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Word Class
Words don't only mean something; they also do something. In the
English language, words are grouped into word classes based on
their function, i.e. what they do in a phrase or sentence. In total,
there are nine word classes in English.

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Word class meaning and example
Word class function
Word classes in English
The four main word classes
The other five word classes
Word class: lexical classes and function
classes
Word class examples
Word Class - Key takeaways

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In the sentence, 'I jump onto

the desk, then run away',
which two words are
prepositions?

A. Onto, away

B. Desk, away

C. Then, run

D. Then, onto

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Word class meaning and example

All words can be categorised into classes within a language
based on their function and purpose.

An example of various word classes is 'The cat ate a cupcake

quickly.'

The = a determiner

cat = a noun

ate = a verb

a = determiner

cupcake = noun

quickly = an adverb

Word class function

The function of a word class, also known as a part of speech, is
to classify words according to their grammatical properties and
the roles they play in sentences. By assigning words to different
word classes, we can understand how they should be used in
context and how they relate to other words in a sentence.

Each word class has its own unique set of characteristics and
rules for usage, and understanding the function of word classes
is essential for effective communication in English. Knowing
our word classes allows us to create clear and grammatically
correct sentences that convey our intended meaning.

Word classes in English

In English, there are four main word classes; nouns, verbs,
adjectives, and adverbs. These are considered lexical words,
and they provide the main meaning of a phrase or sentence.

The other five word classes are; prepositions, pronouns,

determiners, conjunctions, and interjections. These are
considered functional words, and they provide structural and
relational information in a sentence or phrase.

Don't worry if it sounds a bit confusing right now. Read ahead

and you'll be a master of the different types of word classes in
no time!

Examples of
All word
Definition word
classes
classification

A word that represents

cat, house,
Noun a person, place, thing,
plant
or idea.

A word that is used in

he, she, they,
Pronoun place of a noun to avoid
it
repetition.

A word that expresses

run, sing,
Verb action, occurrence, or
grow
state of being.

A word that describes

blue, tall,
Adjective or modifies a noun or
happy
pronoun.

A word that describes

or modifies a verb,
Adverb quickly, very
adjective, or other
adverb.

A word that shows the

relationship between a
Preposition noun or pronoun and in, on, at
other words in a
sentence.

A word that connects

Conjunction words, phrases, or and, or, but
clauses.

A word that expresses

Interjection strong emotions or wow, oh, ouch
feelings.

Articles like
A word that clarifies 'the' and 'an',
information about the and
Determiners
quantity, location, or quantifiers
ownership of the noun like 'some'
and 'all'.

The four main word classes

In the English language, there are four main word classes:
nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. Let's look at all the word
classes in detail.

Nouns
Nouns are the words we use to describe people, places, objects,
feelings, concepts, etc. Usually, nouns are tangible (touchable)
things, such as a table, a person, or a building.

However, we also have abstract nouns, which are things we

can feel and describe but can't necessarily see or touch, such as
love, honour, or excitement. Proper nouns are the names we
give to specific and official people, places, or things, such as
England, Claire, or Hoover.

Example
Cat

House

School

Britain

Harry

Book

Hatred

'My sister went to school.'

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Verbs
Verbs are words that show action, event, feeling, or state of
being. This can be a physical action or event, or it can be a
feeling that is experienced.

Lexical verbs are considered one of the four main word classes,
and auxiliary verbs are not. Lexical verbs are the main verb in
a sentence that shows action, event, feeling, or state of being,
such as walk, ran, felt, and want, whereas an auxiliary verb
helps the main verb and expresses grammatical meaning, such
as has, is, and do.

Example
Run

Walk

Swim

Curse

Wish

Help

Leave

'She wished for a sunny day.'

Adjectives
Adjectives are words used to modify nouns, usually by
describing them. Adjectives describe an attribute, quality, or
state of being of the noun.

Example
Long

Short

Friendly

Broken

Loud

Embarrassed

Dull

Boring

'The friendly woman wore a beautiful dress.'

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Fig 1. Adjectives can describe the woman and the dress

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Adverbs
Adverbs are words that work alongside verbs, adjectives, and
other adverbs. They provide further descriptions of how,
where, when, and how often something is done.

Example
Quickly

Softly

Very

More

Too

Loudly

'The music was too loud.'

All of the above examples are lexical word classes and carry
most of the meaning in a sentence. They make up the majority
of the words in the English language.

The other five word classes

The other five remaining word classes are; prepositions,
pronouns, determiners, conjunctions, and interjections. These
words are considered functional words and are used to explain
grammatical and structural relationships between words.

For example, prepositions can be used to explain where one

object is in relation to another.

Prepositions
Prepositions are used to show the relationship between words
in terms of place, time, direction, and agency.

Example
In

At

On

Towards

To

Through

Into

By

With

'They went through the tunnel.'

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Pronouns
Pronouns take the place of a noun or a noun phrase in a
sentence. They often refer to a noun that has already been
mentioned and are commonly used to avoid repetition.

Chloe (noun) → she (pronoun)

Chloe's dog → her dog (possessive pronoun)

There are several different types of pronouns; let's look at some

examples of each.

Example

He, she, it, they - personal pronouns

His, hers, its, theirs, mine, ours - possessive pronouns

Himself, herself, myself, ourselves, themselves -

reflexive pronouns

This, that, those, these - demonstrative pronouns

Anyone, somebody, everyone, anything, something -

Indefinite pronouns

Which, what, that, who, who - Relative pronouns

'She sat on the chair which was broken.'

Determiners
Determiners work alongside nouns to clarify information about
the quantity, location, or ownership of the noun. It 'determines'
exactly what is being referred to. Much like pronouns, there are
also several different types of determiners.

Example

The, a, an - articles

This, that, those - you might recognise these for

demonstrative pronouns are also determiners

One, two, three etc. - cardinal numbers

First, second, third etc. - ordinal numbers

Some, most, all - quantifiers

Other, another - difference words

'The first restaurant is better than the other.'

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Conjunctions
Conjunctions are words that connect other words, phrases, and
clauses together within a sentence. There are three main types
of conjunctions;

Coordinating conjunctions - these link independent clauses

together.

Subordinating conjunctions - these link dependent clauses

to independent clauses.

Correlative conjunctions - words that work in pairs to join

two parts of a sentence of equal importance.

Example
For, and, nor, but, or, yet, so - coordinating conjunctions

After, as, because, when, while, before, if, even though -

subordinating conjunctions

Either/or, neither/nor, both/and - correlative conjunctions

'If it rains, I'm not going out.'

Interjections
Interjections are exclamatory words used to express an emotion
or a reaction. They often stand alone from the rest of the
sentence and are accompanied by an exclamation mark.

Example
Oh

Oops!

Phew!

Ahh!

'Oh, what a surprise!'

Word class: lexical classes and

function classes
A helpful way to understand lexical word classes is to see them
as the building blocks of sentences. If the lexical word classes
are the blocks themselves, then the function word classes are
the cement holding the words together and giving structure to
the sentence.

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Fig 2. Lexical and functional word classes

In this diagram, the lexical classes are in blue and the function
classes are in yellow. We can see that the words in blue provide
the key information, and the words in yellow bring this
information together in a structured way.

Word class examples

Sometimes it can be tricky to know exactly which word class a
word belongs to. Some words can function as more than one
word class depending on how they are used in a sentence. For
this reason, we must look at words in context, i.e. how a word
works within the sentence. Take a look at the following
examples of word classes to see the importance of word class
categorisation.

Example
The dog will bark if you open the door.

The tree bark was dark and rugged.

Here we can see that the same word (bark) has a different
meaning and different word class in each sentence. In the first
Contents
example, 'bark' is used as a verb, and in the second as a noun
(an object in this case).