Parts of Speech in English

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

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

Parts of Speech

What Are Parts Of Speech?

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

Open and Closed Word Classes

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

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

Different Parts of Speech (with Examples)

The Noun (n.)

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

Examples:

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

Example sentences:

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

Common Noun: Names a general item.

• Here is a cup.
• Do you want a cake?

Proper Noun: Names a specific item.

• The capital of England is London.
• Sarah is beautiful.

Collective Noun: Refers to a group.

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

Possessive Noun: Shows ownership.

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

The Verb (v.)

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

Examples:

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

Example sentences:

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

Action Verb: Describes an action.

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

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

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

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

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

The Pronoun (pron.)

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

Examples:

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

Example sentences:

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

Reflexive Pronoun: Refers to self.

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

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

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

Possessive Pronoun: Shows ownership.

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

Relative Pronoun: Introduces an adjective clause.

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

The Adjective (adj.)

An adjective describes a noun or pronoun.

Examples:

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

Example sentences:

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

The Adverb (adv.)

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

Examples:

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

Example sentences:

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

Determiners and Articles

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

Examples:

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

Example sentences:

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

The Conjunction (conj.)

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

Examples:

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

Example sentences:

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

The Preposition (prep.)

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

Examples:

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

Example sentences:

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

The Interjection (interj.)

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

Examples:

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

Example sentences:

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

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

How To Determine A Part Of Speech In A Sentence

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

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

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

Parts of Speech and Sentence Construction

Simple/Basic Sentences

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

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

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

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

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

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

Complex Sentences

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

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

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

Other examples of complex sentences:

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

Parts of Speech Video

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

 

Parts Of Speech Quiz

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

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

1. An adverb
2. A preposition
3. An adjective

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

1. The Open word class
2. The Closed word class
3. The Infinitive word class

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

1. Nouns
2. Interjections
3. Determiners

 

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