Parts of Speech

What you’ll learn

Recognize the common jobs that words do inside a sentence.

ស្គាល់តួនាទីសំខាន់ៗរបស់ពាក្យក្នុងប្រយោគ។

Meaning and use

A part of speech is a category based on a word’s job. A noun can name a person or thing; a verb can show an action or state. The same word can have different jobs in different sentences: in I read a book, book is a noun; in Please book a room, book is a verb. For now, focus on the job a word does in the example you are reading.

ប្រភេទពាក្យសម្គាល់តួនាទីរបស់ពាក្យក្នុងប្រយោគ។ ឧទាហរណ៍ នាមសម្គាល់មនុស្ស ទីកន្លែង ឬវត្ថុ ហើយកិរិយាសព្ទសម្គាល់សកម្មភាព ឬសភាព។ ពាក្យមួយអាចមានតួនាទីខុសគ្នា អាស្រ័យលើប្រយោគ។

Grammar patterns

Pattern	Example or form
Noun — names someone or something	teacher, school, book
Pronoun — takes the place of a noun phrase	I, she, they
Verb — shows an action or state	read, work, be
Adjective — describes a noun	a small house
Adverb — adds information about a verb or another word	She walks slowly.
Determiner — introduces or identifies a noun	a book, the book, my book
Preposition — shows a relationship	in the room, on Monday
Conjunction — connects words or ideas	tea and coffee
Interjection — expresses a reaction	Oh! Wow!

Examples

1. The teacher reads a book.

   គ្រូបង្រៀនអានសៀវភៅមួយក្បាល។

2. She has a small bag.

   នាងមានកាបូបតូចមួយ។

3. Dara walks slowly.

   ដារ៉ាដើរយឺតៗ។

4. My book is on the table.

   សៀវភៅរបស់ខ្ញុំនៅលើតុ។

Everyday conversation

Maly: What is a noun?

Dara: A word like student or school.

Maly: And a verb?

Dara: A word like read or work.

Common mistakes

Instead of	Use	Why
She has a beautifully bag.	She has a beautiful bag.	Use the adjective beautiful to describe the noun bag.
He careful drives.	He drives carefully.	Use the adverb carefully to describe how he drives.

Practice

Try these questions before opening the answers. Write or say each answer.

សាកល្បងឆ្លើយសំណួរទាំងនេះជាមុនសិន មុននឹងបើកមើលចម្លើយ។ អ្នកអាចសរសេរ ឬនិយាយចម្លើយរបស់អ្នក។

1. In The cat sleeps, which word is the noun?
2. In She reads, what kind of word is She?
3. In a red bag, which word is the adjective?

Answers and explanations

Show answers / បង្ហាញចម្លើយ

1. cat

   Cat names an animal. Sleeps is the verb.

2. A pronoun.

   She stands in for a person’s name or another noun phrase.

3. red

   Red describes the noun bag.

Quick recap

• Look at a word’s job in its sentence.
• Nouns name; verbs show actions or states; adjectives describe nouns.
• You will study these categories in more detail in later lessons.