PARTS OF SPEECH

What are Parts of Speech?

Every sentence that you speak or write in English includes words that fall into different
kinds or classes called parts of speech.
These word classes are the building blocks of grammar. Each category plays a different
role in communicating meaning in English language.

Word types can be divided into eight parts of speech:

1. Noun 5. Adjective
2. Pronoun 6. Adverb
3. Verb 7. Preposition
4. Conjunction 8. Interjection
●Parts of Speech

The old, tired man was sitting under a

tree and patiently waiting for his son to
arrive.
NOUN
● A noun is commonly defined as a word that refers to a person, place, thing, or an idea.
Examples
Shah Jahan was a wise king.
Sarah is making pasta.
He lives in Islamabad.
● Types of Noun
Common Noun Proper Noun
Abstract Noun Concrete Noun
Countable Noun Uncountable Noun
TYPES OF NOUNS

● Common Noun ______ refers to the general name of the things.

Example: Mama has given me a new bag for school.
● Proper Noun ______ refers to a specific person, place, idea or thing. It is always
written with a capital letter.
Example: She was born in Lahore.
● Underline the common nouns and circle the proper nouns in the sentences for the common noun
exercises with answers.

● Sam will go to Australia in February.

● She belongs to Karachi.
● Amjad and Salman play chess in the park.
● The cat has a black stripe on its body.
● His birthday is in December.
● The school remains closed on Saturdays and Sundays.
● William Shakespeare writes the Merchant of Venice.
● My family is addicted to ‘The Times of India’.
● Underline the common nouns and circle the proper nouns in the sentences for the common noun
exercises with answers.

● Sam will go to Australia in February.

● She belongs to Patna.
● Amjad and Salman play chess in the park.
● The cat has a black stripe on its body.
● His birthday is in December.
● The school remains closed on Saturdays and Sundays.
● William Shakespeare writes the Merchant of Venice.
● My family is addicted to ‘The Times of India‘.
TYPES OF NOUNS

● Concrete Noun ______ A concrete noun names an object, thing.

Example: The children spilled juice on the keyboard.

● Abstract Noun ______ refers to things that are intangible. It is usually
the name of a quality, action or state.
Example: She has put her faith and trust in me.
●Abstract and Concrete Nouns
● He was given an award for his courage.
● 2. The door slammed shut.
● 3. She thought that happiness was the most important thing in life.
● 4. He dropped his phone with a crash.
● 5. Time is a great teacher.
● 6. His art teacher applauded his creativity.
● 7. She moved the chair into place.
● 8. He always made his bed before leaving for school.
●Abstract and Concrete Nouns
● He was given an award for his courage.
● 2. The door slammed shut.
● 3. She thought that happiness was the most important thing in life.
● 4. He dropped his phone with a crash.
● 5. Time is a great teacher.
● 6. His art teacher applauded his creativity.
● 7. She moved the chair into place.
● 8. He always made his bed before leaving for school.
TYPES OF NOUNS
● A Countable Noun ______ describes things that can be counted. It exists in
both singular and plural forms.
Example: The little girl was playing near the mango trees.

● An Uncountable Noun ______ describes things that cannot be counted. We do

not usually use the indefinite article a/an with uncountable nouns.
Example: Put only one tablespoon of sugar in my tea.
 ● Pronoun
Personal: I, you, we, they, he, she, it
Possessive: my, your, his, her
Interrogative: who (subject), which, what, whom(object), whose (possessive)
Reflexive: Myself, ourselves, himself.
Reciprocal: Each other, one another
Demonstrative: this, that, these, those
Distributive: each, either, neither
Indefinite:
everyone, every body, everywhere, everything
Anyone, anybody, anywhere, anytime
Someone, somebody, somewhere, something
Relative: whom, whomever
● Direction: Circle the correct pronouns given in the parentheses.

1. (I,me) will pick up the groceries.

2. (She,her) sent (I,me) a package in the mail.
3. Are you going to visit (he,him) this evening?
4. Wendy is somewhere around; have you seen (she,her)?
5. The commanding officer gave (him,he) and (me, I) a real bawling-out.
6 . They told (us,we) to meet (them,they) in the parking lot.
7. (They,them) invited (we,us) over for cocktails.
8. Our house is always open to (they,them).
9. Adrian chose (he,him) and (I,me) for teammates.
10. There were dozens of bees buzzing around (we,us).
● Fill the blanks with correct pronouns.
● Shyam is my brother. ___ study in the same class
● Between Ritu and me, __ am the younger one.
● Do you see this book with my name on it? It is ___.
● Miss Gwen is our new class teacher. ___ is very sweet.
● While cutting vegetables, Mitu cut ___.
● The jury got divided among ___.
● I’m coming too. Please wait for __.
● Nobody but ___ was present.
● ___ book is better than the other.
● Is the mug ___? It was on your table.
● Answers
● We
● I
● Mine
● She
● Herself
● Themselves
● Me
● He/She
● This
● Yours
Verbs
Verbs are the action words in a sentence that describe what the subject is doing.
He ran away
she eats chocolate cake
Mental Verb
Mental verbs have meanings that are related to concepts such as discovering,
understanding, thinking, or planning. In general, a mental verb refers to a cognitive state.
● I know the answer.
● She recognized me from across the room.
● Do you believe everything people tell you?
●Regular and irregular Verb
●Irregular Verb
● Instructions: underline the action and state verbs in the following sentences.
● 1. Eric put the shirt back onto the clothes rack.
● 2. They ran to the finish line.
● 3. The child thought about the television.
● 4. I assumed that Senator Totem ate the last slice of pie.
● 5. The carpenter slowly shaved the wood.
● 6. These flowers smell nice!
● 7. I don’t speak much Spanish but I understand it when I hear it
 ●
Adjective
● An adjective modifies a noun or pronoun by providing descriptive or specific detail.
Adjectives answer the following questions:
● What kind?
● How many?
● Which ones?
Tom bought a used car. (used describes what kind of car Tom bought.)
Sally baked ten pies for the school bake sale. (ten tells how many pies Sally baked.)
Bob climbed that tree in the backyard. (that specifies which tree Bob climbed.)
Read Each of the following sentences carefully and underline the adjectives
examples.
● The brave policemen rescued the child from the fire.
● Do you like watching a scary movie?
● Mohor likes to read funny storybooks all the time.
● Uttam and Sumita went for a romantic dinner.
● I could not find my red notebook.
● During festivals, the loud music hurt our ears.
● We went to the amusement park in that big car.
● Would you like to go on an adventurous trip?
Where did you go on your last vacation? Think about it and write ten sentences
related to the things you saw and did there. Use at least one adjective in each
sentence to describe your experience.
 ●
Adjective
Comparative adjective: used to compare two different people or things to
each other.
Examples:
Whales are larger animals than dolphins.
We moved to a cheaper apartment.
The sequel was even more incredible that the first movie.
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
● Bad, important, crowded, good, high, heavy, convenient, difficult, cheap, expensive,
quiet, easy, thin, healthy, dangerous, cold

● 1. In Canada, January is _________________________ than March.

● 2. I think that good health is ___________________________ than money.
● 3. I can’t carry my suitcase. It’s much ____________________ than yours.
● 4. I can afford to buy a new bike but not a new car. A car is____ than a bike.
● 5. You look _________ than the last time I saw you. Have you lost weight?
●Keys
1. colder
2. more important
3. heavier
4. more expensive
5. thinner
 ●Superlative Adjectives
● used to compare more than two people or things by
indicating which one of the most supreme or extensive.

● Example:
● Sarah is the fastest member of our team.
● ___________________________________
● ___________________________________
● ____________________________________
● Fill in the spaces using the appropriate superlative adjective

1. That building is the __________ (tall) in the

neighborhood.
2. Aunt Janet is the __________ (old).
3. My bicycle is the __________ (nice) thing I own.
4. The komodo dragon is the __________ (large) lizard in
the world.
5. Mt. Denali is the __________ (high) mountain peak in
North America.
Order Type of adjective Illustration

1 General opinion beautiful, ugly, easy, fast, interesting

2 Specific opinion tasty, comfortable

3 Size small, tall, short, big
4 Age young, old, new
5 Shape square, rectangular, round
6 Colour red, black, green, purple
7 Nationality American, British, Pakistani
8 Material wooden, metallic, plastic
9 Purpose or Qualifier fishing (boat), racing (car)
● 1. My friend likes to exercise and eat fruits and vegetable, so he’s
___________. 2. A: Are you a lazy person? B: No, in fact, I’m very
___________. 3. My son Thomas is very ___________. He’s only five years
old. 4. He should play basketball because he is ___________. He’s not short. 5.
My sister isn’t very ___________. She’s shy and doesn’t like to meet new
people. 6. He worked very hard his whole life and saved lots of money. He’s
___________. 7. I went on a diet last year and lost five kilograms, so now I’m
___________. 8. Sarah always says, “Thank you”. She’s a ___________
person. 9. Of course, I’m very ___________! I got an A+ on all of my exams!
10. My uncle loves to tell jokes to make us laugh. He’s ___________.
● 1. healthy
● 2. hard-working
● 3. young
● 4. tall
● 5. outgoing
● 6. rich
● 7. thin
● 8. polite
● 9. smart
● 10. funny
●Exercise Adjectives
Identify the type of adjectives
1. The blue sky looked beautiful in the morning.
2. She has three cats at home.
3. This old book is a family heirloom.
4. Those cookies smell delicious.
5. The large house on the hill is for sale.
6. He gave a detailed explanation of the problem
7. I need some help with this project.
8. The happy children played in the garden.
●Answers
1. Blue – Descriptive Adjective (describes the color of the sky)
2. Three – Quantitative Adjective (indicates the number of cats)
3. Old – Descriptive Adjective (describes the age of the book)
4. Those – Demonstrative Adjective (points out specific cookies)
5. Large – Descriptive Adjective (describes the size of the house)
6. Detailed – Descriptive Adjective (describes the type of explanation)
7. Some – Quantitative Adjective (indicates an unspecified amount of help
8. Happy – Descriptive Adjective (describes the mood of the children)
 ●Adverb

● An adverb is a word which modifies or adds to the

meaning of a verb. Adverbs may be divided into different
classes according to their use.
● Jason quickly read the book.
● How did Jason read? Quickly.
● Emma left early .
● When did Emma leave? Early
Adverb of Time
a word that describes when, for how long, or how often a certain action happened.
afterwards, already, always, We have met before.
before, immediately, last He talked immediately
week, now, since, seldom, He has started a week ago.
soon, then, tomorrow, lets see what happen tomorrow.
yesterday.
●Exercise

1. I went to the doctor yesterday.

2. Rahul will go to his hometown tomorrow.
3. Sandeep completed his graduation last year.
4. I am going to the market now.
5. I was roaming in the market all day.
Adverb of Place
Where things happen / Adverb of directional

place above, below, everywhere, The flowers are everywhere.

here, nowhere, on top of, over They came here yesterday.
there, there, under, Put the cake there.
The cat is hiding ­underneath
underneath. the couch.
●Exercise
1. He likes to play basketball outside with his friends.
2. She stepped backward after seeing the snake.
3. I slept under the stars.
4. He’s been here for hours.
5. The journey was far too long.
●Keys
1. outside
2. backward
3. under
4. here
5. far
Adverb of Manner
How something is done

manner badly, easily, happily, quickly, The tall boy won easily.

sadly, slowly, politely, well He speaks politely

● Happily, loudly, quickly, luckily, angrily

1. I ________ ran to catch the bus.

2. The dog ________ stared at the mailman.
3. She sang ______ in the shower.
4. He was walking ______ down the street.
5. The meeting ended up being canceled, which was ______ for us
because we weren’t prepared to present anything.
● Keys

1. I quickly ran to catch the bus.

2. The dog angrily stared at the mailman.
3. She sang loudly in the shower.
4. He was walking happily down the street.
5. The meeting ended up being canceled, which was luckily for us
because we weren’t prepared to present anything.
Adverb of
number once, twice etc. They ran twice round the park.

negation never, no, not I have not read the book.

Frequency:
again, almost, always, ever, frequently, generally, hardly, ever, nearly
always, never, occasionally, often, rarely, seldom, sometimes, twice,
usually, and weekly.
● 1 Neil stopped suddenly and listened.
● 2. Nathan stamped his feet angrily .
● 3. I carefully glued the last piece onto the
model.
● 4. Sam accidentally slipped on the ice.
● 5. Yesterday , they played a game.
 ● Conjunctions

● Conjunctions are used to join clauses

and phrases.

● Example :

● I play cricket, and robin plays football.

● I went to him, when he was sick.
 ●
● Kinds of conjunctions
Coordinating conjunction
used to link or join two words or phrases that are equally important and complete in terms of
grammar when compared with each other.
Examples: F-A-N-B-O-Y-S
For: My pet cat is cold and hungry, for it didn’t come last night..
And : Farah left quickly and I was worried about her.
Nor: I’m not really hungry, nor pie looks delicious! .
But : we were running late but it wasn’t possible to get out of here anything soon.
Or: Is it ok or should I go for the last time?
yet: I have not completed my cleaning yet.
So: . I was late, so I decided to take a taxi to work. .
 ● Subordinating conjunction
●Kinds of conjunctions
Used to join independent and complete clause with a dependent clause that
relies on the main clause for meaning and relevance.
Example:
Time: after, before, as soon as, whenever, now, now that, once, till.
Comparison: Than, rather than, whether, whereas
Condition: if. If only, unless, provided, provided that, assuming, assuming
that.
Reason: as, because, since, in order to, so that, why
Relativity: that, what, whatever, who, whoever, which, whichever.
Opinion: though, although, even, as if
Use F-A-N-B-O-Y-S

My classmate didn’t study for the test, ______ she still pass. (yet, nor, or)
The capital city of the United States, ______ … is it Los Angeles. (and, nor, yet)
Can you help me carry these books,______ are you busy right now? ( yet, and , or)
I need a pen______some paper to write some notes. (and, but, nor)
 Use F-A-N-B-O-Y-S

My classmate didn’t study for the test, yet she still pass. (yet, nor, or)
The capital city of the United States not New York, nor is it Los Angeles. (and, nor, yet)
Can you help me carry these books, or are you busy right now? ( yet, and , or)
I need a pen, and some paper to write some notes. (and, but, nor)
●Interjection
An interjection is a word or words used to express strong and sudden feelings—
surprise, fear, suspense anger, love, joy and other emotions.

Words such as
ahh, alas, alrighty, blah, dang, gee, nah, oops, phew, shucks, woops, wow

1. Oh, I haven’t seen my brother since he left for college!

2. Ah! I’ve heard that trick before.
3. Ouch! That soup is hot
PREPOSITION
PREPOSITION
A preposition is a word that is used to connect nouns, pronouns and verbs within a sentence.
It shows a relationship between words and conveys concepts such as comparison,
position, place, direction, time, possession, and how an action is completed.

Examples
above, across, along, among, around, at, before, behind, below, beside, between,
down, from, in, into, near, of, on, to, toward, under, upon, with, within etc.
The cat is sitting under the table.
I usually read in the library.
Identify the prepositions in the following passage.
Goldilocks used to live with her parents in a cabin near the forest. One day, she
decided to go for a walk. She strolled down the lane that led to the forest and came
across a cottage. Feeling intrigued, she decided to check whose house it was. She
knocked on the door, but no one answered. Then she decided to go in and check.
Once she came into the cottage, she saw three soup bowls kept on the table. Feeling
hungry, she drank the soup out of the smallest bowl. She saw a flight of stairs that led
to a room above. She decided to go and see the rooms. On reaching the rooms, she
saw there were three beds. Feeling sleepy with all the walking and hot soup, she
decided to take a nap and slept on the smallest bed. When she woke up, she saw three
bears standing in front of her, and the smallest bear among them crying loudly.
Terrified, she started screaming and ran past the bear family to reach her home.
Goldilocks used to live with her parents in a cabin near the forest. One day, she
decided to go for a walk. She strolled down the lane that led to the forest and
came across a cottage. Feeling intrigued, she decided to check whose house it was.
She knocked on the door, but no one answered. Then she decided to go in and check.
Once she came into the cottage, she saw three soup bowls kept on the table. Feeling
hungry, she drank the soup out of the smallest bowl. She saw a flight of stairs that
led to a room above. She decided to go and see the rooms. On reaching the rooms,
she saw there were three beds. Feeling sleepy with all the walking and hot soup, she
decided to take a nap and slept on the smallest bed. When she woke up, she saw three
bears standing in front of her, and the smallest bear among them crying loudly.
Terrified, she started screaming and ran past the bear family to reach her home.
● Go through the following sentences and identify the part of speech of the underlined words.
● Namitha is not coming today.
● My mom will be leaving to Bangalore tomorrow.
● The teacher asked the students to stand.
● He is my brother.
● There is a cat under the table.
● The clothes did not dry as it was raining all night.
● Sheena and her sister dance well.
● I am wearing a green dress for the party.
● Oh! That is really sad.
● She is coming with me.
Answers
● Noun
● Verb, adverb
● Noun
● Pronoun
● Preposition
● Conjunction
● Conjunction, adverb
● Adjective
● Interjection
● Preposition
References:
The 9 Parts of Speech: Definitions and Examples. (2020). ThoughtCo. Retrieved 3, June,
2020, from: https:https://www.thoughtco.com/part-of-speech-english-grammar-1691590

Understanding the 8 Parts of Speech: Definitions and Examples. (2019). PrepScholar.

Retrieved 3, June, 2020,from:https://blog.prepscholar.com/8-parts-of-speech-definitions

Wren, P. C., & Martin, H. (2000). High school English grammar and
composition. S. Chand & Company LTD. New Delhi