Choosing the Right Words

 Writers may have difficulty because they are not sure which words to use and how to use them.

Knowing the features of the Part of Speech of words and the role these word groups play in sentences, will give writers information on how to check sentences to see whether the words are laid out logically and if the sentences make sense.

The over 1 million words that we could access to in English can be grouped into eight categories based on how they are used.

The categories are: noun, pronoun, verb, adverb, adjective, conjunction, interjection, preposition 

Words are put in similar classes/categories when they have features in common.

1. noun 2. pronoun 3. verb 4. preposition 5. adjectives 4. adverb 7. conjunction 8. interjection

Generalizations about Word Categories found in Phrases/ Sentences

Parts of Speech	Position in the sentence	Features & Examples	Role in the Sentence
Noun  (N)	1.After an article: (a baby/an experience; the thought ) 2. Before a verb: (Apples are tasty)/ (The teacher talked); 3. After a preposition: (in the box);	Word/group of words;  Can be pluralized (Baby-/babies, equipment-equipment;child-children; life-lives) Can be capitalized (Mary, Jamaica);	Is used to name objects, and ideas; Is the subject of the sentence;
Pronoun (Pr)	Replaces a noun in the sentence: (He is…) (They are…) (I am …)  (...is mine) (...are yours)	Has plural forms and singular forms I/We; he/they; you/you	Is used to name persons or ideas; Can be the subject in the sentence
Verb (V)	Stands alone in a command. (Sit!) (You sit!) (Please sit) After the subject (S); before the object (O): SVO The students sit in rows.	Can be written in different forms (base/present/past/participle); eat/eats/ate/has eaten/had eaten	Is the predicate of the sentence; Tells the time of an action; (present/past/future)
Preposition (Pr.)	Appears before a noun	Short words, frequently used (in, on, to before)	Shows the location of one noun in relation to another.
Adjective (Adj.)	Appears before or after nouns: (a red carpet; a heavy red carpet) Appears after a linking verb: (The table is heavy); (The children are young) Can be formed from nouns	Can be compared: heavy/heavier/heaviest Can be capitalized (proper Adjective) Jamaican	Modifies a noun to say what kind
Adverb (Adv.)	Appears next to verbs; Appears in any position in the sentence.	Usually ends with -ly	Modifies verbs and adjectives by telling how, when, in what manner.
Conjunction (Conj.)	Between two independent clauses (I am standing, and you are sitting);  Between two verbs: (The children run and skip); Between two phrases:  (The children walk to the store and buy many sweets); Between two nouns/pronouns:  (The girl and boys; he and she; him and her); At the end of a list: (apples, bananas, vegetables, and beverages)	Examples:  Coordinating and, but, or, nor Subordinating after, although, as, as soon as, because	Adds new information; Shows contrast/opposites
Interjection (Interj.)	Stands alone as a sentence.	Usually ends with an exclamation mark	Used to express strong emotions

The / A /An are called articles. They generally appear before nouns.

Here is a description of a location. 

A. How many categories of words can you identify?

B. Which category has the most words? 

            (1) Big River nestles in the (2) pleasant and (3) quaint little community of Wakefield; it is also situated between the communities of Thompson Town and Smithville in (4) rural Clarendon. The communities continue to develop (5) and grow along the river. This river is very special to the residents of Wakefield and (6) neighbouring  (7) communities because of its (8)usefulness. (9) It provides water to the  community especially in drought (10) or the dry season. Big River runs (11)from its location in Wakefield  (12) to a river in (13)Pennants, Chapelton which in turn leads to the Rio Mino, the (13) longest river in Jamaica. The Spanish called this river ‘Rio de la Mina’.  (14) This (15) picturesque river is (16) quite  (17)peaceful, cool, and exotic. As the name ‘Big River’ implies, the river is (18) very long. It stetches a far distance and disappears from the community among a cluster of mammoth rocks. (19)Indeed! Big River is (20) an  (21) impressive marker on the parish's (22) geographic landscape.

(Student writer describes a location)