Parts of Speech: Definition and Useful

Examples in English
In the English language there are various parts of speech which are put together in order
to form a sentence. Without these, the language would never be able to function.

The Noun (n.)

A noun is a word which gives a name to something, in some cases you might hear them
referred to as a ‘naming word.’ Noun 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…
Noun example sentences:
● The t​ eacher​ told the c
​ hildren​ to stop chattering in class.
● John​ is good at F ​ rench​ but weak at H​ istory​.
The Proper Noun
The proper noun is used to name a specific item, for example the names of places or
people or perhaps a movie or song title​.
● The capital of E
​ ngland ​is L
​ ondon.
● Sarah​ is beautiful.
The Collective Noun
A collective noun is used to refer to a group of nouns, for example people or animal
groups.
● The s ​ warm​ of bees were headed straight towards our picnic.
● At church on Sunday, the c ​ hoir​ sings loudly.
The Possessive Noun
A possessive noun is used to show ownership of something, this is done by adding an
apostrophe and an s, like in the following examples.
● This is my d​ og’s ​ball.
● That is S
​ arah’s ​friend.
The Common Noun
A common noun is the most simple form of a noun and gives a name to an item.
● Here is a c
​ up​.
● Do you want a c ​ ake​?
The Article (art.)
An articl​e​ is a word used before a noun to modify the noun. “​The​” is called the definite
article and “​a​“, “​an​” are called the indefinite article.
Examples:
An​ u
​ mbrella, ​the​ boy, ​the​ school, ​a​ mouse, a
​ n​ apple, ​an​ hour.
Article example sentences:
● I would like a ​ n​ apple.
● He was sitting in a ​ ​ chair.
● The whale i​ s in danger of becoming extinct.
The Verb (vb.)
A verb is one of the most important parts of speech and is a word which is used to
describe an action. There are three main types of verbs which are detailed below.
Examples:
Walk​, i​ s​, s
​ eem​, r​ ealize​, r​ un​, s
​ ee​, s
​ wim, stand, go, have, get, promise, invite, listen, sing, sit,
laugh, walk…
Verb example sentences:
● Don’t try to run before you can w ​ alk​.
● Did you k ​ iss​ anybody?
● Leave​ me alone!
The Action Verb
An action verb does exactly what you might expect, it describes an action.
● The man w ​ alked​ down the street.
● I l​ aughed​ at his joke.
The Linking Verb
A linking verb is used to show a state of being rather than a physical action.
● Sarah f​ eels​ cold.
● Ia​ m v​ ery tired.
The Modal Verb
A modal verb is used to ‘help’ the main verb and can show the speakers thoughts or
attitude about what they are saying. For example, words such as might, must, could and
can are all modal verbs.
● Im​ ight​ walk to the park this afternoon.
● He c ​ an​ eat the last slice of cake.

The Pronoun (pron.)

A pronoun is one which replaces a noun, and once again there are various different
types of pronouns within the English language. Each one is used in a different way, let’s
take a look at some examples of this.
Examples:
I​, m
​ e​, w
​ e​, y​ ou​, h
​ e​, s
​ he​,​ yours​, h
​ imself, its, my, that, this, those, us, who, whom
Pronoun example sentences:
● Richard isn’t at work this week; h ​ e​‘s gone on holiday.
● Don’t tell h ​ er​ the truth.
● She tried it h ​ erself​.
● You can’t blame him for e ​ verything​.
● The woman w ​ ho​ called yesterday wants to buy the house.
The Reflexive Pronoun
A reflexive pronoun is used to refer to self, for example myself or yourself.
● I am going to keep this last cupcake for m ​ yself.
● Peter always puts h ​ imself f​ irst.
The Indefinite Pronoun
This type of pronoun is used to refer to a non specific person or item, you might see
words such as anything, few, everyone or all.
● Can you take a ​ ll​ of these?
● I need to speak to s ​ omeone​ about this rash on my arm.
The Possessive Pronoun
A possessive pronoun is used to show possession or ownership of something, for
example my, his, their or yours.
● Is this y​ our​ bag?
● I have been looking after h ​ is​ daughter.
The Relative Pronoun
A relative pronoun is used to introduce an adjective clause. You might recognise these
as words such as who, which, that or whose.
● This is the woman w ​ ho w​ ill be working with you.
● Is this the book t​ hat​ everyone is raving about?

The Adjective (adj.)

An adjective is a word which describes a noun or pronoun, there are thousands of
adjectives within the English language.
Examples:
Beautiful​, s
​ even​, c
​ ute​, s
​ econd​, t​ all​, b​ lue, angry, brave, careful, healthy, little, old, generous,
red, smart, two, small, tall, some, good, big, useful, interesting…
Brown​ dog, ​red​ car, t​ all​ boy, ​fat​ cat, b ​ ig​ garden.
Adjective example sentences:
● This is a b ​ lue​ car.
● The s ​ mall ​squirrel ran up the tree.
● During the thunderstorm, we saw some h ​ eavy​ rain.
● My mother has s ​ hort h​ air.
● The documentary on TV last night was very i​ nteresting.
● My son has an i​ mpressive​ collection of toy soldiers.
● The weather is h ​ ot​ and s ​ unny​ today.
● My vacation was e ​ xciting​.
● The leaves on that tree are g ​ reen​ and l​ arge.

The Adverb (adv.)

An adverb is used to modify, or further explain an adjective, verb or another adverb.
They can add more information to a sentence making it more clear and easier for the
listener to imagine what is being described in detail. Most of the time, adverbs will end
in the letters -ly but there are some exceptions to this rule such as the words very and
never.
Examples:
Neatly​, i​ n the market​, e
​ very day​, t​ omorrow​, v​ ery, badly, fully, carefully, hardly, nearly,
hungrily, never, quickly, silently, well, really, almost…
Adverb example sentences:
● This is an e ​ xtremely​ attractive photograph.
 ● I have a v​ ery​ large pet dog.
● My car drives q ​ uickly.
● When I am running late for work, I eat my breakfast r​ apidly.
● The boy is crying l​ oudly.
● She c​ arefully​ preserved all his letters.

The Conjunction (conj.)

A conjunction is used as a way of joining two or more ideas or words together. Most
commonly you will see the words for, and, not, but, or, yet and so used as a conjunction.
Examples:
And​, h
​ owever​, s
​ till​, b
​ ut, or, so, after, since, before, either, neither, because, unless…
Conjunction example sentences:
● My boyfriend a ​ nd​ I are going on a date.
● I will go to the shop b ​ ut​ not before I have had something to eat.
● This is a gift f​ or​ my friend.
● I was tired y ​ et​ I still went to the gym.

The Preposition (prep.)

A preposition is used in English to show a relationship between two words or phrases.
You might recognise a preposition as being words such as in, before, on, at, to, between
etc.
Examples:
In​, o
​ n​, a
​ t​, a
​ bout​, a
​ propos​, a
​ ccording to​, a
​ fter​,​ along, above, except, from, near, of, before,
since, between, upon, with, to, after, toward…
Preposition example sentences:
● The cat is sitting o ​ n​ the wall.
● I am going to the salon a ​ fter​ my dinner.
● The boy ran along the street f​ or​ an hour.
● You will find the theatre i​ n ​the town centre.
● I saw that news i​ n ​the newspapers.

The Interjection (interj.)

An interjection could also be thought of as a exclamation. They are used to emotion,
reaction or excitement and have no grammatical link to anything else within the
sentence they appear.
Examples:
Ahem!, aha!, gosh!, aw!, great!, hey!, hi!, hooray!, oh!, yeah!, oops!, phew!, eh!, oh!, ouch!, hi!,
well!…
Interjection example sentences:
● Phew! T ​ hat was a close call.
● Wow! D ​ id you see how big that bird was?
● Oh, ​I forgot to tell you that I saw your father last week.
● Hooray!​ You passed your exam!
● Well​, what did he say?
● Yeah​! She’s going with us tonight!