Category: Language Notes

A noun is a type of word in a language. A word that is a noun is always a thing or a person (or things or persons). When we use the word “thing” here, we mean things like chairs, lamps, and rocks, but we also mean “things” like animals, places, feelings, conditions, and actions.  An action can certainly be a thing. If someone says “I like rollerblading,” the action of rollerblading is a thing; it’s a thing that this person likes. The following are some more examples of words that are nouns:  sweetness, flying, anger, seashell, Central Park, kangaroo, perfume, pride, doctor, boredom, Mom, Uncle Ted, cheese, internet, backpacking, thought, heat, patience, navigation.

It’s important to know what type of thing in the world that a noun can represent, but it is equally important to know what a noun can do in a sentence. One way a noun can function is as the subject of a sentence or a clause:

seashell: The seashell floated away. [seashell = SUBJECT]

Central Park: Central Park offers some nice trails. [Central Park = SUBJECT]

flying: Flying is more convenient than taking the bus. [Flying = SUBJECT]

patience: Patience is something we could all use more of. [Patience = SUBJECT]

A noun can also function as a direct object in a sentence or clause:

seashell: I found a beautiful seashell on the beach. [seashell = DIRECT OBJECT]

Central Park: I love Central Park. [Central Park = DIRECT OBJECT]

flying: She teaches flying. [flying = DIRECT OBJECT]

A noun can also function as an indirect object:

seashell: I gave my seashell some polish. [seashell = INDIRECT OBJECT]

Central Park: We give Central Park high marks for beauty. [Central Park = INDIRECT OBJECT]

Uncle Ted: The army awarded Uncle Ted a medal. [Uncle Ted = INDIRECT OBJECT]

There are thousands of words that a dictionary designates as nouns in English, but other chunks of language can function in noun-like ways in a sentence. That is, they can function as subjects or objects. For example, pronouns (e.g., “I,” “they,” “him,” “us,” “something”) function as subjects and objects in a sentence, and verbs in the gerund form (e.g., “helping,” “running,” “laughing”) can function in these noun-like ways as well.  Verbs in the infinitive form with “to” can sometimes function like nouns also, but not in as many ways as gerunds.

They live downtown. [Pronoun “they” as SUBJECT]

She brought them more paper. [Pronoun “she” as SUBJECT. Pronoun “them” as INDIRECT OBJECT]

I saw him at the library. [Pronoun “I” as SUBJECT. Pronoun “him” as DIRECT OBJECT]

Getting to the airport on time could be difficult. [Gerund phrase “Getting to the airport on time” as SUBJECT]

I enjoyed seeing the play the other night. [Gerund phrase “seeing the play” as DIRECT OBJECT]

To get a good education is something worth striving for. [Infinitive phrase “To get a good education” as SUBJECT]

I need to get a car. [Infinitive phrase “to get a car” as DIRECT OBJECT]

When a verb is called “intransitive,” it means that no stated object follows it. It would be an error in English to say “I’m waiting you” because the verb “wait” is an intransitive verb.  The term “intransitive” contrasts with the term “transitive.”  When used in a sentence, a transitive verb is always followed by some noun, pronoun, or noun phrase that is its object. Many verbs can be used both transitively (with an object) or intransitively (without an object).  The verb “walk,” for example, is often used intransitively, as in “She’s walking,” but it can also be used transitively, as in “She’s walking the dog.”  Click here for further discussion of transitive versus intransitive verbs.

Intransitive verbs do not figure in as many different types of constructions as transitive verbs,* but some intransitive verbs can be followed by infinitives, as in “Would you care to sit down?”  Intransitive verbs are sometimes followed by nothing at all, as in the sentences “He’s sleeping,” “I hesitated,” “She waited,” and “They apologized.”  But very often they are followed by other things, such as adverbs, adverbials (i.e., phrases or clauses that function like adverbs), or by prepositional phrases as in the following examples.

He’s sleeping soundly. [soundly = adverb]

I hesitated when I saw her looking so upset. [when I saw her looking so upset = adverbial clause]

She waited for you = [for you = prepositional phrase]

They apologized for making a disturbance. [for making a disturbance = prepositional phrase]

*To view the most common patterns that transitive and intransitive verbs follow in English, see the Grammatical Patterns feature in our Advanced Dictionary. It can be found under Search Tools in the blue toolbar.

A conjunction is a type of word that connects individual words or parts of sentences.  Some common conjunctions are “so,” “and,” “or,” “but,” “because,” “when,” and “that.”  The word “and” is an obvious connector because the meaning indicates that one thing is added (or connected) to another thing:  “cars and trucks,” “I went to the store and bought some milk.”  Although most conjunctions have a meaning that we can easily describe—“because” introduces a reason, “so” introduces a result, “but” introduces a contrasting idea— the type of connection that conjunctions make is fundamentally grammatical, tying together things like nouns with nouns, verbs with verbs, clauses with clauses.

Verbs like “do” and “have” are some of the verbs in English that can function as auxiliary verbs. If we say “Do you like shrimp?” or “I don’t like shrimp,” we are using “do” as an auxiliary verb.  In these sentences, the main verb is “like.”  It carries the major part of the meaning we are expressing.  The function of “do” in these sentences is grammatical.  It allows us to form a question or a negative (in combination with the word “not”). It also passes on to the listener the information that we are talking about the present time and not the past.  An auxiliary verb, therefore, is a verb that combines with a main verb and conveys additional, mainly grammatical, information.  The three regular auxiliaries that are used in English are “do,” “have,” and “be.”  In the following sentences, you can see these verbs operating as auxiliaries.

I was taking a shower when they arrived.   [BE]

He had been to that restaurant once before.   [HAVE]

They did not report the accident to the police.   [DO]

Some auxiliary verbs in English color the meaning of the main verb in certain ways. These auxiliaries are called “modal auxiliary verbs” or “modal auxiliaries” and they add to the meaning of the main verb ideas such as ability (e.g., “I can fix that”), potential (e.g., “You could be a star someday”), future time (e.g., “Winter will be here soon”), requirement (e.g., “Everyone must sign in”), and advisability (“They should do more exercise”).  For more information on these types of auxiliaries see MODAL AUXILIARY.

An adverb is a type of word that adds information to the meaning of verbs, adjectives, adverbs, phrases, or to whole statements. For example, if someone says “I ate quickly,” the adverb “quickly” gives the listener more specific information about the eating–it was quick. This is an example of an adverb modifying a verb. When adverbs modify verbs, they give information about how something is done, how often it is done, where it is done, or when it is done. Words like “tonight,” “never,” “often,” “here,” “there,” “fast,” “accidentally,” “easily,” and “cleverly” are some of the many adverbs in English that are used to give more information about things people do and things that happen.

Below are a few more examples of how adverbs modify verbs. The adverbs in these examples are in italics. Notice how adverbs sometimes precede and sometimes follow verbs.

went downtown / swims beautifully / thinks clearly 

always forgets / usually happens / seriously believed

climbed up /walked far / sat straight / left early 

whistled twice / blew hard / hurts terribly

Another important function of adverbs is to modify adjectives; that is, adverbs can expand on or intensify the meaning expressed by adjectives. For example, instead of saying just “This chili is spicy” (with just the adjective “spicy”), one can add an adverb to intensify or otherwise refine that meaning. For example, one can say something like “This chili is very spicy,” “This chili is mildly spicy,” “This chili is unusually spicy,” or “This chili is amazingly spicy.”

Adverbs can also be used to modify other adverbs, so, for example, we can say just “She sang badly,” or we could say something like “She sang really badly” or “She sang extremely badly.”

Many adverbs end in “-ly,” like “mildly,” “quickly,” “really,” and “accidentally,” and most adjectives can be made into adverbs by the addition of “-ly” (e.g., “nice” > “nicely”; “sloppy” > “sloppily”; “neat” > “neatly”).  However, many common adverbs, particularly those that are related to the idea of when, where, or how often something is done, do not end in “-ly.”  For example, the adverbs “yesterday,” tomorrow,” “often,” “always,” “never,” “sometimes,” “here,” “there,” “once,” and “twice” do not end in “-ly.”

Adverbs have greater freedom than any other part of speech to occupy different positions in a sentence. We can say:

The car drove down the street slowly.

or

The car drove slowly down the street.

or

The car slowly drove down the street.

or

Slowly, the car drove down the street.

Of course, there are some differences in emphasis and in formality of tone when the position of the adverb is moved, but it can be seen from these sentences that adverbs have a fair amount of grammatical freedom.

Besides giving information about verbs, adverbs, adjectives, and other parts of speech, adverbs give information about phrases or entire statements.  For example, if we say “Fortunately, we had just enough time to make the bus,” the adverb “fortunately” gives information concerning the whole statement about having enough time to make the bus.  It tells the listener that it was lucky that that happened.  These types of adverbs actually describe the attitude or point of view of the speaker concerning his or her statement.

Often, adverbs make a comment on what was just said and describe how it links to what is just about to be said. The adverb “however” is an example.  When someone uses “however,” it means that what they are about to say contrasts or is in contradiction with what they just said a moment before (e.g., “The house is old and needs a few repairs; however, it’s in generally good condition and will probably sell at a good price.”) The adverb “therefore” is another of this type of adverb.  It is used to introduce a statement that tells the result or consequence of what was stated just before (e.g., “We do not know all the facts yet; therefore, we should postpone making any judgments.”)  These types of adverbs are often called “conjunctive adverbs” or “sentence adverbs.”

An adjective is a type of word in a language that is used to describe things or people. Words like “hot,” “sweet,” “boring,” and “beautiful” are adjectives.

Usually, in English, adjectives come before the thing they describe—a hot day, a sweet pickle—but sometimes they come later in the sentence, as in “I thought today’s class was really interesting.” (The adjective “interesting” describes the class.) In certain cases, an adjective can even come right after the word it describes. For example, we don’t say “I want a good something to eat.” Instead, we say “I want something good to eat.”

Adjectives are usually one-word units, but sometimes they have two or more words separated by a hyphen as in four-wheel-drive vehicle and cancer-related research.

Most adjectives have what are called comparative and superlative forms; that is, there is a basic form like “cold” and a form like “colder” that we use when we compare how cold things are. This form with “-er” is called the “comparative” form. Then there is another form like “coldest” that describes something that is colder than any of the other things we are talking about. The form with “-est” is called the “superlative” form. Some adjectives do not have these special forms with “–er” and “-est,” however, and we use the words “more” and “most” with them instead; for example, we say “more interesting,” “more level-headed,” “most delicate,” “most hilarious.”* If a word has a form with “–er” or “–est,” or if it makes sense to use “more” or “most” with it, then we can be sure that it is an adjective. Still, some words that are adjectives do not have comparative or superlative forms at all, so the main criterion for classifying them as adjectives is that they modify nouns; that is, they describe words that represent things or people.

*There isn’t a perfect rule about which adjectives must use “more” or “most” rather than “–er” or “–est” forms, but there are some general tendencies. The shorter the word is, the more likely there will be a special form with “–er” and “–est.” Most one-syllable adjectives act this way and many two-syllable adjectives do too, especially if they end in “–y” (e.g., “sleepy,” “sleepier,” “sleepiest”). If the word has three or more syllables, we always use “more” and “most.” If the adjective ends in a suffix, such as “–ful,” ”-ing,” “-ed,” or “-less,” we use “more” and “most,” even if it’s a two-syllable word. Adjectives made up of hyphenated words always use “more” and “most.”