"Parts of Speech" poem- by Mark Hurlin-Shelton

Parts of Speech.

by Mark Hurlin-Shelton,    copyright 2014

In English there are different types of words.
Like articles, prepositions, nouns, adjectives and verbs
They have special functions and they teach
Us to distinguish the various parts of speech.

NOUNS of course are words for "things"
Some we can touch or feel or put inside a box
Like BOOKs  and BOYS  and DIAMOND RINGS
And ELEPHANTS  and CAKES and CLOCKS.

(On second thoughts an elephant might just break the box)

Abstract nouns speak of things we cannot see,
Like hope and love and eternity,

Verbs are action words for "doing",
Like "TRY " and "FLY"
- while words like "eating"and  "gluing"
and "perusing",
These are words
half noun/half verb....
Like "believing", " waiting", and "amusing",
These  Gerunds are somewhat more confusing.

An adverb describes how something is done
Like how BEAUTIFULLY  she sang, or how QUICKLY  he had run,
These adverbs help describe the verbs,
While adding interest to the words.

An adjective describes a noun
Like a CLEVER boy, or a SILLY clown
Always descriptive, it tells us more,
About the PRETTY girl, or the DIRTY floor.

A preposition gives us an indication,
Of where something is in relation
To something else,
Like under the Table,  ON the shelf
Or AGAINST the wall,
Or THROUGH the doorway, DOWN the hall,
Like AROUND the corner, or IN your dreams,
Or OVER the rainbow, or sprinkles ON your ice cream.

Conjunctions, like "AND", and "BUT", "BECAUSE", "HOWEVER"
Help connect our sentences together,
"THEN", "ALTHOUGH","UNLESS","BECAUSE"
Join phrase to phrase,
And clause to clause.

An article is either definite or not,
AN eskimo, A spaceship, THE Polka-dot,
If there's only one of something then use "the"
But if it's one of many, then choose "a".

The interjection -
Express feelings like
joy or excitement,-
Like a huh?! Yea !! wow ! Gee
or a yay Of "delightment" -
Or not so nice feelings
Like groan, sigh or a moan-
All kinds of feelings- whether happy or dark,
Interjections usually end with an exclamation mark. :)


I hope that I have left nothing out
If I have give me a shout,
I hope this lesson helped to teach,
You all about our parts of speech.
:)