Sentence Map: Parts of Speech

Sentence Map: Parts of Speech

Parts of Speech

image Verbs show action, occurrence, or being.

Anita is running for mayor, and maybe she will win. Hey, who knows? This could finally be her big chance. She is honest—unlike the former mayor, who was caught in a financial scandal that made the newspapers shortly before he resigned.

Verbs and verb phrases: is running—present progressive form; will win—future tense; knows—present tense; could be—present tense (could is a modal); is—present tense; was caught—past tense of irregular verb catch (passive voice); made—past tense; resigned—past tense.

image Nouns name persons, places, things, or concepts.

Anita is running for mayor, and maybe she will win. Hey, who knows? This could finally be her big chance. She is honest—unlike the former mayor, who was caught in a financial scandal that made the newspapers shortly before he resigned.

Proper noun: Anita—subject. Common nouns: mayor (first use)—object of preposition for; chance—subject complement; mayor (second use)—object of preposition unlike; scandal—object of preposition in; newspapers—direct object of verb.

image Pronouns substitute for nouns.

Anita is running for mayor, and maybe she will win. Hey, who knows? This could finally be her big chance. She is honest—unlike the former mayor, who was caught in a financial scandal that made the newspapers shortly before he resigned.

Personal pronouns: she (two uses) and he—subject. Interrogative pronoun: who (first use). Demonstrative pronoun: this (refers to the fact that Anita is running for mayor). Possessive pronoun: her. Relative pronouns: who (second use—refers to the former mayor) and that (refers to a financial scandal).

image Adjectives modify nouns or pronouns.

Anita is running for mayor, and maybe she will win. Hey, who knows? This could finally be her big chance. She is honest—unlike the former mayor, who was caught in a financial scandal that made the newspapers shortly before he resigned.

Articles: the; a. Subject complement: honest. Other adjectives: big—modifies chance; former—modifies mayor; financial—modifies scandals.

image Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, other adverbs, or entire clauses.

Anita is running for mayor, and maybe she will win. Hey, who knows? This could finally be her big chance. She is honest—unlike the former mayor, who was caught in a financial scandal that made the newspapers shortly before he resigned.

Maybe—modifies the clause he will win; finally—modifies the verb phrase could be; shortly—modifies the clause before he resigned.

image Prepositions express relationships between nouns or pronouns and other words.

Anita is running for mayor, and maybe she will win. Hey, who knows? This could finally be her big chance. She is honest—unlike the former mayor, who was caught in a financial scandal that made the newspapers shortly before he resigned.

For—object is the noun mayor; unlike—object is the noun phrase the former mayor; in—object is the noun phrase a financial scandal.

image Conjunctions join words or groups of words.

Anita is running for mayor, and maybe she will win. Hey, who knows? This could finally be her big chance. She is honest—unlike the former mayor, who was caught in a financial scandal that made the newspapers shortly before he resigned.

Coordinating conjunction: and. Subordinating conjunction: before.

image Interjections express surprise or emotion and do not relate grammatically to other parts of speech.

Anita is running for mayor, and maybe she will win. Hey, who knows? This could finally be her big chance. She is honest—unlike the former mayor, who was caught in a financial scandal that made the newspapers shortly before he resigned.

Here is the paragraph again, with each of the eight parts of speech identified as above.

Anita is running for mayor, and maybe she will win. Hey, who knows? This could finally be her big chance. She is honest—unlike the former mayor, who was caught in a financial scandal that made the newspapers shortly before he resigned.