An 1886 Grammar aid

Posted by James Briggs on January 06, 2004

The following was posted on my school message board - we were having a discussion about 'English as she is spoke'! I thought I should share the offering.

THE NINE ARTICLES OF SPEECH

A POEM FOR CHILDREN: WRITTEN BY JOHN NEALE IN 1886

Three little words we often see,
An ARTICLE a, an and the.

NOUN's the name of anything,
As school or garden, hoop or string.

ADJECTIVES tell the kind of noun,
As great, small, pretty, white or brown.

Instead of nouns the PRONOUNS stand,
John's head, his face, my arm, your hand.

VERBS tell of something being done,
To read, write, count, sing, jump or run.

How things are done, the ADVERBS tell,
As slowly, quickly, ill or well.

A PREPOSITION stands before
A noun, as in or through a door.

CONJUNCTIONS join the nouns together,
As men and children, wind and weather.

The INTERJECTION shows surprise,
As Oh, how pretty! Ah how wise!

The whole are called 'nine parts of speech',
Which reading, writing, speaking, teach.