What are Parts of Speech?

Just as a skilled bricklayer must get to grips with the trowel, brick hammer, tape measure,
and spirit level, the student-writer must develop a thorough understanding of the tools of
their trade too.

In English, words can be categorized according to their common syntactic function in a

sentence, i.e. the job they perform.

We call these different categories Parts of Speech. Understanding the various parts of
speech and how they work has several compelling benefits for our students.

Without first acquiring a firm grasp of the various parts of speech, students will struggle
to fully comprehend how language works. This is essential not only for the development
of their reading comprehension but their writing skills too.
Parts of speech are the core building blocks of GRAMMAR. To understand how a
language works at a sentence and a whole-text level, we must first master parts of
speech.

In English, we can identify eight of these individual parts of speech, and these will
provide the focus for our Complete Guide to Parts of Speech.
Often the first word a child speaks will be a noun, for
example, mom, dad, cow, dog, etc.

Nouns are naming words, and, as most school kids can recite, they are
the names of people, places, and things. But, what isn’t as widely
understood by many of our students is that nouns can be further
classified into more specific categories.

These categories are:

1.Common Nouns

2.Proper Nouns

3.Concrete Nouns

4.Abstract Nouns

5.Collective Nouns

6.Countable Nouns

7.Uncountable Nouns

All nouns can be classified as either common or proper.

 Proper Nouns
Common Nouns
Proper nouns are the specific names for people,
Common nouns are the general names of places, and things. Unlike common nouns, which
people, places, and things. They are are always lowercase, proper nouns are capitalized.
groups or classes on their own, rather This makes them easy to identify in a text.
than specific types of people, places, or
things such as we find in proper nouns. Where possible, using proper nouns in place of
common nouns helps bring precision to a student’s
Common nouns can be further classified writing.
as abstract or concrete – more on this
Some examples of proper nouns include:
shortly!
People: Mrs Casey, J.K. Rowling, Nikola Tesla, Pablo
Some examples of common nouns Picasso, Billie Eilish.
include:
Places: Australia, San Francisco, Llandovery, The
People: teacher, author, engineer, artist, White House, Gardens of Versailles.
singer.
Things: Bulgarian, The World Cup, Rolling Stone,
Places: country, city, town, house, The Lion King, The Hunger Games.
Countable Nouns

Countable nouns are nouns that refer to things that can be counted. They come in two
flavors: singular and plural.

In their singular form, countable nouns are often preceded by the article, e.g. a, an,
or the.

In their plural form, countable nouns are often preceded by a number. They can also be
used in conjunction with quantifiers such as a few and many.

COUNTABLE NOUNS EXAMPLES

Singular Plural
a driver two drivers
the house the houses
an apple a few apples
dog dogs
Uncountable Nouns

Also known as mass nouns, uncountable nouns are, as their name suggests, impossible to count. Abstract ideas such
as bravery and compassion are uncountable, as are things like liquid and bread.

These types of nouns are always treated in the singular and usually do not have a plural form.

They can stand alone or be used in conjunction with words and phrases such as any, some, a little, a lot of, and much.

Some examples of uncountable nouns include:

UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS EXAMPLES

Advice

Money

Baggage

Danger

Warmth

Milk
VerbS

Without a verb, there is no sentence! Verbs are the words we use to

represent both internal and external actions or states of being. Without a
verb, nothing happens.

There are many different types of verbs. Here, we will look at five important
verb forms organised according to the jobs they perform:

Dynamic Verbs

Stative Verbs

Transitive Verbs

Intransitive Verbs

Auxiliary Verbs
Each verb can be classified as being either an action or a stative verb.

Dynamic Verbs

Dynamic or action verbs describe the physical activity performed by the subject of a sentence. This type of verb is
usually the first we learn as children.

For example, run, hit, throw, hide, eat, sleep, watch, write, etc. are all dynamic verbs, as is any action performed by the
body.

Let’s see a few examples in sentences:

•I jogged around the track three times.

•She will dance as if her life depends on it.

•She took a candy from the bag, unwrapped it, and popped it into her mouth.

If a verb doesn’t describe a physical activity, then it is a stative verb.

Stative Verbs

Stative verbs refer to states of being, conditions, or mental processes. Generally, we can classify stative verbs into four types:

•Senses

•Emotions/Thoughts

•Being

•Possession

Some examples of stative verbs include:

Senses: hurt, see, smell, taste, hear, etc.

Emotions: love, doubt, desire, remember, believe, etc.

Being: be, have, require, involve, contain, etc.

Possession: want, include, own, have, belong, etc.

Transitive Verbs

A transitive verb takes a direct object after it. The object is the noun, noun phrase, or pronoun that has something done to it
by the subject of the sentence.

We see this in the most straightforward English sentences, i.e., the Subject-Verb-Object or SVO sentence.

Here are two examples to illustrate. Note: the subject of each sentence is underlined, and the transitive verbs are in bold.

•The teacher answered the student’s questions.

•She studies languages at university.

•My friend loves cabbage.

Most sentences in English employ transitive verbs.

Intransitive Verbs

An intransitive verb does not take a direct object after it. It is important to note that only nouns, noun phrases, and pronouns
can be classed as direct objects.

Here are some examples of intransitive verbs – notice how none of these sentences has direct objects after their verbs.

•Jane’s health improved.

•The car ran smoothly.

•The school opens at 9 o’clock.

Auxiliary Verbs

Auxiliary verbs, also known as ‘helping’ verbs, work with other verbs to affect the meaning of a sentence. They do this by combining with
a main verb to alter the sentence’s tense, mood, or voice.

Auxiliary verbs will frequently use not in the negative.

There are relatively few auxiliary verbs in English. Here is a list of the main ones:

 Here are some examples of auxiliary verbs (in bold) in action alongside a main verb (underlined).

•She is working as hard as she can.

•be (am, are, is, was, were, being)
•You must not eat dinner until after five o’clock. •might
 can
•The parents may come to the graduation ceremony. •must
 could
•shall
•do (did, does, doing)
•should
•have (had, has, having)
•will
•may
•would
ADJECTIVES

The job of an adjective is to modify a noun or a pronoun. It does this by describing,

quantifying, or identifying the noun or pronoun. Adjectives help to make writing more
interesting and specific. Usually, the adjective is placed before the word it modifies.

As with other parts of speech, not all adjectives are the same. There are many different
types of adjectives and, in this article, we will look at:

Descriptive Adjectives

Degrees of Adjectives

Quantitative Adjectives

Demonstrative Adjectives

Possessive Adjectives

Interrogative Adjectives

Proper Adjectives

Articles
 Descriptive Adjectives

Descriptive adjectives are what most students think of first when asked what an adjective is. Descriptive adjectives tell us
something about the quality of the noun or pronoun in question. For this reason, they are sometimes referred to as qualitative
adjectives.

In sentences, they look like this:

Some examples of this type of adjective include:
•The pumpkin was enormous.
•beautiful
•It was an impressive feat of athleticism I ever saw.
•enormous
•Undoubtedly, this was an exquisite vase.
•impressive
•She faced some tough competition.
•golden

•hard-working
Degrees of Adjectives

Descriptive adjectives have three degrees to express varying degrees of intensity and to compare one thing to another. These degrees
are referred to as positive, comparative, and superlative.

The positive degree is the regular form of the descriptive adjective when no comparison is being made, e.g., strong.

The comparative degree is used to compare two people, places, or things, e.g., stronger.

There are several ways to form the comparative, methods include:

•Adding more or less before the adjective

•Adding -er to the end of one syllable adjectives

•For two-syllable adjectives ending in y, change the y to an i and add -er to the end.

The superlative degree is typically used when comparing three or more things to denote the upper or lowermost limit of a quality,
e.g., strongest.
There are several ways to form the superlative, including:

•Adding most or least before the adjective

•Adding -est to the end of one syllable adjectives

•For two-syllable adjectives ending in y, change the y to an i and add -est to the end.

There are also some irregular adjectives of degree that follow no discernible pattern that must be learned off by students,
e.g., good – better – best.

Let’s take a look at these degrees of adjectives in their different forms.

Positive Comparative Superlative Let’s take a quick look at some sample sentences:

beautiful more beautiful most beautiful Positive: It was a beautiful example of kindness.
delicious less delicious least delicious
Comparative: The red is nice, but the green is prettier.
near nearer nearest
happy happier happiest Superlative: This mango is the most delicious fruit I have ever
bad worse worst tastiest.
Quantitative Adjectives

Quantitive adjectives provide information about how many or how much of the noun or pronoun.

Some quantitative adjectives include:

•She only ate half of her sandwich.

•This is my first time here.

•I would like three slices, please.

•There isn’t a single good reason to go.

•There aren’t many places like it.

•It’s too much of a good thing.

•I gave her a whole box of them.

Demonstrative Adjectives

A demonstrative adjective identifies or emphasizes a noun’s place in time or space. The most common demonstrative
adjectives are this, that, these, and those.

Here are some examples of demonstrative adjectives in use:

•This boat is mine.

•That car belongs to her.

•These shoes clash with my dress.

•Those people are from Canada.

Possessive Adjectives

Possessive adjectives show ownership, and they are sometimes confused with possessive pronouns.

The most common possessive adjectives are my, your, his, her, our, and their.

Students need to be careful not to confuse these with possessive pronouns such as mine, yours, his (same in both
contexts), hers, ours, and theirs.

Here are some examples of possessive adjectives in sentences:

My favorite food is sushi.

I would like to read your book when you have finished it.

I believe her car is the red one.

This is their way of doing things.

Our work here is done.

Interrogative Adjectives

Interrogative adjectives ask questions, and, in common with many types of adjectives, they are always followed by a noun. Basically,
these are the question words we use to start questions. Be careful however, interrogative adjectives modify nouns. If the word after
the question word is a verb, then you have an interrogative adverb on hand.

Some examples of interrogative adjectives include what, which, and whose.

Let’s take a look at these in action:

•What drink would you like?

•Which car should we take?

•Whose shoes are these?

Please note: Whose can also fit into the possessive adjective category too.
Proper Adjectives

We can think of proper adjectives as the adjective form of proper nouns – remember those? They were the specific names of
people, places, and things and need to be capitalized.

Let’s take the proper noun for the place America. If we wanted to make an adjective out of this proper noun to describe something,
say, a car we would get ‘American car’.

Let’s take a look at another few examples:

Joe enjoyed his cup of Ethiopian coffee.

My favorite plays are Shakespearean tragedies.

No doubt about it, Fender guitars are some of the best in the world.

The Mona Lisa is a fine example of Renaissance art.

Articles

Though it may come as a surprise to some, articles are also adjectives as, like all adjectives, they modify nouns. Articles help us
determine a noun’s specification.

For example, ‘a’ and ‘an’ are used in front of an unspecific noun, while ‘the’ is used when referring to a specific noun.

Let’s see some articles as adjectives in action!

•You will find an apple inside the cupboard.

•This is a car.

•The recipe is a family secret.

ADVERBS

Adverbs are defined as those words that modify verbs, but they do so much
more than that. They can be used not only to describe how verbs are
performed but also to modify adjectives, other adverbs, clauses, prepositions,
or entire sentences.

With such a broad range of tasks at the feet of the humble adverb, it would be
impossible to cover every possibility in this article alone. However, there are
five main types of adverbs our students should familiarize themselves with.
These are:

1.Adverbs of Manner

2.Adverbs of Time

3.Adverbs of Frequency

4.Adverbs of Place

5.Adverbs of Degree
Adverbs of Manner

Adverbs of manner describe how or the way in which something happens or is done. This type of adverb is often the first type
taught to students. Many of these end with -ly. Some common examples include happily, quickly, sadly, slowly, and fast.

Here are a few taster sentences employing adverbs of manner:

She cooks Chinese food well.

The children played happily together.

The students worked diligently on their projects.

Her mother taught her to cross the road carefully.

The date went badly.

Adverbs of Time

Adverbs of time indicate when something happens. Common adverbs of time

include before, now, then, after, already, immediately, and soon.

Here are some sentences employing adverbs of time:

•I go to school early on Wednesdays.

•She would like to finish her studies eventually.

•Recently, Sarah moved to Bulgaria.

•I have already finished my homework.

•They have been missing training lately.

Adverbs of Frequency

While adverbs of time deal with when something happens, adverbs of frequency are concerned with how often something happens.
Common adverbs of frequency include always, frequently, sometimes, seldom, and never.

Here’s what they look like in sentences:

•Harry usually goes to bed around ten.

•Rachel rarely eats breakfast in the morning.

•Often, I’ll go home straight after school.

•I occasionally have ketchup on my pizza.

•She seldom goes out with her friends.

Adverbs of Place

Adverbs of place, as the name suggests, describe where something happens or where it is. They can refer to position, distance, or
direction. Some common adverbs of place include above, below, beside, inside, and anywhere.

Check out some examples in the sentences below:

•Underneath the bridge, there lived a troll.

•There were pizzerias everywhere in the city.

•We walked around the park in the pouring rain.

•If the door is open, then go inside.

•When I am older, I would like to live nearby.

Adverbs of Degree

Adverbs of degree express the degree to which or how much of something is done. They can also be used to describe levels of
intensity. Some common adverbs of degree include barely, little, lots, completely, and entirely.

Here are some adverbs of degree at work in sentences:

•I hardly noticed her when she walked into the room.

•The little girl had almost finished her homework.

•The job was completely finished.

•I was so delighted to hear the good news.

•Jack was totally delighted to see Diane after all these years.
 PRONOUNS

Pronouns are used in place of a specific noun used earlier in a sentence.

They are helpful when the writer wants to avoid repetitive use of a
particular noun such as a name. For example, in the following sentences, the
pronoun she is used to stand for the girl’s name Mary after it is used in the
first sentence.

Mary loved traveling. She had been to France, Thailand, and Taiwan already,
but her favorite place in the world was Australia. She had never seen an
animal quite as curious-looking as the duck-billed platypus.

We also see her used in place of Mary’s in the above passage.

 Subject Pronouns
There are many different pronouns and,
in this article, we’ll take a look at: Subject pronouns are the type of pronoun most of us think of when we hear the
term pronoun. They operate as the subject of a verb in a sentence. They are also known
1.Subject Pronouns as personal pronouns.

2.Object Pronouns The subject pronouns are:

3.Possessive Pronouns •I Here are a few examples of subject pronouns doing what they do
best:
4.Reflexive Pronouns •You
•Sarah and I went to the movies last Thursday night.
5.Intensive Pronouns •He
•That is my pet dog. It is an Irish Wolfhound.
6.Demonstrative Pronouns •She
•My friends are coming over tonight, they will be here at seven.
7.Interrogative Pronouns •It
•We won’t all fit into the same car.
•We
•You have done a fantastic job with your grammar homework!
•They

•Who
Object Pronouns

Object pronouns operate as the object of a verb, or a preposition, in a sentence. They act in the same way as object nouns but are
used when it is clear what the object is.

The object pronouns are:

•Me
Here are a few examples of object pronouns in sentences:
•You
•I told you, this is a great opportunity for you.
•Him
•Give her some more time, please.
•Her
•I told her I did not want to do it.
•It
•That is for us.
•Us
•Catherine is the girl whom I mentioned in my letter.
•Them

•Whom
Possessive Pronouns

Possessive pronouns indicate ownership of a noun. For example, in the sentence:

These books are mine.

The word mine stands for my books. It’s important to note that while possessive pronouns look similar to possessive adjectives, their
function in a sentence is different. The possessive pronouns are:

•Mine Let’s take a look at how these are used in sentences:

•Yours is the yellow jacket.

•Yours
•I hope this ticket is mine.
•His
•The train that leaves at midnight is theirs.
•Hers
•Ours is the first house on the right.
•Its
•She is the person whose opinion I value most.
•Ours
•I believe that is his.
•Theirs

•Whose
 Reflexive Pronouns

Reflexive pronouns are used in instances where the object and the subject are the same. For example, in the sentence, she did it
herself, the words she and herself refer to the same person. The reflexive pronoun forms are:

•Myself
Here are a few more examples of reflexive pronouns at work:
•Yourself
•I told myself that numerous times.
•Yourselves
•He got himself a new computer with his wages.
•Himself
•We will go there ourselves.
•Herself
•You must do it yourself.
•Itself
•The only thing to fear is fear itself.
•Ourselves

•Themselves
Intensive Pronouns

This type of pronoun can be used to indicate emphasis. For example, when we write, I spoke to the manager herself, the point is
made that we talked to the person in charge and not someone lower down the hierarchy.

Similar to the reflexive pronouns above, we can easily differentiate between reflexive and intensive pronouns by asking if the
pronoun is essential to the sentence’s meaning. If it isn’t, then it is used solely for emphasis, and therefore, it’s an intensive rather
than a reflexive pronoun.
Demonstrative Pronouns

Often confused with demonstrative adjectives, demonstrative pronouns can stand alone in a sentence.

When this, that, these, and those are used as demonstrative adjectives they come before the noun they modify.
When these same words are used as demonstrative pronouns, they replace a noun rather than modify it.

Here are some examples of demonstrative pronouns in sentences:

•This is delicious.

•That is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.

•These are not mine.

•Those belong to the driver.

 Interrogative Pronouns

Interrogative pronouns are used to form questions. They are the typical question words that come at the start of questions, with a
question mark coming at the end.

The interrogative pronouns are: Putting them into sentences looks like this:
•Who •What is the name of your best friend?

•Whom •Which of these is your favourite?

•What •Who goes to the market with you?

•Which •Whom do you think will win?

•Whose •Whose is that?

 Pronoun Review Table

Subject Object Possessive Reflexive Intensive Demonstrati Interrogativ

Pronouns Pronouns Pronouns Pronouns Pronouns ve Pronouns e Pronouns

I me my myself myself this what

you you your yourself yourself that which

he him his himself himself these who

she her her herself herself those whom

it it its itself itself whose

we us our ourselves ourselves

you you your yourselves yourselves

they them their themselves themselves

 PREPOSITIONS

Prepositions provide extra information showing the relationship

between a noun or pronoun and another part of a sentence.

These are usually short words that come directly before nouns
or pronouns, e.g., in, at, on, etc.

There are, of course, many different types of prepositions, each

relating to particular types of information. In this article, we will
look at:
It’s worth noting that several prepositional words make an appearance in several different categories of prepositions.

1.Prepositions of Time

2.Prepositions of Place

3.Prepositions of Movement

4.Prepositions of Manner

5.Prepositions of Measure

6.Preposition of Agency

7.Preposition of Possession

8.Preposition of Source

9.Phrasal Prepositions
Prepositions of Time

Prepositions of time indicate when something happens. Common prepositions of time include after, at, before, during, in, on.

Let’s see some of these at work:

•I have been here since Thursday.

•My daughter was born on the first of September.

•He went overseas during the war.

•Before you go, can you pay the bill, please?

•We will go out after work.

Sometimes students have difficulty knowing when to use in, on, or at. These little words are often confused. The table
below provides helpful guidance to help students use the right preposition in the right context.

PREPOSITION WHEN TO USE EXAMPLES

When referring to: in the 14th Century

Centuries YearsSeasonsMonthsTime of in two years
day in Spring
in
in August
in the evening

When referring to:

DaysDatesSpecific holidays on Wednesday on the 4th December
on
on Easter Sunday

When referring to:

Some time of day exceptionsFestivals
at
at night at New Year’s
Prepositions of Place

A few example sentences will assist in illustrating these:

The prepositions of place, in, at, on, will be instantly
in
recognisable as they also double as prepositions of
time. Again, students can sometimes struggle a little to
•He is in the house.
select the correct one for the situation they are
describing. Some guidelines can be helpful.
•I saw it in a magazine.
•If something is contained or confined inside, we
use in. •In France, we saw many great works of art.

•If something is placed upon a surface, we use on. on

•If something is located at a specific point, we use at. •Put it on the table.

•We sailed on the river.

•Hang that picture on the wall, please.

at

•We arrived at the airport just after 1 pm.

•I saw her at university.

Prepositions of Movement

Usually used with verbs of motion, prepositions of movement indicate movement from one place to another. The most commonly
used preposition of movement is to.

Some other prepositions of movement include:

•across

•around

•down
Here’s how they look in some sample sentences:
•into
•The ball rolled across the table towards me.
•over
•We looked up into the sky.
•past
•The children ran past the shop on their way home.
•through
•Jackie ran down the road to greet her friend.
•under
•She walked confidently through the curtains and out onto the stage.
•up
Prepositions of Manner

Preposition of manner shows us how something is done or how it happens. The most common of these are by, in, like, on, with.

Let’s take a look at how they work in sentences:

•We went to school by bus.

•During the holidays, they traveled across the Rockies on foot.

•Janet went to the airport in a taxi.

•She played soccer like a professional.

•I greeted her with a smile.

Prepositions of Measure Prepositions of Agency

Prepositions of measure are used to indicate quantities and These prepositions indicate the causal relationship between a noun
specific units of measurement. The two most common of or pronoun and an action. They show the cause of something
these are by and of. happening. The most commonly used prepositions of agency
are by and with.
Check out these sample sentences:
Here are some examples of their use in sentences:
•I’m afraid we only sell that fabric by the meter.
•The Harry Potter series was written by J.K. Rowling.
•I will pay you by the hour.
•This bowl was made by a skilled craftsman.
•She only ate half of the ice cream. I ate the other half.
•His heart was filled with love.
•A kilogram of apples is the same weight as a
kilogram of feathers. •The glass was filled with water.
 Prepositions of Source
Prepositions of Possession
Prepositions of source indicate where something comes from or
Prepositions of possessions indicate who or what something
its origins. The two most common prepositions of source
belongs to. The most common of these are of, to, and with.
are from and by. There is some crossover here with prepositions
of agency.
Let’s take a look:
Here are some examples:
•He is the husband of my cousin.
•He comes from New Zealand.
•He is a friend of the mayor.
•These oranges are from our own orchard.
•This once belonged to my grandmother.
•I was warmed by the heat of the fire.
•All these lands belong to the Ministry.
•She was hugged by her husband.
•The man with the hat is waiting outside.
•The yoghurt is of Bulgarian origin.
•The boy with the big feet tripped and fell.
Phrasal Prepositions

Phrasal prepositions are also known as compound prepositions. These are phrases of two or more words that function in the same
way as prepositions. That is, they join nouns or pronouns to the rest of the sentence.

Some common phrasal prepositions are:

Students should be careful of overusing phrasal prepositions as some
According to of them can seem clichéd. Frequently, it’s best to say things in as few
words as is necessary.
For a change

Because of

In addition to

In spite of

On top of

Rather than

With the exception of

 CONJUNCTIONS

Conjunctions are used to connect words, phrases, and clauses. There are
three main types of conjunction that are used to join different parts of
sentences. These are:

1.Coordinating

2.Subordinating

3.Correlative
Coordinating Conjunctions

These conjunctions are used to join sentence components that are equal such as two words, two phrases, or two
clauses. In English, there are seven of these that can be memorized using the mnemonic FANBOYS:

•For Here are a few example sentences employing coordinating conjunctions:

•And •As a writer, he needed only a pen and paper.

•Nor •I would describe him as strong but lazy.

•But •Either we go now or not at all.

•Or

•Yet

•So
 Subordinating Conjunctions

Subordinating conjunctions are used to introduce dependent clauses in sentences. Basically, dependent clauses are
parts of sentences that cannot stand as complete sentences on their own.

Some of the most common subordinate conjunctions are:

•although

•because Let’s take a look at some example sentences:

•if

•since • I will complete it by Tuesday if I have time.

•unless • Although she likes it, she won’t buy it.

•wherever. • Jack will give it to you after he finds it.

 Correlative Conjunctions

Correlative conjunctions are like shoes; they come in pairs. They work together to make sentences work. Some come
correlative conjunctions are:

•both /and
Let’s see how some of these work together:
•either /or
•If I were you, I would get either the green one or the yellow one.
•neither /nor
•John wants neither pity nor help.
•not /but
•I don’t know whether you prefer horror or romantic movies.
•Not only /but also
 INTERJECTIONS

Interjections focus on feelings and are generally grammatically unrelated to the rest of the sentence or
sentences around them. They convey thoughts and feelings and are common in our speech. They are
often followed by exclamation marks in writing. Interjections include expressions such as:

•Aah

•Err
Here’s what they look like in sentences:
•Eww
•Eww! That is so gross!
•Oh
•Oh, I don’t know. I’ve never used one before.
•Ouch
•That’s very…err…generous of you, I suppose.
•Uh-Oh
•Wow! That is fantastic news!
•Yeah
•Uh-Oh! I don’t have any more left.
•Whoops / Oops

•Wow