Parts of Speech
Every word in English does a job. Learn the eight jobs, and you can understand any sentence.
Noun
A noun is a word that names a person, place, animal, thing or idea.
The teacher reads a book in Patna.
Honesty is the best policy.
Kinds of nouns
| Kind | Meaning | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Common | General name | boy, city, river |
| Proper | Particular name (capital letter) | Ravi, Delhi, Ganga |
| Collective | Name of a group | team, class, flock |
| Abstract | Quality, feeling or idea you cannot touch | kindness, anger, freedom |
| Material | Substance something is made of | gold, wood, water |
Quick test: If you can put “a”, “an” or “the” before the word, it is usually a noun.
Pronoun
A pronoun is a word used in place of a noun, so we do not repeat the noun again and again.
Meera is my friend. She studies hard, and her marks are excellent.
Common kinds
- Personal: I, you, he, she, it, we, they
- Possessive: mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs
- Reflexive: myself, yourself, himself, themselves
- Demonstrative: this, that, these, those
- Interrogative: who, whom, whose, what, which
- Relative: who, whom, which, that
Verb
A verb is a word that shows an action or a state of being.
Birds fly. (action)
The sky is blue. (state)
Main types
- Action verbs: run, write, eat, think
- Linking verbs: is, am, are, was, were, seem, become
- Helping (auxiliary) verbs: has, have, do, will, can, must
Three forms of a verb
| Base | Past | Past participle |
|---|---|---|
| go | went | gone |
| write | wrote | written |
| play | played | played |
Quick test: If you can change the word to past or future time (“walk” to “walked” or “will walk”), it is a verb.
Adjective
An adjective is a word that describes or gives more information about a noun or pronoun.
She wore a red dress.
I have three sweet mangoes.
What adjectives tell us
- Quality: brave, tall, clever
- Quantity: some, many, little, enough
- Number: one, five, first, second
- Demonstrative: this, that, those
Degrees of comparison
| Positive | Comparative | Superlative |
|---|---|---|
| tall | taller | tallest |
| beautiful | more beautiful | most beautiful |
| good | better | best |
Adverb
An adverb is a word that describes a verb, an adjective or another adverb.
He runs quickly. (describes the verb “runs”)
She is very clever. (describes the adjective “clever”)
They spoke quite softly. (describes the adverb “softly”)
Kinds of adverbs
- Manner (how): slowly, carefully, well
- Time (when): now, today, yesterday, soon
- Place (where): here, there, outside, everywhere
- Frequency (how often): always, never, often, seldom
- Degree (how much): very, too, quite, almost
Quick test: Many adverbs end in -ly, but not all. “Fast”, “here” and “very” are adverbs without it.
Preposition
A preposition shows the relationship between a noun or pronoun and another word in the sentence, such as position, time or direction.
The book is on the table.
We reach school at 8 o’clock.
She walked towards the gate.
Common prepositions by use
| Use | Examples |
|---|---|
| Place | in, on, under, behind, between, near |
| Time | at, on, in, before, after, during, since |
| Direction | to, into, across, through, towards |
Remember: A preposition is always followed by a noun or pronoun, called its object.
Conjunction
A conjunction is a word that joins words, phrases or sentences.
Ravi and Sita are friends.
I was tired, but I finished my homework.
We stayed home because it was raining.
Main types
- Coordinating (join equal parts): and, but, or, so, yet
- Subordinating (join a main clause and a dependent clause): because, although, if, when, while, since
- Correlative (work in pairs): either…or, neither…nor, both…and
Interjection
An interjection is a word that expresses a sudden feeling such as joy, surprise, pain or sorrow. It is usually followed by an exclamation mark.
Wow! What a beautiful painting.
Alas! He lost the match.
Hurray! We won the trophy.
| Feeling | Interjections |
|---|---|
| Joy | Hurray! Wow! |
| Sorrow | Alas! Oh dear! |
| Surprise | Oh! Ah! What! |
| Approval | Bravo! Well done! |
One word, different jobs
The same word can be a different part of speech depending on how it is used. Always check the job it does in the sentence.
| Sentence | Word | Part of speech |
|---|---|---|
| I love books. | books | Noun |
| She books a ticket. | books | Verb |
| It is a fast train. | fast | Adjective |
| He runs fast. | fast | Adverb |
| Come after lunch. | after | Preposition |
| Come soon, after you finish. | after | Conjunction |
Check yourself
Name the underlined part of speech in each sentence. Answers are below.
- The elephant drank water.
- She is my sister.
- The children played happily.
- It was a heavy box.
- He spoke loudly.
- The cat sat under the chair.
- I like tea and coffee.
- Hurray! We passed.
Show answers
1. Noun 2. Pronoun 3. Verb 4. Adjective 5. Adverb 6. Preposition 7. Conjunction 8. Interjection
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