what are the 3 articles in parts of speech

What Are Articles in Grammar? Definition and Examples

What are articles?

Articles are words that identify a noun as being specific or unspecific. Consider the following examples:

After the long day, the cup of tea tasted particularly good.

By using the article the , we’ve shown that it was one specific day that was long and one specific cup of tea that tasted good.

After a long day, a cup of tea tastes particularly good.

By using the article a , we’ve created a general statement, implying that any cup of tea would taste good after any long day.

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English has two types of articles: definite and indefinite . Let’s discuss them now in more detail.

The definite article

The definite article is the word the . It limits the meaning of a noun to one particular thing. For example, your friend might ask, “Are you going to the party this weekend?” The definite article tells you that your friend is referring to a specific party that both of you already know about. The definite article can be used with singular, plural , or uncountable nouns. Below are some examples of the definite article, the , used in context:

Please give me the hammer.
Please give me the red hammer; the blue one is too small.
Please give me the nails.
Please give me the large nail; it’s the only one strong enough to hold this painting
Please give me the hammer and the nails.

The indefinite article

The indefinite article takes two forms. It’s the word a when it precedes a word that begins with a consonant sound. It’s the word an when it precedes a word that begins with a vowel sound. The indefinite article indicates that a noun refers to a general idea or category of a thing rather than a specific thing.

For example, you might ask your friend, “Should I bring a gift to the party?” Your friend will understand that you are not asking about a specific type of gift or a specific item. “I am going to bring an apple pie,” your friend tells you. Again, the indefinite article indicates that she is not talking about a particular apple pie. Your friend probably doesn’t even have any pie yet. The indefinite article appears only with singular nouns. Consider the following examples of indefinite articles used in context:

Please hand me a book; any book will do.
Please hand me an autobiography; any autobiography will do.

More examples: Using a or an

As mentioned, the rule is to use a before words that start with a consonant sound and an before words that begin with a vowel sound. This can be tricky because some words that start with consonants don’t start with a consonant sound; the same is true of some words that start with vowels. The first letter of the word honor , for example, is a consonant, but it’s unpronounced. Despite its spelling, the word honor begins with a vowel sound. Therefore, we use an . Consider the example sentence below for an illustration of this concept.

Incorrect: My mother is a honest woman.

Correct: My mother is an honest woman.

Similarly, when the first letter of a word is a vowel but is pronounced with a consonant sound, use a , as in the sample sentence below:

Incorrect: She is an United States senator.

Correct: She is a United States senator.

This holds true for acronyms and initialisms too: an LCD display, a UK-based company, an HR department, a URL.

An article before an adjective

Sometimes an article modifies a noun that is also modified by an adjective . The usual word order is article + adjective + noun. If the article is indefinite, use a or an based on the word that immediately follows it. Consider the following examples for reference:

Eliza will bring a small gift to Sophie’s party.
I heard an interesting story yesterday.

Indefinite articles with uncountable nouns

Uncountable nouns are nouns that are impossible to count, whether because they name intangible concepts (e.g., information , animal husbandry, wealth ), collections of things that are considered as wholes (e.g., jewelry , equipment, the working class ), or homogeneous physical substances(e.g., milk , sand , air ). Although most of these nouns are singular in form, because they refer to things that can’t be isolated and counted, they never take a or an . Uncountable nouns can be modified by indefinite adjectives like some , however. Consider the examples below for reference:

Incorrect: Please give me a water .

Water is an uncountable noun and should not be used with the indefinite article.

Correct: Please give me some water .

If you describe the water in terms of a countable unit (like a bottle), you can use the indefinite article to modify the unit.

Correct: Please give me a bottle of water .

Incorrect: Please give me an ice .

Correct: Please give me an ice cube .

Correct: Please give me some ice .

Note that depending on the context, some nouns can be countable or uncountable (e.g., hair, noise, time ):

Correct: We need a light in this room.

Correct: We need some light in this room.

Using articles with pronouns

Possessive pronouns — words like his , my , our , its , her , and their —can help identify whether you’re talking about specific or nonspecific items. As we’ve seen, articles also indicate specificity. But if you use both a possessive pronoun and an article together, readers will become confused. Articles should not be used with pronouns. Consider the examples below:

Incorrect: Why are you reading the my book?

The and my should not be used together, as they are both identifying the same noun. Instead, choose one or the other depending on the intended meaning:

Correct: Why are you reading the book?

Correct: Why are you reading my book?

Omission of articles

Occasionally, articles are omitted altogether before certain nouns. In these cases, the article is implied but not actually present. This implied article is sometimes called a “zero article.” Often, the article is omitted before a noun that refers to an abstract idea. Look at the following examples:

Incorrect: Let’s go out for a dinner tonight.

Correct: Let’s go out for dinner tonight.

Incorrect: The creativity is a valuable quality in children.

Correct: Creativity is a valuable quality in children.

Tip: The words for many languages and nationalities are not preceded by an article.

Incorrect: I studied the French in high school for four years.

Correct: I studied French in high school for four years.

Tip: Sports and academic subjects do not require articles.

Incorrect: I like to play the baseball .

Correct: I like to play baseball .

Incorrect: My sister was always good at the math .

Correct: My sister was always good at math .

Article FAQs

What is an article.

An article is a word that comes before a noun to show whether it’s specific or general. Specific nouns use the article the and general nouns use the article a (or an, if the next word starts with a vowel sound).

What are definite and indefinite articles?

The definite article refers to something specific, and the indefinite article refers to something general. The is the definite article and a / an is the indefinite article.

What is an example of an article in grammar?

“ The hammer” refers to only one hammer, but “ a hammer” refers to any hammer.

When should we not use articles?

We don’t use the indefinite article with uncountable nouns, or any article with a possessive pronoun. Certain nouns such as nationalities, school subjects, and sports often don’t take articles, especially when they refer to general or abstract ideas.

what are the 3 articles in parts of speech

Parts of Speech and Sentence Structure

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the car down the street, the man next to you
a book, an apple, a bottle
the definite article the : You use it before a singular or a plural noun when you talk about one or more specific member(s) of a group (things, places or people) that is known to you: the tall man, the big house, the man next to me ;
the indefinite articles a/an : You use them before a singular noun when you talk about any general thing : a line, a house, a kitchen, a person, an apple, an airport, an idea, an umbrella .
You use the article a before nouns/adjectives or numbers that start with a consonant : a line, a kitchen, a person, a dog, a book, a tall man, a five-year-old boy, a job interview .
You use the article an before nouns that start with a vowel : an apple, an idea, an umbrella, an egg, an hour, an eight-year-old girl, an interview .
There is --- a an airport close to the city.
Do you have --- a an armchair in your room?
She has --- a an idea!
They have --- an a female English teacher.
He eats --- a an apple.
There is --- an a school around the corner.
She has --- an a new armchair.
We will give him --- a an book for his birthday.
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Check and show solutions
He works as pilot.
I need new TV.
He is best teacher at the school.
They have eight-year-old girl.
book she bought yesterday is not so good.
She is nicest girl I know.
She is nice girl.
city that she likes the most is New York City.
time
example
adjective
week
door
elephant
bike
shop
number
umbrella
opinion
English book
table
eagle
Michael says: "I have best friend. His name is Josh. He lives in small house outside the city. They have beautiful garden behind house. house is painted blue and there is fence around garden. I love going there. It's so nice and peaceful."

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Knowledge Base
Parts of speech

The 8 Parts of Speech | Chart, Definition & Examples

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

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

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

Prepositions
Conjunctions
Interjections

Other parts of speech

Interesting language articles, frequently asked questions.

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

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

Ella lives in France .

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

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

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

That is a horrible painting!

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

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

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

“I’ve already checked twice.”

“I heard that you used to sing .”

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

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

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

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

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

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

Talia writes quite quickly.

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

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

I left the cup on the kitchen counter.

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

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

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

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

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

Ouch ! I hurt my arm.

I’m, um , not sure.

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

Determiners

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

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

My brother is selling his old car.

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

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

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

There’s a concert this weekend.

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

Nouns & pronouns

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Parts of Speech in English

Parts of speech are categories of words that perform similar grammatical roles in phrase and sentence structures. You might wonder what the different parts of speech are and how to identify them. This reference explains parts of speech, including nouns, verbs, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, determiners, conjunctions, prepositions, and interjections, with examples.

You’ll also learn about open and closed word classes, how to determine a part of speech in a sentence, and their roles in simple and complex sentence constructions. This guide includes a useful picture, a video, and a quiz on parts of speech to help solidify your understanding.

Parts of Speech

What Are Parts Of Speech?

Parts of speech are word categories defined by their roles in sentence structures. These categories are organized by the functions and meanings they convey. In English, there are around ten common parts of speech: nouns , verbs , adjectives , adverbs , pronouns , prepositions , conjunctions , interjections , determiners , and articles .

Open and Closed Word Classes

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

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

Different Parts of Speech (with Examples)

The noun (n.).

A noun gives a name to something. There are different types of nouns like proper, collective, possessive, and common nouns.

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

Example sentences:

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

Common Noun : Names a general item.

Here is a cup .
Do you want a cake ?

Proper Noun: Names a specific item.

The capital of England is London .
Sarah is beautiful.

Collective Noun: Refers to a group.

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

Possessive Noun: Shows ownership.

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

The Verb (v.)

A verb describes an action. There are three main types: action, linking, and modal verbs.

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

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

Action Verb : Describes an action.

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

Linking Verb: Connects the subject to a noun, adjective, or pronoun.

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

Modal Verb: Helps the main verb and shows the speaker’s thoughts.

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

The Pronoun (pron.)

A pronoun replaces a noun. There are various types of pronouns like reflexive, indefinite, possessive, and relative pronouns.

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

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

Reflexive Pronoun: Refers to self.

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

Indefinite Pronoun: Refers to a non-specific person or item.

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

Possessive Pronoun: Shows ownership.

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

Relative Pronoun: Introduces an adjective clause.

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

The Adjective (adj.)

An adjective describes a noun or pronoun.

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

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

The Adverb (adv.)

An adverb modifies an adjective, verb, or another adverb. Many adverbs end in -ly, but not all do.

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

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

Determiners and Articles

Determiners and articles help clarify the nouns they introduce. Articles can be definite ( the ) or indefinite ( a , an ).

The, a, an, this, that, these, those, many, few, each, every, some, any, no, which, what

The cat is sleeping on a mat.
Can an apple be green?
This book is very interesting.
Each student must bring their own lunch.

The Conjunction (conj.)

A conjunction connects words, phrases, or clauses. Some common conjunctions are and , but , or , so , because , and although .

And, but, or, so, because, although, if, until, while, since, when, after, before, as

I want to buy a sandwich and a drink.
She was tired but happy.
You can go to the party or stay home.
They were late because of the traffic.
Although it was raining, we went for a walk.

The Preposition (prep.)

A preposition shows the relationship of a noun (or pronoun) to another word. Common prepositions include at , on , in , by , with , and about .

At, on, in, by, with, about, above, below, between, during, for, from, over, under, through

The cat is on the roof.
She sat by the window.
We will meet at the park in the afternoon.
The book is about a boy with a magical power.

The Interjection (interj.)

An interjection is a word or phrase that expresses strong emotion or sudden exclamation. Common interjections include wow , ouch , oh , and hey .

Wow, ouch, oh, hey, ah, ugh, ew, hmm, yay, yikes, whoa, oops, aha, hurray, ew, oh no

Wow ! That’s amazing!
Ouch ! That hurt.
Oh ! I didn’t see you there.
Hey ! Wait for me.
Yay ! We won the game.

In this section, you’ve learned about different parts of speech with examples and sample sentences. Each part of speech plays a unique role in creating meaningful sentences.

How To Determine A Part Of Speech In A Sentence

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

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

By asking these questions, you can identify the correct part of speech for any word in a sentence.

Parts of Speech and Sentence Construction

Simple/basic sentences.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Complex Sentences

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

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

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

Other examples of complex sentences:

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

Parts of Speech Video

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

Parts Of Speech Quiz

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

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

A preposition
An adjective

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

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

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

Interjections
Determiners

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

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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
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?
Subordinating Conjunctions

Parts of Speech: Definitions, Categories and Examples

By: Author English Study Online

Posted on Last updated: August 28, 2024

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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)
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Understanding the Parts of Speech in English

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

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

Parts of Speech: Quick Summary

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

Learn About:

Parts of Speech
Prepositions
Conjunctions
Interjections

Using the Parts of Speech Correctly In Your Writing

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

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

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

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

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

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

Let’s get choppin’!

What Are the Parts of Speech in English?

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

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

Verb: Can you please light the candles?

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

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

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

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

What Are Verbs?

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

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

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

Regular and irregular verbs
Transitive and intransitive verbs
Auxiliary verbs

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

My little sister loves to sing .

I have a dog and her name is Sweet Pea.

I will be there at 5 P.M.

I would like to travel the world someday.

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

What Are Nouns?

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

Olivia is turning five in a few days.

My dream is to visit Tokyo .

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

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

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

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

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

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

There’s nothing more important to me than love .

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

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

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

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

There was one woman waiting in line.

There were several women waiting in line.

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

What Are Pronouns?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I think that phone is hers .

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

The iguanas sunned themselves on the roof of my car.

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

I will take care of this situation myself .

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

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

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

Can you pick up those pens off the floor?

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

Who can help move these heavy boxes?

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

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

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

The cousins always giggle and share secrets with one another .

What Are Adjectives?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

What Are Adverbs?

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

She dances beautifully .

In the sentence above, beautifully modifies the verb dances.

We visited an extremely tall building.

Here, the adverb extremely modifies the adjective tall.

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

The adverb very modifies the adverb quickly.

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

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

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

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

What Are Prepositions?

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

Place the bouquet of roses on the table.

We will meet on Monday.

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

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

What Are Conjunctions?

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

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

I like to sing, and she likes to dance.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

What Are Interjections?

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

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

Ahh ! I couldn’t believe what was happening.

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

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

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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.

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Parts of speech

The 8 Parts of Speech | Definition & Examples

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

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

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

Ella lives in France .

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

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That is a horrible painting!

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

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

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

‘I’ve already checked twice’.

‘I heard that you used to sing ‘.

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

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

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

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

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

Talia writes quite quickly.

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

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

I left the cup on the kitchen counter.

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

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

Ouch ! I hurt my arm.

I’m, um , not sure.

Determiners

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

My brother is selling his old car.

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

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

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

There’s a concert this weekend.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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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.

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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.

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Parts of Speech

What are the parts of speech, a formal definition.

Table of Contents

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

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

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

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

Video for Each Part of Speech

The Most Important Writing Issues

The top issue related to adjectives.

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

The Top Issue Related to Adverbs

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

The Top Issue Related to Conjunctions

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

The Top Issue Related to Determiners

The Top Issue Related to Interjections

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

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

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

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Parts Of Speech: Breaking Them Down With Examples

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Proper Nouns Vs. Common Nouns

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

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

Concrete Nouns Vs. Abstract Nouns

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

Singular Nouns Vs. Plural Nouns

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

Exceptions To The Rule

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

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

Countable Vs. Uncountable Nouns

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

Other Types of Nouns

Possessive nouns.

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

Here are examples of possessive nouns :

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

Collective Nouns

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

Choir of singers
Herd of sheep

Noun Phrases

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

Here are examples of noun phrases:

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

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

Mary ate chocolate cake and ice cream .

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

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

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

Personal Pronouns

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

Reflexive Pronouns

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

Here are examples of reflexive pronouns in sentences:

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

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

Joe himself baked the cake.

Possessive Pronouns

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

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

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

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

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

She wore a beautiful , blue dress.

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

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

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

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

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

Other verbs express a mental action, for example:

These can also be called lexical verbs .

Lexical Verbs and Auxiliary Verbs

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

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

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

Some examples of verbal phrases:

Should have done
Must have been broken
Will be following

Here are examples of verbal phrases used in a sentence.

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

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

Here are some examples of adverbs in use:

She was running extremely fast during that race .

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

I can hardly see it in the distance.

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

It’s been surprisingly poorly cleaned.

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

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

Here are some examples of common prepositions in sentences:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Coordinating Conjunctions

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

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

Correlative Conjunctions

Correlative conjunctions are used in pairs. Some examples are;

and neither/ nor.

Here is an example of the conjunctions above in use:

He wanted neither fruit nor cookies for dessert.

Subordinating Conjunctions

We use subordinating conjunctions to begin subordinate clauses or sentences.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Parts of Speech: The Ultimate Guide for Students and Teachers

This article is part of the ultimate guide to language for teachers and students. Click the buttons below to view these.

What are Parts of Speech ?

Just as a skilled bricklayer must get to grips with the trowel, brick hammer, tape measure, and spirit level, the student-writer must develop a thorough understanding of the tools of their trade too.

In English, words can be categorized according to their common syntactic function in a sentence, i.e. the job they perform.

We call these different categories Parts of Speech . Understanding the various parts of speech and how they work has several compelling benefits for our students.

Without first acquiring a firm grasp of the various parts of speech, students will struggle to fully comprehend how language works. This is essential not only for the development of their reading comprehension but their writing skills too.

Parts of speech are the core building blocks of grammar . To understand how a language works at a sentence and a whole-text level, we must first master parts of speech.

In English, we can identify eight of these individual parts of speech, and these will provide the focus for our Complete Guide to Parts of Speech .

THE EIGHT PARTS OF SPEECH (Click to jump to each section)

A complete unit on teaching figurative language.

Parts of Speech | figurative language Unit 1 | Parts of Speech: The Ultimate Guide for Students and Teachers | literacyideas.com

FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE is like “SPECIAL EFFECTS FOR AUTHORS.” It is a powerful tool to create VIVID IMAGERY through words. This HUGE UNIT guides you through completely understanding FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE .

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Often the first word a child speaks will be a noun, for example, Mum , Dad , cow , dog , etc.

Nouns are naming words, and, as most school kids can recite, they are the names of people, places, and things . But, what isn’t as widely understood by many of our students is that nouns can be further classified into more specific categories.

These categories are:

Common Nouns

Proper nouns, concrete nouns, abstract nouns, collective nouns, countable nouns, uncountable nouns.

All nouns can be classified as either common or proper .

Common nouns are the general names of people, places, and things. They are groups or classes on their own, rather than specific types of people, places, or things such as we find in proper nouns.

Common nouns can be further classified as abstract or concrete – more on this shortly!

Some examples of common nouns include:

People: teacher, author, engineer, artist, singer.

Places: country, city, town, house, garden.

Things: language, trophy, magazine, movie, book.

Proper nouns are the specific names for people, places, and things. Unlike common nouns, which are always lowercase, proper nouns are capitalized. This makes them easy to identify in a text.

Where possible, using proper nouns in place of common nouns helps bring precision to a student’s writing.

Some examples of proper nouns include:

People: Mrs Casey, J.K. Rowling, Nikola Tesla, Pablo Picasso, Billie Eilish.

Places: Australia, San Francisco, Llandovery, The White House, Gardens of Versailles.

Things: Bulgarian, The World Cup, Rolling Stone, The Lion King, The Hunger Games.

Nouns Teaching Activity: Common vs Proper Nouns

Provide students with books suitable for their current reading level.
Instruct students to go through a page or two and identify all the nouns.
Ask students to sort these nouns into two lists according to whether they are common nouns or proper nouns.

As mentioned, all common and proper nouns can be further classified as either concrete or abstract .

A concrete noun is any noun that can be experienced through one of the five senses. In other words, if you can see, smell, hear, taste, or touch it, then it’s a concrete noun.

Some examples of concrete nouns include:

Abstract nouns refer to those things that can’t be experienced or identified through the five senses.

They are not physical things we can perceive but intangible concepts and ideas, qualities and states.

Some examples of abstract nouns include:

Nouns Teaching Activity: Concrete Vs. Abstract Nouns

Provide students with a book suitable for their current reading level.
Instruct students to go through a page or two and identify all the nouns (the lists from Practice Activity #1 may be suitable).
This time, ask students to sort these nouns into two lists according to whether they are concrete or abstract nouns.

A collective noun is the name of a group of people or things. That is, a collective noun always refers to more than one of something.

Some examples of collective nouns include:

People: a board of directors, a team of football players, a cast of actors, a band of musicians, a class of students.

Places: a range of mountains, a suite of rooms, a union of states, a chain of islands.

Things: a bale of hay, a constellation of stars, a bag of sweets, a school of fish, a flock of seagulls.

Countable nouns are nouns that refer to things that can be counted. They come in two flavors: singular and plural .

In their singular form, countable nouns are often preceded by the article, e.g. a , an , or the .

In their plural form, countable nouns are often preceded by a number. They can also be used in conjunction with quantifiers such as a few and many .

Some examples of countable nouns include:

COUNTABLE NOUNS EXAMPLES


a driver	two drivers
the house	the houses
an apple	a few apples
dog	dogs

Also known as mass nouns, uncountable nouns are, as their name suggests, impossible to count. Abstract ideas such as bravery and compassion are uncountable, as are things like liquid and bread .

These types of nouns are always treated in the singular and usually do not have a plural form.

They can stand alone or be used in conjunction with words and phrases such as any , some , a little , a lot of , and much .

Some examples of uncountable nouns include:

UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS EXAMPLES

Advice

Money

Baggage

Danger

Warmth

Milk

Nouns Teaching Activity: How many can you list ?

Organize students into small groups to work collaboratively.
Challenge students to list as many countable and uncountable nouns as they can in ten minutes.
To make things more challenging, stipulate that there must be an uncountable noun and a countable noun to gain a point.
The winning group is the one that scores the most points.

Parts of Speech | parts of speech square 1 | Parts of Speech: The Ultimate Guide for Students and Teachers | literacyideas.com

Without a verb, there is no sentence! Verbs are the words we use to represent both internal and external actions or states of being. Without a verb, nothing happens.

There are many different types of verbs. Here, we will look at five important verb forms organised according to the jobs they perform:

Dynamic Verbs

Stative verbs, transitive verbs, intransitive verbs, auxiliary verbs.

Each verb can be classified as being either an action or a stative verb.

Dynamic or action verbs describe the physical activity performed by the subject of a sentence. This type of verb is usually the first we learn as children.

For example, run , hit , throw , hide , eat , sleep , watch , write , etc. are all dynamic verbs, as is any action performed by the body.

Let’s see a few examples in sentences:

I jogged around the track three times.
She will dance as if her life depends on it.
She took a candy from the bag, unwrapped it, and popped it into her mouth.

If a verb doesn’t describe a physical activity, then it is a stative verb.

Stative verbs refer to states of being, conditions, or mental processes. Generally, we can classify stative verbs into four types:

Emotions/Thoughts

Some examples of stative verbs include:

Senses: hurt, see, smell, taste, hear, etc.

Emotions: love, doubt, desire, remember, believe, etc.

Being: be, have, require, involve, contain, etc.

Possession: want, include, own, have, belong, etc.

Here are some stative verbs at work in sentences:

That is one thing we can agree on.
I remember my first day at school like it was yesterday.
The university requires students to score at least 80%.
She has only three remaining.

Sometimes verbs can fit into more than one category, e.g., be , have , look , see , e.g.,

She looks beautiful. (Stative)
I look through the telescope. (Dynamic)

Each action or stative verb can also be further classified as transitive or intransitive .

A transitive verb takes a direct object after it. The object is the noun, noun phrase, or pronoun that has something done to it by the subject of the sentence.

We see this in the most straightforward English sentences, i.e., the Subject-Verb-Object or SVO sentence.

Here are two examples to illustrate. Note: the subject of each sentence is underlined, and the transitive verbs are in bold.

The teacher answered the student’s questions.
She studies languages at university.
My friend loves cabbage.

Most sentences in English employ transitive verbs.

An intransitive verb does not take a direct object after it. It is important to note that only nouns, noun phrases, and pronouns can be classed as direct objects.

Here are some examples of intransitive verbs – notice how none of these sentences has direct objects after their verbs.

Jane’s health improved .
The car ran smoothly.
The school opens at 9 o’clock.

Auxiliary verbs, also known as ‘helping’ verbs, work with other verbs to affect the meaning of a sentence. They do this by combining with a main verb to alter the sentence’s tense, mood, or voice.

Auxiliary verbs will frequently use not in the negative.

There are relatively few auxiliary verbs in English. Here is a list of the main ones:

be (am, are, is, was, were, being)
do (did, does, doing)
have (had, has, having)

Here are some examples of auxiliary verbs (in bold) in action alongside a main verb (underlined).

She is working as hard as she can.

You must not eat dinner until after five o’clock.
The parents may come to the graduation ceremony.

The Subject-Auxiliary Inversion Test

To test whether or not a verb is an auxiliary verb, you can use the Subject-Auxiliary Inversion Test .

Take the sentence, e.g:
Now, invert the subject and the suspected auxiliary verb to see if it creates a question.

Is she working as hard as she can?

Can it take ‘not’ in the negative form?

She is not working as hard as she can.

If the answer to both of these questions is yes, you have an auxiliary verb. If not, you have a full verb.

Verbs Teaching Activity: Identify the Verbs

Instruct students to go through an appropriate text length (e.g., paragraph, page, etc.) and compile a list of verbs.
In groups, students should then discuss and categorize each verb according to whether they think they are dynamic or stative, transitive or intransitive, and/or auxiliary verbs.

The job of an adjective is to modify a noun or a pronoun. It does this by describing, quantifying, or identifying the noun or pronoun. Adjectives help to make writing more interesting and specific. Usually, the adjective is placed before the word it modifies.

As with other parts of speech, not all adjectives are the same. There are many different types of adjectives and, in this article, we will look at:

Descriptive Adjectives

Degrees of Adjectives

Quantitative Adjectives

Demonstrative adjectives, possessive adjectives, interrogative adjectives, proper adjectives.

Descriptive adjectives are what most students think of first when asked what an adjective is. Descriptive adjectives tell us something about the quality of the noun or pronoun in question. For this reason, they are sometimes referred to as qualitative adjectives .

Some examples of this type of adjective include:

hard-working

In sentences, they look like this:

The pumpkin was enormous .
It was an impressive feat of athleticism I ever saw.
Undoubtedly, this was an exquisite vase.
She faced some tough competition.

Degrees of Adjectives

Descriptive adjectives have three degrees to express varying degrees of intensity and to compare one thing to another. These degrees are referred to as positive , comparative , and superlative .

The positive degree is the regular form of the descriptive adjective when no comparison is being made, e.g., strong .

The comparative degree is used to compare two people, places, or things, e.g., stronger .

There are several ways to form the comparative, methods include:

Adding more or less before the adjective
Adding -er to the end of one syllable adjectives
For two-syllable adjectives ending in y , change the y to an i and add -er to the end.

The superlative degree is typically used when comparing three or more things to denote the upper or lowermost limit of a quality, e.g., strongest .

There are several ways to form the superlative, including:

Adding most or least before the adjective
Adding -est to the end of one syllable adjectives
For two-syllable adjectives ending in y , change the y to an i and add -est to the end.

There are also some irregular adjectives of degree that follow no discernible pattern that must be learned off by students, e.g., good – better – best .

Let’s take a look at these degrees of adjectives in their different forms.


beautiful	more beautiful	most beautiful
delicious	less delicious	least delicious
near	nearer	nearest
happy	happier	happiest
bad	worse	worst

Let’s take a quick look at some sample sentences:

It was a beautiful example of kindness.

Comparative

The red is nice, but the green is prettier .

Superlative

This mango is the most delicious fruit I have ever tastiest.

Quantitive adjectives provide information about how many or how much of the noun or pronoun.

Some quantitive adjectives include:

She only ate half of her sandwich.
This is my first time here.
I would like three slices, please.
There isn’t a single good reason to go.
There aren’t many places like it.
It’s too much of a good thing.
I gave her a whole box of them.

A demonstrative adjective identifies or emphasizes a noun’s place in time or space. The most common demonstrative adjectives are this , that , these , and those .

Here are some examples of demonstrative adjectives in use:

This boat is mine.
That car belongs to her.
These shoes clash with my dress.
Those people are from Canada.

Possessive adjectives show ownership, and they are sometimes confused with possessive pronouns.

The most common possessive adjectives are my , your , his , her , our , and their .

Students need to be careful not to confuse these with possessive pronouns such as mine , yours , his (same in both contexts), hers , ours , and theirs .

Here are some examples of possessive adjectives in sentences:

My favorite food is sushi.
I would like to read your book when you have finished it.
I believe her car is the red one.
This is their way of doing things.
Our work here is done.

Interrogative adjectives ask questions, and, in common with many types of adjectives, they are always followed by a noun. Basically, these are the question words we use to start questions. Be careful however, interrogative adjectives modify nouns. If the word after the question word is a verb, then you have an interrogative adverb on hand.

Some examples of interrogative adjectives include what , which , and whose .

Let’s take a look at these in action:

What drink would you like?
Which car should we take?
Whose shoes are these?

Please note: Whose can also fit into the possessive adjective category too.

We can think of proper adjectives as the adjective form of proper nouns – remember those? They were the specific names of people, places, and things and need to be capitalized.

Let’s take the proper noun for the place America . If we wanted to make an adjective out of this proper noun to describe something, say, a car we would get ‘ American car’.

Let’s take a look at another few examples:

Joe enjoyed his cup of Ethiopian coffee.
My favorite plays are Shakespearean tragedies.
No doubt about it, Fender guitars are some of the best in the world.
The Mona Lisa is a fine example of Renaissance art.

Though it may come as a surprise to some, articles are also adjectives as, like all adjectives, they modify nouns. Articles help us determine a noun’s specification.

For example, ‘a’ and ‘an’ are used in front of an unspecific noun, while ‘the’ is used when referring to a specific noun.

Let’s see some articles as adjectives in action!

You will find an apple inside the cupboard.
This is a car.
The recipe is a family secret.

Adjectives Teaching Activity: Types of Adjective Tally

Choose a suitable book and assign an appropriate number of pages or length of a chapter for students to work with.
Students work their way through each page, tallying up the number of each type of adjective they can identify using a table like the one below:


Descriptive
Comparative
Superlative
Quantitative
Demonstrative
Possessive
Interrogative
Proper
Articles

Note how degrees of adjective has been split into comparative and superlative. The positive forms will take care of in the descriptive category.
You may wish to adapt this table to exclude the easier categories to identify, such as articles and demonstrative, for example.

Traditionally, adverbs are defined as those words that modify verbs, but they do so much more than that. They can be used not only to describe how verbs are performed but also to modify adjectives, other adverbs, clauses, prepositions, or entire sentences.

With such a broad range of tasks at the feet of the humble adverb, it would be impossible to cover every possibility in this article alone. However, there are five main types of adverbs our students should familiarize themselves with. These are:

Adverbs of Manner

Adverbs of time, adverbs of frequency, adverbs of place, adverbs of degree.

Adverbs of manner describe how or the way in which something happens or is done. This type of adverb is often the first type taught to students. Many of these end with -ly . Some common examples include happily , quickly , sadly , slowly , and fast .

Here are a few taster sentences employing adverbs of manner:

She cooks Chinese food well .
The children played happily together.
The students worked diligently on their projects.
Her mother taught her to cross the road carefully .
The date went badly .

Adverbs of time indicate when something happens. Common adverbs of time include before , now , then , after , already , immediately , and soon .

Here are some sentences employing adverbs of time:

I go to school early on Wednesdays.
She would like to finish her studies eventually .
Recently , Sarah moved to Bulgaria.
I have already finished my homework.
They have been missing training lately .

While adverbs of time deal with when something happens, adverbs of frequency are concerned with how often something happens. Common adverbs of frequency include always , frequently , sometimes , seldom , and never .

Here’s what they look like in sentences:

Harry usually goes to bed around ten.
Rachel rarely eats breakfast in the morning.
Often , I’ll go home straight after school.
I occasionally have ketchup on my pizza.
She seldom goes out with her friends.

Adverbs of place, as the name suggests, describe where something happens or where it is. They can refer to position, distance, or direction. Some common adverbs of place include above , below , beside , inside , and anywhere .

Check out some examples in the sentences below:

Underneath the bridge, there lived a troll.
There were pizzerias everywhere in the city.
We walked around the park in the pouring rain.
If the door is open, then go inside .
When I am older, I would like to live nearby .

Adverbs of degree express the degree to which or how much of something is done. They can also be used to describe levels of intensity. Some common adverbs of degree include barely , little , lots , completely , and entirely .

Here are some adverbs of degree at work in sentences:

I hardly noticed her when she walked into the room.
The little girl had almost finished her homework.
The job was completely finished.
I was so delighted to hear the good news.
Jack was totally delighted to see Diane after all these years.

Adverb Teaching Activity: The Adverb Generator

Give students a worksheet containing a table divided into five columns. Each column bears a heading of one of the different types of adverbs ( manner , time , frequency , place , degree ).
Challenge each group to generate as many different examples of each adverb type and record these in the table.
The winning group is the one with the most adverbs. As a bonus, or tiebreaker, task the students to make sentences with some of the adverbs.

Pronouns are used in place of a specific noun used earlier in a sentence. They are helpful when the writer wants to avoid repetitive use of a particular noun such as a name. For example, in the following sentences, the pronoun she is used to stand for the girl’s name Mary after it is used in the first sentence.

Mary loved traveling. She had been to France, Thailand, and Taiwan already, but her favorite place in the world was Australia. She had never seen an animal quite as curious-looking as the duck-billed platypus.

We also see her used in place of Mary’s in the above passage. There are many different pronouns and, in this article, we’ll take a look at:

Subject Pronouns

Object pronouns, possessive pronouns, reflexive pronouns, intensive pronouns, demonstrative pronouns, interrogative pronouns.

Subject pronouns are the type of pronoun most of us think of when we hear the term pronoun . They operate as the subject of a verb in a sentence. They are also known as personal pronouns.

The subject pronouns are:

Here are a few examples of subject pronouns doing what they do best:

Sarah and I went to the movies last Thursday night.
That is my pet dog. It is an Irish Wolfhound.
My friends are coming over tonight, they will be here at seven.
We won’t all fit into the same car.
You have done a fantastic job with your grammar homework!

Object pronouns operate as the object of a verb, or a preposition, in a sentence. They act in the same way as object nouns but are used when it is clear what the object is.

The object pronouns are:

Here are a few examples of object pronouns in sentences:

I told you , this is a great opportunity for you .
Give her some more time, please.
I told her I did not want to do it .
That is for us .
Catherine is the girl whom I mentioned in my letter.

Possessive pronouns indicate ownership of a noun. For example, in the sentence:

These books are mine .

The word mine stands for my books . It’s important to note that while possessive pronouns look similar to possessive adjectives, their function in a sentence is different.

The possessive pronouns are:

Let’s take a look at how these are used in sentences:

Yours is the yellow jacket.
I hope this ticket is mine .
The train that leaves at midnight is theirs .
Ours is the first house on the right.
She is the person whose opinion I value most.
I believe that is his .

Reflexive pronouns are used in instances where the object and the subject are the same. For example, in the sentence, she did it herself , the words she and herself refer to the same person.

The reflexive pronoun forms are:

Here are a few more examples of reflexive pronouns at work:

I told myself that numerous times.
He got himself a new computer with his wages.
We will go there ourselves .
You must do it yourself .
The only thing to fear is fear itself .

This type of pronoun can be used to indicate emphasis. For example, when we write, I spoke to the manager herself , the point is made that we talked to the person in charge and not someone lower down the hierarchy.

Similar to the reflexive pronouns above, we can easily differentiate between reflexive and intensive pronouns by asking if the pronoun is essential to the sentence’s meaning. If it isn’t, then it is used solely for emphasis, and therefore, it’s an intensive rather than a reflexive pronoun.

Often confused with demonstrative adjectives, demonstrative pronouns can stand alone in a sentence.

When this , that , these , and those are used as demonstrative adjectives they come before the noun they modify. When these same words are used as demonstrative pronouns, they replace a noun rather than modify it.

Here are some examples of demonstrative pronouns in sentences:

This is delicious.
That is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.
These are not mine.
Those belong to the driver.

Interrogative pronouns are used to form questions. They are the typical question words that come at the start of questions, with a question mark coming at the end. The interrogative pronouns are:

Putting them into sentences looks like this:

What is the name of your best friend?
Which of these is your favourite?
Who goes to the market with you?
Whom do you think will win?
Whose is that?

Pronoun Teaching Activity: Pronoun Review Table

Provide students with a review table like the one below to revise the various pronoun forms.
They can use this table to help them produce independent sentences.
Once students have had a chance to familiarize themselves thoroughly with each of the different types of pronouns, provide the students with the headings and ask them to complete a table from memory.


I	me	my	myself	myself	this	what
you	you	your	yourself	yourself	that	which
he	him	his	himself	himself	these	who
she	her	her	herself	herself	those	whom
it	it	its	itself	itself		whose
we	us	our	ourselves	ourselves
you	you	your	yourselves	yourselves
they	them	their	themselves	themselves

Prepositions

Parts of speech - What is a preposition?

Prepositions provide extra information showing the relationship between a noun or pronoun and another part of a sentence. These are usually short words that come directly before nouns or pronouns, e.g., in , at , on , etc.

There are, of course, many different types of prepositions, each relating to particular types of information. In this article, we will look at:

Prepositions of Time

Prepositions of place, prepositions of movement, prepositions of manner, prepositions of measure.

Preposition of Agency
Preposition of Possession
Preposition of Source

Phrasal Prepositions

It’s worth noting that several prepositional words make an appearance in several different categories of prepositions.

Prepositions of time indicate when something happens. Common prepositions of time include after , at , before , during , in , on .

Let’s see some of these at work:

I have been here since Thursday.
My daughter was born on the first of September.
He went overseas during the war.
Before you go, can you pay the bill, please?
We will go out after work.

Sometimes students have difficulty knowing when to use in , on , or at . These little words are often confused. The table below provides helpful guidance to help students use the right preposition in the right context.


	Centuries YearsSeasonsMonthsTime of day
	DaysDatesSpecific holidays
	Some time of day exceptionsFestivals

The prepositions of place, in , at , on , will be instantly recognisable as they also double as prepositions of time. Again, students can sometimes struggle a little to select the correct one for the situation they are describing. Some guidelines can be helpful.

If something is contained or confined inside, we use in .
If something is placed upon a surface, we use on .
If something is located at a specific point, we use at .

A few example sentences will assist in illustrating these:

He is in the house.
I saw it in a magazine.
In France, we saw many great works of art.
Put it on the table.
We sailed on the river.
Hang that picture on the wall, please.
We arrived at the airport just after 1 pm.
I saw her at university.
The boy stood at the window.

Usually used with verbs of motion, prepositions of movement indicate movement from one place to another. The most commonly used preposition of movement is to .

Some other prepositions of movement include:

Here’s how they look in some sample sentences:

The ball rolled across the table towards me.
We looked up into the sky.
The children ran past the shop on their way home.
Jackie ran down the road to greet her friend.
She walked confidently through the curtains and out onto the stage.

Preposition of manner shows us how something is done or how it happens. The most common of these are by , in , like , on , with .

Let’s take a look at how they work in sentences:

We went to school by bus.
During the holidays, they traveled across the Rockies on foot.
Janet went to the airport in a taxi.
She played soccer like a professional.
I greeted her with a smile.

Prepositions of measure are used to indicate quantities and specific units of measurement. The two most common of these are by and of .

Check out these sample sentences:

I’m afraid we only sell that fabric by the meter.
I will pay you by the hour.
She only ate half of the ice cream. I ate the other half.
A kilogram of apples is the same weight as a kilogram of feathers.

Prepositions of Agency

These prepositions indicate the causal relationship between a noun or pronoun and an action. They show the cause of something happening. The most commonly used prepositions of agency are by and with .

Here are some examples of their use in sentences:

The Harry Potter series was written by J.K. Rowling.
This bowl was made by a skilled craftsman.
His heart was filled with love.
The glass was filled with water.

Prepositions of Possession

Prepositions of possessions indicate who or what something belongs to. The most common of these are of , to , and with .

Let’s take a look:

He is the husband of my cousin.
He is a friend of the mayor.
This once belonged to my grandmother.
All these lands belong to the Ministry.
The man with the hat is waiting outside.
The boy with the big feet tripped and fell.

Prepositions of Source

Prepositions of source indicate where something comes from or its origins. The two most common prepositions of source are from and by . There is some crossover here with prepositions of agency.

Here are some examples:

He comes from New Zealand.
These oranges are from our own orchard.
I was warmed by the heat of the fire.
She was hugged by her husband.
The yoghurt is of Bulgarian origin.

Phrasal prepositions are also known as compound prepositions. These are phrases of two or more words that function in the same way as prepositions. That is, they join nouns or pronouns to the rest of the sentence.

Some common phrasal prepositions are:

According to
For a change
In addition to
In spite of
Rather than
With the exception of

Students should be careful of overusing phrasal prepositions as some of them can seem clichéd. Frequently, it’s best to say things in as few words as is necessary.

Preposition Teaching Activity: Pr eposition Sort

Print out a selection of the different types of prepositions on pieces of paper.
Organize students into smaller working groups and provide each group with a set of prepositions.
Using the headings above as categories, challenge students to sort the prepositions into the correct groups. Note that some prepositions will comfortably fit into more than one group.
The winning group is the one to sort all prepositions correctly first.
As an extension exercise, students can select a preposition from each category and write a sample sentence for it.

ConjunctionS

Parts of Speech - What is a conjunction?

Conjunctions are used to connect words, phrases, and clauses. There are three main types of conjunction that are used to join different parts of sentences. These are:

Coordinating
Subordinating
Correlative

Coordinating Conjunctions

These conjunctions are used to join sentence components that are equal such as two words, two phrases, or two clauses. In English, there are seven of these that can be memorized using the mnemonic FANBOYS:

Here are a few example sentences employing coordinating conjunctions:

As a writer, he needed only a pen and paper.
I would describe him as strong but lazy.
Either we go now or not at all.

Subordinating Conjunctions

Subordinating conjunctions are used to introduce dependent clauses in sentences. Basically, dependent clauses are parts of sentences that cannot stand as complete sentences on their own.

Some of the most common subordinate conjunctions are:

Let’s take a look at some example sentences:

I will complete it by Tuesday if I have time.
Although she likes it, she won’t buy it.
Jack will give it to you after he finds it.

Correlative Conjunctions

Correlative conjunctions are like shoes; they come in pairs. They work together to make sentences work. Some come correlative conjunctions are:

either / or
neither / nor
Not only / but also

Let’s see how some of these work together:

If I were you, I would get either the green one or the yellow one.
John wants neither pity nor help.
I don’t know whether you prefer horror or romantic movies.

Conjunction Teaching Activity: Conjunction Challenge

Organize students into Talking Pairs .
Partner A gives Partner B an example of a conjunction.
Partner B must state which type of conjunction it is, e.g. coordinating, subordinating, or correlative.
Partner B must then compose a sentence that uses the conjunction correctly and tell it to Partner A.
Partners then swap roles.

InterjectionS

parts of speech - What is an interjection?

Interjections focus on feelings and are generally grammatically unrelated to the rest of the sentence or sentences around them. They convey thoughts and feelings and are common in our speech. They are often followed by exclamation marks in writing. Interjections include expressions such as:

Eww! That is so gross!
Oh , I don’t know. I’ve never used one before.
That’s very… err …generous of you, I suppose.
Wow! That is fantastic news!
Uh-Oh! I don’t have any more left.

Interjection Teaching Activity: Create a scenario

Once students clearly understand what interjections are, brainstorm as a class as many as possible.
Write a master list of interjections on the whiteboard.
Partner A suggests an interjection word or phrase to Partner B.
Partner B must create a fictional scenario where this interjection would be used appropriately.

With a good grasp of the fundamentals of parts of speech, your students will now be equipped to do a deeper dive into the wild waters of English grammar.

To learn more about the twists and turns of English grammar, check out our comprehensive article on English grammar here.

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Parts of Speech: Learn and Master the Eight Basic Parts

Learn all about the 8 parts of speech in english in this guide., i want to learn....

Think of English like a Lego kit. Just like you can’t build that Star Wars ship without the right blocks, you can’t make English sentences without the right blocks in the right places. These blocks combine and work together to make sentences — each kind of block has its own purpose and rules. These building blocks of language are called parts of speech and understanding them is essential for language learners.

In this article, you’ll learn all about the English parts of speech.

Curious to know more about parts of speech in English?

In the sentence "Let's eat out tonight.", you will learn that it's made up of parts of speech. "Let's" functions as a verb phrase suggesting an action, while "eat" is the main verb, and "out" and "tonight" provide information about the location and time. Learn more via Busuu’s free online courses!

What are parts of speech?

Parts of speech are the different categories given to English words depending on the word’s function in a sentence. In English, there are eight parts of speech: Nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections. Each word in English fits into one of the eight groups depending on its role in sentences.

The eight parts of speech

Let’s break down the eight parts of speech in English and check out some parts of speech examples:

Nouns are naming words. They’re the names we give to people, places, things, and ideas — words like “John,” “France,” “water,” and “emotion” are nouns.

There are two types of nouns: Proper nouns and common nouns. Proper nouns are words for specific things and start with a capital letter, like “California,” “Disney,” and “Cristiano Ronaldo.” Common nouns are general labels for things and don’t need a capital letter (unless they’re at the beginning of a sentence). Examples are “state,” “company,” and “athlete.”

When you speak, don’t worry about the difference between these two nouns — there’s no way to add a capital letter when you talk! But, when you write, you need to be aware of the difference.

2. Pronouns

Pronouns are words we use so we don’t have to repeat specific nouns.

Let’s look at an example: Jane wanted to go to South America. But her parents said it was dangerous there so she didn’t go.

In this example, there are two pronouns: “It,” and “she.” Because the reader or listener knows we are talking about Jane and South America, there’s no need to use those words again in the second sentence. Instead, we can substitute the word for the pronouns.

Pronouns help you avoid repetition which can get boring and confusing for your listeners or readers. They also help your language flow smoothly from one sentence to the next.

Verbs are action, feeling, or state words. Verbs are the beating heart of your sentences and clauses — without one, you can’t make a complete sentence. Words like “explode,” “go,” “jump,” and “yearn” add energy to your sentences. They add action and motion to bring your language alive. (Check out our article also on irregular verbs )

There are two types of verbs: Action verbs and stative verbs. Action verbs describe action and movement.

Stative verbs describe thoughts, emotions, and senses. Here’s a list:

Table of action and stative verbs

Action verbs	Stative verbs
1. Answer 2. Build 3. Climb 4. Dance 5. Explore 6. Fix 7. Grow 8. Help 9. Inquire 10. Jump 11. Kick 12. Laugh 13. Move 14. Paint 15.Run	1. Adore 2. Believe 3. Desire 4. Envy 5. Feel 6. Hate 7. Imagine 8. Know 9. Love 10. Own 11.Prefer 12.Remember 13. Seem 14. Understand 15. Want

4. Adjectives

Adjectives are words that add description to nouns. They add color, size, shape, etc to the nouns in your sentences. They’re the difference between “It’s a house,” and “It’s a small but cozy, Victorian-era house.”

Adjectives often go right before the noun they describe so they’re easy to spot. (Check out our article about personality adjectives. )

Adverbs are a versatile part of speech that modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs.

Let’s look at some examples:

John talks loudly, even at night.

Here “loudly” is the adverb and it modifies the verb “talk.” This kind of adverb describes how something is done and they often end in the suffix “-ly.”

He was quite late last night.

In this example, the adverb (“quite”) modifies an adjective (“late”). This kind of adverb shows to what extent the adjective is true. Other examples of this kind of adverb are “more,” “too,” and “very.”

She dances surprisingly well.

In this example, there are two adverbs “surprisingly” and “well.” “Surprisingly” modifies “well.” And they both modify the verb (“dances”).

Now you are getting to know the different parts of speech!

Continue practicing via Busuu and learn to form English questions like "Do you have set plans for the future, or do you take life as it comes?" and know that it contains the 8 parts of speech that include verbs, pronouns, adjectives, nouns, prepositions, articles, conjunctions, and subordinating conjunctions.

6. Prepositions

Prepositions show relationships between the words in sentences. They come before nouns or noun phrases and show direction, time, and place.

Here’s an example sentence:

He put his wallet on the table before he went to bed.

Without the prepositions (“on,” and “before”) we wouldn't know where he put his wallet or when he did it.

Here are twenty of the most common English prepositions:

7. Conjunctions

Conjunctions are the glue of English. These linking words connect words, phrases, clauses, sentences, and paragraphs together so the language flows.

Simple words like “and,” “but,” “so,” are called coordinating conjunctions . They join words or phrases that have the same grammar. For example, a noun and another noun, or an independent clause (a clause that could be a sentence on its own) and another independent clause. The seven coordinating conjunctions are “and,” “but,” “so,” “or,” “for,” “yet,” and “nor.”

Here’s an example sentence: I was tired so I went to bed.

In this example, both “I was tired,” and “I went to bed” are complete thoughts and could be sentences on their own. That’s why you need to use one of the seven coordinating conjunctions.

There are also subordinating conjunctions that connect an independent clause to a dependent clause (a clause that can’t be a sentence on its own).

Here are 15 of the most common:

And here’s an example sentence: Because I was tired, I went to bed.

Here the first clause is a dependent clause. “Because I was tired” is not a complete thought so it can't be a sentence on its own. It needs the second clause to complete the thought. The second clause, on the other hand, is a complete thought and could be a sentence on its own. When you make sentences like this, the subordinating conjunction comes at the beginning of the dependent clause — the one that couldn’t be a sentence on its own.

8. Interjections

Interjections are words that express emotions that often come on their own, in their own sentence. They’re a huge part of common, everyday communication.

Some interjections can only ever be interjections, they’re called primary interjections. They don’t have any other meanings and often have no standard spelling — as they’re mostly a part of spoken communication, people write them in different ways. It might be useful to think of them as sounds instead of words.

Here are some common primary interjections:

And here’s an example sentence: Ouch! Don’t do that — it hurts.

There are also secondary interjections — words that you can use as other parts of speech in sentences (that means they can be nouns, verbs, or adjectives too). Examples are “amazing,” “no way,” “unbelievable,” dear me,” etc.

Here’s an example sentence: No way! I can’t believe he spent so much on a car.

In this example, both “no” and “way” function as different parts of speech. “Ouch” from the first example doesn’t and can only ever be an interjection.

Words with more than one role in a sentence

To make things more confusing, some English words can be multiple parts of speech. Some nouns can be adjectives and some adjectives can be nouns. Some verb conjugations (-ing and -ed forms) act as adjectives.

Here are some example sentences that show you how this works:

The library bookshelves were filled with a range of books.

“Library” is a noun but in this sentence, it acts as an adjective because it modifies the other noun: “Bookshelves.”

The rich often donate generously to charity .

“Rich” is an adjective. But in this sentence, it acts as a noun and the subject of the sentence.

The destroyed building is a reminder of the natural disaster.

“Destroyed” is the past participle of the verb “destroy,” but in this sentence, it’s acting as an adjective by modifying the noun “building.”

Understanding parts of speech is key to learning a language

Parts of speech are the building blocks of English. And learning these eight categories is an important step in your language learning. Analyze the English you see, try and identify the parts of speech, and keep practicing. You’ll master the parts of speech in no time.

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Topics for Beginners

How to use articles in English: A guide
70 Useful English Adverbs and How to Use Them
English prepositions: Everything you need to know
Pronouns and how to use them in everyday conversation
Nouns in English: 10+ Types you need to know (with examples)

Advanced Grammar Topics

Master the basic rules of English grammar
The essential guide to English conjugation
Imperative verbs and how to use them
Phrasal verbs: Common examples & their meanings
When (and when not to) use passive voice in English

Your Guide to the 9 Parts of Speech

Grammarians categorize English words into groups, which we call Parts of Speech. Most guides will tell you that there are eight or nine parts of speech, depending on a few factors, like whether they include interjections. Each part of speech serves a particular function, which I will describe below.

The parts of speech we will cover are:

noun,
pronoun,
verb,
adjective,
adverb,
preposition,
conjunction,
determiner, and
interjection.

I’ve also put together a table with all the parts of speech and examples of their use in sentences. Below the table, you’ll find a breakdown of each part of speech with further examples.

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Parts of Speech Cheat Sheet


Noun	A person, place, thing, or idea	John, forest, car, joy, house, business, Minneapolis	Wow! Those walked surprisingly quickly through the long and steep that they had planned.	“Hikers” is a noun (more than one) and “trail” is a noun (just one). Nouns are divided into nouns, like “city,” and nouns, like “Detroit.”
Pronoun	Substitutes for a noun	He, she, they, it, my, these, those	Wow! Those hikers walked surprisingly quickly through the long and steep trail that had planned.	In the example, “they” substitutes for the noun “hikers.”
Verb	Expresses actions and states	Go, sit, draw, walk, do, be, was, were, driving, talking	Wow! Those hikers surprisingly quickly through the long and steep trail that they had planned.	This verb is a verb — it describes something that happened in the past.
Adjective	Modifies or describes a noun	Happy, red, interesting, nice, wonderful, spooky	Wow! Those hikers walked surprisingly quickly through the and trail that they had planned.	“Long” and “steep,” adjectives, both describe the noun “trail.”
Adverb	Modifies or describes a verb, adjective, or other adverb	Happily, softly, angrily, intriguingly, forcefully	Wow! Those hikers walked surprisingly through the long and steep trail that they had planned.	“Quickly” modifies the verb “walked.” “Surprisingly” modifies “quickly.”
Preposition	Links a noun to another word; shows location or time	Above, along, by, on, in, with, under, at, upon, during, before, after, despite, via, through	Wow! Those hikers walked surprisingly quickly the long and steep trail that they had planned.	Though there are lots of other words in this sentence, we can see how the conjunction “through” links a noun with another word if we pare it down to where “through” connects the noun “trail” to the verb “walked.” We can also say that it shows the of the walking (the trail).
Conjunction	Joins words, phrases, or clauses	For, and, but, or, because	Wow! Those hikers walked surprisingly quickly through the long steep trail that they had planned.	The conjunction “and” joins the words “long” and “steep.”
Determiner	Articles and other words that limit or determine a noun	A, an, the, that, those, these, which	Wow! hikers walked surprisingly quickly through long and steep trail they had planned.	Determiners often answer the questions, “Which?” or, “What?” For example, “Which hikers?” “ hikers.” Possessives, like , etc., can serve as determiners.
Interjection	A short exclamation	Oh!, Ouch!, Blast!, Yikes!, @#$%!	Those hikers walked surprisingly quickly through the long and steep trail that they had planned.	Sometimes other types of words can serve as interjections. For example, “Mom! You cut your hair!”, where “Mom!” is both a noun an interjection.

Nouns are things. Stuff. People. Places. Ideas. (Yeah, things, stuff, people, places, and ideas are all nouns.)

Common and Proper Nouns

Nouns can be common, like city, park, and building , or proper, like New York City, Central Park, and The Chrysler Building. Proper nouns are names. Michael and Mr. Blackwood , for example, are proper nouns.

Singular or Plural Nouns

Nouns can be singular or plural. A singular noun is when there’s only one. One man , one dog, one person . Plural nouns occur when there’s more than one. Two men , ten dogs , a million people .

Possessive Nouns

Nouns can also be possessive, which means a noun “owns,” belongs to, or is otherwise attached to another noun. In English, we use the apostrophe to denote possession. In the phrase “the man’s dog,” for example, man’s is possessive. Man owns (or belongs to) dog .

Pronouns substitute for nouns. Pronouns include he, she, they, you, it, and many more.

Plural, Possessive, and Plural–Possessive, Oh My

Pronouns can be possessive, like my, your, his, and her . Pronouns can also be plural like we and they. And pronouns can be plural and possessive, like our and their .

Words like that and which do double (or triple!) duty. That can be a determiner (see below), as in the phrase “ I ate that apple,” but can also become a pronoun, as in the phrase, “I ate that ” — where that substitutes for a noun, like apple.

To be or not to be, that is the…ultimate verb. Verbs show actions and states of being. This includes to be and its derivatives: is, are, were, will be, have been, etc. Verbs show all the things you can do . Crawl. Walk. Run. Sit, watch, enjoy, laugh, cry, and eat.

Verb Tense & Aspect

Verbs have a tense , which refers to when the thing is being done. There are three main tenses: Past, present, and future . In the past tense, I wrote. In the present tense, I write. In the future, I will write (which enlists the help of the “helping verb” will ) .

Furthermore, the tenses all have an aspect , which demonstrates further details, like whether an action is ongoing. The aspects are simple, perfect, continuous , and perfect continuous . So you can have any combination of aspects with tense; for example, simple past or perfect continuous future .

The subject of tenses and aspects is pretty complicated — it deserves its own article. But for now, here’s a simple chart that breaks down the tenses and aspects with examples.

Verb Tense and Aspect Chart

This information is pretty esoteric, so don’t get too distracted by it. The main thing to remember is that verbs show action and states of being.

Adjectives describe nouns.

When you’re telling someone about your favorite English language blog, you would use adjectives to describe it. Smart, witty, clever, helpful, accessible, and concise are all adjectives.

And were you to describe the writer of that blog you would continue to use adjectives. Smart, witty, clever, helpful, handsome, kind, approachable, and single are also adjectives.

Adverbs are like adjectives, except that they don’t describe nouns, they describe other parts of speech: verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs. Adverbs often end in -ly , but not always. They can come before verbs, as in, “she quickly ran,” or after, as in “she ran quickly. ”

Here are some examples of adverbs in a sentence:

Modifying a verb : He quietly tip-toed through the dark hallway.

( Quietly modifies the verb tip-toed. )

Modifying an adjective : He quietly tip-toed through the eerily dark hallway.

( Eerily modifies the adjective dark. )

Modifying another adverb : He totally quietly tip-toed through the eerily dark hallway.

( Totally modifies the other adverb quietly. )

Prepositions

Prepositions link nouns to other words, showing us the relationship between them. They show location or time. For example, “We will meet on the bridge during sunset.”

Prepositions can also be used to show purpose, as in, “I am walking for my heart.”

Prepositions include in, on, toward, with, through, at, upon, toward, via, and many more.

Conjunctions

Conjunctions join words, phrases, and clauses together , so we can create complex sentences and express multiple ideas at once.

Conjunctions include and, but, or, yet, although, because, and others.

In this sentence, the conjunction joins two clauses: “I don’t like apples but I do like oranges.” And in this sentence, the conjunction joins just two words: “I like apples and oranges.”

One group of conjunctions (called correlative conjunctions) comes in pairs, like either/or, if/then, not only/but also . Here’s an example:

“ Either you will peel the oranges for me, or I won’t eat them.”

Determiners (Includes Articles)

Back in the day, your English teacher, like mine, may have taught you about articles: the , a , and an .

Grammarians more and more frequently include these in a group of words called determiners , words that limit or “determine” nouns, which, in addition to articles include that, this, these, those , and others — showing exactly which noun or nouns are being talked about. This includes possessive pronouns like my, your, their, her, and his.

Think of it this way: determiners often answer the questions What?, Which?, or Whose? For example, “Which article?” “ This article.” “Whose blog?” “ Our blog.”

Interjections (!)

Consult more than one English grammar guide, and you’re likely to see that there are eight or nine parts of speech. Why the difference? Well, some sources don’t include the interjection as its own part of speech. But some sources do, so you ought to know about it.

Interjections can be, um, tricky to define. They are spontaneous, sometimes emotional, and they come before or between complete thoughts . Sometimes they interrupt a sentence right in its tracks. They include exclamations like Wow!, Yikes!, and Oh! They also include curses ( damn! ), greetings (like hi ) , and filler words (like um ).

Some examples of interjections:

Wow! Look at that sunset.
Let’s go to the, um, store.
I don’t understand why you would— oh! Now I get it.

Sometimes, other parts of speech can be interjections.

Fantastic ! Let’s do it! (Here the adjective fantastic serves as an interjection.)
I’m just going to open the blinds and— snow! It’s snowing now! (The noun snow serves as an interjection.)

The Parts of Speech in Sum

There you have it — the nine parts of speech. Noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition, conjunction, determiner, and interjection.

Got an exam coming up? Working on your writing? Consult this guide anytime you need a refresher.

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Understanding Parts of Speech (9 Types With Examples)

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

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

What are parts of speech?

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

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

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

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

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

Watch this as a video lesson

In total, there are nine categories of parts of speech

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

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

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

What are the 9 parts of speech with their functions?

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Singular Nouns

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

Plural Nouns

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

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

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

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

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

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

Positive/Absolute form

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

Comparative form

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

Superlative form

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

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

Possessive Adjectives

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

Interrogative Adjectives

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

Demonstrative Adjectives

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

Compound Adjectives

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

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

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

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

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

Demonstratives

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

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

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

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

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

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

A ‘Pronoun’ is a word used in specifically providing an alternate name for a non/noun phrase. They are alternate words for referring to an object/individual when the requirement of a noun is unnecessary, as the noun has been mentioned previously in some parts of the sentence.

Some examples of pronouns are ‘it’, ‘he/she’, and ‘himself/herself’.

Pronouns are sub-classified into different categories based on their use in the sentence.

Some of these sub-categories are:

Relative Pronouns (to relate a part of a sentence with the other)
Possessive Pronouns (to show possessiveness)
Reflexive Pronouns (to refer back to the subject of discussion)
Demonstrative Pronouns (to refer to specific objects/individuals)
Interrogative Pronouns (to ask questions)
Indefinite Pronouns (to avoid reference to any specific object/individual/place)
Personal Pronouns (to use as substitutes for proper names)
Subject Pronouns (to assign acting on an object)
Object Pronouns (to assign receiving action towards an object)
Reciprocal Pronouns (to express two-way/mutual relationship)
Preposition

A ‘Preposition’ is a word used as a connective between a noun, a noun phrase, or a pronoun with another word.

Prepositions are used in sentence formations to convey these meanings:

To show the direction towards/of something/someone
To refer to the period of an action taking place
To specify the location/position of an object
To present the space and time relationship between objects

Based on their use and function, prepositions are classified into four subtypes:

Prepositions of Time (to indicate the happening of an action/event)
Preposition of Place (to indicate the location of an object)
Preposition of Direction (to indicate the direction/orientation of an object)
Prepositions of Spatial Relationship (to indicate an object moving away/towards a source)
Conjunction

A ‘Conjunction’ is a word that combines two/more objects and behaves as connectives in a sentence. These can appear in the beginning/middle/end of the sentence following the location of the objects.

There are three types of conjunctions used in sentence formation:

Coordinate conjunction (to combine two independent clauses )
Subordinate conjunction (to combine an independent with a dependent clause)
Correlation conjunction (to combine two phrases having equal weightage)

Interjection

An ‘Interjection’ is a word to convey the expression of a variety of emotions/feelings. As such, there is no specific rule for the use of interjection and where it is to be placed.

However, in most cases, it is placed at the beginning of the sentence. For example, some of the most commonly used interjections are ‘ouch’, ‘phew’, and ‘well’.


Noun	The howled.
Pronoun	It woke the baby.
Verb	The loving mother the child.
Adjective	The father rocked the baby.
Adverb	The dog howled
Preposition	The baby cried a long time.
Conjunction	The baby gazed at his mother father.
Interjection	, the baby fell back asleep.

Parts of speech examples

Here are some examples of the parts of speech used in sentences. Note the placement and its relation with other parts of speech present in the sentence format.

John is cutting a pipe.
John intends to come to the office this Monday .
Jogging regularly is good for health.
Drinking and driving put other motorists in danger.
Would you want to wear a suit?
I love to sing in between classes.

See another example in the image below.

Juno ran towards the classroom.
The janitor requested the students to clear their lockers.
The monkey was caged after being sedated.
I gifted my brother a phone .
Why did you purchase the book ?
I misplaced the manuscript .
Do you want to eat some ice cream ?
Mum loved my new car .
Daniel gifted his brother a Porsche.

I purchased a blue suit for the reception.
Mary purchased two oranges from the fruit seller.
The curry is tasty .
Juno’s brother is arrogant .
The documentary that premiered on television was fascinating .
Giovanni Giorgio is a great music composer.

My house is currently under lease.
This novel is lengthy.
I purchased some fruits and vegetables.
She sent me an expensive watch.
Velma loved the dress gifted by her parents.
Joyce and Jill watched a movie together.
Grandma gave us materials to prepare the dessert.

Typically , we visit Mom on Mondays.
Don’t you taste the coffee to be too bitter?
Do not be nervous. You will eventually get the hang of it.
The movie I watched was very scientific.
It is scorching hot inside the workshop.
Can I visit the office today ?

His aunt will be staying at the apartment for a while .
He is the man I was referring to.
I found my missing luggage outside the airport.

I won’t be coming to the office in the afternoon.
He arranged the cutlery on the table.
Bhaskar made the dog hide under its bed.
I enjoy strolling by the lake in the mornings.

James and I trekked to the hilltop today.
I stayed back home because I felt uneasy.
He did not enjoy the yogurt , yet he finished it.

Interjection
Hurray! We got the funding.
Ouch! That wound looks severe.
Wow! You look great in the wedding gown.
Oh my God ! I hope he is safe.

See an example in the image below.

Words with more than one job

Many parts of speech can have more than one function/job in the sentence. This improves the versatility of the words being used and makes the use more situational in its placement and conveyance of meaning.

Myers can shift for herself (Preposition)
Give prayers to the Almighty; for He is the one above all (Conjunction)
We require more women to have the same vigor. (Adjective)
More of the women died in the operating room than in the cabin. (Pronoun)
Agatha needs to shut the gossiping and work more (Adverb)

To see how all the objects work together, see the table below.


She	likes	big		but	I	hate	them

Here is a chart showing the parts of speech:

How to identify parts of speech

In sentence formation, it often becomes difficult to ascertain the parts of speech represented by each word. To help out and to make the process of identification easier, follow these steps:

Identify any word which names an object/individual/place in a generalized form as a noun .
To identify a specific noun, use pronouns .
Any words which describe/identify actions/performance are verbs .
Any word that modifies or gives a greater definition to nouns is an adjective.
Any word that modifies or gives meaning to the actions of verbs, are adverbs.
It is easy to pick out prepositions as they describe relationships between a noun/pronoun with other nouns/pronouns.
Any joiner used to join two clauses is a conjunction .
Exclamations generally follow any interjections in the text.

Parts of speech

More parts of speech:

Conjunctions
Prepositions
Possessive nouns
Irregular plural nouns
Proper nouns
Concrete nouns
Collective nouns
Possessive and plural nouns
Verbs: The Definitive Guide
Nouns | Explore Definition, Examples & Types with Examples
What Are Pronouns? Definitions and Examples
What Are Adverbs? (with Examples)
Interjections – Explore Meaning, Definition, Usage and Examples
What Is A Conjunction? Types & Examples
The 9 Parts of Speech: Definitions and Examples
What Is a Determiner?
The 8 Parts of Speech: Examples and Rules
Adverbs – What is It? Explore the Meaning, Definition, Types, Usage and Examples

Inside this article

Fact checked: Content is rigorously reviewed by a team of qualified and experienced fact checkers. Fact checkers review articles for factual accuracy, relevance, and timeliness. Learn more.

About the author

Dalia Y.: Dalia is an English Major and linguistics expert with an additional degree in Psychology. Dalia has featured articles on Forbes, Inc, Fast Company, Grammarly, and many more. She covers English, ESL, and all things grammar on GrammarBrain.

Core lessons

Abstract Noun
Accusative Case
Active Sentence
Alliteration
Adjective Clause
Adjective Phrase
Adverbial Clause
Appositive Phrase
Body Paragraph
Compound Adjective
Complex Sentence
Compound Words
Compound Predicate
Common Noun
Comparative Adjective
Comparative and Superlative
Compound Noun
Compound Subject
Compound Sentence
Copular Verb
Collective Noun
Colloquialism
Conciseness
Conditional
Concrete Noun
Conjugation
Conditional Sentence
Comma Splice
Correlative Conjunction
Coordinating Conjunction
Coordinate Adjective
Cumulative Adjective
Dative Case
Declarative Statement
Direct Object Pronoun
Direct Object
Dangling Modifier
Demonstrative Pronoun
Demonstrative Adjective
Direct Characterization
Definite Article
Doublespeak
Equivocation Fallacy
Future Perfect Progressive
Future Simple
Future Perfect Continuous
Future Perfect
First Conditional
Gerund Phrase
Genitive Case
Helping Verb
Irregular Adjective
Irregular Verb
Imperative Sentence
Indefinite Article
Intransitive Verb
Introductory Phrase
Indefinite Pronoun
Indirect Characterization
Interrogative Sentence
Intensive Pronoun
Inanimate Object
Indefinite Tense
Infinitive Phrase
Intensifier
Indicative Mood
Juxtaposition
Linking Verb
Misplaced Modifier
Nominative Case
Noun Adjective
Object Pronoun
Object Complement
Order of Adjectives
Parallelism
Prepositional Phrase
Past Simple Tense
Past Continuous Tense
Past Perfect Tense
Past Progressive Tense
Present Simple Tense
Present Perfect Tense
Personal Pronoun
Personification
Persuasive Writing
Parallel Structure
Phrasal Verb
Predicate Adjective
Predicate Nominative
Phonetic Language
Plural Noun
Punctuation
Punctuation Marks
Preposition of Place
Parts of Speech
Possessive Adjective
Possessive Determiner
Possessive Case
Possessive Noun
Proper Adjective
Proper Noun
Present Participle
Quotation Marks
Relative Pronoun
Reflexive Pronoun
Reciprocal Pronoun
Subordinating Conjunction
Simple Future Tense
Stative Verb
Subjunctive
Subject Complement
Subject of a Sentence
Sentence Variety
Second Conditional
Superlative Adjective
Slash Symbol
Topic Sentence
Types of Nouns
Types of Sentences
Uncountable Noun
Vowels and Consonants

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Parts of speech, we have eight parts of speech in the english language: (1) nouns, (2) verbs, (3) adjectives, (4) adverbs, (5) pronouns, (6) conjunctions, (7) prepositions, and (8) interjections. every word you use in speech or writing falls into just one of these eight categories..

Conjunctions
Prepositions
Interjections

Conclusion to the Parts of Speech

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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.

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.

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Helping People Understand the Eight Parts of Speech!

8 Parts of Speech Definitions With Examples

The 8 parts of speech definitions with examples include nouns, verbs, adjectives, pronouns, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions and interjections.

By using proper grammar in your writing and speaking, you will communicate clearly and effectively with your subject or audience! Moreover, by learning and understanding the 8 parts of speech, you will be able to master proper grammar in your writing and speaking. Below are the 8 parts of speech definitions with examples!

TOC – 8 Parts of Speech Definitions With Examples

Prepositions
Conjunctions
Interjections

Definition of Parts of Speech: A part of speech is a category to which a word is assigned in accordance with its syntactic functions.

To put it very simply, a part of speech identifies a word in accordance with its function in a sentence such as: a noun, a verb, an adjective, a pronoun, an adverb, a preposition, a conjunction and an interjection.

Some Examples of Parts of Speech:

The driver died in the car accident. (Noun)
The prisoner escaped from the moving van. (Verb)
The violent criminal changed his ways in prison. (Adjective)
The students were late so they ran to class. (Pronoun)
The bus will leave soon. (Adverb)
He left his computer in the house. (Preposition)
David and Jonathan fished all day with no success. (Conjunction)
Wow! What a magnificent photograph! (Interjection)

Definition of Nouns: Nouns are naming words and they name persons, places, things, animals, qualities, feelings, actions or ideas.

Examples of Nouns:

Jonathan and Rachel are excellent workers (Naming a Person).
Australia and New Zealand are island continents in the South Pacific (Naming a Place).
The boat sank in the river (Naming a Thing).
The dog jumped the fence (Naming an Animal).
Courage and bravery are two heroic qualities (Naming a Quality).
Candice experienced both happiness and sadness at her mother’s funeral (Naming a Feeling).
He demanded justice for all (Naming an Idea).

Examples of Types of Nouns:

Jennifer is my best friend (Proper Noun).
I read several books a week (Common Noun).
Emma parked her vehicle in the driveway (Concrete Noun).
His joy overwhelmed the crowd (Abstract Noun).
I gave my brother a pack of cards for his birthday (Collective Noun).
My mother-in-law drives a new car (Compound Noun).
The photographer took a variety of photographs at the school picnic (Countable Noun).
The jogger brought his water with him (Non-Countable Noun).
Jonathan’s pickup is being repaired (Possessive Noun).
His return was a complete surprise (Verbal Noun).

You can learn more about the types of nouns in English grammar by checking out 10 Types of Nouns With Examples. You will find each type of noun explained with several examples so that your skill levels to recognize nouns will increase.

Examples of Functions of Nouns:

David arrived late to the party (Noun Functions as Subject).
Rebekah washed the dishes before she went to school (Noun Functions as Direct Object).
Jonathan taught the students public speaking in class (Noun Functions as Indirect Object).
Scott is the minister of the local church (Noun Functions as Predicate Nominative).
The traffic stopped at the lights (Noun Functions as Object of Preposition).
My assistant, Brad, shared the message on Sunday (Noun Functions as an Appositive).
Rebekah named her dog Bailey (Noun Functions as Objective Complement).
Class, it is time for fire drill (Noun Functions as Noun of Direct Address).

You can learn more about the functions of Nouns in English grammar by clicking on The 8 Noun Functions With Examples. You will find each function explained with examples to help you develop your skills in recognizing the different ways nouns function.

Definition of Verbs: Verbs show action or state-of-being.

Examples of Verb Types:

The dog jumped the fence (Action Verb).
Rachel is beautiful (State-of-Being Verb).
Brad hits the ball over the fence (Action Verb).
The song sounds awful (State-of-Being).
Emma walked the dog in the park (Action Verb).

Examples of Verb Functions:

Candice writes a letter to her friend (Transitive Verb).
Candice writes beautifully (Intransitive Verb).
David walked the dog in the park (Transitive Verb).
David walked in the park in the rain (Intransitive Verb).
Emma became an apprentice hairdresser (Intransitive Verb).

Examples of Verb Voices:

John rode the bike to school (Active Voice).
The bike was ridden by John (Passive Voice).
Jennifer led the worship service (Active Voice).
The worship service was led by Jennifer (Passive Voice).
The criminal was punished by the courts (Passive Voice).

You can learn more about how to identify types, functions and voices of verbs by clicking on How To Identify Verbs With Examples. This will help you develop your writing and speaking gifts.

3. Adjectives

Definition of Adjectives: Adjectives are words that describe or modify other words in a sentence thus making your writing and speaking more specific and interesting.

Examples of Several Types Adjectives:

English grammar will help you develop your writing and speaking skills (Proper Adjective).
Rachel had beautiful hair (Descriptive Adjective).
My son bought an expensive car (Qualitative Adjective).
The black cat ran in front of the car (Attributive Adjective).
The cat is black (Predicative Adjective).
My husband has a single focus for life (Quantitative Adjective).
I can get twenty-four hours of service in our location (Numeral Adjective).
I want those people charged for robbery (Demonstrative Adjective).
David wants every person evacuated safely (Distributive Adjective).
What time will you arrived home from the game (Interrogative Adjective)?
The students will submit their assignments on time (Possessive Adjective).
It is a long, narrow, winding road to the mountain top (Sequence Adjectives).
Emma is a happy and lively person (Coordinate Adjectives).
That was one nasty old man who drove the school bus this morning (Cumulative Adjectives).
The murderer is a cold-blooded person (Compound Adjective).
The builder bought a house in the country (Article Adjectives).
Jonathan wants a few minutes of your time (Indefinite Adjective).
The first person in the line collapsed onto the floor (Ordinal Adjective).
The two men were jailed for life (Cardinal Adjective).

Learning to recognize the different types of adjectives will help you develop your speaking and writing skills so that you can be more specific, interesting and colorful in the way you express yourself.

4. Pronouns

Definition of Pronouns: Pronouns are words that replace nouns in sentence in order to avoid repeating the same noun over and over again.

Examples of Several Types of Pronouns :

Dad, will you help me with my assignment (Personal Pronoun)?
These books are mine (Possessive Pronoun).
Give me that (Demonstrative Pronoun)!
Some made thousands from the market collapse (Indefinite Pronoun).
The player who was warmed about his behavior lost his spot on the team (Relative Pronoun).
Candice saw herself in the mirror (Reflective Pronoun).
David repairs the car himself (Emphatic Pronoun).

You can learn more about the different types of pronouns in English grammar with examples by clicking on Types of Pronouns With Examples. You will find a brief explanation of each type of pronoun with some examples. This will help you understand how pronouns work in English sentences.

Definition of Adverbs: Adverbs are words or a group of words that modify verbs, adjectives or other adverbs. They usually tell when, where, how or to what extent an action is performed or it may indicate the quality or degree of the action.

Examples of Different Types of Adverbs:

She worked slowly and carefully on the building site (Adverb of Manner).
David will be home soon (Adverb of Time).
Candice put her book there (Adverb of Place).
We are extremely hungry (Adverb of Degree).
She never cleans her room (Adverb of Frequency).
He gave little to charity (Adverb of Quantity).
He fell forward on the parade ground (Adverb of Direction).
Hopefully, I will be able to attend class today (Adverb of Uncertainty).
Rachel went shopping; however, she didn’t buy anything (Conjunctive Adverb).
Yes, I will be coming to the game tomorrow (Adverb of Affirmation).

You can learn more about adverbs and how they are used in English sentences by clicking on What is an Adverb? Adverb can be confusing at times because they perform differently roles and they can be inserted at different place in English sentences. By learning to recognize the types of adverbs and how they function in sentences, you will certainly increase your ability to write and speak with interesting to your audiences.

6. Prepositions

Definition of Prepositions: Prepositions consist of words or groups of words that show the relationship between nouns or pronouns with other words in sentences.

Examples of Several Types of Prepositions:

Emma arrived on Saturday afternoon (Preposition of Time).
The book is on the table (Preposition of Place).
David will ride his bike to the game on Saturday (Preposition of Movement).
Rebekah goes to work by bus (Preposition of Manner).
Jonathan is sawing the timber with his new saw (Preposition of Agent).
The hardware store sells electrical cord by the meter (Preposition of Measure).
Candace received her weekly wage from her workplace (Preposition of Source).
This is the property of my late wife (Preposition of Possession).

You can learn more about the 8 types of prepositions with examples by clicking on 8 types of prepositions with examples. Once you identify the 8 types of preposition and how they function in sentence, you will become more creative in your writing and speaking skills.

7. Conjunctions

Definition of Conjunctions: Conjunctions are words or groups of words that show how ideas are related to each other in English sentences.

Examples of Several Types of Conjunctions:

Rachel and Darcy traveled to the zoo during the holidays (Coordinating Conjunction).
Unless the drought breaks soon, many farmers will find it very difficult to continue farming (Subordinating Conjunction).
David is both discreet and considerate (Correlative Conjunctions).
We have been good friends; however, I think at times you take me for granted (Conjunctive Adverb).
The stray dog not only destroyed the chicken pen but also killed the chickens (Correlative Conjunctions).

You can learn more about the 4 types of conjunctions with examples by clicking on 4 Types of Conjunctions With Examples. By learning these 4 types of conjunctions with examples, you will be able to identify how words, phrases and clauses relate to each other in English sentences.

8. Interjections

Definition of Interjections: Interjections are used to express feelings and emotions in English sentences.

Examples of Interjections:

Oh, you can’t be serious!
Wow! That’s was excellent.
Ah, I needed that cuppa!
I won the lottery, wahoo!
It stinks, hey, I will never do that again!

You can learn more about interjections by clicking on What is an Interjection?

The more you understand the 8 parts of speech in English grammar with examples, the better you will be able to write and speak to your designated audience. Enjoy!

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8 Parts of Speech Definitions For Kids!

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Possessive Adjectives And Possessive Pronouns

Possessive Adjectives vs Possessive Pronouns

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Predicate Nominative Vs Predicate Adjective

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4 Types of Sentence Structures With Examples

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Winners And Losers From Night 1 Of The DNC

President Joe Biden passed the torch to Vice President Kamala Harris with a forceful speech Monday to start the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. The 2024 race might have gone very differently if Biden had displayed the same vigor in his June debate with former President Donald Trump .

Biden's sharp performance capped an emotional night for Democrats as the party sought to celebrate his record as president while also seeking to turn the page to Harris and her battle against Trump in November. Harris also made a brief speech on stage before watching Biden and the other speakers alongside her running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz .

Biden and the party's 2016 nominee, Hillary Clinton , won praise for their speeches Monday. Others were lost in the shuffle during a marathon primetime program that focused on the issue of abortion and featured a broad range of speakers representing the party's past and future.

Here are the winners and losers from the first night of the Democratic convention.

President Biden

Biden's long keynote resembled a State of the Union address to his party more than it did a traditional, campaign-themed convention speech. Biden spent the bulk of the roughly 50-minute speech on an extended victory lap of his achievements as president, leaving no stone unturned as he ticked off domestic legislative accomplishments and foreign policy victories.

The amount of time it took Biden to summarize his record underscored the fact that he got more done than many in Washington — Democrats and Republicans alike — thought possible when he took office in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 insurrection. But the heart of the speech came near the end, when a visibly emotional Biden addressed, albeit indirectly, his decision not to seek a second term.

"It's been the honor of my lifetime to serve as your president. I love the job. But I love my country more," Biden said. He went on to make a strong case for Harris to succeed him in the White House.

In framing his decision as a selfless act, the 81-year-old Biden left unsaid that he chose to drop out of the race due to pressure from Democrats who believed he could not beat Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, after a disastrous late-June debate performance raised questions about his age and acuity.

On Monday, Democrats in Chicago were all too happy to ignore the details and focus on Biden as the party tried to move forward united behind Harris. And Biden appeared moved by the show of support, even if his address was not the speech he hoped to give.

"America, I gave my best to you," Biden said before walking off the stage. Biden left the United Center less than 20 minutes later, bound for a family trip to California.

United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain won over progressives last year with his brash organizing tactics and Bernie Sanders -style rhetoric during the UAW's strike against Detroit's big three automakers. Fain's appearance Monday night at the DNC cemented his newly-minted status as a Democratic Party powerbroker.

Individual labor leaders have seen their political influence wane in recent decades as union membership has declined. But Fain may be an exception. The strike turned him into arguably the best-known labor leader in the country — landing Fain a more prominent speaking slot Monday than numerous other union officials. Fain used the spotlight to tout labor's role as a key partner to the Biden administration and urged rank-and-file union members to back Harris over Trump.

"For the UAW and working people everywhere, this election comes down to one question: Which side are you on?" Fain said.

Fain also flexed his growing influence ahead of the convention when he weighed in on Harris' VP selection process. Fain publicly criticized two finalists — Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly — for their labor records and praised two others, Walz and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear .

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez burst onto the national scene in 2018 as the youngest woman ever elected to Congress and quickly established herself as one of the country's brightest progressive stars. Ocasio-Cortez also became a thorn in the side of the Democratic Party establishment while being relegated to the far-left fringe of the party.

Six years into her political career, Ocasio-Cortez, 34, is still more liberal than the centrist old guard wing of the party embodied by Biden and Clinton, whose rousing speech Monday was one of the highlights of the night. But the party has moved in the direction of Ocasio-Cortez, her close ally Sanders and other progressives, not the other way around. Her positions on the economy, climate change and other issues are now closer to the Democratic Party mainstream -- and on Monday, Ocasio-Cortez sought to tie Harris to the progressive left.

"In Kamala Harris we have a chance to elect a president who is for the middle class," Ocasio-Cortez said. "She understands the urgency of rent checks and groceries and prescriptions."

Whether that strategy helps Harris and the party win in 2024 -- and beyond -- remains to be seen. But Monday left no doubt that AOC is firmly entrenched in the highest ranks of the party, right there with Clinton, Rep. James Clyburn and other high-profile Democrats who spoke on the convention's first night.

Andy Beshear

Beshear gave a ringing endorsement of the Harris-Walz ticket Monday, playing the role of loyal party soldier after getting passed over along with Shapiro and other Democrats in Harris' lightning-round search for a running mate. Getting picked would have transformed Beshear's career, instantly turning him into a Democratic star and potential future presidential frontrunner. As it stands now, the Kentucky governor is not a household political name and his brief speech Monday likely won't change that.

Still, the 46-year-old Beshear is young enough to have plenty of time for a run at the White House down the road. He raised his national profile somewhat by making it onto Harris' VP shortlist. If she loses, Beshear would be well-positioned to make a White House run in 2028.

But in the scenario where Harris wins and goes on to serve two terms, Beshear would likely have to wait eight more years before seeking the presidency — and it's unclear what he'd do in the intervening years to remain relevant. Beshear can't run for reelection when his term as governor ends in 2027. His political future may still be bright, but it's far less certain now.

The DNC's focus on Project 2025

Halfway through the night, Michigan State Sen. Mallory McMorrow took aim at Project 2025, the conservative Heritage Foundation's lengthy policy wish list for a second Trump term. "Over the next four nights you are going to hear a lot about what is in this 900-page document," McMorrow said.

That might not be such a good thing for Democrats hoping to rally the party at the DNC.

Project 2025 is filled with broad ideas and specific proposals that are anathema to many on the left. Harris frequently mentions it while attacking Trump on the campaign trail. But it's unclear if Democrats and independents have read the details — or whether it's a motivating issue that will send them to the polls. Trump has also distanced himself from Project 2025, though it includes several former Trump advisers.

The focus on Project 2025 highlights a core dilemma for Harris and Democrats, both at the convention and in the final months of the election: whether it's a more effective strategy to feature a positive forward-looking message, or a negative one tailored on criticizing Trump as unfit for office. Campaigns have to do both, of course, and Harris will surely combine both approaches in her acceptance speech Thursday. But Democrats may risk alienating some independents — and dulling enthusiasm among some of the party faithful — if they keep harking back to Project 2025 for the rest of the convention.

Follow Newsweek 's live DNC updates here .

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About the writer

Daniel Bush is a White House Correspondent for Newsweek. He reports on President Biden, national politics and foreign affairs. Biden is the third president he has covered. Daniel joined Newsweek in 2022 from PBS NewsHour, where he reported on the past two administrations, the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections, both Trump impeachments, immigration issues, the Minneapolis protests over George Floyd's death, and the pandemic, among other topics. He had previously covered Congress for E&E News. He began his career as a newspaper reporter in New York, and is a graduate of NYU and Columbia University. Daniel lives in Washington with his wife and son. You can get in touch by emailing [email protected]. Languages: Russian and Spanish.

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Kamala Harris’ Speech Boosts DNC to 26.2 Million Viewers on Final Night

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CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - AUGUST 22: Democratic presidential candidate, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks on stage during the final day of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center on August 22, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois. Delegates, politicians, and Democratic Party supporters are gathering in Chicago, as current Vice President Kamala Harris is named her party's presidential nominee. The DNC takes place from August 19-22. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

The fourth and final night of the Democratic National Convention brought in an average of 26.2 million viewers, boosted by a speech from presidential nominee Kamala Harris , during which viewership peaked at 28.9 million.

That marks a solid improvement from the first three nights’ steady viewership: Nielsen estimated that 20 million people tuned in on Monday, followed by 20.8 million on Tuesday and 20.2 million on Wednesday.

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Popular on variety.

Each estimate accounts for a wide array of networks. Monday’s includes ABC, CBS, NBC, Scripps News, Univision, CNN, CNNe, FOX Business, FOX News Channel, MSNBC, Newsmax, NewsNation and PBS, while Tuesday and Wednesday’s included the same minus Univision. Thursday’s estimate includes Univision, Telemundo and each of the other previously measured networks.

“In many ways, Donald Trump is an unserious man,” Harris said during her speech. “But the consequences of putting Donald Trump back in the White House are extremely serious to consider. This election is not only the most important of our lives. It is one of the most important in the life of our nation.”

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Jewish family can have anti-hate yard signs after neighbor used slur, court says

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A Jewish family had the free-speech right to blanket their yard with signs decrying hate and racism after their next-door neighbor hurled an antisemitic slur at them during a property dispute 10 years ago, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ruled .

The court decided Simon and Toby Galapo were exercising their rights under the Pennsylvania Constitution when they erected protest signs on their property and pointed them squarely at the neighbor’s house in the Philadelphia suburbs — a total of 23 signs over a span of years — with messages such as “Hitler Eichmann Racists,” “No Place 4 Racism” and “Woe to the Racists. Woe to the Neighbors.”

“All homeowners at one point or another are forced to gaze upon signs they may not like on their neighbors’ property — be it ones that champion a political candidate, advocate for a cause, or simply express support or disagreement with some issue,” Justice Kevin Dougherty wrote for the court’s 4-2 majority. He said suppressing such speech would “mark the end to residential expression.”

In a dissent , Justice Kevin Brobson said judges have the authority to “enjoin residential speech ... that rises to the level of a private nuisance and disrupts the quiet enjoyment of a neighbor’s home.”

The neighbors’ ongoing feud over a property boundary and “landscaping issues” came to a head in November 2014 when a member of the Oberholtzer family directed an antisemitic slur at Simon Galapo, according to court documents. By the following June, the Galapo family had put up what would be the first of numerous signs directed at the Oberholtzer property.

The Oberholtzers filed suit, seeking an order to prohibit their neighbors from erecting signs “containing false, incendiary words, content, innuendo and slander.” They alleged the protest signs were defamatory, placed the family in a false light and constituted a nuisance. One member of the family, Frederick Oberholzer Jr., testified that all he could see were signs out his back windows.

Simon Galapo testified that he wanted to make a statement about antisemitism and racism, teach his children to fight it, and change his neighbors’ behavior.

The case went through appeals after a Montgomery County judge decided the Galapo family could keep their signs, but ordered them to be turned away from the Oberholzer home.

The high court’s majority said that was an impermissible suppression of free speech. The decision noted the state constitution’s expansive characterization of free speech as an “invaluable right” to speak freely on any subject. While “we do not take lightly the concerns ... about the right to quiet enjoyment of one’s property,” Dougherty wrote, the Galapo family’s right to free speech was paramount.

Where Kamala Harris Stands on the Issues: Abortion, Immigration and More

She wants to protect the right to abortion nationally. Here’s what else to know about her positions.

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By Maggie Astor

Published July 21, 2024 Updated Aug. 24, 2024

With Vice President Kamala Harris having replaced President Biden on the Democratic ticket, her stances on key issues will be scrutinized by both parties and the nation’s voters.

She has a long record in politics: as district attorney of San Francisco, as attorney general of California, as a senator, as a presidential candidate and as vice president.

Here is an overview of where she stands.

Ms. Harris supports legislation that would protect the right to abortion nationally, as Roe v. Wade did before it was overturned in 2022, in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.

After the Dobbs ruling, she became central to the Biden campaign’s efforts to keep the spotlight on abortion, given that Mr. Biden — with his personal discomfort with abortion and his support for restrictions earlier in his career — was a flawed messenger. In March, she made what was believed to be the first official visit to an abortion clinic by a president or vice president.

She consistently supported abortion rights during her time in the Senate, including cosponsoring legislation that would have banned common state-level restrictions, like requiring doctors to perform specific tests or have hospital admitting privileges in order to provide abortions.

As a presidential candidate in 2019, she argued that states with a history of restricting abortion rights in violation of Roe should be subject to what is known as pre-clearance for new abortion laws — those laws would have to be federally approved before they could take effect. That proposal is not viable now that the Supreme Court has overturned Roe.

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Articles
Articles are the smallest of the small but still serve an important function. We have three articles in the English language: a, an and the. The is the definite article, which means it refers to a specific noun in a group. A or an is the indefinite article, which means it refers to any member of a group. You would use the indefinite article ...
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Articles: A Complete Grammar Guide
What are articles? Articles are words that identify a noun as being specific or unspecific. Consider the following examples: After the long day, the cup of tea tasted particularly good. By using the article the, we've shown that it was one specific day that was long and one specific cup of tea that tasted good.
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The articles in the English language are the, a, an: An article belongs to a noun, but it can also be placed before a number or an adjective: the man, the tall man, the two men, the two tall men. As you can see, there are two different kinds of articles: a line, a house, a kitchen, a person, an apple, an airport, an idea, an umbrella.
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Parts of speech are word categories defined by their roles in sentence structures. These categories are organized by the functions and meanings they convey. In English, there are around ten common parts of speech: nouns , verbs , adjectives , adverbs , pronouns , prepositions , conjunctions , interjections , determiners, and articles.
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