Grammar: Particle

Posted February 8, 2022 by Kathy Davie in Author Resources, Grammar Explanations, Self-Editing, Writing

Revised as of
14 Feb 2023

Particles are a mess, grammar-wise. Grammarians don’t seem to know what to put it, as particles do not easily fit into the established system of parts of speech. Think of the poor particle as the junk drawer of English.

A particle is usually a short word that doesn’t change its form through inflection.

See also “What’s in a Proper Name?“, “Prepositions“, and “Verbs“.

Grammar Explanations is . . .

. . . an evolving list of the structural rules and principles that determines where words are placed in phrases or sentences as well as how the language is spoken. Sometimes I run across an example that helps explain better or another “also known as”. Heck, there’s always a better way to explain it, so if it makes quicker and/or better sense, I would appreciate suggestions and comments from anyone on an area of grammar with which you struggle or on which you can contribute more understanding.

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Particle

Part of Speech: Function word

Definition: Particles are prepositions combined with verbs to add context to the sentence, express a mood, or indicate a specific action.

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List of Common Prepositions
Adverb Particle, a.k.a. Verbal Phrase
Discourse Particle
Infinitive Marker
Negative Particle
Proper Names

Abbreviated as ptcl

List of Common Prepositions
about above across after against along among around as at atop of ¹ before behind below beneath	beside besides between beyond but by concerning despite down during except excepting for forward from	in inside into like near of off on onto out outside over past regarding	round since through throughout to toward under underneath until up upon with within without
¹ Never include of.

Adverb Particle

Rule: The most common particles are prepositions that become adverb particles when combined with a verb, forming phrasal (multi-word) verbs.

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blow up
bog down
break away
bring up
broke up
burn down
came by
flip out
found out
give in
go in for

head out
held up
hold up
in front of
in spite of
live down
lived down
look over
look up
make up
near to

pull through
put in for
shape up
single out
sleep in
turn in
turned up
wind up
wore out
wrap up

Examples:

He ate up all his dinner.

Sassy went away on a long trip.

We will talk over the problem.

Jimmy started out with sixty dollars.

The airplane took off at 3 am precisely.

Legend:

Green indicates the particle

Discourse Particle

Rule: Discourse particles are more likely to be part of speech than writing and is used to direct or redirect the flow of conversation without adding any significant paraphrasable meaning to the discourse.

In addition, it could be argued that discourse particles fall under the banner of interjections.

A.k.a. DM, discourse connective, discourse particle, filler, pragmatic marker, pragmatic particle

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ah
anyway
hey
like

oh
you know
well
wow

Examples:

Now, who would like some dinner?

I was told I would be fired. Well, I will not accept that without a fight.

Legend:

Green indicates the particle

Infinitive Marker

Rule: When used as an infinitive marker, to is the particle.

A.k.a. grammatical particle

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I wanted to go to the movies.

Helen hopes to decide on her future soon.

We are not going to go along with this any longer.

Legend:

Green indicates the particle

Negative Particle

Rule: A negative particle uses not.

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We will not travel to Paris this summer.

The president does not have that authority.

Legend:

Green indicates the particle

Proper Names

Rule: Part of a proper name. Names with particles are capitalized or in lowercase. Check a biographical dictionary, another authoritative source, or how that person spells his/her own name.

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Walter de la Mare	Stephen Ten Eyck
John Le Carré	Daphne du Maurier

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C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!

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