: the relative pronoun is often omitted (“The building (that) they built”),leaving what is called an elliptical clause or contact clause.

o Nonrestrictive Clause – “The building, which they built in San Francisco, sold for a lot of money.” A nonrestrictive clause begins with a relative pronoun like which or who. It adds extra information about an already-specific noun; in this case, there’s only one building to talk about, whereas the example for the restrictive clause implies that there could be several buildings.

Adverb Clause – “I’ll do the laundry when I’m out of clothes.” Like alladverbials, adverb clauses express when, where, why, and how something occurs. A dependent clause is an adverb clause if you can replace it with an adverb, as in “I’ll do the laundry later.”

Note: appositives can include clauses, but I’ve yet to find a source mentioning an “appositive clause.” They’re generally

regarded as a type of noun phrase, even though they can be restrictive or nonrestrictive like relative clauses.

The Grammar Rules for Clauses in English

1. A clause is a group of words that contains both a subject and a predicate but cannot always be considered as a full grammaticalsentence. Clauses can be either independent clauses (also called main clauses) or dependent clauses (also called subordinate clauses).

2. An independent clause (or main clause) contains both a subjectand predicate, can stand alone as a sentence (a simple sentence),or be a part of a multi-clause sentence. Coordinating conjunctions (and, but, for, nor, or, so, yet) are used to connect elements of equal weight such as two independent clauses,using a comma before the conjunction.We visited Paris last September.[independent clause functioning as a full sentence]

We visited Paris in September, and then we visited Berlin in October.[two independent clauses connected by the coordinating conjunction and preceded with a comma]

3. A dependent clause (or subordinate clause) contains both a subject and a verb but cannot stand alone as a sentence. It must always be a part of a sentence, on which it depends for meaning. Reading a dependent clause on its own leaves the reader wonderingwhere the rest of the information is. The following sections describe the different kinds of dependent clauses.

4. An adverb clause or adverbial clause (also called a subordinate clause) is a type of dependent clause which starts with a subordinating conjunction (e.g. because, although, when,

if, until, as if etc.). It indicates a dependent relationship with information elsewhere in the independent clause that it modifies. Similarly to adverbs, adverb clauses usually answer questions such as: Why? How? When? Under what circumstances? Whenthe adverb clause is written before the independent clause, separate the two with a comma.

In the following example pairs, see how the same information is given using a word, phrase or a clause.We ate dinner at the hotel bistro.[the adverbial phrase modifies the verb ate; it answers the question where?]

We ate dinner where all the locals usually go to.[The adverb clause modifies the verb ate; it answers the questionwhere?]

We wanted to go to the Louvre early.[The adverb modifies the verb phrase wanted to go; it explains when?]

We wanted to go to the Louvre as early as we could.[The adverb clause modifies the verb phrase wanted to go; it explains when?]

We visited Paris last September due to a business meeting.[The adverbial phrase explains why?]

We visited Paris last September because we wanted to see the MonaLisa at the Louvre museum.[The adverb clause modifies the entire independent clause; it explains why?]

5. An adjective clause (also called a relative clause), just likean adjective, modifies the noun or pronoun preceding it (also called the antecedent). It starts with a relative pronoun (e.g. who, which, that, where, when, whose, whom, whoever etc.) which is also the subject of the clause.

In the following example pairs ,see how the same information is given using a word, phrase or a clause.This is a great museum.[the adjective amazing modifies the noun museum]

This is a museum that we visited last year.[The adjective clause modifies the noun museum; that is a relative pronoun referring to the antecedent museum]

In Paris, we met good friends.[the adjective good modifies the noun friends]

In Paris, we met friends whom we haven't seen for years.[the adjective clause modifies the noun friends; whom is a relative pronoun referring to the antecedent friends]

6. Use who, whom, whoever and whomever when the adjective clause refers to a person or an animal with a name. Use which or that when the adjective clause refers to a non-person (thing) or an animal that is not a pet.The French lady who was our tour guide turned out to be a distantrelative of ours.[the French lady is a person; who is used]

Our hotel, which was built in 1830, had an excellent bistro.[our hotel is a thing; which is used]

7. When an adjective clause is non-restrictive (gives an extra piece of information not essential to the overall meaning of the sentence), separate it with commas from the rest of the sentence.Do not use that with non-restrictive adjective clauses.The hotel that was built in 1830 has an excellent bistro [The adjective clause is restrictive; only the hotel built in 1830 has an excellent bistro. The adjective clause is essential to the meaning of the sentence]The hotel , which was built in 1830, had an excellent bistro.[The adjective clause is non-restrictive; there may be more hotels with excellent bistros. The adjective clause merely adds extra information]

8. A noun clause functions as a noun, meaning that it can be a subject, object or complement in a sentence. It starts with the same words that begin adjective clauses: that, who, which, when, where, whether, why, how.The Louvre museum was amazing![The Louvre museum = noun phrase as subject of sentence]

What we saw at the Louvre Museum was amazing.[What we saw at the Louvre Museum = noun clause as subject of sentence]

We loved what we saw at the Louvre museum.[what we saw at the Louvre museum = noun clause as object of the verb like]

The best thing we liked was what we saw at the Louvre museum.[what we saw at the Louvre museum = noun phrase as complement of the verb was]

9. Do not confuse between adjective and noun clauses, as they begin with the same words. A word starting an adjective clause has an antecedent to which it refers, whereas a word starting a noun clause does not.Our French friends know that we saw the new exhibition at the Louvre.[that we saw the new exhibition at the Louvre = noun clause as object of the verb know]

The new exhibition that we saw at the Louvre was amazing.[that we saw at the Louvre = adjective clause referring to the antecedent exhibition]

10. An elliptical clause may seem incorrect as it may be missing essential sentence elements, but it is actually accepted grammatically. As these clauses must appear together with complete clauses which contain the missing words, repetition is avoided by leaving the same words (or relative pronoun) out in the elliptical clause. This conciseness actually adds to the flow

of the text and promotes writing that is more elegant.

In the following examples, the omitted words are given in parenthesis.The Louvre museum was one of the sites (that) we did not want to miss.[The relative pronoun that is omitted from the adjective clause]

After (we visited) the Louvre, we went out to dinner at a French bistro.[subject and verb omitted from adverb clause]

The French make better croissants than the American (make or do).[second half of comparison omitted]

Though (they) sometimes (appear) impatient and somewhat assertive, most French people are actually kind and warm-hearted.

[subject and verb omitted from adverb clause]

Share With Your Friends!

The Four Kinds of Clauses

 

To master English, you must know a lot about how words come together andrelate to each other, not just how to spell individual words.

 

It's like driving: to drive well, you have to know a lot. You have to know where your keys are (!), how to unlock the car, adjust the seat and mirrors, start the ignition, check that you have gas, recognize when a tire isflat, know what to do when your battery dies, know where the turn signal and windshield washer buttons are, and many more skills . . . besides understanding the rules of the road and being coordinated enough to shift yourfoot from the accelerator to the brake while steering while listening to really groovy music.

 

Sorry. But you get the picture: good writing takes keen understanding ofhow words come together into sentences, and sentences into paragraphs. So let's start at the beginning. One of the basic building blocks of the sentenceis the clause. You need to know the difference between a sentence and a clauseso that your writing will make sense and be correct.

 

A clause is a group of words that contains both a subject and a verb. A subject is a person, place or thing. A verb expresses action.

 

A clause with both a subject and a verb that is complete in itself, and doesn't need any more wording to make it complete, is called an independent clause.

 

However, you can have a clause with a subject and a verb, but it will only be part of a sentence. It can't stand on its own. That's a dependent clause.

 

Within the realm of dependent clauses, there are two more kinds of clauses: adjectival and adverbial clauses.

 

No, there are no Santa Clauses . . . at least not in grammar.

 

Let's look at these four:

 

An independent clause can stand alone as a complete sentence expressing a complete thought, or it can be part of a longer sentence:

 

We bought the dog.

 

We bought the dog in the same place we bought the cat.

 

A dependent clause - also called "subordinate" - cannot stand alone. It does not express a complete thought and isn't a complete sentence, even thoughit may contain a subject and a verb. Here, for example, the second "we" is a subject and the second "bought" is a verb, but the underlined words aren't a full sentence, so they form a dependent clause:

 

We bought the dog in the same place we bought the cat.

 

The remaining two major types of clauses are both dependent clauses:

 

Adjectival clause: a dependent clause that modifies a noun or a pronoun.It can't stand alone. It usually starts with "who," "which" or "that."

 

She's the one who wanted to buy the dog.

 

Adverbial clause: a dependent clause that modifies a verb, an adjective,or an adverb. It also can't stand alone as a sentence. It usually answers the questions "where," "when," "how," "why," "to what extent," or "under what condition."

 

We bought the dog after we bought the cat.

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Clauses in English Grammar

Look at the sentences below.

When I heard the disturbance, I dropped the files that I had beenexamining, then ran out into the corridor.

I let the door slip from my fingers and it closed behind me.

In the first sentence it appears that there are as many as four separate segments which look like partial sentences connected to each other in different ways:

When I heard the disturbance, I dropped the files that I had been examining, then ran out into the corridor.

In the second sentence there are two segments:

I let the door slip from my fingers and it closed behind me.

We can call these segments clauses. Many sentences are short - they contain only one segment or clause. These single-clause units are called simple sentences. Examples of simple sentences might include:

She has already read this book. The policeman asked me for some identification. The postman didn't arrive. No one knew the way. Why did he do it? Where did you last see your father? How much does this cost? Have you put the cat out? Will Bill be staying? Did they finish painting the house?

As you can see, it is not possible to divide any of these up intosmaller segments that look like sentences. However, many sentences, both in the spoken and the written language, are oftenlonger and more complicated than this simple type; such sentences

are called multiple sentences. Sentence 2 (above) is an instance of a sentence which can be broken down into smaller segments or clauses.

Main clauses Look at the three multiple sentences below:

Harry put the phone down and he stood up. I gave him my address, but he didn't contact me. We could go to the cinema or we could stay at home.

The sentences can be divided into clauses as follows, and the main clauses are in bold.

Harry put the phone down (and) he stood up.

I gave him my address, (but) he didn't contact me.

We could go to the cinema (or) we could stay at home.

In all three sentences each of the main clauses (those without the connecting words and, but and or) can stand on its own as an acceptable sentence - they all act as complete sense units in their own right. Clauses which can stand on their own in this wayand have equal importance are referred to as main clauses; this will, of course, also include simple sentences, which contain only one clause. Sentences which are constructed using the linking words and, but, or and the few words which can be used in the same way, like also, too, yet, are called compound sentences. These linking words for compound sentences are known as coordinators since they serve to connect main clauses on an equal footing.

Subordinate clauses

The construction of compound sentences is essentially quite straightforward since we only have to take two or more simple sentences and insert a basic coordinatingword like and, but and or. There are, however many more ways in which clauses can be connected to each other to form longer sentences. The following are just a few examples of how clauses can be conjoined. The mainclauses are in bold.

After he left work, he headed straight for the hotel. We're going to have to take the train because the car's broken down. If you heat water, it boils. Although she's the best in the class, she did badly in the exams. While I'm out, could you tidy up a bit?

If you examine the sentences carefully, you will notice that onlyone of the clauses in each sentence can stand alone as a completeidea; these are shown in bold. The remaining clause in each sentence feels unfinished when used on its own. For example a native speaker would find the sense of 'although she's the best in the class' to be incomplete without a second clause expressing an unexpected contrast, in this case 'she did badly in the exams'. The clause which can stand alone is called a main clause, while the clause which depends on the main clause is said to be subordinate.

The range of linking words used with subordinate clauses is much wider than with the linkers in compound sentences. A short list would include:

Time : after, before, as soon as, while, when, as Cause : because, since, as, Condition : if, provided that, as long as, unless Concession : although, though, even though Relative : which, who, that, where, whose

These different types of sentence structure will be examined in more detail in other sections of this guide. Sentences which are made up of clauses joined in this way are known as complex sentences. Here is an example:

When I heard the disturbance,

I dropped the files that I had been examining, then ran out into the corridor.

The main clause here is b since this can be used on its own as a complete sense unit.

Note that every sentence needs a subject telling us who or what is doing the action. In these sentences the subject is in bold:

The man was clearly in pain. The child was sitting beside the door of my old car. The old olive tree was still producing wonderful olives. The man wearing the old red hat was walking slowly down the road.

One feature of the levels of sentence and clause is that they both need to include a person(s) or thing(s) carrying out some sort of action. The word denoting the action in a sentence or clause is called a verb, while the person or thing performing theaction is typically a noun acting as the subject. The presence ofthis structure subject + verb, indicates that the collection of words is either a sentence or a clause; without this structure, astring of words is referred to as a phrase.

Phrases in English grammar

A phrase can consist of just one word, but usually it will contain more than one. Examples include:

the unseen intruder the files that I had been examining the chance to clear my name couldn't believe had lost Quite carelessly about midnight from my fingers Because of this one stupid mistake

The most important point about phrases is that they do not include verbs that can change according to the time reference and

in many cases they do not have a subject either. Unlike clauses, they can never stand alone as sentences.

Phrases are often classified into four basic types, taking their names from what is considered to be the class of themost important word in the phrase. There are seven word classes; theseare:

the verb the noun the adverb the preposition the adjective the pronoun the conjunction

The respective phrase types are named, unsurprisingly, the verb phrase, noun phrase, adverb phrase and prepositional phrase. The adjectival phrase and pronoun phrase are of minor interest to us here since the former usually comprises short, simple phrases like, very sad, old enough, too sudden, while the latter are used in only a small number of expressions like, they all, almost no one, I myself etc. The conjunction (words like and, but, so) is a special case in that it does not form a phrase, but helps to connect clauses into larger structures.

The class of the most important word in any phrase will decide what type of phrase it is. This important word is often referred to as the head of the phrase. In the following examples, the headword is given in bold:

a. the unseen intruder b. the files that I had been examining c. the chance to clear my name d. couldn't believe e. had lost f. Quite carelessly g. about midnight h. in the blue suit i. off the table

The first three extracts have a noun as their head word; they areall, therefore, noun phrases (from this point on I will refer to them as NP).

In d. and e. the head word is a verb (believe and lost), so they are verb phrases (VP).

Extract f is an adverb phrase (AP) with two adverbs - the second is the main adverb, while quite qualifies it.

The last three are all prepositional phrases (PP) as they start with prepositions.

Sentences: Simple, Compound, and Complex

Experienced writers use a variety of sentences to make their writing interesting and lively. Too many simple sentences, for example, will sound choppy and immature while too many long sentences will be difficult to read and hard to understand.

This page contains definitions of simple, compound, and complex sentences with many simple examples. The purpose of these examples is to help the ESL/EFL learner to identify sentence basics including identification of sentences in the short quizzesthat follow. After that, it will be possible to analyze more complex sentence varieties.

Simple Sentence

A simple sentence, also called an independent clause, contains a subject and a verb, and it expresses a complete thought. In the following simple sentences, subjects are in yellow, and verbs arein green.

1. Some students like to study in the mornings.2. Juan and Arturo play football every afternoon.3. Alicia goes to the library and studies every day.

The three examples above are all simple sentences. Note that sentence 2 contains a compound subject, and sentence 3 contains acompound verb. Simple sentences, therefore, contain a subject andverb and express a complete thought, but they can also contain compound subjects or verbs.

Compound Sentence

A compound sentence contains two independent clauses joined by a coordinator. The coordinators are as follows: for, and, nor, but,or, yet, so. (Helpful hint: The first letter of each of the coordinators spells FANBOYS.) Except for very short sentences, coordinators are always preceded by a comma. In the following compound sentences, subjects are in yellow, verbs are in green, and the coordinators and the commas that precede them are in red.

1. I tried to speak Spanish, and my friend tried to speak English.

2. Alejandro played football, so Maria went shopping.

3. Alejandro played football, for Maria went shopping.

The above three sentences are compound sentences. Each sentence contains two independent clauses, and they are joined by a

coordinator with a comma preceding it. Note how the conscious useof coordinators can change the meaningof the sentences. Sentences2 and 3, for example, are identical except for the coordinators. In sentence 2, which action occurred first? Obviously, "Alejandroplayed football" first, and as a consequence, "Maria went shopping." In sentence 3, "Maria went shopping" first. In sentence 3, "Alejandro played football" because, possibly, he didn't have anything else to do, for or because "Maria went shopping." How can the use of other coordinators change the relationship between the two clauses? What implications would theuse of "yet" or "but" have on the meaning of the sentence?

Complex Sentence

A True Story

Some students believe it is possible to identify simple, compound, and complex sentences by looking at the complexity of theideas in a sentence. Is the idea in the sentence simple, or is itcomplex? Does one idea in a sentence make it simple? Do two ideasmake it compound? However, sentence identification does not work that way.

Please take the time to identify the subjects and verbs in a sentence. Then identify coordinators and subordinators when they exist. With these two steps, sentence identification not only becomes easy, but it also provides the foundation for understanding and writing all other kinds of more complicated sentences.

A complex sentence has an independent clause joined by one or more dependent clauses. A complex sentence always has a subordinator such as because, since, after, although, or when (and many others) or a relative pronoun such as that, who, or which. Inthe following complex sentences, subjects are in yellow, verbs are in green, and the subordinators and their commas (when required) are in red.

1. When he handed in his homework, he forgot to givethe teacher the last page.

2. The teacher returned the homework after she noticed the error.

3. The students are studying because they have a test tomorrow.

4. After they finished studying, Juan and Maria wentto the movies

5. Juan and Maria went to the movies after they finished studying.

When a complex sentence begins with a subordinator such as sentences 1 and 4, a comma is required at the end of the dependent clause. When the independent clause begins the sentencewith subordinators in the middle as in sentences 2, 3, and 5, no comma is required. If a comma is placed before the subordinators in sentences 2, 3, and 5, it is wrong.

Note that sentences 4 and 5 are the same except sentence 4 beginswith the dependent clause which is followed by a comma, and sentence 5 begins with the independent clause which contains no comma. The comma after the dependent clause in sentence 4 is required, and experienced listeners of English will often hear a slight pause there. In sentence 5, however, there will be no pause when the independent clause begins the sentence.

Complex Sentences / Adjective Clauses

Finally, sentences containing adjective clauses (or dependent clauses) are also complex because they contain an independent clause and a dependent clause. The subjects, verbs, and subordinators are marked the same as in the previous sentences, and in these sentences, the independent clauses are also underlined.

1. The woman who called my mom sells cosmetics .2. The book that Jonathan read is on the shelf .

3. The house which Abraham Lincoln was born in is still standing.

4. The town where I grew up is in the United States.

Adjective Clauses are studied in this site separately, but for now it is important to know that sentences containing adjective clauses are complex.

Conclusion and Quizzes

Are you sure you now know the differencesbetween simple, compound, and complexsentences? Click QUICK QUIZ (will open innew window) to find out. This first quiz isjust six sentences. The key is to look forthe subjects and verbs first. After takingthe quiz, you will see your score, and youwill also have an opportunity to LISTEN TO THE AUDIO (four minutes) explaining why the sentences are simple, compound, or complex.

For extra practice, the Helen Keller Quiz (will open in new window) contains ten quiz questions, and The Americanization of Shadrach Cohen quiz (will open in new window) contains 29 questions. With the skill to identify and write good simple, compound, and complex sentences, you will have the flexibility to(1) convey your ideas precisely and (2) entertain with sentence variety at the same time! Good luck with these exercises!

Finally, if you have not already done so, download the Transitions and Connectors Worksheet to help identify simple, compound, and complex sentences.

Kinds of Sentences and Their Punctuation

      

A sentence may be one of four kinds, depending upon the number and type(s) of clauses it contains.

        Review:

        An independent clause  contains a subject, a verb, and a complete thought.

               

        A dependent clause contains a subject and a verb, but no complete thought.

               

           

1. A SIMPLE SENTENCE has one independent clause.

               

Punctuation note: NO commas separate two compound elements (subject, verb, direct object, indirect object, subjective complement, etc.) in a simple sentence.

                      

           

2. A COMPOUND SENTENCE has two independent clauses joined by

        A. a coordinating conjunction (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so),

        B. a conjunctive adverb (e.g. however, therefore), or

        C. a semicolon alone.

                

    Punctuation patterns (to match A, B, and C above):

        A. Independent clause, coordinating conjunctionindependent clause.

        B. Independent clause; conjunctive adverb,independent clause.

        C. Independent clause; independent clause.

            

            

3. A COMPLEX SENTENCE has one dependent clause (headed by a subordinating conjunction or a relative pronoun ) joined to an

independent clause.

            

    Punctuation patterns (to match A, B, C and D above):

        A.  Dependent clause,  independent clause

        B.  Independent clause  dependent clause

        C.  Independent,    nonessential dependent clause,     clause.

        D.  Independent    essential dependent clause     clause.

              

                            

4. A COMPOUND-COMPLEX SENTENCE has two independent clauses joinedto one or more dependent clauses.

       

Punctuation patterns:

 Follow the rules given above for compound and complex sentences.A compound-complex sentence is merely a combination of the two.

  

      

CONNECTORS --COMPOUND AND COMPLEX SENTENCES

Two independent clauses may be joined by

    1.  Coordinating conjunctions (FANBOYS) Ic, and ic

    2.  Conjunctive adverbs Ic; therefore,  ic.

      

A dependent (subordinate) clause may be introduced by

    1. Subordinating conjunctions (ADVERB CLAUSE)     Dc, ic.  or Ic dc.

    2. Relative pronouns (ADJECTIVE CLAUSE)  I, dc, c. orI dc c.

   3.  Relative pronoun, subordinating conjunctions, or adverbs (NOUN CLAUSE)

 

There are 4 types of sentences. Declarative       Interrogative   

Imperative        Exclamatory    

    Each kind of sentence ends

with its own specialpunctuation mark.

Let's look at each of thesesentences.

 

         

           Type of Sentence

                        Use

    Punctuation Mark

             Makes a          Period

Declarative statement        ( .)       

       Interrogative       Asks a question

  Question Mark         ( ? )         

        Imperative

    Gives a command or

     makes a request

       Period         ( .)         

       Exclamatory

       Expresses strong

           feeling

 Exclamation Mark         ( ! )

                                 Here are some

examples.              

    Declarative

      Sharon and Paul found

               a lost puppy.

       We get lots of snow              in the winter .

         Interrogative

      May I borrow your pencil                 sharpener ?

     What time do you get up in                the morning ?

     Imperative

           Pick up the book.

           Clean your room .

          Exclamatory

          It's a beautiful day!

        I won a million dollars!

For practice in using the correct punctuation mark, click on theflower.

Writing in English begins with the sentence. Sentences are then combined into larger structures such as essays, business reports,etc. There are four sentence types in English. The first sentencetype is the most common:

Declarative

A declarative sentence "declares" or states a fact, arrangement or opinion. Declarative sentences can be either positive or negative. A declarative sentences ends with a period (.).

Examples

I'll meet you at the train station.The sun rises in the East.He doesn't get up early.

Imperative

The imperative form instructs (or sometimes requests). The imperative takes no subject as 'you' is the implied subject. The imperative form ends with either a period (.) or an exclamation point (!).

Examples

Open the door.Finish your homeworkPick up that mess.

Interrogative

The interrogative asks a question. In the interrogative form the auxiliary verb precedes the subject which is then followed by themain verb (i.e., Are you coming ....?). The interrogative form ends with a question mark (?).

Examples

How long have you lived in France?When does the bus leave?Do you enjoy listening to classical music?

Exclamatory

The exclamatory form emphasizes a statement (either declarative or imperative) with an exclamation point (!).

Examples

Hurry up!That sounds fantastic!I can't believe you said that!

Sentence Types

All of these sentence types further fall into four basic sentencetype categories in English.

Simple Compound Complex Compound - Complex

Simple Sentences

Simple sentences contain no conjunction (i.e., and, but, or, etc.).

Examples

Frank ate his dinner quickly.Peter and Sue visited the museum last Saturday.Are you coming to the party?

Compound Sentences

Compound sentences contain two statements that are connected by aconjunction (i.e., and, but, or, etc.).

Examples

I wanted to come, but it was late.The company had an excellent year, so they gave everyone a bonus.I went shopping, and my wife went to her classes.

Complex Sentences

Complex sentences contain a dependent clause and at least one independent clause. The two clauses are connected by a subordinator (i.e, which, who, although, despite, if, since, etc.).

Examples

My daughter, who was late for class, arrived shortly after the bell rang.That's the man who bought our houseAlthough it was difficult, the class passed the test with excellent marks.

Compound - Complex Sentences

Compound - complex sentences contain at least one dependent clause and more than one independent clause. The clauses are connected by both conjunctions (i.e., but, so, and, etc.) and subordinators (i.e., who, because, although, etc.)

Examples

John, who briefly visited last month, won the prize, and he took a short vacation.Jack forgot his friend's birthday, so he sent him a card when he finally remembered. The report which Tom complied was presented to the board, but it was rejected becauseit was too complex.