Finding the Parts of Speech in a Sentence

QUESTIONS TO ASK TO FIND THE PARTS OF SPEECH

1.     Where is the action or doing or being word?  = VERB

2.    To find the SUBJECT (Noun or Pronoun) ask:  Who or what is doing the action?

3.    To find the OBJECT (Pronoun or Noun) ask:  Who or what is receiving the action?

4.    To find other Nouns or Pronouns ask:  Is there a person, place or thing in the sentence?

5.    Are there any describing words modifying the nouns?

     = ADJECTIVE

6.  Are there any words modifying the action word?  Do these words        answer the questions how, when, where or why an action is done?               = ADVERB

7.  Are there any joining words?  Does the word join words, phrases or clauses?  = CONJUNCTION

8. Are there any words showing relation or position?                                = PREPOSITION

9.   Now you can identify the auxilliary verbs.  They are the words that help you conjugate the main verb.  You know them as the 23 helping verbs.  Ask yourself:  Are they helping another verb?  Or are they working alone?  If they are working alone, then they are labeled as the main verb, not an auxilliary verb.

Note:  For every Subject and Verb combination, there will be one clause.

Clauses are often set apart by commas, or begin with conjunctions.