英语八大词性（Parts of Speech [pɑrts əv spiːtʃ]）

英语的八大词性是构成句子的基本单位。理解词性不仅能帮助你正确造句、理解语法，还能提升你的阅读、写作和口语表达能力。每种词性都有其独特作用，掌握它们是学好英语的第一步。

GRAMMAR

Every name is called a NOUN, As field and fountain, street and town

In place of noun the PRONOUN stands As he and she can clap their hands

The ADJECTIVE describes a thing, As magic wand and bridal ring

The VERB means action, something done - To read, to write, to jump, to run

How things are done, the ADVERBS tell, As quickly, slowly, badly, well

The PREPOSITION shows relation, As in the street, or at the station

CONJUNCTIONS join, in many ways. Sentences, words, or phrase and phrase

The INTERJECTION cries out, 'Hark!

I need an exclamation mark!'

Through Poetry, we learn how each

of these make up THE PARTS OF SPEECH

NOUNS

Nouns are naming words. It names person, places, things, titles, events and animals

A. PROPER AND COMMON NOUNS

Proper noun has two distinctive features:

1. It will name a specific item
2. It will begin with a capital letter no matter where it occurs in the sentence

Common nouns are general type of noun and written in a small letter.

Proper Nouns

The following table below are classifications of proper nouns with its common nouns

General names-Common nouns	Specific names Proper Nouns
personal abbreviations of positions	Dr, Engr, Prof, Atty, Lt
complete names	Miriam-Defensor Santiago, Albert Einstein, Jose P, Laurel
animal breed	German shepherd, Siamese cats, Thoroughbred horse, Phili
countries and continents	Italy, Japan, Pakistan, Asia, Europe
cities	New York, Quezon City, Dumagete City
Days	Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday
months	January, March, June
Events	Christmas, Valentine’s day
Religions	Catholic, Protestan, Bom Again
languages and nationalities	Italian, Latin. Spanish
newspaper and magazine	Philippine Daily Inquirer, Bato Balani, Time
books and movies	The Cask of Amontillado. Harry Potter, Frozen, Tuesdays with Morrie
organizations	Reading Association of the Philippines, Social Security System
scientific terms	Pandaca Pgymea, Biology, Venus

B. ABSTRACT AND CONCRETE NOUNS

Abstract nouns are not perceived by the senses. They name ideas, feelings, concepts ideals, emotions/feelings, states/ attributes movements and events.

Emotions/Feelings	States/Attributes	Ideas/Concepts/Ideals	Movements/Events
love	bravery	beliefs	progress
hate	loyalty	dreams	education
anger	honesty	justice	hospitality
peace	integrity	truth	leisure
pride	compassion	culture	trouble
sympathy	charity	trust	friendships
	success	dedication	relaxation

Concrete nouns are people, places, or things that can be experienced with the use of the five senses.

Abstract forms of nouns are very common and are an important part of communication. In many cases, these types of nouns are derived by adding a suffix or by altering the root word. For example, "child" is a concrete noun, but "childhood" is an intangible state, so it is abstract.

C. COLLECTIVE NOUNS

nouns in group

A

armada of ships

army of caterpillars, frogs, soldiers

B

bank of circuits

battery of tests

bed of clams, snakes

belt of asteroids

bouquet of flowers

brood of hens

C

caravan of camels

chain of islands

clan of hyenas

class of students

cloud of gnats

clutter of cats

clutch of chicks, eggs

company of actors

colony of ants, bats, beavers, lepers, penguins

congregation of plovers, worshippers

corps of giraffes

coven of witches

crowd of onlookers

culture of bacteria

D

deck of cards

den of snakes, thieves

division of soldiers

drove of cattle

F

fleet of airplanes, ships

flock of birds, sheep

flotilla of ships

forest of trees

G

gaggle of geese

galaxy of stars

H

herd of antelope, buffalo, cattle, deer, zebra

hive of bees

host of sparrows

K

knot of toads

L

leap of leopards

library of books

litter of puppies, kittens

lodge of beavers

M

mob of kangaroos

murder of crows

N

nest of mice, snakes

O

orchard of trees

P

pack of dogs, hounds, wolves

panel of experts

parliament of owls

pit of snakes

platoon of soldiers

pod of whales

pride of lions, peacocks

Q

quiver of arrows

R

range of mountains

S

school of fish

shrewdness of apes

slate of candidates

sloth of bears

sounder of boars, pigs

squad of players, soldiers

stand of flamingoes, trees

swarm of ants, bees, fkies

T

team of horses, oxen, players

thicket of trees

tribe of monkeys, natives

trip of goats

troop of apes, kangaroos

troupe of actors,performers

U

unit of soldiers

W

wad of bills, money

wealth of information

Y

yoke of oxen

List of Collective Nouns by Noun

A

actors - company, troupe

airplanes - fleet

ants - colony, swarm

antelopes - herd

apes - troop, shrewdness

arrows - quiver

asteroids - belt

B

bacteria - culture

bats - colony

bears - sloth

beauties - bevy

beavers - colony, lodge

bees - hive, swarm

bills - wad

birds - dissimulation, flock, volery

boars - sounder

books - library

C

camels - caravan

candidates - slate

cards-deck

caterpillars - army

cattle - drove, herd, kine

chicks - clutch

circuits - bank

crows - murder

D

dogs - pack

E

eggs - clutch

experts - panel

F

fish - school

flamingoes - stand

flowers - bouquet

geese - gaggle

giraffes - corps

gnats - cloud

goats - trip

H

hens - brood

hounds - cry, pack

hyenas - clan

I

information - wealth

islands - chain

K

kangaroos - mob. troop

kittens - litter

L

lawyers - murder

leopards - leap

lepers - colony

lions - pride

M

monkeys - tribe, troop

mountains - range

O

owls - parliament

oxen - team, yoke

P

puppies - litter

S

ships - armada, fleet, flotilla

snakes - bed, den, nest, pit

soldiers - army, brigade, company, division, platoon, squad, unit

sparrows - host, flight

students - class

T

tests - battery

toads - knot

trees - forest, grove, orchard, stand, thicket

tracks - convoy

turkeys - rafter

V

vipers - nest

W

whales - pods

witches - coven

wolves - pack

D. SINGULAR AND PLURAL NOUNS

Most nouns name something you can count; for example, if you buy a bag of peanuts, you can count each peanut in the bag—one peanut, two peanuts, three peanuts, and so on. We call nouns like peanut count nouns, and usually we add an -s ending to show more than one.

Singular count nouns refer to one person or thing, while plural count nouns refer to more than one person or thing. We have several ways of making count nouns plural.

Plurals of nouns

Most nouns form their plurals by simply adding -s to the end (e.g., cat/cats, book/books, journey/journeys). However, some nouns change their endings in other ways. The main types of nouns that do this are:

Nouns ending in -y

If the noun ends with a consonant plus -y,

make the plural by changing -y to -ies.

Singular	Plural
berry	berries
activity	activities
daisy	daisies

Nouns ending in -ch, -s, -sh, -x, or -z

If the noun ends with -ch, -s, -sh, -x, or -z,

add -es to form the plural.

Singular	Plural
church	churches
bus	buses
dish	dishes
fox	foxes
quiz	quizzes

If the noun ends with -ch and is pronounced with a 'k' sound, add -s to form the plural.

Singular	Plural
stomach	stomachs
epoch	epochs

Nouns ending in -f or -fe

1.Nouns ending a single vowel plus -f or -fe

With nouns that end in a consonant or a single vowel plus -f or -fe, change the -f or -fe to -ves to form the plural.

Singular	Plural
knife	knives
half	halves
scarf	scarves

2. Nouns ending in two vowels plus -f or -fe

Nouns which end in two vowels plus -f or -fe usually form plurals in the normal way, by simply adding -s.

Singular	Plural
chief	chiefs
spoof	spoofs
safe	safes
giraffe	giraffes

Nouns ending in -o

Nouns ending in -o can form plurals by adding either -s or -es, and some can be spelled either way.

1. As a general rule, most nouns ending in - o add -s to make the plural.

Singular	Plural
solo	solos
zero	zeros
avocado	avocados

2. Nouns with a vowel before the final -o always just add -s

Singular	Plural
studio	studios
zoo	zoos
embryo	embryos

3. Common nouns ending in -o that always add -es in the plural

Singular	Plural
buffalo	buffaloes
domino	dominoes
echo	echoes
hero	heroes
mosquito	mosquitoes
potato	potatoes
tomato	tomatoes
torpedo	torpedoes
veto	vetoes

4. Common nouns ending in -o that can be spelled with either -s or -es in the plural

Singular	Plural(s)
banjo	banjos / banjoes
cargo	cargos / cargoes
flamingo	flamingos / flamingoes
fresco	frescos / frescoes
ghetto	ghettos / ghettoes
halo	halos / haloes
mango	mangos / mangoes
memento	mementos / mementoes
motto	mottos / mottoes
tornado	tornados / tornadoes
tuxedo	tuxedos / tuxedoes
volcano	volcanos / volcanoes

​

Plurals of foreign nouns

he plurals of words which have come into English from a foreign language such as Latin or Greek often have two possible spellings: the foreign plural spelling and an English one. For example, you can spell the plural of aquarium (from Latin) as either aquaria (the Latin plural) or aquariums (the English plural).

Words of Latin origin

Here’s a list of some words that came into English from Latin which can form their plurals in two ways:

Word	Latin plural	English plural
Antenna	antennae	antennas
Appendix	appendices	appendixes
Cactus	cacti	cactuses
Curriculum	curricula	curriculums
Formula	formulae	formulas
Index	indices	indexes
Millennium	millennia	millenniums
referendum	referenda	referendums
stadium	stadia	stadiums
terminus	termini	terminuses
thesaurus	thesauri	thesauruses
vortex	vortices	vortexes

Note: There are a few nouns which have come into English from Latin which should always form their plural in the Latin way. Most of these are scientific or technical terms. The most common ones are:

Singular	Plural
alga	algae
alumnus	alumni
larva	larvae

Remember too, that the plural form of octopus should always be octopuses and never octopi. This is because the word came into English from Greek, not Latin, and so the usual rules for Latin plurals don't apply.

Words of Greek origin

Nouns which end in -is usually come from Greek. Their plurals are made by changing the -is to -es*

Singular	Plural
crisis	crises
analysis	analyses
neurosis	neuroses

Words of French origin

Certain words which have come into English from French have two possible plural forms: the original French plural and an English one. These words end in the letters -eau, for example:

Word	French plural	English plural
bureau	bureaux	bureaus
chateau	chateaux	chateaus
gateau	gateaux	gateaus
trousseau	trousseaux	trousseaus

Words of Italian origin

Most words which have come into English from Italian form their plurals with an -s, as if they were English words. For example, the Italian plural of cappuccino is cappuccini, but when the word is used in English, its plural form is cappuccinos. Here are some more examples:

Word	Italian plural	English plural
espresso	espressi	espressos
pizza	pizze	pizzas
risotto	risotti	risottos
fresco	freschi	frescos/frescoes

A notable exception to this is the word paparazzo, which keeps the Italian plural form paparazzi in English.

There's also a group of Italian words which have entered English in their plural forms - these are typically the names for various kinds of pasta. For example:

• spaghetti

• tagliatelle

• tortellini

• cannelloni

• lasagne (British: lasagne, American: lasagna)

Although these words are already in their Italian plural forms, they can take an -s to form English plurals in certain contexts. For example:

• They ordered three spaghettis and two cannellonis.

Here, the meaning is ‘a dish or serving of spaghetti’ rather than ‘a kind of pasta’.

Note: that in British English, you should spell lasagne with an -e at the end. In American English it's spelled with an -a at the end, ***i.e.*lasagna (which is the Italian singular form, though this is rarely if ever used in Italian itself).

Loanwords

Words that have come into English from foreign languages are known as loanwords. Some of these loanwords have developed plural (or singular) forms in English that are regarded as grammatically incorrect because they go against the grammar of the original language.

E. COMPOUND NOUNS

A compound noun is a noun that is made with two or more words. A compound noun is usually [noun + noun] or [adjective + noun], but there are other combinations (see below). It is important to understand and recognize compound nouns. Each compound noun acts as a single unit and can be modified by adjectives and other nouns.

There are three forms for compound nouns:

1. open or spaced - space between words (tennis shoe)
2. hyphenated - hyphen between words (six-pack)
3. closed or solid - no space or hyphen between words (bedroom)

Here are some examples of compound nouns:

Combination Type	Example	Sentence
noun + noun	bus stop	Is this the bus stop for the number 12 bus?
noun + noun	fire-fly	In the tropics you can see fire-flies at night.
noun + noun	football	Shall we play football today?
adjective + noun	full moon	I always feel crazy at full moon.
adjective + noun	blackboard	Clean the blackboard please.
adjective + noun	software	I can't install this software on my PC.
verb(-ing) + noun	breakfast	We always eat breakfast at 8am.
verb(-ing) + noun	washing machine	Put the clothes in the red washing machine.
verb(-ing) + noun	swimming pool	What a beautiful swimming pool!
noun + verb(-ing)	sunrise	I like to get up at sunrise.
noun + verb(-ing)	haircut	You need a haircut.
noun + verb(-ing)	train-spotting	His hobby is train-spotting.
verb + preposition	check-out	Please remember that check-out is at 12 noon.
noun + prepositional phrase	mother-in-law	My mother-in-law lives with us.
preposition + noun	underworld	Do you think the police accept money from the underworld?
noun + adjective	truckful	We need 10 truckfuls of bricks.

British/American differences

Different varieties of English, and even different writers, may use the open, hyphenated or closed form for the same compound noun. It is partly a matter of style. There are no definite rules. For example we can find:

• container ship

• container-ship

• containership

If you are not sure which form to use, please check in a good dictionary.

Plural forms of compound nouns

In general we make the plural of a compound noun by adding -s to the "base word" (the most "significant" word). Look at these examples:

Singular	Plural
a tennis shoe	three tennis shoes
one assistant headmaster	five assistant headmasters
the sergeant major	some sergeants major
a mother-in-law	two mothers-in-law
an assistant secretary of state	three assistant secretaries of state
my toothbrush	our toothbrushes
a woman-doctor	four women-doctors
a doctor of philosophy	two doctors of philosophy
a passerby, a passer-by	two passersby, two passers-by

Note: that there is some variation with words like spoonful or truckful. The old style was to say spoonsful or trucksful for the plural. Today it is more usual to say spoonfuls or truckfuls. Both the old style (spoonsful) and the new style (spoonfuls) are normally acceptable, but you should be consistent in your choice. Here are some examples:

	old style plural (very formal)	new style plural
teaspoonful	3 teaspoonsful of sugar	3 teasponfuls of sugar
truckful	5 trucksful of sand	5 truckfuls of sand
bucketful	2 bucketsful of water	2 bucketfuls of water
cupful	4 cupsful of rice	4 cupfuls of rice

Some compound nouns have no obvious base word and you may need to consult a dictionary to find the plural:

• higher-ups

• also-rans

• go-betweens

• has-beens

• good-for-nothings

• grown-ups

Note: that with compound nouns made of [noun + noun] the first noun is like an adjective and therefore does not usually take an -s. A tree that has apples has many apples, but we say an apple tree, not apples tree; matchbox not matchesbox; toothbrush not teethbrush.

With compound nouns made of [noun + noun] the second noun takes an -s for plural. The first noun acts like an adjective and as you know, adjectives in English are invariable. Look at these examples:

long plural form becomes >	plural compound noun [noun + noun]
100 trees with apples	100 apple trees
1,000 cables for telephones	1,000 telephone cables
20 boxes for tools	20 tool boxes
10 stops for buses	10 bus stops
4,000 wheels for cars	4,000 car wheels

F. COUNT NOUNS AND MASS NOUNS

Count nouns are words which can be counted. They have singular form and plural form. They usually refer to things Most countable nouns become plural by adding an “s” at the end of the word.

Ex: chair-chairs bottle-bottles student-students

It can be pluralized when appropriate. We can use expressions such as

a. many bottles

b. few bottles

c. a few bottles

• These nouns, both singular and plural, can be preceded by the appropriate definite and indefinite articles— the with both singular and plural, a or an with singular count-nouns.

• Singular count nouns can be preceded by this and that and by every, each, either, and neither.

• Plural count nouns can be preceded by these and those and by *some, any,*enough, and the zero article. The phrase number o f is accompanied by count nouns.

• Count nouns cannot be preceded by much. The phrase amount of is also a sure sign that you are not dealing with a count noun.

Mass or Non-Count nouns are words which cannot be counted . Therefore, they only have singular form . They do not have plural forms. These words are thought of as wholes rather than parts. They usually refer to abstractions or collectives.

Examples:
wood	water	reading	Chinese
cloth	milk	boating	Spanish
ice	wine	smoking	English
plastic	beer	dancing	luggage
wool	cake	soccer	equipment
steel	sugar	hockey	furniture
aluminum	rice	weather	experience
metal	meat	heat	applause
glass	cheese	sunshine	photography
leather	flour	electricity	traffic
porcelain hair		biology history	harm publicity
dust		mathematics	homework
air		economics
oxygen		poetry

• Generally, these nouns cannot be pluralized. The non-count nouns of the second column (foodstuff) are pluralized when we use the word to express a "type":

  a. There are new wines being introduced every day.

  b. The waters of the Atlantic are much warmer this time of year.

  c. The Dutch are famous for their cheeses.

  d. The spring rains came early.

• We can use expressions such as

a. much harm

b. little harm

c. a little harm