72. We have seen that words are classified according to their use into eight parts of speech,—nouns, verbs, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections.

A noun is a name word.

A verb is an asserting word.

A pronoun is a word used instead of a noun.

An adjective is a word used to point out or describe an object and modify a noun or a pronoun.

An adverb is a word that modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb.

A preposition is a word that is used with its object to form a phrase, and shows the relation of its object to the word the phrase modifies.

A conjunction is a word that joins sentences or parts of sentences.

An interjection is a word used to express sudden or strong feeling.

Exercise.—Tell what part of speech each word is in the following sentences. Tell in each case how you know.

1. Toto’s good grandmother bore this commotion quietly for some time.

2. “Now, set those baskets down.” He spoke sharply.

3. Mowgli knew the manners and customs of the villagers very fairly.

4. No other mother ever made such deep, smooth, golden custard pies, or fried such light and spicy doughnuts.

5. Queen Elizabeth and Mary Queen of Scots are strongly associated together in the minds of all readers of English history.

6. The tamest tiger is a tiger still.

7. The negro cleared for us a path to an enormously tall tree.

8. Nobody scolded me or laughed at me.

9. Then my eyes came back to the wall paper, and I studied out figures in its spreading vines.

10. Perhaps a little starch would have some effect.

11. The roaring hot wind of the Jungle came and went between the rocks and the rattling branches.

12. Ring-ting! I wish I were a primrose.

13. O love, they die in yon rich sky.

73. In sentence 13 in the preceding exercise, it is evident that the word love, which is often a verb, is used as a term of address, and therefore is a noun. Many words may be used as verbs or as nouns.

Exercise.—Tell what part of speech the italicized words are in the following sentences. Give your reason in each case.

1. Don’t scour your porcelain sink with sapolio.

2. When bodies sink in Lake Superior, they never rise.

3. Oh, what fall was there, my countrymen.

4. We fall to rise, are baffled to fight better.

5. Alice gave the branch a vigorous shake.

6. Nay, do not shake your gory locks at me.

7. Will you show me your lineage book?

8. There are ten thousand moving picture shows in the United States.

9. What a good catch our right fielder made.

10. Did you catch this sturgeon last night?

Make sentences in which the following words shall be used as nouns and as verbs: fight, pay, rap, shed, shoe, sting, tread.

74. Many words that are usually adjectives may also be used as nouns. Such words fall into different classes:—

(1) Adjectives denoting color; as, black, white, red. We may say, “The blacks were once slaves of the whites.” We may also say, “Red and green are complementary colors.”

(2) Certain adjectives denoting qualities of persons, which may also be used to name classes of persons having those qualities; as, rich, poor, old, young, bad, good. We say, “The rich should not scorn the poor,” “The good die young.”

(3) Certain adjectives denoting qualities, which may also be used to name classes of things having those qualities; as, good, evil, true, false. We say, “Love the good, cherish the true, admire the beautiful.”

(4) Certain other adjectives, such as native, secret, fat, lean, thick. We say, “The natives had no secrets,” “Jack Sprat would eat no fat,” “He was always in the thick of the fight.”

Exercise.—Make sentences containing the following words used as adjectives and as nouns: purple, blue, brave, righteous, evil, wet, cold, sweet, right, wrong, solid, strong.

75. Some words may be used both as adjectives and as adverbs. When well means the opposite of sick, as in the sentence, “Grace never was a well child,” it is an adjective. When well means in a good manner, as in the sentence, “Esther sings well,” it is an adverb.

Exercise.—Tell what part of speech the italicized words are in the following sentences. Give your reason in each case.

1. The paper is large enough, but I have not enough string.

2. As she came near I recognized one of my near neighbors.

3. All flesh is grass.

4. The girls playing basket ball are all tired out.

5. The doctor liked a fast horse.

6. We must walk fast this cold morning.

7. Nobody could play golf worse than I.

8. May I never do a worse deed!

9. Have you any ribbon to match this sample?

10. Will this color do any better?

11. Somebody else will marry her then.

12. How else could I get there in time?

Make sentences containing the following words used as adjectives and as adverbs: high, last, long, low, much, round, slow, straight.

76. Some words may be used both as adverbs and as prepositions. In the sentence, “I looked in as I went by,” both in and by are adverbs. How do we know this? In the sentence, “As I went by the house, I looked in the window,” both in and by are prepositions. What are their objects? What do the phrases modify?

Exercise.—What part of speech are the italicized words in the following sentences? Give your reason in each case.

1. Beyond lay the city of their dreams.

2. Our house stands beyond the church.

3. Over the Alps lies Italy.

4. Come over this evening if you can.

5. She fainted and did not come to for an hour.

6. The granary is behind the barn.

7. Ichabod looked behind for an instant.

8. A storm of sleet was raging without.

9. Civilized man cannot do without cooks.

Make sentences in which the following words are used both as adverbs and as prepositions: about, above, along, down, off, on, through, under, up, within.