Words with More than One Job





<p>Many words in English can have more than one job, or be more than one part of speech. For example, "work" can be a verb and a noun; "but" can be a conjunction and a preposition; "well" can be an adjective, an adverb and an interjection. In addition, many nouns can act as adjectives.</p><p>To analyze the part of speech, ask yourself: "What <b>job</b> is this word doing in this sentence?"</p><p>In the table below you can see a few examples. Of course, there are more, even for some of the words in the table. In fact, if you look in a good dictionary you will see that the word &quot;<b>but</b>&quot; has six jobs to do:</p><ul><li>verb, noun, adverb, pronoun, preposition and conjuction!</li></ul>
<table border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5"><tr><td><b>word</b></td><td><b>part of speech</b></td><td><b>example</b></td></tr><tr><td rowspan="2">work</td><td>noun</td><td>My <b>work</b> is easy.</td></tr><tr><td>verb</td><td>I <b>work</b> in London.</td></tr><tr><td rowspan="2">but</td><td>conjunction</td><td>John came <b>but</b> Mary didn't come.</td></tr><tr><td>preposition</td><td>Everyone came <b>but</b> Mary.</td></tr><tr><td rowspan="3">well</td><td>adjective</td><td>Are you <b>well</b>?</td></tr><tr><td>adverb</td><td>She speaks <b>well</b>.</td></tr><tr><td>interjection</td><td><b>Well</b>! That's expensive!</td></tr><tr><td rowspan="2">afternoon</td><td>noun</td><td>We ate in the <b>afternoon</b>.</td></tr><tr><td>noun acting as adjective</td><td>We had <b>afternoon</b> tea.</td></tr></table><p>

Now check your understanding</a> &raquo;</p></td></tr></table>

Parts of Speech Quiz  <br><br>



1 I bought a (beautiful) dress at the mall.<br>
adverb<br>
preposition<br>
adjective<br>
noun <br><br>

Answer:adjective<br><br>


2 What did (she) ask you to do?<br>
verb<br>
conjunction<br>
preposition<br>
pronoun<br><br>

Answer:pronoun<br><br>


3 I left my shoes (under) the kitchen table.<br>
adverb<br>
adjective<br>
preposition<br>
pronoun<br><br>

Answer:preposition<br><br>


4 If we finish our work (quickly) we can go to the movies.<br>
adjective<br>
adverb<br>
conjunction<br>
verb<br><br>

Answer:adverb<br><br>


5 On Saturdays I (work) from nine to five.<br>
noun<br>
verb<br>
preposition<br>
adverb<br><br>

Answer:verb<br><br>


6 I want to go to a (university) in the United States.<br>
verb<br>
adjective<br>
preposition<br>
noun<br><br>

Answer:noun<br><br>


7 I'm sure I have (met) your girlfriend before.<br>
noun<br>
verb<br>
preposition<br>
interjection<br><br>

Answer:verb<br><br>


8 (Well,) I don't think I will be here to answer the phone.<br>
conjunction<br>
interjection<br>
preposition<br>
pronoun<br><br>

Answer:interjection<br><br>


9 Andy knocked on the door (but) nobody answered.<br>
pronoun<br>
adverb<br>
adjective<br>
conjunction
<br><br>

Answer:conjunction<br><br>


10 (After) lunch let's go out for a coffee. <br>
adverb<br>
pronoun<br>
preposition<br>
verb<br><br>

Answer:preposition<br><br>