the speech sentence

Parts of Speech

What are the parts of speech, a formal definition.

Table of Contents

The Part of Speech Is Determined by the Word's Function

Are there 8 or 9 parts of speech, the nine parts of speech, (1) adjective, (3) conjunction, (4) determiner, (5) interjection, (7) preposition, (8) pronoun, why the parts of speech are important, video lesson.

You need to dig a well . (noun)
You look well . (adjective)
You dance well . (adverb)
Well , I agree. (interjection)
My eyes will well up. (verb)
red, happy, enormous
Ask the boy in the red jumper.
I live in a happy place.
I caught a fish this morning! I mean an enormous one.
happily, loosely, often
They skipped happily to the counter.
Tie the knot loosely so they can escape.
I often walk to work.
It is an intriguingly magic setting.
He plays the piano extremely well.
and, or, but
it is a large and important city.
Shall we run to the hills or hide in the bushes?
I know you are lying, but I cannot prove it.
my, those, two, many
My dog is fine with those cats.
There are two dogs but many cats.
ouch, oops, eek
Ouch , that hurt.
Oops , it's broken.
Eek! A mouse just ran past my foot!
leader, town, apple
Take me to your leader .
I will see you in town later.
An apple fell on his head .
in, near, on, with
Sarah is hiding in the box.
I live near the train station.
Put your hands on your head.
She yelled with enthusiasm.
she, we, they, that
Joanne is smart. She is also funny.
Our team has studied the evidence. We know the truth.
Jack and Jill went up the hill, but they never returned.
That is clever!
work, be, write, exist
Tony works down the pit now. He was unemployed.
I will write a song for you.
I think aliens exist .

Are you a visual learner? Do you prefer video to text? Here is a list of all our grammar videos .

Video for Each Part of Speech

The Most Important Writing Issues

The top issue related to adjectives.

Don't write...	Do write...
very happy boy	delighted boy
very angry	livid
extremely posh hotel	luxurious hotel
really serious look	stern look

The Top Issue Related to Adverbs

Extremely annoyed, she stared menacingly at her rival.
Infuriated, she glared at her rival.

The Top Issue Related to Conjunctions

Burger, Fries, and a shake
Fish, chips and peas

The Top Issue Related to Determiners

The Top Issue Related to Interjections

The top issue related to nouns, the top issue related to prepositions, the top issue related to pronouns, the top issue related to verbs.

Unnatural (Overusing Nouns)	Natural (Using a Verb)
They are in agreement that he was in violation of several regulations.	They agree he violated several regulations.
She will be in attendance to present a demonstration of how the weather will have an effect on our process.	She will attend to demonstrate how the weather will affect our process.

Crack the parts of speech to help with learning a foreign language or to take your writing to the next level.

This page was written by Craig Shrives .

You might also like...

Help us improve....

Was something wrong with this page?

Use #gm to find us quicker .

Create a QR code for this, or any, page.

mailing list

grammar forum

teachers' zone

Confirmatory test.

This test is printable and sendable

expand to full page

show as slides

download as .doc

print as handout

send as homework

display QR code

Have a language expert improve your writing

Run a free plagiarism check in 10 minutes, generate accurate citations for free.

Knowledge Base
Parts of speech

The 8 Parts of Speech | Chart, Definition & Examples

A part of speech (also called a word class ) is a category that describes the role a word plays in a sentence. Understanding the different parts of speech can help you analyze how words function in a sentence and improve your writing.

The parts of speech are classified differently in different grammars, but most traditional grammars list eight parts of speech in English: nouns , pronouns , verbs , adjectives , adverbs , prepositions , conjunctions , and interjections . Some modern grammars add others, such as determiners and articles .

Many words can function as different parts of speech depending on how they are used. For example, “laugh” can be a noun (e.g., “I like your laugh”) or a verb (e.g., “don’t laugh”).

Prepositions
Conjunctions
Interjections

Other parts of speech

Interesting language articles, frequently asked questions.

A noun is a word that refers to a person, concept, place, or thing. Nouns can act as the subject of a sentence (i.e., the person or thing performing the action) or as the object of a verb (i.e., the person or thing affected by the action).

There are numerous types of nouns, including common nouns (used to refer to nonspecific people, concepts, places, or things), proper nouns (used to refer to specific people, concepts, places, or things), and collective nouns (used to refer to a group of people or things).

Ella lives in France .

Other types of nouns include countable and uncountable nouns , concrete nouns , abstract nouns , and gerunds .

Check for common mistakes

Use the best grammar checker available to check for common mistakes in your text.

Fix mistakes for free

A pronoun is a word used in place of a noun. Pronouns typically refer back to an antecedent (a previously mentioned noun) and must demonstrate correct pronoun-antecedent agreement . Like nouns, pronouns can refer to people, places, concepts, and things.

There are numerous types of pronouns, including personal pronouns (used in place of the proper name of a person), demonstrative pronouns (used to refer to specific things and indicate their relative position), and interrogative pronouns (used to introduce questions about things, people, and ownership).

That is a horrible painting!

A verb is a word that describes an action (e.g., “jump”), occurrence (e.g., “become”), or state of being (e.g., “exist”). Verbs indicate what the subject of a sentence is doing. Every complete sentence must contain at least one verb.

Verbs can change form depending on subject (e.g., first person singular), tense (e.g., simple past), mood (e.g., interrogative), and voice (e.g., passive voice ).

Regular verbs are verbs whose simple past and past participle are formed by adding“-ed” to the end of the word (or “-d” if the word already ends in “e”). Irregular verbs are verbs whose simple past and past participles are formed in some other way.

“I’ve already checked twice.”

“I heard that you used to sing .”

Other types of verbs include auxiliary verbs , linking verbs , modal verbs , and phrasal verbs .

An adjective is a word that describes a noun or pronoun. Adjectives can be attributive , appearing before a noun (e.g., “a red hat”), or predicative , appearing after a noun with the use of a linking verb like “to be” (e.g., “the hat is red ”).

Adjectives can also have a comparative function. Comparative adjectives compare two or more things. Superlative adjectives describe something as having the most or least of a specific characteristic.

Other types of adjectives include coordinate adjectives , participial adjectives , and denominal adjectives .

An adverb is a word that can modify a verb, adjective, adverb, or sentence. Adverbs are often formed by adding “-ly” to the end of an adjective (e.g., “slow” becomes “slowly”), although not all adverbs have this ending, and not all words with this ending are adverbs.

There are numerous types of adverbs, including adverbs of manner (used to describe how something occurs), adverbs of degree (used to indicate extent or degree), and adverbs of place (used to describe the location of an action or event).

Talia writes quite quickly.

Other types of adverbs include adverbs of frequency , adverbs of purpose , focusing adverbs , and adverbial phrases .

A preposition is a word (e.g., “at”) or phrase (e.g., “on top of”) used to show the relationship between the different parts of a sentence. Prepositions can be used to indicate aspects such as time , place , and direction .

I left the cup on the kitchen counter.

A conjunction is a word used to connect different parts of a sentence (e.g., words, phrases, or clauses).

The main types of conjunctions are coordinating conjunctions (used to connect items that are grammatically equal), subordinating conjunctions (used to introduce a dependent clause), and correlative conjunctions (used in pairs to join grammatically equal parts of a sentence).

You can choose what movie we watch because I chose the last time.

An interjection is a word or phrase used to express a feeling, give a command, or greet someone. Interjections are a grammatically independent part of speech, so they can often be excluded from a sentence without affecting the meaning.

Types of interjections include volitive interjections (used to make a demand or request), emotive interjections (used to express a feeling or reaction), cognitive interjections (used to indicate thoughts), and greetings and parting words (used at the beginning and end of a conversation).

Ouch ! I hurt my arm.

I’m, um , not sure.

The traditional classification of English words into eight parts of speech is by no means the only one or the objective truth. Grammarians have often divided them into more or fewer classes. Other commonly mentioned parts of speech include determiners and articles.

Determiners

A determiner is a word that describes a noun by indicating quantity, possession, or relative position.

Common types of determiners include demonstrative determiners (used to indicate the relative position of a noun), possessive determiners (used to describe ownership), and quantifiers (used to indicate the quantity of a noun).

My brother is selling his old car.

Other types of determiners include distributive determiners , determiners of difference , and numbers .

An article is a word that modifies a noun by indicating whether it is specific or general.

The definite article the is used to refer to a specific version of a noun. The can be used with all countable and uncountable nouns (e.g., “the door,” “the energy,” “the mountains”).
The indefinite articles a and an refer to general or unspecific nouns. The indefinite articles can only be used with singular countable nouns (e.g., “a poster,” “an engine”).

There’s a concert this weekend.

If you want to know more about nouns , pronouns , verbs , and other parts of speech, make sure to check out some of our language articles with explanations and examples.

Nouns & pronouns

Common nouns
Proper nouns
Collective nouns
Personal pronouns
Uncountable and countable nouns
Verb tenses
Phrasal verbs
Types of verbs
Active vs passive voice
Subject-verb agreement

A is an indefinite article (along with an ). While articles can be classed as their own part of speech, they’re also considered a type of determiner .

The indefinite articles are used to introduce nonspecific countable nouns (e.g., “a dog,” “an island”).

In is primarily classed as a preposition, but it can be classed as various other parts of speech, depending on how it is used:

Preposition (e.g., “ in the field”)
Noun (e.g., “I have an in with that company”)
Adjective (e.g., “Tim is part of the in crowd”)
Adverb (e.g., “Will you be in this evening?”)

As a part of speech, and is classed as a conjunction . Specifically, it’s a coordinating conjunction .

And can be used to connect grammatically equal parts of a sentence, such as two nouns (e.g., “a cup and plate”), or two adjectives (e.g., “strong and smart”). And can also be used to connect phrases and clauses.

Is this article helpful?

Other students also liked, what is a collective noun | examples & definition.

What Is an Adjective? | Definition, Types & Examples
Using Conjunctions | Definition, Rules & Examples

Get unlimited documents corrected

✔ Free APA citation check included ✔ Unlimited document corrections ✔ Specialized in correcting academic texts

Instantly enhance your writing in real-time while you type. With LanguageTool

Get started for free

Understanding the Parts of Speech in English

Yes, the parts of speech in English are extensive and complex. But we’ve made it easy for you to start learning them by gathering the most basic and essential information in this easy-to-follow and comprehensive guide.

White text over orange background reads "Parts of Speech."

Parts of Speech: Quick Summary

Parts of speech assign words to different categories. There are eight different types in English. Keep in mind that a word can belong to more than one part of speech.

Learn About:

Parts of Speech
Prepositions
Conjunctions
Interjections

Using the Parts of Speech Correctly In Your Writing

Knowing the parts of speech is vital when learning a new language.

When it comes to learning a new language, there are several components you should understand to truly get a grasp of the language and speak it fluently.

It’s not enough to become an expert in just one area. For instance, you can learn and memorize all the intricate grammar rules, but if you don’t practice speaking or writing colloquially, you will find it challenging to use that language in real time.

Conversely, if you don’t spend time trying to learn the rules and technicalities of a language, you’ll also find yourself struggling to use it correctly.

Think of it this way: Language is a tasty, colorful, and nutritious salad. If you fill your bowl with nothing but lettuce, your fluency will be bland, boring, and tasteless. But if you spend time cultivating other ingredients for your salad—like style, word choice, and vocabulary— then it will become a wholesome meal you can share with others.

In this blog post, we’re going to cover one of the many ingredients you’ll need to build a nourishing salad of the English language—the parts of speech.

Let’s get choppin’!

What Are the Parts of Speech in English?

The parts of speech refer to categories to which a word belongs. In English, there are eight of them : verbs , nouns, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections.

Many English words fall into more than one part of speech category. Take the word light as an example. It can function as a verb, noun, or adjective.

Verb: Can you please light the candles?

Noun: The room was filled with a dim, warm light .

Adjective: She wore a light jacket in the cool weather.

The parts of speech in English are extensive. There’s a lot to cover in each category—much more than we can in this blog post. The information below is simply a brief overview of the basics of the parts of speech. Nevertheless, the concise explanations and accompanying example sentences will help you gain an understanding of how to use them correctly.

Graphic shows the eight different parts of speech and their functions.

What Are Verbs?

Verbs are the most essential parts of speech because they move the meaning of sentences along.

A verb can show actions of the body and mind ( jump and think ), occurrences ( happen or occur ), and states of being ( be and exist ). Put differently, verbs breathe life into sentences by describing actions or indicating existence. These parts of speech can also change form to express time , person , number , voice , and mood .

There are several verb categories. A few of them are:

Regular and irregular verbs
Transitive and intransitive verbs
Auxiliary verbs

A few examples of verbs include sing (an irregular action verb), have (which can be a main verb or auxiliary verb), be , which is a state of being verb, and would (another auxiliary verb).

My little sister loves to sing .

I have a dog and her name is Sweet Pea.

I will be there at 5 P.M.

I would like to travel the world someday.

Again, these are just the very basics of English verbs. There’s a lot more that you should learn to be well-versed in this part of speech, but the information above is a good place to start.

What Are Nouns?

Nouns refer to people ( John and child ), places ( store and Italy ), things ( firetruck and pen ), and ideas or concepts ( love and balance ). There are also many categories within nouns. For example, proper nouns name a specific person, place, thing, or idea. These types of nouns are always capitalized.

Olivia is turning five in a few days.

My dream is to visit Tokyo .

The Supreme Court is the highest court in the United States.

Some argue that Buddhism is a way of life, not a religion.

On the other hand, common nouns are not specific to any particular entity and are used to refer to any member of a general category.

My teacher is the smartest, most caring person I know!

I love roaming around a city I’ve never been to before.

This is my favorite book , which was recommended to me by my father.

There’s nothing more important to me than love .

Nouns can be either singular or plural. Singular nouns refer to a single entity, while plural nouns refer to multiple entities.

Can you move that chair out of the way, please? (Singular)

Can you move those chairs out of the way, please? (Plural)

While many plural nouns are formed by adding an “–s” or “–es,” others have irregular plural forms, meaning they don’t follow the typical pattern.

There was one woman waiting in line.

There were several women waiting in line.

Nouns can also be countable or uncountable . Those that are countable refer to nouns that can be counted as individual units. For example, there can be one book, two books, three books, or more. Uncountable nouns cannot be counted as individual units. Take the word water as an example. You could say I drank some water, but it would be incorrect to say I drank waters. Instead, you would say something like I drank several bottles of water.

What Are Pronouns?

A pronoun is a word that can take the place of other nouns or noun phrases. Pronouns serve the purpose of referring to nouns without having to repeat the word each time. A word (or group of words) that a pronoun refers to is called the antecedent .

Jessica went to the store, and she bought some blueberries.

In the sentence above, Jessica is the antecedent, and she is the referring pronoun. Here’s the same sentence without the proper use of a pronoun:

Jessica went to the store, and Jessica bought some blueberries.

Do you see how the use of a pronoun improves the sentence by avoiding repetitiveness?

Like all the other parts of speech we have covered, pronouns also have various categories.

Personal pronouns replace specific people or things: I, me, you, he, she, him, her, it, we, us, they, them.

When I saw them at the airport, I waved my hands up in the air so they could see me .

Possessive pronouns indicate ownership : mine, ours, yours, his, hers, theirs, whose.

I think that phone is hers .

Reflexive pronouns refer to the subject of a sentence or clause. They are used when the subject and the object of a sentence refer to the same person or thing: myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves.

The iguanas sunned themselves on the roof of my car.

Intensive pronouns have the same form as reflexive pronouns and are used to emphasize or intensify the subject of a sentence.

I will take care of this situation myself .

Indefinite pronouns do not refer to specific individuals or objects but rather to a general or unspecified person, thing, or group. Some examples include someone, everybody, anything, nobody, each, something, and all.

Everybody enjoyed the party. Someone even said it was the best party they had ever attended.

Demonstrative pronouns are used to identify or point to specific pronouns: this, that, these, those.

Can you pick up those pens off the floor?

Interrogative pronouns are used to ask questions and seek information: who, whom, whose, which, what.

Who can help move these heavy boxes?

Relative pronouns connect a clause or a phrase to a noun or pronoun: who, whom, whose, which, that, what, whoever, whichever, whatever.

Christina, who is the hiring manager, is the person whom you should get in touch with.

Reciprocal pronouns are used to refer to individual parts of a plural antecedent. They indicate a mutual or reciprocal relationship between two or more people or things: each other or one another.

The cousins always giggle and share secrets with one another .

What Are Adjectives?

Adjectives modify nouns or pronouns, usually by describing, identifying, or quantifying them. They play a vital role in adding detail, precision, and imagery to English, allowing us to depict and differentiate the qualities of people, objects, places, and ideas.

The blue house sticks out compared to the other neutral-colored ones. (Describes)

That house is pretty, but I don’t like the color. (Identifies)

There were several houses I liked, but the blue one was unique. (Quantifies)

We should note that identifying or quantifying adjectives are also referred to as determiners. Additionally, articles ( a, an, the ) and numerals ( four or third ) are also used to quantify and identify adjectives.

Descriptive adjectives have other forms (known as comparative and superlative adjectives ) that allow for comparisons. For example, the comparative of the word small is smaller, while the superlative is smallest.

Proper adjectives (which are derived from proper nouns) describe specific nouns. They usually retain the same spelling or are slightly modified, but they’re always capitalized. For example, the proper noun France can be turned into the proper adjective French.

What Are Adverbs?

Adverbs are words that modify or describe verbs, adjectives, other adverbs, or entire clauses. Although many adverbs end in “–ly,” not all of them do. Also, some words that end in “–ly” are adjectives, not adverbs ( lovely ).

She dances beautifully .

In the sentence above, beautifully modifies the verb dances.

We visited an extremely tall building.

Here, the adverb extremely modifies the adjective tall.

He had to run very quickly to not miss the train.

The adverb very modifies the adverb quickly.

Interestingly , the experiment yielded unexpected results that left us baffled.

In this example, the word interestingly modifies the independent clause that comprises the rest of the sentence (which is why they’re called sentence adverbs ).

Like adjectives, adverbs can also have other forms when making comparisons. For example:

strongly, more strongly, most strongly, less strongly, least strongly

What Are Prepositions?

Prepositions provide context and establish relationships between nouns, pronouns, and other words in a sentence. They indicate time, location, direction, manner, and other vital information. Prepositions can fall into several subcategories. For instance, on can indicate physical location, but it can also be used to express time.

Place the bouquet of roses on the table.

We will meet on Monday.

There are many prepositions. A few examples include: about, above, across, after, before, behind, beneath, beside, during, except, for, from, in, inside, into, like, near, of, off, onto, past, regarding, since, through, toward, under, until, with, without.

Prepositions can contain more than one word, like according to and with regard to.

What Are Conjunctions?

Conjunctions are words that join words, phrases, or clauses together within a sentence and provide information about the relationship between those words. There are different types of conjunctions.

Coordinating conjunctions connect words, phrases, or clauses of equal importance: and, but, for, not, or, so, yet.

I like to sing, and she likes to dance.

Correlative conjunctions come in pairs and join balanced elements of a sentence: both…and, just as…so, not only…but also, either…or, neither…nor, whether…or.

You can either come with us and have fun, or stay at home and be bored.

Subordinating conjunctions connect dependent clauses to independent clauses. A few examples include: after, although, even though, since, unless, until, when , and while.

They had a great time on their stroll, even though it started raining and they got soaked.

Conjunctive adverbs are adverbs that function as conjunctions, connecting independent clauses or sentences. Examples of conjunctive adverbs are also, anyway, besides, however, meanwhile, nevertheless, otherwise, similarly, and therefore .

I really wanted to go to the party. However , I was feeling sick and decided to stay in.

I really wanted to go to the party; however , I was feeling sick and decided to stay in.

What Are Interjections?

Interjections are words that express strong emotions, sudden reactions, or exclamations. This part of speech is usually a standalone word or phrase, but even when it is part of a sentence, it does not relate grammatically to the rest of .

There are several interjections. Examples include: ahh, alas, bravo, eww, hello, please, thanks, and oops.

Ahh ! I couldn’t believe what was happening.

When it comes to improving your writing skills, understanding the parts of speech is as important as adding other ingredients besides lettuce to a salad.

The information provided above is indeed extensive, but it’s critical to learn if you want to write effectively and confidently. LanguageTool—a multilingual writing assistant—makes comprehending the parts of speech easy by detecting errors as you write.

Give it a try—it’s free!

Unleash the Professional Writer in You With LanguageTool

Go well beyond grammar and spell checking. Impress with clear, precise, and stylistically flawless writing instead.

Works on All Your Favorite Services

Thunderbird
Google Docs
Microsoft Word
Open Office
Libre Office

We Value Your Feedback

We’ve made a mistake, forgotten about an important detail, or haven’t managed to get the point across? Let’s help each other to perfect our writing.

Parts of Speech: A Super Simple Grammar Guide with Examples

Parts of speech are categories of words that perform similar grammatical roles in phrase and sentence structures. But what exactly are the different parts of speech and how do you know which words correspond to different grammatical categories? This article will explain parts of speech and how to identify, modify, and use them in simple and complex sentences. Let’s get started!

Parts of Speech

In the English language there are various parts of speech which are put together in order to form a sentence. Without these, the language would never be able to function.

What Are Parts Of Speech?

Parts of speech are word categories that are defined by the grammatical roles they play in sentence structures. The categories of words are organized by the grammatical functions and meanings they produce and convey.

In the English language, there are around ten common parts of speech. These include nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, prepositions, conjunctions, interjections, determiners, and articles.

Open and Closed Word Classes

Closed word classes are parts of speech that are consistent and do not have newer words introduced to them over time. These include pronouns, conjunctions, determiners, and prepositions.

Open word classes are parts of speech that have newer words introduced to them over time. These include nouns, verbs, adjectives, interjections, and adverbs.

Different Parts of Speech (with Examples)

In this section, we are going to look a little more closely at the various parts of speech such as the verb, the noun, and the adjective, amongst others. This will allow us to gain a better understanding of how a sentence is formed and how the various parts of speech work.

The Noun (n.)

A noun is a word that gives a name to something, in some cases, you might hear them referred to as a ‘naming word.’ There are various different subcategories of nouns such as the proper noun, the collective noun, the possessive noun, and the common noun. Each one of these serves a different purpose, let’s look at this a little more closely.

Jeffrey, Korea, pen, New Year, dog, cat, elephant, garden, school, work, music, town, Manila, teacher, farmer, Bob, Sean, Michael, police officer, France, coffee, football, danger, happiness…

Example sentences:

The teacher told the children to stop chattering in class.
John is good at French but weak at History .

The Common Noun

A common noun is the most simple form of a noun and gives a name to an item.

Here is a cup .
Do you want a cake ?

The Proper Noun

The proper noun is used to name a specific item, for example, the names of places or people or perhaps a movie or song title .

The capital of England is London.
Sarah is beautiful.

The Collective Noun

A collective noun is used to refer to a group of nouns, for example, people or animal groups.

The swarm of bees was headed straight towards our picnic.
At church on Sunday, the choir sings loudly.

The Possessive Noun

A possessive noun is used to show ownership of something, this is done by adding an apostrophe and an s, like in the following examples.

This is my dog’s ball.
That is Sarah’s friend.

The Verb (v.)

A verb is one of the most important parts of speech and is a word that is used to describe an action. There are three main types of verbs which are detailed below.

Walk , is , seem , realize , run , see , swim, stand, go, have, get, promise, invite, listen, sing, sit, laugh, walk…

Verb example sentences:

Don’t try to run before you can walk .
Did you kiss anybody?
Leave me alone!

The Action Verb

An action verb does exactly what you might expect, it describes an action.

The man walked down the street.
I laughed at his joke.
She ran to catch the bus before it left.
The chef chopped the vegetables into small pieces for the salad.

The Linking Verb

A linking verb connects the subject of a sentence to a noun, adjective, or pronoun that describes or renames it. It does not show action, but rather links or connects the subject to a complement.

Sarah feels cold.
I am very tired.
The flowers in the garden are blooming beautifully in the spring.
The soup smells delicious and makes my mouth water.

The Modal Verb

A modal verb is used to ‘help’ the main verb and can show the speaker’s thoughts or attitude about what they are saying. For example, words such as might, must, could and can are all modal verbs.

I might walk to the park this afternoon.
He can eat the last slice of cake.
You must listen to me!

The Pronoun (pron.)

A pronoun replaces a noun, and once again there are various types of pronouns within the English language. Each one is used differently, let’s take a look at some examples of this.

I , me , we , you , he , she , yours , himself, its, my, that, this, those, us, who, whom

Pronoun example sentences:

Richard isn’t at work this week; he ‘s gone on holiday.
Don’t tell her the truth.
She tried it herself .
You can’t blame him for everything .
The woman who called yesterday wants to buy the house.

The Reflexive Pronoun

A reflexive pronoun is used to refer to self, for example, myself, yourself, or themselves.

I am going to keep this last cupcake for myself.
Peter always puts himself first.

The Indefinite Pronoun

The indefinite pronoun is used to refer to a non-specific person or item, you might see words such as anything, nothing, few, everyone or all.

Can you take all ?
I need to speak to someone about this rash on my arm.

The Possessive Pronoun

Possessive pronouns are used to show ownership or possession of a noun or object. They replace a noun phrase and indicate who owns or possesses the noun or object, for example, yours, mine, or theirs.

This bag is not yours, it’s mine.
Her book is so new, while his looks are vintage.

The Relative Pronoun

A relative pronoun is used to introduce an adjective clause. You might recognize these as words such as who, which, that, or whose.

This is the woman who will be working with you.
Is this the book that everyone is raving about?

The Adjective (adj.)

An adjective is a word that describes a noun or pronoun, there are thousands of adjectives within the English language.

Beautiful , seven , cute , second , tall , blue, angry, brave, careful, healthy, little, old, generous, red, smart, two, small, tall, some, good, big, useful, interesting…

Brown dog, red car, tall boy, fat cat, big garden.

Adjective example sentences:

This is a blue car.
The small squirrel ran up the tree.
During the thunderstorm, we saw some heavy rain.
My mother has short hair.
The documentary on TV last night was very interesting.
My son has an impressive collection of toy soldiers.
The weather is hot and sunny today.
My vacation was exciting .
The leaves on that tree are green and large.

The Adverb (adv.)

An adverb is used to modify, or further explain an adjective, verb, or another adverb. They can add more information to a sentence making it clearer and easier for the listener to imagine what is being described in detail. Most of the time, adverbs will end in the letters -ly but there are some exceptions to this rule such as the words “very” and “never”.

Neatly , tomorrow , very, badly, fully, carefully, hardly, nearly, hungrily, never, quickly, silently, well, really, almost…

Adverb example sentences:

This is an extremely attractive photograph.
I have a very large pet dog.
My car drives quickly.
When I am running late for work, I eat my breakfast rapidly.
The boy is crying loudly.
She carefully preserved all his letters.

Determiners and Articles

Determiners and articles are parts of speech that are used with nouns or noun phrases to clarify them. They are usually placed in front of nouns (or noun phrases) and can help specify their identity, quantity, distance (from the speaker), or specific number (among other things).

Determiners

Determiners are a part of speech that are placed in front of nouns to clarify their reference. They include categories such as:

Articles – a, an, the
Numbers – two, eight, ninety-nine
Pronouns and possessive determiners – his, her, its, your, my, their, our
Difference determiners – other, the other, another
Demonstratives – these, those, that, this
Quantifiers – a little, a few, much, many, some, any, enough, most
Distributives – half, both, every, each, all, neither, either
Pre-determiners – quite, such, rather, what.

Articles are a sub-category of determiners that serve as a type of adjective to identify nouns. They may be:

Definitive – which indicates that the noun’s identity is already known to the audience. The word the would be a definitive article because it indicates a noun that is already known to the reader/audience (“I am going to sit in the chair.”), or
Indefinite – indicates an unfamiliar noun, or references a noun for the first time, or shows a noun belongs to a certain class of objects. The words a and an are considered indefinite articles (“I am going to sit in a chair.”, “You are an accountant.”, or “I was born on a Thursday.”).

The Conjunction (conj.)

A conjunction is used as a way of joining two or more ideas or words together. Most commonly you will see the words for, and, not, but, or, yet and so used as a conjunction.

And , however , still , but, or, so, after, since, before, either, neither, because, unless…

Conjunction example sentences:

My boyfriend and I are going on a date.
I will go to the shop but not before I have had something to eat.
This is a gift for my friend.
I was tired yet I still went to the gym.

The Preposition (prep.)

A preposition is used in English to show a relationship between two words or phrases. You might recognize a preposition as being words such as in, before, on, at, to, between etc.

In , on , at , about , according to , after , along, above, except, from, near, of, before, since, between, upon, with, to, after, toward…

Preposition example sentences:

The cat is sitting on the wall.
I am going to the salon after my dinner.
The boy ran along the street for an hour.
You will find the theatre in the town center.
I saw that news in the newspapers.

The Interjection (interj.)

An interjection could also be thought of as an exclamation. They are used to emotion, reaction or excitement and have no grammatical link to anything else within the sentence they appear.

Ahem!, aha!, gosh!, aw!, great!, hey!, hi!, hooray !, oh!, yeah!, oops!, phew!, eh!, oh!, ouch!, hi!, well!…

Interjection examples in sentences:

Phew! That was a close call.
Wow! Did you see how big that bird was?
Oh, I forgot to tell you that I saw your father last week.
Hooray! You passed your exam!
Well , what did he say?
Yeah ! She’s going with us tonight!

How To Determine A Part Of Speech In A Sentence

In order to determine a part of speech in a sentence, look at the word being used, its context, and what meanings it brings to the sentence structure. Here are some questions you can ask about a particular word in a sentence in order to figure out what part of speech it is:

Is it a person, place, idea, name, or thing? It is a noun .
Is the word used in place of a noun? It is a pronoun .
Does the word convey an action, occurrence, or state of being? It is a verb .
Does the word modify a noun? It is an adjective .
Does the word modify a verb, adjective, or itself? It is an adverb .
Is the word placed in front of a noun to form a modifying phrase? It is a preposition .
Does the word link a phrase or clause? It is a conjunction .
Is the word a quick expression of emotion? It is an interjection .
Is the word placed before a noun to clarify it? It is a determiner or an article, as explained above.

Parts of Speech and Sentence Construction

In sentence construction, parts of speech are present in what are known as the clauses of sentences. Clauses are groups of words that have a subject and a verb. The verb is also part of an entire verb phrase known as a predicate .

Simple/Basic Sentences

In its simplest form, a sentence can have one independent clause .

For example, the sentence “I walk to the store” contains one clause.

“I” is the subject of the clause, while “walk” is the verb.
The ending phrase, “walk to the store” would be the verb phrase, or predicate , of the sentence.

This entire sentence “I walk to the store” is an independent clause, expresses one subject doing one action — and is known as a simple sentence .

Knowing this, apply the fact that nouns and pronouns will often be the subjects or objects of simple sentences , while verbs will convey actions. So once again:

I (subject, pronoun) walk (verb) to (preposition) the (article) store (object, noun).

Complex Sentences

Complex sentences contain an independent clause and one or more dependent clauses. These sentences use conjunctions such as because, since, which, or who to connect clauses. Consider the structure and an example below:

Independent Clause: She reads a book
Dependent Clause: because she wants to learn

By combining these clauses, one forms a complex sentence: She reads a book because she wants to learn.

Other examples of complex sentences:

Although the weather was cold, they decided to go for a hike.
She completed her assignment before she went out with her friends.
When you finish your homework, we can go to the movies.
Because my coffee was too cold, I heated it in the microwave.
If you save your money, you can buy a new bicycle.

Parts of Speech in English | Picture

English Parts of Speech Table Image 2

Parts of Speech: A Super Simple Grammar Guide with Examples 1

Parts of Speech Video

Learn all parts of speech in English with a useful video lesson.

Parts Of Speech Quiz

Here are some Parts Of Speech exercises for you to practice:

A. In the sentence “I ran to the tallest tree”, what part of speech is the word “tallest”?

A preposition
An adjective

B. In the 2000s, the word staycation described the act of staying home for a vacation. Since “staycation” is a noun and a new word, what class of words does it belong to?

The Open word class
The Closed word class
The Infinitive word class

C. In the sentence “I’ll have a few tacos”, what part of speech is the phrase “a few”?

Interjections

Answers: A) 3, B) 1, C) 3

Latest Posts

Active vs. Passive Voice Exercises – Active vs. Passive Voice Worksheet - December 25, 2023
Phrase Exercises – Phrase Worksheet - December 23, 2023
Sentence Exercises – Sentence Worksheet - December 23, 2023

Have a thesis expert improve your writing

Check your thesis for plagiarism in 10 minutes, generate your apa citations for free.

Knowledge Base
Parts of speech

The 8 Parts of Speech | Definition & Examples

A part of speech (also called a word class ) is a category that describes the role a word plays in a sentence. Understanding the different parts of speech can help you analyse how words function in a sentence and improve your writing.

Many words can function as different parts of speech depending on how they are used. For example, ‘laugh’ can be a noun (e.g., ‘I like your laugh’) or a verb (e.g., ‘don’t laugh’).

Instantly correct all language mistakes in your text

Be assured that you'll submit flawless writing. Upload your document to correct all your mistakes.

Prepositions, conjunctions, interjections, other parts of speech, frequently asked questions.

Ella lives in France .

Other types of nouns include countable and uncountable nouns , concrete nouns , abstract nouns , and gerunds .

The only proofreading tool specialized in correcting academic writing

The academic proofreading tool has been trained on 1000s of academic texts and by native English editors. Making it the most accurate and reliable proofreading tool for students.

Correct my document today

That is a horrible painting!

A verb is a word that describes an action (e.g., ‘jump’), occurrence (e.g., ‘become’), or state of being (e.g., ‘exist’). Verbs indicate what the subject of a sentence is doing. Every complete sentence must contain at least one verb.

Verbs can change form depending on subject (e.g., first person singular), tense (e.g., past simple ), mood (e.g., interrogative), and voice (e.g., passive voice ).

Regular verbs are verbs whose simple past and past participle are formed by adding’-ed’ to the end of the word (or ‘-d’ if the word already ends in ‘e’). Irregular verbs are verbs whose simple past and past participles are formed in some other way.

‘I’ve already checked twice’.

‘I heard that you used to sing ‘.

Other types of verbs include auxiliary verbs , linking verbs , modal verbs , and phrasal verbs .

An adjective is a word that describes a noun or pronoun. Adjectives can be attributive , appearing before a noun (e.g., ‘a red hat’), or predicative , appearing after a noun with the use of a linking verb like ‘to be’ (e.g., ‘the hat is red ‘).

Adjectives can also have a comparative function. Comparative adjectives compare two or more things. Superlative adjectives describe something as having the most or least of a specific characteristic.

Other types of adjectives include coordinate adjectives , participial adjectives , and denominal adjectives .

An adverb is a word that can modify a verb, adjective, adverb, or sentence. Adverbs are often formed by adding ‘-ly’ to the end of an adjective (e.g., ‘slow’ becomes ‘slowly’), although not all adverbs have this ending, and not all words with this ending are adverbs.

Talia writes quite quickly.

Other types of adverbs include adverbs of frequency , adverbs of purpose , focusing adverbs , and adverbial phrases .

A preposition is a word (e.g., ‘at’) or phrase (e.g., ‘on top of’) used to show the relationship between the different parts of a sentence. Prepositions can be used to indicate aspects such as time , place , and direction .

I left the cup on the kitchen counter.

A conjunction is a word used to connect different parts of a sentence (e.g., words, phrases, or clauses).

You can choose what movie we watch because I chose the last time.

Ouch ! I hurt my arm.

I’m, um , not sure.

Determiners

A determiner is a word that describes a noun by indicating quantity, possession, or relative position.

My brother is selling his old car.

Other types of determiners include distributive determiners , determiners of difference , and numbers .

An article is a word that modifies a noun by indicating whether it is specific or general.

The definite article the is used to refer to a specific version of a noun. The can be used with all countable and uncountable nouns (e.g., ‘the door’, ‘the energy’, ‘the mountains’).
The indefinite articles a and an refer to general or unspecific nouns. The indefinite articles can only be used with singular countable nouns (e.g., ‘a poster’, ‘an engine’).

There’s a concert this weekend.

A is an indefinite article (along with an ). While articles can be classed as their own part of speech, they’re also considered a type of determiner .

The indefinite articles are used to introduce nonspecific countable nouns (e.g., ‘a dog’, ‘an island’).

In is primarily classed as a preposition, but it can be classed as various other parts of speech, depending on how it is used:

Preposition (e.g., ‘ in the field’)
Noun (e.g., ‘I have an in with that company’)
Adjective (e.g., ‘Tim is part of the in crowd’)
Adverb (e.g., ‘Will you be in this evening?’)

As a part of speech, and is classed as a conjunction . Specifically, it’s a coordinating conjunction .

And can be used to connect grammatically equal parts of a sentence, such as two nouns (e.g., ‘a cup and plate’), or two adjectives (e.g., ‘strong and smart’). And can also be used to connect phrases and clauses.

Is this article helpful?

Other students also liked, what is a collective noun | examples & definition.

What Is an Adjective? | Definition, Types & Examples

Choose Your Test

Search Blogs By Category
College Admissions
AP and IB Exams
GPA and Coursework

Understanding the 8 Parts of Speech: Definitions and Examples

General Education

If you’re trying to learn the grammatical rules of English, you’ve probably been asked to learn the parts of speech. But what are parts of speech and how many are there? How do you know which words are classified in each part of speech?

The answers to these questions can be a bit complicated—English is a difficult language to learn and understand. Don’t fret, though! We’re going to answer each of these questions for you with a full guide to the parts of speech that explains the following:

What the parts of speech are, including a comprehensive parts of speech list
Parts of speech definitions for the individual parts of speech. (If you’re looking for information on a specific part of speech, you can search for it by pressing Command + F, then typing in the part of speech you’re interested in.)
Parts of speech examples
A ten question quiz covering parts of speech definitions and parts of speech examples

We’ve got a lot to cover, so let’s begin!

Feature Image: (Gavina S / Wikimedia Commons)

What Are Parts of Speech?

The parts of speech definitions in English can vary, but here’s a widely accepted one: a part of speech is a category of words that serve a similar grammatical purpose in sentences.

To make that definition even simpler, a part of speech is just a category for similar types of words . All of the types of words included under a single part of speech function in similar ways when they’re used properly in sentences.

In the English language, it’s commonly accepted that there are 8 parts of speech: nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, conjunctions, interjections, and prepositions. Each of these categories plays a different role in communicating meaning in the English language. Each of the eight parts of speech—which we might also call the “main classes” of speech—also have subclasses. In other words, we can think of each of the eight parts of speech as being general categories for different types within their part of speech . There are different types of nouns, different types of verbs, different types of adjectives, adverbs, pronouns...you get the idea.

And that’s an overview of what a part of speech is! Next, we’ll explain each of the 8 parts of speech—definitions and examples included for each category.

There are tons of nouns in this picture. Can you find them all?

Nouns are a class of words that refer, generally, to people and living creatures, objects, events, ideas, states of being, places, and actions. You’ve probably heard English nouns referred to as “persons, places, or things.” That definition is a little simplistic, though—while nouns do include people, places, and things, “things” is kind of a vague term. I t’s important to recognize that “things” can include physical things—like objects or belongings—and nonphysical, abstract things—like ideas, states of existence, and actions.

Since there are many different types of nouns, we’ll include several examples of nouns used in a sentence while we break down the subclasses of nouns next!

Subclasses of Nouns, Including Examples

As an open class of words, the category of “nouns” has a lot of subclasses. The most common and important subclasses of nouns are common nouns, proper nouns, concrete nouns, abstract nouns, collective nouns, and count and mass nouns. Let’s break down each of these subclasses!

Common Nouns and Proper Nouns

Common nouns are generic nouns—they don’t name specific items. They refer to people (the man, the woman), living creatures (cat, bird), objects (pen, computer, car), events (party, work), ideas (culture, freedom), states of being (beauty, integrity), and places (home, neighborhood, country) in a general way.

Proper nouns are sort of the counterpart to common nouns. Proper nouns refer to specific people, places, events, or ideas. Names are the most obvious example of proper nouns, like in these two examples:

Common noun: What state are you from?

Proper noun: I’m from Arizona .

Whereas “state” is a common noun, Arizona is a proper noun since it refers to a specific state. Whereas “the election” is a common noun, “Election Day” is a proper noun. Another way to pick out proper nouns: the first letter is often capitalized. If you’d capitalize the word in a sentence, it’s almost always a proper noun.

Concrete Nouns and Abstract Nouns

Concrete nouns are nouns that can be identified through the five senses. Concrete nouns include people, living creatures, objects, and places, since these things can be sensed in the physical world. In contrast to concrete nouns, abstract nouns are nouns that identify ideas, qualities, concepts, experiences, or states of being. Abstract nouns cannot be detected by the five senses. Here’s an example of concrete and abstract nouns used in a sentence:

Concrete noun: Could you please fix the weedeater and mow the lawn ?

Abstract noun: Aliyah was delighted to have the freedom to enjoy the art show in peace .

See the difference? A weedeater and the lawn are physical objects or things, and freedom and peace are not physical objects, though they’re “things” people experience! Despite those differences, they all count as nouns.

Collective Nouns, Count Nouns, and Mass Nouns

Nouns are often categorized based on number and amount. Collective nouns are nouns that refer to a group of something—often groups of people or a type of animal. Team , crowd , and herd are all examples of collective nouns.

Count nouns are nouns that can appear in the singular or plural form, can be modified by numbers, and can be described by quantifying determiners (e.g. many, most, more, several). For example, “bug” is a count noun. It can occur in singular form if you say, “There is a bug in the kitchen,” but it can also occur in the plural form if you say, “There are many bugs in the kitchen.” (In the case of the latter, you’d call an exterminator...which is an example of a common noun!) Any noun that can accurately occur in one of these singular or plural forms is a count noun.

Mass nouns are another type of noun that involve numbers and amount. Mass nouns are nouns that usually can’t be pluralized, counted, or quantified and still make sense grammatically. “Charisma” is an example of a mass noun (and an abstract noun!). For example, you could say, “They’ve got charisma, ” which doesn’t imply a specific amount. You couldn’t say, “They’ve got six charismas, ” or, “They’ve got several charismas .” It just doesn’t make sense!

Verbs are all about action...just like these runners.

A verb is a part of speech that, when used in a sentence, communicates an action, an occurrence, or a state of being . In sentences, verbs are the most important part of the predicate, which explains or describes what the subject of the sentence is doing or how they are being. And, guess what? All sentences contain verbs!

There are many words in the English language that are classified as verbs. A few common verbs include the words run, sing, cook, talk, and clean. These words are all verbs because they communicate an action performed by a living being. We’ll look at more specific examples of verbs as we discuss the subclasses of verbs next!

Subclasses of Verbs, Including Examples

Like nouns, verbs have several subclasses. The subclasses of verbs include copular or linking verbs, intransitive verbs, transitive verbs, and ditransitive or double transitive verbs. Let’s dive into these subclasses of verbs!

Copular or Linking Verbs

Copular verbs, or linking verbs, are verbs that link a subject with its complement in a sentence. The most familiar linking verb is probably be. Here’s a list of other common copular verbs in English: act, be, become, feel, grow, seem, smell, and taste.

So how do copular verbs work? Well, in a sentence, if we said, “Michi is ,” and left it at that, it wouldn’t make any sense. “Michi,” the subject, needs to be connected to a complement by the copular verb “is.” Instead, we could say, “Michi is leaving.” In that instance, is links the subject of the sentence to its complement.

Transitive Verbs, Intransitive Verbs, and Ditransitive Verbs

Transitive verbs are verbs that affect or act upon an object. When unattached to an object in a sentence, a transitive verb does not make sense. Here’s an example of a transitive verb attached to (and appearing before) an object in a sentence:

Please take the clothes to the dry cleaners.

In this example, “take” is a transitive verb because it requires an object—”the clothes”—to make sense. “The clothes” are the objects being taken. “Please take” wouldn’t make sense by itself, would it? That’s because the transitive verb “take,” like all transitive verbs, transfers its action onto another being or object.

Conversely, intransitive verbs don’t require an object to act upon in order to make sense in a sentence. These verbs make sense all on their own! For instance, “They ran ,” “We arrived ,” and, “The car stopped ” are all examples of sentences that contain intransitive verbs.

Finally, ditransitive verbs, or double transitive verbs, are a bit more complicated. Ditransitive verbs are verbs that are followed by two objects in a sentence . One of the objects has the action of the ditransitive verb done to it, and the other object has the action of the ditransitive verb directed towards it. Here’s an example of what that means in a sentence:

I cooked Nathan a meal.

In this example, “cooked” is a ditransitive verb because it modifies two objects: Nathan and meal . The meal has the action of “cooked” done to it, and “Nathan” has the action of the verb directed towards him.

Adjectives are descriptors that help us better understand a sentence. A common adjective type is color.

#3: Adjectives

Here’s the simplest definition of adjectives: adjectives are words that describe other words . Specifically, adjectives modify nouns and noun phrases. In sentences, adjectives appear before nouns and pronouns (they have to appear before the words they describe!).

Adjectives give more detail to nouns and pronouns by describing how a noun looks, smells, tastes, sounds, or feels, or its state of being or existence. . For example, you could say, “The girl rode her bike.” That sentence doesn’t have any adjectives in it, but you could add an adjective before both of the nouns in the sentence—”girl” and “bike”—to give more detail to the sentence. It might read like this: “The young girl rode her red bike.” You can pick out adjectives in a sentence by asking the following questions:

Which one?
What kind?
How many?
Whose’s?

We’ll look at more examples of adjectives as we explore the subclasses of adjectives next!

Subclasses of Adjectives, Including Examples

Subclasses of adjectives include adjective phrases, comparative adjectives, superlative adjectives, and determiners (which include articles, possessive adjectives, and demonstratives).

Adjective Phrases

An adjective phrase is a group of words that describe a noun or noun phrase in a sentence. Adjective phrases can appear before the noun or noun phrase in a sentence, like in this example:

The extremely fragile vase somehow did not break during the move.

In this case, extremely fragile describes the vase. On the other hand, adjective phrases can appear after the noun or noun phrase in a sentence as well:

The museum was somewhat boring.

Again, the phrase somewhat boring describes the museum. The takeaway is this: adjective phrases describe the subject of a sentence with greater detail than an individual adjective.

Comparative Adjectives and Superlative Adjectives

Comparative adjectives are used in sentences where two nouns are compared. They function to compare the differences between the two nouns that they modify. In sentences, comparative adjectives often appear in this pattern and typically end with -er. If we were to describe how comparative adjectives function as a formula, it might look something like this:

Noun (subject) + verb + comparative adjective + than + noun (object).

Here’s an example of how a comparative adjective would work in that type of sentence:

The horse was faster than the dog.

The adjective faster compares the speed of the horse to the speed of the dog. Other common comparative adjectives include words that compare distance ( higher, lower, farther ), age ( younger, older ), size and dimensions ( bigger, smaller, wider, taller, shorter ), and quality or feeling ( better, cleaner, happier, angrier ).

Superlative adjectives are adjectives that describe the extremes of a quality that applies to a subject being compared to a group of objects . Put more simply, superlative adjectives help show how extreme something is. In sentences, superlative adjectives usually appear in this structure and end in -est :

Noun (subject) + verb + the + superlative adjective + noun (object).

Here’s an example of a superlative adjective that appears in that type of sentence:

Their story was the funniest story.

In this example, the subject— story —is being compared to a group of objects—other stories. The superlative adjective “funniest” implies that this particular story is the funniest out of all the stories ever, period. Other common superlative adjectives are best, worst, craziest, and happiest... though there are many more than that!

It’s also important to know that you can often omit the object from the end of the sentence when using superlative adjectives, like this: “Their story was the funniest.” We still know that “their story” is being compared to other stories without the object at the end of the sentence.

Determiners

The last subclass of adjectives we want to look at are determiners. Determiners are words that determine what kind of reference a noun or noun phrase makes. These words are placed in front of nouns to make it clear what the noun is referring to. Determiners are an example of a part of speech subclass that contains a lot of subclasses of its own. Here is a list of the different types of determiners:

Definite article: the
Indefinite articles : a, an
Demonstratives: this, that, these, those
Pronouns and possessive determiners: my, your, his, her, its, our, their
Quantifiers : a little, a few, many, much, most, some, any, enough
Numbers: one, twenty, fifty
Distributives: all, both, half, either, neither, each, every
Difference words : other, another
Pre-determiners: such, what, rather, quite

Here are some examples of how determiners can be used in sentences:

Definite article: Get in the car.

Demonstrative: Could you hand me that magazine?

Possessive determiner: Please put away your clothes.

Distributive: He ate all of the pie.

Though some of the words above might not seem descriptive, they actually do describe the specificity and definiteness, relationship, and quantity or amount of a noun or noun phrase. For example, the definite article “the” (a type of determiner) indicates that a noun refers to a specific thing or entity. The indefinite article “an,” on the other hand, indicates that a noun refers to a nonspecific entity.

One quick note, since English is always more complicated than it seems: while articles are most commonly classified as adjectives, they can also function as adverbs in specific situations, too. Not only that, some people are taught that determiners are their own part of speech...which means that some people are taught there are 9 parts of speech instead of 8!

It can be a little confusing, which is why we have a whole article explaining how articles function as a part of speech to help clear things up .

Adverbs can be used to answer questions like "when?" and "how long?"

Adverbs are words that modify verbs, adjectives (including determiners), clauses, prepositions, and sentences. Adverbs typically answer the questions how?, in what way?, when?, where?, and to what extent? In answering these questions, adverbs function to express frequency, degree, manner, time, place, and level of certainty . Adverbs can answer these questions in the form of single words, or in the form of adverbial phrases or adverbial clauses.

Adverbs are commonly known for being words that end in -ly, but there’s actually a bit more to adverbs than that, which we’ll dive into while we look at the subclasses of adverbs!

Subclasses Of Adverbs, Including Examples

There are many types of adverbs, but the main subclasses we’ll look at are conjunctive adverbs, and adverbs of place, time, manner, degree, and frequency.

Conjunctive Adverbs

Conjunctive adverbs look like coordinating conjunctions (which we’ll talk about later!), but they are actually their own category: conjunctive adverbs are words that connect independent clauses into a single sentence . These adverbs appear after a semicolon and before a comma in sentences, like in these two examples:

She was exhausted; nevertheless , she went for a five mile run.

They didn’t call; instead , they texted.

Though conjunctive adverbs are frequently used to create shorter sentences using a semicolon and comma, they can also appear at the beginning of sentences, like this:

He chopped the vegetables. Meanwhile, I boiled the pasta.

One thing to keep in mind is that conjunctive adverbs come with a comma. When you use them, be sure to include a comma afterward!

There are a lot of conjunctive adverbs, but some common ones include also, anyway, besides, finally, further, however, indeed, instead, meanwhile, nevertheless, next, nonetheless, now, otherwise, similarly, then, therefore, and thus.

Adverbs of Place, Time, Manner, Degree, and Frequency

There are also adverbs of place, time, manner, degree, and frequency. Each of these types of adverbs express a different kind of meaning.

Adverbs of place express where an action is done or where an event occurs. These are used after the verb, direct object, or at the end of a sentence. A sentence like “She walked outside to watch the sunset” uses outside as an adverb of place.

Adverbs of time explain when something happens. These adverbs are used at the beginning or at the end of sentences. In a sentence like “The game should be over soon,” soon functions as an adverb of time.

Adverbs of manner describe the way in which something is done or how something happens. These are the adverbs that usually end in the familiar -ly. If we were to write “She quickly finished her homework,” quickly is an adverb of manner.

Adverbs of degree tell us the extent to which something happens or occurs. If we were to say “The play was quite interesting,” quite tells us the extent of how interesting the play was. Thus, quite is an adverb of degree.

Finally, adverbs of frequency express how often something happens . In a sentence like “They never know what to do with themselves,” never is an adverb of frequency.

Five subclasses of adverbs is a lot, so we’ve organized the words that fall under each category in a nifty table for you here:

It’s important to know about these subclasses of adverbs because many of them don’t follow the old adage that adverbs end in -ly.

Here's a helpful list of pronouns. (Attanata / Flickr )

#5: Pronouns

Pronouns are words that can be substituted for a noun or noun phrase in a sentence . Pronouns function to make sentences less clunky by allowing people to avoid repeating nouns over and over. For example, if you were telling someone a story about your friend Destiny, you wouldn’t keep repeating their name over and over again every time you referred to them. Instead, you’d use a pronoun—like they or them—to refer to Destiny throughout the story.

Pronouns are typically short words, often only two or three letters long. The most familiar pronouns in the English language are they, she, and he. But these aren’t the only pronouns. There are many more pronouns in English that fall under different subclasses!

Subclasses of Pronouns, Including Examples

There are many subclasses of pronouns, but the most commonly used subclasses are personal pronouns, possessive pronouns, demonstrative pronouns, indefinite pronouns, and interrogative pronouns.

Personal Pronouns

Personal pronouns are probably the most familiar type of pronoun. Personal pronouns include I, me, you, she, her, him, he, we, us, they, and them. These are called personal pronouns because they refer to a person! Personal pronouns can replace specific nouns in sentences, like a person’s name, or refer to specific groups of people, like in these examples:

Did you see Gia pole vault at the track meet? Her form was incredible!

The Cycling Club is meeting up at six. They said they would be at the park.

In both of the examples above, a pronoun stands in for a proper noun to avoid repetitiveness. Her replaces Gia in the first example, and they replaces the Cycling Club in the second example.

(It’s also worth noting that personal pronouns are one of the easiest ways to determine what point of view a writer is using.)

Possessive Pronouns

Possessive pronouns are used to indicate that something belongs to or is the possession of someone. The possessive pronouns fall into two categories: limiting and absolute. In a sentence, absolute possessive pronouns can be substituted for the thing that belongs to a person, and limiting pronouns cannot.

The limiting pronouns are my, your, its, his, her, our, their, and whose, and the absolute pronouns are mine, yours, his, hers, ours, and theirs . Here are examples of a limiting possessive pronoun and absolute possessive pronoun used in a sentence:

Limiting possessive pronoun: Juan is fixing his car.

In the example above, the car belongs to Juan, and his is the limiting possessive pronoun that shows the car belongs to Juan. Now, here’s an example of an absolute pronoun in a sentence:

Absolute possessive pronoun: Did you buy your tickets ? We already bought ours .

In this example, the tickets belong to whoever we is, and in the second sentence, ours is the absolute possessive pronoun standing in for the thing that “we” possess—the tickets.

Demonstrative Pronouns, Interrogative Pronouns, and Indefinite Pronouns

Demonstrative pronouns include the words that, this, these, and those. These pronouns stand in for a noun or noun phrase that has already been mentioned in a sentence or conversation. This and these are typically used to refer to objects or entities that are nearby distance-wise, and that and those usually refer to objects or entities that are farther away. Here’s an example of a demonstrative pronoun used in a sentence:

The books are stacked up in the garage. Can you put those away?

The books have already been mentioned, and those is the demonstrative pronoun that stands in to refer to them in the second sentence above. The use of those indicates that the books aren’t nearby—they’re out in the garage. Here’s another example:

Do you need shoes? Here...you can borrow these.

In this sentence, these refers to the noun shoes. Using the word these tells readers that the shoes are nearby...maybe even on the speaker’s feet!

Indefinite pronouns are used when it isn’t necessary to identify a specific person or thing . The indefinite pronouns are one, other, none, some, anybody, everybody, and no one. Here’s one example of an indefinite pronoun used in a sentence:

Promise you can keep a secret?

Of course. I won’t tell anyone.

In this example, the person speaking in the second two sentences isn’t referring to any particular people who they won’t tell the secret to. They’re saying that, in general, they won’t tell anyone . That doesn’t specify a specific number, type, or category of people who they won’t tell the secret to, which is what makes the pronoun indefinite.

Finally, interrogative pronouns are used in questions, and these pronouns include who, what, which, and whose. These pronouns are simply used to gather information about specific nouns—persons, places, and ideas. Let’s look at two examples of interrogative pronouns used in sentences:

Do you remember which glass was mine?

What time are they arriving?

In the first glass, the speaker wants to know more about which glass belongs to whom. In the second sentence, the speaker is asking for more clarity about a specific time.

Conjunctions hook phrases and clauses together so they fit like pieces of a puzzle.

#6: Conjunctions

Conjunctions are words that are used to connect words, phrases, clauses, and sentences in the English language. This function allows conjunctions to connect actions, ideas, and thoughts as well. Conjunctions are also used to make lists within sentences. (Conjunctions are also probably the most famous part of speech, since they were immortalized in the famous “Conjunction Junction” song from Schoolhouse Rock .)

You’re probably familiar with and, but, and or as conjunctions, but let’s look into some subclasses of conjunctions so you can learn about the array of conjunctions that are out there!

Subclasses of Conjunctions, Including Examples

Coordinating conjunctions, subordinating conjunctions, and correlative conjunctions are three subclasses of conjunctions. Each of these types of conjunctions functions in a different way in sentences!

Coordinating Conjunctions

Coordinating conjunctions are probably the most familiar type of conjunction. These conjunctions include the words for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so (people often recommend using the acronym FANBOYS to remember the seven coordinating conjunctions!).

Coordinating conjunctions are responsible for connecting two independent clauses in sentences, but can also be used to connect two words in a sentence. Here are two examples of coordinating conjunctions that connect two independent clauses in a sentence:

He wanted to go to the movies, but he couldn’t find his car keys.

They put on sunscreen, and they went to the beach.

Next, here are two examples of coordinating conjunctions that connect two words:

Would you like to cook or order in for dinner?

The storm was loud yet refreshing.

The two examples above show that coordinating conjunctions can connect different types of words as well. In the first example, the coordinating conjunction “or” connects two verbs; in the second example, the coordinating conjunction “yet” connects two adjectives.

But wait! Why does the first set of sentences have commas while the second set of sentences doesn’t? When using a coordinating conjunction, put a comma before the conjunction when it’s connecting two complete sentences . Otherwise, there’s no comma necessary.

Subordinating Conjunctions

Subordinating conjunctions are used to link an independent clause to a dependent clause in a sentence. This type of conjunction always appears at the beginning of a dependent clause, which means that subordinating conjunctions can appear at the beginning of a sentence or in the middle of a sentence following an independent clause. (If you’re unsure about what independent and dependent clauses are, be sure to check out our guide to compound sentences.)

Here is an example of a subordinating conjunction that appears at the beginning of a sentence:

Because we were hungry, we ordered way too much food.

Now, here’s an example of a subordinating conjunction that appears in the middle of a sentence, following an independent clause and a comma:

Rakim was scared after the power went out.

See? In the example above, the subordinating conjunction after connects the independent clause Rakim was scared to the dependent clause after the power went out. Subordinating conjunctions include (but are not limited to!) the following words: after, as, because, before, even though, one, since, unless, until, whenever, and while.

Correlative Conjunctions

Finally, correlative conjunctions are conjunctions that come in pairs, like both/and, either/or, and neither/nor. The two correlative conjunctions that come in a pair must appear in different parts of a sentence to make sense— they correlate the meaning in one part of the sentence with the meaning in another part of the sentence . Makes sense, right?

Here are two examples of correlative conjunctions used in a sentence:

We’re either going to the Farmer’s Market or the Natural Grocer’s for our shopping today.

They’re going to have to get dog treats for both Piper and Fudge.

Other pairs of correlative conjunctions include as many/as, not/but, not only/but also, rather/than, such/that, and whether/or.

Interjections are single words that express emotions that end in an exclamation point. Cool!

#7: Interjections

Interjections are words that often appear at the beginning of sentences or between sentences to express emotions or sentiments such as excitement, surprise, joy, disgust, anger, or even pain. Commonly used interjections include wow!, yikes!, ouch!, or ugh! One clue that an interjection is being used is when an exclamation point appears after a single word (but interjections don’t have to be followed by an exclamation point). And, since interjections usually express emotion or feeling, they’re often referred to as being exclamatory. Wow!

Interjections don’t come together with other parts of speech to form bigger grammatical units, like phrases or clauses. There also aren’t strict rules about where interjections should appear in relation to other sentences . While it’s common for interjections to appear before sentences that describe an action or event that the interjection helps explain, interjections can appear after sentences that contain the action they’re describing as well.

Subclasses of Interjections, Including Examples

There are two main subclasses of interjections: primary interjections and secondary interjections. Let’s take a look at these two types of interjections!

Primary Interjections

Primary interjections are single words, like oh!, wow!, or ouch! that don’t enter into the actual structure of a sentence but add to the meaning of a sentence. Here’s an example of how a primary interjection can be used before a sentence to add to the meaning of the sentence that follows it:

Ouch ! I just burned myself on that pan!

While someone who hears, I just burned myself on that pan might assume that the person who said that is now in pain, the interjection Ouch! makes it clear that burning oneself on the pan definitely was painful.

Secondary Interjections

Secondary interjections are words that have other meanings but have evolved to be used like interjections in the English language and are often exclamatory. Secondary interjections can be mixed with greetings, oaths, or swear words. In many cases, the use of secondary interjections negates the original meaning of the word that is being used as an interjection. Let’s look at a couple of examples of secondary interjections here:

Well , look what the cat dragged in!

Heck, I’d help if I could, but I’ve got to get to work.

You probably know that the words well and heck weren’t originally used as interjections in the English language. Well originally meant that something was done in a good or satisfactory way, or that a person was in good health. Over time and through repeated usage, it’s come to be used as a way to express emotion, such as surprise, anger, relief, or resignation, like in the example above.

This is a handy list of common prepositional phrases. (attanatta / Flickr)

#8: Prepositions

The last part of speech we’re going to define is the preposition. Prepositions are words that are used to connect other words in a sentence—typically nouns and verbs—and show the relationship between those words. Prepositions convey concepts such as comparison, position, place, direction, movement, time, possession, and how an action is completed.

Subclasses of Prepositions, Including Examples

The subclasses of prepositions are simple prepositions, double prepositions, participle prepositions, and prepositional phrases.

Simple Prepositions

Simple prepositions appear before and between nouns, adjectives, or adverbs in sentences to convey relationships between people, living creatures, things, or places . Here are a couple of examples of simple prepositions used in sentences:

I’ll order more ink before we run out.

Your phone was beside your wallet.

In the first example, the preposition before appears between the noun ink and the personal pronoun we to convey a relationship. In the second example, the preposition beside appears between the verb was and the possessive pronoun your.

In both examples, though, the prepositions help us understand how elements in the sentence are related to one another. In the first sentence, we know that the speaker currently has ink but needs more before it’s gone. In the second sentence, the preposition beside helps us understand how the wallet and the phone are positioned relative to one another!

Double Prepositions

Double prepositions are exactly what they sound like: two prepositions joined together into one unit to connect phrases, nouns, and pronouns with other words in a sentence. Common examples of double prepositions include outside of, because of, according to, next to, across from, and on top of. Here is an example of a double preposition in a sentence:

I thought you were sitting across from me.

You see? Across and from both function as prepositions individually. When combined together in a sentence, they create a double preposition. (Also note that the prepositions help us understand how two people— you and I— are positioned with one another through spacial relationship.)

Prepositional Phrases

Finally, prepositional phrases are groups of words that include a preposition and a noun or pronoun. Typically, the noun or pronoun that appears after the preposition in a prepositional phrase is called the object of the preposition. The object always appears at the end of the prepositional phrase. Additionally, prepositional phrases never include a verb or a subject. Here are two examples of prepositional phrases:

The cat sat under the chair .

In the example above, “under” is the preposition, and “the chair” is the noun, which functions as the object of the preposition. Here’s one more example:

We walked through the overgrown field .

Now, this example demonstrates one more thing you need to know about prepositional phrases: they can include an adjective before the object. In this example, “through” is the preposition, and “field” is the object. “Overgrown” is an adjective that modifies “the field,” and it’s quite common for adjectives to appear in prepositional phrases like the one above.

While that might sound confusing, don’t worry: the key is identifying the preposition in the first place! Once you can find the preposition, you can start looking at the words around it to see if it forms a compound preposition, a double preposition of a prepositional phrase.

10 Question Quiz: Test Your Knowledge of Parts of Speech Definitions and Examples

Since we’ve covered a lot of material about the 8 parts of speech with examples ( a lot of them!), we want to give you an opportunity to review and see what you’ve learned! While it might seem easier to just use a parts of speech finder instead of learning all this stuff, our parts of speech quiz can help you continue building your knowledge of the 8 parts of speech and master each one.

Are you ready? Here we go:

1) What are the 8 parts of speech?

a) Noun, article, adverb, antecedent, verb, adjective, conjunction, interjection b) Noun, pronoun, verb, adverb, determiner, clause, adjective, preposition c) Noun, verb, adjective, adverb, pronoun, conjunction, interjection, preposition

2) Which parts of speech have subclasses?

a) Nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs b) Nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, conjunctions, and prepositions c) All of them! There are many types of words within each part of speech.

3) What is the difference between common nouns and proper nouns?

a) Common nouns don’t refer to specific people, places, or entities, but proper nouns do refer to specific people, places, or entities. b) Common nouns refer to regular, everyday people, places, or entities, but proper nouns refer to famous people, places, or entities. c) Common nouns refer to physical entities, like people, places, and objects, but proper nouns refer to nonphysical entities, like feelings, ideas, and experiences.

4) In which of the following sentences is the emboldened word a verb?

a) He was frightened by the horror film . b) He adjusted his expectations after the first plan fell through. c) She walked briskly to get there on time.

5) Which of the following is a correct definition of adjectives, and what other part of speech do adjectives modify?

a) Adjectives are describing words, and they modify nouns and noun phrases. b) Adjectives are describing words, and they modify verbs and adverbs. c) Adjectives are describing words, and they modify nouns, verbs, and adverbs.

6) Which of the following describes the function of adverbs in sentences?

a) Adverbs express frequency, degree, manner, time, place, and level of certainty. b) Adverbs express an action performed by a subject. c) Adverbs describe nouns and noun phrases.

7) Which of the following answers contains a list of personal pronouns?

a) This, that, these, those b) I, you, me, we, he, she, him, her, they, them c) Who, what, which, whose

8) Where do interjections typically appear in a sentence?

a) Interjections can appear at the beginning of or in between sentences. b) Interjections appear at the end of sentences. c) Interjections appear in prepositional phrases.

9) Which of the following sentences contains a prepositional phrase?

a) The dog happily wagged his tail. b) The cow jumped over the moon. c) She glared, angry that he forgot the flowers.

10) Which of the following is an accurate definition of a “part of speech”?

a) A category of words that serve a similar grammatical purpose in sentences. b) A category of words that are of similar length and spelling. c) A category of words that mean the same thing.

So, how did you do? If you got 1C, 2C, 3A, 4B, 5A, 6A, 7B, 8A, 9B, and 10A, you came out on top! There’s a lot to remember where the parts of speech are concerned, and if you’re looking for more practice like our quiz, try looking around for parts of speech games or parts of speech worksheets online!

What’s Next?

You might be brushing up on your grammar so you can ace the verbal portions of the SAT or ACT. Be sure you check out our guides to the grammar you need to know before you tackle those tests! Here’s our expert guide to the grammar rules you need to know for the SAT , and this article teaches you the 14 grammar rules you’ll definitely see on the ACT.

When you have a good handle on parts of speech, it can make writing essays tons easier. Learn how knowing parts of speech can help you get a perfect 12 on the ACT Essay (or an 8/8/8 on the SAT Essay ).

While we’re on the topic of grammar: keep in mind that knowing grammar rules is only part of the battle when it comes to the verbal and written portions of the SAT and ACT. Having a good vocabulary is also important to making the perfect score ! Here are 262 vocabulary words you need to know before you tackle your standardized tests.

Trending Now

How to Get Into Harvard and the Ivy League

How to Get a Perfect 4.0 GPA

How to Write an Amazing College Essay

What Exactly Are Colleges Looking For?

ACT vs. SAT: Which Test Should You Take?

When should you take the SAT or ACT?

Get Your Free

Find Your Target SAT Score

Free Complete Official SAT Practice Tests

How to Get a Perfect SAT Score, by an Expert Full Scorer

Score 800 on SAT Math

Score 800 on SAT Reading and Writing

How to Improve Your Low SAT Score

Score 600 on SAT Math

Score 600 on SAT Reading and Writing

Find Your Target ACT Score

Complete Official Free ACT Practice Tests

How to Get a Perfect ACT Score, by a 36 Full Scorer

Get a 36 on ACT English

Get a 36 on ACT Math

Get a 36 on ACT Reading

Get a 36 on ACT Science

How to Improve Your Low ACT Score

Get a 24 on ACT English

Get a 24 on ACT Math

Get a 24 on ACT Reading

Get a 24 on ACT Science

Stay Informed

Get the latest articles and test prep tips!

Ashley Sufflé Robinson has a Ph.D. in 19th Century English Literature. As a content writer for PrepScholar, Ashley is passionate about giving college-bound students the in-depth information they need to get into the school of their dreams.

Ask a Question Below

Have any questions about this article or other topics? Ask below and we'll reply!

Parts of Speech

What is a Part of Speech?

We can categorize English words into 9 basic types called "parts of speech" or "word classes". It's quite important to recognize parts of speech. This helps you to analyze sentences and understand them. It also helps you to construct good sentences.

Parts of Speech Table

Parts of speech examples.

Parts of Speech Quiz

This is a summary of the 9 parts of speech*. You can find more detail if you click on each part of speech.

function or "job"	example words	example sentences
action or state	(to) be, have, do, like, work, sing, can, must	EnglishClub a website. I EnglishClub.
thing or person	pen, dog, work, music, town, London, teacher, John	This is my . He lives in my . We live in .
describes a noun	good, big, red, well, interesting	My dogs are . I like dogs.
limits or "determines" a noun	a/an, the, 2, some, many	I have dogs and rabbits.
describes a verb, adjective or adverb	quickly, silently, well, badly, very, really	My dog eats . When he is hungry, he eats quickly.
replaces a noun	I, you, he, she, some	Tara is Indian. is beautiful.
links a noun to another word	to, at, after, on, but	We went school Monday.
joins clauses or sentences or words	and, but, when	I like dogs I like cats. I like cats dogs. I like dogs I don't like cats.
short exclamation, sometimes inserted into a sentence	oh!, ouch!, hi!, well	! That hurts! ! How are you? , I don't know.

lexical Verbs ( work, like, run )
auxiliary Verbs ( be, have, must )
Determiners may be treated as adjectives, instead of being a separate part of speech.

Here are some examples of sentences made with different English parts of speech:

verb
Stop!

noun	verb
John	works.

noun	verb	verb
John	is	working.

pronoun	verb	noun
She	loves	animals.

noun	verb	noun	adverb
Tara	speaks	English	well.

noun	verb	adjective	noun
Tara	speaks	good	English.

pronoun	verb	preposition	determiner	noun	adverb
She	ran	to	the	station	quickly.

pron.	verb	adj.	noun	conjunction	pron.	verb	pron.
She	likes	big	snakes	but	I	hate	them.

Here is a sentence that contains every part of speech:

interjection	pron.	conj.	det.	adj.	noun	verb	prep.	noun	adverb
Well,	she	and	my	young	John	walk	to	school	slowly.

Words with More Than One Job

Many words in English can have more than one job, or be more than one part of speech. For example, "work" can be a verb and a noun; "but" can be a conjunction and a preposition; "well" can be an adjective, an adverb and an interjection. In addition, many nouns can act as adjectives.

To analyze the part of speech, ask yourself: "What job is this word doing in this sentence?"

In the table below you can see a few examples. Of course, there are more, even for some of the words in the table. In fact, if you look in a good dictionary you will see that the word " but " has six jobs to do:

verb, noun, adverb, pronoun, preposition and conjunction!

word	part of speech	example
work	noun	My is easy.
work	verb	I in London.
but	conjunction	John came Mary didn't come.
but	preposition	Everyone came Mary.
well	adjective	Are you ?
	adverb	She speaks .
	interjection	! That's expensive!
afternoon	noun	We ate in the .
afternoon	noun acting as adjective	We had tea.

People often ask

FAQ: frequently asked parts of speech questions

Page Content
Sidebar Content
Main Navigation
Quick links

All TIP Sheets

The Eight Parts of Speech

Prepositions
Conjunctions
Interjections
Basic Sentence Structure
Sentence Fragments
Run-on Sentences and Comma Splices
Sentence Type and Purpose
Independent and Dependent Clauses: Coordination and Subordination
Subject Verb Agreement
Consistent Verb Tense
Other Phrases: Verbal, Appositive, Absolute
Pronoun Reference
Relative Pronouns: Restrictive and Nonrestrictive Clauses
Avoiding Modifier Problems
Transitions
Would, Should, Could
Achieving Parallelism
Definite and Indefinite Articles
Two-Word Verbs

TIP Sheet THE EIGHT PARTS OF SPEECH

There are eight parts of speech in the English language: noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition, conjunction, and interjection. The part of speech indicates how the word functions in meaning as well as grammatically within the sentence. An individual word can function as more than one part of speech when used in different circumstances. Understanding parts of speech is essential for determining the correct definition of a word when using the dictionary.

1. NOUN

A noun is the name of a person, place, thing, or idea.

man... Butte College... house... happiness

A noun is a word for a person, place, thing, or idea. Nouns are often used with an article ( the , a , an ), but not always. Proper nouns always start with a capital letter; common nouns do not. Nouns can be singular or plural, concrete or abstract. Nouns show possession by adding 's . Nouns can function in different roles within a sentence; for example, a noun can be a subject, direct object, indirect object, subject complement, or object of a preposition.

The young girl brought me a very long letter from the teacher , and then she quickly disappeared. Oh my!

See the TIP Sheet on "Nouns" for further information.

2. PRONOUN

A pronoun is a word used in place of a noun.

She... we... they... it

A pronoun is a word used in place of a noun. A pronoun is usually substituted for a specific noun, which is called its antecedent. In the sentence above, the antecedent for the pronoun she is the girl. Pronouns are further defined by type: personal pronouns refer to specific persons or things; possessive pronouns indicate ownership; reflexive pronouns are used to emphasize another noun or pronoun; relative pronouns introduce a subordinate clause; and demonstrative pronouns identify, point to, or refer to nouns.

The young girl brought me a very long letter from the teacher, and then she quickly disappeared. Oh my!

See the TIP Sheet on "Pronouns" for further information.

3. VERB

A verb expresses action or being.

jump... is... write... become

The verb in a sentence expresses action or being. There is a main verb and sometimes one or more helping verbs. (" She can sing." Sing is the main verb; can is the helping verb.) A verb must agree with its subject in number (both are singular or both are plural). Verbs also take different forms to express tense.

The young girl brought me a very long letter from the teacher, and then she quickly disappeared . Oh my!

See the TIP Sheet on "Verbs" for more information.

4. ADJECTIVE

An adjective modifies or describes a noun or pronoun.

pretty... old... blue... smart

An adjective is a word used to modify or describe a noun or a pronoun. It usually answers the question of which one, what kind, or how many. (Articles [a, an, the] are usually classified as adjectives.)

See the TIP Sheet on "Adjectives" for more information.

5. ADVERB

An adverb modifies or describes a verb, an adjective, or another adverb.

gently... extremely... carefully... well

An adverb describes or modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb, but never a noun. It usually answers the questions of when, where, how, why, under what conditions, or to what degree. Adverbs often end in -ly.

See the TIP Sheet on "Adverbs" for more information.

6. PREPOSITION

A preposition is a word placed before a noun or pronoun to form a phrase modifying another word in the sentence.

by... with.... about... until

(by the tree, with our friends, about the book, until tomorrow)

A preposition is a word placed before a noun or pronoun to form a phrase modifying another word in the sentence. Therefore a preposition is always part of a prepositional phrase. The prepositional phrase almost always functions as an adjective or as an adverb. The following list includes the most common prepositions:

See the TIP Sheet on "Prepositions" for more information.

7. CONJUNCTION

A conjunction joins words, phrases, or clauses.

and... but... or... while... because

A conjunction joins words, phrases, or clauses, and indicates the relationship between the elements joined. Coordinating conjunctions connect grammatically equal elements: and, but, or, nor, for, so, yet. Subordinating conjunctions connect clauses that are not equal: because, although, while, since, etc. There are other types of conjunctions as well.

The young girl brought me a very long letter from the teacher, and then she quickly disappeared. Oh my!

See the TIP Sheet on "Conjunctions" for more information.

8. INTERJECTION

An interjection is a word used to express emotion.

Oh!... Wow!... Oops!

An interjection is a word used to express emotion. It is often followed by an exclamation point.

The young girl brought me a very long letter from the teacher, and then she quickly disappeared. Oh my !

See the TIP Sheet on "Interjections" for more information.

Butte College | 3536 Butte Campus Drive, Oroville CA 95965 | General Information (530) 895-2511

Purdue Online Writing Lab Purdue OWL® College of Liberal Arts

Parts of Speech Overview

Welcome to the Purdue OWL

This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice.

Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.

A noun is a word that denotes a person, place, or thing. In a sentence, nouns answer the questions who and what.

In the sentence above, there are two nouns, dog and ball . A noun may be concrete (something you can touch, see, etc.), like the nouns in the example above, or a noun may be abstract, as in the sentences below.

The abstract concepts of integrity and love in the sentences above are both nouns. Nouns may also be proper.

Chicago , Thanksgiving , and November are all proper nouns, and they should be capitalized. (For more information on proper nouns and when to capitalize words, see our handout on Capital Letters .)

You may also visit our handout on Count and Noncount Nouns .

Learn how to spot verbs that act as nouns. Visit our handout on Verbals: Gerunds, Participles, and Infinitives .

A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun in a sentence.

In the sentence above, she is the pronoun. Like nouns, pronouns may be used either as subjects or as objects in a sentence.

In the example above, both she and him are pronouns; she is the subject of the sentence while him is the object. Every subject pronoun has a corresponding object form, as shown in the table below.



I	Me
We	Us
You	You
She	Her
He	Him
It	It
They	Them

For more information on pronouns, go to our handout on Pronouns .

To find out what part of speech are that , which , and whom ? Visit our handout on Relative Pronouns .

Articles include a , an , and the . They precede a noun or a noun phrase in a sentence.

In example 1, the article a precedes the noun house , and a also precedes the noun phrase big porch , which consists of an adjective (big) and the noun it describes (porch). In example 2, the article the precedes the noun phrase blue sweater , in which sweater is the noun and blue, the adjective.

For more information, go to our handouts on Articles: A vs. An and How to Use Articles (a/an/the) .

An adjective is a word that modifies, or describes, a noun or pronoun. Adjectives may precede nouns, or they may appear after a form of the reflexive verb to be (am, are, is, was, etc.).

In example 1, two consecutive adjectives, red and brick , both describe the noun house. In example 2, the adjective tall appears after the reflexive verb is and describes the subject, she .

For more on adjectives, go to our handouts Adjective or Adverb and How to Use Adjectives and Adverbs .

A verb is a word that denotes action, or a state of being, in a sentence.

In example 1, rides is the verb; it describes what the subject, Beth, does. In example 2, was describes Paul’s state of being and is therefore the verb.

There may be multiple verbs in a sentence, or there may be a verb phrase consisting of a verb plus a helping verb.

In example 1, the subject she performs two actions in the sentence, turned and opened . In example 2, the verb phrase is was studying .

Some words in a sentence may look like verbs but act as something else, like a noun; these are called verbals. For more information on verbs that masquerade as other parts of speech, go to our handout on Verbals: Gerunds, Participles, and Infinitives .

To learn more about conjugating verbs, visit our handouts on Verb Tenses , Irregular Verbs , and Two-Part (Phrasal) Verbs (Idioms) .

Just as adjectives modify nouns, adverbs modify, or further describe, verbs. Adverbs may also modify adjectives. (Many, though not all, adverbs end in - ly .)

In the first example, the adverb wildly modifies the verb waved . In the second example, the adverb extremely modifies the adjective bright , which describes the noun shirt . While nouns answer the questions who and what , adverbs answer the questions how , when , why , and where .

For a more detailed discussion of adverbs, visit our handout Adjective or Adverb and become an expert.

Conjunctions

A conjunction is a word that joins two independent clauses, or sentences, together.

In the examples above, both but and so are conjunctions. They join two complete sentences with the help of a comma. And, but, for, or, nor, so, and yet can all act as conjunctions.

Prepositions

Prepositions work in combination with a noun or pronoun to create phrases that modify verbs, nouns/pronouns, or adjectives. Prepositional phrases convey a spatial, temporal, or directional meaning.

There are two prepositional phrases in the example above: up the brick wall and of the house . The first prepositional phrase is an adverbial phrase, since it modifies the verb by describing where the ivy climbed. The second phrase further modifies the noun wall (the object of the first prepositional phrase) and describes which wall the ivy climbs.

For a more detailed discussion on this part of speech and its functions, click on Prepositions .

Below is a list of prepositions in the English language:

Aboard, about, above, across, after, against, along, amid, among, around, at, before, behind, below, beneath, beside, between, beyond, by, down, during, except, for, from, in, into, like, near, of, off, on, onto, out, over, past, since, through, throughout, to, toward, under, underneath, until, unto, up, upon, with, within, without.

Words With Friends Cheat
Word Finder
Crossword Top Picks
Anagram Solver
Word Descrambler
Word Unscrambler
Scrabble Cheat
Unscrambler
Scrabble Word Finder
Word Scramble
Scrabble Go Word Finder
Word Solver
Jumble Solver
Blossom Answer Finder
Crossword Solver
NYT Spelling Bee Answers
Wordscapes Answers
Word Cookies Answers
Words Of Wonders
4 Pics 1 Word
Word Generator
Anagramme Expert
Apalabrados Trucos
Today's NYT Wordle Answer
Today's NYT Connections Answers
Today's Connections Hints
Today's NYT Mini Crossword Answers
Today's NYT Spelling Bee Answers
Today's Contexto Answer
Today's NYT Strands Answer
Grammar Rules And Examples
Misspellings
Confusing Words
Scrabble Dictionary
Words With Friends Dictionary
Words Ending In
Words By Length
Words With Letters
Words Start With
5-letter Words With These Letters
5-letter Words Start With
5-letter Words Ending In
All Consonant Words
Vowel Words
Words With Q Without U
Username Generator
Password Generator
Random Word Generator
Word Counter

Parts Of Speech: Breaking Them Down With Examples

Author: sarah perowne, more content, why understanding parts of speech is important , the 8 parts of speech: definitions, examples, and rules, 2. pronouns, 3. adjectives, 6. prepositions, 7. conjunctions, 8. articles, takeaways - tips.

Parts of speech are like Legos. Instead of being made into houses or spaceships, they’re the building blocks we use to form written and spoken language.

Every word you speak or write is a part of speech. In the English language, there are 8 parts of speech: nouns , pronouns , adjectives , verbs , adverbs , prepositions , conjunctions , and articles (determiners). These parts of speech represent categories of words according to their grammatical function.

Having a basic understanding of the parts of speech in the English language gives you a specific terminology and classification system to talk about language. It can help you correctly punctuate a sentence, capitalize the right words, and even understand how to form a complete sentence to avoid grammatical errors.

Part Of Speech	Function	Example Vocabulary	Example Sentences
Part Of Speech Noun	Function is a person or thing.	Example Vocabulary Birthday, cake, Paris, flat	Example Sentences Today is my birthday. I like cake. I have a flat; It's in Paris.
Part Of Speech Pronoun	Function is a noun substitute.	Example Vocabulary I, you, she, her, him, some, and them.	Example Sentences Susan is my neighbor; She is charming.
Part Of Speech Adjective	Function describes the noun in a sentence.	Example Vocabulary Happy, small, cozy, hungry, and warm.	Example Sentences She lives in a small cottage. Her home is cozy and warm.
Part Of Speech Verb	Function is an action word or state of being.	Example Vocabulary Run, jump, sleep, can, do, (to) be, or like	Example Sentences The teacher is happy; she likes her students.
Part Of Speech Adverb	Function describes a verb, adverb, or adjective.	Example Vocabulary Merrily, slowly, softly, or quickly	Example Sentences The girl spoke softly. She walked away slowly.
Part Of Speech Preposition	Function connects a noun or pronoun to another word. Shows the direction, location, or movement.	Example Vocabulary In, on, at, to, after.	Example Sentences We left by bus in the morning. Conjunction,"connects words, sentences, or clauses.
Part Of Speech Article	Function shows whether a specific identity is known or unknown.	Example Vocabulary A, an, and the.	Example Sentences A man called today. The cat is on the table; get it off!

Still with us? Now, we will break down each of these English grammar categories and give some examples.

Nouns are words that name a person, place, thing, or idea. They can be further classified into different types of nouns .

Proper Nouns Vs. Common Nouns

There are some nouns we can count and others we cannot. Take a look at this table.

Type Of Noun	Definition	Examples
Type Of Noun Proper Nouns	Definition Name a specific person, place, or thing. Always start with a capital letter.	Examples Egypt, Paul, Eiffel Tower, Chicago
Type Of Noun Common Nouns	Definition Don’t name a specific person, place, or thing. Don’t start with a capital letter unless they are placed at the beginning of a sentence.	Examples dog, houses, sleep, homes, cup

Concrete Nouns Vs. Abstract Nouns

Type Of Noun	Definition	Examples
Type Of Noun Concrete Nouns	Definition Identify material things.	Examples apple, boy, clock, table, window
Type Of Noun Abstract Nouns	Definition Express a characteristic or idea.	Examples happiness, tranquility, war, danger, friendship

Singular Nouns Vs. Plural Nouns

Rule	Add	Singular Noun Examples	Plural Noun Examples
Rule For most common nouns…	Add -s	Singular Noun Examples Chair	Plural Noun Examples Chairs
Rule For nouns that end in -ch, -s, -ch, or x…	Add -es	Singular Noun Examples Teach	Plural Noun Examples Teaches
Rule For nouns ending with -y and a vowel…	Add -s	Singular Noun Examples Toy	Plural Noun Examples Toys
Rule For nouns ending with -y and a consonant…	Add Remove -y and add -ies	Singular Noun Examples Lady	Plural Noun Examples Ladies
Rule For nouns ending in -o and a vowel…	Add -es or -s	Singular Noun Examples Tomato	Plural Noun Examples Tomatoes
Rule For nouns ending in -f or -fe…	Add Remove -fe or -f and add -v and -es	Singular Noun Examples Leaf	Plural Noun Examples Leaves
Rule For nouns ending in o- and consonant…	Add -es	Singular Noun Examples Echo	Plural Noun Examples Echoes

Exceptions To The Rule

Some nouns are irregular, and it’s a case of learning their plural form as they don’t always follow specific rules. Here are some examples:

Singular Irregular Noun	Plural Form
Singular Irregular Noun Man	Plural Form Men
Singular Irregular Noun Woman	Plural Form Women
Singular Irregular Noun Tooth	Plural Form Teeth
Singular Irregular Noun Child	Plural Form Children
Singular Irregular Noun Person	Plural Form People
Singular Irregular Noun Buffalo	Plural Form Buffalo

Countable Vs. Uncountable Nouns

Countable Nouns	Uncountable of Mass Nouns	Countable and Uncountable Nouns
Countable Nouns Singular and Plural	Uncountable of Mass Nouns Cannot be pluralized	Countable and Uncountable Nouns Depends on the context of the sentence
Countable Nouns Table / Tables	Uncountable of Mass Nouns Hair	Countable and Uncountable Nouns Chicken / A chicken
Countable Nouns Chair / Chairs	Uncountable of Mass Nouns Air	Countable and Uncountable Nouns Coffee / Two coffees
Countable Nouns Dog / Dogs	Uncountable of Mass Nouns Information	Countable and Uncountable Nouns Paper / Sheet of paper
Countable Nouns Quantifiers: some, many, a few, a lot, numbers	Uncountable of Mass Nouns Quantifiers: some, any, a piece, a lot of, much, a little	Countable and Uncountable Nouns

Other Types of Nouns

Possessive nouns.

Possessive nouns possess something and usually have ‘s or simply ‘ at the end. When the noun is singular, we add an ‘s. When the noun is plural, we add an apostrophe.

Here are examples of possessive nouns :

David’s sister has a dog.
His sister’s dog is named Max.

Collective Nouns

Collective nouns refer to a group or collection of things, people, or animals. Such as,

Choir of singers
Herd of sheep

Noun Phrases

A noun phrase is two or more words that function as a noun in a sentence. It also includes modifiers that can come before or after the noun.

Here are examples of noun phrases:

The little brown dog is mine.
The market down the street has the best prices.

If you want to know where to find nouns in a sentence, look for the subject or a direct object, and they will stand right out. For example:

Mary ate chocolate cake and ice cream .

(Mary = Subject) (Chocolate cake, and ice cream = direct objects)

This is an easy way to identify nouns in a sentence.

Pronouns are words used in the place of a noun or noun phrase. They can be further classified into different types of pronouns , such as personal, reflexive, and possessive.

Personal Pronouns

Subject	Person Pronoun	Examples
Subject 1st Person Singular	Person Pronoun I	Examples I am walking.
Subject 2nd Person Singular	Person Pronoun You	Examples You are walking.
Subject 3rd Person Singular	Person Pronoun She, He, and It	Examples It is walking.
Subject 1st Person Plural	Person Pronoun We	Examples We are walking.
Subject 2nd Person Plural	Person Pronoun You (all)	Examples You are walking.
Subject 3rd Person Plural	Person Pronoun They	Examples They are walking.

Reflexive Pronouns

Some examples of reflexive pronouns are myself, yourself, herself, and itself.

Here are examples of reflexive pronouns in sentences:

I helped myself to an extra serving of gravy.
She didn’t do the cooking herself.
The word itself is pretty easy to spell but hard to pronounce.

Reflexive pronouns can also be used for emphasis, as in this sentence:

Joe himself baked the cake.

Possessive Pronouns

Some examples of possessive pronouns are my, mine, your, yours, his, hers, its, ours, and theirs. We use these words when we want to express possession. Such as,

Is this your car?
No, it’s his .
It’s not mine .

Mine, yours, and his are examples of the independent form of possessive pronouns , and when showing possession, these pronouns never need an apostrophe.

Adjectives are words that describe nouns or pronouns. They make the meaning more definite. When we want to talk about what kind of a house we have, we can use adjectives to describe it, such as big, red, or lovely.

We can use adjectives to precede the word it modifies, like this;

She wore a beautiful , blue dress.

Or we can use adjectives following the word they modify, like this;

The athlete, tall and thin , was ready to win the race.

There are many types of adjectives, one being possessive . The seven possessive adjectives are my, your, his, her, its, our, and their. These words modify a noun or pronoun and show possession. Such as,

Their dog is brown.
How old is your brother?
That was my idea.

Verbs are words that express an action or a state of being. All verbs help to make a complete statement. Action verbs express a physical action, for example:

Other verbs express a mental action, for example:

These can also be called lexical verbs .

Lexical Verbs and Auxiliary Verbs

Sometimes lexical verbs need the help of another type of verb . That’s where helping verbs , or auxiliary verbs , come into action; they help to make a statement or express action.

Examples of auxiliary verbs are am, are, is, has, can, may, will be, and might have.

When we use more than one verb when writing or speaking to express an action or state of being, it’s a verbal phrase consisting of the main verb, lexical verb, and one or more auxiliary verbs.

Some examples of verbal phrases:

Should have done
Must have been broken
Will be following

Here are examples of verbal phrases used in a sentence.

You should have gone to the concert last night. It was amazing!
I may go to the concert next time if I have the money for a ticket.
I might have missed out this time, but I certainly won’t next time.

Adverbs are used to describe an adjective, verb, or even another adverb . They can express how something is done, as in splendidly or poorly .

Here are some examples of adverbs in use:

She was running extremely fast during that race .

The adverb extremely modifies the adjective fast , expressing just how rapid the runner was.

I can hardly see it in the distance.

The adverb hardly modifies the verb see , expressing how much is visible, which in this case is not much at all.

It’s been surprisingly poorly cleaned.

The adverb surprisingly modifies the adverb poorly, expressing the surprise at how badly the car has been cleaned.

They are used to show relationships between words, such as nouns or pronouns, with other words in the sentence. They can indicate spatial or time relationships. Some common prepositions are about, at, before, behind, but, in, off, on, to, and with.

Here are some examples of common prepositions in sentences:

She sat behind me in class.
Her mother was from Vietnam.
The two of us worked together on the project.

Prepositions are followed by objects of prepositions, a noun, or a noun phrase that follows to give it meaning.

Julie goes to school with Mark . (With whom? Mark.)

Groups of words can also act as prepositions together, such as in spite of .

In spite of all the traffic, we arrived just on time.

Conjunctions link words or groups of words together. We often use them to create complex sentences. There are three types of conjunctions: coordinating conjunctions , correlative conjunctions , and subordinating conjunctions.

Coordinating Conjunctions

Examples of coordinating conjunctions are and, but, or, nor, for, so, and yet. Such as:

He wanted apple pie and ice cream.
She offered him fruit or cookies.
He ate the fruit but still wanted apple pie.

Correlative Conjunctions

Correlative conjunctions are used in pairs. Some examples are;

and neither/ nor.

Here is an example of the conjunctions above in use:

He wanted neither fruit nor cookies for dessert.

Subordinating Conjunctions

We use subordinating conjunctions to begin subordinate clauses or sentences.

Some examples of common subordinating conjunctions are after, before, then, when, provided, unless, so that, and while. Such as,

He left the house before it turned dark.
He realized he had forgotten a gift when he arrived at the party.
The party was better than he had imagined.

There are three articles in the English language: a, an, and the. Articles can indicate whether a specific identity is known or not.

A and an are called indefinite articles and refer to a general group. Such as,

A woman is at the front door.
She stood there for a minute.
She had a book in her hand.

The is a definite article and refers to a specific thing or person. Such as,

The woman at the door is my friend Tracy.
She’s returning the book she borrowed last week.

Getting these right to know if we’re talking about a specific item, person, or thing, in general, is important.

How many parts of speech are there in the English language? Are there 8, 9, or 10?

Many words can also be used as more than one part of speech..

Once you get the hang of it, identifying the various parts of speech in a sentence will be second nature, like riding a bike. And just think, it can help you craft stronger sentences!

Parts of Speech - Definition, 8 Types and Examples

In the English language , every word is called a part of speech. The role a word plays in a sentence denotes what part of speech it belongs to. Explore the definition of parts of speech, the different parts of speech and examples in this article.

Parts of speech definition, different parts of speech with examples.

Sentences Examples for the 8 Parts of Speech

A Small Exercise to Check Your Understanding of Parts of Speech

Frequently asked questions on parts of speech, what is a part of speech.

Parts of speech are among the first grammar topics we learn when we are in school or when we start our English language learning process. Parts of speech can be defined as words that perform different roles in a sentence. Some parts of speech can perform the functions of other parts of speech too.

The Oxford Learner’s Dictionary defines parts of speech as “one of the classes into which words are divided according to their grammar, such as noun, verb, adjective, etc.”
The Cambridge Dictionary also gives a similar definition – “One of the grammatical groups into which words are divided, such as noun, verb, and adjective”.

Parts of speech include nouns, pronouns, verbs, adverbs, adjectives, prepositions, conjunctions and interjections.

8 Parts of Speech Definitions and Examples:

1. Nouns are words that are used to name people, places, animals, ideas and things. Nouns can be classified into two main categories: Common nouns and Proper nouns . Common nouns are generic like ball, car, stick, etc., and proper nouns are more specific like Charles, The White House, The Sun, etc.

Examples of nouns used in sentences:

She bought a pair of shoes . (thing)
I have a pet. (animal)
Is this your book ? (object)
Many people have a fear of darkness . (ideas/abstract nouns)
He is my brother . (person)
This is my school . (place)

Also, explore Singular Nouns and Plural Nouns .

2. Pronouns are words that are used to substitute a noun in a sentence. There are different types of pronouns. Some of them are reflexive pronouns, possessive pronouns , relative pronouns and indefinite pronouns . I, he, she, it, them, his, yours, anyone, nobody, who, etc., are some of the pronouns.

Examples of pronouns used in sentences:

I reached home at six in the evening. (1st person singular pronoun)
Did someone see a red bag on the counter? (Indefinite pronoun)
Is this the boy who won the first prize? (Relative pronoun)
That is my mom. (Possessive pronoun)
I hurt myself yesterday when we were playing cricket. (Reflexive pronoun)

3. Verbs are words that denote an action that is being performed by the noun or the subject in a sentence. They are also called action words. Some examples of verbs are read, sit, run, pick, garnish, come, pitch, etc.

Examples of verbs used in sentences:

She plays cricket every day.
Darshana and Arul are going to the movies.
My friends visited me last week.
Did you have your breakfast?
My name is Meenakshi Kishore.

4. Adverbs are words that are used to provide more information about verbs, adjectives and other adverbs used in a sentence. There are five main types of adverbs namely, adverbs of manner , adverbs of degree , adverbs of frequency , adverbs of time and adverbs of place . Some examples of adverbs are today, quickly, randomly, early, 10 a.m. etc.

Examples of adverbs used in sentences:

Did you come here to buy an umbrella? (Adverb of place)
I did not go to school yesterday as I was sick. (Adverb of time)
Savio reads the newspaper everyday . (Adverb of frequency)
Can you please come quickly ? (Adverb of manner)
Tony was so sleepy that he could hardly keep his eyes open during the meeting. (Adverb of degree)

5. Adjectives are words that are used to describe or provide more information about the noun or the subject in a sentence. Some examples of adjectives include good, ugly, quick, beautiful, late, etc.

Examples of adjectives used in sentences:

The place we visited yesterday was serene .
Did you see how big that dog was?
The weather is pleasant today.
The red dress you wore on your birthday was lovely.
My brother had only one chapati for breakfast.

6. Prepositions are words that are used to link one part of the sentence to another. Prepositions show the position of the object or subject in a sentence. Some examples of prepositions are in, out, besides, in front of, below, opposite, etc.

Examples of prepositions used in sentences:

The teacher asked the students to draw lines on the paper so that they could write in straight lines.
The child hid his birthday presents under his bed.
Mom asked me to go to the store near my school.
The thieves jumped over the wall and escaped before we could reach home.

7. Conjunctions are a part of speech that is used to connect two different parts of a sentence, phrases and clauses . Some examples of conjunctions are and, or, for, yet, although, because, not only, etc.

Examples of conjunctions used in sentences:

Meera and Jasmine had come to my birthday party.
Jane did not go to work as she was sick.
Unless you work hard, you cannot score good marks.
I have not finished my project, yet I went out with my friends.

8. Interjections are words that are used to convey strong emotions or feelings. Some examples of interjections are oh, wow, alas, yippee, etc. It is always followed by an exclamation mark.

Examples of interjections used in sentences:

Wow ! What a wonderful work of art.
Alas ! That is really sad.
Yippee ! We won the match.

Sentence Examples for the 8 Parts of Speech

Noun – Tom lives in New York .
Pronoun – Did she find the book she was looking for?
Verb – I reached home.
Adverb – The tea is too hot.
Adjective – The movie was amazing .
Preposition – The candle was kept under the table.
Conjunction – I was at home all day, but I am feeling very tired.
Interjection – Oh ! I forgot to turn off the stove.

Let us find out if you have understood the different parts of speech and their functions. Try identifying which part of speech the highlighted words belong to.

My brother came home late .
I am a good girl.
This is the book I was looking for.
Whoa ! This is amazing .
The climate in Kodaikanal is very pleasant.
Can you please pick up Dan and me on your way home?

Now, let us see if you got it right. Check your answers.

My – Pronoun, Home – Noun, Late – Adverb
Am – Verb, Good – Adjective
I – Pronoun, Was looking – Verb
Whoa – Interjection, Amazing – Adjective
Climate – Noun, In – Preposition, Kodaikanal – Noun, Very – Adverb
And – Conjunction, On – Preposition, Your – Pronoun

What are parts of speech?

The term ‘parts of speech’ refers to words that perform different functions in a sentence in order to give the sentence a proper meaning and structure.

How many parts of speech are there?

There are 8 parts of speech in total.

What are the 8 parts of speech?

Nouns, pronouns, verbs, adverbs, adjectives, prepositions, conjunctions and interjections are the 8 parts of speech.

ENGLISH Related Links

Register with BYJU'S & Download Free PDFs

PRO Courses Guides New Tech Help Pro Expert Videos About wikiHow Pro Upgrade Sign In
EDIT Edit this Article
EXPLORE Tech Help Pro About Us Random Article Quizzes Request a New Article Community Dashboard This Or That Game Happiness Hub Popular Categories Arts and Entertainment Artwork Books Movies Computers and Electronics Computers Phone Skills Technology Hacks Health Men's Health Mental Health Women's Health Relationships Dating Love Relationship Issues Hobbies and Crafts Crafts Drawing Games Education & Communication Communication Skills Personal Development Studying Personal Care and Style Fashion Hair Care Personal Hygiene Youth Personal Care School Stuff Dating All Categories Arts and Entertainment Finance and Business Home and Garden Relationship Quizzes Cars & Other Vehicles Food and Entertaining Personal Care and Style Sports and Fitness Computers and Electronics Health Pets and Animals Travel Education & Communication Hobbies and Crafts Philosophy and Religion Work World Family Life Holidays and Traditions Relationships Youth
Browse Articles
Learn Something New
Quizzes Hot
Happiness Hub
This Or That Game
Train Your Brain
Explore More
Support wikiHow
About wikiHow
Log in / Sign up
Education and Communications

How to Identify Parts of Speech

Last Updated: June 26, 2024 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Alexander Peterman, MA . Alexander Peterman is a Private Tutor in Florida. He received his MA in Education from the University of Florida in 2017. There are 10 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 395,397 times.

Parts of speech are categories that are used to describe each word's function in a sentence. The best way to identify a word's part of speech is to think about what role the word plays in the sentence, but there are also a few clues that can help you figure out the part of speech if you are unsure about the word's function.

Analyzing the Word's Function

Proper nouns are used to name a specific person, place, or thing, and the main words are always capitalized (Fred, New York, the Declaration of Independence).
Nouns can be either singular or plural.
Nouns can be possessive, in which case they typically end in 's or s'.

Step 2 Know that pronouns stand in for nouns.

Some pronouns stand in for people's names (he, our, they, hers, etc.).
Other pronouns represent an object or idea (it, these, this, etc.).
Pronouns may also stand in for very indefinite nouns that may be difficult to name without the use of a pronoun (everyone, no one, something, etc).

Auxiliary verbs (also known as helping verbs) are words that are used to change the tense of the main verb (will, did, would, etc.). These are still considered verbs.

Step 4 Learn that adjectives modify nouns and pronouns.

Numbers are considered adjectives when they are used to answer the question "how many?"
Articles (a, an, and the) are considered adjectives by many because they answer the question "which one?" However, some people consider articles to be a separate part of speech.

Step 5 Know that adjective and verb modifiers are adverbs.

Adverbs may also modify other adverbs. (I ran very quickly.)

Step 6 Understand that prepositions express relationships.

Coordinating conjunctions are used to join two clauses that are equally important to the sentence. There are 7 coordinating conjunctions: and, but, for, nor, or, so, and yet. (I like cats, but I don't like dogs.)
Subordinating conjunctions are used to join a main clause and a subordinate clause, which is less important to the sentence. (I went outside, although it was raining.)

Step 8 Recognize exclamations as interjections.

Using Word Placement and Punctuation Clues

Step 1 Learn the Subject-Verb-Object rule.

Both the subject and object of a sentence will contain a noun or pronoun. This means that a sentence that has both a subject and an object will contain a noun or pronoun both before and after the verb. ( I ate the apple .)
The subject and object may contain modifiers such as adjectives as well.
When the sentence has a direct object, it will come directly after the verb. (I like cookies .) When the sentence has an indirect object, it will come after a preposition. (I gave the card to Frank .)

Step 2 Understand correct adjective and adverb placement.

Adjectives are almost always found before nouns and pronouns (We look at a red dress.) or after the linking verb "to be" (The dress is red .) [10] X Research source
When adverbs are used to modify adjectives, they are almost always found right before the adjective. (The meal was truly delicious.) [11] X Research source
When adverbs are used to modify verbs, they may be found before the subject ( Later I will walk to school.), directly before the verb (I will carefully clean the artifacts .), or directly after the verb. (I go to the park frequently .)

Step 3 Identify clauses and phrases to find conjunctions.

Conjunctions like "and" and "but" are sometimes used at the beginning of a sentence, although this is more rare. When it is done, you should be able to identify the other clause or phrase in the previous sentence.

Step 4 Use exclamation points to identify interjections.

Not all interjections are marked by exclamation points. Don't rely on exclamations as the only way to recognize interjections.
Another clue that a word might be an interjection is that it is used alone. If there are other words in the sentence, it is less likely to be an interjection.

Step 5 Look for nouns and pronouns to identify prepositions.

Keep in mind there may be an adjective, adverb, and/or article between the preposition and the noun or pronoun. These modifiers are all considered to be part of the noun or pronoun phrase. (We paid for the very expensive jeans.)

Using Suffix Clues to Identify Parts of Speech

Step 1 Recognize suffixes that are common in nouns.

-ion (population)
-sion (tension)
-tion (attention)
-acy (accuracy)
-age (image)
-ance (allegiance)
-ence (permanence)
-hood (childhood)
-ar (scholar)
-or (editor)
-ism (idealism)
-ist (realist)
-ment (government)
-ness (sadness)
-y (beauty)
-ity (capacity)

Step 2 Know which suffixes are common in adjectives.

-al (clerical)
-ful (wonderful)
-ly (friendly)
-ic (chronic)
-ish (squeamish)
-like (childlike)
-ous (contagious)
-ate accurate
-able (laughable)
-ible (horrible)

Step 3 Learn which suffixes are common in verbs.

-ify (typify)
-ate (proliferate)
-ize (rationalize)
-en (tighten)

Step 4 Remember that most adverbs share a common suffix.

There are some words that end in -ly that are not adverbs (butterfly), so be careful not to overgeneralize.
There are also a few adverbs that do not end in -ly (well, fast, very, etc.).

Practice Questions and Answers

Community Q&A

Context is key, as some words can act as multiple different parts of speech, depending on their role in a sentence. Thanks Helpful 1 Not Helpful 0

↑ https://www.englishclub.com/grammar/noun-what.php
↑ https://www.scribbr.com/nouns-and-pronouns/pronouns/
↑ https://www.butte.edu/departments/cas/tipsheets/grammar/parts_of_speech.html
↑ https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter/grammar/prepositions
↑ https://www.scribbr.com/language-rules/conjunctions/
↑ https://gsalearningsupport.com/skills-for-study/communicating-your-learning/communicating-clearly-in-writing/clear-sentence-construction/clear-sentences-use-correct-grammar/subject-verb-and-object/
↑ http://grammarist.com/grammar/adjectives/
↑ https://www.englishclub.com/grammar/adverb-position.php
↑ https://www.gingersoftware.com/content/grammar-rules/exclamation-mark/
↑ http://www.southcentral.edu/images/departments/ASC/documents/Suffixes_that_Indicate_Part_of_Speech_2.pdf

About This Article

To identify different parts of speech, analyze the function that the word plays in a sentence. If the word names a person, place, thing, or idea, it is a noun. Label a word as a pronoun if it takes the place of a noun. If you see a word that expresses an action, that is a verb, and words that modify a verb are adverbs. If a word modifies a noun or pronoun, it is an adjective. To learn how to identify prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections, read on! Did this summary help you? Yes No

Send fan mail to authors

Reader Success Stories

Nov 26, 2017

Did this article help you?

Haven Weldem

Nov 1, 2017

May 7, 2022

Pannindriya Lam

Nov 18, 2019

Rohane Nayak

Jun 10, 2017

Featured Articles

How to Get to Know Yourself: A Guide to Self-Discovery

Watch Articles

Terms of Use
Privacy Policy
Do Not Sell or Share My Info
Not Selling Info

wikiHow Tech Help Pro:

Develop the tech skills you need for work and life

Sentence Parts and Sentence Structures

Kollakolla / Pixabay

An Introduction to Punctuation
Ph.D., Rhetoric and English, University of Georgia
M.A., Modern English and American Literature, University of Leicester
B.A., English, State University of New York

The job of grammar is to organize words into sentences, and there are many ways to do that (or we could say, "words can be organized into sentences in many different ways"). For this reason, describing how to put a sentence together isn't as easy as explaining how to bake a cake or assemble a model plane. There are no easy recipes, no step-by-step instructions. But that doesn't mean that crafting an effective sentence depends on magic or good luck.

Experienced writers know that the basic parts of a sentence can be combined and arranged in countless ways. So as we work to improve our writing, it's important to understand what these basic structures are and how to use them effectively.

We'll begin by introducing the traditional parts of speech and the most common sentence structures.

Parts of Speech

One way to begin studying basic sentence structures is to consider the traditional parts of speech (also called word classes): nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, articles, and interjections. Except for interjections ("ouch!"), which have a habit of standing by themselves, the parts of speech come in many varieties and may show up just about anywhere in a sentence. To know for sure what part of speech a word is, we have to look not only at the word itself but also at its meaning, position, and use in a sentence.

Parts of a Sentence

The basic parts of a sentence are the subject, the verb, and (often, but not always) the object. The subject is usually a noun — a word that names a person, place, or thing. The verb (or predicate) usually follows the subject and identifies an action or a state of being. An object receives the action and usually follows the verb.

Adjectives and Adverbs

A common way of expanding the basic sentence is with modifiers, words that add to the meanings of other words. The simplest modifiers are adjectives and adverbs . Adjectives modify nouns, while adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs.

Prepositional Phrases

Like adjectives and adverbs, prepositional phrases add meaning to the nouns and verbs in sentences. A prepositional phrase has two basic parts: a preposition plus a noun or a pronoun that serves as the object of the preposition.

Basic Sentence Structure

There are four basic sentence structures in English:

A simple sentence is a sentence with just one independent clause (also called a main clause): Judy laughed.
A compound sentence contains at least two independent clauses: Judy laughed and Jimmy cried .
A complex sentence contains an independent clause and at least one dependent clause: Jimmy cried when Judy laughed.
A compound-complex sentence contains two or more independent clauses and at least one dependent clause: Judy laughed and Jimmy cried when the clowns ran past their seats .

Coordination

A common way to connect related words, phrases, and even entire clauses is to coordinate them — that is, connect them with a basic coordinating conjunction such as "and" or "but."

Adjective Clauses

To show that one idea in a sentence is more important than another, we rely on subordination, treating one word group as secondary (or subordinate) to another. One common form of subordination is the adjective clause, a word group that modifies a noun. The most common adjective clauses begin with one of these relative pronouns: who , which , and that .

Appositives

An appositive is a word or group of words that identifies or renames another word in a sentence — most often a noun that immediately precedes it. Appositive constructions offer concise ways of describing or defining a person, place, or thing.

Adverb Clauses

Like an adjective clause, an adverb clause is always dependent on (or subordinate to) an independent clause. Like an ordinary adverb, an adverb clause usually modifies a verb, though it can also modify an adjective, adverb, or even the rest of the sentence in which it appears. An adverb clause begins with a subordinating conjunction, an adverb that connects the subordinate clause to the main clause.

Participial Phrases

A participle is a verb form used as an adjective to modify nouns and pronouns. All present participles end in -ing . The past participles of all regular verbs end in -ed . Irregular verbs, however, have various past participle endings. Participles and participial phrases can add vigor to our writing, as they add information to our sentences.

Absolute Phrases

Among the various kinds of modifiers, the absolute phrase may be the least common but one of the most useful. An absolute phrase, which consists of a noun plus at least one other word, adds details to an entire sentence — details that often describe one aspect of someone or something mentioned elsewhere in the sentence.

Four Functional Types of Sentences

There are four main types of sentences that can be distinguished by their function and purpose:

A declarative sentence makes a statement: Babies cry.
An interrogative sentence poses a question: Why do babies cry?
An imperative sentence gives instructions or expresses a request or demand: Please be quiet.
An exclamatory sentence expresses strong feelings by making an exclamation: Shut up!
The 9 Parts of Speech: Definitions and Examples
How to Diagram a Sentence
Subordinating Conjunctions
Parts of Speech Printable Worksheets
Adverbio o Adjetivo
Sentence Building with Adjective Clauses
Dangling Participle: Explanation and Examples
summative modifier (grammar)
Definition and Examples of Reduced Adverb(ial) Clauses
French Relative Clauses
100 Key Terms Used in the Study of Grammar
What It Means to "Stack Words"
The Top 25 Grammatical Terms
What Are Absolute Phrases in English?
The Position of 'Nicht' in German Sentences
What is a Main Clause in English Grammar?

Parts of Speech: 8 Parts of Speech with Example Sentences

Parts of speech!!! This article will show definitions and examples for the 8 parts of speech in English grammar: noun, pronoun, verb, adverb, adjective, conjunction, preposition, and interjection.

Parts of Speech in English

Based on use and functions, words are categorized into several types or parts of speech.

The 8 main parts of speech in English are:

Noun definition: A word used to identify any of a class of people, places, or things, or to name a particular one of these.

Noun examples: lady, road, tree, love, dream, pencil, Bob, Mary

Noun example sentences:

The lady put her wallet in her purse.
The road was wet and slippery.
I saw Bob in town with his girlfriend.
Love is the true price of love.
Her dream to enter a famous university come true.

Pronoun definition: A word that can function as a noun phrase used by itself and that refers either to the participants in the discourse or to someone or something mentioned elsewhere in the discourse.

Pronoun examples: he, she, it, I, you, we, they

Pronoun example sentences:

He is optimistic about the future.
You cannot clap with one hand.
They are preparing for the presentation of a new musical.
She arranged an appointment for Friday afternoon at four-fifteen.
We should push our work, the work should not push us.

Verb definition: A word used to describe an action, state, or occurrence, and forming the main part of the predicate of a sentence, such as hear, become, happen.

Verb examples: run, fly, work, show, is, become, bring, write

Verb example sentences:

I can run a mile in 5 minutes.
The boy decided not to become a sailor.
He could barely read and write .
I’ll show you how to load the software.
Will you bring the tea things into the garden?

Adverb definition: A word or phrase that modifies or qualifies an adjective, verb, or other adverb or a word group, expressing a relation of place, time, circumstance, manner, cause, degree, etc.

Adverb examples: quickly, gently, extremely, carefully, well, fast, beautifully

Adverb example sentences:

I ate too quickly and got hiccoughs.
We compared the two reports carefully .
He felt extremely frustrated when things went against him.
The new curtains tone in beautifully with the carpet.
‘You miss them, don’t you?’ he asked gently .

Adjective definition: A word naming an attribute of a noun, such as sweet, red, or technical.

Adjective examples: new, fat, pretty, old, blue, smart, intelligent, young

Adjective example sentences:

That’s a pretty hat you’re wearing.
You look very smart in your new suit.
You’re a very superior young woman.
Jack is an intelligent pupil, but he lacks motivation.
The sun glared out of the blue sky.

Conjunction

Conjunction definition: A word used to connect clauses or sentences or to coordinate words in the same clause.

Conjunction examples: and, but, or, however, moreover, while, because

Conjunction example sentences:

Our bus won’t start because the battery is flat.
You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.
I feel a bit tired. However , I can hold on.
The rent is reasonable, and moreover , the location is perfect.
Other men live to eat, while I eat to live.

Preposition

Preposition definition: A word governing, and usually preceding, a noun or pronoun and expressing a relation to another word or element in the clause.

Preposition examples: in, on, at, about, with, over, around, through, during, above

Preposition example sentences:

He raised his arms above his head.
I can hear voices through the wall.
You’re not allowed to talk during the exam.
I want to make an inquiry about train times.
Once, she walloped me over the head with a frying pan.

Interjection

Interjection definition: An abrupt remark, especially as an aside or interruption.

Interjection examples: Oh!, Wow!, Oops!, Hey!, Haha

Interjection example sentences:

Wow ! That car certainly goes fast!
Hey ! Can I just ask you something?
Oops ! I nearly dropped my cup of tea!
Oh , yeah? I forgot all about it.
I can also be pretension and flash it away to others. haha !

8 Parts of Speech | Infographic

8 Parts of Speech in English

Parts of Speech Quiz

Take a look at these sentences and choose the correct answer.

Last Updated on June 24, 2021

4 thoughts on “Parts of Speech: 8 Parts of Speech with Example Sentences”

I love how these things are explained

Those are the best information I can find during learning!

You are right ????

What a nice website ????

15 Powerful Speech Opening Lines (And How to Create Your Own)

Hrideep barot.

Public Speaking , Speech Writing

Powerful speech opening lines set the tone and mood of your speech. It’s what grips the audience to want to know more about the rest of your talk.

The first few seconds are critical. It’s when you have maximum attention of the audience. And you must capitalize on that!

Instead of starting off with something plain and obvious such as a ‘Thank you’ or ‘Good Morning’, there’s so much more you can do for a powerful speech opening (here’s a great article we wrote a while ago on how you should NOT start your speech ).

To help you with this, I’ve compiled some of my favourite openings from various speakers. These speakers have gone on to deliver TED talks , win international Toastmaster competitions or are just noteworthy people who have mastered the art of communication.

After each speaker’s opening line, I have added how you can include their style of opening into your own speech. Understanding how these great speakers do it will certainly give you an idea to create your own speech opening line which will grip the audience from the outset!

Alright! Let’s dive into the 15 powerful speech openings…

Note: Want to take your communications skills to the next level? Book a complimentary consultation with one of our expert communication coaches. We’ll look under the hood of your hurdles and pick two to three growth opportunities so you can speak with impact!

1. Ric Elias

Opening: “Imagine a big explosion as you climb through 3,000 ft. Imagine a plane full of smoke. Imagine an engine going clack, clack, clack. It sounds scary. Well I had a unique seat that day. I was sitting in 1D.”

How to use the power of imagination to open your speech?

Putting your audience in a state of imagination can work extremely well to captivate them for the remainder of your talk.

It really helps to bring your audience in a certain mood that preps them for what’s about to come next. Speakers have used this with high effectiveness by transporting their audience into an imaginary land to help prove their point.

When Ric Elias opened his speech, the detail he used (3000 ft, sound of the engine going clack-clack-clack) made me feel that I too was in the plane. He was trying to make the audience experience what he was feeling – and, at least in my opinion, he did.

When using the imagination opening for speeches, the key is – detail. While we want the audience to wander into imagination, we want them to wander off to the image that we want to create for them. So, detail out your scenario if you’re going to use this technique.

Make your audience feel like they too are in the same circumstance as you were when you were in that particular situation.

2. Barack Obama

Opening: “You can’t say it, but you know it’s true.”

3. Seth MacFarlane

Opening: “There’s nowhere I would rather be on a day like this than around all this electoral equipment.” (It was raining)

How to use humour to open your speech?

When you use humour in a manner that suits your personality, it can set you up for a great speech. Why? Because getting a laugh in the first 30 seconds or so is a great way to quickly get the audience to like you.

And when they like you, they are much more likely to listen to and believe in your ideas.

Obama effortlessly uses his opening line to entice laughter among the audience. He brilliantly used the setting (the context of Trump becoming President) and said a line that completely matched his style of speaking.

Saying a joke without really saying a joke and getting people to laugh requires you to be completely comfortable in your own skin. And that’s not easy for many people (me being one of them).

If the joke doesn’t land as expected, it could lead to a rocky start.

Keep in mind the following when attempting to deliver a funny introduction:

Know your audience: Make sure your audience gets the context of the joke (if it’s an inside joke among the members you’re speaking to, that’s even better!). You can read this article we wrote where we give you tips on how you can actually get to know your audience better to ensure maximum impact with your speech openings
The joke should suit your natural personality. Don’t make it look forced or it won’t elicit the desired response
Test the opening out on a few people who match your real audience. Analyze their response and tweak the joke accordingly if necessary
Starting your speech with humour means your setting the tone of your speech. It would make sense to have a few more jokes sprinkled around the rest of the speech as well as the audience might be expecting the same from you

4. Mohammed Qahtani

Opening: Puts a cigarette on his lips, lights a lighter, stops just before lighting the cigarette. Looks at audience, “What?”

5. Darren Tay

Opening: Puts a white pair of briefs over his pants.

How to use props to begin your speech?

The reason props work so well in a talk is because in most cases the audience is not expecting anything more than just talking. So when a speaker pulls out an object that is unusual, everyone’s attention goes right to it.

It makes you wonder why that prop is being used in this particular speech.

The key word here is unusual . To grip the audience’s attention at the beginning of the speech, the prop being used should be something that the audience would never expect. Otherwise, it just becomes something that is common. And common = boring!

What Mohammed Qahtani and Darren Tay did superbly well in their talks was that they used props that nobody expected them to.

By pulling out a cigarette and lighter or a white pair of underwear, the audience can’t help but be gripped by what the speaker is about to do next. And that makes for a powerful speech opening.

6. Simon Sinek

Opening: “How do you explain when things don’t go as we assume? Or better, how do you explain when others are able to achieve things that seem to defy all of the assumptions?”

7. Julian Treasure

Opening: “The human voice. It’s the instrument we all play. It’s the most powerful sound in the world. Probably the only one that can start a war or say “I love you.” And yet many people have the experience that when they speak people don’t listen to them. Why is that? How can we speak powerfully to make change in the world?”

How to use questions to open a speech?

I use this method often. Starting off with a question is the simplest way to start your speech in a manner that immediately engages the audience.

But we should keep our questions compelling as opposed to something that is fairly obvious.

I’ve heard many speakers start their speeches with questions like “How many of us want to be successful?”

No one is going to say ‘no’ to that and frankly, I just feel silly raising my hand at such questions.

Simon Sinek and Jullian Treasure used questions in a manner that really made the audience think and make them curious to find out what the answer to that question is.

What Jullian Treasure did even better was the use of a few statements which built up to his question. This made the question even more compelling and set the theme for what the rest of his talk would be about.

So think of what question you can ask in your speech that will:

Set the theme for the remainder of your speech
Not be something that is fairly obvious
Be compelling enough so that the audience will actually want to know what the answer to that question will be

8. Aaron Beverley

Opening: Long pause (after an absurdly long introduction of a 57-word speech title). “Be honest. You enjoyed that, didn’t you?”

How to use silence for speech openings?

The reason this speech opening stands out is because of the fact that the title itself is 57 words long. The audience was already hilariously intrigued by what was going to come next.

But what’s so gripping here is the way Aaron holds the crowd’s suspense by…doing nothing. For about 10 to 12 seconds he did nothing but stand and look at the audience. Everyone quietened down. He then broke this silence by a humorous remark that brought the audience laughing down again.

When going on to open your speech, besides focusing on building a killer opening sentence, how about just being silent?

It’s important to keep in mind that the point of having a strong opening is so that the audience’s attention is all on you and are intrigued enough to want to listen to the rest of your speech.

Silence is a great way to do that. When you get on the stage, just pause for a few seconds (about 3 to 5 seconds) and just look at the crowd. Let the audience and yourself settle in to the fact that the spotlight is now on you.

I can’t put my finger on it, but there is something about starting the speech off with a pure pause that just makes the beginning so much more powerful. It adds credibility to you as a speaker as well, making you look more comfortable and confident on stage.

If you want to know more about the power of pausing in public speaking , check out this post we wrote. It will give you a deeper insight into the importance of pausing and how you can harness it for your own speeches. You can also check out this video to know more about Pausing for Public Speaking:

9. Dan Pink

Opening: “I need to make a confession at the outset here. Little over 20 years ago, I did something that I regret. Something that I’m not particularly proud of. Something that in many ways I wish no one would ever know but that here I feel kind of obliged to reveal.”

10. Kelly McGonigal

Opening: “I have a confession to make. But first I want you to make a little confession to me.”

How to use a build-up to open your speech?

When there are so many amazing ways to start a speech and grip an audience from the outset, why would you ever choose to begin your speech with a ‘Good morning?’.

That’s what I love about build-ups. They set the mood for something awesome that’s about to come in that the audience will feel like they just have to know about.

Instead of starting a speech as it is, see if you can add some build-up to your beginning itself. For instance, in Kelly McGonigal’s speech, she could have started off with the question of stress itself (which she eventually moves on to in her speech). It’s not a bad way to start the speech.

But by adding the statement of “I have a confession to make” and then not revealing the confession for a little bit, the audience is gripped to know what she’s about to do next and find out what indeed is her confession.

11. Tim Urban

Opening: “So in college, I was a government major. Which means that I had to write a lot of papers. Now when a normal student writes a paper, they might spread the work out a little like this.”

12. Scott Dinsmore

Opening: “8 years ago, I got the worst career advice of my life.”

How to use storytelling as a speech opening?

“The most powerful person in the world is the storyteller.” Steve Jobs

Storytelling is the foundation of good speeches. Starting your speech with a story is a great way to grip the audience’s attention. It makes them yearn to want to know how the rest of the story is going to pan out.

Tim Urban starts off his speech with a story dating back to his college days. His use of slides is masterful and something we all can learn from. But while his story sounds simple, it does the job of intriguing the audience to want to know more.

As soon as I heard the opening lines, I thought to myself “If normal students write their paper in a certain manner, how does Tim write his papers?”

Combine such a simple yet intriguing opening with comedic slides, and you’ve got yourself a pretty gripping speech.

Scott Dismore’s statement has a similar impact. However, just a side note, Scott Dismore actually started his speech with “Wow, what an honour.”

I would advise to not start your talk with something such as that. It’s way too common and does not do the job an opening must, which is to grip your audience and set the tone for what’s coming.

13. Larry Smith

Opening: “I want to discuss with you this afternoon why you’re going to fail to have a great career.”

14. Jane McGonigal

Opening: “You will live 7.5 minutes longer than you would have otherwise, just because you watched this talk.”

How to use provocative statements to start your speech?

Making a provocative statement creates a keen desire among the audience to want to know more about what you have to say. It immediately brings everyone into attention.

Larry Smith did just that by making his opening statement surprising, lightly humorous, and above all – fearful. These elements lead to an opening statement which creates so much curiosity among the audience that they need to know how your speech pans out.

This one time, I remember seeing a speaker start a speech with, “Last week, my best friend committed suicide.” The entire crowd was gripped. Everyone could feel the tension in the room.

They were just waiting for the speaker to continue to know where this speech will go.

That’s what a hard-hitting statement does, it intrigues your audience so much that they can’t wait to hear more! Just a tip, if you do start off with a provocative, hard-hitting statement, make sure you pause for a moment after saying it.

Silence after an impactful statement will allow your message to really sink in with the audience.

Related article: 5 Ways to Grab Your Audience’s Attention When You’re Losing it!

15. Ramona J Smith

Opening: In a boxing stance, “Life would sometimes feel like a fight. The punches, jabs and hooks will come in the form of challenges, obstacles and failures. Yet if you stay in the ring and learn from those past fights, at the end of each round, you’ll be still standing.”

How to use your full body to grip the audience at the beginning of your speech?

In a talk, the audience is expecting you to do just that – talk. But when you enter the stage and start putting your full body into use in a way that the audience does not expect, it grabs their attention.

Body language is critical when it comes to public speaking. Hand gestures, stage movement, facial expressions are all things that need to be paid attention to while you’re speaking on stage. But that’s not I’m talking about here.

Here, I’m referring to a unique use of the body that grips the audience, like how Ramona did. By using her body to get into a boxing stance, imitating punches, jabs and hooks with her arms while talking – that’s what got the audience’s attention.

The reason I say this is so powerful is because if you take Ramona’s speech and remove the body usage from her opening, the entire magic of the opening falls flat.

While the content is definitely strong, without those movements, she would not have captured the audience’s attention as beautifully as she did with the use of her body.

So if you have a speech opening that seems slightly dull, see if you can add some body movement to it.

If your speech starts with a story of someone running, actually act out the running. If your speech starts with a story of someone reading, actually act out the reading.

It will make your speech opening that much more impactful.

Related article: 5 Body Language Tips to Command the Stage

Level up your public speaking in 15 minutes!

Get the exclusive Masterclass video delivered to your inbox to see immediate speaking results.

You have successfully joined our subscriber list.

Final Words

So there it is! 15 speech openings from some of my favourite speeches. Hopefully, these will act as a guide for you to create your own opening which is super impactful and sets you off on the path to becoming a powerful public speaker!

But remember, while a speech opening is super important, it’s just part of an overall structure.

If you’re serious about not just creating a great speech opening but to improve your public speaking at an overall level, I would highly recommend you to check out this course: Acumen Presents: Chris Anderson on Public Speaking on Udemy. Not only does it have specific lectures on starting and ending a speech, but it also offers an in-depth guide into all the nuances of public speaking.

Being the founder of TED Talks, Chris Anderson provides numerous examples of the best TED speakers to give us a very practical way of overcoming stage fear and delivering a speech that people will remember. His course has helped me personally and I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking to learn public speaking.

No one is ever “done” learning public speaking. It’s a continuous process and you can always get better. Keep learning, keep conquering and keep being awesome!

Lastly, if you want to know how you should NOT open your speech, we’ve got a video for you:

Enroll in our transformative 1:1 Coaching Program

Schedule a call with our expert communication coach to know if this program would be the right fit for you

Less is More! Tips to Avoid Overwhelming Your Audience

What does it mean to Resonate with the Audience- Agreement, Acceptance, Approval

High-Stakes Presentations: Strategies for Engaging and Influencing Senior Leaders

[email protected]
+91 98203 57888

Get our latest tips and tricks in your inbox always

Understanding Parts of Speech (9 Types With Examples)

What are parts of speech? In the American English language, parts-of-speech is a category to which a word is assigned in accordance with its syntactic functions. They exist under the verb , noun, pronoun, interjection , adjective , conjunction, adverb, and preposition forms.

Learn more about parts of the speech in this comprehensive worksheet…

What are parts of speech?

“Parts of speech” refers to the essential words used in sentence formation in the English language.

Every word used in a sentence structure plays an important role in defining the sentence’s meaning. These words use and placement give proper intentions in sentence structures.

Parts of speech are the basic grammar lessons taught during the primary phases of learning English.

Any word used in sentence formation falls into one of these categories for proper sentence structure.

Some of those words can be a part of one or more parts of speech. This topic further explores the essential parts of speech used in the English language.

Watch this as a video lesson

In total, there are nine categories of parts of speech

These nine parts of speech are namely: Verbs, Nouns , Adjectives, Determiners, Adverbs , Pronouns, Prepositions , Conjunctions, and Interjections.

Another additional classification is used as a part of speech, i.e. , Articles, a subprogram of determiners.

To comprehend the meaning and use of each word in the English language, it is essential to clearly understand the various parts of speech and select the right parts of speech form at the appropriate place in the sentence.

What are the 9 parts of speech with their functions?

Here are the nine parts of speech and how they impact the English language.


Noun	name a place, person, thing, or idea.	California, man, park
Pronoun	Used to replace the name of a person, place, thing or idea.	He, she, it, they
Verb	A verb expresses what the does.	Leave, do, work put,
Adverb	Used to describe verb, adverb, or adjective.	Always, silently, quickly
Adjective	Words that are used to describe qualities or things.	Long, short, tiny, bright, dark
Preposition	Shows the relationship between other words in a sentence.	In, on, at, with,
Interjection	Words that express emotions or feelings.	Wow, oh, ah, yikes
Conjunction	Words that join words or groups of words together.	And, but, , , also

‘Verbs’ are the words used in a sentence to define the action/state of action being performed. Most of the sentences in sentence formation require the inclusion of verbs.

Some examples of verbs used in the English language are Love, Break, Fall , and Cry . These are the basic forms of verbs and are known as infinitives .

Most of the verbs used have two other major forms called participles . The use of these participles is for the formation of various verb-tense combinations.

These participles define the forms of verbs concerning the time of action/performance. These verb-tense combinations can be used in two types: Active voice and passive voice .

A ‘noun’ are words used in a sentence to give recognition or the name of an object, individual, or animal.

Nouns can be sub-classified into two major categories: Common nouns , which give generic descriptor names to things, and common items, such as a bat, a bicycle , etc. The other category of nouns is Proper nouns , which have specific descriptor names to refer to a specialized object, place, or individual, such as Charley, The Empire State Building, The Telegraph , etc.

Additionally, nouns can be classified as singular nouns and plural nouns based on the number of individuals/objects.

Singular Nouns

The definition of a Singular Noun is the same as that of a noun when used commonly. It carries the same definition as the noun: “A word referring towards an individual/object/event/material/place.”

Plural Nouns

The word plural relates to “more than one in certain languages or more than two in certain languages.”

Thus singular nouns can be converted to their plural noun format when there is an implication of more than one or two objects/individuals/places.

A general Singular/Common Noun can be turned into the appropriate form of a Plural Noun by adding a ‘s’/’es’/’ ies’/’ves.’ It is also initiated by changing ‘us’ to ‘i’, ‘is’ to ‘es’ , or ‘on’ to ‘a’ .

Some common nouns do not change when interchanged between their singular and plural noun forms. Some other common nouns do not fall under plural nouns and are called irregular nouns, which are made plural by changing the spelling or adding a suffix to the word.

‘Adjectives’ are words that give a description or modify the scope of nouns/pronouns by being specific. For example, adjectives used to define a noun can be red, small, hot, common, etc.

An adjective is usually placed before a noun or after the verb that it modifies. Three forms of adjectives are used to compare similar characteristics of different individuals/objects. These three degrees of comparison are:

Positive/Absolute form

This comparison of adjectives defines the original form of the adjective as stated in English. For example, “this candy is tasty .” This degree of comparison states that no relative subject is available for comparison.

Comparative form

This form of the adjective gives a relative comparison between two objects performing similar actions with identical characteristics. For example, “the candy we had today is tastier than the one we received yesterday.”

Superlative form

This form of the adjective gives the superiority declaration of one object over similar objects possessing similar characteristics. For example, “this candy is the tastiest I have ever had in the last two years .”

Adjectives can be sub-classified based on their function in sentence formation. This sub-classification is:

Possessive Adjectives

These adjectives show/represent the possessiveness of an object. For example, mine, my, his/her, their, its, etc.

Interrogative Adjectives

These adjectives modify the noun/pronoun by interrogation. Only a select few adjectives are available in this form. For example, whose, which, what, and where.

Demonstrative Adjectives

These adjectives describe the current state/position of the noun/pronoun concerning space/time. For example, this, these, those, that.

Compound Adjectives

These adjectives are a result of the combination of two or more adjectives. The resulting adjective modifies the subject in the sentence. For example, hand-dried, heavy-weighted, spike-haired, etc.

‘Determiners’ are the words placed before a noun/pronoun group terms to refer to a single/multiple things. Some commonly used determiners in English are ‘a’, ‘the’, ‘some’, ‘any’, and ‘this.’ Determiners are generally placed before descriptive adjectives . It tells the reader more about the description of the noun being referred to.

Determiners are classified into sub-categories, articles, and demonstratives.

An ‘Article’ can be either definite or indefinite. An article modifies a noun/pronoun without specifying any description of the object. In English, an example of a ‘definite article’ is the , whereas examples of two ‘indefinite articles’ are a and an .

Here, the refers to specific things or things that are identified beforehand. A or a refer to non-specific things that have not been identified beforehand.

Demonstratives

A ‘Demonstrative’ is defined as a demonstrative adjective/pronoun based on its usage in the sentence. Some examples of demonstratives are ‘this’, ‘that’, and ‘those’ .

A determiner has the same rules of use as in the case of adjectives in sentence formation. Thus, confusion takes place when carefully choosing the type of parts of speech to assign when given a choice of either a determiner or adjective.

An ‘Adverb’ defines essential information about the verb, similar to what an adjective is to a noun. It provides a descriptor for a verb used in a sentence and some cases, can also describe an adjective or another adverb.

Some adverbs used in sentences with verbs are ‘slowly’, ‘hastily’, ‘unfortunately’, and ‘angrily’.

Adverbs are further sub-classified into various types based on their application in a sentence.

Adverbs of Time (to inform about the occurrence of a verb), For example, ‘now’, ‘tomorrow’, and ‘soon’.
Adverbs of Manner (to describe the action of a verb), For example, ‘hastily’, ‘slowly’, and ‘minutely’.
Adverbs of Place (to indicate the place of action of the verb),
Adverbs of Frequency (to describe the frequency of a verb action),
Adverbs of Degree (to describe the intensity of an action),
Conjunctive Adverbs (are used to link/act as a conjunction to two sentences).

A ‘Pronoun’ is a word used in specifically providing an alternate name for a non/noun phrase. They are alternate words for referring to an object/individual when the requirement of a noun is unnecessary, as the noun has been mentioned previously in some parts of the sentence.

Some examples of pronouns are ‘it’, ‘he/she’, and ‘himself/herself’.

Pronouns are sub-classified into different categories based on their use in the sentence.

Some of these sub-categories are:

Relative Pronouns (to relate a part of a sentence with the other)
Possessive Pronouns (to show possessiveness)
Reflexive Pronouns (to refer back to the subject of discussion)
Demonstrative Pronouns (to refer to specific objects/individuals)
Interrogative Pronouns (to ask questions)
Indefinite Pronouns (to avoid reference to any specific object/individual/place)
Personal Pronouns (to use as substitutes for proper names)
Subject Pronouns (to assign acting on an object)
Object Pronouns (to assign receiving action towards an object)
Reciprocal Pronouns (to express two-way/mutual relationship)
Preposition

A ‘Preposition’ is a word used as a connective between a noun, a noun phrase, or a pronoun with another word.

Prepositions are used in sentence formations to convey these meanings:

To show the direction towards/of something/someone
To refer to the period of an action taking place
To specify the location/position of an object
To present the space and time relationship between objects

Based on their use and function, prepositions are classified into four subtypes:

Prepositions of Time (to indicate the happening of an action/event)
Preposition of Place (to indicate the location of an object)
Preposition of Direction (to indicate the direction/orientation of an object)
Prepositions of Spatial Relationship (to indicate an object moving away/towards a source)
Conjunction

A ‘Conjunction’ is a word that combines two/more objects and behaves as connectives in a sentence. These can appear in the beginning/middle/end of the sentence following the location of the objects.

There are three types of conjunctions used in sentence formation:

Coordinate conjunction (to combine two independent clauses )
Subordinate conjunction (to combine an independent with a dependent clause)
Correlation conjunction (to combine two phrases having equal weightage)

Interjection

An ‘Interjection’ is a word to convey the expression of a variety of emotions/feelings. As such, there is no specific rule for the use of interjection and where it is to be placed.

However, in most cases, it is placed at the beginning of the sentence. For example, some of the most commonly used interjections are ‘ouch’, ‘phew’, and ‘well’.


Noun	The howled.
Pronoun	It woke the baby.
Verb	The loving mother the child.
Adjective	The father rocked the baby.
Adverb	The dog howled
Preposition	The baby cried a long time.
Conjunction	The baby gazed at his mother father.
Interjection	, the baby fell back asleep.

Parts of speech examples

Here are some examples of the parts of speech used in sentences. Note the placement and its relation with other parts of speech present in the sentence format.

John is cutting a pipe.
John intends to come to the office this Monday .
Jogging regularly is good for health.
Drinking and driving put other motorists in danger.
Would you want to wear a suit?
I love to sing in between classes.

See another example in the image below.

Juno ran towards the classroom.
The janitor requested the students to clear their lockers.
The monkey was caged after being sedated.
I gifted my brother a phone .
Why did you purchase the book ?
I misplaced the manuscript .
Do you want to eat some ice cream ?
Mum loved my new car .
Daniel gifted his brother a Porsche.

I purchased a blue suit for the reception.
Mary purchased two oranges from the fruit seller.
The curry is tasty .
Juno’s brother is arrogant .
The documentary that premiered on television was fascinating .
Giovanni Giorgio is a great music composer.

My house is currently under lease.
This novel is lengthy.
I purchased some fruits and vegetables.
She sent me an expensive watch.
Velma loved the dress gifted by her parents.
Joyce and Jill watched a movie together.
Grandma gave us materials to prepare the dessert.

Typically , we visit Mom on Mondays.
Don’t you taste the coffee to be too bitter?
Do not be nervous. You will eventually get the hang of it.
The movie I watched was very scientific.
It is scorching hot inside the workshop.
Can I visit the office today ?

His aunt will be staying at the apartment for a while .
He is the man I was referring to.
I found my missing luggage outside the airport.

I won’t be coming to the office in the afternoon.
He arranged the cutlery on the table.
Bhaskar made the dog hide under its bed.
I enjoy strolling by the lake in the mornings.

James and I trekked to the hilltop today.
I stayed back home because I felt uneasy.
He did not enjoy the yogurt , yet he finished it.

Interjection
Hurray! We got the funding.
Ouch! That wound looks severe.
Wow! You look great in the wedding gown.
Oh my God ! I hope he is safe.

See an example in the image below.

Words with more than one job

Many parts of speech can have more than one function/job in the sentence. This improves the versatility of the words being used and makes the use more situational in its placement and conveyance of meaning.

Myers can shift for herself (Preposition)
Give prayers to the Almighty; for He is the one above all (Conjunction)
We require more women to have the same vigor. (Adjective)
More of the women died in the operating room than in the cabin. (Pronoun)
Agatha needs to shut the gossiping and work more (Adverb)

To see how all the objects work together, see the table below.


She	likes	big		but	I	hate	them

Here is a chart showing the parts of speech:

How to identify parts of speech

In sentence formation, it often becomes difficult to ascertain the parts of speech represented by each word. To help out and to make the process of identification easier, follow these steps:

Identify any word which names an object/individual/place in a generalized form as a noun .
To identify a specific noun, use pronouns .
Any words which describe/identify actions/performance are verbs .
Any word that modifies or gives a greater definition to nouns is an adjective.
Any word that modifies or gives meaning to the actions of verbs, are adverbs.
It is easy to pick out prepositions as they describe relationships between a noun/pronoun with other nouns/pronouns.
Any joiner used to join two clauses is a conjunction .
Exclamations generally follow any interjections in the text.

Parts of speech

More parts of speech:

Conjunctions
Prepositions
Possessive nouns
Irregular plural nouns
Proper nouns
Concrete nouns
Collective nouns
Possessive and plural nouns
Verbs: The Definitive Guide
Nouns | Explore Definition, Examples & Types with Examples
What Are Pronouns? Definitions and Examples
What Are Adverbs? (with Examples)
Interjections – Explore Meaning, Definition, Usage and Examples
What Is A Conjunction? Types & Examples
The 9 Parts of Speech: Definitions and Examples
What Is a Determiner?
The 8 Parts of Speech: Examples and Rules
Adverbs – What is It? Explore the Meaning, Definition, Types, Usage and Examples

Inside this article

Fact checked: Content is rigorously reviewed by a team of qualified and experienced fact checkers. Fact checkers review articles for factual accuracy, relevance, and timeliness. Learn more.

About the author

Dalia Y.: Dalia is an English Major and linguistics expert with an additional degree in Psychology. Dalia has featured articles on Forbes, Inc, Fast Company, Grammarly, and many more. She covers English, ESL, and all things grammar on GrammarBrain.

Core lessons

Abstract Noun
Accusative Case
Active Sentence
Alliteration
Adjective Clause
Adjective Phrase
Adverbial Clause
Appositive Phrase
Body Paragraph
Compound Adjective
Complex Sentence
Compound Words
Compound Predicate
Common Noun
Comparative Adjective
Comparative and Superlative
Compound Noun
Compound Subject
Compound Sentence
Copular Verb
Collective Noun
Colloquialism
Conciseness
Conditional
Concrete Noun
Conjugation
Conditional Sentence
Comma Splice
Correlative Conjunction
Coordinating Conjunction
Coordinate Adjective
Cumulative Adjective
Dative Case
Declarative Statement
Direct Object Pronoun
Direct Object
Dangling Modifier
Demonstrative Pronoun
Demonstrative Adjective
Direct Characterization
Definite Article
Doublespeak
Equivocation Fallacy
Future Perfect Progressive
Future Simple
Future Perfect Continuous
Future Perfect
First Conditional
Gerund Phrase
Genitive Case
Helping Verb
Irregular Adjective
Irregular Verb
Imperative Sentence
Indefinite Article
Intransitive Verb
Introductory Phrase
Indefinite Pronoun
Indirect Characterization
Interrogative Sentence
Intensive Pronoun
Inanimate Object
Indefinite Tense
Infinitive Phrase
Intensifier
Indicative Mood
Juxtaposition
Linking Verb
Misplaced Modifier
Nominative Case
Noun Adjective
Object Pronoun
Object Complement
Order of Adjectives
Parallelism
Prepositional Phrase
Past Simple Tense
Past Continuous Tense
Past Perfect Tense
Past Progressive Tense
Present Simple Tense
Present Perfect Tense
Personal Pronoun
Personification
Persuasive Writing
Parallel Structure
Phrasal Verb
Predicate Adjective
Predicate Nominative
Phonetic Language
Plural Noun
Punctuation
Punctuation Marks
Preposition of Place
Parts of Speech
Possessive Adjective
Possessive Determiner
Possessive Case
Possessive Noun
Proper Adjective
Proper Noun
Present Participle
Quotation Marks
Relative Pronoun
Reflexive Pronoun
Reciprocal Pronoun
Subordinating Conjunction
Simple Future Tense
Stative Verb
Subjunctive
Subject Complement
Subject of a Sentence
Sentence Variety
Second Conditional
Superlative Adjective
Slash Symbol
Topic Sentence
Types of Nouns
Types of Sentences
Uncountable Noun
Vowels and Consonants

Popular lessons

Stay awhile. Your weekly dose of grammar and English fun.

The world's best online resource for learning English. Understand words, phrases, slang terms, and all other variations of the English language.

Abbreviations
Editorial Policy

Walden University
Faculty Portal

Grammar: Sentence Structure and Types of Sentences

Definitions and examples of basic sentence elements.

The Mastering the Mechanics webinar series also describes required sentence elements and varying sentence types. Please see these archived webinars for more information.

Key: Yellow, bold = subject; green underline = verb, blue, italics = object, pink, regular font = prepositional phrase

Independent clause : An independent clause can stand alone as a sentence. It contains a subject and a verb and is a complete idea.

I like spaghetti .
He reads many books .

Dependent clause : A dependent clause is not a complete sentence. It must be attached to an independent clause to become complete. This is also known as a subordinate clause.

Although I like spaghetti,…
Because he reads many books,…

Subject : A person, animal, place, thing, or concept that does an action. Determine the subject in a sentence by asking the question “Who or what?”

I like spaghetti.
He reads many books.

Verb : Expresses what the person, animal, place, thing, or concept does. Determine the verb in a sentence by asking the question “What was the action or what happened?”

The movie is good. (The be verb is also sometimes referred to as a copula or a linking verb. It links the subject, in this case "the movie," to the complement or the predicate of the sentence, in this case, "good.")

Object : A person, animal, place, thing, or concept that receives the action. Determine the object in a sentence by asking the question “The subject did what?” or “To whom?/For whom?”

Prepositional Phrase : A phrase that begins with a preposition (i.e., in, at for, behind, until, after, of, during) and modifies a word in the sentence. A prepositional phrase answers one of many questions. Here are a few examples: “Where? When? In what way?”

I like spaghetti for dinner .
He reads many books in the library .

English Sentence Structure

The following statements are true about sentences in English:

H e obtained his degree.
He obtained his degree .
Smith he obtained his degree.
He obtained his degree.
He (subject) obtained (verb) his degree (object).

Simple Sentences

A simple sentence contains a subject and a verb, and it may also have an object and modifiers. However, it contains only one independent clause.

Key: Yellow, bold = subject; green underline = verb, blue, italics = object, pink, regular font =prepositional phrase

Here are a few examples:

She wrote .
She completed her literature review .
He organized his sources by theme .
They studied APA rules for many hours .

Compound Sentences

A compound sentence contains at least two independent clauses. These two independent clauses can be combined with a comma and a coordinating conjunction or with a semicolon .

Key: independent clause = yellow, bold ; comma or semicolon = pink, regular font ; coordinating conjunction = green, underlined

She completed her literature review , and she created her reference list .
He organized his sources by theme ; then, he updated his reference list .
They studied APA rules for many hours , but they realized there was still much to learn .

Using some compound sentences in writing allows for more sentence variety .

Complex Sentences

A complex sentence contains at least one independent clause and at least one dependent clause. Dependent clauses can refer to the subject (who, which) the sequence/time (since, while), or the causal elements (because, if) of the independent clause.

If a sentence begins with a dependent clause, note the comma after this clause. If, on the other hand, the sentence begins with an independent clause, there is not a comma separating the two clauses.

Key: independent clause = yellow, bold ; comma = pink, regular font ; dependent clause = blue, italics

Note the comma in this sentence because it begins with a dependent clause.
Note that there is no comma in this sentence because it begins with an independent clause.
Using some complex sentences in writing allows for more sentence variety .

Compound-Complex Sentences

Sentence types can also be combined. A compound-complex sentence contains at least two independent clauses and at least one dependent clause.

Key: independent clause = yellow, bold ; comma or semicolon = pink, regular font ; coordinating conjunction = green, underlined ; dependent clause = blue, italics

She completed her literature review , but she still needs to work on her methods section even though she finished her methods course last semester .
Although he organized his sources by theme , he decided to arrange them chronologically , and he carefully followed the MEAL plan for organization .
T hey studied APA rules for many hours , and they decided that writing in APA made sense because it was clear, concise, and objective .
Using some complex-compound sentences in writing allows for more sentence variety .
Pay close attention to comma usage in complex-compound sentences so that the reader is easily able to follow the intended meaning.

Sentence Structure Video Playlist

Note that these videos were created while APA 6 was the style guide edition in use. There may be some examples of writing that have not been updated to APA 7 guidelines.

Structuring Sentences: Types of Sentences (video transcript)
Structuring Sentences: Simple Sentences (video transcript)
Structuring Sentences: Compound Sentences (video transcript)
Structuring Sentences: Complex Sentences (video transcript)
Structuring Sentences: Combining Sentences (video transcript)
Common Error: Unclear Subjects (video transcript)
Mastering the Mechanics: Punctuation as Symbols (video transcript)
Mastering the Mechanics: Commas (video transcript)
Mastering the Mechanics: Periods (video transcript)
Mastering the Mechanics: Semicolons (video transcript)

Related Resources

Knowledge Check: Sentence Structure and Types of Sentences

Didn't find what you need? Email us at [email protected] .

Previous Page: Main Parts of Speech
Next Page: Run-On Sentences and Sentence Fragments
Office of Student Disability Services

Walden Resources

Departments.

Academic Residencies
Academic Skills
Career Planning and Development
Customer Care Team
Field Experience
Military Services
Student Success Advising
Writing Skills

Centers and Offices

Center for Social Change
Office of Academic Support and Instructional Services
Office of Degree Acceleration
Office of Research and Doctoral Services
Office of Student Affairs

Student Resources

Doctoral Writing Assessment
Form & Style Review
Quick Answers
ScholarWorks
SKIL Courses and Workshops
Walden Bookstore
Walden Catalog & Student Handbook
Student Safety/Title IX
Legal & Consumer Information
Website Terms and Conditions
Cookie Policy
Accessibility
Accreditation
State Authorization
Net Price Calculator
Contact Walden

The sentence Trump supporter Nikki Haley wishes she never said

Updated: Jul. 22, 2024, 2:28 p.m.
| Published: Jul. 22, 2024, 2:17 p.m.

Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley speaks during the second day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum, Tuesday, July 16, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) AP

Matt Arco | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Nikki Haley is all in for Donald Trump .

She recently praised him during a speech at the Republican National Convention and said that she’ll vote for him in November. The approval and support came after Haley ended her primary bid against the former president after Trump all but locked up the nomination in March.

And now, despite backing him, Haley’s comments during the primary are coming back to try and hurt Trump.

“The first party to retire its 80-year-old candidate is going to be the party that wins this election,” Haley said during a speech on the campaign trail in January, citing polling that showed both Trump and Joe Biden were largely unpopular among the general electorate and that people wanted other choices.

Nikki Haley: “The first party to retire its 80-year-old candidate is going to be the party that wins this election.” (Jan. 2024) pic.twitter.com/n8QvDERUkQ — Republican Voters Against Trump (@AccountableGOP) July 22, 2024

Biden dropped out of the 2024 race for the White House on Sunday, ending his bid for reelection following a disastrous debate with Trump that raised doubts about his fitness for office just four months before the election.

The decision comes after escalating pressure from Biden’s Democratic allies to step aside following the June 27 debate, in which the 81-year-old president trailed off, often gave nonsensical answers and failed to call out the former president’s many falsehoods.

Biden endorsed Kamala Harris to be the party’s nominee and Democrats have been rallying behind her.

“Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year. Democrats — it’s time to come together and beat Trump. Let’s do this,” Biden posted to X.

The Democratic National Convention runs from Aug. 19 to 22 in Chicago.

Biden plans to serve out the remainder of his term in office, which ends at noon on Jan. 20, 2025.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Stories by Matt Arco

Big change in poll after Biden pulls out of race and endorses Harris
Democrats lining up behind these possible VP candidates
Trump hater mocks Fox News host for demanding Dems stop saying this about Trump

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com .

Matt Arco may be reached at [email protected] . Follow him on Twitter at @MatthewArco .

If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

Read Donald Trump's full RNC speech transcript

In a more than hour-long speech, Donald Trump officially accepted his presidential nomination on Thursday, the last night of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

He was introduced by Dana White , UFC CEO, and he covered several big topics including a play-by-play of his assassination attempt Saturday . He honored Corey Comperatore , the attendee who died in the rally shooting, touted his economic record, and criticized the Biden administration's immigration policy.

"I'm not supposed to be here tonight. Not supposed to be here," Trump said.

The crowd chanted back, "Yes, you are."Read the entire speech here .

Scrible PDF Viewer

"Thank you, but I'm not. And I'll tell you I stand before you in this arena only by the grace of Almighty God." Trump replied.

The former president spoke to a crowd of around 50,000 delegates, attendees and media members with a bandage covering his right ear wounded Saturday. He spoke for about 90 minutes, marking the longest convention acceptance speech in the modern era and beating his previous 2016 speech run time record. He will be on the road this weekend to attend a rally in Michigan with his newly nominated running mate J.D. Vance .

Trump’s New Rival May Bring Out His Harshest Instincts

After years planning to face President Biden, Donald J. Trump and his team will be campaigning against Kamala Harris. He has attacked female rivals and critics in brutal and personal terms.

Share full article

Donald Trump is seen from behind backstage as he is entering an arena to give a rally speech. He is holding his hands out.

By Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan

July 23, 2024 Updated 3:21 p.m. ET

Donald J. Trump and his political team spent nearly two years tailoring a campaign to defeat an old white male president who is conspicuously frail and who most Americans had told pollsters they doubted could handle another four-year term.

Suddenly, Mr. Trump faces a starkly different opponent: a vice president who is a Black woman, nearly 20 years younger, and who brings her own strengths and weaknesses but who adds new uncertainty into what had been a remarkably static race.

Allies of Vice President Kamala Harris have already telegraphed that she will run a campaign framed around a “prosecutor versus felon” theme, highlighting her experience as a prosecutor and underscoring the fact that Mr. Trump has been indicted in multiple jurisdictions and convicted of 34 felonies.

The prosecutor-versus-felon approach may appeal to undecided voters who had been sour on both Mr. Trump and President Biden. It may also goad Mr. Trump, who reacts strongly to criticism, into resurrecting the language he has used against other Black female prosecutors, such as Letitia James in New York and Fani Willis in Georgia, both of whom he has called “racist” and attacked in personal terms.

In a preview of what’s to come, Ms. Harris made the prosecutor’s attack line explicit during an appearance on Monday, describing her past as the district attorney of San Francisco and the attorney general of California.

“In those roles I took on perpetrators of all kinds: Predators who abused women, fraudsters who ripped off consumers, cheaters who broke the rules for their own gain. So hear me when I say, I know Donald Trump’s type,” she said.

We are having trouble retrieving the article content.

Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

Already a subscriber? Log in .

Want all of The Times? Subscribe .

‘Embrace her,’ Biden says as Harris gives her first speech as likely Democratic nominee

Vice President Kamala Harris arrives at her presidential campaign headquarters in Wilmington, Del., on Monday.

Copy Link URL Copied!

Vice President Kamala Harris launched her official campaign Monday with a fiery address to supporters in Delaware — her first public address since overnight becoming a candidate for president and the Democrats’ likely nominee.

Before Harris addressed the crowd at the campaign’s Wilmington headquarters, President Biden phoned in to speak to the gathered staff, saying he would have attended in person if he weren’t still recovering from COVID-19. He advised his team: “Embrace her. She’s the best.”

“The name has changed at the top of the ticket, but the mission hasn’t changed at all,” Biden said. “And by the way, I’m not going anywhere. I’m gonna be out there on the campaign with her, with Kamala. I’m going to be working like hell — both as a sitting president, getting legislation passed — as well as campaigning.”

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks from the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Monday, July 22, 2024, during an event with NCAA college athletes. This is her first public appearance since President Joe Biden endorsed her to be the next presidential nominee of the Democratic Party. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Harris appears to clinch Democratic presidential nomination as she rakes in record-breaking $81 million

The California delegation, the largest in the Democratic Party, unanimously voted to back Harris Monday evening, all but guaranteeing her nomination.

July 22, 2024

The president acknowledged that his decision was “surprising” but it “was the right thing to do.” Some staffers in the audience cried at his speech.

But their tears turned to rousing cheers when Harris took the stage. Her husband, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, followed Harris through the room as she greeted staff and clapped. Already, the walls were papered with “Harris for President,” “Restore Roe” and “Kamala” posters. A giant California state flag hung over the desks.

Harris applauded the assembled group, and acknowledged that the campaign had been “a roller coaster and we’re all filled with so many mixed emotions about this.” She spent several minutes praising Biden, ticking off his accomplishments leading the country through the COVID-19 pandemic and passing major bipartisan legislation.

“Joe’s legacy of accomplishment … is unmatched in modern history,” she said. “In one term, he has already surpassed the legacy of most presidents who served two terms in office.”

She thanked the president, who was still listening on the phone.

“Joe, I know you’re still on the call and we’ve been talking every day,” Harris said. “We love Joe and Jill. We really do. They truly are like family to us.”

“It’s mutual,” Biden could be heard saying over the loudspeaker.

“I knew you were still there,” Harris said, laughing. “You’re not going anywhere, Joe.”

“I’m watching you kid. I love you,” Biden replied.

“I love you, Joe,” Harris said.

Turning to business, Harris announced that Biden’s top campaign officials — Jen O’Malley Dillon and Julie Chavez Rodriguez — will stay on to run her campaign.

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper; Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro; Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Kentucky Gov, Andy Beshear. Associated Press file photographs

Who could replace Harris as the next vice presidential candidate? Meet her potential choices

Kamala Harris would have a wide field of possible candidates for her running mate. Swing state governors like Josh Shapiro and Roy Cooper are seen as most likely.

The speech gave the public a first peek at how Harris will present as a presidential candidate in a breathtakingly fast four-month runway to the general election. It marked a shift from Harris’ usual address on the campaign trail stumping for Biden in the last several months. Her tone grew sharper as she outlined her attack on former President Trump and drew specific parallels between herself and her opponent.

She leaned hard into her background as California’s senator, its attorney general and a prosecutor, contrasting her experience with that of Trump, who is now a convicted felon .

“I took on perpetrators of all kinds,” Harris said as her supporters broke out into laughter. “Predators who abused women. Fraudsters who ripped off consumers. Cheaters who broke the rules for their own gain. So hear me when I say — I know Donald Trump’s type.”

“We are not going back,” she added, as the crowd broke into applause.

The Trump campaign zeroed in on Harris on Monday, attacking her for a “border invasion” in a memo to supporters.

“Kamala Harris is as bad, if not worse, than Joe Biden,” said the memo from Trump’s top campaign officials Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles.

Earlier Monday, at his first campaign rally as Trump’s running mate, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance blamed Harris — as well as other Democrats and the media — for hiding that Biden “wasn’t capable of doing the job.”

“What is going on in this country is absolutely disgraceful,” Vance said.

Harris said her campaign “is not just about us vs. Donald Trump.” She delivered her vision for America’s future, “where no child has to grow up in poverty, where every person can buy a home, start a family and build wealth, and where every person has access to paid family leave and affordable childcare.”

Her priorities for a Harris presidency include passing the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act and issuing several gun control measures, such as universal background checks, “red flag laws” to prevent potentially threatening people from purchasing guns, and an assault weapons ban.

Some of the group’s loudest applause came when Harris pledged to sign into law national legislation protecting abortion access. Part of Democrats’ frustration with Biden, particularly during his disastrous performance at last month’s debate, was around his struggle to articulate a clear message on abortion. Abortion is one of the top motivating issues for Democratic voters, and one Harris has frequently championed on the campaign trail.

“In this election, we know we each face a question: What kind of country do we want to live in?” she said. “A country of freedom, compassion and rule of law, or a country of chaos, fear and hate?”

Harris seemed to relish the opportunity to shine in her first stump speech since her failed 2020 presidential bid.

“We have an election to win. So are you ready to get to work?” she roared with a grin, before concluding her speech with “God bless the United States of America and Joe Biden.”

Beyoncé gives Kamala Harris the green light to use ‘Freedom’ in presidential campaign

July 23, 2024

Vice President Kamala Harris, at podium, is welcomed on stage by Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, far left,

Granderson: President Harris would be a ‘first’ in many ways. She can handle it

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaks at the North Carolina Democratic Unity Dinner fundraiser in Raleigh, N.C., Saturday, July 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Karl B DeBlaker)

Public deference, private power: How Nancy Pelosi navigated the Biden withdrawal

Get the L.A. Times Politics newsletter

Deeply reported insights into legislation, politics and policy from Sacramento, Washington and beyond. In your inbox three times per week.

You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.

Faith E. Pinho is a reporter for the Los Angeles Times, covering national and political news, including the 2024 election.

More From the Los Angeles Times

Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., leaves federal court in New York, Tuesday, July 16, 2024. Menendez has been convicted of all the charges he faced at his corruption trial, including accepting bribes of gold and cash from three New Jersey businessmen and acting as a foreign agent for the Egyptian government. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

World & Nation

U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez is resigning following corruption conviction

FILE - A is a bowl of voting stickers for early voters is shown March 15, 2020, in Steubenville, Ohio. A federal judge struck down restrictions Monday, July 22, 2024, in Ohio’s sweeping 2023 election law that voting rights groups said restricted people from helping voters with disabilities cast absentee ballots. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)

Federal judge tosses Ohio voting restrictions on voters with disabilities

FILE - Abortion-rights protesters attend a rally, June 24, 2022, in Des Moines, Iowa. Iowa’s strict abortion law will take effect Monday, July 29, 2024, banning most abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy and before many women know they are pregnant. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)

Iowa law banning most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy to take effect Monday

Vice President Kamala Harris campaigns for President as the presumptive Democratic candidate during an event at West Allis Central High School, Tuesday, July 23, 2024, in West Allis, Wis. (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf)

Harris hits the campaign trail as endorsements and delegates pile up

IMAGES

Sentence With All Parts Of Speech
Sentences For Speech Archives
Parts of Speech Sentence Fun Labels
Direct and Indirect Speech Examples
Direct and Indirect Speech Example Sentences
30 Examples of Direct and Indirect Speech Sentences

VIDEO

1.2 The Parts of Speech poem easy explanation
daily use Sentence of speech
Parts of Speech & Sentence Structure (词类 + 句构 ) #ztb051
🗣️ spoken English..Part of speech/sentence📒🖊️#ytshorts #viral #spokenenglish #englishgrammar #tense
Daily use Sentence to speech in English spoken
Subject and predicate ll Parts of a sentence ll English grammar class ll

COMMENTS

Parts of Speech: Explanation and Examples
A "part of speech" is a category to which a word is assigned in accordance with its syntactic functions. In English, the main parts of speech are noun, pronoun, adjective, determiner, verb, adverb, preposition, conjunction, and interjection. (Oxford Dictionary) Table of Contents. The Part of Speech Is Determined by the Word's Function.
The 8 Parts of Speech
Understanding the different parts of speech can help you analyze how words function in a sentence and improve your writing. The parts of speech are classified differently in different grammars, but most traditional grammars list eight parts of speech in English: nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and ...
Parts of Speech: Complete Guide (With Examples and More)
The parts of speech refer to categories to which a word belongs. In English, there are eight of them : verbs , nouns, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections. Many English words fall into more than one part of speech category. Take the word light as an example.
What Are the 8 Parts of Speech? Examples and Usage
Knowing the different parts of speech is essential for good grammar. Become an expert at knowing when and what parts of speech to use with these examples. ... Learning the parts of speech is just the first step to building a proper sentence. But parts of speech are slightly different from parts of a sentence — and you need to know both in ...
Parts of Speech: A Super Simple Grammar Guide with Examples
In sentence construction, parts of speech are present in what are known as the clauses of sentences. Clauses are groups of words that have a subject and a verb. The verb is also part of an entire verb phrase known as a predicate. Simple/Basic Sentences. In its simplest form, a sentence can have one independent clause.
The 8 Parts of Speech
Understanding the different parts of speech can help you analyse how words function in a sentence and improve your writing. The parts of speech are classified differently in different grammars, but most traditional grammars list eight parts of speech in English: nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and ...
Academic Guides: Grammar: Main Parts of Speech
This comes before a noun or a noun phrase and links it to other parts of the sentence. These are usually single words (e.g., on, at, by ,…) but can be up to four words (e.g., as far as, in addition to, as a result of, …). I chose to interview teachers in the district closest to me. The recorder was placed next to the interviewee.
Understanding the 8 Parts of Speech: Definitions and Examples
The parts of speech definitions in English can vary, but here's a widely accepted one: a part of speech is a category of words that serve a similar grammatical purpose in sentences. To make that definition even simpler, a part of speech is just a category for similar types of words. All of the types of words included under a single part of ...
Parts of Speech
EnglishClub: Learn English: Grammar: Parts of Speech Parts of Speech. What is a Part of Speech? We can categorize English words into 9 basic types called "parts of speech" or "word classes". It's quite important to recognize parts of speech. This helps you to analyze sentences and understand them. It also helps you to construct good sentences.
The Eight Parts of Speech
The part of speech indicates how the word functions in meaning as well as grammatically within the sentence. An individual word can function as more than one part of speech when used in different circumstances. Understanding parts of speech is essential for determining the correct definition of a word when using the dictionary. 1. NOUN
Parts of Speech Overview
Prepositional phrases convey a spatial, temporal, or directional meaning. Example 1: Ivy climbed up the brick wall of the house. There are two prepositional phrases in the example above: up the brick wall and of the house. The first prepositional phrase is an adverbial phrase, since it modifies the verb by describing where the ivy climbed.
The 9 Parts of Speech: Definitions and Examples
Every sentence you write or speak in English includes words that fall into some of the nine parts of speech. These include nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, articles/determiners, and interjections. (Some sources include only eight parts of speech and leave interjections in their own category.)
Parts Of Speech: Breaking Them Down With Examples
Example Sentences We left by bus in the morning. Conjunction,"connects words, sentences, or clauses. Part Of Speech Article Function shows whether a specific identity is known or unknown. Example Vocabulary A, an, and the. Example Sentences A man called today. The cat is on the table; get it off!
Parts of Speech
8 Parts of Speech Definitions and Examples: 1. Nouns are words that are used to name people, places, animals, ideas and things. Nouns can be classified into two main categories: Common nouns and Proper nouns. Common nouns are generic like ball, car, stick, etc., and proper nouns are more specific like Charles, The White House, The Sun, etc.
How to Identify Parts of Speech (with Pictures)
Parts of speech are categories that are used to describe each word's function in a sentence. The best way to identify a word's part of speech is to think about what role the word plays in the sentence, but there are also a few clues that can help you figure out the part of speech if you are unsure about the word's function. Part 1.
Grammar Basics: Sentence Parts and Sentence Structures
Parts of Speech . One way to begin studying basic sentence structures is to consider the traditional parts of speech (also called word classes): nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, articles, and interjections.
Parts of Speech: 8 Parts of Speech with Example Sentences
Parts of Speech in English. Based on use and functions, words are categorized into several types or parts of speech. The 8 main parts of speech in English are: Noun. Noun definition: A word used to identify any of a class of people, places, or things, or to name a particular one of these. Noun examples: lady, road, tree, love, dream, pencil ...
15 Powerful Speech Opening Lines (And How to Create Your Own)
Analyze their response and tweak the joke accordingly if necessary. Starting your speech with humour means your setting the tone of your speech. It would make sense to have a few more jokes sprinkled around the rest of the speech as well as the audience might be expecting the same from you. 4. Mohammed Qahtani.
Understanding Parts of Speech (9 Types With Examples)
These nine parts of speech are namely: Verbs, Nouns, Adjectives, Determiners, Adverbs, Pronouns, Prepositions, Conjunctions, and Interjections. Another additional classification is used as a part of speech, i.e., Articles, a subprogram of determiners. To comprehend the meaning and use of each word in the English language, it is essential to ...
Sentence Structure and Types of Sentences
Do you want to improve your writing skills and avoid common grammar mistakes? Learn more about the main parts of speech, sentence structure, and types of sentences in these instructional pages from Walden University's Writing Center. Whether you are writing an academic paper, a job application, or a personal email, these grammar tips will help you communicate clearly and effectively.
The sentence Trump supporter Nikki Haley wishes she never said
"The first party to retire its 80-year-old candidate is going to be the party that wins this election," Haley said during a speech on the campaign trail in January, citing polling that showed ...
Donald Trump's full RNC speech transcript
In a more than hour-long speech, Donald Trump officially accepted his presidential nomination on Thursday, the last night of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Former Archbishop of Canterbury condemns Just Stop Oil jail sentences
A former Archbishop of Canterbury has signed a letter criticising the jail sentences issued to Just Stop Oil protesters as "one of the greatest injustices in a British court in modern history
Trump's New Rival May Bring Out His Harshest Instincts
Trump has told people that she "speaks in rhyme" — a mocking reference to her occasional word-salad sentences that have gone viral on social media, have become mainstays on Fox News and have ...
Kamala Harris delivers a fiery speech to campaign staffers
The speech gave the public a first peek at how Harris will present as a presidential candidate in a breathtakingly fast four-month runway to the general election. It marked a shift from Harris ...

Parts of Speech

The Part of Speech Is Determined by the Word's Function

Video for Each Part of Speech

The Most Important Writing Issues

The Top Issue Related to Adverbs

The Top Issue Related to Conjunctions

The Top Issue Related to Determiners

The Top Issue Related to Interjections

You might also like...

teachers' zone

Have a language expert improve your writing

The 8 Parts of Speech | Chart, Definition & Examples

Table of contents

Other parts of speech

Check for common mistakes

Is this article helpful?

More interesting articles

Get unlimited documents corrected

Understanding the Parts of Speech in English

Parts of Speech: Quick Summary

Learn About:

Using the Parts of Speech Correctly In Your Writing

What Are the Parts of Speech in English?

What Are Verbs?

What Are Nouns?

What Are Pronouns?

What Are Adjectives?

What Are Adverbs?

What Are Prepositions?

What Are Conjunctions?

What Are Interjections?

Unleash the Professional Writer in You With LanguageTool

Works on All Your Favorite Services

We Value Your Feedback

Parts of Speech: A Super Simple Grammar Guide with Examples

Parts of Speech

What Are Parts Of Speech?

Open and Closed Word Classes

Different Parts of Speech (with Examples)

The Noun (n.)

The Common Noun

The Proper Noun

The Collective Noun

The Possessive Noun

The Verb (v.)

The Action Verb

The Linking Verb

The Modal Verb

The Pronoun (pron.)

The Reflexive Pronoun

The Indefinite Pronoun

The Possessive Pronoun

The Relative Pronoun

The Adjective (adj.)

The Adverb (adv.)

Determiners and Articles

The Conjunction (conj.)

The Preposition (prep.)

The Interjection (interj.)

How To Determine A Part Of Speech In A Sentence

Parts of Speech and Sentence Construction

Simple/Basic Sentences

Complex Sentences

Parts of Speech in English | Picture

Parts of Speech Video

Parts Of Speech Quiz

Have a thesis expert improve your writing

The 8 Parts of Speech | Definition & Examples

Instantly correct all language mistakes in your text

Table of contents

The only proofreading tool specialized in correcting academic writing

Determiners

Is this article helpful?

More interesting articles

Choose Your Test

Understanding the 8 Parts of Speech: Definitions and Examples

What Are Parts of Speech?

Subclasses of Nouns, Including Examples

Common Nouns and Proper Nouns

Concrete Nouns and Abstract Nouns