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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”).

Table of contents

• 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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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.  

Need more help with this topic? Check out Tutorbase!

Our vetted tutor database includes a range of experienced educators who can help you polish an essay for English or explain how derivatives work for Calculus. You can use dozens of filters and search criteria to find the perfect person for your needs.

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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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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• English Grammar
• Parts of Speech

Parts of Speech - Definition, 8 Types and Examples

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

Table of Contents

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

• Sentences Examples for the 8 Parts of Speech

A Small Exercise to Check Your Understanding of Parts of Speech

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

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

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

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

8 Parts of Speech Definitions and Examples:

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

Examples of nouns used in sentences:

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

Also, explore Singular Nouns and Plural Nouns .

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

Examples of pronouns used in sentences:

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

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

Examples of verbs used in sentences:

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

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

Examples of adverbs used in sentences:

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

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

Examples of adjectives used in sentences:

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

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

Examples of prepositions used in sentences:

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

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

Examples of conjunctions used in sentences:

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

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

Examples of interjections used in sentences:

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

Sentence Examples for the 8 Parts of Speech

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

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

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

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

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

What are parts of speech?

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

How many parts of speech are there?

There are 8 parts of speech in total.

What are the 8 parts of speech?

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

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The Eight Parts of Speech

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

TIP Sheet THE EIGHT PARTS OF SPEECH

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

1. NOUN

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

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

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

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

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

2. PRONOUN

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

She... we... they... it

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

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

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

3. VERB

• A verb expresses action or being.

jump... is... write... become

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

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

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

4. ADJECTIVE

• An adjective modifies or describes a noun or pronoun.

pretty... old... blue... smart

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

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

5. ADVERB

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

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

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

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

6. PREPOSITION

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

by... with.... about... until

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

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

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

7. CONJUNCTION

• A conjunction joins words, phrases, or clauses.

and... but... or... while... because

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

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

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

8. INTERJECTION

• An interjection is a word used to express emotion.

Oh!... Wow!... Oops!

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

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

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

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What are the parts of speech?

Today's the day for you to learn about this important grammatical concept! But first...let's see what the parts of speech have to do with your clothes.

Imagine that it's laundry day, and you've just finished washing and drying your clothes. You dump the contents of the laundry basket onto your bed, and you begin to organize everything. You fold matching socks together, you create a pile of perfectly folded shirts that you would be proud to show Marie Kondo, and you do the same thing with your pants, jackets, and everything else.

In the same way that we organize our clothes into groups based on each item's function and features, we organize our words into categories based on each word's function and features. We call these categories of words the parts of speech .

Some people categorize words into eight parts of speech, and some people categorize them into nine parts of speech. Neither one is wrong; they're just two ways of looking at things. We'll go over these categories below. Here at English Grammar Revolution, we categorize words into eight groups, but I'll tell you about the ninth one as well.

There's one important thing for you to know before we look at these categories: most words can function as more than one part of speech . They will only do one job at a time, but they can do different things in different sentences. Look at the word love in the following sentences.

My  love  of grammar inspired me to make this website.

Here, love is functioning as a noun. It's the subject of the sentence. 

I  love  you.

Now, love is acting as a  verb ! It's telling us an action.

The only way we can know how to categorize a word is to look at how it's acting within a sentence.

Okay, let's check out the parts of speech!

The 8 Parts of Speech

Nouns  name people, places, things, or ideas. They're important parts of our sentences because they perform  important jobs  (subjects, direct objects, predicate nouns, etc.).

A peacock walked through our yard .

The dog howled during the night , and it woke up our whole family .

Sometimes people get bogged down with this part of speech because there are also many subcategories of nouns. This is similar to the way that we have subcategories for our clothes. You may have a whole drawer full of pants, but you may also have different types of pants that you use for different purposes (workout pants, lounge pants, work pants, etc.). This is similar to the way that we can further categorize nouns into smaller groups. 

Here are a few of the subcategories of nouns:  proper nouns, common nouns ,  collective nouns ,  possessive nouns , and compound nouns.

Tip : Other parts of speech also have subcategories. If you're studying this information for the first time, ignore the subcategories and focus on learning about each broader category.

2. Pronouns

Pronouns  take the place of nouns. When most people hear the word pronoun , they think of words like I, we, me, he,   she, and they . These are indeed all pronouns, but they're a part of a subcategory called personal pronouns. Know that there are other kinds of pronouns out there as well. Here are some examples: myself, his, someone , and who .

Here are a few of the subcategories of pronouns:  reflexive pronouns ,  indefinite pronouns ,  possessive pronouns , and  relative pronouns . 

When we walked across the bridge,  we saw someone who  knows you .

I will fix the dishwasher  myself .

Verbs  show actions or states of being. They are integral elements of  sentences .   

The shuttle will fly into space.

The loving mother comforted  and soothed the baby.

In the Montessori tradition of education, they use a large red circle or ball to symbolize a verb, and they often teach children to think of verbs as a sun providing the energy of a sentence. Isn't that a lovely way to think of verbs?

I know that you're getting tired of hearing about subcategories, but linking verbs, action verbs, and helping verbs are described on the  verb page here . 

Modal verbs  are described on that link, and you can learn even more about  action verbs  and  linking verbs  from those links.

4. Adjectives

Adjectives  describe, or  modify , nouns and pronouns. I like to think of them as adding color to language. It would be hard to describe a beautiful sunset or the way a touching story makes us feel without using adjectives.

The wise, handsome owl had orange eyes.

The caring father rocked the baby.

One helpful strategy for learning about and identifying adjectives is to learn how they are diagrammed . Sentence diagrams are pictures of sentences that help us see how all of the words are grammatically related. Since adjectives modify nouns and pronouns, we diagram them on slanted lines under the nouns/pronouns that they are modifying. 

My green and white book fell.

Book is a noun. It's the subject of this sentence. My, green , and white are all adjectives describing book , so we diagram them on slanted lines underneath book . Isn't that a great way to SEE what adjectives do?

Nine Parts of Speech

When people categorize words into eight parts of speech, they say that articles/determiners ( a, an,   the, this, that, etc. ) are subcategories of adjectives.  

When people categorize words into nine parts of speech, they say that articles/determiners make up their own category and are not a part of the adjective category. 

Adverbs  modify (describe) verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs. Adverbs are similar to adjectives in that they both modify things. 

The extremely cute koala hugged its mom very tightly .

The dog howled loudly .

Sentence diagrams also make it really easy to see what adverbs do. Take a look at this diagram. What do you notice about the way the adverbs are diagrammed? 

James ran very quickly.

Did you notice that the adverbs are diagrammed on slanted lines under the words that they are modifying?

Ran is a verb. Quickly is an adverb telling us more about the verb ran . Very is an adverb telling us more about the adverb quickly .

Doesn't the diagram make it easier to SEE what adverbs do?

6. Prepositions

Prepositions  are probably the most difficult part of speech to explain, but people generally have an easier time understanding them when they look at lots of examples. So...let's start with some examples of commonly used prepositions! 

in, for, of, off, if, until

The frog sat in the flower.

The baby cried for a long time.

I'm so convinced that memorizing some of the prepositions will be helpful to you that  I'll teach you a preposition song . 

Okay, now that we've looked at some examples, let's look at the definition of a preposition. 

Prepositions show the relationship between a noun or a pronoun and some other word in the rest of the sentence. 

Sentence diagrams will come to the rescue again to help us visualize what prepositions do. Think of prepositions as "noun hooks" or "noun bridges." In the diagram below, notice how the preposition down links the noun tree to the rest of the sentence.  

The cat ran down the tree.

Since prepositions always function as "noun hooks," they'll always be accompanied by a noun. The preposition plus its noun is called a prepositional phrase .

If you find a word from the preposition list that's not a part of a prepositional phrase, it's not functioning as a preposition. (You remember that words can function as different parts of speech , right?)

7. Conjunctions

Conjunctions  join things together. They can join words or groups of words (phrases and clauses).

The hummingbird sat   and   waited .

The conjunction and is joining the words sat and waited .

Do you live  near the park or near the hospital ?

The conjunction or is joining the phrases near the park and near the hospital.  

The two conjunctions we just looked at ( and and or ) belong to a subcategory called coordinating conjunctions, but there are other subcategories of conjunctions as well. The other one that we use most often is  subordinating conjunctions . Subordinating conjunctions are a little trickier to learn because they involve a more complicated concept ( dependent adverb clauses ).

For now, just know that all conjunctions, no matter what type they are, connect things together. In fact, let's LOOK at how they do this by looking at a sentence diagram.

Here is a sentence diagram  showing how the coordinating conjunction  and  connects two clauses. 

She cooked, and he cleaned. 

8. Interjections

Interjections show excitement or emotion. 

Wow ! That jump was amazing!

Phew , the baby finally fell asleep.

They are different from the other parts of speech in that they're not grammatically related to the rest of the sentence, and the way that we diagram them reflects that. Look at how we diagram interjections :

Yes ! We won the lottery!

The interjection yes sit sits there on its own line floating above the rest of the sentence. This helps show that it's not grammatically related to the other words in the sentence. 

It's time to review what we covered on this page.

• We can categorize the words that we use into groups based on their functions and features. We call these groups the parts of speech.
• Many words can function as multiple parts of speech. You need to look at each word in the context of a sentence in order to say what part of speech it is. 
• The eight parts of speech are nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, conjunctions, prepositions, and interjections. 
• You just learned about all of the parts of speech. Give yourself a high five! 

If you'd like to teach or learn grammar the easy way—with sentence diagrams—check out our  Get Smart Grammar Program .

It starts from the very beginning and teaches you grammar and sentence diagramming in easy, bite-size lessons. 

Hello! I'm Elizabeth O'Brien, and my goal is to get you jazzed about grammar. 

This is original content from  https://www.english-grammar-revolution.com/parts-of-speech.html

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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.

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’).

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Table of contents

Prepositions, conjunctions, interjections, other parts of speech, 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., 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.

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.

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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Basic English Grammar

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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4 Types of Sentence Structures With Examples

• Types of Verbs
• Types of Adjectives
• Types of Noun
• Participles
• Phrases and Clauses
• Parts of Speech
• Parts of a Sentence
• Determiners
• Parallelism
• Direct & Indirect Speech
• Modal Verbs
• Relative Clauses
• Nominalisation
• Substitution & Ellipsis
• Demonstratives
• Pronoun Reference
• Confusing Words
• Online Grammar Quizzes
• Printable Grammar Worksheets
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• Grammar Blog

8 Parts of Speech

The 8 parts of speech in English are: Nouns, Adjectives, Adverbs, Verbs, Prepositions, Pronouns, Conjunctions, and Interjections.

A part of speech is a category of words that have similar grammatical functions or properties. In other words, they play similar roles in a sentence. For instance, a verb shows the action of a subject or the subject's state of being. 

We'll now look in more detail at the function of each of these parts of speech. 

Understanding the 8 Parts of Speech

Nouns are words used to talk about people, places, things, or ideas/concepts. Here are some examples:

• Person: The President
• Place: London
• Thing: Table
• Idea/concept: Neo-liberalism

So it may be naming something we can touch ( e.g. table; book; car ) or something we cannot touch ( e.g. Neo-liberalism; happiness; wish ).

There are both common nouns, used for classes of   people, places, things, or ideas/concepts,  and proper nouns, which is their given name, always with a capital letter.

Common Nouns

• political party

Proper Nouns

• Chester Avenue

Learn more about the various types of noun >>

Another of the 8 parts of speech are adjectives. They describe nouns or pronouns. They can come before or after the noun/pronoun they describe:

Absolute Adjectives

• The  large  shopping complex
• The  excited  child
• She is  happy
• It was a  shocking  film
• Her dress was  lovely
• He's a  good-looking  man

These are  absolute adjectives , but they can also be  comparative  (comparing two or more things) or  superlative  (showing degree or quality):

Comparative Adjectives

• She's  fitter than the others
• Their house is bigger
• I ran faster  than you
• Cats are more agile than dogs
• Sue's  more tired than Tim

Superlative Adjectives

• She's the fittest
• Their house is the biggest
• I ran the fastest
• Cats are the most agile
• Sue's the most tired

There are various other types of adjective. Learn more about the different types of adjectives >>

Adverbs modify verbs, other adverbs, and adjectives. There are adverbs of manner, time, place and degree . Here are examples of each being modified in relation to verbs, adverbs, and adjectives (the word being modified is underlined):

Adverbs Modifying Verbs

• He runs fast
• Ian quickly left the room
• She spoke slowly

Adverbs Modifying Other Adverbs

• He runs exceptionally  fast
• Ian very  quickly left the room
• She spoke extremely  slowly

Adverbs Modifying Adjectives

• She's really excited
• He's happily married
• The elegantly designed dress is mine

Verbs form part of the predicate of a sentence.

In relation to the subject, they are used to express a physical action (e.g. walk; speak; show) or a mental action (e.g. think; feel; want). They can also express a state of being , mainly with the verb 'to be' but also some others.

Here are some examples:

Physical Action

• He ran home
• They chose the blue one

Mental Activity

• I am thinking about it
• Ian guessed the answer
• She believes in ghosts

State of Being

• She is a police woman
• They seem worried

These though are main verbs. They have many other uses in a sentence so you should read about all the types of verbs further. 

Prepositions

Another of the 8 parts of speech are prepositions. These show the relationship between two words or phrases in a sentence. They precede a noun or pronoun.

Commons examples of prepositions are  above,  up, upon,  at, before, behind,  since, to, through, under, until, with, within,  about, against, along, around,  beside, between,  down, during,  below, by,  except, for, from, in, into, like, near, of, off, on,  toward.

In these example sentences with prepositions, the two words whose relationship is being expressed are underlined and the prepositions are in bold:

• The book is on the table
• He is the leader of the conservative party
• The boy picked up the toy under the sofa
• This is a present for your mother

Pronouns replace nouns and they prevent us from repeating the noun in a sentence. These are the types of pronouns with some examples:

• Personal e.g. I; you; they; she
• Possessive e.g. mine; yours; his; theirs
• Relative e.g. who; which; that; whom
• Demonstrative e.g. this; these; those
• Reciprocal e.g. one another; each other
• Emphatic / Reflexive e.g. myself; herself; itself; ourselves
• Interrogative e.g. what; which; whom; whose

Here are some examples of these words used in sentences:

• Martha decided she would leave
• Why don't you use his  car instead of mine
• Mick is a person who learns quickly
• Shall we buy some of these ?
• They began to argue with each other
• Jenny is pleased with  herself
• What time is he coming?

Conjunctions

Conjunctions are the of the 8 parts of speech responsible for joining together words, phrases, or clauses. There are three types:

• Coordinating: and; or; but; so; yet; for; nor
• Correlative: neither/nor; either/or; not only/but also
• Subordinating: e.g. although; because; while; which; where; until

Coordinating Conjunctions

Used to connect like for like words (e.g. noun+noun):

• I like apples and oranges ( 2 nouns )
• His speech was slow but effective ( 2 adjectives )
• Shall I say it loudly or quietly? ( 2 adverbs )

Or simple sentences (independent clauses):

• I find the music annoying but she finds It pleasant
• She came to the lecture late so she missed everything important
• She took her umbrella for it was raining hard

Correlative Conjunctions

Used to join alternative or equal elements:

• He felt neither happy nor sad about it
• Sue had to decide to either quit or carry on
• I went not only to Australia but also to New Zealand

Subordinating Conjunctions

Used to join subordinate clauses to main clauses:

• The government won't vote on the bill until both parties agree
• I'm still not tired although it is late
• I'll eat the dish which you don't like

Interjections

Interjections are words used to express an emotion or a sentiment such as surprise, joy, disgust, fear, excitement, pain, or enthusiasm.

They usually appear at the start of a sentence and are not connected to it grammatically. Here are some examples of interjections in sentences:

• Wow , that's an amazing score!
• Oh , I didn't know you failed the exam
• Well , we better not leave too late
• Ow , that really hurt!
• Ah , I understand now
• Oops , I've forgotten to bring the sandwiches

Are there only 8 Parts of Speech?

Sometimes rather than 8 parts of speech, you may see 9 or 10 listed. This is because some people treat articles and determiners  as separate categories. 

However, when there are only 8 parts of speech considered (as above), this is because as these two types of word modify nouns, they are classified under adjectives. 

Now practice what you have learned in our identifying parts of speech quiz

More on Sentence Structure:

Parts of a Sentence: Subject, Verbs, Objects, Predicates, Complements

The main parts of a sentence are subjects, verbs, objects, predicates, and subject complements. All of these have a specific purpose within the structure of a sentence.

Direct and Indirect Objects: The Differences

Direct and indirect objects are key parts of most sentences. A direct object is the receiver of action while indirect object identifies to or for whom or what the action of the verb is performed.

Examples of Parallelism in English Grammar

View examples of parallelism in English grammar that show you correct and incorrect parallel sentences.

How to Use Either and Neither with Examples

Advice on how to use either and neither in English grammar. They can be adjectives, adverbs, pronouns and conjunctions.

Subject Complements: Predicate Adjectives and Predicate Nominatives

Here we demystify subject complements, predicate adjectives, and predicate nominatives with simple explanations and examples.

Parallelism Grammar Rules (Parallel Structure)

Parallelism is about balancing the grammatical structure of words, phrases and clauses in your sentences. Parallel structure will improve your writing's coherence.

Using Object Complements in a Sentence

Using object complements in a sentence enhances your ability to convey specific information about actions and their outcomes.

Nominalisation in English Grammar: High Level Writing Tips

Nominalisation is an important aspect of academic writing. This lesson teachers you what this is and how you can use it effectively in your writing.

Phrases and Clauses - Building good sentences

Phrases and clauses are the key building blocks of sentences. A clause contains a subject and a verb and can express a complete thought. A phrase does not contain a subject or verb.

Types of Clauses in English Grammar - Independent and Dependent Clause

The two types of clauses in English grammar are the independent and dependent clause. Both have a subject and verb which makes them clauses, but while independent clauses express a complete thought, dependent clauses do not. This is the main distinction.

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Home » 8 Parts of Speech | 8 Types, Definition and Examples

8 Parts of Speech | 8 Types, Definition and Examples

Are you curious to Speak or Learn the English Language? well, Every word in the English language is referred to as a component of speech. A word’s function in a sentence indicates the portion of speech to which it belongs. The “8 Parts of Speech,” which have distinct roles in sentence formation, are some of these building elements. To assist you in understanding the fundamentals of grammar, we will go over the various parts of speech in this tutorial, along with their definitions, types, and instances. This article explains the various parts of speech and provides examples and a definition.

The parts of speech are the conventional grammatical categories to which words are assigned based on their syntactic roles, such as nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and so forth. Stated differently, they talk about the varied roles that words might play in a sentence and the connections that words have to one another as defined by syntax and grammar.

Every single English word can be classified into one of the eight components of speech. A word’s part of speech is the purpose it fulfills in a sentence. These jobs were also designed to work as a team, much like any workplace or ensemble cast television series.

Table of Contents

What Is a Part of Speech?

Before delving into the specifics, let’s clarify what we mean by a “Part of speech.” In grammar, a part of speech is a category of words with similar grammatical properties. These categories help us understand how words function within sentences.

8 Parts of Speech:

• Preposition
• Conjunction
• Interjection

Let us now dissect each of the 8 parts of speech:

Noun: the foundation of sentences.

• Types: Common nouns, proper nouns, abstract nouns, concrete nouns. See more…
• Definition: A noun is a word that represents a person, place, thing, or idea.
• Example: cat , London , happiness , desk 

Pronoun: Substitutes for Nouns

• Types: Personal pronouns, demonstrative pronouns, indefinite pronouns.
• Definition: A pronoun is a word that replaces a noun to avoid repetition.
• Example: he , she , it , they

Verb: The Action Words

• Types: Action verbs, linking verbs, helping verbs.
• Definition: A verb expresses an action, occurrence, or state of being.
• Example: She runs every morning. The flowers smell delightful.

Adjective: Describing Words

• Types: Descriptive adjectives, limiting adjectives.
• Definition: An adjective describes or modifies a noun or pronoun.
• Example: The blue sky, tall trees, delicious food.

Adverb: Modifiers of Verbs

• Types: Adverbs of manner, place, time, degree.
• Definition: An adverb modifies a verb, adjective, or another adverb
• Example: He ran quickly , She sings beautifully .

Preposition: Indicators of Position or Relationship

• Types: Simple prepositions, compound prepositions.
• Definition: A preposition shows the relationship between its object and another word in the sentence.
• Example: The book is on the table. She walked across the bridge.

Conjunction: Joining Words

• Types: Coordinating conjunctions, subordinating conjunctions.
• Definition: A conjunction connects words, phrases, or clauses.
• Example: She likes tea and coffee. He went to the store because he needed groceries.

Interjection: Expressions of Emotion

• Types: Expressive interjections, introductory interjections.
• Definition: An interjection expresses strong emotions or sudden bursts of feeling.
• Example: Wow! That was amazing! Ouch! That hurt.

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8 Parts of Speech with Meaning and Useful Examples

Posted on Last updated: December 22, 2023

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Understanding the eight parts of speech is like unlocking the building blocks of language. We all use words every day, often without considering their specific roles in our sentences. By delving into the eight parts of speech, we gain the tools to express ourselves beautifully and powerfully. 

Table of Contents

8 Parts of Speech

Nouns are the building blocks of sentences, naming everything from people and places to feelings and ideas. Let’s explore the different types of nouns that give substance to our language.

Proper Nouns

Proper nouns are used to name specific, one-of-a-kind items and are always capitalized to signify their uniqueness. Examples include:

• Names of People:   George ,  Elizabeth ,  Mohammed
• Places:   Paris ,  Mount Everest ,  the Nile River
• Organizations:   United Nations ,  Microsoft ,  Harvard University

Common Nouns

Common nouns are the general names for things and aren’t capitalized unless they start a sentence. These include:

• General Objects:  chair, window, phone
• Animals:  dog, eagle, shark
• Places:  city, park, restaurant

Abstract Nouns

Abstract nouns represent ideas or concepts that are not tangible or can’t be experienced with the five senses. We use them to describe feelings, qualities, and states, such as:

• Feelings:  love, anger, joy
• Qualities:  bravery, honesty, intelligence
• States:  freedom, childhood, poverty

Concrete Nouns

Concrete nouns are the opposite of abstract nouns; they name anything that can be experienced with our senses. Some examples are:

• Physical Objects:  apple, book, car
• People and Animals:  teacher, cat, child
• Places:  home, beach, bakery

Through these categories, we see how nouns serve as the cornerstone for expressing everything we discuss, narrate, and describe in our language.

In our examination of the eight parts of speech, we turn our focus to pronouns, essential tools in language that stand in for nouns and keep our sentences fresh and less repetitive.

Personal Pronouns

Personal pronouns are the ones we use to designate specific people or things. They can take on different forms depending on case, whether it’s the subject or object in the sentence, and number, singular or plural. For example, in the first person singular, we use “I” for the subject case and “me” for the object case. Here’s a simple table for reference:

Demonstrative Pronouns

Demonstrative pronouns,  these  helpful words, point to specific things and typically vary depending on the proximity to the speaker. For objects near us, we use “this” for singular and “these” for plural. For objects farther away, “that” for singular and “those” for plural take their place.

Interrogative Pronouns

When we’re forming questions about people or objects, we use interrogative pronouns. The main interrogative pronouns are “who,” “whom,” “whose,” “which,” and “what.” We use “who” and “whom” for asking about people, where “who” is in the subject case, and “whom” in the object case.

Possessive Pronouns

Possessive pronouns show ownership and are quite handy for avoiding repetition. They must match the number and sometimes gender of the noun being replaced. Some examples are “his,” “hers,” “its,” “ours,” “yours,” and “theirs.” Unlike possessive adjectives, these pronouns stand alone and do not precede the noun. Here’s a quick list:

• Singular: mine, yours, his, hers, its
• Plural: ours, yours, theirs

Remember, pronouns are incredibly useful in our language, allowing us to maintain clarity while avoiding redundancy.

In our exploration of the parts of speech, we come to verbs, the words that express action or state of being in a sentence. They are essential for constructing meaningful statements, as they serve as the backbone of a sentence’s structure.

Action Verbs

Action verbs are the muscle of a sentence, driving forward the things characters and subjects do. Examples include  run ,  jump , and  think . These verbs can show physical actions like  run , mental actions like  think , or emotional states like  love .

Linking Verbs

Linking verbs act like a bridge, connecting a subject to more information about it. These verbs do not represent action. Instead, they link the subject to a subject complement, which can be a noun or adjective that describes the subject. Common linking verbs include  is ,  are , and  seems .

Auxiliary Verbs

We use auxiliary verbs, also known as helping verbs, to alter the mood, tense, or voice of the main verb in a sentence. They are the support system that expands the meaning of the main verb. For example, in the sentence “We  have finished  our project,” the word “ have ” is an auxiliary verb to the main verb  finished . Auxiliary verbs include forms of  be ,  have , and  do .

Adjectives are words that modify nouns or pronouns by giving additional information about them such as quality, quantity, or identity. They are an essential tool we use to create vivid descriptions and provide specific details in our sentences.

Descriptive Adjectives

Descriptive adjectives are the words we use to describe a noun’s characteristics, such as color, size, shape, texture, feeling, sound, and more. They help us paint a clearer picture of the things we’re talking about. For example:

• The  bright  sun.
• A  mysterious  noise.

Quantitative Adjectives

Quantitative adjectives specify the quantity of nouns, giving us an idea of ‘how many’ or ‘how much’. These can be exact numbers or words that denote amounts that can be measured or estimated. For instance:

• Three  books.
• Several  cookies.

Demonstrative Adjectives

Demonstrative adjectives point out particular nouns. We use them to demonstrate or indicate which one we’re referring to, especially when it’s clear from the context which noun the speaker means. They are often used in phrases like:

• This  notebook.
• Those  apples.

Adverbs play an integral role in adding detail to our sentences by modifying verbs, adjectives, other adverbs, or even whole sentences. They answer questions like how, when, where, and to what extent. Now, let’s look closer at the adverbs of manner, time, and place.

Adverbs of Manner

These adverbs describe  how  an action is performed. They can often be spotted by their  -ly  ending, although there are exceptions. For instance, in “She sings beautifully,” the word ‘beautifully’ explains how she sings. Here’s a quick list of examples:

• Fast (note the lack of -ly)

Adverbs of Time

Adverbs of time provide information about  when  something happens. They can refer to a specific time like ‘yesterday’ or ‘later’, or suggest frequency like ‘often’ or ‘always’. Here’s a mini-table to explain:

Adverbs of Place

Lastly, adverbs of place tell us  where  an action takes place. These don’t follow a specific pattern in their formation. Words like ‘here’, ‘there’, and ‘everywhere’ are some of the various adverbs of place. We use them as in:

• “Please sit here.”
• “They looked everywhere.”

Prepositions

Prepositions are the words that connect the elements of a sentence, indicating relationships between different entities such as place, time, and movement. They help us give our listeners or readers a clearer picture of what we are trying to communicate.

Prepositions of Time

Prepositions of time describe when something happens. We use  at  for specific times,  in  for months, years, centuries, and long periods, and  on  for days and dates. Here’s how we might use them in sentences:

• We have a meeting  at  9 AM.
• Our vacation starts  in  July.
• My brother is coming to visit  on  Monday.

Prepositions of Place

When we talk about the location of something, we rely on prepositions of place to provide clarity.  At  indicates a specific point,  in  is used for enclosed spaces, and  on  shows a surface. Examples include:

• The book is  on  the table.
• She is waiting for us  at  the entrance.
• They live  in  New York City.

Prepositions of Movement

To describe the direction of an action, we use prepositions of movement.  To  indicates direction towards something,  into  signifies movement from the outside to the inside of an enclosed space, and  through  demonstrates going from one side to another. Here’s how they work:

• We are going  to  the theater.
• She walked  into  the room.
• The road runs  through  the forest.

Conjunctions

Conjunctions are the glue that holds sentences together, allowing us to combine words, phrases, and clauses to add complexity and clarity to our ideas.

Coordinating Conjunctions

We use coordinating conjunctions to join individual words, phrases, or independent clauses that are of equal grammatical importance. The acronym  FANBOYS  can help us remember them:  For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet,  and  So . Here’s how we might use them in sentences:

• For : We brought a map,  for  we expected to explore uncharted territory.
• And : She plays the guitar,  and  he sings along.
• Nor : He neither smiled  nor  frowned.
• But : She is small,  but  she is mighty.
• Or : Do you prefer tea  or  coffee?
• Yet : He’s been working all day,  yet  he seems very energetic.
• So : It started raining,  so  we opened our umbrellas.

Subordinating Conjunctions

Subordinating conjunctions help us link a dependent clause to an independent clause, giving us the means to show time, contrast, cause, and condition. Some common subordinating conjunctions include  because, although, while,  and  if . Examples include:

• Because : We stayed indoors  because  it was raining.
• Although :  Although  it was late, they continued their meeting.
• While :  While  I cook, can you set the table?
• If : We’ll go to the beach  if  the weather stays sunny.

Interjections

Interjections are expressive words that we use to convey emotion or exclamation, often standing apart from standard sentences. Think of them as spontaneous sound bytes that capture our immediate reactions. They are unique in that they can often stand alone or be inserted into a sentence without affecting its grammatical structure.

Here’s a simple way to categorize interjections:

• Primary Interjections : Words like “Oops” and “Wow” that serve no other purpose than being an exclamation.
• Secondary Interjections : Phrases used in everyday conversation, such as “Well, hello!” or “Oh no,” that can express a wide range of emotions.

We use interjections to:

• Show surprise:  “Ah!”  or  “Oh!”
• Express pain:  “Ouch!”  or  “Ow!”
• Greet:  “Hey!”  or  “Hi!”
• Bid farewell:  “Bye!”  or  “See ya!”

Remember, interjections often stand out because of their punctuation. While they typically end with an exclamation point, they can sometimes be followed by a comma or another punctuation mark if they’re part of a sentence.

When it comes to writing, use them sparingly. Since they pack a punch of emotion or emphasis, too many interjections can overwhelm our message and distract readers.

Here’s a quick run-down of how you might find interjections in sentences:

• At the start:  “Yikes, that’s a huge spider!”
• In the middle:  “That’s, well, a surprise.”
• At the end:  “You’re moving to Spain , huh?”

Interjections are lively and fun, giving us the freedom to express ourselves vividly and with emotional flair!

Interactive Exercises

Exercise 1: identify the part of speech.

Read each sentence and identify the part of speech for the highlighted word. Choose from noun, pronoun, adjective, verb, adverb, preposition, conjunction, or interjection.

• The  dog  barked loudly throughout the night.
• She  quickly  finished her homework before going out.
• Can you believe how  beautifully  she sings?
• I have  two  cats and one dog.
• Before  the movie starts, let’s grab some popcorn.
• He didn’t want to go to the party,  but  I convinced him.
• Wow , that was an amazing trick!
• She said that she would help,  which  was very kind of her.
• The car is  yours  if you can afford it.
• Please  turn  off the lights when you leave.
• Preposition
• Conjunction
• Interjection

Exercise 2: Fill in the Blanks 

Choose a word from the list that fits the correct part of speech to fill in the blank. The parts of speech you need to choose from are noun, pronoun, adjective, verb, adverb, preposition, conjunction, and interjection.

List: quickly, joy, and, blue, she, under, wow, runs, their, but

• The sky is very __________ today.
• __________, did you see that shooting star?
• The cat __________ beneath the porch when it started to rain.
• They __________ to the store to buy some milk.
• __________ is a very helpful friend.
• The children played __________ at the park.
• I wanted to go to the beach, __________ it started to rain.
• __________ book is on the table over there.
• The rabbit hopped __________ the fence.
• The __________ of winning the game made everyone smile.
• blue (Adjective)
• Wow (Interjection)
• runs (Verb)
• She (Pronoun)
• quickly (Adverb)
• but (Conjunction)
• Their (Pronoun)
• under (Preposition)

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you explain the different types of nouns found in the English language?

Nouns in English are categorized primarily into two types: common nouns and proper nouns. Common nouns refer to general items, such as ‘city’ or ‘dog’, while proper nouns name specific ones, like ‘New York’ or ‘Rover’. Additionally, there are concrete nouns for physical objects, abstract nouns for ideas or qualities, and collective nouns that represent groups.

Could you provide some examples of sentences that include all 8 parts of speech?

Certainly! Here’s a sentence that includes all eight parts of speech: “Surprisingly, she loudly declared, ‘Wow, our diligent study pays off!’, as the teacher promptly handed out the results.” In this sentence, you’ll find an adverb (surprisingly), pronoun (she), verb (declared), interjection (wow), possessive adjective (our), adjective (diligent), noun (study), and a preposition (off).

What are the common functions of each part of speech in a sentence?

In a sentence, nouns name entities; pronouns replace nouns to avoid repetition; verbs express actions or states; adjectives describe or qualify nouns; adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs; prepositions show relationships between nouns or pronouns and other words; conjunctions connect words or groups of words; and interjections express emotions.

Where can I find a chart or diagram that clearly shows the 8 parts of speech?

Charts or diagrams illustrating the eight parts of speech can often be found in English grammar textbooks or online educational resources. They provide a visual guide to understanding how each part of speech fits into sentence structure.

Friday 21st of July 2023

thank you so much. It helped a lot for my exams

Monday 24th of October 2022

Thanks again for telling and bringing it out

Friday 23rd of September 2022

Wednesday 13th of October 2021

Teagan Alexander

Wednesday 29th of September 2021

This helped me in class. Thank you👍🏾

ESL001: Elementary English as a Second Language

Eight parts of speech overview.

Let's start by first reviewing a list of the parts of speech to know their definition and examples. Next, we will learn about each part of speech in more detail to understand how we can use the correct form of a word to build sentences.

Word Basics: The Eight Parts of Speech Overview

Because the parts of speech are considered the building blocks of the language, we learn the parts of speech for two main reasons:

• by knowing the elements of English, you'll have an easier time using them correctly in your writing;
• by knowing how these elements are being used, you'll also have an easier time learning their meaning.

Let's start by first reviewing a list of the parts of speech to know their definition and examples. Next, we will learn about each part of speech in more detail to understand how we can use the correct form of a word to build sentences. 

These words work together to make all kinds of messages. When you know what part of speech a word is, it's easier to see the meaning of a sentence. The parts of speech are:

To easily understand more grammar explanations later, it is necessary to list one other type of word:

Now that we know what all parts of speech are, let's look at them in more detail to see how they are different from each other and how they are used in sentences.

• School Guide
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• English Grammar : Learn Rules of Grammar and Basics
• Parts of Speech: Definitions, Examples & 8 Types
• What is a Noun? Types, Definitions and Examples (List)
• Proper Noun - Definition, Examples, & Rules
• Common Noun - Definition, Examples, List & Usage
• Plural Noun - Rules and Examples
• Possessive Noun - Meaning, Usage, Rules and Examples
• What is Collective Noun? List of Examples, Uses and Exercises
• Abstract Nouns - Definition, Examples, List, Usage
• What is a Compound Noun? Definition, Types & Examples
• What are Countable Noun?
• What are Uncountable Noun - How to use them?
• Material Noun: Definition, Examples, Rules & Exercises
• Pronoun Definition - Rules and Types of Pronouns
• Reflexive Pronoun
• Subject Pronouns - Definition, Example and Exercise
• Relative Pronouns - Definition, Uses and Examples
• Demonstrative Pronouns - Definition and Examples
• Possessive Pronouns - Definition, Usage and Examples
• Indefinite Pronoun
• Personal Pronoun - Definition, Rules and Examples
• Interrogative Pronoun
• Reciprocal Pronouns - Definition, Examples & Uses
• What is a Verb? Types, Uses, Examples
• Main Verbs - Meaning, Types and Examples
• Helping Verb: Definition, Types and Examples
• Auxiliary Verbs: Definition, Examples & List
• Irregular Verbs
• What Are Modal Verbs? – Definition, Usage & Examples
• What is A Gerund? Definition and Examples
• Adjective - Definition, List, Types, Uses and Examples
• Proper Adjectives Definition and Examples
• Possessive Adjectives - Definition, Example and List
• Interrogative Adjective - Meaning, Definition and Examples
• What Is an Adverb? Definition, List & Examples
• Conjunctive Adverbs - Meaning, Examples and Exercises
• Adverbs of Time - Examples, Meaning, and Definition
• Adverbs of Frequency - Definition, Examples, and Usage
• Adverbs of Place - Definition, List and Examples
• What are Adverbs of Degree? Definition, List and Examples
• Adverbs of Manner - Meaning, Definition and Examples

Conjunction

• What is a Conjunction - Meaning, Definition, Types & Exercises
• Subordinating Conjunction - Meaning, Definition, Types and Examples

Preposition

Interjection.

• Interjections - Definition, Types, Rules and Examples
• Definite and Indefinite Articles ( A, An, The)
• Subject-Verb Agreement Rules: Examples & Exercises
• Active and Passive Voice Rules for Competitive Exams
• What is Tense? Types, Definitions & Examples
• Tense Chart in English - Rules, Examples, Types & Mind map

Parts of Speech: Definitions, Examples & 8 Types

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

Table of Content

What is Part of Speech?

Parts of speech chart.

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

Parts of Speech – FAQs

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

Parts of Speech Definition

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

All Parts of Speech with Examples 

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

Noun –

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

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

Pronoun –

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

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

Adjective –

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

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

Verb –

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

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

Adverb –

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

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

Preposition –

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

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

Conjunction –

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

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

Interjection –

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

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

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

Sentence Examples for the 8 Parts of Speech

• Examples: Luggage, Cattle.
• Sentence:  Never leave your luggage unattended.
• In some places, cattle are fed barely.
• Examples: who, either, themselves
• Sentence: I know a man who plays the guitar very well.
• Either of the two cars is for sale.
• They enjoyed themselves at the party.
• Examples: kind, moving, wounder.
• Sentence: 
• She is a kind person.
• Boarding a moving bus can be dangerous.
• Never poke a wounded animal.
• Examples: Praise, Hate, Punish
• Sentence: She always praises her friends.
• I don’t hate anybody.
• The boy has been punished by his teacher
• Examples: Always, enough, immediately
• Sentence: we should always help each other.
• We should be wise enough to understand what is good for us.
• We should leave bad habits immediately.
• Examples: Off, Below, From. to
• He plunged off the cliff
• I live below the 9th floor.
• I travel daily from Delhi to Noida.
• Examples: whereas, as well as, so, 
• Sentence: The new software is fairly simple whereas the old one was a bit complicated.
• The finance company is not performing well as well as some of its competitors.
• He was ready so he may come. 
• Examples: oops! whoa! phew! 
• Sentence: Oops! I forgot to mention her name.
• Whoa! you drive fast. 
• Phew! That was a close call, we had a narrow escape.

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

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

1. Let us play, Shall We?

       a. Conjunction        b. Pronoun        c. Verb

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

      a. Verb       b. Noun       c. Adjective

3. Whose books are these?

      a. Pronoun      b. Preposition      c. verb

4.   Father, please get me that toy. 

     a. Pronoun      b. Adverb      c. Adjective

5.  His mentality is rather obnoxious.

     a. Adverb      b. Adjective      c. Noun

6.  He is the guy whose money got stolen.

      a. Pronoun       b. Conjunction       c. Adjective

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

      a. Interjection       b. Conjunction       c. Preposition

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

    a. Interjection      b. Conjunctio      c. Preposition

Quiz Answers:

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

Also Check:

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

Q1. What are Parts of Speech?

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

Q2. What are the 8 Parts of Speech?

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

Q3. How many Parts of Speech are there?

There are a total of 8 parts of Speech.

Q4. What Part of Speech is “our”?

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

Q5. What Part of Speech is “Quickly”?

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

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8 Parts of Speech | Definitions, Types, and Examples

8 parts of speech definitions and examples.

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This lesson will analyze the ‘8 Parts of Speech’ in English with definitions, types, and examples. Parts of Speech are part and parcel of English grammar. We can’t think of a sentence without using Parts of Speech. There are 8 Parts of Speech in English.

However, if you want to learn English, you must know the Parts of Speech. Otherwise, it won’t be easy to learn English grammar more accurately. Let us know the definition of ‘Parts of Speech in English grammar. Just follow the below sentence.

• Wow! I see a very stunning bird flying in the sky.

This sentence will get a clear picture of the 8 Parts of Speech in English.

Every word underlined in the sentence is called Parts of Speech.

Definition of Parts of Speech by Different Scholars

J.C. Nesfield: The different kinds of words are called P arts of Speech. Wren & Martin: Words are divided into different kinds of classes, called Parts of speech, according to their use; that is, according to the work they do in the sentence.

Types of Parts of Speech

There are eight types of Parts of Speech in English grammar. They are:

• Preposition
• Conjunction
• Interjection .
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• Visit this website to have speeches written by experts

Any naming word (person, place, thing, or idea) is called a Noun. Sometimes many students think a noun is the name of a person or place only, but it can be a thing, idea, feeling, etc.

Let us see some examples of nouns; John, boy, country, United Kingdom, New York City, cow, army, iron, honesty, etc. Nouns are underlined in the below sentences for easy identification:

• John  is a good  boy .
• The  United Kingdom  is my favorite country.
• My  brother  lives in  New York City .
• The  Cow   is roaming in the  field .
• The  army   protects their homeland .
• Iron  is beneficial for  human   life.
• Honesty   is a good virtue.

There are five types of nouns in English. They are:

• Proper noun
• Common noun
• Material noun
• Abstract noun

A word that is placed instead of a noun is called a Pronoun. If we use a single noun for every sentence, it doesn’t look good. For example,  James  goes to meet with his friends, and James is enjoying the party, and James recollects his old memories.

Here we use a single noun for every sentence, and that’s why it looks weird. But if we use the pronoun ‘he’ for the last two sentences instead of ‘James,’ it seems pretty good.

That’s why we need to use a pronoun instead of a noun. Let us see examples of pronouns; he, she, they, I, we, it, etc. Pronouns are underlined in the below sentences for easy identification:

• He  is going to the market to buy a t-shirt.
• She  plays with her classmate.
• I  am the only man who understands the matter.
• We  are going to arrange a free campaign.
• It  was considered that he would be won the trophy.

There are nine types of pronouns. They are:

• Personal pronoun
• Possessive pronoun
• Reflexive pronoun
• Demonstrative pronoun
• Indefinite pronoun
• Relative pronoun
• Interrogative pronoun
• Distributive pronoun
• Reciprocal pronoun.

3. Adjective

A word used to describe a noun or pronoun is called an  Adjective . In other words, we can say an adjective usually modifies a noun or a pronoun.

For example, happy, good, clever, intelligent, lazy, large, etc. Adjectives are underlined in the below sentences for easy identification:

• He looks like he is  happy  now.
• They had been playing  good  cricket at a time.
• Don’t try to be more  clever .
• Undoubtedly he is an  intelligent  person.
• This animal is so  lazy .
• I saw a  large  building.

There are nine types of adjectives. They are:

• Proper Adjectives
• Adjectives of Quality
• Adjectives of Quantity
• Numeral Adjectives
• Demonstrative Adjectives
• Distributive Adjectives
• Interrogative Adjectives
• Possessive Adjectives

A word that expresses an action or doing something is called a Verb. For example, am, is, are, was, were, have, has had, can, could, should, will, go, play, read, want, sing, etc.

Verbs are underlined in the below sentences for easy identification:

• I  am  good at English.
• He  is  a good boy.
• They  are playing  in the field.
• She  was suffering  from a fever.
• These two boys  were going  to catch fish.
• I  have  a beautiful doll.
• They  have gone  to this place.
• He  has done  his job successfully.
• My sister  had  a sweet dog.
• He  can do  this work.
• You  could attend  this meeting.
• His father  shall go  to the field.
• You  should  be attentive to your study.
• She  will  go to  meet  her friends.
• He  would claim  a better job.
• Read  the book carefully.
• The boy  wants  to  sing  a song.

There are four types of verbs. They are:

• Auxiliary verb
• Principal verb
• Transitive verb
• Intransitive verb

A word that is used to add something to the meaning or modify a verb, an adjective, or another adverb is called an Adverb.

For example, about, after, before, fast, slow, etc. Adverbs are underlined in the below sentences for easy identification:

• Tell me something  about  you.
• Pass the book  after  him.
• He has done his task  before  the boy.
• They want to run  fast .
• The tortoise walks  slowly .

There are three types of Adverbs. They are:

• Simple adverb
• Relative adverb
• Interrogative adverb

6. Preposition

A word that is placed before a noun or a pronoun or a noun-equivalent to show its relation to any other term of the sentence is called a Preposition.

For example, on, in, to, for, with, within, above over, etc. Prepositions are underlined in the below sentences for easy identification:

• He stores his books  on  his bookshelf.
• They have been playing football  on  the field since morning.
• He goes  to the  market to buy some clothes.
• She is dancing  with  her mates.
• The plane was flying  above  my head.
• He couldn’t succeed in this plan  over  the years.

There are three types of prepositions. They are:

• Simple preposition
• Double preposition
• Compound preposition

7. Conjunction

A word that is usually used to join one word to another, one word to a clause, or one sentence to another is called a Conjunction.

Conjunctions are of three types. They are:

• Coordinating Conjunctions
• Subordinating Conjunctions
• Correlative Conjunctions

For example; and, but, or, if, though, than, since, so–that, as soon as, either–or, neither–nor, etc. Conjunctions are underlined in the below sentences for easy identification:

• Janny  and  Jammy are good friends.
• He is rich  but  cheap-minded.
• Please read more,  or  you will fail the exam.
• They will be good doctors  if  they work hard.
• He could attend the meeting  though  he had enough time.
• The boy is tall  than  the girl.
• It has been raining  since  morning.
• The older man is  so  poor  that  he can’t buy enough food.
• He left the place  as soon as  they came.
• Either  Jack  or  John will do the task.
• She will  neither  come here  nor  her friend.

8. Interjection

A word used to express a short sudden emotion or excitement is called an Interjection. For example, hurrah! alas! oops! Etc. Interjections are underlined in the below sentences for easy identification:

• Hurrah ! We won the match.
• Alas ! She is no more.
• Oops ! They can’t do this job correctly.

There are three kinds of Interjections. They are:

• Volitive Interjection
• Emotive Interjection
• Cognitive Interjection.

To sum up, we may say without parts of speech; we can’t make a sentence. These eight parts of speech  are the fundamental parts of English grammar.

Please share this article with your friends to get a helpful guideline about these  eight parts of speech  with definitions and examples.

Parts of Speech Quiz

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Azizul Hakim is the founder & CEO of englishfinders.com . He is a passionate writer, English instructor, and content creator. He has completed his graduation and post-graduation in English language and literature.

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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.

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.

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.)

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). The idea is that 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 , the label  part of speech has generally been discarded in favor of the term word class or syntactic category . These terms make words easier to qualify objectively based on word construction rather than context. 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 get started practicing 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, 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. Examples:  softly, lazily, often, only, hopefully, softly, sometimes.

Preposition

Prepositions  show spacial, 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, with.

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: articles:  a, an, the ; 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:

• The noun  work  is the thing Bosco shows up for.
• The verb  work  is the action he must perform.
• 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 command to an understood "you".

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.

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The Eight Parts of Speech in English

When studying English grammar, the most important thing you must learn is the eight parts of speech. In the English language, the eight parts of speech serve as the ultimate foundation of grammar. You can never understand some basic rules of tenses, usage, conjugation, etc. if your knowledge about the eight parts of speech is not enough.

Generally, the part of speech shows how the word functions in meaning as well as grammatically within the sentence. For instance, a word can function as over one part of speech in various circumstances.

The eight parts of speech in English are:

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

For example: child, Cebu, Japan, mall, love

A noun is a word for a person, place, thing, or idea. Some nouns are often in pain with the articles a, an, the.

There are two kinds of nouns: Proper Nouns and Common Nouns.

Proper nouns always start with CAPITAL letters. For example, Q-ty, QQEnglish, Cebu, China, Japan, etc.

Common nouns are not written in capital letters . For example, boy, chocolate, food, pen, school, etc.

Grammatically, nouns can be singular or plural, concrete or abstract.

Nouns show possession by adding ‘s.

Additionally, nouns can function in different roles within a sentence; for example, a noun can be a subject, direct object, indirect object, subject complement, or object of a preposition.

Check out the nouns in our sample sentence below:

MARY dropped by their HOUSE to give her MOM the expensive GIFT , and then she left for OFFICE immediately. Exhausting!

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

For example : He, we, they, it, myself, himself

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

Check out the pronouns in our sample sentence below:

Mary dropped by THEIR house to give HER mom the expensive gift, and then SHE left for the office immediately. Exhausting!

A verb is a word that expresses action or being.

For example: eat, is, talk, sleep

The verb in a sentence expresses action or being.

Some sentence contains the main verb and one or more helping verbs. (“He can cook.” Cook is the main verb , while the “can” is the helping verb. ) A verb must agree with its subject in number (both are singular or both are plural).

Interestingly, verbs can be regular or irregular .

Moreover, verbs also take different forms to express tense. The tense can be present, past, or future

Check out the verbs in our sample sentence below:

Mary DROPPED by their house to GIVE her mom the expensive gift, and then she LEFT for the office immediately. Exhausting!

4. ADJECTIVE

The fourth in our eight parts of speech list is the adjective. An adjective is a word that modifies or describes a noun or pronoun.

For example : large, blue, old, many, high

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

Check out the adjective  in our sample sentence below:

Mary dropped by their house to give her mom the EXPENSIVE gift, and then she left for the office immediately. Exhausting!

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

For example: happily, often, silently, well

In English grammar, adverbs describe or modify a verb, an adjective, or another adverb in the sentence. Only adjectives modify a noun but not adverbs. Moreover, adverbs usually answer the questions of when, where, how, why, under what conditions, or to what degree. Adverbs often end in -ly.

Check out the adverbs in our sample sentence below:

Mary dropped by their house to give her mom the expensive gift, and THEN she left for the office IMMEDIATELY . Exhausting!

6. PREPOSITION

Coming sixth in our eight parts of speech list is the preposition.

Prepositions are words we place before a noun or pronoun to form a phrase modifying another word in the sentence.

For example: on, at, top, beside, in

(on the table, at school, top of the world, next to the book, in the box)

Prepositions are words we place before a noun or pronoun to form a phrase modifying another word in the sentence. Thus, a preposition is always part of a prepositional phrase.

A prepositional phrase is a group of words consisting of a preposition, its object, and any words that modify the object. Most time, a prepositional phrase modifies a verb or a noun.

Check out the prepositions  in our sample sentence below:

Mary dropped BY their house TO give her mom the expensive gift, and then she left FOR the office immediately. Exhausting!

7. CONJUNCTION

This time, let’s talk about conjunctions.

What is a conjunction? Well, a conjunction is a word that joins words, phrases, or clauses.

For example: and, but, because, for, so

Conjunctions are words that connect words, phrases, or clauses, and show the relationship between the elements joined.

There are two types of conjunctions: Coordinating and Subordinating conjunctions

Coordinating conjunctions connect grammatically equal elements: and, but, or, nor, for, so, yet.

Subordinating conjunctions connect clauses that are not equal: because, although, while, since, etc. There are other types of conjunctions as well.

Check out the conjunction  in our sample sentence below:

Mary dropped by their house to give her mom the expensive gift, AND then she left for the office immediately. Exhausting!

8. INTERJECTION

The eighth and last in our list of the eight parts of speech is the interjection. An interjection is a word that expresses a strong feeling or emotion.

For example : Ouchh!… oh!… Oops!…Wow!

An interjection is a word that expresses a strong feeling or emotion. It is often followed by an exclamation point.

Check out the interjection in our sample sentence below:

Mary dropped by their house to give her mom the expensive gift, and then she left for the office immediately. EXHAUSTING!

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The Eight Parts of Speech in English (PDF)

In this article we will give you a brief introduction to the eight parts of speech . These are noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition, conjunction and interjection.

A part of speech is simply the name given to a word based on the function it performs in a sentence. Learning parts of speech is necessary to understand the correct definition of a word and to speed up your study of English grammar .

You can think of parts of speech like job titles. Just as a person can be a soldier, a teacher or a baker, a word can be a noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition, conjunction or interjection, depending on what it does in a sentence. You can download a PDF of the parts of speech with examples at the end of this article.

Parts of Speech Grammar Table

noun is a word (other than a pronoun) used to identify any of a class of people, animals, places, things, ideas.

Nouns are separated into common nouns and proper nouns .

What is a common noun?

Common nouns are used for people, animals, places, or things.

Example: granny, mother, river, mountain, hotel, taxi, fox, camel.

He is an artist . Tom hates bananas . I love my mother . Her father is a doctor .

What is a proper noun?

Proper nouns are names for particular people, places or things. They always begin with a capital letter.

Example: Ali Baba, Harry Potter, Beethoven, Turkish, British, Malay, Hong Kong, India, The United Kingdom,the Pacific Ocean, the Eiffel Tower, Father’s Day, Ramadan, Halloween.

☛ The days of the week and months of the year are also proper nouns.

December is the last month of the year. Sunday is the last day of the week.

What is singular and plural noun?

When you are talking about one person, animal, place, or thing, use a singular noun .

Example: a ship, a teacher, a river, an apple, an umbrella.

When you are talking about two or more people, animals, places, or things, use plural nouns . Most nouns are made plural by adding -s at the end.

Example: ships, teachers, rivers, apples, umbrellas

Some exceptions: bus-buses. glass-glasses. watch-watches. brush-brushes. butterfly-butterflies. baby-babies. lady-ladies. story-stories.

☛ Nouns show possession by adding ‘s.

☛ Tom’s car. ☛ Car’s key.

What is concrete and abstract noun?

Concrete nouns are things you can experience (see, hear, smell, touch, or taste) with your senses. Here are some examples: tree, music, flowers, and chocolate.

Abstract nouns represent ideas, qualities, or states that cannot be perceived through the senses. Examples include love, honesty, joy, and freedom.

Here’s a table with examples of different types of nouns in English:

Check Also: Common and Proper Nouns Explained (Exercise and Examples) Masculine and Feminine Nouns in English 100 Most Common English Nouns A-Z List (PDF)

A pronoun is a word that can replace a noun in a sentence.

Personal Pronouns: The words I , you , he , she , it , we and they are called personal pronouns. He is a nice guy. You are welcome.

Possessive Pronouns: There words mine , yours , hers , his , its , theirs , ours , yours , theirs are called possessive pronouns. This car is mine . Time is yours .

Reflexive Pronouns: The words myself , yourself , himself , herself , itself , ourselves , yourselves and themselves are called reflexive pronouns. Maryam has hurt herself . Don’t cut yourself .

Demonstrative Pronouns: The words this , these , that and those are called demonstrative pronouns. This is my car. These are my flowers.

Interrogative Pronouns: The words who , whom , whose , what and which are called interrogative pronouns. We ask questions by using these pronouns. Who is she talking to? Which do you prefer?

Here’s a table with examples of different types of pronouns in English:

Check Also: Personal & Possessive Pronouns for English Learners Nobody, No one, None Difference & Examples Difference Between Who and Whom

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

Most verbs are action words. Verbs shows you what people, animals or things are doing.

Verbs can show actions or they can show states or situations.Those are the two types of verbs in English.

☛ I am eating. – verb (eat) shows an action. ☛ I am a student. verb (to be) shows a state.

☛ Verbs also change and take different forms to show tenses.

I drink a lot of water ☛ I drank a lot of water yesterday.

Here’s a table with examples of different types of verbs in English:

Check Also: 500+ English Verbs List (V1 V2 V3 Verb Forms) + PDF Most Common English Verbs & Synonyms List (PDF) All forms of the verb TO BE and Its Usage

4. ADJECTIVE

An adjective is a describing word. Adjective describes a noun or a pronoun.

The red carpet. Deep thoughts. A busy street. She is beautiful today.

Here’s a table with examples of different types of adjectives in English:

Check Also: List of Opposite Adjectives in English (PDF) Positive Adjectives to Describe a Person (PDF) Comparative and Superlative Adjectives List + PDF 

A word that describes a verb, an adjective, another adverb, or a sentence. It tells you about an action, or the way something is done.

☛ A lot of adverbs end in -ly.

We are happily married. Tom calls me regularly . Suddenly , she knows. It’s love!

Here’s a table with examples of different types of adverbs in English:

Check Also: Types of Adverbs in English & Meaning and Examples (PDF) Common Suffixes in English (With Examples) & PDF

6. PREPOSITION

A preposition is a word that connects one thing with another, showing how they are related.

Prepositions tell us about time, position or place.

Some examples of prepositions are words like ‘ in ,’ ‘ at ,’ ‘ on ,’ ‘ of ,’ ‘ to ,’ ‘ from .’

She is in love. Book was on the table. I am from France. He is calling to you. Where are you at ?

Here’s a table categorizing types of prepositions with examples:

Check Also: Complete List of English Prepositions A-Z (Free PDF) Commonly Used Prepositions Lists in English  Common Collocations in English With Prepositions (PDF) Prepositions of Location At, In & On (PDF)

7. CONJUNCTION

A conjunction is a linking word that used to connect clauses or sentences. For example and, or, but, as, if.

Conjunctions are used to connect words, phrases, and clauses together.

a teacher and students. a male or female?

☛ Words such as before , after , as , when , while , until , since , are conjunctions of time. Maryam could play guitar before she was four. She always brush her teeth after eating her meal.

There are four categories of conjunctions:

8.INTERJECTION

An interjection is a word that expresses an emotion, sudden, strong feeling such as surprise, pain, or pleasure.

☛ It is often followed by an exclamation point.

Check Also: Interjections in English Grammar & List Examples 1000+ Common Daily English Phrases for Beginners (PDF)

Parts of Speech PDF

Here you can download parts of speech PDF with examples.

  Parts of Speech in English PDF

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Pratik dhamane

Useful lecture for whom studying English language from beginning. we hope you to upload more grammar lecture in pdf form

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Very nice, thanks for the PDF.

Thanks for free PDF file.

I’m really enjoy Learning English.l find to the best to me