8. Parts of speech

8.6. Common pitfalls

In this section, we will consider some common mistakes students make when classifying words according to part of speech.

Overlapping distribution

Some syntactic categories can appear in the same place as another. For example, both adjectives and nouns can appear after a determiner, as shown in (1).
(1) a. the happy woman
D Adj N
b. the woman
D N

This test is not actually ambiguous; you just have to remember that adjectives appear in between a determiner and a noun, while nouns will not typically be followed by another noun.

Ambiguous affixes

Some affixes are ambiguous. When an affix is ambiguous, we have to use additionally criteria to conclusively determine the part of speech of a word.

For example, -ly can form both adjectives and adverbs. In (2a), -ly attaches to the noun friend to form the adjective friendly. In (2b), on the other hand, -ly attaches to the adjective quick to form the adverb quickly.

(2) a. The friendly cat purred at me.
b. The cat ran quickly.

There are also two prefixes un– that can get mixed up. One un– is called the negative un- and it takes adjectives and turns them into negative adjectives, such as unhappy, unable, or unease. The other un– is called the reversive un– which means to undo an action, such as in unlockunbend, and unclog. It’s important not to get these two homophonous morphemes mixed up because negative un- turns adjectives into adjectives and reversive un– turns verbs into verbs.

The present participle, which is formed by attaching -ing to a verb stem, can be used as a progressive verb, as a noun, or as an adjective. In some contexts, it is even ambiguous. We can tell that annoying in (3a) is a verb because it takes an object, me. We can tell that annoying in (3b) is an adjective because it appears in between a determiner and a noun. However, (3c) is ambiguous. The word annoying could be an adjective in a copular construction or a progressive verb.

(3) a. This rash has been annoying me. progressive verb
b. This annoying rash won’t go away. adjective
c. This rash is annoying. ambiguous
When present participles are used as nouns, as in (4a), the subject of the verb appears in genitive case and the object of the verb requires a preposition of. When a present participle is used as a non-finite verb, as in (4b), the subject will be in accusative case and the object does not need a preposition. If there is no subject or object, though, as in (4c), it is ambiguous between a verb and a noun.
(4) a. His winning of the race surprised me. noun
b. Him winning the race surprised me. non-finite verb
c. Winning surprised me. ambiguous
The past participle, which is typically formed by attached -en to a verb stem, is also ambiguous. It can also be used as an adjective, as well as in forming passive voice and perfect aspect. In (5a), we can tell that stolen is a verb in the passive voice because of the by-phrase by the thief. In (5b), we can tell that stolen is a verb in the perfect aspect because of the auxiliary verb had. In (5c), we can tell that stolen is an adjective because it appears in between a determiner and a noun. In (5d), stolen is ambiguous; it could be an adjective in a copular construction or a passive verb.
(5) a. The diamond was stolen by the thief. passive voice verb
b. The thief had stolen the diamond. perfect aspect verb
c. The stolen diamond was recovered. adjective
d. The diamond was stolen. ambiguous

Homonyms

Some words have homonyms of a different category. For example, the word bear meaning the kind of animal is a noun in most contexts while the word bear meaning to carry is a verb in most contexts. For lexical words like bear and bear, it is fairly easy to keep them straight, but it is more difficult when one or more of the two words belongs to a functional category.

For example, there are two words to with different functions, and they belong to different parts of speech: it can be a preposition or it can be a non-finite tense marker. In (5a), we can tell that to is a preposition, because it is followed by a noun phrase. In (5b), we can tell that to is a non-finite marker because it is followed by a verb.

(5) a. I went to the store. noun
b. I want to go home. verb

Nouns that look like prepositions

There are some nouns that can indicate location or origin, which some students mistake for prepositions. These nouns may even have equivalent prepositions with the same meaning. For example, back in (1a) and top in (2a) are both nouns. We can tell that they are nouns because they cannot introduce the following noun phrase directly; instead, they need the preposition of.

(1) a. to the back of the door noun
b. behind the door preposition
(2) a. on top of the image noun
b. above the image preposition

Key takeaways

  • Some criteria for determining part of speech can be ambiguous. Be aware of these ambiguities and use two or more criteria to be sure.
  • The present and past participle forms can be used either as verbs, as nouns, or as adjectives. Some instances are ambiguous.
  • Some words have homonyms in different categories. Be aware of these, especially the difference between preposition and non-finite to.

Check yourself!

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