Parts of Speech

Parts of speech are the classification of words categorized by their roles and functions within
the structure of the language.
Parts of speech encompass everything a language has in itself. Can you imagine all the words
of a language can be sorted into these categories? They play different roles in the structure of a
language.
In English, there are eight parts of speech:

1) Noun 2) Pronoun
3) Verb 4) Adjective
5) Adverb 6) Preposition
7) Conjunction 8) Interjection

Noun
Noun refers to people, places, things, ideas, concepts, etc. Example: Ali is a good boy.
Karachi is the best city.

Pronoun
A pronoun is used to refer to a noun/noun phrase, or nouns/noun phrases; instead of the
repeated use of the same noun(s)/noun phrase(s). Example: Ali is a good boy. He gets up early in the
morning.

Verb
Verb shows an action or an ongoing condition. It is considered as the heart of a sentence.
Example: Ali is going home. He loves his home.

Adjective
Adjective modifies or describes noun in a sentence. Example: Ali loves his beautiful
daughters. His daughters also love their caring father.

Adverb
Adverbs modify or describe adjectives, verbs, or other adverbs. It answers the questions
When? Where? How? or How much? Example: He is running fast. She always reads attentively.

Preposition
Preposition gives context to nouns in relationship to other nouns or pronouns. Example: I am
going to France. France is in Europe.

Conjunction
A conjunction connects nouns, noun phrases, clauses or sentences together. Example: Nimra
love chocolate and chips. She loves pasta, but she hates pizza.

Interjection
Interjections are brief and abrupt pauses in speech, usually used for expressing emotions.
Example: Oh! That feels terrible. Alas! They have lost the match.
 Noun: Definition & types
Nouns refer to persons, animals, places, things, ideas, or events, etc. Nouns encompass most of the
words of a language.
Noun can be a/an -
o Person – a name for a person: - Max, Julie, Catherine, Michel, Bob, etc.
o Animal – a name for an animal: - dog, cat, cow, kangaroo, etc.
o Place – a name for a place: - London, Australia, Canada, Mumbai, etc.
o Thing – a name for a thing: - bat, ball, chair, door, house, computer, etc.
o Idea – a name for an idea: - devotion, superstition, happiness, excitement, etc.

Different Types of Noun

1) Proper Noun:
A proper noun is a name which refers only to a single person, place, or thing and there is no
common name for it. In written English, a proper noun always begins with capital letters.
Example: Ali, Umar, Lahore etc.

2) Common Noun:
A common noun is a name for something which is common for many things, person, or
places. Example: Country, City etc.

3) Abstract Noun:
An abstract noun is a word for something that cannot be seen but is there. It has no physical
existence. Generally, it refers to ideas, qualities, and conditions. Example: Truth, lies, happiness,
sorrow, time, friendship, humor, patriotism, etc.

4) Concrete Noun:
A concrete noun is the exact opposite of abstract noun. It refers to the things we see and have
physical existence. Example: Chair, table, bat, ball, water, money, sugar, etc.

5) Countable Noun:
The nouns that can be counted are called countable nouns. Countable nouns can take an
article: a, an, the. Example: Chair, table, bat, ball, etc

6) Non-countable Noun:
The nouns that cannot be counted are called non-countable nouns. Example: Water, sugar,
oil, salt, etc.

7) Collective Noun:
A collective noun is a word for a group of things, people, or animals, etc. Example: family, team,
jury, cattle, etc.
8) Compound Noun:
Sometimes two or three nouns appear together, or even with other parts of speech, and create
idiomatic compound nouns. Example: five-year-old, and son-in-law, snowball, mailbox, etc.

More Types of Noun:

Singular Noun:
Singular Nouns are namely, singular in number. The base form of any noun is naturally
singular and so that is the Singular Noun. Examples: Duck, Bush, Man, Mouse, Child, Fish etc. are
Singular Nouns.

Plural Noun:
The plural forms of the Singular Nouns are Plural Nouns. These nouns determine more than
one element. Examples: Belts, Boxes, Mice, Sheep, People etc. are examples of Plural Noun.

Regular Noun:
Regular Nouns do not change in spelling when changed into plural; only the regular plural
suffixes -s or -es are attached to it according to the grammar and spelling agreement.
Examples:
Singular Noun Plural Noun

Duck Ducks

Belt Belts

Box Boxes

Bush Bushes

Apple Apples

Irregular Noun:
Irregular Nouns do not have plural suffixes added to them for their plural form and they
monumentally change in spelling.
Examples:
Singular Noun Plural Noun

Man Men

Ox Oxen

Fox Vixen

Goose Geese

Mouse Mice
Possessive Noun:
The noun that owns something or has something in its possession is the Possessive Noun.
These nouns usually end with an apostrophe before one “s” that determines the possession of the
object(s) that follows.
Example:
o My cat’s litter needs changing very soon.
o Jacky’s wallet is stolen.
o Your pet’s feeder is missing.

Verbal Noun:
Verb + ing often act as the noun/subject of the sentence instead of posing as a verb and then they
become a Verbal Noun. Gerunds can be Verbal Nouns at times.
Example:
Verb Verbal Noun

Run Running

Smoke Smoking

Kill Killing

Treat Treating

o Smoking is injurious to health.

Material Noun:
Substances made out of tangible materials are usually Material Nouns. These are Common
Uncountable Nouns by nature since they mostly determine a certain sector type of product.
Examples:
o I lack the common fascination with gold.
o Coal produces nonrenewable energy.

Functions of Nouns
Nouns can be used as a subject, a direct object, and an indirect object of a verb; as an object of a
preposition; and as an adverb or adjective in sentences. Nouns can also show possession.
Subject: The company is doing great. Roses are the flowers of love.
Direct object: I finally bought a new mobile.
Indirect object: Max gave Carol another chocolate.
Object of preposition: Roses are the flowers of love.
Adverb: The train leaves today.
Adjective: The office building faces the mall.
Possession: The lion’s cage is dangerous. My brother’s daughter is adorable.
 Pronoun: Definition & Types
A pronoun is used in place of a specific noun mentioned earlier in a sentence so that you don’t have
to keep saying/writing that particular noun.
Example:
o Ali is a good boy. He gets up early in the morning.
o The coach selected several key points. He wanted the team to memorize them.
The word or phrase that a pronoun replaces is called the antecedent of the pronoun. In the
previous example, original noun ‘the coach’ is the antecedent and the pronoun ‘he’ is
the referent because it refers back to the original noun. The antecedent and the pronoun/s must agree
in terms of number and gender.

Types of Pronoun
1) Subject Pronouns 2) Object Pronouns
3) Possessive Pronouns 4) Reflexive Pronouns
5) Intensive Pronouns 6) Relative Pronouns
7) Demonstrative Pronouns 8) Interrogative Pronouns

1) Subject Pronouns
Subject pronouns work as the subject of the verb in a sentence. A subject pronoun normally
replaces the subject/object (a noun) of the previous sentence.
Example:
o Majid can’t attend the party. He has gone to his grandparents.
o Maria is a good storyteller. She told a ghost story that scared everyone.
o Ali made some cakes. They look tasty.

2) Object Pronouns:
Object pronouns work as the object or indirect object in a sentence replacing the antecedent
object. This form of the pronoun is also used after prepositions.
Example:
o I’ll give you a present on your birthday. I have a great idea for you. (after preposition)
o Tell her that you’ll take the job.
o I have a gift for your boss. Give it to your boss. (Here, ‘it’works as an object)

3) Possessive Pronouns:
Possessive pronouns replace the nouns of the possessive adjectives: my, our, your, her, his,
their. The possessive pronouns are mine, ours, yours, hers, his, its, theirs. The pronoun ‘who’ also has
a possessive form, whose.
Example:
o I thought my bag was lost, but the one Kesrick found was mine. (Here, ‘mine’ refers to ‘my
bag’)
o Their vacation will start next week. Ours is tomorrow. (Here, ‘ours’ refers to ‘our
vacation’)
o Those four suitcases are ours.
o Is this yours?
You have to take either her car or theirs. Hers is better than theirs. (Here, ‘her’ is possessive adjective
and ‘hers’ and ‘theirs’ are possessive pronouns which replaced ‘her car’ and ‘their car’)
More Examples of Possessive Pronoun

4) Reflexive Pronouns:
Reflexive pronoun redirects a sentence or a clause back to the subject, which is also the direct object
of that sentence. A reflexive pronoun comes when the subject performs its action upon itself. Here,
‘itself’ is a reflexive pronoun.
Example:
o Since she is her own boss, she gave herself a raise. (Here, ‘herself’ is the direct object of
the clause and the same person is the subject)
o She allowed herself more time to get ready.
o The computer restarts itself every night.
o We told ourselves that we were so lucky to be alive.
More Examples of Reflexive Pronoun

Intensive Pronouns:
Intensive pronouns add emphasis/importance but do not act as the object in the sentence. They can
appear right after the subject.
Example:
o I will do it myself. (Here, ‘myself’ is not an object)
o I myself saw the missing boat into the harbor.
o We intend to do all the work ourselves.
o You yourselves are responsible for this mess.

Relative Pronouns:
Relative pronouns introduce the relative clause. They are used to make clear what is being talked
about in a sentence. They describe something more about the subject or the object.
The relative pronouns are:
Subject Object Possession Uncertainty
 Which Which Whose Whichever ---- (for things)

That That ---- (for both things and people)

Who Whom Whose Whoever/whomever/whosever ---- (for person)

Example:
o The car that was stolen was the one they loved most.
o A person who loves nature is a good person.
o Our school, which was founded in 1995, is being renovated.
o I will accept whichever party dress you buy me on Valentine's Day.
o Whoever you are behind this great initiative, I want to thank you.
More Examples of Relative Pronoun

Demonstrative Pronouns:
Demonstrative pronouns normally indicate the closeness of or distance from the speaker, either
literally or symbolically. This, these, that, and those are the demonstrative pronouns. They also work
as demonstrative adjectives when they modify a noun. However, demonstrative pronouns do not
modify anything rather replace the nouns/noun phrases.
Sometimes neither, none and such are also used as demonstrative pronouns.
Example:
o That is a long way to go. (demonstrative pronoun)
o This is my car. (demonstrative pronoun)
o Hand me that cricket bat. (demonstrative adjective)
o Neither is permitted to enter the building.
o Such are ways of life.

Interrogative Pronouns:
Interrogative pronouns produce questions. They are what, which, who, whom, and whose.
Who, whom, and whose refer to questions related to a person or animal; what refers to an idea, object,
or event; and which can indicate either a person/s or a thing/s.
Example:
o What was the name of your dog?
o Which is your favorite movie?
o Who works for you?
o Whom do you prefer in this competition?
o There’s a new bike on the lawn. Whose is it?