Parts of Speech - Deep Mastery

Parts of Speech is NOT about word, it's about FUNCTION. Same word can be different parts of speech in different sentences. Example: Water (noun) - I drink water. Water (verb) - Water the plants. So check function, not dictionary.

There are 8 types: Noun, Pronoun, Adjective, Verb, Adverb, Preposition, Conjunction, Interjection.

Golden Identification Trick: Noun = name. Pronoun = replacement of noun. Adjective = describes noun/pronoun. Verb = action/state. Adverb = describes verb/adjective/adverb. Preposition = shows relation between noun and other words. Conjunction = connects. Interjection = sudden emotion.

Why Deep? 70% error spotting comes from wrong identification. Example: He is very tall - very is adverb (describes adjective tall), not adjective.

Definition: Name of person, place, thing, animal, idea. But deep classification matters.

5 Main Types + 2 Sub:
1. Proper: Ram, Delhi (always capital, no article the normally)
2. Common: boy, city (general)
3. Collective: team, jury, army, bunch, flock - group as one unit
4. Abstract: honesty, childhood, love - can't see/touch
5. Material: gold, water, wood - substance
Countable vs Uncountable: Countable can be plural (book/books), uncountable cannot (water, information, advice, furniture - NEVER informations, furnitures)

Number - Irregular Plurals (Highly Tested):
man-men, woman-women, child-children, tooth-teeth, foot-feet, mouse-mice, datum-data, phenomenon-phenomena, criterion-criteria, cactus-cacti, analysis-analyses.

Gender: Masculine/Feminine/Neuter/Common (doctor, teacher). Important: Some nouns same form: parent, student, friend.

Case & Possessive - Most Important Rules:
- Singular noun + 's : boy's book
- Plural not ending with s + 's : children's park
- Plural ending with s + only ' : boys' hostel
- Compound noun: last word gets 's : brother-in-law's car
- Joint possession: Ram and Shyam's house (one house), Ram's and Shyam's houses (two houses)
- Possessive with time/weight/distance: a day's leave, at arm's length
- Never use 's with non-living except time, weight, distance, personified: table's leg (WRONG) => leg of table (RIGHT). But sun's rays, heart's desire allowed.

Collective Noun + Verb Agreement Exception: If group acts as ONE unit => singular verb: The team is winning. If members act individually => plural: The team are fighting among themselves (each member fighting). Jury, committee, army, crowd same.

Pronoun = Pro + Noun = Instead of Noun. To avoid repetition: Ram is my friend. Ram is tall. => Ram is my friend. He is tall.

9 Types Deep:
1. Personal: I, we, you, he, she, it, they - Subjective (I, he), Objective (me, him), Possessive (my, mine, his).
2. Possessive: mine, ours, yours, his, hers, theirs - NO apostrophe (mine, not mine's).
3. Reflexive (self): myself, yourself, himself - subject and object same person: I hurt myself. Emphatic: same words but for emphasis: I myself did it.
4. Demonstrative: this, that, these, those - this/these for near, that/those for far.
5. Interrogative: who, whom, whose, which, what - asking.
6. Relative: who, whom, whose, which, that - joins two sentences. Who for person (subject), whom for object, whose for possession, which for thing/animal, that for both person and thing (restrictive clause).
7. Distributive: each, either, neither, every - always singular: Each boy is present. Neither of the two boys is present.
8. Reciprocal: each other (for 2), one another (for more than 2).
9. Indefinite: someone, anyone, none, many, all, both - some singular, some plural.

Golden Rules & Exceptions:
- Who vs Whom: Who = subject (He), Whom = object (Him). Trick: Replace with he/him. If he fits => who, him fits => whom. Example: Who/Whom did you see? You saw him => whom.
- Reflexive CANNOT be subject: Myself is present (WRONG) => I am present.
- Order: Good manners: 2nd, 3rd, 1st person: You, he and I are friends (for positive). For fault: I, you and he are guilty (1st first).
- One + one's: One should do one's duty (not his).
- None: Can be singular or plural based on context: None of the boys is/are - both accepted but singular preferred in exams.
- Each other vs One another: Strict rule 2 vs >2 but now interchangeable, but keep traditional for exam.

Adjective = Describes Noun/Pronoun. Tells which, what kind, how many.

10 Types:
1. Descriptive: tall, honest
2. Quantitative: some, much, little, enough
3. Numeral: one, two, first, second (cardinal vs ordinal)
4. Demonstrative: this, that, these, those
5. Possessive: my, your, his (before noun)
6. Interrogative: which book?, what color?
7. Distributive: each, every, either, neither
8. Proper: Indian army
9. Participial: interesting book, interested person
10. Compound: well-known, good-looking

Order of Adjectives (OSASCOMP) - Highly Tested:
Opinion, Size, Age, Shape, Colour, Origin, Material, Purpose. Example: A beautiful (opinion) small (size) old (age) round (shape) black (colour) Indian (origin) wooden (material) dining (purpose) table.

Degrees of Comparison:
Positive - Comparative - Superlative: tall - taller - tallest, good - better - best, bad - worse - worst, many - more - most.
Rules: One syllable add -er/-est, two syllable add more/most or -er, three syllable more/most.
Important Exceptions & Rules:
- Double comparative/superlative WRONG: more better ❌, most best ❌
- Than always with comparative: He is taller than me (not then).
- As...as and so...as: Positive degree between them: as tall as, not as taller as.
- Comparative + than, but some adjectives like superior, inferior, senior, junior, prior take TO not than: He is senior to me (not than).
- Whole phrase comparison: Of the two, he is the better (not best).
- Correct vs Wrong: She is more beautiful than her sister (right), She is beautifuler (wrong).

Verb = Action or State. Heart of sentence.

Main vs Auxiliary: Main verb shows action: go, eat. Auxiliary helps: be, have, do, modals (can, could, may, might, shall, should, will, would, must, ought to, used to, need, dare).

Transitive vs Intransitive: Transitive needs object: He ate an apple (what? apple). Intransitive no object: He sleeps. Some verbs both: He opened the door (transitive), The door opened (intransitive). Exam trap: Some verbs always transitive: discuss, describe, enter, order, tell, ask - NO preposition: He discussed about the matter ❌ => He discussed the matter ✓.

Linking Verbs: be, become, seem, appear, look, smell, taste, feel - they link subject to complement and take adjective not adverb: She looks beautiful (not beautifully).

Finite vs Non-Finite (Verbals) - Most Important:
- Finite: Changes with subject/tense: He goes, They go.
- Non-Finite (does NOT change): 3 types:
1. Gerund (V+ing as Noun): Swimming is good. Acts as noun. Rule: After preposition always gerund: interested in dancing, not to dance.
2. Participle (V+ing / V3 as Adjective): Present participle: interesting book (book that interests). Past participle: interested person (person who is interested). Confusing: boring vs bored, exciting vs excited.
3. Infinitive (to+V1): To go, to eat. Bare infinitive (without to) after: let, make, bid, see, hear, need, dare (in some cases). Example: Let him go (not to go), I made him cry.

Stative Verbs - Never in Continuous: know, believe, understand, like, love, hate, want, need, belong, own, possess - NOT in -ing: I am knowing ❌ => I know ✓. But some can be used in continuous with different meaning: I am thinking about you (considering).

Phrasal Verbs: Verb + preposition = different meaning: look after (care), look into (investigate), put off (postpone).

Adverb describes verb, adjective, or another adverb. Tells how, when, where, how much.

7 Types:
1. Manner: slowly, quickly, well
2. Place: here, there, everywhere
3. Time: now, then, yesterday
4. Frequency: always, never, often, rarely
5. Degree: very, too, enough, almost, quite
6. Interrogative: when? where? why?
7. Relative: when, where, why (joins sentences)

Formation: Mostly adjective + ly: quick->quickly. But some adjectives already ly: friendly, lovely are adjectives. Some adverbs same as adjective: fast, hard, late, early - He is a fast runner (adj), He runs fast (adv).

Position - Very Important:
- Manner usually after verb/object: He speaks slowly. / He speaks English fluently.
- Frequency before main verb, after be: He always comes, He is always late.
- Degree before adjective/adverb: very tall, too quickly.
- Enough after adjective/adverb: tall enough (not enough tall).
- Only, even position changes meaning: Only he saw me (no one else), He only saw me (didn't talk).

Hard vs Hardly, Late vs Lately, etc. - Most Tested Traps:
- Hard = difficult, Hardly = scarcely (almost not): He works hard (difficult), He hardly works (almost not).
- Late = not on time, Lately = recently: He came late, He hasn't come lately.
- Fair vs Fairly, Free vs Freely - different meanings.
- Very vs Much: Very with present participle (very interesting), Much with past participle (much interested). Very + much together possible: very much interesting ❌ => much interesting or very interesting.

Inversion with Negative Adverbs: When sentence starts with never, rarely, hardly, scarcely, no sooner - inversion: auxiliary before subject. Never have I seen... (not Never I have seen). Hardly had he left when...

Preposition shows relation between noun/pronoun and other words. Always before noun/pronoun (pre + position).

Time - AT, ON, IN (Most Confusing):
- AT: exact time, festivals: at 5 pm, at night, at Diwali, at noon
- ON: days, dates, day+part: on Monday, on 15th Aug, on Monday morning
- IN: months, years, seasons, long periods, part of day: in January, in 2025, in summer, in the morning (but at night is exception)
- Since (point, perfect tenses): since Monday, since 2020
- For (duration): for 2 hours, for 5 years
- By (deadline): by 5 pm (till 5 pm)
- During (within period): during summer, during the meeting

Place - AT, ON, IN:
- AT: small area, point, address: at the door, at bus stop, at 10 MG Road
- ON: surface, floor: on the wall, on the table, on the second floor
- IN: enclosed space, big area: in the box, in Delhi, in the room, in the car

Direction/Movement:
- To (destination): go to school
- Into (inside from outside): jump into river
- Onto (on from outside): climb onto roof
- Towards (direction): walk towards park
- Through (inside and across): walk through tunnel
- Across (one side to other): walk across bridge
- Along (parallel): walk along river
- Over (above, no touch), Above (higher level), Under/Below

No Preposition Cases - Very Important for Exams:
- No preposition after: discuss, describe, enter, order, tell, ask, reach, attack, resemble, lack, inform (but inform of/about exception). Example: He discussed about matter ❌ => discussed matter ✓, He entered into room ❌ => entered room ✓.
- Home: go home (no to), but go to his home (with to if possessive/adjective).
- Preposition + Gerund: Always gerund after preposition: fond of playing, interested in reading, tired of waiting, capable of doing, addicted to smoking.
- Between vs Among: Between for 2, Among for >2. Between you and me (objective case).
- Beside (next to) vs Besides (in addition to).

Conjunction = Connector. Joins words, phrases, clauses.

3 Types:
1. Coordinating (FANBOYS) - Equal Rank:
For (reason), And (addition), Nor (negative addition), But (contrast), Or (choice), Yet (contrast), So (result). Rule: When joining two independent clauses, use comma before conjunction: It was late, so we left.
2. Subordinating - Unequal Rank (Dependent + Independent):
Time: when, while, before, after, till, until
Reason: because, since, as
Contrast: although, though, even though, whereas
Condition: if, unless, provided
Example: Although he was tired, he worked. Because it rained, we stayed.
3. Correlative - Paired Conjunctions - Most Tested:
Either...or, Neither...nor, Both...and, Not only...but also, Whether...or, No sooner...than, Hardly...when, Scarcely...when, Such...that, So...that
Rules:
- Either...or, Neither...nor take verb according to nearest subject: Neither he nor his friends are coming (friends nearest => are).
- Both...and always plural: Both Ram and Shyam are coming.
- Not only...but also: verb agrees with second subject, and parallel structure: Not only he but also his friends were present. Not only tall but also intelligent.
- No sooner...than (not when), Hardly/Scarcely...when (not than).
- Lest takes should: Walk carefully lest you should fall.

Interjection = Sudden Emotion, Stand Alone:
Hurrah! Wow! Alas! Oh! Bravo! Ouch! Hello!
Joy: Hurrah! We won.
Surprise: Wow! That's amazing.
Pain: Ouch! Alas! He is dead.
Greeting: Hello! Hi!
Rule: Followed by exclamation ! or comma for mild: Oh, that's fine. Usually at beginning, can be anywhere.