“Parts of speech” are the basic types of words that English has. Most grammar books say that there are eight

parts of speech: nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, conjunctions, prepositions and interjections. We

will add one more type: articles.

It is important to be able to recognize and identify the different types of words in English, so that you can

understand grammar explanations and use the right word form in the right place. Here is a brief explanation of

what the parts of speech are:

Noun

A noun is a naming word. It names a person, place, thing, idea, living creature, quality, or

action.

Examples: cowboy, theatre, box, thought, tree, kindness, arrival

VerbA verb is a word which describes an action (doing something) or a state (being something).

Examples: walk, talk, think, believe, live, like, want

AdjectiveAn adjective is a word that describes a noun. It tells you something about the noun.

Examples: big, yellow, thin, amazing, beautiful, quick, important

Adverb

An adverb is a word which usually describes a verb. It tells you how something is done. It

may also tell you when or where something happened.

Examples: slowly, intelligently, well, yesterday, tomorrow, here, everywhere

PronounA pronoun is used instead of a noun, to avoid repeating the noun.

Examples: I, you, he, she, it, we, they

ConjunctionA conjunction joins two words, phrases or sentences together.

Examples: but, so, and, because, or

Preposition

A preposition usually comes before a noun, pronoun or noun phrase. It joins the noun to

some other part of the sentence.

Examples: on, in, by, with, under, through, at

Interjection An interjection is an unusual kind of word, because it often stands alone. Interjections are

words which express emotion or surprise, and they are usually followed by exclamation

marks.

Examples: Ouch!, Hello!, Hurray!, Oh no!, Ha!

1. Verb A verb is used to show an action or a state of being eg go, write, exist, be

2. NounA noun is a word used to refer to people, animals, objects, substances, states, events, ideas and

feelings. A noun functions as a subject or object of a verb and can be modified by an adjective. John, lion,

table, freedom, love ...

3. Adjective Adjectives are used to describe or specify a noun or pronoun good, beautiful, nice, my ...

4. Adverb An adverb is used to modify a verb, adjective and other adverbs. completely, never, there ...

5. Pronoun A pronoun is used in the place of a noun or phrase. I, you, he, she, it ...

6. Preposition Prepositions are used before nouns to form a phrase that shows where, when, how and why in,

above, to, for, at ...

7. Conjunction Conjunctions join clauses or sentences or words and, but, when ...

8. Interjection Interjections are used to show surprise or emotion. oh!, Good Lord

Types of verbs

Action VerbsAction verbs express specific actions, and are used any time you want to show action or discuss

someone doing something.

Transitive VerbsTransitive verbs are action verbs that always express doable activities. These verbs always

have direct objects, meaning someone or something receives the action of the verb.

Intransitive VerbsIntransitive verbs are action verbs that always express doable activities. No direct object

follows an intransitive verb.

Auxiliary VerbsAuxiliary verbs are also known as helping verbs, and are used together with a main verb to

show the verb’s tense or to form a question or negative.

Stative VerbsStative verbs can be recognized because they express a state rather than an action. They

typically relate to thoughts, emotions, relationships, senses, states of being, and measurements.

Modal VerbsModal verbs are auxiliary verbs that are used to express abilities, possibilities, permissions, and

obligations.

Phrasal VerbsPhrasal verbs aren’t single words; instead, they are combinations of words that are used

together to take on a different meaning to that of the original verb.

Irregular VerbsIrregular verbs are those that don’t take on the regular spelling patterns of past simple and

past participle verbs.

Types of conjunctions

Subordinating conjunctions –  Also known as subordinators, these conjunctions join dependent clauses to

independent clauses.

Coordinating conjunction – Also known as coordinators, these conjunctions coordinate or join two or more

sentences, main clauses, words, or other parts of speech which are of the same syntactic importance.

Correlative conjunction – These conjunctions correlate, working in pairs to join phrases or words that carry

equal importance within a sentence.

Conjunctive adverbs – While some instructors do not teach conjunctive adverbs alongside conjunctions,

these important parts of speech are worth a mention here. These adverbs always connect one clause to

another, and are used to show sequence, contrast, cause and effect, and other relationships

Types of pronouns

Indefinite pronouns – thosereferring to one or more unspecified objects, beings, or places

Personal pronouns – those associated with a grammatical person

Reflexive pronouns – those preceded by the adverb, adjective, pronoun, or noun to which they refer

Demonstrative pronouns – those used to point to something specific within a sentence

Possessive pronouns – those designating possession

Relative pronouns – those which refer to nouns mentioned previously

ADVERB

An adverb is a word that is used to change or qualify the meaning of an adjective, a verb, a clause, another

adverb, or any other type of word or phrase with the exception of determiners and adjectives that directly

modify nouns.

Traditionally considered to be a single part of speech, adverbs perform a wide variety of functions, which

makes it difficult to treat them as a single, unified category. Adverbs normally carry out these functions by

answering questions such as:

When? She always arrives early.

How? He drives carefully.

Where? They go everywhere together.

In what way? She eats slowly.

To what extent? It is terribly hot.

A preposition is a word used to link nouns, pronouns, or phrases to other words within a sentence.

Prepositions are usually short words, and they are normally placed directly in front of nouns. In some cases,

you’ll find prepositions in front of gerund verbs.

Types of Prepositions

There are three types of prepositions, including time prepositions, place prepositions, and direction

prepositions. Time prepositions are those such as before, after, during, and until; place prepositions are those

indicating position, such as around, between, and against; and direction prepositions are those indicative of

direction, such as across, up, and down. Each type of preposition is important.

Types of noun

Abstract Nouns Abstract nouns are those referring to ideas, concepts, emotions, and other “things” you

can’t physically interact with. You can’t see, taste, touch, smell, or hear something named with an

abstract noun. Some abstract noun examples are included in the following sentences.

Success seems to come easily to certain people. .. His hatred of people smoking indoors is

legendary…She has an incredible love for nature…This is of great importance…He received an

award for his bravery.

Collective Nouns When talking about types of noun, it’s important to remember collective nouns. A

collective noun is a word that refers to a group. It can be either singular or plural, but is usually used in

the singular. Some collective noun examples are included in the following sentences.

Our team is enjoying an unbroken winning streak…There’s a pack of hyenas outside..Watch out for

that swarm of bees…You haven’t lived until you’ve seen a herd of wild horses…Our class graduates two

years from now.

Common Nouns Common nouns are used to refer to general things rather than specific examples. Common

nouns are not normally capitalized unless they are used as part of a proper name or are placed at the beginning

of a sentence. Some common noun examples are included in the following sentences.

Be sure to pick a top university…Stack those boxes carefully…Would you like a cookie with

your coffee?..People are strange…My dog won’t stop barking.

Concrete Nouns Concrete nouns are words used for actual things you can touch, see, taste, feel, and hear –

things you interact with every day. Notice that concrete nouns can also be countable, uncountable, common,

proper, and collective nouns. Some concrete noun examples are included in the following sentences.

Please remember to buy oranges…Have a seat in that chair.

1. Adjectives of Quality - These adjectives are used to describe the nature of a noun. They give an idea

about the characteristics of the noun by answering the question ‘what kind’.

- Honest, Kind, Large, Bulky, Beautiful, Ugly etc.

- New Delhi is a large city with many historical monuments.

- Sheila is a beautiful woman.

2. Adjectives of Quantity - These adjectives help to show the amount or the approximate amount of the

noun or pronoun. These adjectives do not provide exact numbers; rather they tell us the amount of the

noun in relative or whole terms.

All, Half, Many, Few, Little, No, Enough, Great etc.- They have finished most of the rice.- Many people came to visit the fair.

3. Adjectives of Number - These adjectives are used to show the number of nouns and their place in an

order. There are three different sections within adjectives of number; they are -

Definite Numeral Adjective - Those which clearly denote an exact number of nouns or the order of the noun.

One, Two, Twenty, Thirty-Three etc. also known as Cardinals.First, Second, Third, Seventh etc. also known as Ordinals.

Indefinite Numeral Adjective - Those adjectives that do not give an exact numerical amount but just give a general idea of the amount.

 Some, Many, Few, Any, Several, All etc.E.g.: There were many people present at the meeting.

Distributive Numeral Adjective -Those adjectives that are used to refer to individual nouns within the whole amount.

Either, Neither, Each, Another, Other etc.E.g: Taxes have to be paid by every employed citizen.

4. Demonstrative Adjectives - These adjectives are used to point out or indicate a particular noun or

pronoun using the adjectives - This, That,These and Those.

- That bag belongs to Neil.- Try using this paintbrush in art class.- I really like those shoes.- These flowers are lovely.

5. Interrogative Adjectives - These adjectives are used to ask questions about nouns or in relation to

nouns, they are - Where, What, Which and Whose.

Where did he say he was going?- What assignment did I miss out on?- Which is your favorite author?- Whose pen is this?

An In te r jec t ion i s a word pu t in to a sen tence to show some sudden fee l ing or emot ion . In te r jec t ions do no t re fe r to anyth ing , bu t s imply express the speaker ’s emot ion or wish . In grammat ica l t e rms , they occur in i so la t ion as an exc lamat ion , o r a re loose ly added on to a sen tence