A Writer's Alphabet of Concepts and Clues

Parts of Speech

Among the "little" things in writing are elements referred to as parts of speech: adjectives, articles, adverbs, conjunctions, interjections, nouns, prepositions, pronouns, and verbs.

I like the way Heather MacFadyen explains them: "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 sentence and a verb or adjective in the next." www.arts.uottawa.ca/writcent/hypergrammar/partsp.html]

My entries in my writer's alphabet of concepts and clues draw on other resources as well.

Perrin on nouns: "Proper nouns name people, places, and things: Julia Child, Stockholm, Corvette. They are always capitalized. Common nouns name people, places, or things, by general type: chef, city, sports car. They are not capitalized. Collective nouns name groups of people or things; although each group includes two or more members, it is usually considered one group: team, class, group, audience. Abstract nouns name ideas, qualities, and conditions: freedom, honesty, shyness. Concrete nouns name things or qualities perceptible by the senses: chair, salt, warmth, noise" (The Beacon Handbook, 2nd edition, 141-142)

O'Hare and Kline on pronouns: "A personal pronoun takes the place of a noun that names a person or thing: I, me, mine; you, your, yours; he, him, his; she, her, hers; it, its, we, us, our, ours; they, them, their, theirs. A demonstrative pronoun points to someone or something: this, that, these, those. An indefinite pronoun does not take the place of a particular noun. It carries the idea of "all," "some," "any," or "none"; everyone, everything, somebody, any, anyone, anything, no one, nobody. An interrogative pronoun is used to ask a question: who, whom, whose, what, which. A relative pronoun is used to form an adjective clause or a noun clause: who, whose, whom, which, that, whoever, whomever, whichever, whatever An intensive pronoun is used for emphasis. It is formed by adding -self or -selves to the end of a personal pronoun. A reflexive pronoun, which has the same form as an intensive pronoun, is used to show that the subject is acting upon itself." (The Modern Writer's Handbook, 3rd edition, 633).


Zinsser on verbs: "Verbs are the most important of all your tools. They push the sentence forward and give it momentum. Active verbs push hard; passive verbs tug fitfully. Active verbs allow us to visualize an activity because they require a pronoun ('he'), or a noun ('ththe boy'), or a person ('Mrs. Scott') to put them in motion. Many verbs also carry in
their imagery or in their sound a suggestion of what they mean: glitter, dazzle, twirl, beguile, scatter, swagger, poke, pamper, vex. Probably no other language has such a vast supply of verbs so bright with color. Don't choose one that is dull or merely serviceable. Make active verbs activate your sentences, and try to avoid the kind that need an appended preposition to complete their work. Don't set up a business that you can start or launch. Don't say that the president of the company stepped down. Did he resign? Did he retire? Did he get fired? Be precise. Use precise verbs." (On Writing Well, 6th edition, 69)