Transcript Business English, 9e

Chapter 2
Parts of
Speech
10th Edition, © 2011, Cengage Learning
The Eight Parts of Speech
Nouns
 Pronouns
 Verbs
 Adjectives

Adverbs
 Prepositions
 Conjunctions
 Interjections

Chapter 2, Guffey-Seefer, Business English, 10e, Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning, All Rights Reserved
2-2
 Nouns name persons, places, things, qualities,
feelings, concepts, activities, and measures.








Persons: Ryan, Angelica, employees
Places: San Francisco, Hawaii, Europe
Things: pizza, popcorn, surfboard
Qualities: reliability, flexibility, patience
Feelings: happiness, anger, confusion
Concepts: communication, productivity,
freedom
Activities: working, snowboarding, dancing
Measures: day, week, inch, kilometer
Chapter 2, Guffey-Seefer, Business English, 10e, Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning, All Rights Reserved
2-3
• To test for a noun, use the word in
question with the verb is or are.
• Try these nouns with is or are.
 Laurie is . . . .
 Managers are . . . .
 Initiative is . . . .
Chapter 2, Guffey-Seefer, Business English, 10e, Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning, All Rights Reserved
2-4
 Pronouns replace nouns. Use them for
efficiency and variety.

Without pronouns, sentences sound
like this:
◦ Matt said that Matt must find Matt’s keys
before Matt can leave for work.

How would that sentence sound
with pronouns?
◦ Matt said that he must find his keys before
he can leave for work.
Chapter 2, Guffey-Seefer, Business English, 10e, Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning, All Rights Reserved
2-5
 Verbs express an action, an occurrence, or a
state of being.
Kim drove her car to work. (Action)
 Kim has a bicycle too. (Occurrence)
 Her bicycle is white. (State of being)
 Three kinds of verbs:

◦ Action verbs
◦ Linking verbs
◦ Helping verbs
Chapter 2, Guffey-Seefer, Business English, 10e, Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning, All Rights Reserved
2-6

Action Verb: tells what the subject does;
includes physical and mental action
◦ Examples: dances, decides, works, praises

Linking Verb: joins words that describe
the subject
◦ Examples: is, are, was, were, am, appears,
seems, feels, smells, tastes, looks

Helping Verb: used to create verb
phrases
◦ Examples: is, are, was, were, am, could,
would, should, do, does
Chapter 2, Guffey-Seefer, Business English, 10e, Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning, All Rights Reserved
2-7
• To test for a verb, try the word in
question with a noun.
• Try several action and linking verbs
with this expression:
 The manager(s) _______________.
• Make sense?
 The manager dances, the manager
decides, and so forth.
Chapter 2, Guffey-Seefer, Business English, 10e, Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning, All Rights Reserved
2-8
 Adjectives describe nouns or pronouns.
They answer the questions What kind? How
many? and Which one?
A good student submitted excellent work. (What
kind?)
 Our manager bought two computers and one
printer. (How many?)
 This printer is expensive. (Which one?)

The words a, an, and the form a special
group of adjectives called articles.
Chapter 2, Guffey-Seefer, Business English, 10e, Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning, All Rights Reserved
2-9
 Adverbs describe or limit verbs, adjectives,
and other adverbs. They answer such
questions as When? How? Where? and To what
extent?
Yesterday the printer jammed repeatedly.
(When and how?)
 The restaurant is over there. (Where?)
 We were served very quickly. (How and to
what extent?)

Chapter 2, Guffey-Seefer, Business English, 10e, Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning, All Rights Reserved
2-10
 Prepositions join nouns and pronouns to
other words in sentences. For example,
The truck was driven by Kim.
for Kim.
to Kim.
with Kim.
around Kim.
over Kim.
Notice how prepositions change the
relationship between Kim and the verb.
Chapter 2, Guffey-Seefer, Business English, 10e, Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning, All Rights Reserved
2-11
 Conjunctions connect words or groups of
words. The coordinating conjunctions are:
•
•
•
•
and
or
nor
but
• so (used casually)
• yet (used occasionally)
• for
Pizza and burritos are Kim’s favorites, but she
also enjoys gyros.
Chapter 2, Guffey-Seefer, Business English, 10e, Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning, All Rights Reserved
2-12
 Interjections show surprise, disbelief, or
strong feeling.
Oops, I can’t believe I forgot
the attachment again!
Wow! Did you feel that tremor?
Chapter 2, Guffey-Seefer, Business English, 10e, Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning, All Rights Reserved
2-13
TIP
The same word can function as different
parts of speech depending on how it is
used in a sentence. Consider the word
service.
• We received good service here. (Noun)
• He operates a service station. (Adjective)
• Did you service your car? (Verb)
Chapter 2, Guffey-Seefer, Business English, 10e, Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning, All Rights Reserved
2-14
Quick Summary of
Parts of Speech
Namers: Nouns and Pronouns
 Performers: Verbs
 Describers: Adjectives and
Adverbs
 Connectors: Prepositions and
Conjunctions
 Exclaimers: Interjections

Chapter 2, Guffey-Seefer, Business English, 10e, Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning, All Rights Reserved
2-15
Nouns
Pronouns
Name things
Namers
Rename things
Show action or link
Performers Verbs
words
Describe nouns and
Adjectives
pronouns
Describers
Describe verbs,
Adverbs
adjectives, adverbs
Join nouns, pronouns to
Prepositions
sentence
Connectors
Conjunctions Connect words
Exclaimers Interjections Show strong feeling
Chapter 2, Guffey-Seefer, Business English, 10e, Copyright 2011 Cengage Learning, All Rights Reserved
2-16