parts of speech question paper

Parts of Speech Quiz

You can do this grammar quiz online or print it on paper. It tests what you learned on the Parts of Speech page.

1. I bought a beautiful dress at the mall.

2. What did she ask you to do?

3. I left my shoes under the kitchen table.

4. If we finish our work quickly we can go to the movies.

5. On Saturdays I work from nine to five.

6. I want to go to a university in the United States.

7. I'm sure I've met your girlfriend before.

8. Well , I don't think I'll be home before 6.

9. Andy knocked on the door but nobody answered.

10. After lunch let's go out for a coffee.

Your score is:

Correct answers:

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Use this parts of speech quiz to test yourself or test your students.  You'll find four parts to this quiz. The answers are at the bottom of the page. Good luck!

What does this quiz cover?

If you know all of that, you're ready for the quiz!

Part 1. Identify & Label

Directions: Label the part of speech for each word in bold.

Example: (1) Mary Lennox = (proper) noun

If you just wrote noun for the answer, that is good, too. Whenever possible, I like to be more descriptive, but if you just have the part of speech, that's okay! Answers are at the bottom of the page.

Part 2. Matching Definitions

Directions: Match the part of speech to the correct definition.

Example: 1. Pronouns = H. Words that take the place of nouns

Answers are at the bottom of the page.

Part 3. Choose the Right Part of Speech

Directions: For the words in bold, choose the correct part of speech from the choices listed in a and b .

Example: 1. yellow = b. adjective

Part 4. Choose the Right Word

Directions: Choose the correct word to fill in the blank from the choices listed in a and b.

Example 1. I am doing __ b. well _ __.

Quiz Answers

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Here are all of your answers to this parts of speech quiz. Check your work, learn more, and rock on!

Part 1. Identify & Label: Answers

The parts in parentheses are optional.

Part 2. Matching Definitions: Answers

Part 3. choose the right part of speech: answers, part 4. choose the right word: answers, how did you do on that parts of speech quiz i hope it went well :).

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Parts of Speech Quizzes

Preview 20 Quizzes about Parts of Speech

     What part of speech joins words or group of words ?             A.     Conjunction       B.     Verb       C.     Noun       D.     Adjective

Choose a word from the list below to fill the gap in the following sentence.

‘____! There is a shark over there!’ (interjection)

A. Ocean B. Blue C. Quickly D. Because E. Help

  After lunch let’s go out for a coffee.             A.     Pronoun       B.     Preposition       C.     Verb       D.     Adverb

Which part of speech describes the distance/placement/proximity of one word and another word in a sentence? Examples are on, too, behind, with…

A. Adverb B. Preposition C. Interjection D. Noun E. Conjunction

‘The football player  _______ his ankle.’ (verb)             A.     Sprained       B.     Ouch       C.     His       D.     Under       E.     Painful

Gage made a bet with Josh that HE could win the tournament.

D. conjunction

I bought a beautiful dress at the mall.

A. adjective

Marin went to the park with Avery and Chloe and they saw Mrs. Johnson drive by SLOWLY.

C. interjection

D. preposition

That suitcase is hers .

A. interjection

C. adjective

Find the adverb:  He ran the fastest in the whole race.

Find the plural noun: The farmer had 150 sheep in the green meadow.

Interjections that express a sudden burst of emotion are followed by what kind of punctuation?

A. Comma B. Semicolon C. Colon D. Exclamation point E. Period

What is the best way to write this sentence?

Every morning Ray feeds them Ray cleans their cage.

A. Every morning Ray feeds them and cleans their cage. B. Every morning Ray feeds them and Ray cleans their cage. C. Every morning Ray feeds them cleans their cage. D. Fine as is.

She drives very (carefully) because she has a traumatic car accident

C. preposition

Stephen sarcastically commented on Luke’s dismal failure of scoring the goal.

What part of speech is ‘goal’?

B. adjective

C. common noun

D. abstract noun

Dust covered every surface in the locked bedroom.

D. adjective

Find the adverb: Push the button now!

The staff were already waiting for us and kindly reminded us to join the field of athletes.

What part of speech is ‘join’?

B. common noun

Joins two words, phrases, or clauses A. Preposition B. Interjection C. Pronoun D. Conjunction

Yikes ! I’m late for class.

How to use : Read the question carefully, then select one of the answers button.

Tips : If this page always shows the same questions, make sure you correct the question first by pressing the "check answer" button.

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Grammar: Main Parts of Speech

Definitions and examples.

The name of something, like a person, animal, place, thing, or concept. Nouns are typically used as subjects, objects, objects of prepositions, and modifiers of other nouns.

• I = subject
• the dissertation = object
• in Chapter 4 = object of a preposition
• research = modifier

This expresses what the person, animal, place, thing, or concept does. In English, verbs follow the noun.

• It takes a good deal of dedication to complete a doctoral degree.
• She studied hard for the test.
• Writing a dissertation is difficult. (The "be" verb is also sometimes referred to as a copula or a linking verb. It links the subject, in this case "writing a dissertation," to the complement or the predicate of the sentence, in this case, "hard.")

This describes a noun or pronoun. Adjectives typically come before a noun or after a stative verb, like the verb "to be."

• Diligent describes the student and appears before the noun student .
• Difficult is placed after the to be verb and describes what it is like to balance time.

Remember that adjectives in English have no plural form. The same form of the adjective is used for both singular and plural nouns.

• A different idea
• Some different ideas
• INCORRECT: some differents ideas

This gives more information about the verb and about how the action was done. Adverbs tells how, where, when, why, etc. Depending on the context, the adverb can come before or after the verb or at the beginning or end of a sentence.

• Enthusiastically describes how he completed the course and answers the how question.
• Recently modifies the verb enroll and answers the when question.
• Then describes and modifies the entire sentence. See this link on transitions for more examples of conjunctive adverbs (adverbs that join one idea to another to improve the cohesion of the writing).

This word substitutes for a noun or a noun phrase (e.g. it, she, he, they, that, those,…).

• they = applicants
• He = Smith; that = ideas; those = those ideas

This word makes the reference of the noun more specific (e.g. his, her, my, their, the, a, an, this, these, … ).

• Jones published her book in 2015.
• The book was very popular.

Preposition

This comes before a noun or a noun phrase and links it to other parts of the sentence. These are usually single words (e.g., on, at, by ,… ) but can be up to four words (e.g., as far as, in addition to, as a result of, …).

• I chose to interview teachers in the district closest to me.
• The recorder was placed next to the interviewee.
• I stopped the recording in the middle of the interview due to a low battery.

Conjunction

A word that joins two clauses. These can be coordinating (an easy way to remember this is memorizing FANBOYS = for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so) or subordinating (e.g., because, although, when, …).

• The results were not significant, so the alternative hypothesis was accepted.
• Although the results seem promising, more research must be conducted in this area.

Auxiliary Verbs

Helping verbs. They are used to build up complete verbs.

• Primary auxiliary verbs (be, have, do) show the progressive, passive, perfect, and negative verb tenses .
• Modal auxiliary verbs (can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will, would) show a variety of meanings. They represent ability, permission, necessity, and degree of certainty. These are always followed by the simple form of the verb.
• Semimodal auxiliary verbs (e.g., be going to, ought to, have to, had better, used to, be able to,…). These are always followed by the simple form of the verb.
• primary: have investigated = present perfect tense; has not been determined = passive, perfect, negative form
• The modal could shows ability, and the verb conduct stays in its simple form; the modal may shows degree of certainty, and the verb lead stays in its simple form.
• These semimodals are followed by the simple form of the verb.

Common Endings

Nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs often have unique word endings, called suffixes . Looking at the suffix can help to distinguish the word from other parts of speech and help identify the function of the word in the sentence. It is important to use the correct word form in written sentences so that readers can clearly follow the intended meaning.

Here are some common endings for the basic parts of speech. If ever in doubt, consult the dictionary for the correct word form.

Common Noun Endings

Common Verb Endings

Common Adjective Endings

Common Adverb Endings

Placement and Position of Adjectives and Adverbs

Order of adjectives.

If more than one adjective is used in a sentence, they tend to occur in a certain order. In English, two or three adjectives modifying a noun tend to be the limit. However, when writing in APA, not many adjectives should be used (since APA is objective, scientific writing). If adjectives are used, the framework below can be used as guidance in adjective placement.

• Determiner (e.g., this, that, these, those, my, mine, your, yours, him, his, hers they, their, some, our, several,…) or article (a, an, the)
• Opinion, quality, or observation adjective (e.g., lovely, useful, cute, difficult, comfortable)
• Physical description
• (a) size (big, little, tall, short)
• (b) shape (circular,  irregular, triangular)
• (c) age (old, new, young, adolescent)
• (d) color (red, green, yellow)
• Origin (e.g., English, Mexican, Japanese)
• Material (e.g., cotton, metal, plastic)
• Qualifier (noun used as an adjective to modify the noun that follows; i.e., campus activities, rocking chair, business suit)
• Head noun that the adjectives are describing (e.g., activities, chair, suit)

For example:

• This (1) lovely (2) new (3) wooden (4) Italian (5) rocking (6) chair (7) is in my office.
• Your (1) beautiful (2) green (3) French (4) silk (5) business (6) suit (7) has a hole in it.

Commas With Multiple Adjectives

A comma is used between two adjectives only if the adjectives belong to the same category (for example, if there are two adjectives describing color or two adjectives describing material). To test this, ask these two questions:

• Does the sentence make sense if the adjectives are written in reverse order?
• Does the sentence make sense if the word “and” is written between them?

If the answer is yes to the above questions, the adjectives are separated with a comma. Also keep in mind a comma is never used before the noun that it modifies.

• This useful big round old green English leather rocking chair is comfortable . (Note that there are no commas here because there is only one adjective from each category.)
• A lovely large yellow, red, and green oil painting was hung on the wall. (Note the commas between yellow, red, and green since these are all in the same category of color.)

Position of Adverbs

Adverbs can appear in different positions in a sentence.

• At the beginning of a sentence: Generally , teachers work more than 40 hours a week.
• After the subject, before the verb: Teachers generally work more than 40 hours a week.
• At the end of a sentence: Teachers work more than 40 hours a week, generally .
• However, an adverb is not placed between a verb and a direct object. INCORRECT: Teachers work generally more than 40 hours a week.

More Detailed Rules for the Position of Adverbs

• Adverbs that modify the whole sentence can move to different positions, such as certainly, recently, fortunately, actually, and obviously.
• Recently , I started a new job.
• I recently started a new job.
• I started a new job recently .
• Many adverbs of frequency modify the entire sentence and not just the verb, such as frequently, usually, always, sometimes, often , and seldom . These adverbs appear in the middle of the sentence, after the subject.
• INCORRECT: Frequently she gets time to herself.
• INCORRECT: She gets time to herself frequently .
• She has frequently exercised during her lunch hour. (The adverb appears after the first auxiliary verb.)
• She is frequently hanging out with old friends. (The adverb appears after the to be verb.)
• Adverbial phrases work best at the end of a sentence.
• He greeted us in a very friendly way .
• I collected data for 2 months .

Main Parts of Speech Video Playlist

Note that these videos were created while APA 6 was the style guide edition in use. There may be some examples of writing that have not been updated to APA 7 guidelines.

• Mastering the Mechanics: Nouns (video transcript)
• Mastering the Mechanics: Introduction to Verbs (video transcript)
• Mastering the Mechanics: Articles (video transcript)
• Mastering the Mechanics: Introduction to Pronouns (video transcript)
• Mastering the Mechanics: Modifiers (video transcript)

Writing Tools: Dictionary and Thesaurus Refresher Video

Note that this video was created while APA 6 was the style guide edition in use. There may be some examples of writing that have not been updated to APA 7 guidelines.

• Writing Tools: Dictionary and Thesaurus Refresher (video transcript)

Related Resources

Knowledge Check: Main Parts of Speech

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Parts of Speech Quiz

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Parts of speech worksheets terms of use, prepositions worksheets, below you will find our full list of printable prepositions worksheets to be used by teachers at home or in school. just click on a link to open a printable pdf version of the desired worksheet. we hope you find them useful..

• Identifying Prepositions Worksheet

Explanation, examples, and practice identifying prepositions in sentences.

• Identifying Prepositions Worksheet Answers

Answers to the Identifying Prepositions worksheet.

• Prepositions of Time Worksheet

This worksheet includes a table outlining the various prepositions of time and their usages. Practice involves using prepositions of time to explain the schedules of color characters in the worksheet.

• Prepositions of Time Worksheet Answers

Answers to the Prepositions of Time Worksheet.

• Prepositions of Place Worksheet 1

The worksheet provides practice using images to explain the positions of people and objects in relation to one another.

• Prepositions of Place Worksheet Answers 1

Answers to the Prepositions of Place Worksheet 1

• Prepositions of Place Worksheet 2

The worksheet includes tables outlining the various prepositions of place (location). Practice involves using prepositions of place to explain the positions of color objects in relation to one another.

• Prepositions of Place Worksheet Answers 2

Answers to the Prepositions of Place Worksheet 2

Nouns worksheets.

• Identifying Nouns Worksheet

Explanation, examples, and practice identifying nouns in sentences.

• Identifying Nouns Worksheet Answers

Answers to the Nouns Worksheet.

• Identifying Nouns Worksheet - Common vs. Proper

Explanation, examples, and practice identifying common vs. proper nouns in sentences.

• Identifying Nouns Worksheet - Common vs. Proper Answers

Answers to the Identifying Nouns worksheet.

Adjectives worksheets, this section contains printable worksheets on adjectives..

• Identifying Adjectives Worksheet

Explanation, examples, and practice identifying adjectives in sentences.

• Identifying Adjectives Worksheet Answers

Answers to the Identifying Adjectives worksheet

• Order of Adjectives Worksheet

Explanation, examples, and practice putting adjectives in the correct order.

• Comparative Adjectives Worksheet

Explanation, examples, and practice using comparative adjectives in sentences.

• Comparative Adjectives Worksheet Answers

Answers to the Comparative Adjectives worksheet

• Superlative Adjectives Worksheet

Explanation, examples, and practice using superlative adjectives in sentences.

• Superlative Adjectives Worksheet Answers

Answers to the Superlative Adjectives Worksheet.

Verbs worksheets, this section contains printable worksheets on verbs..

• Identifying Verbs Worksheet

Explanation, examples, and practice identifying verbs in sentences.

• Identifying Verbs Worksheet Answers

Adverbs Worksheets

This section contains printable worksheets on adverbs..

• Identifying Adverbs Worksheet

Explanation, examples, and practice identifying adverbs in sentences.

Answers to the identifying adverbs worksheet..

• Frequency Adverbs Worksheet

Explanation, examples, and practice identifying and using frequency adverbs in sentences. Practice involves rewriting sentences according to percentages labeled on a frequency adverbs chart. This is an excellent worksheet!

• Frequency Adverbs Worksheet Answers

Answers to the Frequency Adverbs worksheet.

Conjunctions worksheets, this section contains printable worksheets on conjunctions..

• Introduction to Conjunctions Worksheet

A brief introduction to conjunctions.

• Introduction to Conjunctions Worksheet Answers

Answers to the Introduction to Conjunctions worksheet.

• Coordinating Conjunctions Worksheet

Explanation, examples, and practice using coordinating conjunctions.

• Subordinating Conjunctions Worksheet

Explanation, examples, and practice using subordinating conjunctions.

• Correlative Conjunctions Worksheet

Explanation, examples, and practice using correlative conjunctions.

Pronouns worksheets, this section contains printable worksheets on pronouns..

• Introduction to Pronouns Worksheet

A brief introduction to pronouns.

• Introduction to Pronouns Worksheet Answers

Answers to the Introduction to Pronouns worksheet.

• Demonstrative Pronouns Worksheet

Explanation, examples, and practice using demonstrative pronouns.

• Subjective Pronouns Worksheet

Explanation, examples, and practice using subjective pronouns in sentences.

Interjections worksheets, this section contains printable worksheets on interjections..

• Identifying Interjections Worksheet

Explanation, examples, and practice identifying interjections in sentences.

• Identifying Interjections Worksheet Answers

Answers to the Identifying Interjections worksheet.

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Identifying Parts of Speech Quiz

Level:  Pre-Intermediate / Intermediate 

In this identifying parts of speech quiz you have to choose which part of speech the word highlighted in green is. 

Learn about each of these parts of speech if you are not already familiar with them.

These are the  8 parts of speech :

• Preposition
• Interjection
• Conjunction

You can also  download our quizzes .

Choose which part of speech the highlighted word is.

Adjectives describe or modify nouns and pronouns. This word is describing the earrings, so it’s an adjective.

Interjections show excitement or emotion and are not connected to the rest of the sentence. Wow is showing amazement or surprise at the score someone has got.

Prepositions show the relationship between nouns or pronouns and other words or elements in the sentence. In this case it is the relationship between the baby and where it crawled to.

Adverbs modify verbs, nouns, and other adverbs. This is modifying the verb packed.

This is an adjective again and it is describing the noun time.

Verbs show actions or states of being. There is no subject in this sentence as it is a command / instruction, so the first word is the verb.

Conjunctions join two or more words, phrases, or clauses together. This subordinating conjunction is joining two clauses.

Pronouns replace nouns. We is replacing the people the speaker is referring to.

A noun specifies people, places, things, or ideas. This noun is a thing, music.

This is a correlative conjunction.

Your Result : 0 /10

More sentence structure quizzes:.

Modal Verbs Multiple Choice Quiz

In this modal verbs multiple choice quiz, choose which of the three choices of verbs should go into the gap to make a grammatically correct sentence.

Modal Verbs of Ability Quiz: Can, Could, Be Able To

In this modal verbs of ability quiz you have to decide if can, could, or be able to will fit on the gap.

Present Continuous Tense Quiz: Negative

Take a present continuous tense quiz on the negative form, by placing the correct form of the tense into the gaps

Direct and indirect object quiz

Direct and indirect object quiz - Learn how to identify the objects within a sentence and sentences without objects.

Present Perfect Tense Exercises - Quizzes to improve your grammar

These present perfect tense exercises will improve your skills at using this tense. Place your answer into the box and click to check your score.

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Parts of Speech Questions - All Grades

You can create printable tests and worksheets from these Parts of Speech questions! Select one or more questions using the checkboxes above each question. Then click the add selected questions to a test button before moving to another page.

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Understanding the 8 Parts of Speech: Definitions and Examples

General Education

If you’re trying to learn the grammatical rules of English, you’ve probably been asked to learn the parts of speech. But what are parts of speech and how many are there? How do you know which words are classified in each part of speech?

The answers to these questions can be a bit complicated—English is a difficult language to learn and understand. Don’t fret, though! We’re going to answer each of these questions for you with a full guide to the parts of speech that explains the following:

• What the parts of speech are, including a comprehensive parts of speech list
• Parts of speech definitions for the individual parts of speech. (If you’re looking for information on a specific part of speech, you can search for it by pressing Command + F, then typing in the part of speech you’re interested in.) 
• Parts of speech examples
• A ten question quiz covering parts of speech definitions and parts of speech examples

We’ve got a lot to cover, so let’s begin!

Feature Image: (Gavina S / Wikimedia Commons)

What Are Parts of Speech? 

The parts of speech definitions in English can vary, but here’s a widely accepted one: a part of speech is a category of words that serve a similar grammatical purpose in sentences.  

To make that definition even simpler, a part of speech is just a category for similar types of words . All of the types of words included under a single part of speech function in similar ways when they’re used properly in sentences.

In the English language, it’s commonly accepted that there are 8 parts of speech: nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, conjunctions, interjections, and prepositions. Each of these categories plays a different role in communicating meaning in the English language. Each of the eight parts of speech—which we might also call the “main classes” of speech—also have subclasses. In other words, we can think of each of the eight parts of speech as being general categories for different types within their part of speech . There are different types of nouns, different types of verbs, different types of adjectives, adverbs, pronouns...you get the idea. 

And that’s an overview of what a part of speech is! Next, we’ll explain each of the 8 parts of speech—definitions and examples included for each category. 

There are tons of nouns in this picture. Can you find them all? 

Nouns are a class of words that refer, generally, to people and living creatures, objects, events, ideas, states of being, places, and actions. You’ve probably heard English nouns referred to as “persons, places, or things.” That definition is a little simplistic, though—while nouns do include people, places, and things, “things” is kind of a vague term. I t’s important to recognize that “things” can include physical things—like objects or belongings—and nonphysical, abstract things—like ideas, states of existence, and actions. 

Since there are many different types of nouns, we’ll include several examples of nouns used in a sentence while we break down the subclasses of nouns next!

Subclasses of Nouns, Including Examples

As an open class of words, the category of “nouns” has a lot of subclasses. The most common and important subclasses of nouns are common nouns, proper nouns, concrete nouns, abstract nouns, collective nouns, and count and mass nouns. Let’s break down each of these subclasses!

Common Nouns and Proper Nouns

Common nouns are generic nouns—they don’t name specific items. They refer to people (the man, the woman), living creatures (cat, bird), objects (pen, computer, car), events (party, work), ideas (culture, freedom), states of being (beauty, integrity), and places (home, neighborhood, country) in a general way. 

Proper nouns are sort of the counterpart to common nouns. Proper nouns refer to specific people, places, events, or ideas. Names are the most obvious example of proper nouns, like in these two examples: 

Common noun: What state are you from?

Proper noun: I’m from Arizona .

Whereas “state” is a common noun, Arizona is a proper noun since it refers to a specific state. Whereas “the election” is a common noun, “Election Day” is a proper noun. Another way to pick out proper nouns: the first letter is often capitalized. If you’d capitalize the word in a sentence, it’s almost always a proper noun. 

Concrete Nouns and Abstract Nouns

Concrete nouns are nouns that can be identified through the five senses. Concrete nouns include people, living creatures, objects, and places, since these things can be sensed in the physical world. In contrast to concrete nouns, abstract nouns are nouns that identify ideas, qualities, concepts, experiences, or states of being. Abstract nouns cannot be detected by the five senses. Here’s an example of concrete and abstract nouns used in a sentence: 

Concrete noun: Could you please fix the weedeater and mow the lawn ?

Abstract noun: Aliyah was delighted to have the freedom to enjoy the art show in peace .

See the difference? A weedeater and the lawn are physical objects or things, and freedom and peace are not physical objects, though they’re “things” people experience! Despite those differences, they all count as nouns. 

Collective Nouns, Count Nouns, and Mass Nouns

Nouns are often categorized based on number and amount. Collective nouns are nouns that refer to a group of something—often groups of people or a type of animal. Team , crowd , and herd are all examples of collective nouns. 

Count nouns are nouns that can appear in the singular or plural form, can be modified by numbers, and can be described by quantifying determiners (e.g. many, most, more, several). For example, “bug” is a count noun. It can occur in singular form if you say, “There is a bug in the kitchen,” but it can also occur in the plural form if you say, “There are many bugs in the kitchen.” (In the case of the latter, you’d call an exterminator...which is an example of a common noun!) Any noun that can accurately occur in one of these singular or plural forms is a count noun. 

Mass nouns are another type of noun that involve numbers and amount. Mass nouns are nouns that usually can’t be pluralized, counted, or quantified and still make sense grammatically. “Charisma” is an example of a mass noun (and an abstract noun!). For example, you could say, “They’ve got charisma, ” which doesn’t imply a specific amount. You couldn’t say, “They’ve got six charismas, ” or, “They’ve got several charismas .” It just doesn’t make sense! 

Verbs are all about action...just like these runners. 

A verb is a part of speech that, when used in a sentence, communicates an action, an occurrence, or a state of being . In sentences, verbs are the most important part of the predicate, which explains or describes what the subject of the sentence is doing or how they are being. And, guess what? All sentences contain verbs!

There are many words in the English language that are classified as verbs. A few common verbs include the words run, sing, cook, talk, and clean. These words are all verbs because they communicate an action performed by a living being. We’ll look at more specific examples of verbs as we discuss the subclasses of verbs next!

Subclasses of Verbs, Including Examples

Like nouns, verbs have several subclasses. The subclasses of verbs include copular or linking verbs, intransitive verbs, transitive verbs, and ditransitive or double transitive verbs. Let’s dive into these subclasses of verbs!

Copular or Linking Verbs

Copular verbs, or linking verbs, are verbs that link a subject with its complement in a sentence. The most familiar linking verb is probably be. Here’s a list of other common copular verbs in English: act, be, become, feel, grow, seem, smell, and taste. 

So how do copular verbs work? Well, in a sentence, if we said, “Michi is ,” and left it at that, it wouldn’t make any sense. “Michi,” the subject, needs to be connected to a complement by the copular verb “is.” Instead, we could say, “Michi is leaving.” In that instance, is links the subject of the sentence to its complement. 

Transitive Verbs, Intransitive Verbs, and Ditransitive Verbs

Transitive verbs are verbs that affect or act upon an object. When unattached to an object in a sentence, a transitive verb does not make sense. Here’s an example of a transitive verb attached to (and appearing before) an object in a sentence: 

Please take the clothes to the dry cleaners.

In this example, “take” is a transitive verb because it requires an object—”the clothes”—to make sense. “The clothes” are the objects being taken. “Please take” wouldn’t make sense by itself, would it? That’s because the transitive verb “take,” like all transitive verbs, transfers its action onto another being or object. 

Conversely, intransitive verbs don’t require an object to act upon in order to make sense in a sentence. These verbs make sense all on their own! For instance, “They ran ,” “We arrived ,” and, “The car stopped ” are all examples of sentences that contain intransitive verbs. 

Finally, ditransitive verbs, or double transitive verbs, are a bit more complicated. Ditransitive verbs are verbs that are followed by two objects in a sentence . One of the objects has the action of the ditransitive verb done to it, and the other object has the action of the ditransitive verb directed towards it. Here’s an example of what that means in a sentence: 

I cooked Nathan a meal.

In this example, “cooked” is a ditransitive verb because it modifies two objects: Nathan and meal . The meal has the action of “cooked” done to it, and “Nathan” has the action of the verb directed towards him. 

Adjectives are descriptors that help us better understand a sentence. A common adjective type is color.

#3: Adjectives

Here’s the simplest definition of adjectives: adjectives are words that describe other words . Specifically, adjectives modify nouns and noun phrases. In sentences, adjectives appear before nouns and pronouns (they have to appear before the words they describe!). 

Adjectives give more detail to nouns and pronouns by describing how a noun looks, smells, tastes, sounds, or feels, or its state of being or existence. . For example, you could say, “The girl rode her bike.” That sentence doesn’t have any adjectives in it, but you could add an adjective before both of the nouns in the sentence—”girl” and “bike”—to give more detail to the sentence. It might read like this: “The young girl rode her red bike.”   You can pick out adjectives in a sentence by asking the following questions: 

• Which one? 
• What kind? 
• How many? 
• Whose’s? 

We’ll look at more examples of adjectives as we explore the subclasses of adjectives next!

Subclasses of Adjectives, Including Examples

Subclasses of adjectives include adjective phrases, comparative adjectives, superlative adjectives, and determiners (which include articles, possessive adjectives, and demonstratives). 

Adjective Phrases

An adjective phrase is a group of words that describe a noun or noun phrase in a sentence. Adjective phrases can appear before the noun or noun phrase in a sentence, like in this example: 

The extremely fragile vase somehow did not break during the move.

In this case, extremely fragile describes the vase. On the other hand, adjective phrases can appear after the noun or noun phrase in a sentence as well: 

The museum was somewhat boring. 

Again, the phrase somewhat boring describes the museum. The takeaway is this: adjective phrases describe the subject of a sentence with greater detail than an individual adjective. 

Comparative Adjectives and Superlative Adjectives

Comparative adjectives are used in sentences where two nouns are compared. They function to compare the differences between the two nouns that they modify. In sentences, comparative adjectives often appear in this pattern and typically end with -er. If we were to describe how comparative adjectives function as a formula, it might look something like this: 

Noun (subject) + verb + comparative adjective + than + noun (object).

Here’s an example of how a comparative adjective would work in that type of sentence: 

The horse was faster than the dog.

The adjective faster compares the speed of the horse to the speed of the dog. Other common comparative adjectives include words that compare distance ( higher, lower, farther ), age ( younger, older ), size and dimensions ( bigger, smaller, wider, taller, shorter ), and quality or feeling ( better, cleaner, happier, angrier ). 

Superlative adjectives are adjectives that describe the extremes of a quality that applies to a subject being compared to a group of objects . Put more simply, superlative adjectives help show how extreme something is. In sentences, superlative adjectives usually appear in this structure and end in -est : 

Noun (subject) + verb + the + superlative adjective + noun (object).

Here’s an example of a superlative adjective that appears in that type of sentence: 

Their story was the funniest story. 

In this example, the subject— story —is being compared to a group of objects—other stories. The superlative adjective “funniest” implies that this particular story is the funniest out of all the stories ever, period. Other common superlative adjectives are best, worst, craziest, and happiest... though there are many more than that! 

It’s also important to know that you can often omit the object from the end of the sentence when using superlative adjectives, like this: “Their story was the funniest.” We still know that “their story” is being compared to other stories without the object at the end of the sentence.

Determiners

The last subclass of adjectives we want to look at are determiners. Determiners are words that determine what kind of reference a noun or noun phrase makes. These words are placed in front of nouns to make it clear what the noun is referring to. Determiners are an example of a part of speech subclass that contains a lot of subclasses of its own. Here is a list of the different types of determiners: 

• Definite article: the
• Indefinite articles : a, an 
• Demonstratives: this, that, these, those
• Pronouns and possessive determiners: my, your, his, her, its, our, their
• Quantifiers : a little, a few, many, much, most, some, any, enough
• Numbers: one, twenty, fifty
• Distributives: all, both, half, either, neither, each, every
• Difference words : other, another
• Pre-determiners: such, what, rather, quite

Here are some examples of how determiners can be used in sentences: 

Definite article: Get in the car.  

Demonstrative: Could you hand me that magazine?  

Possessive determiner: Please put away your clothes. 

Distributive: He ate all of the pie. 

Though some of the words above might not seem descriptive, they actually do describe the specificity and definiteness, relationship, and quantity or amount of a noun or noun phrase. For example, the definite article “the” (a type of determiner) indicates that a noun refers to a specific thing or entity. The indefinite article “an,” on the other hand, indicates that a noun refers to a nonspecific entity. 

One quick note, since English is always more complicated than it seems: while articles are most commonly classified as adjectives, they can also function as adverbs in specific situations, too. Not only that, some people are taught that determiners are their own part of speech...which means that some people are taught there are 9 parts of speech instead of 8! 

It can be a little confusing, which is why we have a whole article explaining how articles function as a part of speech to help clear things up . 

Adverbs can be used to answer questions like "when?" and "how long?"

Adverbs are words that modify verbs, adjectives (including determiners), clauses, prepositions, and sentences. Adverbs typically answer the questions how?, in what way?, when?, where?, and to what extent? In answering these questions, adverbs function to express frequency, degree, manner, time, place, and level of certainty . Adverbs can answer these questions in the form of single words, or in the form of adverbial phrases or adverbial clauses. 

Adverbs are commonly known for being words that end in -ly, but there’s actually a bit more to adverbs than that, which we’ll dive into while we look at the subclasses of adverbs!

Subclasses Of Adverbs, Including Examples

There are many types of adverbs, but the main subclasses we’ll look at are conjunctive adverbs, and adverbs of place, time, manner, degree, and frequency. 

Conjunctive Adverbs

Conjunctive adverbs look like coordinating conjunctions (which we’ll talk about later!), but they are actually their own category: conjunctive adverbs are words that connect independent clauses into a single sentence . These adverbs appear after a semicolon and before a comma in sentences, like in these two examples: 

She was exhausted; nevertheless , she went for a five mile run. 

They didn’t call; instead , they texted.  

Though conjunctive adverbs are frequently used to create shorter sentences using a semicolon and comma, they can also appear at the beginning of sentences, like this: 

He chopped the vegetables. Meanwhile, I boiled the pasta.  

One thing to keep in mind is that conjunctive adverbs come with a comma. When you use them, be sure to include a comma afterward! 

There are a lot of conjunctive adverbs, but some common ones include also, anyway, besides, finally, further, however, indeed, instead, meanwhile, nevertheless, next, nonetheless, now, otherwise, similarly, then, therefore, and thus.  

Adverbs of Place, Time, Manner, Degree, and Frequency

There are also adverbs of place, time, manner, degree, and frequency. Each of these types of adverbs express a different kind of meaning. 

Adverbs of place express where an action is done or where an event occurs. These are used after the verb, direct object, or at the end of a sentence. A sentence like “She walked outside to watch the sunset” uses outside as an adverb of place. 

Adverbs of time explain when something happens. These adverbs are used at the beginning or at the end of sentences. In a sentence like “The game should be over soon,” soon functions as an adverb of time. 

Adverbs of manner describe the way in which something is done or how something happens. These are the adverbs that usually end in the familiar -ly.  If we were to write “She quickly finished her homework,” quickly is an adverb of manner. 

Adverbs of degree tell us the extent to which something happens or occurs. If we were to say “The play was quite interesting,” quite tells us the extent of how interesting the play was. Thus, quite is an adverb of degree.  

Finally, adverbs of frequency express how often something happens . In a sentence like “They never know what to do with themselves,” never is an adverb of frequency. 

Five subclasses of adverbs is a lot, so we’ve organized the words that fall under each category in a nifty table for you here: 

It’s important to know about these subclasses of adverbs because many of them don’t follow the old adage that adverbs end in -ly. 

Here's a helpful list of pronouns. (Attanata / Flickr )

#5: Pronouns

Pronouns are words that can be substituted for a noun or noun phrase in a sentence . Pronouns function to make sentences less clunky by allowing people to avoid repeating nouns over and over. For example, if you were telling someone a story about your friend Destiny, you wouldn’t keep repeating their name over and over again every time you referred to them. Instead, you’d use a pronoun—like they or them—to refer to Destiny throughout the story. 

Pronouns are typically short words, often only two or three letters long. The most familiar pronouns in the English language are they, she, and he. But these aren’t the only pronouns. There are many more pronouns in English that fall under different subclasses!

Subclasses of Pronouns, Including Examples

There are many subclasses of pronouns, but the most commonly used subclasses are personal pronouns, possessive pronouns, demonstrative pronouns, indefinite pronouns, and interrogative pronouns. 

Personal Pronouns

Personal pronouns are probably the most familiar type of pronoun. Personal pronouns include I, me, you, she, her, him, he, we, us, they, and them. These are called personal pronouns because they refer to a person! Personal pronouns can replace specific nouns in sentences, like a person’s name, or refer to specific groups of people, like in these examples: 

Did you see Gia pole vault at the track meet? Her form was incredible!

The Cycling Club is meeting up at six. They said they would be at the park. 

In both of the examples above, a pronoun stands in for a proper noun to avoid repetitiveness. Her replaces Gia in the first example, and they replaces the Cycling Club in the second example. 

(It’s also worth noting that personal pronouns are one of the easiest ways to determine what point of view a writer is using.) 

Possessive Pronouns

Possessive pronouns are used to indicate that something belongs to or is the possession of someone. The possessive pronouns fall into two categories: limiting and absolute. In a sentence, absolute possessive pronouns can be substituted for the thing that belongs to a person, and limiting pronouns cannot. 

The limiting pronouns are my, your, its, his, her, our, their, and whose, and the absolute pronouns are mine, yours, his, hers, ours, and theirs . Here are examples of a limiting possessive pronoun and absolute possessive pronoun used in a sentence: 

Limiting possessive pronoun: Juan is fixing his car. 

In the example above, the car belongs to Juan, and his is the limiting possessive pronoun that shows the car belongs to Juan. Now, here’s an example of an absolute pronoun in a sentence: 

Absolute possessive pronoun: Did you buy your tickets ? We already bought ours . 

In this example, the tickets belong to whoever we is, and in the second sentence, ours is the absolute possessive pronoun standing in for the thing that “we” possess—the tickets. 

Demonstrative Pronouns, Interrogative Pronouns, and Indefinite Pronouns

Demonstrative pronouns include the words that, this, these, and those. These pronouns stand in for a noun or noun phrase that has already been mentioned in a sentence or conversation. This and these are typically used to refer to objects or entities that are nearby distance-wise, and that and those usually refer to objects or entities that are farther away. Here’s an example of a demonstrative pronoun used in a sentence: 

The books are stacked up in the garage. Can you put those away? 

The books have already been mentioned, and those is the demonstrative pronoun that stands in to refer to them in the second sentence above. The use of those indicates that the books aren’t nearby—they’re out in the garage. Here’s another example: 

Do you need shoes? Here...you can borrow these. 

In this sentence, these refers to the noun shoes. Using the word these tells readers that the shoes are nearby...maybe even on the speaker’s feet! 

Indefinite pronouns are used when it isn’t necessary to identify a specific person or thing . The indefinite pronouns are one, other, none, some, anybody, everybody, and no one. Here’s one example of an indefinite pronoun used in a sentence: 

Promise you can keep a secret? 

Of course. I won’t tell anyone. 

In this example, the person speaking in the second two sentences isn’t referring to any particular people who they won’t tell the secret to. They’re saying that, in general, they won’t tell anyone . That doesn’t specify a specific number, type, or category of people who they won’t tell the secret to, which is what makes the pronoun indefinite. 

Finally, interrogative pronouns are used in questions, and these pronouns include who, what, which, and whose. These pronouns are simply used to gather information about specific nouns—persons, places, and ideas. Let’s look at two examples of interrogative pronouns used in sentences: 

Do you remember which glass was mine? 

What time are they arriving? 

In the first glass, the speaker wants to know more about which glass belongs to whom. In the second sentence, the speaker is asking for more clarity about a specific time. 

Conjunctions hook phrases and clauses together so they fit like pieces of a puzzle.

#6: Conjunctions

Conjunctions are words that are used to connect words, phrases, clauses, and sentences in the English language. This function allows conjunctions to connect actions, ideas, and thoughts as well. Conjunctions are also used to make lists within sentences. (Conjunctions are also probably the most famous part of speech, since they were immortalized in the famous “Conjunction Junction” song from Schoolhouse Rock .) 

You’re probably familiar with and, but, and or as conjunctions, but let’s look into some subclasses of conjunctions so you can learn about the array of conjunctions that are out there!

Subclasses of Conjunctions, Including Examples

Coordinating conjunctions, subordinating conjunctions, and correlative conjunctions are three subclasses of conjunctions. Each of these types of conjunctions functions in a different way in sentences!

Coordinating Conjunctions

Coordinating conjunctions are probably the most familiar type of conjunction. These conjunctions include the words for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so (people often recommend using the acronym FANBOYS to remember the seven coordinating conjunctions!). 

Coordinating conjunctions are responsible for connecting two independent clauses in sentences, but can also be used to connect two words in a sentence. Here are two examples of coordinating conjunctions that connect two independent clauses in a sentence: 

He wanted to go to the movies, but he couldn’t find his car keys. 

They put on sunscreen, and they went to the beach. 

Next, here are two examples of coordinating conjunctions that connect two words: 

Would you like to cook or order in for dinner? 

The storm was loud yet refreshing. 

The two examples above show that coordinating conjunctions can connect different types of words as well. In the first example, the coordinating conjunction “or” connects two verbs; in the second example, the coordinating conjunction “yet” connects two adjectives. 

But wait! Why does the first set of sentences have commas while the second set of sentences doesn’t? When using a coordinating conjunction, put a comma before the conjunction when it’s connecting two complete sentences . Otherwise, there’s no comma necessary. 

Subordinating Conjunctions

Subordinating conjunctions are used to link an independent clause to a dependent clause in a sentence. This type of conjunction always appears at the beginning of a dependent clause, which means that subordinating conjunctions can appear at the beginning of a sentence or in the middle of a sentence following an independent clause. (If you’re unsure about what independent and dependent clauses are, be sure to check out our guide to compound sentences.) 

Here is an example of a subordinating conjunction that appears at the beginning of a sentence: 

Because we were hungry, we ordered way too much food. 

Now, here’s an example of a subordinating conjunction that appears in the middle of a sentence, following an independent clause and a comma: 

Rakim was scared after the power went out. 

See? In the example above, the subordinating conjunction after connects the independent clause Rakim was scared to the dependent clause after the power went out. Subordinating conjunctions include (but are not limited to!) the following words: after, as, because, before, even though, one, since, unless, until, whenever, and while. 

Correlative Conjunctions

Finally, correlative conjunctions are conjunctions that come in pairs, like both/and, either/or, and neither/nor. The two correlative conjunctions that come in a pair must appear in different parts of a sentence to make sense— they correlate the meaning in one part of the sentence with the meaning in another part of the sentence . Makes sense, right? 

Here are two examples of correlative conjunctions used in a sentence: 

We’re either going to the Farmer’s Market or the Natural Grocer’s for our shopping today. 

They’re going to have to get dog treats for both Piper and Fudge. 

Other pairs of correlative conjunctions include as many/as, not/but, not only/but also, rather/than, such/that, and whether/or. 

Interjections are single words that express emotions that end in an exclamation point. Cool!

#7: Interjections 

Interjections are words that often appear at the beginning of sentences or between sentences to express emotions or sentiments such as excitement, surprise, joy, disgust, anger, or even pain. Commonly used interjections include wow!, yikes!, ouch!, or ugh! One clue that an interjection is being used is when an exclamation point appears after a single word (but interjections don’t have to be followed by an exclamation point). And, since interjections usually express emotion or feeling, they’re often referred to as being exclamatory. Wow! 

Interjections don’t come together with other parts of speech to form bigger grammatical units, like phrases or clauses. There also aren’t strict rules about where interjections should appear in relation to other sentences . While it’s common for interjections to appear before sentences that describe an action or event that the interjection helps explain, interjections can appear after sentences that contain the action they’re describing as well. 

Subclasses of Interjections, Including Examples

There are two main subclasses of interjections: primary interjections and secondary interjections. Let’s take a look at these two types of interjections!

Primary Interjections  

Primary interjections are single words, like oh!, wow!, or ouch! that don’t enter into the actual structure of a sentence but add to the meaning of a sentence. Here’s an example of how a primary interjection can be used before a sentence to add to the meaning of the sentence that follows it: 

Ouch ! I just burned myself on that pan!

While someone who hears, I just burned myself on that pan might assume that the person who said that is now in pain, the interjection Ouch! makes it clear that burning oneself on the pan definitely was painful. 

Secondary Interjections

Secondary interjections are words that have other meanings but have evolved to be used like interjections in the English language and are often exclamatory. Secondary interjections can be mixed with greetings, oaths, or swear words. In many cases, the use of secondary interjections negates the original meaning of the word that is being used as an interjection. Let’s look at a couple of examples of secondary interjections here: 

Well , look what the cat dragged in!

Heck, I’d help if I could, but I’ve got to get to work. 

You probably know that the words well and heck weren’t originally used as interjections in the English language. Well originally meant that something was done in a good or satisfactory way, or that a person was in good health. Over time and through repeated usage, it’s come to be used as a way to express emotion, such as surprise, anger, relief, or resignation, like in the example above. 

This is a handy list of common prepositional phrases. (attanatta / Flickr) 

#8: Prepositions

The last part of speech we’re going to define is the preposition. Prepositions are words that are used to connect other words in a sentence—typically nouns and verbs—and show the relationship between those words. Prepositions convey concepts such as comparison, position, place, direction, movement, time, possession, and how an action is completed. 

Subclasses of Prepositions, Including Examples

The subclasses of prepositions are simple prepositions, double prepositions, participle prepositions, and prepositional phrases. 

Simple Prepositions

Simple prepositions appear before and between nouns, adjectives, or adverbs in sentences to convey relationships between people, living creatures, things, or places . Here are a couple of examples of simple prepositions used in sentences: 

I’ll order more ink before we run out. 

Your phone was beside your wallet. 

In the first example, the preposition before appears between the noun ink and the personal pronoun we to convey a relationship. In the second example, the preposition beside appears between the verb was and the possessive pronoun your.

In both examples, though, the prepositions help us understand how elements in the sentence are related to one another. In the first sentence, we know that the speaker currently has ink but needs more before it’s gone. In the second sentence, the preposition beside helps us understand how the wallet and the phone are positioned relative to one another! 

Double Prepositions

Double prepositions are exactly what they sound like: two prepositions joined together into one unit to connect phrases, nouns, and pronouns with other words in a sentence. Common examples of double prepositions include outside of, because of, according to, next to, across from, and on top of. Here is an example of a double preposition in a sentence: 

I thought you were sitting across from me. 

You see? Across and from both function as prepositions individually. When combined together in a sentence, they create a double preposition. (Also note that the prepositions help us understand how two people— you and I— are positioned with one another through spacial relationship.)  

Prepositional Phrases

Finally, prepositional phrases are groups of words that include a preposition and a noun or pronoun. Typically, the noun or pronoun that appears after the preposition in a prepositional phrase is called the object of the preposition. The object always appears at the end of the prepositional phrase. Additionally, prepositional phrases never include a verb or a subject. Here are two examples of prepositional phrases: 

The cat sat under the chair . 

In the example above, “under” is the preposition, and “the chair” is the noun, which functions as the object of the preposition. Here’s one more example: 

We walked through the overgrown field . 

Now, this example demonstrates one more thing you need to know about prepositional phrases: they can include an adjective before the object. In this example, “through” is the preposition, and “field” is the object. “Overgrown” is an adjective that modifies “the field,” and it’s quite common for adjectives to appear in prepositional phrases like the one above. 

While that might sound confusing, don’t worry: the key is identifying the preposition in the first place! Once you can find the preposition, you can start looking at the words around it to see if it forms a compound preposition, a double preposition of a prepositional phrase. 

10 Question Quiz: Test Your Knowledge of Parts of Speech Definitions and Examples

Since we’ve covered a lot of material about the 8 parts of speech with examples ( a lot of them!), we want to give you an opportunity to review and see what you’ve learned! While it might seem easier to just use a parts of speech finder instead of learning all this stuff, our parts of speech quiz can help you continue building your knowledge of the 8 parts of speech and master each one. 

Are you ready? Here we go:  

1) What are the 8 parts of speech? 

a) Noun, article, adverb, antecedent, verb, adjective, conjunction, interjection b) Noun, pronoun, verb, adverb, determiner, clause, adjective, preposition c) Noun, verb, adjective, adverb, pronoun, conjunction, interjection, preposition

2) Which parts of speech have subclasses?

a) Nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs b) Nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, conjunctions, and prepositions c) All of them! There are many types of words within each part of speech.

3) What is the difference between common nouns and proper nouns?

a) Common nouns don’t refer to specific people, places, or entities, but proper nouns do refer to specific people, places, or entities.  b) Common nouns refer to regular, everyday people, places, or entities, but proper nouns refer to famous people, places, or entities.  c) Common nouns refer to physical entities, like people, places, and objects, but proper nouns refer to nonphysical entities, like feelings, ideas, and experiences.

4) In which of the following sentences is the emboldened word a verb?

a) He was frightened by the horror film .   b) He adjusted his expectations after the first plan fell through.  c) She walked briskly to get there on time.

5) Which of the following is a correct definition of adjectives, and what other part of speech do adjectives modify?

a) Adjectives are describing words, and they modify nouns and noun phrases.  b) Adjectives are describing words, and they modify verbs and adverbs.  c) Adjectives are describing words, and they modify nouns, verbs, and adverbs.

6) Which of the following describes the function of adverbs in sentences?

a) Adverbs express frequency, degree, manner, time, place, and level of certainty. b) Adverbs express an action performed by a subject.  c) Adverbs describe nouns and noun phrases.

7) Which of the following answers contains a list of personal pronouns?

a) This, that, these, those b) I, you, me, we, he, she, him, her, they, them c) Who, what, which, whose

8) Where do interjections typically appear in a sentence?

a) Interjections can appear at the beginning of or in between sentences. b) Interjections appear at the end of sentences.  c) Interjections appear in prepositional phrases.

9) Which of the following sentences contains a prepositional phrase?

a) The dog happily wagged his tail.  b) The cow jumped over the moon.  c) She glared, angry that he forgot the flowers.

10) Which of the following is an accurate definition of a “part of speech”?

a) A category of words that serve a similar grammatical purpose in sentences. b) A category of words that are of similar length and spelling. c) A category of words that mean the same thing.

So, how did you do? If you got 1C, 2C, 3A, 4B, 5A, 6A, 7B, 8A, 9B, and 10A, you came out on top! There’s a lot to remember where the parts of speech are concerned, and if you’re looking for more practice like our quiz, try looking around for parts of speech games or parts of speech worksheets online!

What’s Next?

You might be brushing up on your grammar so you can ace the verbal portions of the SAT or ACT. Be sure you check out our guides to the grammar you need to know before you tackle those tests! Here’s our expert guide to the grammar rules you need to know for the SAT , and this article teaches you the 14 grammar rules you’ll definitely see on the ACT.

When you have a good handle on parts of speech, it can make writing essays tons easier. Learn how knowing parts of speech can help you get a perfect 12 on the ACT Essay (or an 8/8/8 on the SAT Essay ).

While we’re on the topic of grammar: keep in mind that knowing grammar rules is only part of the battle when it comes to the verbal and written portions of the SAT and ACT. Having a good vocabulary is also important to making the perfect score ! Here are 262 vocabulary words you need to know before you tackle your standardized tests.

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Ashley Sufflé Robinson has a Ph.D. in 19th Century English Literature. As a content writer for PrepScholar, Ashley is passionate about giving college-bound students the in-depth information they need to get into the school of their dreams.

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Parts of Speech Worksheets

Parts of speech refer to the functions of words in a sentence. There are eight general classifications for words: nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections. Students gain a better understanding of grammar and sentence structure by understanding these basic components. Below are the categories for the parts of speech. To view the grammar worksheets in each category, simply click on the title. You may use them for free at home or in class. After viewing our parts of speech activities please check out all of our grammar worksheets .

Adjectives Worksheets

Adverb Worksheets

Here you’ll find helpful adverb worksheets to use at home or in the classroom!

Conjunction Worksheets

Free, printable conjunction worksheets to help develop strong skills in grammar and language. Learn about the conjunction and the different types of a conjunction.

Interjection Worksheets

Noun Worksheets

Preposition Worksheets

Pronoun Worksheets

Verb Worksheets

Parts of Speech - English Grammar - Verbal - Notes, Videos & Tests

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Verbal Ability Practice Quiz | Parts of Speech

Last updated on 20 july 2022 by eazyprep.

Welcome to Verbal Ability Practice Quiz | Parts of Speech

The following quiz will have 5-10 Parts of Speech Questions . The questions are framed to test your Verbal Ability skills.

Parts of Speech are the basic starting point for English Grammar. In this Quiz, you will get a sentence where you have to identify the correct usage of the Parts of Speech. Parts of Speech Questions for competitive exams are one of the most important parts of the verbal ability section of English for Entrance Exams.

This quiz is intended to provide you with a quick and thorough revision of the concept of Parts of Speech. If you score less, please do not lose heart. Read the answers and the explanations provided to remember better. If you would like to ask anything or give us any feedback, leave a comment below and we will respond.

Before attempting the quiz, make sure to check out the Parts of Speech Concept Article

Hope you enjoy this quiz. If you like it, then please share it. Thank you.

I bought a beautiful dress from the shop at the mall.

Alas! The soldier who fought valiantly is dead.

The bookshop is just round the corner.

They while their evenings away on books and games.

The Muslims fast in the month of Ramzan.

He kept the fast for a week.

That girl is very clever.

The round figure drawn in the book is a circle.

Did the injured guy come round ?

I went to Madras and met my friend.

Please click on Submit to see solutions and a detailed analysis of your performance.

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More Verbal Ability Quizzes:

• Subject Verb Agreement MCQ | Practice Exercise
• Parallelism | Sentence Correction Questions | Practice Exercise
• Para Jumbles Questions | Practice Exercise
• Sentence Correction Modifiers | Practice Exercise
• Preposition Test for Competitive Exams | Practice Exercise
• Article Questions for Competitive Exams| Practice Exercise
• Noun Questions for Competitive Exams | Practice Exercise
• Reading Comprehension Test | RC Practice Questions 1
• Reading Comprehension Test | RC Practice Questions 2
• Reading Comprehension Test | RC Practice Questions 3
• Reading Comprehension Test | RC Practice Questions 4
• Reading Comprehension Test | RC Practice Questions 5

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Understanding the Parts of Speech in English

Yes, the parts of speech in English are extensive and complex. But we’ve made it easy for you to start learning them by gathering the most basic and essential information in this easy-to-follow and comprehensive guide.

Parts of Speech: Quick Summary

Parts of speech assign words to different categories. There are eight different types in English. Keep in mind that a word can belong to more than one part of speech.

Learn About:

• Parts of Speech
• Prepositions
• Conjunctions
• Interjections

Using the Parts of Speech Correctly In Your Writing

Knowing the parts of speech is vital when learning a new language.

When it comes to learning a new language, there are several components you should understand to truly get a grasp of the language and speak it fluently.

It’s not enough to become an expert in just one area. For instance, you can learn and memorize all the intricate grammar rules, but if you don’t practice speaking or writing colloquially, you will find it challenging to use that language in real time.

Conversely, if you don’t spend time trying to learn the rules and technicalities of a language, you’ll also find yourself struggling to use it correctly.

Think of it this way: Language is a tasty, colorful, and nutritious salad. If you fill your bowl with nothing but lettuce, your fluency will be bland, boring, and tasteless. But if you spend time cultivating other ingredients for your salad—like style, word choice, and vocabulary— then it will become a wholesome meal you can share with others.

In this blog post, we’re going to cover one of the many ingredients you’ll need to build a nourishing salad of the English language—the parts of speech.

Let’s get choppin’!

What Are the Parts of Speech in English?

The parts of speech refer to categories to which a word belongs. In English, there are eight of them : verbs , nouns, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections.

Many English words fall into more than one part of speech category. Take the word light as an example. It can function as a verb, noun, or adjective.

Verb: Can you please light the candles?

Noun: The room was filled with a dim, warm light .

Adjective: She wore a light jacket in the cool weather.

The parts of speech in English are extensive. There’s a lot to cover in each category—much more than we can in this blog post. The information below is simply a brief overview of the basics of the parts of speech. Nevertheless, the concise explanations and accompanying example sentences will help you gain an understanding of how to use them correctly.

What Are Verbs?

Verbs are the most essential parts of speech because they move the meaning of sentences along.

A verb can show actions of the body and mind ( jump and think ), occurrences ( happen or occur ), and states of being ( be and exist ). Put differently, verbs breathe life into sentences by describing actions or indicating existence. These parts of speech can also change form to express time , person , number , voice , and mood .

There are several verb categories. A few of them are:

• Regular and irregular verbs
• Transitive and intransitive verbs
• Auxiliary verbs

A few examples of verbs include sing (an irregular action verb), have (which can be a main verb or auxiliary verb), be , which is a state of being verb, and would (another auxiliary verb).

My little sister loves to sing .

I have a dog and her name is Sweet Pea.

I will be there at 5 P.M.

I would like to travel the world someday.

Again, these are just the very basics of English verbs. There’s a lot more that you should learn to be well-versed in this part of speech, but the information above is a good place to start.

What Are Nouns?

Nouns refer to people ( John and child ), places ( store and Italy ), things ( firetruck and pen ), and ideas or concepts ( love and balance ). There are also many categories within nouns. For example, proper nouns name a specific person, place, thing, or idea. These types of nouns are always capitalized.

Olivia is turning five in a few days.

My dream is to visit Tokyo .

The Supreme Court is the highest court in the United States.

Some argue that Buddhism is a way of life, not a religion.

On the other hand, common nouns are not specific to any particular entity and are used to refer to any member of a general category.

My teacher is the smartest, most caring person I know!

I love roaming around a city I’ve never been to before.

This is my favorite book , which was recommended to me by my father.

There’s nothing more important to me than love .

Nouns can be either singular or plural. Singular nouns refer to a single entity, while plural nouns refer to multiple entities.

Can you move that chair out of the way, please? (Singular)

Can you move those chairs out of the way, please? (Plural)

While many plural nouns are formed by adding an “–s” or “–es,” others have irregular plural forms, meaning they don’t follow the typical pattern.

There was one woman waiting in line.

There were several women waiting in line.

Nouns can also be countable or uncountable . Those that are countable refer to nouns that can be counted as individual units. For example, there can be one book, two books, three books, or more. Uncountable nouns cannot be counted as individual units. Take the word water as an example. You could say I drank some water, but it would be incorrect to say I drank waters. Instead, you would say something like I drank several bottles of water.

What Are Pronouns?

A pronoun is a word that can take the place of other nouns or noun phrases. Pronouns serve the purpose of referring to nouns without having to repeat the word each time. A word (or group of words) that a pronoun refers to is called the antecedent .

Jessica went to the store, and she bought some blueberries.

In the sentence above, Jessica is the antecedent, and she is the referring pronoun. Here’s the same sentence without the proper use of a pronoun:

Jessica went to the store, and Jessica bought some blueberries.

Do you see how the use of a pronoun improves the sentence by avoiding repetitiveness?

Like all the other parts of speech we have covered, pronouns also have various categories.

Personal pronouns replace specific people or things: I, me, you, he, she, him, her, it, we, us, they, them.

When I saw them at the airport, I waved my hands up in the air so they could see me .

Possessive pronouns indicate ownership : mine, ours, yours, his, hers, theirs, whose.

I think that phone is hers .

Reflexive pronouns refer to the subject of a sentence or clause. They are used when the subject and the object of a sentence refer to the same person or thing: myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves.

The iguanas sunned themselves on the roof of my car.

Intensive pronouns have the same form as reflexive pronouns and are used to emphasize or intensify the subject of a sentence.

I will take care of this situation myself .

Indefinite pronouns do not refer to specific individuals or objects but rather to a general or unspecified person, thing, or group. Some examples include someone, everybody, anything, nobody, each, something, and all.

Everybody enjoyed the party. Someone even said it was the best party they had ever attended.

Demonstrative pronouns are used to identify or point to specific pronouns: this, that, these, those.

Can you pick up those pens off the floor?

Interrogative pronouns are used to ask questions and seek information: who, whom, whose, which, what.

Who can help move these heavy boxes?

Relative pronouns connect a clause or a phrase to a noun or pronoun: who, whom, whose, which, that, what, whoever, whichever, whatever.

Christina, who is the hiring manager, is the person whom you should get in touch with.

Reciprocal pronouns are used to refer to individual parts of a plural antecedent. They indicate a mutual or reciprocal relationship between two or more people or things: each other or one another.

The cousins always giggle and share secrets with one another .  

What Are Adjectives?

Adjectives modify nouns or pronouns, usually by describing, identifying, or quantifying them. They play a vital role in adding detail, precision, and imagery to English, allowing us to depict and differentiate the qualities of people, objects, places, and ideas.

The blue house sticks out compared to the other neutral-colored ones. (Describes)

That house is pretty, but I don’t like the color. (Identifies)

There were several houses I liked, but the blue one was unique. (Quantifies)

We should note that identifying or quantifying adjectives are also referred to as determiners. Additionally, articles ( a, an, the ) and numerals ( four or third ) are also used to quantify and identify adjectives.

Descriptive adjectives have other forms (known as comparative and superlative adjectives ) that allow for comparisons. For example, the comparative of the word small is smaller, while the superlative is smallest.

Proper adjectives (which are derived from proper nouns) describe specific nouns. They usually retain the same spelling or are slightly modified, but they’re always capitalized. For example, the proper noun France can be turned into the proper adjective French.

What Are Adverbs?

Adverbs are words that modify or describe verbs, adjectives, other adverbs, or entire clauses. Although many adverbs end in “–ly,” not all of them do. Also, some words that end in “–ly” are adjectives, not adverbs ( lovely ).

She dances beautifully .

In the sentence above, beautifully modifies the verb dances.

We visited an extremely tall building.

Here, the adverb extremely modifies the adjective tall.

He had to run very quickly to not miss the train.

The adverb very modifies the adverb quickly.

Interestingly , the experiment yielded unexpected results that left us baffled.

In this example, the word interestingly modifies the independent clause that comprises the rest of the sentence (which is why they’re called sentence adverbs ).

Like adjectives, adverbs can also have other forms when making comparisons. For example:

strongly, more strongly, most strongly, less strongly, least strongly

What Are Prepositions?

Prepositions provide context and establish relationships between nouns, pronouns, and other words in a sentence. They indicate time, location, direction, manner, and other vital information. Prepositions can fall into several subcategories. For instance, on can indicate physical location, but it can also be used to express time.

Place the bouquet of roses on the table.

We will meet on Monday.

There are many prepositions. A few examples include: about, above, across, after, before, behind, beneath, beside, during, except, for, from, in, inside, into, like, near, of, off, onto, past, regarding, since, through, toward, under, until, with, without.

Prepositions can contain more than one word, like according to and with regard to.

What Are Conjunctions?

Conjunctions are words that join words, phrases, or clauses together within a sentence and provide information about the relationship between those words. There are different types of conjunctions.

Coordinating conjunctions connect words, phrases, or clauses of equal importance: and, but, for, not, or, so, yet.

I like to sing, and she likes to dance.

Correlative conjunctions come in pairs and join balanced elements of a sentence: both…and, just as…so, not only…but also, either…or, neither…nor, whether…or.

You can either come with us and have fun, or stay at home and be bored.

Subordinating conjunctions connect dependent clauses to independent clauses. A few examples include: after, although, even though, since, unless, until, when , and while.

They had a great time on their stroll, even though it started raining and they got soaked.

Conjunctive adverbs are adverbs that function as conjunctions, connecting independent clauses or sentences. Examples of conjunctive adverbs are also, anyway, besides, however, meanwhile, nevertheless, otherwise, similarly, and therefore .

I really wanted to go to the party. However , I was feeling sick and decided to stay in.

I really wanted to go to the party; however , I was feeling sick and decided to stay in.

What Are Interjections?

Interjections are words that express strong emotions, sudden reactions, or exclamations. This part of speech is usually a standalone word or phrase, but even when it is  part of a sentence, it does not relate grammatically to the rest of .

There are several interjections. Examples include: ahh, alas, bravo, eww, hello, please, thanks, and oops.

Ahh ! I couldn’t believe what was happening.

When it comes to improving your writing skills, understanding the parts of speech is as important as adding other ingredients besides lettuce to a salad.

The information provided above is indeed extensive, but it’s critical to learn if you want to write effectively and confidently. LanguageTool—a multilingual writing assistant—makes comprehending the parts of speech easy by detecting errors as you write.

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• English Grammar
• Parts of Speech

Parts of Speech - Definition, 8 Types and Examples

In the English language , every word is called a part of speech. The role a word plays in a sentence denotes what part of speech it belongs to. Explore the definition of parts of speech, the different parts of speech and examples in this article.

Table of Contents

Parts of speech definition, different parts of speech with examples.

• Sentences Examples for the 8 Parts of Speech

A Small Exercise to Check Your Understanding of Parts of Speech

Frequently asked questions on parts of speech, what is a part of speech.

Parts of speech are among the first grammar topics we learn when we are in school or when we start our English language learning process. Parts of speech can be defined as words that perform different roles in a sentence. Some parts of speech can perform the functions of other parts of speech too.

• The Oxford Learner’s Dictionary defines parts of speech as “one of the classes into which words are divided according to their grammar, such as noun, verb, adjective, etc.”
• The Cambridge Dictionary also gives a similar definition – “One of the grammatical groups into which words are divided, such as noun, verb, and adjective”.

Parts of speech include nouns, pronouns, verbs, adverbs, adjectives, prepositions, conjunctions and interjections.

8 Parts of Speech Definitions and Examples:

1. Nouns are words that are used to name people, places, animals, ideas and things. Nouns can be classified into two main categories: Common nouns and Proper nouns . Common nouns are generic like ball, car, stick, etc., and proper nouns are more specific like Charles, The White House, The Sun, etc.

Examples of nouns used in sentences:

• She bought a pair of shoes . (thing)
• I have a pet. (animal)
• Is this your book ? (object)
• Many people have a fear of darkness . (ideas/abstract nouns)
• He is my brother . (person)
• This is my school . (place)

Also, explore Singular Nouns and Plural Nouns .

2. Pronouns are words that are used to substitute a noun in a sentence. There are different types of pronouns. Some of them are reflexive pronouns, possessive pronouns , relative pronouns and indefinite pronouns . I, he, she, it, them, his, yours, anyone, nobody, who, etc., are some of the pronouns.

Examples of pronouns used in sentences:

• I reached home at six in the evening. (1st person singular pronoun)
• Did someone see a red bag on the counter? (Indefinite pronoun)
• Is this the boy who won the first prize? (Relative pronoun)
• That is my mom. (Possessive pronoun)
• I hurt myself yesterday when we were playing cricket. (Reflexive pronoun)

3. Verbs are words that denote an action that is being performed by the noun or the subject in a sentence. They are also called action words. Some examples of verbs are read, sit, run, pick, garnish, come, pitch, etc.

Examples of verbs used in sentences:

• She plays cricket every day.
• Darshana and Arul are going to the movies.
• My friends visited me last week.
• Did you have your breakfast?
• My name is Meenakshi Kishore.

4. Adverbs are words that are used to provide more information about verbs, adjectives and other adverbs used in a sentence. There are five main types of adverbs namely, adverbs of manner , adverbs of degree , adverbs of frequency , adverbs of time and adverbs of place . Some examples of adverbs are today, quickly, randomly, early, 10 a.m. etc.

Examples of adverbs used in sentences:

• Did you come here to buy an umbrella? (Adverb of place)
• I did not go to school yesterday as I was sick. (Adverb of time)
• Savio reads the newspaper everyday . (Adverb of frequency)
• Can you please come quickly ? (Adverb of manner)
• Tony was so sleepy that he could hardly keep his eyes open during the meeting. (Adverb of degree)

5. Adjectives are words that are used to describe or provide more information about the noun or the subject in a sentence. Some examples of adjectives include good, ugly, quick, beautiful, late, etc.

Examples of adjectives used in sentences:

• The place we visited yesterday was serene .
• Did you see how big that dog was?
• The weather is pleasant today.
• The red dress you wore on your birthday was lovely.
• My brother had only one chapati for breakfast.

6. Prepositions are words that are used to link one part of the sentence to another. Prepositions show the position of the object or subject in a sentence. Some examples of prepositions are in, out, besides, in front of, below, opposite, etc.

Examples of prepositions used in sentences:

• The teacher asked the students to draw lines on the paper so that they could write in straight lines.
• The child hid his birthday presents under his bed.
• Mom asked me to go to the store near my school.
• The thieves jumped over the wall and escaped before we could reach home.

7. Conjunctions are a part of speech that is used to connect two different parts of a sentence, phrases and clauses . Some examples of conjunctions are and, or, for, yet, although, because, not only, etc.

Examples of conjunctions used in sentences:

• Meera and Jasmine had come to my birthday party.
• Jane did not go to work as she was sick.
• Unless you work hard, you cannot score good marks.
• I have not finished my project,  yet I went out with my friends.

8. Interjections are words that are used to convey strong emotions or feelings. Some examples of interjections are oh, wow, alas, yippee, etc. It is always followed by an exclamation mark.

Examples of interjections used in sentences:

• Wow ! What a wonderful work of art.
• Alas ! That is really sad.
• Yippee ! We won the match.

Sentence Examples for the 8 Parts of Speech

• Noun – Tom lives in New York .
• Pronoun – Did she find the book she was looking for?
• Verb – I reached home.
• Adverb – The tea is too hot.
• Adjective – The movie was amazing .
• Preposition – The candle was kept under the table.
• Conjunction – I was at home all day, but I am feeling very tired.
• Interjection – Oh ! I forgot to turn off the stove.

Let us find out if you have understood the different parts of speech and their functions. Try identifying which part of speech the highlighted words belong to.

• My brother came home  late .
• I am a good girl.
• This is the book I  was looking for.
• Whoa ! This is amazing .
• The climate  in  Kodaikanal is very pleasant.
• Can you please pick up Dan and me on  your way home?

Now, let us see if you got it right. Check your answers.

• My – Pronoun, Home – Noun, Late – Adverb
• Am – Verb, Good – Adjective
• I – Pronoun, Was looking – Verb
• Whoa – Interjection, Amazing – Adjective
• Climate – Noun, In – Preposition, Kodaikanal – Noun, Very – Adverb
• And – Conjunction, On – Preposition, Your – Pronoun

What are parts of speech?

The term ‘parts of speech’ refers to words that perform different functions in a sentence  in order to give the sentence a proper meaning and structure.

How many parts of speech are there?

There are 8 parts of speech in total.

What are the 8 parts of speech?

Nouns, pronouns, verbs, adverbs, adjectives, prepositions, conjunctions and interjections are the 8 parts of speech.

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Part of Speech English Grammar

Part of Speech are classed into eight categories according to their uses in a sentence. Amazingly, only eight parts of speech are used to classify hundreds of thousands of words. The challenge is that many words can be used for more than one part of speech.

1) Noun Name for a person, animal, thing, place, idea, activity. Like → John, cat, box, desert, liberty, golf

2) Adjective Modifies a noun or pronoun. Like → big, good, full

3) Adverb Modifies a verb, adverb, or adjective. Like → quickly, loudly, here

4) Preposition Precedes phrase that acts as a modifier or noun. Like → with, for, at

5) Pronoun Alternate name for a noun. Like → he, she, it

6) Verb Expresses action or existence. Like → went, purred, is

7) Conjunction Connects words, phrases, or clauses. Like → and, or, but

8) Interjection Expresses emotion. Like → Gosh! Wow! Super!

What is Noun?

• A noun is a word or group of words that names a person, place, thing, or idea.The ability to identify nouns can help us avoid errors involving plurals, possessives, subject-verb agreement, and noun-pronoun agreement.
• There are two main types of nouns: proper nouns (which name particular people, places, things, and ideas and start with a capital letter) and common nouns. Nouns are far too numerous to list, but here are some Examples:
• PROPER NOUNS: Wednesday, Microsoft, English,Kincaid Street, Taj Mahal
• COMMON NOUNS: Student, friend, actor, supervisor, kitchen, enjoyment

How can we identify nouns?

• When you think of nouns as people, places, things, or ideas, some are easy to spot
• That silly dog just ate a whole banana peel .
• Martha still believes the moon is made of cheese .
• You can identify some nouns by knowing which suffixes (word endings) are typically designated for nouns:
• ance — clearance, allowance, dissonance
• ence — credence, impatience, difference
• er — dancer, writer, marauder
• ism — imperialism, industrialism, schism
• Remember that the part of speech a given word fits into depends on its context. Words that function like nouns but look like verbs may be particularly tricky to identify. Consider the following examples:
• Jae thinks walking is the best form of exercise.
• Gavin’s job is to entertain. If you first identify the main verbs in each sentence (thinks and is), it is easier to see that walking and to entertain function as things or ideas.
• If you’re not sure whether or not a word is a noun, three noun tests can help. Nouns (with the exception of verb like nouns such as to entertain) have at least one of these traits with Examples:
• They can be plural: seven boxes , many canals , few women ,
• They can be preceded by a, an,or the: a butte , a duplicate , an engineer
• They can become possessive (once the word is in possessive form, though, it functions as an adjective): Al’s horses, children ’s habits, Europe ’s economy, essay’s length

What is a Pronoun?

• A pronoun is a word (or two) that can take the place of a noun. If the pronoun is replacing a specific noun, that noun is referred to as the “antecedent” and usually appears earlier in the sentence. Without pronouns, some sentences would get really long and awkward because we would have to repeat the same nouns. Knowing how to identify pronouns can help us avoid errors of pronoun case, noun-pronoun agreement, and subject verb agreement.
• Pronouns are generally divided into eight categories: personal, possessive, reflexive, relative, interrogative, demonstrative, reciprocal, and indefinite.

Personal Pronouns:

I, you, he, she, it, we, they (used as sentence subject) me, you, him, her, it, us, them (used as object of verb or preposition)

• I gave her the tickets.
• They seated us in the fifth row.

Possessive Pronouns:

my, your, his, her, its, our, their (used when followed by a noun) mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, theirs (used when not followed by a noun)

• My dog hasn’t been to your office since his last check-up.
• Is Stephen a friend of yours or theirs ?

Reflexive Pronouns:

myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves (used to add emphasis or refer back to the subject)

• I did it myself !
• Did your brother cut himself on the broken glass?

Relative Pronouns:

who, whom, whose, which, that (used when the antecedent appears earlier in the sentence)

• Meet the artist whose paintings hang in my living room.
• I live near the McKenzie River, which is too cold and turbulent to swim in

Interrogative Pronouns:

who, whom, whose, which, what (used for direct and indirect questions and have no antecedent)

• I wish I knew whom the judge likes best.
• What is making all that noise?

Demonstrative Pronouns:

this, these, that, those (used to specify a noun by preceding or replacing it)

• This hat is adorable!
• I like these shoes much better than those .

Reciprocal Pronouns:

each other, one another (used to refer to individual parts of a plural antecedent)

• Students are encouraged to help each other with this assignment.
• I don’t know how Agnes and Elroy would survive without one another .

Indefinite Pronouns:

each, every, everybody, everyone, anybody, anyone, somebody, someone, nobody, no one, something (always singular) both, many, few (always plural) none, all, any, some, either, neither (plural or singular, depending on the context)

• Neither graduate student wants to do all the grading by herself.
• Some people try to make everyone happy; none actually succeed.

What is an Adjective?

• An adjective is a word that describes a noun (person, place, thing, or idea). Adjectives help us communicate our ideas more precisely and artistically. By knowing how to identify adjectives, we can avoid problems such as sentence fragments, excessive wordiness, and adjective/adverb mix-ups.
• Adjectives are far too numerous to name, but here are some examples: blue, cold, ancient, frustrating, dark, stormy, delighted, afraid, hairy, stressful, bold, normal, metallic, belated, enormous, special, sober, morose, tall, likeable, flat, noisy

How can we identify Adjectives?

• Adjectives often appear immediately before the noun they modify.
• The large grey dog won the competition.
• The verdant trees are swaying in the gentle breeze.
• Adjectives may also appear later in the sentence, particularly after a linking verb (such as be, become, seem, appear, look, and feel).
• I can’t believe my brother seems so arrogant !
• The shoes I bought are gorgeous but impractical .
• Certain suffixes (word endings) also indicate that a word may be an adjective:
• able—loveable, detestable, comfortable, portable, delectable
• al—royal, special, dental, legal, dual
• ant—expectant, extant, pleasant, relevant, pursuant
• ent—decadent, excellent, intelligent, belligerent, reverent
• Adjectives are sometimes created from verbs, so also look for –ed and –ing endings:
• The fairgrounds look deserted . (People deserted the fairgrounds.)
• The painted chair belongs here. (Someone painted the chair.)
• To determine whether or not a word can be an adjective, try one of the two following tests:

If the word makes sense after extremely, it can be an adjective extremely interesting , extremely delighted If the word makes sense when it appears between an article (a, an, and the) and a noun, it can be an adjective. a delicious sandwich, an arid environment, the alleged kidnapper

What is a Verb?

• A verb is a word or group of words that expresses action or state of being. Verbs are so important that a sentence cannot be complete without at least one.Knowing how to recognize them can help us avoid common grammatical problems such as run-on sentences, sentence fragments, and subject-verb agreement errors.
• Verbs are far too numerous to list, but here are some examples: see, chase, limp, soothe, injure, write, study, learn, teach, work, pursue, dive, swim, join, go, create, laugh, juggle, eat, drink, move, grow, earn, say, think, believe, need, enjoy, do, have, be, seem, have, can, should, may, will, want, become[/su_list]

How can we identify Verbs?

If you already think of verbs as action words, some are fairly easy to spot:

Example: Jeannine throws the frisbee. Albert jumps . In other cases, the word that seems most like an action isn’t acting as a verb at all. In the following example, “skiing” is the thing Jin likes to do (a noun), and “is” expresses the state of being (the verb) of that thing.

Example: Skiing is Jin’s favorite hobby.

As sentences become more complex and less action-packed, finding verbs may be even more challenging: Example: The professor thinks we should form a study group before we take the exam.

If you’re not sure which part of the sentence is the verb, these tests usually help

1. Change the time of the sentence . The word whose form changes to show the time difference is the verb. For example, the sentences involving Jeannine, Albert, Jin, and the professor take place now (present tense). What if they took place yesterday, last week, or last year (past tense)?

Example: Jeannine threw the frisbee. Albert jumped . Skiing was Jin’s favorite hobby. The professor thought we should have formed a study group before we took the exam.

What if the sentences express ideas that will take place later this afternoon, next month, or ten years from now (future tense)?

Example: Jeannine will throw the frisbee. Albert will jump. Skiing will be Jin’s favorite hobby. The professor will think we should form a study group before we take the exam.*

*Note that, unlike the past tense, the future tense is not a good test for the latter two verbs.

2. Change the number of things the sentence is mainly about (the subject) from singular to plural or visa versa. The word in the sentence that changes form to accommodate this difference is the verb.

Example: Jeannine and Samantha throw the frisbee. Albert and his cat jump . Skiing and snowshoeing are Jin’s favorite hobbies. The professors think he should form a study group before he takes the exam.*

*Note that “should,” like many helping verbs, is unaffected by this change.

What is an Adverb?

• An adverb is a word or phrase that modifies (describes) a verb, an adjective, another adverb, or even a whole sentence. Adverbs provide information about the how, where, when, and how much of an idea. Understanding adverbs can help us avoid modifier placement errors and adjective/adverb mix-ups.

The following are examples of adverbs’ various roles as modifiers:

• verb modifier → speak clearly
• adjective modifier → very bright
• adverb modifier → too slowly
• sentence modifier → Unfortunately, we haven’t had time to process your request.

Here are some examples of the type of information adverbs provide:

• how → passively, jauntily, peacefully, regretfully, ethically, capably
• where → here, there, where, far, near, wherever, anywhere, yonder
• when → yesterday, today, tomorrow, late, early, afterward, now, soon
• how much → too, very, so, extremely, totally, frequently, partially, fully, somewhat

How Can We Identify Adverbs?

As the examples above show, many adverbs end in –ly, so look for this ending as a clue. In particular, adverbs that show the “how” of an idea are formed by adding –ly to an adjective.

• possible →possibly
• careful → carefully
• happy → happily
• subtle → subtly
• Note: that there are exceptions to this pattern. Some – ly words, such as friendly and kindly, are adjectives, and other words, such as hard, wrong, low, and fast, take the same form as both adverbs and adjectives. Even slow and quick, which are primarily adjective forms, are commonly accepted as adverbs too. When in doubt, check a dictionary or usage guide.
• Transition words (sometimes referred to as adverbial conjunctions) form another major category of adverbs. These include words such as however, therefore, consequently, otherwise, moreover, furthermore, likewise, finally, also, and again.
• Adverbs that modify adjectives and adverbs appear immediately before those words; otherwise, adverb position is fairly flexible. If one word in a sentence may be moved around without changing the meaning of the sentence, it is likely an adverb.
• However , some examples may make this point clearer.
• Some examples, however , may make this point clearer.
• Some examples may make this point clearer, however .
• Frantically , Delaney waved her arms at the bus driver.
• Delaney frantically waved her arms at the bus driver.
• Delaney waved her arms frantically at the bus driver.

What is a Conjunction?

• A conjunction joins two or more parts of a sentence. Conjunctions provide the glue that helps us create varied and complex sentence structures. By understanding them, we can more easily avoid run-on sentences, fragments, and comma errors. Conjunctions are given below
• Coordinating conjunctions are sometimes referred to as the “fanboys” as a way to remember the first letter of each word in this category: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so
• Subordinating conjunctions are numerous, but here are some of the most common ones: after, although, because, before, even if, even though, if, if only, in order that, now that, once, since, so that, though, unless, until, when, whenever, where, whereas, while
• Correlative (item pairs): both-and, either-or, neither-nor

What is a Preposition?

• A preposition is a word (or words) that creates a relationship between a noun or pronoun and another part of the sentence. Many prepositions express relationships in time and space. Knowing how to recognize them can help us avoid errors involving subject verb agreement and pronoun case.
• There are many prepositions in English, but the following list includes some of the most common ones: about, above, according to, after, against, along with, among, around, at, before, behind, below, beside, between, beyond, by, concerning, despite, due to, during, except, for, from, in, in between, in spite of, into, near, of, off, on, on account of, onto, outside of, over, past, since, through, to, toward, under, until, up, with, without

How Can We Identify Prepositions?

Familiarize yourself with the above list. Some people remember space-related prepositions by thinking about what a squirrel can do to a tree. Here are just a few examples:

• A squirrel can go → around a tree, behind a tree. , in a tree. , toward a tree., up a tree.

In the squirrel examples, the preposition shows the relationship between the squirrel and the tree. Tree (or whatever noun or pronoun follows the preposition) is called the “object of the preposition.” The object may consist of only one word, or it may be quite long:

• Will you come with me?
• Will you come with me, my twenty-seven loud, ill-mannered, short-tempered five-year-old cousins, and the world’s largest traveling parakeet collection ?

“Prepositional phrase” is the term for a preposition and its object. Prepositional phrases may appear back to back, so the number of prepositions in a sentence is limited only by the patience of the reader and writer.

Example: I will stay with the best friend of my sister at the cabin near the river in the valley between the two most beautiful mountains in Wyoming until February despite the weather.

In some situations, it is difficult to tell whether a word is functioning as a preposition or as part of a verb. Try these tests for the word in question

• Can you replace both it and the verb with another verb? If not, the word is a preposition.
• I think I might pass out.
• I think I might faint . (out ≠ preposition)
• I passed by my old locker.
• I walked by my old locker. (by = preposition)
• Can you put an adverb between the verb and the word in question? If so, the word is a preposition.
• Turn quickly in your homework . (in ≠ preposition)
• Turn quickly in a circle. (in = preposition)
• Can you put a noun immediately in front of the word (in addition to after it)? If not, the word is a preposition.
• I’m looking up the figures.
• I’m looking the figures up . (up ≠ preposition)
• I’m looking at the giraffe.
• I’m looking the giraffe at . (at = preposition)
• If the word is to, is it followed by a verb (instead of a noun or pronoun)? If not, the word is a preposition.
• Josie drove to relax . (to ≠ preposition)
• Josie drove to the mall. (to = preposition

What is Interjection?

• Interjections are words used to express strong feeling or sudden emotion. They are included in a sentence - usually at the start - to express a sentiment such as surprise, disgust, joy, excitement or enthusiasm.An interjection is not grammatically related to any other part of the sentence

Interjections can stand alone or be part of a sentence. Expletives are interjectory words or expressions. There is no one here! Darn it!

• Yes! It’s me.
• Hey! Get off that floor!
• Oh, that is a surprise.
• Good! Now we can move on.

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