Word class, also known as Parts of speech
Consider: My sister drives a fast car
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.Instinctively you can guess that sister and car are the same type of word. Likewise, you can sense that sister and drives are different types of words. So ... sister and car belong to the same word class. Similarly, when we recognise that sister and drives are different types, we mean that they belong to different word classes. Grammar books recognise between seven & nine MAJOR word classes depending on how they categorise word boundaries. For example, some grammar include pronouns within the noun category.
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aIn other words, the boundaries are "fuzzy", so different grammars draw them in different places. Don't be hassled by these different categorisations as they simply highlight an important aspect of grammar, known as GRADIENCE; that is, that the boundaries between the word classes are not clearly fixed. Many word classes share characteristics with others, and there is considerable overlap between some of the classes.
For our course, I suggest 8 categories, as described below. |
After viewing the video tutorial, do this quiz on Parts of Speech to check your understanding