definition of noun in part of speech

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.

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.

• 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

The 9 Parts of Speech: Definitions and Examples

• 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

A part of speech is a term used in traditional grammar for one of the nine main categories into which words are classified according to their functions in sentences, such as nouns or verbs. Also known as word classes, these are the building blocks of grammar.

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

• Word types can be divided into nine parts of speech:
• prepositions
• conjunctions
• articles/determiners
• interjections
• Some words can be considered more than one part of speech, depending on context and usage.
• Interjections can form complete sentences on their own.

Learning the names of the parts of speech probably won't make you witty, healthy, wealthy, or wise. In fact, learning just the names of the parts of speech won't even make you a better writer. However, you will gain a basic understanding of sentence structure  and the  English language by familiarizing yourself with these labels.

Open and Closed Word Classes

The parts of speech are commonly divided into  open classes  (nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs) and  closed classes  (pronouns, prepositions, conjunctions, articles/determiners, and interjections). Open classes can be altered and added to as language develops, and closed classes are pretty much set in stone. For example, new nouns are created every day, but conjunctions never change.

In contemporary linguistics , parts of speech are generally referred to as word classes or syntactic categories. The main difference is that word classes are classified according to more strict linguistic criteria. Within word classes, there is the lexical, or open class, and the function, or closed class.

The 9 Parts of Speech

Read about each part of speech below, and practice identifying each.

Nouns are a person, place, thing, or idea. They can take on a myriad of roles in a sentence, from the subject of it all to the object of an action. They are capitalized when they're the official name of something or someone, and they're called proper nouns in these cases. Examples: pirate, Caribbean, ship, freedom, Captain Jack Sparrow.

Pronouns stand in for nouns in a sentence . They are more generic versions of nouns that refer only to people. Examples:​  I, you, he, she, it, ours, them, who, which, anybody, ourselves.

Verbs are action words that tell what happens in a sentence. They can also show a sentence subject's state of being ( is , was ). Verbs change form based on tense (present, past) and count distinction (singular or plural). Examples:  sing, dance, believes, seemed, finish, eat, drink, be, became.

Adjectives describe nouns and pronouns. They specify which one, how much, what kind, and more. Adjectives allow readers and listeners to use their senses to imagine something more clearly. Examples:  hot, lazy, funny, unique, bright, beautiful, poor, smooth.

Adverbs describe verbs, adjectives, and even other adverbs. They specify when, where, how, and why something happened and to what extent or how often. Many adjectives can be turned into adjectives by adding the suffix - ly . Examples:  softly, quickly, lazily, often, only, hopefully, sometimes.

Preposition

Prepositions  show spatial, temporal, and role relations between a noun or pronoun and the other words in a sentence. They come at the start of a prepositional phrase , which contains a preposition and its object. Examples:  up, over, against, by, for, into, close to, out of, apart from.

Conjunction

Conjunctions join words, phrases, and clauses in a sentence. There are coordinating, subordinating, and correlative conjunctions. Examples:  and, but, or, so, yet.

Articles and Determiners

Articles and determiners function like adjectives by modifying nouns, but they are different than adjectives in that they are necessary for a sentence to have proper syntax. Articles and determiners specify and identify nouns, and there are indefinite and definite articles. Examples of articles:  a, an, the ; examples of determiners:  these, that, those, enough, much, few, which, what.

Some traditional grammars have treated articles  as a distinct part of speech. Modern grammars, however, more often include articles in the category of determiners , which identify or quantify a noun. Even though they modify nouns like adjectives, articles are different in that they are essential to the proper syntax of a sentence, just as determiners are necessary to convey the meaning of a sentence, while adjectives are optional.

Interjection

Interjections are expressions that can stand on their own or be contained within sentences. These words and phrases often carry strong emotions and convey reactions. Examples:  ah, whoops, ouch, yabba dabba do!

How to Determine the Part of Speech

Only interjections ( Hooray! ) have a habit of standing alone; every other part of speech must be contained within a sentence and some are even required in sentences (nouns and verbs). Other parts of speech come in many varieties and may appear just about anywhere in a sentence.

To know for sure what part of speech a word falls into, look not only at the word itself but also at its meaning, position, and use in a sentence.

For example, in the first sentence below,  work  functions as a noun; in the second sentence, a verb; and in the third sentence, an adjective:

• Bosco showed up for  work  two hours late.
• The noun  work  is the thing Bosco shows up for.
• He will have to  work  until midnight.
• The verb  work  is the action he must perform.
• His  work  permit expires next month.
• The  attributive noun  (or converted adjective) work  modifies the noun  permit .

Learning the names and uses of the basic parts of speech is just one way to understand how sentences are constructed.

Dissecting Basic Sentences

To form a basic complete sentence, you only need two elements: a noun (or pronoun standing in for a noun) and a verb. The noun acts as a subject, and the verb, by telling what action the subject is taking, acts as the predicate. 

In the short sentence above,  birds  is the noun and  fly  is the verb. The sentence makes sense and gets the point across.

You can have a sentence with just one word without breaking any sentence formation rules. The short sentence below is complete because it's a verb command with an understood "you" noun.

Here, the pronoun, standing in for a noun, is implied and acts as the subject. The sentence is really saying, "(You) go!"

Constructing More Complex Sentences

Use more parts of speech to add additional information about what's happening in a sentence to make it more complex. Take the first sentence from above, for example, and incorporate more information about how and why birds fly.

• Birds fly when migrating before winter.

Birds and fly remain the noun and the verb, but now there is more description. 

When  is an adverb that modifies the verb fly.  The word before  is a little tricky because it can be either a conjunction, preposition, or adverb depending on the context. In this case, it's a preposition because it's followed by a noun. This preposition begins an adverbial phrase of time ( before winter ) that answers the question of when the birds migrate . Before is not a conjunction because it does not connect two clauses.

• What Are Word Blends?
• Figure of Speech: Definition and Examples
• Definition and Examples of Adjectives
• Subjects, Verbs, and Objects
• What Is a Rhetorical Device? Definition, List, Examples
• What Is The Speech Act Theory: Definition and Examples
• A List of Exclamations and Interjections in English
• What Is Nonverbal Communication?
• Examples and Usage of Conjunctions in English Grammar
• Definition and Examples of Ambiguity
• Linguistic Variation
• Definition and Examples of Interjections in English
• Definition and Examples of Jargon
• Understanding the Types of Verbs in English Grammar
• Complementary vs. Complimentary: How to Choose the Right Word
• Basic Grammar: What Is a Diphthong?

• 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.

Home | Calendars | Library | Bookstore | Directory | Apply Now | Search for Classes | Register | Online Classes  | MyBC Portal MyBC -->

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

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.

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.

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.

• Dictionaries home
• American English
• Collocations
• German-English
• Grammar home
• Practical English Usage
• Learn & Practise Grammar (Beta)
• Word Lists home
• My Word Lists
• Recent additions
• Resources home
• Text Checker

Definition of part of speech noun from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

• part of speech
• alphabetical
• pronunciation

Join our community to access the latest language learning and assessment tips from Oxford University Press!

Nearby words

The Parts of Speech – Definitions and Examples

The different parts of speech are the breakdown and classification of words in English that show their unique functions and properties. In core language, a single word can function as two or more parts of speech.

Differentiating between the 9 parts of speech is the first step to building your grammar skills and writing tools. Keep reading to learn the definitions and examples of each category!

What are the 9 Basic Parts of Speech?

A noun is any place, person, idea, or thing. Some examples of nouns include:

There are various classifications of nouns you can use in your writing. Proper nouns are specific names for places, persons, ideas, or things. Meanwhile, common nouns are generic class nouns. A possessive noun is another type of noun that demonstrates belonging. 

We can also classify this part of speech as an abstract noun, concrete noun, count noun, and uncountable noun.

The placement of the noun in a sentence also determines its function. A noun can be in the nominative or objective case. The nominative functions include subject and subject complement. And the types of objects are direct object, indirect object, and object of a preposition.

A quick introduction to pronouns shows they are classes of words that take the place of nouns. Some examples of pronouns include he, that, whoever, myself.

This quick guide to pronouns shows they can be classified as: 

• Personal pronoun (I, he, she, you, etc.)
• Demonstrative pronouns (that, those, these, this, etc.).
• Interrogative pronouns (what, when, why, how, etc.).
• Relative pronouns (who/whom, whose, which, etc.).
• Indefinite pronouns (anybody, everybody, somebody, everything, etc.).
• Reflexive pronouns (myself, yourself, herself, etc.).
• Intensive pronouns (myself, yourself, herself, etc.).

Pronouns can further be divided into first-person pronoun, second-person pronoun, and third-person pronoun.

A verb is a word that conveys time while showing a condition, an action, or the fact that something exists. All complete sentences should contain at least one verb unless using an interjection.

Verbs can be treated as either lexical verbs/action verbs (study, love, drink) or auxiliary verbs (seem, is, have). 

A verb phrase combines verbs with linking verbs and lexical categories of verbs. Some examples include:

• Has become.

Phrasal verbs are forms of verbs that consist of two or more words. Here are some examples:

• Put up with.

When you add “up with” after the simple verb “put,” you create a brand-new verb with a new meaning. Therefore, phrasal verbs should be treated as complete verbs because of their unique definitions.

Some verbs are reflexive. A reflexive verb is where the subject and object are one since the sentence uses reflexive pronouns like “himself” or “itself.”

Whether you’re using a lexical or auxiliary verb, this part of the speech always expresses time through the different tenses. For instance, the verb “eats” is a present-tense verb, and its past form is “ate.”

4. Adjective

Another part of speech is the adjective , which modifies or describes a noun or a pronoun. It typically answers the questions “what kind,” “which one,” or “how much.” For example:

The articles “a,” “an,” and “the” are sometimes categorized as adjectives. “The” is a definite article, and “a” and “an” are indefinite articles.

Adjective classes include:

• Absolute adjectives.
• Appositive adjectives.
• Attributive adjectives.
• Predicative adjectives.
• Compound adjectives.
• Qualitative adjectives.
• Denomial adjectives.
• Participial adjectives.
• Demonstrative adjectives.

Adverbs are a word class that modifies adjectives, verbs, and fellow adverbs. One frequent adverb marker is the suffix -ly, such as “healthily,” “badly,” and “swiftly.”

But the discussion of adverbs goes beyond words that describe actions. There are also adverbs of degree, place, time, and frequency. The English language also considers “most days,” “to visit my friend,” “very loudly,” and other adverbial phrases as adverbs.

Adverbial phrases are under the phrasal categories, including verb phrases, adjective phrases, etc.

6. Conjunction

A conjunction is a word that binds words, clauses, and phrases. “And,” “but,” “because,” and “consequently” are some examples of conjunctions.

Conjunctions make it easy to construct more complex sentences because you can easily add new clauses. The category distinctions of this part of speech are:

• Coordinating conjunctions (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so, etc.)
• Subordinating conjunctions (after, although, unless, since, if, etc.)
• Correlative conjunctions (not only… but also, either… or, etc.)

7. Preposition

Prepositions show relations of space, time, and role between nouns, pronouns, and other words. They are at the start of prepositional phrases. Here are some examples of prepositions:

• Apart from.

8. Determiner

A determiner is like an adjective because it also modifies nouns. However, these words are essential for proper syntax as opposed to adjectives. They can be classified as indefinite and definite. New grammar rules now treat articles as determiners. Examples of determiners include:

• Which. 

9. Interjection

The last part of speech is the interjection which may have standalone functions in sentences. “Whoops,” “ouch,” “ah,” and “hooray” can be an entire sentence on their own.

Parts of Speech Chart

Analyzing the parts of speech is different for every individual language. Here’s an overview of the different categories in English.

When A Word is Also Two Different Kinds of Speech

Sometimes, words have more than one role in the English language. For example, some nouns can also act as adjectives called adjectival nouns. In the phrase “race car,” “race” modifies “car,” so its usage is as an adjective instead of a noun.

A noun can be used in verbal senses. Consider the word “work” in these sentences.

• My new work is more promising than the old one. (noun)
• Shew works in a new industry. (verb)

Open and Closed Word Classes

The two classifications of the parts of speech include open and closed classes. The open classes can be changed and added as the language changes. 

• Adjectives.

Meanwhile, closed classes are parts of speech that do not change. These include:

• Prepositions.
• Conjunctions.
• Articles and determiners.
• Interjections.

In some languages, verbs and adjectives form closed classes. This closedness of verbs is common in Basque and Persian verbs .

Linguistics , or the study of language, does not recommend the label “part of speech” anymore. Instead, the discipline favors “syntactic category” or “word class.”

What Part of Speech is With?

In the stricter sense, the only use of “with” is as a preposition. You can find it before a noun or a pronoun to form prepositional phrases. Use it to show togetherness, associations, and connections between people and objects.

What Part of Speech is And?

The conjunction “and” connects words, clauses, and phrases. It can also combine sentences that need to be presented at once.

What Part of Speech is My?

“My” is a possessive pronoun that can also act as an adjective, determiner, or interjection.

Are You Using the Parts of Speech the Right Way?

This guide has shown you the nine parts of speech and their grammatical functions. By now, you should already be able to give definitions and examples of each category, so they make sense. 

To correctly use the parts of speech, ask yourself, “what is the function of this word in the sentence?” Keep practicing until you master the traditional grammar rules of English!

Grammarist is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. When you buy via the links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission at no cost to you.

2024 © Grammarist, a Found First Marketing company. All rights reserved.

• History & Society
• Science & Tech
• Biographies
• Animals & Nature
• Geography & Travel
• Arts & Culture
• Games & Quizzes
• On This Day
• One Good Fact
• New Articles
• Lifestyles & Social Issues
• Philosophy & Religion
• Politics, Law & Government
• World History
• Health & Medicine
• Browse Biographies
• Birds, Reptiles & Other Vertebrates
• Bugs, Mollusks & Other Invertebrates
• Environment
• Fossils & Geologic Time
• Entertainment & Pop Culture
• Sports & Recreation
• Visual Arts
• Demystified
• Image Galleries
• Infographics
• Top Questions
• Britannica Kids
• Saving Earth
• Space Next 50
• Student Center
• Introduction

Conjunctions

Prepositions, interjections, categorizing the parts of speech.

part of speech

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

• College of Saint Rose - Parts of Speech
• Butte College - TIP Sheets - The Eight Parts of Speech
• Humanities LibreTexts - Parts of Speech
• Pressbooks Create - The Simple Math of Writing Well - Part of speech
• Table Of Contents

part of speech , lexical category to which a word is assigned based on its function in a sentence.

There are eight parts of speech in traditional English grammar: noun, pronoun, verb , adjective , adverb , conjunction, preposition , and interjection . In linguistics , parts of speech are more typically called word classes .

A noun names a person, place, thing, or idea. There are many subcategories of nouns, including common nouns, proper nouns, collective nouns, and abstract nouns.

Common nouns name basic things that can be seen and touched. Examples of common nouns include dog , banana , table , and book .

• The dog ate a banana .
• The book was on the table .

Proper nouns name specific people, places, and things, and they begin with a capital letter . Examples of proper nouns include George, New York City , Empire State Building , and Atlantic Ocean .

• George sailed the Atlantic Ocean .
• The Empire State Building is in New York City .

Collective nouns name groups of people or things. Examples of collective nouns include team , flock , litter , and batch .

• The team won the game.
• The flock flew south for the winter.

Abstract nouns name things that cannot be seen or touched. Examples of abstract nouns include happiness , truth , friendship , and beauty .

• He brings her so much happiness .
• The friendship is a strong one.

A pronoun is used in place of a noun. There are many subcategories of pronouns, including but not limited to personal pronouns, possessive pronouns, and reflexive pronouns.

Personal pronouns replace names of people, places, things, and ideas. Examples of personal pronouns include she , he , it , and they .

• They enjoyed the party.
• Mikey likes it .

Possessive pronouns replace nouns and indicate ownership. Because they modify nouns, they are also frequently categorized as adjectives. Examples of possessive pronouns include his , its , mine , and theirs .

• The house is theirs .
• The parrot knows its name.

Reflexive pronouns replace nouns when the subject and object in a sentence are the same. Examples of reflexive pronouns include myself , herself , themselves , and oneself .

• She baked a cake all by herself .
• They prepared themselves for the adventure.

A verb indicates a state of doing, being, or having. There are three main subcategories of verbs: doing verbs, being verbs, and having verbs.

Doing verbs indicate actions. Examples of doing verbs include run , wash , explain , and wonder .

• Oliver washed the windows.
• I wonder where the cat is hiding.

Being and having verbs do not indicate action and are considered relating (or linking) verbs because they connect one piece of information to another. Examples of being and having verbs include am , are , has , and own .

• We are at the store.
• John has a red baseball cap.

An adjective describes or modifies a noun or pronoun.

Adjectives provide information about the qualities or classifications of a person or thing. Examples of adjectives include tall , purple , funny , and antique .

• The Willis Tower is a tall building.
• There were several antique cars in the parade.

An adverb describes or modifies verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs.

Adverbs provide information about the manner in which things are done, as well as when, where, and why they are done. Examples of adverbs include quickly , extremely , fiercely , and yesterday .

• The boy ran quickly through the rainstorm.
• That was a fiercely competitive game yesterday.

A conjunction links words, phrases, and clauses. There are two main subcategories of conjunctions: coordinating conjunctions and subordinating conjunctions.

Coordinating conjunctions link words, phrases, and clauses that are equally important in a sentence. Examples of coordinating conjunctions include and , but , or , and so .

• The students read short stories and novels.
• Liz went to the movies but not to dinner.

Subordinating conjunctions link subordinate clauses to a sentence. Examples of subordinating conjunctions include because , although , before , and since .

• The team is cheering because it is excited.
• Henry had Swiss cheese on his burger although he preferred cheddar.

A preposition provides information about the relative position of a noun or pronoun. Prepositions can indicate direction, time, place, location, and spatial relationships of objects. Examples of prepositions include on , in , across , and after .

• The cat ran across the road.
• The pencil is in the drawer.

An interjection acts as an exclamation. Interjections typically express emotional reactions to information in an adjoining sentence. Examples of interjections include eek , wow , oops , and phew .

• Eek ! That was a huge spider.
• Oops ! I didn’t mean to slam the door.

Although the number of parts of speech is traditionally fixed at eight, some grammarians consider there to be additional parts of speech. For example, determiners (also called determinatives) modify nouns and are therefore generally considered to be adjectives, but they differ from other adjectives in that their exact meaning is supplied by context . They include articles, demonstrative pronouns, possessive pronouns, and quantifiers. Examples of determiners include the , an , that , your , and many .

Over the years grammarians have also proposed changes in how parts of speech are categorized. The 2002 edition of the Cambridge Grammar of the English Language , for example, placed pronouns as a subcategory of nouns.

The 8 Parts Of Speech In English

There are eight major  parts of speech .

• Nouns  name persons, places, things, ideas, or qualities, e.g., Franklin, boy, Yangtze River, shoreline, Bible, desk, fear, happiness.
• Pronouns  usually substitute for nouns and function as nouns, e.g., I, you, he, she, it, we, they, myself, this, that, who, which, everyone.
• Verbs  express actions, occurrences, or states of being, e.g., be, become, bunt, inflate, run.
• Adjectives  describe or modify nouns or pronouns, e.g., gentle, helpful, small.
• Adverbs  describe or modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs, e.g., almost, gently, helpfully, someday.
• Prepositions  relate nouns or pronouns to other words in a sentence, e.g., about, at, down, for, of, with.
• Conjunctions  link words, clauses, and phrases. There are coordinating conjunctions that link words, clauses, or phrases of equal importance, and there are subordinating conjunctions that introduce subordinate clauses and link them to main clauses.
• Interjections  express feeling or command attention, either alone or in a sentence, e.g., darn, hey, oh, wow.

Some words ( adjectives ,  adverbs ,  interjections ,  nouns ,  verbs ) are productive classes allowing new members; others, with functional rather than lexical meaning ( articles ,  conjunctions ,  prepositions ) are nonproductive and have a limited number of members.

Some grammarians consider  articles ,  quantifiers , and  numerals  to also be parts of speech.

Language Stories

Hobbies & Passions

Word Origins

Current Events

[ hel -ter- skel -ter ]

• By clicking "Sign Up", you are accepting Dictionary.com Terms & Conditions and Privacy policies.
• Email This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Parts of Speech: Definitions, Categories and Examples

By: Author English Study Online

Posted on Last updated: August 28, 2024

Sharing is caring!

In this reference, we will break down each part of speech and provide examples to help you understand their usage. We will also discuss how to identify the different parts of speech in a sentence and provide tips on how to use them correctly. Let’s get started!

Parts of Speech – Created by Englishstudyonline

Table of Contents

What is a Parts of Speech?

A  part of speech  is a category that describes the role a word plays in a sentence. These roles help you understand how words function in grammar .

There are typically eight main parts of speech in English:

• Nouns : Words that name people, places, things, or ideas.
• Pronouns : Words that replace nouns, such as  he, she, it .
• Verbs : Words that describe actions or states, like  run, is .
• Adjectives : Words that describe or modify nouns, like  blue  or  quick .

Some grammars list additional parts of speech:

• Adverbs : Words that modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs, such as  quickly .
• Prepositions : Words that show relationships between a noun (or pronoun) and another word, like  in  or  on .
• Conjunctions : Words that connect clauses, sentences, or words, such as  and  or  but .
• Interjections : Words that express emotion, like  wow  or  oops .

Some sources also include:

• Determiners/Articles : Words that modify nouns and specify which one, like  the, a .

Categories of Parts of Speech

Nouns are words that represent people, places, things, or ideas. They are one of the most important parts of speech in English and are used in nearly every sentence. In this section, we will explore the different types of nouns and their functions.

• Common Nouns : General names for people, places, or things. Not capitalized unless at the start of a sentence. Examples : “book,” “city,” “teacher.”
• Proper Nouns : Specific names for people, places, or things. Always capitalized. Examples : “Harry Potter,” “New York City,” “Ms. Johnson.”
• Abstract Nouns : Names for ideas, concepts, or emotions that are intangible. Examples : “love,” “happiness,” “freedom.”
• Collective Nouns : Names for groups of people or things; can be singular or plural. Examples : “team,” “family,” “herd.”

2. Pronouns

Pronouns are words that replace nouns in a sentence. They help avoid repetition and make sentences clearer. Here are different types of pronouns in English:

• Personal Pronouns : Refer to specific people or things and can be subjects or objects. Examples : I/me, you/your/yours, he/him/his, she/her/hers, it/its.
• Demonstrative Pronouns : Point to specific people or things and indicate distance. Examples : this (near), that (far), these (plural, near), those (plural, far).
• Interrogative Pronouns : Used to ask questions. Examples : who (person), whom (person, object), whose (possession).
• Indefinite Pronouns : Refer to non-specific people or things. Examples : anybody, anyone, anything, each, either, everybody, everyone, everything.
• Action Verbs : Describe actions performed by the subject. Examples : Run, Jump, Sing, Dance, Write.
• Linking Verbs : Connect the subject to a noun, pronoun, or adjective that describes it; they do not show action. Examples : Is, Are, Was, Were, Seem.
• Helping Verbs : Work with the main verb to express tense, voice, or mood; they have no meaning on their own. Examples : Am, Is, Are, Was, Were.

4. Adjectives

Adjectives are words that describe or modify nouns or pronouns, giving more information about their qualities, quantity, or identity. Here are three types of adjectives:

• Descriptive Adjectives : Describe the characteristics or qualities of a noun or pronoun. Examples : Beautiful, Tall, Thin, Ugly, Smart, Kind. Sentence Example : “The red car is fast.” (“red” describes the color; “fast” describes the speed).
• Quantitative Adjectives : Indicate the quantity or amount of a noun or pronoun, answering “how much” or “how many.” Examples : Few, Many, Several, Some, All, No. Sentence Example : “I have two apples.” (“two” describes the number of apples).
• Demonstrative Adjectives : Point to specific nouns or pronouns, answering “which one” or “whose.” Examples : This, That, These, Those. Sentence Example : “This book is mine.” (“this” specifies the book).

Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs, providing more detail about an action, adverbs of manner, adverbs of place, adverbs of time, adverbs of frequency , adverbs of degree, or intensity.

Examples of adverbs:

• I left my keys here . (Adverb of place)
• She arrived late because she missed the bus. (Adverb of time)
• James visits his grandmother weekly . (Adverb of frequency)
• Please drive carefully on the wet roads. (Adverb of manner)
• She was extremely tired after the long journey. (Adverb of degree)

6. Prepositions

Prepositions are words that show the relationship between a noun or pronoun and other words in a sentence, indicating position, direction, or time.

Prepositions of Time : Indicate when an action takes place. Examples :

• “At” for specific times: “at 2 pm,” “at midnight.”
• “In” for longer periods: “in the morning,” “in October.”
• “On” for dates: “on Monday,” “on July 4th.”

Prepositions of Place : Indicate where something is located. Examples :

• “In” for enclosed spaces: “in the house,” “in the car.”
• “On” for surfaces: “on the table,” “on the floor.”
• “At” for specific locations: “at the park,” “at the beach.”

Prepositions of Direction : Indicate movement from one place to another. Examples :

• “To” for movement towards: “I am going to the store.”
• “From” for movement away: “I am coming from the park.”
• “Towards” for movement in a direction: “I am walking towards the museum.”

7. Conjunctions

Conjunctions are words that connect words, phrases, or clauses in a sentence, helping to create complex sentences and showing relationships between ideas. There are three main types of conjunctions: coordinating, subordinating, and correlative.

Coordinating Conjunctions : Connect words, phrases, or independent clauses of equal importance. Remember them using FANBOYS : for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so. Examples :

• “I like pizza and pasta .”
• “He wanted to go to the beach, but it was raining.”

Subordinating Conjunctions : Connect dependent clauses to independent clauses, showing relationships like cause and effect, time, condition, or contrast. Examples : because, although, while, if, unless, since.

• “Because it was raining, we stayed inside.”
• “While I was studying, my roommate was watching TV.”

Correlative Conjunctions : Work in pairs to connect elements in a sentence, showing a relationship between them. Examples : both…and, either…or, neither…nor, not only…but also.

• “Both my sister and I like to read.”
• “Not only was he late, but he also forgot his homework.”

8. Interjections

In English grammar, interjections are words or phrases that express strong emotions or feelings. They are also known as exclamations and are one of the eight parts of speech in English. Interjections are grammatically independent from the words around them, and they can often be removed from a sentence or context without affecting its basic meaning.

Interjections can be used to express a wide range of emotions, including surprise, joy, anger, frustration, and pain. Some common examples of interjections include “ wow ,” “ ouch ,” “ yay ,” “ oh no ,” and “ oops .” They can be used to add emphasis to a sentence or to convey a particular tone or mood.

9. Articles/Determiners

In English grammar, articles and determiners are words that are used with nouns to provide more information about them. They help us to understand the context and meaning of a sentence.

There are three articles in the English language: “ the ,” “ a, ” and “ an. ” “The” is known as the definite article because it refers to a specific noun that has already been mentioned or is known to the reader. For example, “The cat is sleeping on the sofa.” In this sentence, “the” refers to a specific cat that has already been mentioned or is known to the reader.

“A” and “an” are known as indefinite articles because they refer to any member of a group or class of nouns. “A” is used before words that begin with a consonant sound, while “an” is used before words that begin with a vowel sound. For example, “I need a pen” and “She ate an apple.”

Determiners

Determiners are words that come before a noun to provide more information about it. They can include articles, as well as words like “ this ,” “ that ,” “ these ,” and “ those .”

In addition to these, there are other types of determiners such as possessive determiners (e.g. “my,” “your,” “his,” “her,” “its,” “our,” and “their”), demonstrative determiners (e.g. “this,” “that,” “these,” and “those”), and quantifying determiners (e.g. “some,” “any,” “many,” “few,” “several,” etc.).

Determiners can also be used with adjectives to provide more information about a noun. For example, “She ate the delicious apple” and “I saw that beautiful sunset.”

Examples of Parts of Speech

• Noun – The dog barked loudly.
• Pronoun – They went to the park together.
• Verb – She writes beautiful poetry.
• Adverb – He runs very quickly.
• Adjective – The red car is fast.
• Preposition – The cat is sitting on the sofa.
• Conjunction – She wanted to go for a walk, and he wanted to stay home.
• Interjection – Wow! That was an incredible performance.

Practical Exercises

Exercise 1: Identify the Part of Speech

Read each sentence and identify the underlined word’s part of speech (Noun, Pronoun, Verb, Adverb, Adjective, Preposition, Conjunction, Interjection).

• The beautiful garden is full of flowers.
• She quickly finished her homework.
• Wow! That was a great surprise.
• The cat hid under the bed.
• I want to go out, but it’s raining.
• He is a very talented musician.
• The children play in the park every evening.
• The cake is delicious .
• After lunch, we went for a walk.
• They will arrive at the airport soon.
• Interjection
• Preposition
• Conjunction

Exercise 2: Fill in the Blanks with the Correct Part of Speech

Choose the correct word from the list and fill in the blanks with the appropriate part of speech.

Word List: (and, beautiful, suddenly, them, book, Wow, under, write, she, quickly)

• The weather is so __________ today.
• I have to __________ an essay for my class.
• He ran __________ to catch the bus.
• The ball rolled __________ the table.
• They read a __________ together every night.
• She wanted to go to the park, __________ it started raining.
• Can you give this note to __________?
• __________! That was an amazing goal!
• __________ is going to the market.
• The bird flew away __________.
• beautiful (Adjective)
• write (Verb)
• quickly (Adverb)
• under (Preposition)
• book (Noun)
• and (Conjunction)
• them (Pronoun)
• Wow (Interjection)
• She (Pronoun)
• suddenly (Adverb)
• Recent Posts

• Juridical Process vs. Judicial Process: Understanding the Crucial Differences - December 14, 2023
• Compound Nouns: How to Use Them Effectively in English - November 9, 2023
• English Tenses: A Beginner’s Guide in English - November 6, 2023

• English Grammar
• Parts of Speech

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.

Table of Contents

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.

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Your Mobile number and Email id will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Request OTP on Voice Call

Post My Comment

Register with BYJU'S & Download Free PDFs

Register with byju's & watch live videos.

Have a language expert improve your writing

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

• Knowledge Base
• Nouns and pronouns

What Is a Noun? | Definition, Types & Examples

A noun is a word that represents a person, thing, concept, or place. Most sentences contain at least one noun or pronoun . For example, the sentences below contain anywhere from one to three nouns.

June is my favorite month .

Nouns are one of the main types of words in English, along with other parts of speech such as verbs . They are often, but not always, preceded by an article (“the,” “a,” or “an”) or other determiner . You can try our grammar checker to make sure you’re using nouns and other parts of speech correctly.

Table of contents

How are nouns used in sentences, nouns vs. pronouns, common vs. proper nouns, countable vs. uncountable nouns, concrete vs. abstract nouns.

• Collective nouns

Other types of nouns

Other interesting language articles, frequently asked questions about nouns.

A complete sentence usually consists of at least a subject and a verb . The subject describes some person or thing, and the verb describes an action carried out by the subject.

In most cases, the subject is a noun or a pronoun . So the most basic role for a noun is to act as the subject for a verb that follows it.

David went out.

Nouns and pronouns can also play the role of object in a sentence. An object usually comes after the verb and represents something or someone that is affected by the action described. Objects can be direct or indirect:

• The direct object is someone or something that is directly acted upon by the verb.
• The indirect object is someone or something that receives the direct object.

Please give Jeremy some bread .

Noun phrases

When analyzing sentence structure , it’s common to refer to noun phrases . A noun phrase is a noun or pronoun in combination with all the words that belong with it in the sentence, such as any articles, adjectives , or other determiners that modify the noun.

A noun phrase can consist of the noun or pronoun alone or of a much longer series of words (always including at least one noun or pronoun).

The boa constrictor is a well-known species of snake .

Check for common mistakes

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

Fix mistakes for free

Pronouns are a much smaller set of words (such as “I,” “she,” and “they”) that are used in a similar way to nouns. They are primarily used to stand in for a noun that has already been mentioned or to refer to yourself and other people.

Like nouns, pronouns can function as the head of a noun phrase and as the subject or object of a verb. You can have a complete sentence consisting of just a pronoun and a verb (e.g., “He walks.”), just as you could with a noun (“Jack walks.”).

Unlike nouns, some pronouns (mainly the personal pronouns ) change their forms depending on the grammatical context they’re used in. For example, the first-person pronoun is “I” when it’s used as a subject and “me” when it’s used as an object, whereas a noun like “dog” would look the same in both cases.

Have you ever met them before?

That is beside the point.

An important distinction is made between two types of nouns, common nouns and proper nouns.

• Common nouns are more general. A common noun refers to a class of person, place, thing, or concept, but not to someone or something specific.
• Proper nouns are the names of specific people, places, things, or concepts. They are always capitalized to distinguish them from common nouns.

Another important distinction is between countable and uncountable nouns :

• Countable nouns (also called count nouns ) refer to things that can be counted. They can be preceded by an indefinite article or a number, and they can be pluralized. Most nouns are countable (e.g., “fact(s)” or “ misnomer(s) “).
• Uncountable nouns (also called noncount nouns or mass nouns ) refer to things that can’t be counted. They should never be preceded by an indefinite article or a number, and they cannot be pluralized (e.g., “information” or “ advice “).

A common mistake in English is treating uncountable nouns as if they were countable by pluralizing them or using an indefinite article. The solution to these problems is usually to rephrase using a related term or phrase that is countable.

• My previous two researches indicated that …
• My previous two studies indicated that …
• It’s important to account for bias in a research .
• It’s important to account for bias in research .
• It’s important to account for bias in a research project.

A distinction is often made between concrete nouns and abstract nouns.

• Concrete nouns refer to physical objects, places, or individuals: things or people that can be observed with the senses, such as “apple,” “hill,” “zebra,” and “Dorothy.”
• Abstract nouns refer to concepts, ideas, feelings, and processes that can’t be physically located, such as “grammar,” “justice,” “sadness,” and “relaxation.”

There’s no grammatical difference between concrete and abstract nouns—it’s just a distinction that’s made to point out the different kinds of things nouns can refer to.

A collective noun is a word used to refer to a group of people or things, such as “team,” “band,” or “herd.” A collective noun can also be a proper noun—for example, the name of a specific company or band.

A collective noun may appear to be singular (e.g., “team”) or plural (e.g., “The Beatles”) in form, and there’s some disagreement about whether they should be treated grammatically as singular or plural. The following applies for US vs. UK English .

• In US English , it’s standard to treat collective nouns as singular, regardless of whether they look plural or not.
• In UK English , the same words may be treated as plural or singular depending on the context—for example, treated as plural when you’re emphasizing the individual members of the group, singular when you’re emphasizing the overall collective.

A gaggle of geese is the most threatening thing you’re likely to encounter at the park.

There are many nouns in English (more than any other part of speech), and accordingly many ways of forming nouns and using them. Some other important types of nouns are:

• Possessive nouns
• Attributive nouns
• Appositive nouns
• Generic nouns

A possessive noun is a noun that’s followed by an apostrophe (’) and the letter “s” to indicate possession (e.g., “my father’s house”).

To indicate possession with a plural noun that ends in “s,” you just add the apostrophe after the “s,” and don’t add an extra “s” (e.g., “my parents’ house”).

A gerund is a noun that is identical to the present participle (the “-ing” form) of a verb. These are typically nouns that describe the same activity as the verb they were formed from, such as “driving,” formed from the present participle of “drive.”

Attributive nouns are nouns that are used like adjectives , to modify another noun. For example, “company” is an attributive noun in the phrase “company policy.”

Even though attributive nouns work similarly to adjectives, they’re still classed as nouns. This is because they don’t fulfill all the grammatical requirements of adjectives. For example, they have to appear before the noun—it wouldn’t make sense to say “a policy that is company.”

An appositive noun (or appositive noun phrase) is a noun that comes after another noun to provide additional information about it.

If the appositive provides essential information (i.e., it wouldn’t be clear who or what you are referring to without it), it’s written without any extra punctuation . If it provides extra information that is not essential, it’s surrounded by commas .

A generic noun is a noun that is used to refer to a whole class of things (or people, places, etc.). They can be plural or singular, and they may appear with a definite article, an indefinite article, or no article .

The same noun may be used generically in some contexts and not others. For example, it would be equally possible to use the nouns in the sentences below in a non-generic way (e.g., “the people I know best are my brothers”; “my father operated a printing press”).

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

Nouns & pronouns

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

A noun is a word that represents a person, thing, concept, or place (e.g., “John,” “house,” “affinity,” “river”). Most sentences contain at least one noun or pronoun .

Nouns are often, but not always, preceded by an article (“the,” “a,” or “an”) and/or another determiner such as an adjective .

There are many ways to categorize nouns into various types, and the same noun can fall into multiple categories or even change types depending on context.

Some of the main types of nouns are:

• Common and proper nouns
• Countable and uncountable nouns
• Concrete and abstract nouns

Pronouns are words like “I,” “she,” and “they” that are used in a similar way to nouns . They stand in for a noun that has already been mentioned or refer to yourself and other people.

Pronouns can function just like nouns as the head of a noun phrase and as the subject or object of a verb . However, pronouns change their forms (e.g., from “I” to “me”) depending on the grammatical context they’re used in, whereas nouns usually don’t.

Is this article helpful?

Other students also liked.

• How to Tell If a Noun Is Countable or Uncountable | Examples
• First-Person Pronouns | List, Examples & Explanation
• What Is a Pronoun? | Definition, Types & Examples

More interesting articles

• Abstract Noun | Definition, Examples & Worksheet
• Appositive | Examples, Definition & Punctuation
• Concrete Noun | Definition, Examples & Worksheet
• Demonstrative Pronouns | Definition, List & Examples
• Gerund | Definition, Form & Examples
• Indefinite Pronouns | Definition, Examples & List
• Intensive Pronouns | Examples, Definition & List
• Interrogative Pronouns | Definition, Examples & List
• Personal Pronouns | Definition, List & Examples
• Possessive Noun | Examples, Definition & Worksheet
• Possessive Pronouns | Examples, Definition & List
• Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement | Examples & Tips
• Reflexive Pronouns | Examples, Definition & List
• Relative Pronouns | Definition, List & Examples
• Second-Person Pronouns | List, Examples & Explanation
• Singular They | Usage, Examples & History
• Subject & Object Pronouns | Definition & Examples
• Third-Person Pronouns | List, Examples & Explanation
• What Is a Collective Noun? | Examples & Definition
• What Is a Common Noun? | Definition & Examples
• What Is a Plural Noun? | Examples, Rules & Exceptions
• What Is a Proper Noun? | Definition & Examples

Get unlimited documents corrected

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

• 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.

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.

Concrete Nouns Vs. Abstract Nouns

Singular Nouns Vs. Plural Nouns

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:

Countable Vs. 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

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!

More Parts of Speech Topics:

• Prepositions
• Conjunctions
• Popular Pages
• Top Searches
• External Resources
• Definitions
• WordFinderX
• Letter Solver

Part of Speech

Noun: definition and examples.

Words can be considered as the smallest independent elements in language and communication. In the English language, words can be classified under 8 major word types or parts of speech namely, nouns , pronouns , adjectives , verbs , adverbs, conjunctions , prepositions , and interjections. In this article, you will learn more about the most common and simplest word type, which is the noun.

What is a Noun?

In the simplest sense, a noun is any word that names people, things, animals, places, events, or ideas. Take a look at the sentences below:

• Jack Gleeson , the actor who plays as Joffrey in Game of Thrones , was the boy saved by Batman in Batman Begins .
• Beatrice and Carla will meet at the coffee shop on Tuesday .
• For me, birthdays are just ordinary days .

All of the underlined words in the sample sentences above are nouns. Now that you already know the answer to the question, “What is a noun?” it’s time to discuss the different functions, genders, and plural forms of nouns.

What are the Functions of a Noun?

A noun can function as a subject, an object (object of the preposition, direct object, indirect object), and a subject complement in a sentence.

• Arya Stark is really cool.
• In this example, the underlined noun serves as the subject in the sentence.
• They were supposed to meet at noon .
• The noun in this sentence functions as an object of the preposition. ( at is the preposition)
• Jeremy is a swimmer .
• This sample sentence has two nouns, “ Jeremy ” and “ swimmer ”. “ Jeremy ” is a noun that serves as the subject, while the underlined noun acts as the subject complement.
• The beaver s built a dam .
• In this sentence, “ beavers ” is the subject, the word “ built ” is the verb, and the underlined word  is the noun that serves as the direct object (the thing that is acted upon).
• He gave Maria a love letter .
• This example has two nouns, “ Maria ” and “ love letter .” The thing that is acted upon (direct object) is the “ love letter ,” while the indirect object is “ Maria .” Simply put, an indirect object refers to the recipient or the one who gets the direct object.

What are the Different Genders of Nouns?

Aside from providing the answer to the question, “What is a noun?” and discussing the various functions, this article will also explore noun genders. Basically, there are four genders of nouns, and these are: masculine , feminine , common , and neuter .

• Examples: computer, city, pizza, bus, brownies, oven

2. Common – is the gender of nouns which can refer to either the male or female sex.

• Examples: student, driver, lawyer, criminal, leader, visitor
• Examples: sorcerer, actor, tiger, rooster, prince, fox, stag, bull, ram
• Examples: sorceress, actress, tigress, hen, princess, vixen, doe, cow, ewe

What are the Different Forms of Nouns?

Nouns normally come in their singular form , however, if these nouns name more than one person, place, thing, animal, event, or idea, it is necessary for you to transform them into their plural form .

These are most common ways of pluralizing nouns:

1. Add “ s ”

• bike- bikes
• trap- traps
• coin- coins
• game- games
• swimming pool- swimming pools

2. Add “ es ”

• beach- beaches
• potato- potatoes
• hero- heroes
• torch- torches

3. Change “ y ” to “ i ,” and then add “ es ”

• butterfly- butterflies
• party- parties
• reply- replies
• factory- factories
• baby- babies

Note: Sometimes, you just have to add “ s ” without changing “ y ” to “ i ” (e.g., chimney- chimneys; trolley- trolleys)

4. Change “ f ” to “ v, ” and then add “ s ” or “ es ”

• wife- wives (“ s ” only)
• thief- thieves (“ es ”)
• loaf- loaves (“ es ”)
• knife- knives (“ s ” only)
• wolf- wolves (“ es ”)

Note: Sometimes, you only need to add “ s ” without changing “ f ” to “ v ” (e.g., cliff- cliffs; chef- chefs).

Other ways of pluralizing nouns:

1. For some nouns ending in “ um, ” change “ um ” to “ a ”

• medium- media
• curriculum- curricula
• bacterium- bacteria
• datum- data

2. For some nouns ending in “ is, ” change “ is ” to “ es ”

• crisis- crises
• analysis- analyses
• thesis- theses
• oasis- oases

3. For some nouns ending in “ us ” change “ us ” to “ i ”

• radius- radii
• nucleus- nuclei
• fungus- fungi
• stimulus- stimuli
• bacillus- bacilli

4. Some nouns have the same singular and plural form

Final Thoughts

This article entitled “Parts of Speech: What is a Noun?” can be a good starting point in your exploration of the different types of words that can be regarded as the building blocks of grammar. If you want to have great grammar skills and improve your writing, you really need to have a good grasp of what is a noun, as well as the other parts of speech. These things can be considered among the most basic yet essential concepts in grammar, so it’s really important for you to be well acquainted with these before moving on to the more advanced topics.

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!

• Skip to main content
• Skip to secondary menu
• Skip to primary sidebar

Grammar Media

Improving Your Writing and Speaking Skills!

8 Parts of Speech Definitions For Kids

There are 8 parts of speech definitions for kids: nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, conjunctions, prepositions and interjections.

It is important to understand that every word in a sentence has a function. When we learn and master the skill of identifying the function of words in sentences, we will develop our writing and speaking gifts!.

8 Parts of Speech List – Table of Content

One way to learn the 8 parts of speech is to visualize and memorized the list.

• Prepositions
• Conjunctions
• Interjections

What are the 8 Parts of Speech With Examples?

Some quick examples of the 8 parts of speech for kids!

• Rachel is my best friend. (Noun)
• You are very talented. (Pronoun)
• The storm destroyed the barn (Verb)
• Rachel is a beautiful person. (Adjective)
• The children are very restless. (Adverb)
• James and Candice are very talented. (Conjunction)
• The children went to the playground after school. (Preposition)
• Oops , I left my keys in the car! (Interjection)

8 Parts of Speech Definitions With Examples

Let’s look at these 8 parts of speech individually.

1. What are Nouns?

Definitions of nouns with examples.

Nouns are words that name persons, places, things, ideas, animals, feelings, events, qualities and actions.

• Jennifer is my best friend. (Naming a Person)
• I went to Africa over the summer. (Naming a Place)
• The bicycle was stolen. (Naming a Thing)
• We fought for freedom . (Naming an Idea)
• My dog had a trip to the vet. (Naming an Animal)
• He is always sad ! (Naming a Feeling)
• The wedding was beautiful. (Naming an Event)
• It took great courage to admit he was wrong. (Naming a Quality)
• The landing of the aircraft was dangerous. (Naming an Action)

Types of Nouns With Examples

Nouns generally have 8 types. Here are the 8 types of nouns: proper nouns, common nouns, concrete nouns, abstract nouns, collective nouns, compound nouns, countable nouns and non-countable nouns.

• David is a biblical name. (Proper Noun)
• Where is the toy ? (Common Noun)
• The car was stolen. (Concrete Noun)
• All we need is love ! (Abstract Noun)
• The class of 2021 has graduated. (Collective Noun)
• The rainwater filled the concrete tank near the barn. (Compound Noun)
• I have several songs (Countable Noun)
• The information is in the book on the shelf. (Non-Countable Noun)

Types of Noun Functions With Examples

Nouns generally have 8 functions. The 8 types of noun functions are: noun functions as subject, direct object, indirect object, predicate nominative, object of preposition, appositive, object of complement and direct address.

• James penned a book in the Bible. (Noun Functions as Subject)
• Tony cleaned the car before the football game. (Noun Functions as Direct Object)
• Colin gave Jennifer the mobile phone so she could call her mother. (Noun Functions as Indirect Object)
• Peter is king of the castle. (Noun as Predicate Nominative)
• The students listened quietly during the lecture . (Noun Functions as Object of Preposition)
• John, my brother , is also my best friend. (Noun Functions as an Appositive)
• She named her dog boo boo ! (Noun Functions as Objective Complement)
• Students , you need to listen quietly! (Noun functions as Noun of Direct Address)

When using a noun of direct address, it is important to place the commas in the right place. For more information about comma placement, click on – 8 Basic Comma Rules

2. What are Pronouns?

Definition of pronouns with examples.

Pronouns are words that replace nouns in order to avoid the repetition of the same noun again and again.

• Dad, will you help me with my work? (You Replaces Dad)
• The electrician fixed the problem and he was very professional in the process. (He replaces Electrician)
• Jenny is a great mother and she helps her children the best she can. (She Replaces Jenny)
• The boss appreciated his workers and he gave them the day off. (He Replaces Boss and Them Replaces Workers)
• James is my younger brother and he is very talented. (He Replaces James)

Types of Pronouns With Examples

Pronouns generally have 8 types. They are: personal pronouns, interrogative pronouns, possessive pronouns, demonstrative pronouns, indefinite pronouns, relative pronouns, reflexive pronouns and intensive pronouns.

• The ladies went shopping and they bought some new clothing. (Personal Pronoun)
• What is your favorite sport? (Interrogative Pronoun)
• The car that was damaged was his . (Possessive Pronoun)
• That is yours! (Demonstrative Pronoun)
• Some became sick during the pandemic. (Indefinite Pronoun)
• The caravan that was in the backyard belongs to our friends. (Relative Pronoun)
• The dog saw himself in the window. (Reflexive Pronoun)
• I myself fixed the problem. (Intensive Pronoun)

3. What are Verbs

Definition of verbs with examples.

Verbs are words that show action or state-of-being. Every sentence requires a verb.

Action verbs show action or ownership; whereas, state-of-being verbs renames the subject.

• Jimmy rode his new bike to school. (Action Verb)
• Jimmy is the most popular boy in school. (State-of-being Verb)
• Mary gave her money to charity. (Action Verb)
• Mary is very generous with her money. (State-of-being Verb)

Types of Verb Functions With Examples

Verbs have two functions. They can function as transitive verbs or intransitive verbs.

Transitive verbs carry action from the doer to the receiver; whereas, intransitive verbs do not carry the action to the receiver.

• Reverend David writes sermons for his congregation. (Transitive Verb)
• Reverend David spoke elegantly during his sermon. (Intransitive Verb)
• Rachel sang the songs with ease during the concert. (Transitive Verb)
• Rachel sang beautifully during the concert. (Intransitive Verb)
• Peter watched movies with his friends over the weekend. (Transitive Verb)
• Peter watched with excitement with his friends. (Intransitive Verb)
• Jimmy ran the ball across the field to score a goal. (Transitive Verb)
• Jimmy ran across the field to avoid the other players. (Intransitive Verb)

Types of Verb Voices With Examples

Verbs have voice but keep in mind that only transitive verbs have voice!

Voice tells whether the subject of a sentence performs the action or receives the action.

Voice can be either active (subject performing the action) or passive (the subject receiving the action).

• Leigh played the piano during the school concert. (Active Voice)
• The piano was played by Leigh during the school concert. (Passive Voice)
• Dad drove the tractor on the farm during the summer holidays. (Active Voice)
• The tractor was driven by dad on the farm during the summer holidays (State-of-being Verb)
• Jimmy repaired the bike with the new parts. (Active Voice)
• The bike was repaired by Jimmy with the new parts. (Passive Voice)

Types of Verb Tenses

Verbs have three tenses: past, present and future.

• I walked to school this morning. (Past Tense)
• I walk to school every day. (Present Tense)
• I will walk to school tomorrow. (Future Tense)
• They drove to work yesterday. (Past Tense)
• They drive to work every day. (Present Tense)
• They will drive to work tomorrow. (Future Tense)

4. What are Adjectives?

Definition of adjectives with examples.

Adjectives are words that modify or describe nouns or pronouns.

• Rebekah painted a beautiful landscape. (Adjective Modifying Noun)
• She is generous. (Adjective Describing Pronoun)

Types of Adjectives With Examples

There are generally 8 types of adjectives in English grammar. The eight types of adjectives are: proper, descriptive, interrogative, possessive, numeral, demonstrative, distributive and quantitative.

• English grammar is learned at school. (Proper Adjective)
• The weary traveler stayed overnight. (Descriptive Adjective)
• What type of song should I play at the concert? (Interrogative Adjective)
• The boys played football in their backyard. (Possessive Adjective)
• He had three pizzas for lunch. (Numeral Adjective)
• Those players were suspended for violent behavior. (Demonstrative Adjective)
• Every singer was asked to arrive on time for the concert. (Distributive Adjective)
• Dad doesn’t get enough exercise these days. (Quantitative Adjective)

5. What are Adverbs?

Definition of adverbs with examples.

Adverbs are words that modify verbs, adjectives or other adverbs.

• Mum thoughtfully prepared our Christmas lunch. (Modifying a Verb)
• It was a very interesting experience to meet the President. (Modifying an Adjective)
• Brad played the game extremely well for his age. (Modifying an Adverb)

Types of Adverbs With Examples

There are several types of adverbs in English grammar. These types of adverbs are: adverbs of time, manner, place, degree and frequency.

• My parents will be home soon . (Adverb of Time)
• The builders worked carefully on the building site. (Adverb of Manner)
• She put her keys there . (Adverb of Place)
• Rebekah’s painting was very beautiful. (Adverb of Degree)
• Jimmy never works on the weekends these days. (Adverb of frequency)

Also, there are interrogative adverbs. Interrogative adverbs ask questions about time, manner, place, degree and frequency.

• When will the new office open?
• Where are you going for your holidays?
• How did you take such beautiful photographs?
• Why is your sister angry?
• How often do you go to the park to walk your dog?

6. What are Prepositions?

Definition of prepositions with examples.

Prepositions are words that show the relationship between words in sentences.

• Peter found his keys under the newspaper.
• Jennifer was born on Sunday, December 31, 2002.
• Brad went to the park to play ball with his friends.

Types of Prepositions With Examples

There are generally 8 types of prepositions in English grammar. These 8 types of prepositions are: prepositions of time, place, movement, manner, measure, source, possession and agent or instrument.

• He graduated before his trip Europe. (Preposition of Time)
• Emma left her keys on the table in the spare room. (Preposition of Place)
• Bailey ran across the field to get to his friends. (Preposition of Movement)
• The children went to the concert by bus. (Preposition of Manner)
• I bought several kilograms of potatoes at the market. (Preposition of Measure)
• He received a generous gift from his mother for Christmas. (Preposition of Source)
• I helped a friend with a learning disability. (Preposition of Possession)
• He cut the wood with his electric saw. (Preposition of Agent or Instrument)

7. What are Conjunctions?

Definition of conjunctions with examples.

Conjunctions are words that join words, phrases and clauses together.

• Peter and James are best friends. (Joining Words Together)
• We went to the beach today but it turned out to be a disaster (Joining Clauses Together
• I went to the hardware store and to the markets. (Joining Phrases Together)

Types of Conjunctions With Examples

There are generally 4 types of conjunctions in English grammar. The 4 types of conjunctions are: coordinating, subordinating, correlative and adverbial conjunctions.

• David and Jonathan fixed the tractor. (Coordinating Conjunction)
• Dad fixed the bike before going to work. (Subordinating Conjunction)
• Mum is both patience and loving. (Correlative Conjunction)
• James went to the hardware store; however , he could not find what he was looking for. (Conjunctive Adverb)

8. What are Interjections?

Definition of interjections with examples.

Interjections are words that express or show feelings and emotions.

• Oops , I left my money on the table!
• I won the prize, wahoo !.
• Ouch , that really hurt!
• Yippee , we are finally going to the game today!

When using interjections, it is important to place the commas in the right place. For more information about comma placement, click on – 8 Basic Comma Rules

8 Parts of Speech Definitions for Kids

8 Parts of Speech Definitions For Kids Chart

• School Guide
• English Grammar Free Course
• English Grammar Tutorial
• Parts of Speech
• Figure of Speech
• Tenses Chart
• Essay Writing
• Email Writing
• NCERT English Solutions
• English Difference Between
• SSC CGL English Syllabus
• SBI PO English Syllabus
• SBI Clerk English Syllabus
• IBPS PO English Syllabus
• IBPS CLERK English Syllabus

Parts of Speech: Definitions, Examples & 8 Types

Every word is a part of speech playing a specific role in sentences or paragraphs. Parts of speech provide an organized way to align words and phrases, it is a fundamental meaning for a language to become more understandable and serve a specific purpose. Here, in this article, we will see what is Part of Speech, its types, and its uses. So let us dive in deeper to learn more about it!

Table of Content

What is Part of Speech?

Parts of speech chart.

• Different Types of Parts of Speech :
• Parts of Speech Examples Using Sentences
• Quiz to practice Parts of Speech 

Parts of Speech – FAQs

The English language has thousands of words and every word has some function to perform. Some words are there to show action, some to join, and some to name something. There are 8 different parts of speech including nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, prepositions, conjunction, and interjection. And together, all the functions performed by words in the English language fall under Parts of speech.           

Parts of Speech Definition

The parts of speech are the “traditional grammatical categories to which words are assigned in accordance with their syntactic functions, such as noun, verb, adjective, adverb, and so on.” In other words, they refer to the different roles that words can play in a sentence and how they relate to one another based on grammar and syntax.

All Parts of Speech with Examples 

There are 8 different types of parts of speech i.e., Nouns, Pronouns, Adjectives, Verbs, Adverb, prepositions, Conjunction, and Interjection.

Noun –

A   noun   is a word that names a person, place, thing, state, or quality. It can be singular or plural. Nouns are a part of speech.

• Function: Refers to Things or person
• Examples: Pen, Chair, Ram, Honesty
• Sentences: Cars are expensive, This chair is made of wood, and Ram is a topper, Honesty is the best policy.

Pronoun –

The word used in place of a noun or a noun phrase is known as a pronoun. A pronoun is used in place of a noun to avoid the repetition of the noun. 

• Function: Replaces a noun
• Examples: I, you, he, she, it, they
• Sentences: They are expensive, It is of wood, He is a topper, It is the best policy

Adjective –

A word that modifies a noun or a pronoun is an adjective. Generally, an adjective’s function is to further define and quantify a noun or pronoun.

• Function: Describes a noun
• Examples: Super, Red, Our, Big, Great, class
• Sentences: Supercars are expensive, The red chair is for kids, Ram is a class topper, and Great things take time.

Verb –

A word or a group of words that describes an action, a state, or an event is called a verb. A verb is a word that says what happens to somebody or what somebody or something does.

• Function: Describes action or state
• Sentences: I play football, I will be a doctor, I like to work, I love writing poems.

Adverb –

A verb, adjective, another adverb, determiner, clause, preposition, or sentence is typically modified by an adverb . Adverbs often answer questions like “how,” “in what way,” “when,” “where,” and “to what extent” by expressing things like method, place, time, frequency, degree, level of certainty, etc

• Function: Describes a verb, adjective, or adverb
• Examples: Silently, too, very
• Sentences: I love reading silently, It is too tough to handle, He can speak very fast.

Preposition –

A preposition is called  a connector or linking word which has a very close relationship with the noun, pronoun or adjective that follows it . Prepositions show position in space, movement, direction, etc.

• Function: Links a noun to another word
• Examples: at, in, of, after, under,
• Sentences: The ball is under the table, I am at a restaurant, she is in trouble, I am going after her, It is so nice of him

Conjunction –

A  conjunction  is a word that connects clauses, sentences, or other words.  Conjunctions  can be used alone or in groups of two.

• Function: Joins clauses and sentences
• Examples: and, but, though, after
• Sentences: First, I will go to college and then I may go to Fest, I don’t have a car but I know how to drive, She failed the exam though she worked hard, He will come after he finishes his match. 

Interjection –

An  interjection  is a word or phrase expressing some sudden feelings of sadness or emotions. 

• Function: Shows exclamation
• Examples: oh! wow!, alas! Hurray!
• Sentences: Oh! I got fail again, Wow! I got the job, Alas! She is no more, Hurray! We are going to a party.

These are the main parts of speech, but there are additional subcategories and variations within each. Understanding the different parts of speech can help construct grammatically correct sentences and express ideas clearly.

Sentence Examples for the 8 Parts of Speech

• Examples: Luggage, Cattle.
• Sentence:  Never leave your luggage unattended.
• In some places, cattle are fed barely.
• Examples: who, either, themselves
• Sentence: I know a man who plays the guitar very well.
• Either of the two cars is for sale.
• They enjoyed themselves at the party.
• Examples: kind, moving, wounder.
• Sentence: 
• She is a kind person.
• Boarding a moving bus can be dangerous.
• Never poke a wounded animal.
• Examples: Praise, Hate, Punish
• Sentence: She always praises her friends.
• I don’t hate anybody.
• The boy has been punished by his teacher
• Examples: Always, enough, immediately
• Sentence: we should always help each other.
• We should be wise enough to understand what is good for us.
• We should leave bad habits immediately.

Preposition

• Examples: Off, Below, From. to
• He plunged off the cliff
• I live below the 9th floor.
• I travel daily from Delhi to Noida.

Conjunction

• Examples: whereas, as well as, so, 
• Sentence: The new software is fairly simple whereas the old one was a bit complicated.
• The finance company is not performing well as well as some of its competitors.
• He was ready so he may come. 

Interjection

• Examples: oops! whoa! phew! 
• Sentence: Oops! I forgot to mention her name.
• Whoa! you drive fast. 
• Phew! That was a close call, we had a narrow escape.

Parts of Speech Exercise – Test your Knowledge of Part of speech 

Choose the correct Parts of Speech of the BOLD word from the following questions.

1. Let us play, Shall We?

       a. Conjunction        b. Pronoun        c. Verb

2.  I t is a good practice to arrange books on shelves.

      a. Verb       b. Noun       c. Adjective

3. Whose books are these?

      a. Pronoun      b. Preposition      c. verb

4.   Father, please get me that toy. 

     a. Pronoun      b. Adverb      c. Adjective

5.  His mentality is rather obnoxious.

     a. Adverb      b. Adjective      c. Noun

6.  He is the guy whose money got stolen.

      a. Pronoun       b. Conjunction       c. Adjective

7. I will have finished my semester by the end of this year.

      a. Interjection       b. Conjunction       c. Preposition

8. Bingo! That’s the one I have been looking for

    a. Interjection      b. Conjunctio      c. Preposition

Quiz Answers:

1. c,  2. b,  3. a,  4. c,  5. a,  6. b,  7. c,  8. a

Also Check:

• English Grammar
• Figures of Speech
• Learn English Grammar Online
• Difference Between Adjective and Verb

Q1. What are Parts of Speech?

A word is assigned to a category as per its function, and those categories are together known as Parts of Speech.

Q2. What are the 8 Parts of Speech?

Noun, Pronoun, Adjective, Verb, Adverb, Preposition, Conjunction, Interjection.

Q3. How many Parts of Speech are there?

There are a total of 8 parts of Speech.

Q4. What Part of Speech is “our”?

“Our” is a adjective type of Part of Speech. Eg. Our car.

Q5. What Part of Speech is “Quickly”?

Adverb. let us understand it with this example – Milk sours quickly in warm weather.

Please Login to comment...

Similar reads.

• SSC/Banking
• 105 Funny Things to Do to Make Someone Laugh
• Best PS5 SSDs in 2024: Top Picks for Expanding Your Storage
• Best Nintendo Switch Controllers in 2024
• Xbox Game Pass Ultimate: Features, Benefits, and Pricing in 2024
• #geekstreak2024 – 21 Days POTD Challenge Powered By Deutsche Bank

Improve your Coding Skills with Practice

What kind of Experience do you want to share?