determiners
pronouns
Pointing to things.
We use this and that with singular and uncountable nouns:
Try to repeat this exercise every morning and evening. ( this + singular countable noun)
What does this music make you think of? ( this + singular uncountable noun)
I’ve never been to that part of France. ( that + singular countable noun)
Can I have some of that juice, please? ( that + singular uncountable noun)
We use these and those with plural nouns:
You can use any one of these computers. ( these + plural noun)
I need to paint those windows. ( those + plural noun)
We often use this with words describing time and dates like morning, afternoon, evening, week, month, year to refer to ‘the one that’s coming’ or ‘the one we’re currently in’:
I’ll be with you some time this evening .
Johan seemed very happy this afternoon .
Ian is in Germany all this week .
Referring to things or ideas.
We normally use this, that, these and those as pronouns to refer to things or ideas:
Put the butter, chocolate and sugar in a saucepan. Heat this over a low flame until it melts.
We’re going to eat first and then go to the film. Are you happy with that ? (Are you happy with the idea of eating first, then going to the film?)
[talking about the TV]
Can you turn that off if you’re not watching it?
[talking about shoes]
What colour are those ? Black or dark blue. I can’t see.
We can use this and that as pronouns to refer to people when we want to identify ourselves or others, or to ask the identity of other speakers:
Linda, this is my mother, Anne.
Is that your brother over there?
We often do this in telephone calls and in answer-phone messages:
Hello, is that Ken Orm? This is Jane Bromham here.
Physical closeness and distance.
We use this and these most commonly to point to things and people that are close to the speaker or writer, or things that are happening now:
Shall I use this knife here?
[pointing to something]
Is this what you mean?
I’ll post these letters on my way home.
[pointing to a pile of books]
Do these belong to the Bradshaws?
We use that and those most commonly to point to things and people which are not easy to identify in a situation. They are often more distant from the speaker, and sometimes closer to the listener:
What’s in that bottle over there?
Could you blow out those candles near you?
Sometimes they are not visible to either the speaker or listener:
Budapest! That ’s my favourite place!
We sometimes use this, these, that, those to identify emotional distance. We use this and these to refer to things that we feel positive about, that we are happy to be associated with, or we approve of:
I love these new woollen mobile phone covers that you can get.
We use that and those to create distance:
What are you going to say to that sister of yours?
[talking about a restaurant]
I didn’t like the decoration. It had those awful paintings.
We sometimes use that instead of the to refer the listener to shared knowledge, often when we are telling a story or explaining something:
You know that old shop on the corner? Well, they’re going to turn it into a restaurant.
We sometimes use this instead of a/an to refer to something important or recent, or to introduce a new person or thing in a story:
This guy knocked on the door and asked if I wanted new windows.
Then suddenly she pulled out this big pile of papers from her briefcase and threw them on the table.
It , this and that in paragraphs
Determiners ( the, my , some , this )
In formal contexts, we can use that and those as substitutes meaning ‘the one(s)’:
The most important information is that given at the beginning of the manual. ( that substitutes for the information )
The methods employed are those familiar to researchers. (more formal than The methods employed are the ones familiar to researchers .)
In formal contexts, especially in academic style, we use that of/those of instead of the one of/the ones of or the … one/the … ones . This is preferred to the possessive X ’s one/X’s ones :
The proton has a similar mass to that of a neutron. (preferred to The proton has a similar mass to the neutron’s .)
The emotions in the poems are those of loss and grief.
Not: The emotions in the poem are loss and grief ones .
We normally only use that as a substitute for a thing, not for a person or animal:
A: Have you met Mr Kelly? B: The one who works at the town hall, or his brother? A: The one at the town hall .
Not: That who works at the town hall .
We can use those as a substitute for persons, animals or things:
There are sports facilities for guests. Those interested in golf can enjoy our eighteen-hole course.
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A part of speech (also called a word class ) is a category that describes the role a word plays in a sentence. Understanding the different parts of speech can help you analyze how words function in a sentence and improve your writing.
The parts of speech are classified differently in different grammars, but most traditional grammars list eight parts of speech in English: nouns , pronouns , verbs , adjectives , adverbs , prepositions , conjunctions , and interjections . Some modern grammars add others, such as determiners and articles .
Many words can function as different parts of speech depending on how they are used. For example, “laugh” can be a noun (e.g., “I like your laugh”) or a verb (e.g., “don’t laugh”).
You can check whether you’re using each of the parts of speech correctly using our grammar checker .
Interesting language articles, frequently asked questions.
A noun is a word that refers to a person, concept, place, or thing. Nouns can act as the subject of a sentence (i.e., the person or thing performing the action) or as the object of a verb (i.e., the person or thing affected by the action).
There are numerous types of nouns, including common nouns (used to refer to nonspecific people, concepts, places, or things), proper nouns (used to refer to specific people, concepts, places, or things), and collective nouns (used to refer to a group of people or things).
Ella lives in France .
Other types of nouns include countable and uncountable nouns , concrete nouns , abstract nouns , and gerunds .
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A pronoun is a word used in place of a noun. Pronouns typically refer back to an antecedent (a previously mentioned noun) and must demonstrate correct pronoun-antecedent agreement . Like nouns, pronouns can refer to people, places, concepts, and things.
There are numerous types of pronouns, including personal pronouns (used in place of the proper name of a person), demonstrative pronouns (used to refer to specific things and indicate their relative position), and interrogative pronouns (used to introduce questions about things, people, and ownership).
That is a horrible painting!
A verb is a word that describes an action (e.g., “jump”), occurrence (e.g., “become”), or state of being (e.g., “exist”). Verbs indicate what the subject of a sentence is doing. Every complete sentence must contain at least one verb.
Verbs can change form depending on subject (e.g., first person singular), tense (e.g., simple past), mood (e.g., interrogative), and voice (e.g., passive voice ).
Regular verbs are verbs whose simple past and past participle are formed by adding“-ed” to the end of the word (or “-d” if the word already ends in “e”). Irregular verbs are verbs whose simple past and past participles are formed in some other way.
“I’ve already checked twice.”
“I heard that you used to sing .”
Other types of verbs include auxiliary verbs , linking verbs , modal verbs , and phrasal verbs .
An adjective is a word that describes a noun or pronoun. Adjectives can be attributive , appearing before a noun (e.g., “a red hat”), or predicative , appearing after a noun with the use of a linking verb like “to be” (e.g., “the hat is red ”).
Adjectives can also have a comparative function. Comparative adjectives compare two or more things. Superlative adjectives describe something as having the most or least of a specific characteristic.
Other types of adjectives include coordinate adjectives , participial adjectives , and denominal adjectives .
An adverb is a word that can modify a verb, adjective, adverb, or sentence. Adverbs are often formed by adding “-ly” to the end of an adjective (e.g., “slow” becomes “slowly”), although not all adverbs have this ending, and not all words with this ending are adverbs.
There are numerous types of adverbs, including adverbs of manner (used to describe how something occurs), adverbs of degree (used to indicate extent or degree), and adverbs of place (used to describe the location of an action or event).
Talia writes quite quickly.
Other types of adverbs include adverbs of frequency , adverbs of purpose , focusing adverbs , and adverbial phrases .
A preposition is a word (e.g., “at”) or phrase (e.g., “on top of”) used to show the relationship between the different parts of a sentence. Prepositions can be used to indicate aspects such as time , place , and direction .
I left the cup on the kitchen counter.
A conjunction is a word used to connect different parts of a sentence (e.g., words, phrases, or clauses).
The main types of conjunctions are coordinating conjunctions (used to connect items that are grammatically equal), subordinating conjunctions (used to introduce a dependent clause), and correlative conjunctions (used in pairs to join grammatically equal parts of a sentence).
You can choose what movie we watch because I chose the last time.
An interjection is a word or phrase used to express a feeling, give a command, or greet someone. Interjections are a grammatically independent part of speech, so they can often be excluded from a sentence without affecting the meaning.
Types of interjections include volitive interjections (used to make a demand or request), emotive interjections (used to express a feeling or reaction), cognitive interjections (used to indicate thoughts), and greetings and parting words (used at the beginning and end of a conversation).
Ouch ! I hurt my arm.
I’m, um , not sure.
The traditional classification of English words into eight parts of speech is by no means the only one or the objective truth. Grammarians have often divided them into more or fewer classes. Other commonly mentioned parts of speech include determiners and articles.
A determiner is a word that describes a noun by indicating quantity, possession, or relative position.
Common types of determiners include demonstrative determiners (used to indicate the relative position of a noun), possessive determiners (used to describe ownership), and quantifiers (used to indicate the quantity of a noun).
My brother is selling his old car.
Other types of determiners include distributive determiners , determiners of difference , and numbers .
An article is a word that modifies a noun by indicating whether it is specific or general.
There’s a concert this weekend.
If you want to know more about nouns , pronouns , verbs , and other parts of speech, make sure to check out some of our language articles with explanations and examples.
Nouns & pronouns
A is an indefinite article (along with an ). While articles can be classed as their own part of speech, they’re also considered a type of determiner .
The indefinite articles are used to introduce nonspecific countable nouns (e.g., “a dog,” “an island”).
In is primarily classed as a preposition, but it can be classed as various other parts of speech, depending on how it is used:
As a part of speech, and is classed as a conjunction . Specifically, it’s a coordinating conjunction .
And can be used to connect grammatically equal parts of a sentence, such as two nouns (e.g., “a cup and plate”), or two adjectives (e.g., “strong and smart”). And can also be used to connect phrases and clauses.
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What are the parts of speech, a formal definition.
Table of Contents
Are there 8 or 9 parts of speech, the nine parts of speech, (1) adjective, (3) conjunction, (4) determiner, (5) interjection, (7) preposition, (8) pronoun, why the parts of speech are important, video lesson.
Are you a visual learner? Do you prefer video to text? Here is a list of all our grammar videos .
The top issue related to adjectives.
Don't write... | Do write... |
---|---|
very happy boy | delighted boy |
very angry | livid |
extremely posh hotel | luxurious hotel |
really serious look | stern look |
The top issue related to nouns, the top issue related to prepositions, the top issue related to pronouns, the top issue related to verbs.
Unnatural (Overusing Nouns) | Natural (Using a Verb) |
---|---|
They are in agreement that he was in violation of several regulations. | They agree he violated several regulations. |
She will be in attendance to present a demonstration of how the weather will have an effect on our process. | She will attend to demonstrate how the weather will affect our process. |
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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:
We’ve got a lot to cover, so let’s begin!
Feature Image: (Gavina S / Wikimedia Commons)
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!
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 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 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.
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!
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 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 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.
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:
We’ll look at more examples of adjectives as we explore the subclasses of adjectives next!
Subclasses of adjectives include adjective phrases, comparative adjectives, superlative adjectives, and determiners (which include articles, possessive adjectives, and demonstratives).
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 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.
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:
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!
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 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.
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 )
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!
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 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 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 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.
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!
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 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 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.
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!
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.
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 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 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)
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.
The subclasses of prepositions are simple prepositions, double prepositions, participle prepositions, and prepositional phrases.
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 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.)
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.
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!
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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A part of speech is a term used in traditional grammar for one of the nine main categories into which words are classified according to their functions in sentences, such as nouns or verbs. Also known as word classes, these are the building blocks of grammar.
Every sentence you write or speak in English includes words that fall into some of the nine parts of speech. These include nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, articles/determiners, and interjections. (Some sources include only eight parts of speech and leave interjections in their own category.)
Learning the names of the parts of speech probably won't make you witty, healthy, wealthy, or wise. In fact, learning just the names of the parts of speech won't even make you a better writer. However, you will gain a basic understanding of sentence structure and the English language by familiarizing yourself with these labels.
The parts of speech are commonly divided into open classes (nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs) and closed classes (pronouns, prepositions, conjunctions, articles/determiners, and interjections). Open classes can be altered and added to as language develops, and closed classes are pretty much set in stone. For example, new nouns are created every day, but conjunctions never change.
In contemporary linguistics , parts of speech are generally referred to as word classes or syntactic categories. The main difference is that word classes are classified according to more strict linguistic criteria. Within word classes, there is the lexical, or open class, and the function, or closed class.
Read about each part of speech below, and practice identifying each.
Nouns are a person, place, thing, or idea. They can take on a myriad of roles in a sentence, from the subject of it all to the object of an action. They are capitalized when they're the official name of something or someone, and they're called proper nouns in these cases. Examples: pirate, Caribbean, ship, freedom, Captain Jack Sparrow.
Pronouns stand in for nouns in a sentence . They are more generic versions of nouns that refer only to people. Examples: I, you, he, she, it, ours, them, who, which, anybody, ourselves.
Verbs are action words that tell what happens in a sentence. They can also show a sentence subject's state of being ( is , was ). Verbs change form based on tense (present, past) and count distinction (singular or plural). Examples: sing, dance, believes, seemed, finish, eat, drink, be, became.
Adjectives describe nouns and pronouns. They specify which one, how much, what kind, and more. Adjectives allow readers and listeners to use their senses to imagine something more clearly. Examples: hot, lazy, funny, unique, bright, beautiful, poor, smooth.
Adverbs describe verbs, adjectives, and even other adverbs. They specify when, where, how, and why something happened and to what extent or how often. Many adjectives can be turned into adjectives by adding the suffix - ly . Examples: softly, quickly, lazily, often, only, hopefully, sometimes.
Prepositions show spatial, temporal, and role relations between a noun or pronoun and the other words in a sentence. They come at the start of a prepositional phrase , which contains a preposition and its object. Examples: up, over, against, by, for, into, close to, out of, apart from.
Conjunctions join words, phrases, and clauses in a sentence. There are coordinating, subordinating, and correlative conjunctions. Examples: and, but, or, so, yet.
Articles and determiners function like adjectives by modifying nouns, but they are different than adjectives in that they are necessary for a sentence to have proper syntax. Articles and determiners specify and identify nouns, and there are indefinite and definite articles. Examples of articles: a, an, the ; examples of determiners: these, that, those, enough, much, few, which, what.
Some traditional grammars have treated articles as a distinct part of speech. Modern grammars, however, more often include articles in the category of determiners , which identify or quantify a noun. Even though they modify nouns like adjectives, articles are different in that they are essential to the proper syntax of a sentence, just as determiners are necessary to convey the meaning of a sentence, while adjectives are optional.
Interjections are expressions that can stand on their own or be contained within sentences. These words and phrases often carry strong emotions and convey reactions. Examples: ah, whoops, ouch, yabba dabba do!
Only interjections ( Hooray! ) have a habit of standing alone; every other part of speech must be contained within a sentence and some are even required in sentences (nouns and verbs). Other parts of speech come in many varieties and may appear just about anywhere in a sentence.
To know for sure what part of speech a word falls into, look not only at the word itself but also at its meaning, position, and use in a sentence.
For example, in the first sentence below, work functions as a noun; in the second sentence, a verb; and in the third sentence, an adjective:
Learning the names and uses of the basic parts of speech is just one way to understand how sentences are constructed.
To form a basic complete sentence, you only need two elements: a noun (or pronoun standing in for a noun) and a verb. The noun acts as a subject, and the verb, by telling what action the subject is taking, acts as the predicate.
In the short sentence above, birds is the noun and fly is the verb. The sentence makes sense and gets the point across.
You can have a sentence with just one word without breaking any sentence formation rules. The short sentence below is complete because it's a verb command with an understood "you" noun.
Here, the pronoun, standing in for a noun, is implied and acts as the subject. The sentence is really saying, "(You) go!"
Use more parts of speech to add additional information about what's happening in a sentence to make it more complex. Take the first sentence from above, for example, and incorporate more information about how and why birds fly.
Birds and fly remain the noun and the verb, but now there is more description.
When is an adverb that modifies the verb fly. The word before is a little tricky because it can be either a conjunction, preposition, or adverb depending on the context. In this case, it's a preposition because it's followed by a noun. This preposition begins an adverbial phrase of time ( before winter ) that answers the question of when the birds migrate . Before is not a conjunction because it does not connect two clauses.
By: Author English Study Online
Posted on Last updated: August 28, 2024
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In this reference, we will break down each part of speech and provide examples to help you understand their usage. We will also discuss how to identify the different parts of speech in a sentence and provide tips on how to use them correctly. Let’s get started!
Parts of Speech – Created by Englishstudyonline
Table of Contents
A part of speech is a category that describes the role a word plays in a sentence. These roles help you understand how words function in grammar .
There are typically eight main parts of speech in English:
Some grammars list additional parts of speech:
Some sources also include:
Nouns are words that represent people, places, things, or ideas. They are one of the most important parts of speech in English and are used in nearly every sentence. In this section, we will explore the different types of nouns and their functions.
2. Pronouns
Pronouns are words that replace nouns in a sentence. They help avoid repetition and make sentences clearer. Here are different types of pronouns in English:
4. Adjectives
Adjectives are words that describe or modify nouns or pronouns, giving more information about their qualities, quantity, or identity. Here are three types of adjectives:
Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs, providing more detail about an action, adverbs of manner, adverbs of place, adverbs of time, adverbs of frequency , adverbs of degree, or intensity.
Examples of adverbs:
6. Prepositions
Prepositions are words that show the relationship between a noun or pronoun and other words in a sentence, indicating position, direction, or time.
Prepositions of Time : Indicate when an action takes place. Examples :
Prepositions of Place : Indicate where something is located. Examples :
Prepositions of Direction : Indicate movement from one place to another. Examples :
7. Conjunctions
Conjunctions are words that connect words, phrases, or clauses in a sentence, helping to create complex sentences and showing relationships between ideas. There are three main types of conjunctions: coordinating, subordinating, and correlative.
Coordinating Conjunctions : Connect words, phrases, or independent clauses of equal importance. Remember them using FANBOYS : for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so. Examples :
Subordinating Conjunctions : Connect dependent clauses to independent clauses, showing relationships like cause and effect, time, condition, or contrast. Examples : because, although, while, if, unless, since.
Correlative Conjunctions : Work in pairs to connect elements in a sentence, showing a relationship between them. Examples : both…and, either…or, neither…nor, not only…but also.
8. Interjections
In English grammar, interjections are words or phrases that express strong emotions or feelings. They are also known as exclamations and are one of the eight parts of speech in English. Interjections are grammatically independent from the words around them, and they can often be removed from a sentence or context without affecting its basic meaning.
Interjections can be used to express a wide range of emotions, including surprise, joy, anger, frustration, and pain. Some common examples of interjections include “ wow ,” “ ouch ,” “ yay ,” “ oh no ,” and “ oops .” They can be used to add emphasis to a sentence or to convey a particular tone or mood.
9. Articles/Determiners
In English grammar, articles and determiners are words that are used with nouns to provide more information about them. They help us to understand the context and meaning of a sentence.
There are three articles in the English language: “ the ,” “ a, ” and “ an. ” “The” is known as the definite article because it refers to a specific noun that has already been mentioned or is known to the reader. For example, “The cat is sleeping on the sofa.” In this sentence, “the” refers to a specific cat that has already been mentioned or is known to the reader.
“A” and “an” are known as indefinite articles because they refer to any member of a group or class of nouns. “A” is used before words that begin with a consonant sound, while “an” is used before words that begin with a vowel sound. For example, “I need a pen” and “She ate an apple.”
Determiners
Determiners are words that come before a noun to provide more information about it. They can include articles, as well as words like “ this ,” “ that ,” “ these ,” and “ those .”
In addition to these, there are other types of determiners such as possessive determiners (e.g. “my,” “your,” “his,” “her,” “its,” “our,” and “their”), demonstrative determiners (e.g. “this,” “that,” “these,” and “those”), and quantifying determiners (e.g. “some,” “any,” “many,” “few,” “several,” etc.).
Determiners can also be used with adjectives to provide more information about a noun. For example, “She ate the delicious apple” and “I saw that beautiful sunset.”
Exercise 1: Identify the Part of Speech
Read each sentence and identify the underlined word’s part of speech (Noun, Pronoun, Verb, Adverb, Adjective, Preposition, Conjunction, Interjection).
Exercise 2: Fill in the Blanks with the Correct Part of Speech
Choose the correct word from the list and fill in the blanks with the appropriate part of speech.
Word List: (and, beautiful, suddenly, them, book, Wow, under, write, she, quickly)
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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 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.
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’!
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.
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:
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.
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.
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 .
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
Give it a try—it’s free!
Go well beyond grammar and spell checking. Impress with clear, precise, and stylistically flawless writing instead.
We’ve made a mistake, forgotten about an important detail, or haven’t managed to get the point across? Let’s help each other to perfect our writing.
Are you trying to master the grammatical rules of English? If so, understanding the 8 parts of speech is crucial. But what exactly are the parts of speech? How many are there? And how do you know which words fall into each category? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. In this comprehensive guide, we will break down the definitions and examples of the 8 parts of speech, making it easier for you to navigate the intricacies of the English language.
What are parts of speech.
Pronouns are words used in place of nouns to avoid repetition. They can refer to individuals or groups. Examples of pronouns include “he,” “she,” “it,” and “they.”
Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs, providing information on how, when, where, or to what extent. They often end in “-ly.” Examples of adverbs include “quickly,” “happily,” and “very.”
Conjunctions, interjections.
Interjections are short exclamations used to express emotions or surprise. They are often followed by exclamation marks. Examples of interjections include “Wow,” “Yay,” and “Ouch!”
Pronouns are words that are used to replace nouns in a sentence. They help avoid repetitive use of nouns and add fluency to our language. Personal pronouns, such as “he,” “she,” or “they,” refer to specific individuals or groups of people. Here are some examples of pronouns used in sentences:
Adverbs are words that modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs. They provide information about how, when, where, or to what extent an action is performed. Adverbs enhance the meaning of a sentence and add precision to our language. Here are some examples of adverbs used in sentences:
Conjunction, interjection.
Interjections are words or phrases used to convey strong emotions or reactions. They are often standalone expressions and can add emphasis or express surprise, joy, or frustration. Interjections bring life and emotion to our language. Here are some examples of interjections used in sentences:
Pronouns, on the other hand, replace nouns to avoid repetition. Here are a few examples for better understanding:
Verbs express actions, feelings, or states of being. Check out these verb examples:
Adjectives add descriptions to nouns. Here are a few examples:
Adverbs add meaning to verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs. Take a look at these examples:
Prepositions express the relationship between nouns, pronouns, and other words. Here are some examples:
Conjunctions connect words, phrases, or clauses within a sentence. Check out these examples:
Interjections convey strong emotions or sudden reactions. Here are a few examples:
Remember, understanding the different parts of speech and their functions is crucial in constructing meaningful sentences. Keep practicing and exploring the various examples to strengthen your language skills.
By practicing and exploring the functions of these parts of speech, you will become a confident English speaker and writer. Remember to apply this knowledge in your daily conversations and written communication to enhance your language skills.
Download your free grammar guide here.
Today's the day for you to learn about this important grammatical concept! But first...let's see what the parts of speech have to do with your clothes.
Imagine that it's laundry day, and you've just finished washing and drying your clothes. You dump the contents of the laundry basket onto your bed, and you begin to organize everything. You fold matching socks together, you create a pile of perfectly folded shirts that you would be proud to show Marie Kondo, and you do the same thing with your pants, jackets, and everything else.
In the same way that we organize our clothes into groups based on each item's function and features, we organize our words into categories based on each word's function and features. We call these categories of words the parts of speech .
Some people categorize words into eight parts of speech, and some people categorize them into nine parts of speech. Neither one is wrong; they're just two ways of looking at things. We'll go over these categories below. Here at English Grammar Revolution, we categorize words into eight groups, but I'll tell you about the ninth one as well.
There's one important thing for you to know before we look at these categories: most words can function as more than one part of speech . They will only do one job at a time, but they can do different things in different sentences. Look at the word love in the following sentences.
My love of grammar inspired me to make this website.
Here, love is functioning as a noun. It's the subject of the sentence.
I love you.
Now, love is acting as a verb ! It's telling us an action.
The only way we can know how to categorize a word is to look at how it's acting within a sentence.
Okay, let's check out the parts of speech!
Nouns name people, places, things, or ideas. They're important parts of our sentences because they perform important jobs (subjects, direct objects, predicate nouns, etc.).
A peacock walked through our yard .
The dog howled during the night , and it woke up our whole family .
Sometimes people get bogged down with this part of speech because there are also many subcategories of nouns. This is similar to the way that we have subcategories for our clothes. You may have a whole drawer full of pants, but you may also have different types of pants that you use for different purposes (workout pants, lounge pants, work pants, etc.). This is similar to the way that we can further categorize nouns into smaller groups.
Here are a few of the subcategories of nouns: proper nouns, common nouns , collective nouns , possessive nouns , and compound nouns.
Tip : Other parts of speech also have subcategories. If you're studying this information for the first time, ignore the subcategories and focus on learning about each broader category.
Pronouns take the place of nouns. When most people hear the word pronoun , they think of words like I, we, me, he, she, and they . These are indeed all pronouns, but they're a part of a subcategory called personal pronouns. Know that there are other kinds of pronouns out there as well. Here are some examples: myself, his, someone , and who .
Here are a few of the subcategories of pronouns: reflexive pronouns , indefinite pronouns , possessive pronouns , and relative pronouns .
When we walked across the bridge, we saw someone who knows you .
I will fix the dishwasher myself .
Verbs show actions or states of being. They are integral elements of sentences .
The shuttle will fly into space.
The loving mother comforted and soothed the baby.
In the Montessori tradition of education, they use a large red circle or ball to symbolize a verb, and they often teach children to think of verbs as a sun providing the energy of a sentence. Isn't that a lovely way to think of verbs?
I know that you're getting tired of hearing about subcategories, but linking verbs, action verbs, and helping verbs are described on the verb page here .
Modal verbs are described on that link, and you can learn even more about action verbs and linking verbs from those links.
Adjectives describe, or modify , nouns and pronouns. I like to think of them as adding color to language. It would be hard to describe a beautiful sunset or the way a touching story makes us feel without using adjectives.
The wise, handsome owl had orange eyes.
The caring father rocked the baby.
One helpful strategy for learning about and identifying adjectives is to learn how they are diagrammed . Sentence diagrams are pictures of sentences that help us see how all of the words are grammatically related. Since adjectives modify nouns and pronouns, we diagram them on slanted lines under the nouns/pronouns that they are modifying.
My green and white book fell.
Book is a noun. It's the subject of this sentence. My, green , and white are all adjectives describing book , so we diagram them on slanted lines underneath book . Isn't that a great way to SEE what adjectives do?
Nine Parts of Speech
When people categorize words into eight parts of speech, they say that articles/determiners ( a, an, the, this, that, etc. ) are subcategories of adjectives.
When people categorize words into nine parts of speech, they say that articles/determiners make up their own category and are not a part of the adjective category.
Adverbs modify (describe) verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs. Adverbs are similar to adjectives in that they both modify things.
The extremely cute koala hugged its mom very tightly .
The dog howled loudly .
Sentence diagrams also make it really easy to see what adverbs do. Take a look at this diagram. What do you notice about the way the adverbs are diagrammed?
James ran very quickly.
Did you notice that the adverbs are diagrammed on slanted lines under the words that they are modifying?
Ran is a verb. Quickly is an adverb telling us more about the verb ran . Very is an adverb telling us more about the adverb quickly .
Doesn't the diagram make it easier to SEE what adverbs do?
Prepositions are probably the most difficult part of speech to explain, but people generally have an easier time understanding them when they look at lots of examples. So...let's start with some examples of commonly used prepositions!
in, for, of, off, if, until
The frog sat in the flower.
The baby cried for a long time.
I'm so convinced that memorizing some of the prepositions will be helpful to you that I'll teach you a preposition song .
Okay, now that we've looked at some examples, let's look at the definition of a preposition.
Prepositions show the relationship between a noun or a pronoun and some other word in the rest of the sentence.
Sentence diagrams will come to the rescue again to help us visualize what prepositions do. Think of prepositions as "noun hooks" or "noun bridges." In the diagram below, notice how the preposition down links the noun tree to the rest of the sentence.
The cat ran down the tree.
Since prepositions always function as "noun hooks," they'll always be accompanied by a noun. The preposition plus its noun is called a prepositional phrase .
If you find a word from the preposition list that's not a part of a prepositional phrase, it's not functioning as a preposition. (You remember that words can function as different parts of speech , right?)
Conjunctions join things together. They can join words or groups of words (phrases and clauses).
The hummingbird sat and waited .
The conjunction and is joining the words sat and waited .
Do you live near the park or near the hospital ?
The conjunction or is joining the phrases near the park and near the hospital.
The two conjunctions we just looked at ( and and or ) belong to a subcategory called coordinating conjunctions, but there are other subcategories of conjunctions as well. The other one that we use most often is subordinating conjunctions . Subordinating conjunctions are a little trickier to learn because they involve a more complicated concept ( dependent adverb clauses ).
For now, just know that all conjunctions, no matter what type they are, connect things together. In fact, let's LOOK at how they do this by looking at a sentence diagram.
Here is a sentence diagram showing how the coordinating conjunction and connects two clauses.
She cooked, and he cleaned.
Interjections show excitement or emotion.
Wow ! That jump was amazing!
Phew , the baby finally fell asleep.
They are different from the other parts of speech in that they're not grammatically related to the rest of the sentence, and the way that we diagram them reflects that. Look at how we diagram interjections :
Yes ! We won the lottery!
The interjection yes sit sits there on its own line floating above the rest of the sentence. This helps show that it's not grammatically related to the other words in the sentence.
It's time to review what we covered on this page.
If you'd like to teach or learn grammar the easy way—with sentence diagrams—check out our Get Smart Grammar Program .
It starts from the very beginning and teaches you grammar and sentence diagramming in easy, bite-size lessons.
Hello! I'm Elizabeth O'Brien, and my goal is to get you jazzed about grammar.
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Parts of speech are categories of words that perform similar grammatical roles in phrase and sentence structures. You might wonder what the different parts of speech are and how to identify them. This reference explains parts of speech, including nouns, verbs, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, determiners, conjunctions, prepositions, and interjections, with examples.
You’ll also learn about open and closed word classes, how to determine a part of speech in a sentence, and their roles in simple and complex sentence constructions. This guide includes a useful picture, a video, and a quiz on parts of speech to help solidify your understanding.
Parts of speech are word categories defined by their roles in sentence structures. These categories are organized by the functions and meanings they convey. In English, there are around ten common parts of speech: nouns , verbs , adjectives , adverbs , pronouns , prepositions , conjunctions , interjections , determiners , and articles .
Closed word classes are parts of speech that do not have newer words introduced over time. These include pronouns, conjunctions, determiners, and prepositions.
Open word classes are parts of speech that can have newer words introduced over time. These include nouns, verbs, adjectives, interjections, and adverbs.
The noun (n.).
A noun gives a name to something. There are different types of nouns like proper, collective, possessive, and common nouns.
Jeffrey, Korea, pen, New Year, dog, cat, elephant, garden, school, work, music, town, Manila, teacher, farmer, Bob, Sean, Michael, police officer, France, coffee, football, danger, happiness…
Example sentences:
Common Noun : Names a general item.
Proper Noun: Names a specific item.
Collective Noun: Refers to a group.
Possessive Noun: Shows ownership.
A verb describes an action. There are three main types: action, linking, and modal verbs.
Walk, is, seem, realize, run, see, swim, stand, go, have, get, promise, invite, listen, sing, sit, laugh, walk…
Action Verb : Describes an action.
Linking Verb: Connects the subject to a noun, adjective, or pronoun.
Modal Verb: Helps the main verb and shows the speaker’s thoughts.
A pronoun replaces a noun. There are various types of pronouns like reflexive, indefinite, possessive, and relative pronouns.
I, me, we, you, he, she, yours, himself, its, my, that, this, those, us, who, whom
Reflexive Pronoun: Refers to self.
Indefinite Pronoun: Refers to a non-specific person or item.
Possessive Pronoun: Shows ownership.
Relative Pronoun: Introduces an adjective clause.
An adjective describes a noun or pronoun.
Beautiful, seven, cute, second, tall, blue, angry, brave, careful, healthy, little, old, generous, red, smart, two, small, tall, some, good, big, useful, interesting…
An adverb modifies an adjective, verb, or another adverb. Many adverbs end in -ly, but not all do.
Neatly, tomorrow, very, badly, fully, carefully, hardly, nearly, hungrily, never, quickly, silently, well, really, almost…
Determiners and articles help clarify the nouns they introduce. Articles can be definite ( the ) or indefinite ( a , an ).
The, a, an, this, that, these, those, many, few, each, every, some, any, no, which, what
A conjunction connects words, phrases, or clauses. Some common conjunctions are and , but , or , so , because , and although .
And, but, or, so, because, although, if, until, while, since, when, after, before, as
A preposition shows the relationship of a noun (or pronoun) to another word. Common prepositions include at , on , in , by , with , and about .
At, on, in, by, with, about, above, below, between, during, for, from, over, under, through
An interjection is a word or phrase that expresses strong emotion or sudden exclamation. Common interjections include wow , ouch , oh , and hey .
Wow, ouch, oh, hey, ah, ugh, ew, hmm, yay, yikes, whoa, oops, aha, hurray, ew, oh no
In this section, you’ve learned about different parts of speech with examples and sample sentences. Each part of speech plays a unique role in creating meaningful sentences.
To determine a part of speech in a sentence, look at the word being used, its context, and what meaning it brings to the sentence structure. Here are some questions you can ask about a particular word:
By asking these questions, you can identify the correct part of speech for any word in a sentence.
Simple/basic sentences.
In its simplest form, a sentence can have one independent clause .
For example, the sentence “I walk to the store” contains one clause.
This entire sentence “I walk to the store” is an independent clause, expresses one subject doing one action — and is known as a simple sentence .
Knowing this, apply the fact that nouns and pronouns will often be the subjects or objects of simple sentences, while verbs will convey actions. So once again:
Complex sentences contain an independent clause and one or more dependent clauses. These sentences use conjunctions such as because, since, which, or who to connect clauses. Consider the structure and an example below:
By combining these clauses, one forms a complex sentence: She reads a book because she wants to learn.
Other examples of complex sentences:
Learn all parts of speech in English with a useful video lesson.
Here are some Parts Of Speech exercises for you to practice:
A. In the sentence “I ran to the tallest tree”, what part of speech is the word “tallest”?
B. In the 2000s, the word staycation described the act of staying home for a vacation. Since “staycation” is a noun and a new word, what class of words does it belong to?
C. In the sentence “I’ll have a few tacos”, what part of speech is the phrase “a few”?
Answers: A) 3, B) 1, C) 3
TIP Sheet THE EIGHT PARTS OF SPEECH
There are eight parts of speech in the English language: noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition, conjunction, and interjection. The part of speech indicates how the word functions in meaning as well as grammatically within the sentence. An individual word can function as more than one part of speech when used in different circumstances. Understanding parts of speech is essential for determining the correct definition of a word when using the dictionary.
1. NOUN
man... Butte College... house... happiness
A noun is a word for a person, place, thing, or idea. Nouns are often used with an article ( the , a , an ), but not always. Proper nouns always start with a capital letter; common nouns do not. Nouns can be singular or plural, concrete or abstract. Nouns show possession by adding 's . Nouns can function in different roles within a sentence; for example, a noun can be a subject, direct object, indirect object, subject complement, or object of a preposition.
The young girl brought me a very long letter from the teacher , and then she quickly disappeared. Oh my!
See the TIP Sheet on "Nouns" for further information.
2. PRONOUN
She... we... they... it
A pronoun is a word used in place of a noun. A pronoun is usually substituted for a specific noun, which is called its antecedent. In the sentence above, the antecedent for the pronoun she is the girl. Pronouns are further defined by type: personal pronouns refer to specific persons or things; possessive pronouns indicate ownership; reflexive pronouns are used to emphasize another noun or pronoun; relative pronouns introduce a subordinate clause; and demonstrative pronouns identify, point to, or refer to nouns.
The young girl brought me a very long letter from the teacher, and then she quickly disappeared. Oh my!
See the TIP Sheet on "Pronouns" for further information.
3. VERB
jump... is... write... become
The verb in a sentence expresses action or being. There is a main verb and sometimes one or more helping verbs. (" She can sing." Sing is the main verb; can is the helping verb.) A verb must agree with its subject in number (both are singular or both are plural). Verbs also take different forms to express tense.
The young girl brought me a very long letter from the teacher, and then she quickly disappeared . Oh my!
See the TIP Sheet on "Verbs" for more information.
4. ADJECTIVE
pretty... old... blue... smart
An adjective is a word used to modify or describe a noun or a pronoun. It usually answers the question of which one, what kind, or how many. (Articles [a, an, the] are usually classified as adjectives.)
See the TIP Sheet on "Adjectives" for more information.
5. ADVERB
gently... extremely... carefully... well
An adverb describes or modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb, but never a noun. It usually answers the questions of when, where, how, why, under what conditions, or to what degree. Adverbs often end in -ly.
See the TIP Sheet on "Adverbs" for more information.
6. PREPOSITION
by... with.... about... until
(by the tree, with our friends, about the book, until tomorrow)
A preposition is a word placed before a noun or pronoun to form a phrase modifying another word in the sentence. Therefore a preposition is always part of a prepositional phrase. The prepositional phrase almost always functions as an adjective or as an adverb. The following list includes the most common prepositions:
See the TIP Sheet on "Prepositions" for more information.
7. CONJUNCTION
and... but... or... while... because
A conjunction joins words, phrases, or clauses, and indicates the relationship between the elements joined. Coordinating conjunctions connect grammatically equal elements: and, but, or, nor, for, so, yet. Subordinating conjunctions connect clauses that are not equal: because, although, while, since, etc. There are other types of conjunctions as well.
The young girl brought me a very long letter from the teacher, and then she quickly disappeared. Oh my!
See the TIP Sheet on "Conjunctions" for more information.
8. INTERJECTION
Oh!... Wow!... Oops!
An interjection is a word used to express emotion. It is often followed by an exclamation point.
The young girl brought me a very long letter from the teacher, and then she quickly disappeared. Oh my !
See the TIP Sheet on "Interjections" for more information.
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The 8 parts of speech in English are: Nouns, Adjectives, Adverbs, Verbs, Prepositions, Pronouns, Conjunctions, and Interjections.
A part of speech is a category of words that have similar grammatical functions or properties. In other words, they play similar roles in a sentence. For instance, a verb shows the action of a subject or the subject's state of being.
We'll now look in more detail at the function of each of these parts of speech.
Nouns are words used to talk about people, places, things, or ideas/concepts. Here are some examples:
So it may be naming something we can touch ( e.g. table; book; car ) or something we cannot touch ( e.g. Neo-liberalism; happiness; wish ).
There are both common nouns, used for classes of people, places, things, or ideas/concepts, and proper nouns, which is their given name, always with a capital letter.
Learn more about the various types of noun >>
Another of the 8 parts of speech are adjectives. They describe nouns or pronouns. They can come before or after the noun/pronoun they describe:
These are absolute adjectives , but they can also be comparative (comparing two or more things) or superlative (showing degree or quality):
There are various other types of adjective. Learn more about the different types of adjectives >>
Adverbs modify verbs, other adverbs, and adjectives. There are adverbs of manner, time, place and degree . Here are examples of each being modified in relation to verbs, adverbs, and adjectives (the word being modified is underlined):
Verbs form part of the predicate of a sentence.
In relation to the subject, they are used to express a physical action (e.g. walk; speak; show) or a mental action (e.g. think; feel; want). They can also express a state of being , mainly with the verb 'to be' but also some others.
Here are some examples:
These though are main verbs. They have many other uses in a sentence so you should read about all the types of verbs further.
Another of the 8 parts of speech are prepositions. These show the relationship between two words or phrases in a sentence. They precede a noun or pronoun.
Commons examples of prepositions are above, up, upon, at, before, behind, since, to, through, under, until, with, within, about, against, along, around, beside, between, down, during, below, by, except, for, from, in, into, like, near, of, off, on, toward.
In these example sentences with prepositions, the two words whose relationship is being expressed are underlined and the prepositions are in bold:
Pronouns replace nouns and they prevent us from repeating the noun in a sentence. These are the types of pronouns with some examples:
Here are some examples of these words used in sentences:
Conjunctions are the of the 8 parts of speech responsible for joining together words, phrases, or clauses. There are three types:
Used to connect like for like words (e.g. noun+noun):
Or simple sentences (independent clauses):
Used to join alternative or equal elements:
Used to join subordinate clauses to main clauses:
Interjections are words used to express an emotion or a sentiment such as surprise, joy, disgust, fear, excitement, pain, or enthusiasm.
They usually appear at the start of a sentence and are not connected to it grammatically. Here are some examples of interjections in sentences:
Learn more about interjections >>
Sometimes rather than 8 parts of speech, you may see 9 or 10 listed. This is because some people treat articles and determiners as separate categories.
However, when there are only 8 parts of speech considered (as above), this is because as these two types of word modify nouns, they are classified under adjectives.
Now practice what you have learned in our identifying parts of speech quiz
The main parts of a sentence are subjects, verbs, objects, predicates, and subject complements. All of these have a specific purpose within the structure of a sentence.
Using object complements in a sentence enhances your ability to convey specific information about actions and their outcomes.
The two types of clauses in English grammar are the independent and dependent clause. Both have a subject and verb which makes them clauses, but while independent clauses express a complete thought, dependent clauses do not. This is the main distinction.
Nominalisation is an important aspect of academic writing. This lesson teachers you what this is and how you can use it effectively in your writing.
Here we demystify subject complements, predicate adjectives, and predicate nominatives with simple explanations and examples.
Phrases and clauses are the key building blocks of sentences. A clause contains a subject and a verb and can express a complete thought. A phrase does not contain a subject or verb.
Advice on how to use either and neither in English grammar. They can be adjectives, adverbs, pronouns and conjunctions.
Direct and indirect objects are key parts of most sentences. A direct object is the receiver of action while indirect object identifies to or for whom or what the action of the verb is performed.
View examples of parallelism in English grammar that show you correct and incorrect parallel sentences.
Parallelism is about balancing the grammatical structure of words, phrases and clauses in your sentences. Parallel structure will improve your writing's coherence.
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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.
This expresses what the person, animal, place, thing, or concept does. In English, verbs follow the noun.
This describes a noun or pronoun. Adjectives typically come before a noun or after a stative verb, like the verb "to be."
Remember that adjectives in English have no plural form. The same form of the adjective is used for both singular and plural nouns.
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.
This word substitutes for a noun or a noun phrase (e.g. it, she, he, they, that, those,…).
This word makes the reference of the noun more specific (e.g. his, her, my, their, the, a, an, this, these, … ).
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, …).
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, …).
Helping verbs. They are used to build up complete verbs.
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.
suffrage, image, postage arrival, survival, deferral : kingdom, freedom, boredom : interviewee, employee, trainee : experience, convenience, finance teacher, singer, director archery, cutlery, mystery neighborhood, childhood, brotherhood : economics, gymnastics, aquatics reading, succeeding, believing racism, constructivism, capitalism community, probability, equality : accomplishment, acknowledgement, environment happiness, directness, business : ministry, entry, robbery : scholarship, companionship, leadership : information, expression, complexion structure, pressure, treasure |
congregate, agitate, eliminate : straighten, enlighten, shorten : satisfy, identify, specify : categorize, materialize, energize |
workable, believable, flexible educational, institutional, exceptional : confused, increased, disappointed : wooden, golden, broken : Chinese, Portuguese, Japanese wonderful, successful, resourceful : poetic, classic, Islamic exciting, failing, comforting childish, foolish, selfish evaluative, collective, abrasive : Canadian, Russian, Malaysian priceless, useless, hopeless friendly, daily, yearly gorgeous, famous, courageous funny, windy, happy |
: quickly, easily, successfully backward(s), upwards, downwards clockwise, edgewise, price-wise |
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.
For example:
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:
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.
Adverbs can appear in different positions in a sentence.
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.
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.
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Author: sarah perowne, more content, why understanding parts of speech is important , the 8 parts of speech: definitions, examples, and rules, 2. pronouns, 3. adjectives, 6. prepositions, 7. conjunctions, 8. articles, takeaways - tips.
Parts of speech are like Legos. Instead of being made into houses or spaceships, they’re the building blocks we use to form written and spoken language.
Every word you speak or write is a part of speech. In the English language, there are 8 parts of speech: nouns , pronouns , adjectives , verbs , adverbs , prepositions , conjunctions , and articles (determiners). These parts of speech represent categories of words according to their grammatical function.
Having a basic understanding of the parts of speech in the English language gives you a specific terminology and classification system to talk about language. It can help you correctly punctuate a sentence, capitalize the right words, and even understand how to form a complete sentence to avoid grammatical errors.
Part Of Speech | Function | Example Vocabulary | Example Sentences |
---|---|---|---|
Part Of Speech Noun | Function is a person or thing. | Example Vocabulary Birthday, cake, Paris, flat | Example Sentences Today is my birthday. I like cake. I have a flat; It's in Paris. |
Part Of Speech Pronoun | Function is a noun substitute. | Example Vocabulary I, you, she, her, him, some, and them. | Example Sentences Susan is my neighbor; She is charming. |
Part Of Speech Adjective | Function describes the noun in a sentence. | Example Vocabulary Happy, small, cozy, hungry, and warm. | Example Sentences She lives in a small cottage. Her home is cozy and warm. |
Part Of Speech Verb | Function is an action word or state of being. | Example Vocabulary Run, jump, sleep, can, do, (to) be, or like | Example Sentences The teacher is happy; she likes her students. |
Part Of Speech Adverb | Function describes a verb, adverb, or adjective. | Example Vocabulary Merrily, slowly, softly, or quickly | Example Sentences The girl spoke softly. She walked away slowly. |
Part Of Speech Preposition | Function connects a noun or pronoun to another word. Shows the direction, location, or movement. | Example Vocabulary In, on, at, to, after. | Example Sentences We left by bus in the morning. Conjunction,"connects words, sentences, or clauses. |
Part Of Speech Article | Function shows whether a specific identity is known or unknown. | Example Vocabulary A, an, and the. | Example Sentences A man called today. The cat is on the table; get it off! |
Still with us? Now, we will break down each of these English grammar categories and give some examples.
Nouns are words that name a person, place, thing, or idea. They can be further classified into different types of nouns .
There are some nouns we can count and others we cannot. Take a look at this table.
Type Of Noun | Definition | Examples |
---|---|---|
Type Of Noun Proper Nouns | Definition Name a specific person, place, or thing. Always start with a capital letter. | Examples Egypt, Paul, Eiffel Tower, Chicago |
Type Of Noun Common Nouns | Definition Don’t name a specific person, place, or thing. Don’t start with a capital letter unless they are placed at the beginning of a sentence. | Examples dog, houses, sleep, homes, cup |
Type Of Noun | Definition | Examples |
---|---|---|
Type Of Noun Concrete Nouns | Definition Identify material things. | Examples apple, boy, clock, table, window |
Type Of Noun Abstract Nouns | Definition Express a characteristic or idea. | Examples happiness, tranquility, war, danger, friendship |
Rule | Add | Singular Noun Examples | Plural Noun Examples |
---|---|---|---|
Rule For most common nouns… | Add -s | Singular Noun Examples Chair | Plural Noun Examples Chairs |
Rule For nouns that end in -ch, -s, -ch, or x… | Add -es | Singular Noun Examples Teach | Plural Noun Examples Teaches |
Rule For nouns ending with -y and a vowel… | Add -s | Singular Noun Examples Toy | Plural Noun Examples Toys |
Rule For nouns ending with -y and a consonant… | Add Remove -y and add -ies | Singular Noun Examples Lady | Plural Noun Examples Ladies |
Rule For nouns ending in -o and a vowel… | Add -es or -s | Singular Noun Examples Tomato | Plural Noun Examples Tomatoes |
Rule For nouns ending in -f or -fe… | Add Remove -fe or -f and add -v and -es | Singular Noun Examples Leaf | Plural Noun Examples Leaves |
Rule For nouns ending in o- and consonant… | Add -es | Singular Noun Examples Echo | Plural Noun Examples Echoes |
Exceptions To The Rule
Some nouns are irregular, and it’s a case of learning their plural form as they don’t always follow specific rules. Here are some examples:
Singular Irregular Noun | Plural Form |
---|---|
Singular Irregular Noun Man | Plural Form Men |
Singular Irregular Noun Woman | Plural Form Women |
Singular Irregular Noun Tooth | Plural Form Teeth |
Singular Irregular Noun Child | Plural Form Children |
Singular Irregular Noun Person | Plural Form People |
Singular Irregular Noun Buffalo | Plural Form Buffalo |
Countable Nouns | Uncountable of Mass Nouns | Countable and Uncountable Nouns |
---|---|---|
Countable Nouns Singular and Plural | Uncountable of Mass Nouns Cannot be pluralized | Countable and Uncountable Nouns Depends on the context of the sentence |
Countable Nouns Table / Tables | Uncountable of Mass Nouns Hair | Countable and Uncountable Nouns Chicken / A chicken |
Countable Nouns Chair / Chairs | Uncountable of Mass Nouns Air | Countable and Uncountable Nouns Coffee / Two coffees |
Countable Nouns Dog / Dogs | Uncountable of Mass Nouns Information | Countable and Uncountable Nouns Paper / Sheet of paper |
Countable Nouns Quantifiers: some, many, a few, a lot, numbers | Uncountable of Mass Nouns Quantifiers: some, any, a piece, a lot of, much, a little | Countable and Uncountable Nouns |
Possessive nouns.
Possessive nouns possess something and usually have ‘s or simply ‘ at the end. When the noun is singular, we add an ‘s. When the noun is plural, we add an apostrophe.
Here are examples of possessive nouns :
Collective nouns refer to a group or collection of things, people, or animals. Such as,
A noun phrase is two or more words that function as a noun in a sentence. It also includes modifiers that can come before or after the noun.
Here are examples of noun phrases:
If you want to know where to find nouns in a sentence, look for the subject or a direct object, and they will stand right out. For example:
(Mary = Subject) (Chocolate cake, and ice cream = direct objects)
This is an easy way to identify nouns in a sentence.
Pronouns are words used in the place of a noun or noun phrase. They can be further classified into different types of pronouns , such as personal, reflexive, and possessive.
Subject | Person Pronoun | Examples |
---|---|---|
Subject 1st Person Singular | Person Pronoun I | Examples I am walking. |
Subject 2nd Person Singular | Person Pronoun You | Examples You are walking. |
Subject 3rd Person Singular | Person Pronoun She, He, and It | Examples It is walking. |
Subject 1st Person Plural | Person Pronoun We | Examples We are walking. |
Subject 2nd Person Plural | Person Pronoun You (all) | Examples You are walking. |
Subject 3rd Person Plural | Person Pronoun They | Examples They are walking. |
Some examples of reflexive pronouns are myself, yourself, herself, and itself.
Here are examples of reflexive pronouns in sentences:
Reflexive pronouns can also be used for emphasis, as in this sentence:
Some examples of possessive pronouns are my, mine, your, yours, his, hers, its, ours, and theirs. We use these words when we want to express possession. Such as,
Mine, yours, and his are examples of the independent form of possessive pronouns , and when showing possession, these pronouns never need an apostrophe.
Adjectives are words that describe nouns or pronouns. They make the meaning more definite. When we want to talk about what kind of a house we have, we can use adjectives to describe it, such as big, red, or lovely.
We can use adjectives to precede the word it modifies, like this;
Or we can use adjectives following the word they modify, like this;
There are many types of adjectives, one being possessive . The seven possessive adjectives are my, your, his, her, its, our, and their. These words modify a noun or pronoun and show possession. Such as,
Verbs are words that express an action or a state of being. All verbs help to make a complete statement. Action verbs express a physical action, for example:
Other verbs express a mental action, for example:
These can also be called lexical verbs .
Sometimes lexical verbs need the help of another type of verb . That’s where helping verbs , or auxiliary verbs , come into action; they help to make a statement or express action.
Examples of auxiliary verbs are am, are, is, has, can, may, will be, and might have.
When we use more than one verb when writing or speaking to express an action or state of being, it’s a verbal phrase consisting of the main verb, lexical verb, and one or more auxiliary verbs.
Some examples of verbal phrases:
Here are examples of verbal phrases used in a sentence.
Adverbs are used to describe an adjective, verb, or even another adverb . They can express how something is done, as in splendidly or poorly .
Here are some examples of adverbs in use:
The adverb extremely modifies the adjective fast , expressing just how rapid the runner was.
The adverb hardly modifies the verb see , expressing how much is visible, which in this case is not much at all.
The adverb surprisingly modifies the adverb poorly, expressing the surprise at how badly the car has been cleaned.
They are used to show relationships between words, such as nouns or pronouns, with other words in the sentence. They can indicate spatial or time relationships. Some common prepositions are about, at, before, behind, but, in, off, on, to, and with.
Here are some examples of common prepositions in sentences:
Prepositions are followed by objects of prepositions, a noun, or a noun phrase that follows to give it meaning.
Groups of words can also act as prepositions together, such as in spite of .
Conjunctions link words or groups of words together. We often use them to create complex sentences. There are three types of conjunctions: coordinating conjunctions , correlative conjunctions , and subordinating conjunctions.
Examples of coordinating conjunctions are and, but, or, nor, for, so, and yet. Such as:
Correlative conjunctions are used in pairs. Some examples are;
Here is an example of the conjunctions above in use:
We use subordinating conjunctions to begin subordinate clauses or sentences.
Some examples of common subordinating conjunctions are after, before, then, when, provided, unless, so that, and while. Such as,
There are three articles in the English language: a, an, and the. Articles can indicate whether a specific identity is known or not.
A and an are called indefinite articles and refer to a general group. Such as,
The is a definite article and refers to a specific thing or person. Such as,
Getting these right to know if we’re talking about a specific item, person, or thing, in general, is important.
Many words can also be used as more than one part of speech..
Once you get the hang of it, identifying the various parts of speech in a sentence will be second nature, like riding a bike. And just think, it can help you craft stronger sentences!
The different parts of speech are the breakdown and classification of words in English that show their unique functions and properties. In core language, a single word can function as two or more parts of speech.
Differentiating between the 9 parts of speech is the first step to building your grammar skills and writing tools. Keep reading to learn the definitions and examples of each category!
A noun is any place, person, idea, or thing. Some examples of nouns include:
There are various classifications of nouns you can use in your writing. Proper nouns are specific names for places, persons, ideas, or things. Meanwhile, common nouns are generic class nouns. A possessive noun is another type of noun that demonstrates belonging.
We can also classify this part of speech as an abstract noun, concrete noun, count noun, and uncountable noun.
The placement of the noun in a sentence also determines its function. A noun can be in the nominative or objective case. The nominative functions include subject and subject complement. And the types of objects are direct object, indirect object, and object of a preposition.
A quick introduction to pronouns shows they are classes of words that take the place of nouns. Some examples of pronouns include he, that, whoever, myself.
This quick guide to pronouns shows they can be classified as:
Pronouns can further be divided into first-person pronoun, second-person pronoun, and third-person pronoun.
A verb is a word that conveys time while showing a condition, an action, or the fact that something exists. All complete sentences should contain at least one verb unless using an interjection.
Verbs can be treated as either lexical verbs/action verbs (study, love, drink) or auxiliary verbs (seem, is, have).
A verb phrase combines verbs with linking verbs and lexical categories of verbs. Some examples include:
Phrasal verbs are forms of verbs that consist of two or more words. Here are some examples:
When you add “up with” after the simple verb “put,” you create a brand-new verb with a new meaning. Therefore, phrasal verbs should be treated as complete verbs because of their unique definitions.
Some verbs are reflexive. A reflexive verb is where the subject and object are one since the sentence uses reflexive pronouns like “himself” or “itself.”
Whether you’re using a lexical or auxiliary verb, this part of the speech always expresses time through the different tenses. For instance, the verb “eats” is a present-tense verb, and its past form is “ate.”
Another part of speech is the adjective , which modifies or describes a noun or a pronoun. It typically answers the questions “what kind,” “which one,” or “how much.” For example:
The articles “a,” “an,” and “the” are sometimes categorized as adjectives. “The” is a definite article, and “a” and “an” are indefinite articles.
Adjective classes include:
Adverbs are a word class that modifies adjectives, verbs, and fellow adverbs. One frequent adverb marker is the suffix -ly, such as “healthily,” “badly,” and “swiftly.”
But the discussion of adverbs goes beyond words that describe actions. There are also adverbs of degree, place, time, and frequency. The English language also considers “most days,” “to visit my friend,” “very loudly,” and other adverbial phrases as adverbs.
Adverbial phrases are under the phrasal categories, including verb phrases, adjective phrases, etc.
A conjunction is a word that binds words, clauses, and phrases. “And,” “but,” “because,” and “consequently” are some examples of conjunctions.
Conjunctions make it easy to construct more complex sentences because you can easily add new clauses. The category distinctions of this part of speech are:
Prepositions show relations of space, time, and role between nouns, pronouns, and other words. They are at the start of prepositional phrases. Here are some examples of prepositions:
A determiner is like an adjective because it also modifies nouns. However, these words are essential for proper syntax as opposed to adjectives. They can be classified as indefinite and definite. New grammar rules now treat articles as determiners. Examples of determiners include:
The last part of speech is the interjection which may have standalone functions in sentences. “Whoops,” “ouch,” “ah,” and “hooray” can be an entire sentence on their own.
Analyzing the parts of speech is different for every individual language. Here’s an overview of the different categories in English.
Noun | Person, thing, place, or event | She is the new . |
Pronoun | Replaces a noun | is the new assistant. bag is missing. |
Verb | Expresses time while demonstrating a condition, action, or the fact that something exists | She the new assistant. I what she that day. |
Adjective | Modifies a noun or a pronoun | She is the assistant. Jane is selling her apartment. |
Adverb | Modifies a verb, adjective, or fellow adverb. | remove your makeup. |
Conjunction | Connects clauses, words, or sentences | I like candles I like reed diffusers. She asked me not to attend she won’t be there. |
Preposition | Connects a noun to another word | My dog went the neighbor’s house. |
Determiner | Determines a noun | buzzcut suits your face shape. |
Interjection | Short exclamation | ! That was an impressive performance. |
Sometimes, words have more than one role in the English language. For example, some nouns can also act as adjectives called adjectival nouns. In the phrase “race car,” “race” modifies “car,” so its usage is as an adjective instead of a noun.
A noun can be used in verbal senses. Consider the word “work” in these sentences.
The two classifications of the parts of speech include open and closed classes. The open classes can be changed and added as the language changes.
Meanwhile, closed classes are parts of speech that do not change. These include:
In some languages, verbs and adjectives form closed classes. This closedness of verbs is common in Basque and Persian verbs .
Linguistics , or the study of language, does not recommend the label “part of speech” anymore. Instead, the discipline favors “syntactic category” or “word class.”
In the stricter sense, the only use of “with” is as a preposition. You can find it before a noun or a pronoun to form prepositional phrases. Use it to show togetherness, associations, and connections between people and objects.
The conjunction “and” connects words, clauses, and phrases. It can also combine sentences that need to be presented at once.
“My” is a possessive pronoun that can also act as an adjective, determiner, or interjection.
This guide has shown you the nine parts of speech and their grammatical functions. By now, you should already be able to give definitions and examples of each category, so they make sense.
To correctly use the parts of speech, ask yourself, “what is the function of this word in the sentence?” Keep practicing until you master the traditional grammar rules of English!
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Writing with artificial intelligence, parts of speech, chapter: parts of speech.
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A verb-tense shift occurs when a writer changes tense within a single piece of writing. Tense is the term for what time frame verbs refer to. Standard American English has a number of tenses, each of which is a variation on past, present, or future. Any switching of tense within a sentence, paragraph, or longer ...
Coordinating conjunctions are words that are used to join two sentences together. Example: I’m reading, and I’m writing. Key Concepts: Flow, Coherence, Unity; Grammar; Organization; Organizational Schema & Logical Reasoning; Parts of Speech; Sentences; Writer-Based vs. Reader-Based Prose Commas are used when two independent clauses are connected by coordinating conjunctions: Ex: She was tired, so ...
A subordinating conjunction connects an independent clause to a dependent (subordinate) clause: an independent clause is a sentence that is a complete thought and therefore can stand alone Example: I survived the class. a dependent clause is an incomplete sentence, a fragment. It cannot express a complete thought. It cannot be punctuated as a sentence. ...
English has three articles: a, an, and the. These little words are used to introduce certain nouns, but there are specific rules regarding the use of each one. When do I use an article? “A” is used before a general noun that has not been introduced to the reader. A cat walked by my door. ...
Strong verbs are verbs that convey a lot of precise meaning without the help of modifiers or qualifications. Using strong verbs is usually an appropriate stylistic choice. Strong verbs make your writing more concise, help you avoid vague descriptions, and can keep your readers interested. When you don’t use a variety of strong verbs, you ...
Verbs, a part of speech, refer to words that show actions (Action Verbs) feelings, states of being (Nonactive (aka Inactive) Verbs). Action Verbs Action verbs are words that denote specific actions in a sentence. Because actions tend to be concrete and sensory, sentences that employ action verbs tend to be more accessible, readable, understandable than ...
If these sentences seem ok, that may be because you may hear people say them in everyday discourse. Still, from the standard of British or American English, the first three sentences contain a pronoun error. The fourth sentence, which until recently would have been considered an error, is correct. What Are Pronouns? Pronouns are words that ...
Conjunctions, a part of speech, refer to words that connect words, phrases, or clauses. Words that show relationships between ideas, across words, phrases, clauses, and sentences. Key Concepts: Coordination & Subordination; Organizational Schema; Sentences; Writer-Based vs. Reader-Based Prose Why Do Conjunctions Matter? Writers, speakers, knowledge workers . . . use conjunctions to aid coherence—especially to ...
Parts of Speech refers to the different ways words can function in a sentence. There are 9 Parts of Speech in English: Parts of Speech Grammatical Function 1. Articles 2. Adjectives modifies noun 3. Adverbs a word used to modify verbs and verb phrases 4. Conjunctions joins words 5. Interjections use of punctuation to denote ...
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A part of speech (also called a word class ) is a category that describes the role a word plays in a sentence. Understanding the different parts of speech can help you analyse how words function in a sentence and improve your writing.
The parts of speech are classified differently in different grammars, but most traditional grammars list eight parts of speech in English: nouns , pronouns , verbs , adjectives , adverbs , prepositions , conjunctions , and interjections . Some modern grammars add others, such as determiners and articles .
Many words can function as different parts of speech depending on how they are used. For example, ‘laugh’ can be a noun (e.g., ‘I like your laugh’) or a verb (e.g., ‘don’t laugh’).
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Prepositions, conjunctions, interjections, other parts of speech, frequently asked questions.
A noun is a word that refers to a person, concept, place, or thing. Nouns can act as the subject of a sentence (i.e., the person or thing performing the action) or as the object of a verb (i.e., the person or thing affected by the action).
There are numerous types of nouns, including common nouns (used to refer to nonspecific people, concepts, places, or things), proper nouns (used to refer to specific people, concepts, places, or things), and collective nouns (used to refer to a group of people or things).
Ella lives in France .
Other types of nouns include countable and uncountable nouns , concrete nouns , abstract nouns , and gerunds .
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A pronoun is a word used in place of a noun. Pronouns typically refer back to an antecedent (a previously mentioned noun) and must demonstrate correct pronoun-antecedent agreement . Like nouns, pronouns can refer to people, places, concepts, and things.
There are numerous types of pronouns, including personal pronouns (used in place of the proper name of a person), demonstrative pronouns (used to refer to specific things and indicate their relative position), and interrogative pronouns (used to introduce questions about things, people, and ownership).
That is a horrible painting!
A verb is a word that describes an action (e.g., ‘jump’), occurrence (e.g., ‘become’), or state of being (e.g., ‘exist’). Verbs indicate what the subject of a sentence is doing. Every complete sentence must contain at least one verb.
Verbs can change form depending on subject (e.g., first person singular), tense (e.g., past simple ), mood (e.g., interrogative), and voice (e.g., passive voice ).
Regular verbs are verbs whose simple past and past participle are formed by adding’-ed’ to the end of the word (or ‘-d’ if the word already ends in ‘e’). Irregular verbs are verbs whose simple past and past participles are formed in some other way.
‘I’ve already checked twice’.
‘I heard that you used to sing ‘.
Other types of verbs include auxiliary verbs , linking verbs , modal verbs , and phrasal verbs .
An adjective is a word that describes a noun or pronoun. Adjectives can be attributive , appearing before a noun (e.g., ‘a red hat’), or predicative , appearing after a noun with the use of a linking verb like ‘to be’ (e.g., ‘the hat is red ‘).
Adjectives can also have a comparative function. Comparative adjectives compare two or more things. Superlative adjectives describe something as having the most or least of a specific characteristic.
Other types of adjectives include coordinate adjectives , participial adjectives , and denominal adjectives .
An adverb is a word that can modify a verb, adjective, adverb, or sentence. Adverbs are often formed by adding ‘-ly’ to the end of an adjective (e.g., ‘slow’ becomes ‘slowly’), although not all adverbs have this ending, and not all words with this ending are adverbs.
There are numerous types of adverbs, including adverbs of manner (used to describe how something occurs), adverbs of degree (used to indicate extent or degree), and adverbs of place (used to describe the location of an action or event).
Talia writes quite quickly.
Other types of adverbs include adverbs of frequency , adverbs of purpose , focusing adverbs , and adverbial phrases .
A preposition is a word (e.g., ‘at’) or phrase (e.g., ‘on top of’) used to show the relationship between the different parts of a sentence. Prepositions can be used to indicate aspects such as time , place , and direction .
I left the cup on the kitchen counter.
A conjunction is a word used to connect different parts of a sentence (e.g., words, phrases, or clauses).
The main types of conjunctions are coordinating conjunctions (used to connect items that are grammatically equal), subordinating conjunctions (used to introduce a dependent clause), and correlative conjunctions (used in pairs to join grammatically equal parts of a sentence).
You can choose what movie we watch because I chose the last time.
An interjection is a word or phrase used to express a feeling, give a command, or greet someone. Interjections are a grammatically independent part of speech, so they can often be excluded from a sentence without affecting the meaning.
Types of interjections include volitive interjections (used to make a demand or request), emotive interjections (used to express a feeling or reaction), cognitive interjections (used to indicate thoughts), and greetings and parting words (used at the beginning and end of a conversation).
Ouch ! I hurt my arm.
I’m, um , not sure.
The traditional classification of English words into eight parts of speech is by no means the only one or the objective truth. Grammarians have often divided them into more or fewer classes. Other commonly mentioned parts of speech include determiners and articles.
A determiner is a word that describes a noun by indicating quantity, possession, or relative position.
Common types of determiners include demonstrative determiners (used to indicate the relative position of a noun), possessive determiners (used to describe ownership), and quantifiers (used to indicate the quantity of a noun).
My brother is selling his old car.
Other types of determiners include distributive determiners , determiners of difference , and numbers .
An article is a word that modifies a noun by indicating whether it is specific or general.
There’s a concert this weekend.
A is an indefinite article (along with an ). While articles can be classed as their own part of speech, they’re also considered a type of determiner .
The indefinite articles are used to introduce nonspecific countable nouns (e.g., ‘a dog’, ‘an island’).
In is primarily classed as a preposition, but it can be classed as various other parts of speech, depending on how it is used:
As a part of speech, and is classed as a conjunction . Specifically, it’s a coordinating conjunction .
And can be used to connect grammatically equal parts of a sentence, such as two nouns (e.g., ‘a cup and plate’), or two adjectives (e.g., ‘strong and smart’). And can also be used to connect phrases and clauses.
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There are eight major parts of speech .
Some words ( adjectives , adverbs , interjections , nouns , verbs ) are productive classes allowing new members; others, with functional rather than lexical meaning ( articles , conjunctions , prepositions ) are nonproductive and have a limited number of members.
Some grammarians consider articles , quantifiers , and numerals to also be parts of speech.
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What are parts of speech? In the American English language, parts-of-speech is a category to which a word is assigned in accordance with its syntactic functions. They exist under the verb , noun, pronoun, interjection , adjective , conjunction, adverb, and preposition forms.
Learn more about parts of the speech in this comprehensive worksheet…
“Parts of speech” refers to the essential words used in sentence formation in the English language.
Every word used in a sentence structure plays an important role in defining the sentence’s meaning. These words use and placement give proper intentions in sentence structures.
Parts of speech are the basic grammar lessons taught during the primary phases of learning English.
Any word used in sentence formation falls into one of these categories for proper sentence structure.
Some of those words can be a part of one or more parts of speech. This topic further explores the essential parts of speech used in the English language.
Watch this as a video lesson
These nine parts of speech are namely: Verbs, Nouns , Adjectives, Determiners, Adverbs , Pronouns, Prepositions , Conjunctions, and Interjections.
Another additional classification is used as a part of speech, i.e. , Articles, a subprogram of determiners.
To comprehend the meaning and use of each word in the English language, it is essential to clearly understand the various parts of speech and select the right parts of speech form at the appropriate place in the sentence.
Here are the nine parts of speech and how they impact the English language.
Noun | name a place, person, thing, or idea. | California, man, park |
Pronoun | Used to replace the name of a person, place, thing or idea. | He, she, it, they |
Verb | A verb expresses what the does. | Leave, do, work put, |
Adverb | Used to describe verb, adverb, or adjective. | Always, silently, quickly |
Adjective | Words that are used to describe qualities or things. | Long, short, tiny, bright, dark |
Preposition | Shows the relationship between other words in a sentence. | In, on, at, with, |
Interjection | Words that express emotions or feelings. | Wow, oh, ah, yikes |
Conjunction | Words that join words or groups of words together. | And, but, , , also |
‘Verbs’ are the words used in a sentence to define the action/state of action being performed. Most of the sentences in sentence formation require the inclusion of verbs.
Some examples of verbs used in the English language are Love, Break, Fall , and Cry . These are the basic forms of verbs and are known as infinitives .
Most of the verbs used have two other major forms called participles . The use of these participles is for the formation of various verb-tense combinations.
These participles define the forms of verbs concerning the time of action/performance. These verb-tense combinations can be used in two types: Active voice and passive voice .
A ‘noun’ are words used in a sentence to give recognition or the name of an object, individual, or animal.
Nouns can be sub-classified into two major categories: Common nouns , which give generic descriptor names to things, and common items, such as a bat, a bicycle , etc. The other category of nouns is Proper nouns , which have specific descriptor names to refer to a specialized object, place, or individual, such as Charley, The Empire State Building, The Telegraph , etc.
Additionally, nouns can be classified as singular nouns and plural nouns based on the number of individuals/objects.
The definition of a Singular Noun is the same as that of a noun when used commonly. It carries the same definition as the noun: “A word referring towards an individual/object/event/material/place.”
The word plural relates to “more than one in certain languages or more than two in certain languages.”
Thus singular nouns can be converted to their plural noun format when there is an implication of more than one or two objects/individuals/places.
A general Singular/Common Noun can be turned into the appropriate form of a Plural Noun by adding a ‘s’/’es’/’ ies’/’ves.’ It is also initiated by changing ‘us’ to ‘i’, ‘is’ to ‘es’ , or ‘on’ to ‘a’ .
Some common nouns do not change when interchanged between their singular and plural noun forms. Some other common nouns do not fall under plural nouns and are called irregular nouns, which are made plural by changing the spelling or adding a suffix to the word.
‘Adjectives’ are words that give a description or modify the scope of nouns/pronouns by being specific. For example, adjectives used to define a noun can be red, small, hot, common, etc.
An adjective is usually placed before a noun or after the verb that it modifies. Three forms of adjectives are used to compare similar characteristics of different individuals/objects. These three degrees of comparison are:
This comparison of adjectives defines the original form of the adjective as stated in English. For example, “this candy is tasty .” This degree of comparison states that no relative subject is available for comparison.
This form of the adjective gives a relative comparison between two objects performing similar actions with identical characteristics. For example, “the candy we had today is tastier than the one we received yesterday.”
This form of the adjective gives the superiority declaration of one object over similar objects possessing similar characteristics. For example, “this candy is the tastiest I have ever had in the last two years .”
Adjectives can be sub-classified based on their function in sentence formation. This sub-classification is:
These adjectives show/represent the possessiveness of an object. For example, mine, my, his/her, their, its, etc.
These adjectives modify the noun/pronoun by interrogation. Only a select few adjectives are available in this form. For example, whose, which, what, and where.
These adjectives describe the current state/position of the noun/pronoun concerning space/time. For example, this, these, those, that.
These adjectives are a result of the combination of two or more adjectives. The resulting adjective modifies the subject in the sentence. For example, hand-dried, heavy-weighted, spike-haired, etc.
‘Determiners’ are the words placed before a noun/pronoun group terms to refer to a single/multiple things. Some commonly used determiners in English are ‘a’, ‘the’, ‘some’, ‘any’, and ‘this.’ Determiners are generally placed before descriptive adjectives . It tells the reader more about the description of the noun being referred to.
Determiners are classified into sub-categories, articles, and demonstratives.
An ‘Article’ can be either definite or indefinite. An article modifies a noun/pronoun without specifying any description of the object. In English, an example of a ‘definite article’ is the , whereas examples of two ‘indefinite articles’ are a and an .
Here, the refers to specific things or things that are identified beforehand. A or a refer to non-specific things that have not been identified beforehand.
A ‘Demonstrative’ is defined as a demonstrative adjective/pronoun based on its usage in the sentence. Some examples of demonstratives are ‘this’, ‘that’, and ‘those’ .
A determiner has the same rules of use as in the case of adjectives in sentence formation. Thus, confusion takes place when carefully choosing the type of parts of speech to assign when given a choice of either a determiner or adjective.
An ‘Adverb’ defines essential information about the verb, similar to what an adjective is to a noun. It provides a descriptor for a verb used in a sentence and some cases, can also describe an adjective or another adverb.
Some adverbs used in sentences with verbs are ‘slowly’, ‘hastily’, ‘unfortunately’, and ‘angrily’.
Adverbs are further sub-classified into various types based on their application in a sentence.
A ‘Pronoun’ is a word used in specifically providing an alternate name for a non/noun phrase. They are alternate words for referring to an object/individual when the requirement of a noun is unnecessary, as the noun has been mentioned previously in some parts of the sentence.
Some examples of pronouns are ‘it’, ‘he/she’, and ‘himself/herself’.
Pronouns are sub-classified into different categories based on their use in the sentence.
A ‘Preposition’ is a word used as a connective between a noun, a noun phrase, or a pronoun with another word.
A ‘Conjunction’ is a word that combines two/more objects and behaves as connectives in a sentence. These can appear in the beginning/middle/end of the sentence following the location of the objects.
An ‘Interjection’ is a word to convey the expression of a variety of emotions/feelings. As such, there is no specific rule for the use of interjection and where it is to be placed.
However, in most cases, it is placed at the beginning of the sentence. For example, some of the most commonly used interjections are ‘ouch’, ‘phew’, and ‘well’.
Noun | The howled. |
Pronoun | It woke the baby. |
Verb | The loving mother the child. |
Adjective | The father rocked the baby. |
Adverb | The dog howled |
Preposition | The baby cried a long time. |
Conjunction | The baby gazed at his mother father. |
Interjection | , the baby fell back asleep. |
Here are some examples of the parts of speech used in sentences. Note the placement and its relation with other parts of speech present in the sentence format.
See another example in the image below.
See an example in the image below.
Many parts of speech can have more than one function/job in the sentence. This improves the versatility of the words being used and makes the use more situational in its placement and conveyance of meaning.
To see how all the objects work together, see the table below.
She | likes | big | but | I | hate | them |
Here is a chart showing the parts of speech:
In sentence formation, it often becomes difficult to ascertain the parts of speech represented by each word. To help out and to make the process of identification easier, follow these steps:
More parts of speech:
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About the author
Dalia Y.: Dalia is an English Major and linguistics expert with an additional degree in Psychology. Dalia has featured articles on Forbes, Inc, Fast Company, Grammarly, and many more. She covers English, ESL, and all things grammar on GrammarBrain.
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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.
Parts of speech definition, different parts of speech with examples.
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.
Parts of speech include nouns, pronouns, verbs, adverbs, adjectives, prepositions, conjunctions and interjections.
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:
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:
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:
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:
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:
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:
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:
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:
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.
Now, let us see if you got it right. Check your answers.
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.
There are 8 parts of speech in total.
Nouns, pronouns, verbs, adverbs, adjectives, prepositions, conjunctions and interjections are the 8 parts of speech.
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A baseless claim that illegal immigrants from Haiti have been eating domestic pets in a small Ohio city has been repeated by Donald Trump.
During ABC's presidential debate, Trump said: "In Springfield, they are eating the dogs. The people that came in, they are eating the cats. They’re eating – they are eating the pets of the people that live there."
But city officials have told BBC Verify there have been “no credible reports" that this has actually happened.
The baseless claim had spread on social media, with Republican vice-presidential candidate JD Vance promoting it on X. The post has had more than 11 million views.
US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby called Vance's comments "dangerous" and a "conspiracy theory... based on an element of racism".
The claim appears to have come from a number of different sources which have been turned into a cohesive - though baseless - story by pro-Trump social media accounts.
At a 27 August meeting of Springfield’s city commission, a local resident who describes himself as a social media influencer launched into a speech against Haitian immigrants.
He gave a long list of grievances, including that they were slaughtering park ducks for food, and accused city officials of being paid to bring in immigrants, but provided no evidence for these claims.
A claim about a cat being killed by Haitian immigrants was made on a Facebook post focusing on crime in Springfield , and attributed by the poster to the friend of a neighbour’s daughter.
During the presidential debate on Tuesday, Trump also claimed to have seen “people on television [saying] ‘My dog was taken and used for food’”.
BBC Verify has looked at archive video of every major US broadcaster, including Fox, CNN and CBS. We also used keywords to search for relevant video on social media, and have not identified any televised interview of this nature.
Separately, a news report - as well as police bodycam footage - from late August about a woman arrested for killing and eating a cat has also been circulating online.
Many right-wing commentators have referred to the woman as Haitian and pointed to the report as evidence for the baseless claim that Haitian immigrants have been engaged in similar activity.
However, the incident took place in Canton, Ohio, about 170 miles (273km) away from Springfield.
Canton Police told the BBC that the suspect was born in 1997 and that she was a US citizen. The department also told us "we have not dealt with any complaints of Haitian immigrants at all."
BBC Verify spoke to the Springfield City Commission about the claims.
Officials told us: “There have been no credible reports or specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals within the immigrant community.”
The claims have also been reflected in a post on Reddit with a photo of a man carrying what appears to be a dead goose in Columbus, Ohio.
On 10 September, the conservative news outlet, The Federalist, published a story with an audio recording allegedly from a non-emergency call to police in Springfield. The caller claimed to have seen four Haitians carrying four geese.
The article also features what is meant to be a police report from the Clark County Sheriff’s Office about the call which it says was made on 26 August.
BBC Verify contacted the sheriff’s office and asked them whether the audio recording and police report were true.
It directed us to a Springfield City government spokesperson who said "these claims were not substantiated".
Elon Musk has posted memes referring to the baseless claims which have been viewed millions of times.
Charlie Kirk, the CEO of conservative activist group Turning Point, said: “Residents of Springfield, OH are reporting that Haitians are eating their family pets”.
And official Republican party social media channels, such as the Republican House Judiciary Committee X account, have also referred to the claims.
The account posted an AI-generated image of former president Trump hugging a duck and a cat with the caption “Protect our ducks and kittens in Ohio!”.
That post was seen nearly 70 million times.
On Tuesday, Vance appeared to row back on his previous comment and said on X: "It's possible, of course, that all of these rumors will turn out to be false."
But he added: "keep the cat memes flowing".
The BBC has contacted the Trump campaign for comment.
Springfield, a rust belt city in south-west Ohio, is home to about 60,000 people and has seen thousands of immigrants arrive in recent years.
Many are from Haiti, and city officials say up to 20,000 have made Springfield home in recent years, reversing a long decline that saw the city’s population drop by more than 20,000 over the last 60 years.
The new arrivals have revitalised local industrial companies but have also put a strain on public services. Vance, a senator representing Ohio who grew up about an hour away from Springfield, has repeatedly talked about the city on the campaign trail.
Additional reporting by Joshua Cheetham
What do you want BBC Verify to investigate?
Your Excellency, Dr Elia, Minister of Health
José dos Reis Magno, Vice-Minister, Institutional Strengthening of Health
Dr Flávio Brandão, Vice-Minister, Hospital Operations
Dr Arvind Mathur, WHO Representative
Director Generals, National Directors, and officials from the Ministries.
A good evening to you all.
I am very pleased to be with you here today. While this is my first visit to Timor-Leste as Regional Director, I have been fortunate to have visited previously as a private citizen. The progress that you have made since that first visit of mine is quite remarkable,
You are one of the youngest nations in the world, and despite emerging from conflict, your achievements are truly inspiring.
In just two decades, you have extended life expectancy by nearly a decade. You have increased the number of doctors from 20 to one thousand and were one of the early achievers for meeting the MDG target for reducing maternal and infant deaths.
You have eliminated diseases like Polio, maternal and neonatal tetanus, measles and Rubella– and you have achieved this while having one of the lowest out-of-pocket expenditures in our WHO South-East Asia Region.
I am pleased that your journey towards Universal Health Coverage has been a shared one with WHO, where we have walked alongside you in this effort.
Let me assure you that our close collaboration will only deepen and strengthen over time.
You've made remarkable strides, but I believe the best is yet to come.
As you know, Timor-Leste is among the most climate-vulnerable countries in the world, and the impact of this is already felt through disease-related complications.
But you are not alone in this challenge.
Current evidence indicates a delay and deviation in achieving UN Sustainable Development Goal 3 targets, particularly in health, due to factors like demographic shifts, climate change, conflicts, and humanitarian crises.
Climate change, in particular, is a growing threat to mental health and psychosocial well-being, as I emphasized at a recent regional workshop in Bali.
Its impact exacerbates existing social, environmental, and economic risks to mental health, and our region is particularly vulnerable to this.
Many countries in our region face significant gaps in mental health services, underscoring the urgent need to strengthen these systems.
Therefore, Timor-Leste's commitment to preventing mental disorders and protecting the rights of those affected, as outlined in your Mental Health Strategy, is admirable and commendable.
Addressing these complex challenges requires a united front involving governments, international organizations, civil society, the private sector, and communities themselves.
I would like to reiterate that to accelerate progress towards the SDGs and other milestones, we have developed a Regional Roadmap for Results and Resilience 2024–2029.
The Regional Roadmap is a flexible framework with five interconnected parts.
It can be used in all health programs across Southeast Asia, from planning to evaluation.
Each part can work alone, but they're designed to be used together for the best results.
The first four parts focus on making health care holistic, equitable, innovative, and sustainable, while the fifth part focuses on WHO's role as an enabler.
To put the Roadmap into action, we have created what we call the ‘ 5Rs ’ .
Embracing the 5Rs can provide a strategic framework to address some of the complex health issues facing us.
Together, we can pledge to tackle these – and more.
- Better mental health, safer child births, healthier lifestyles, and taking full advantage of the digital revolution.
Your Excellency, I am sure you know that in this exciting and challenging journey towards UHC, I and my WHO team stand shoulder-to-shoulder with you.
I know that we have worked together extremely well in the past, and we will continue to do so in the future.
I look forward to this, and to being a partner and collaborator in your efforts to improve the health of everyone in your country.
The day after the presidential debate at which former President Donald Trump spread a false story about Haitian immigrants eating pets in Springfield, Ohio, Christopher Pohlhaus, leader of the national neo-Nazi group Blood Tribe, took to his Telegram channel to take credit.
Pohlhaus, a Marine-turned-tattoo artist known as “Hammer” to his hundreds of followers, wrote Blood Tribe had “pushed Springfield into the public consciousness.”
Members of his hate group agreed. “The president is talking about it now,” a member wrote on Gab, a Twitter-like service popular with extremists. “This is what real power looks like.”
Trump’s line at the debate was the culmination of a weekslong rumor mill that appears to have at least been amplified by Blood Tribe, which has sought to demonize the local Haitian community online and in person. The debate drew more than 67 million viewers , according to the media analytics company Nielsen.
As with most rumors, the beginning of the baseless claims about Haitians eating pets in Springfield is hard to pinpoint, but Blood Tribe undoubtedly helped spread it.
Starting in late June, people in local Facebook groups had been posting about Haitian children chasing ducks and geese. Around the same time, conservative media was characterizing Springfield as being “flooded” with Haitian immigrants. Over the next few weeks, the Facebook complaints, still without evidence , got darker, with anonymous posters claiming they were hearing that ducks and geese were going missing, perhaps even being eaten by their immigrant neighbors.
The Springfield Police Division told NBC News that “there have been no credible reports or specific claims of pets being harmed, injured, or abused by individuals within the immigrant community.”
The rumor began to grow legs in the private local groups as the blue-collar city’s immigration-driven population growth became national news in an election year.
Blood Tribe latched on last month when it started posting to Telegram and Gab about Springfield, stoking racist rumors about Haitians and Black people in general eating domestic animals. In a hate-filled Gab post from early September that included multiple racial epithets, the group claimed Haitians “eat the ducks out of the city parks.” The reach of Blood Tribe’s isn’t clear, as its Gab and Telegram accounts have fewer than 1,000 followers.
In response to a request for comment sent to Pohlhaus, Blood Tribe said in an email that it stood by its claims and that it would continue its activism, “making sure” Haitian immigrants “are all repatriated.”
The claims also began circulating in more mainstream conservative spaces, most notably on social media.
A few days after Blood Tribe’s Gab post, an X account not affiliated with Blood Tribe that is popular in conservative circles, @EndWokeness, posted a screenshot of a message board post and a picture of a man appearing to hold a goose. The screenshot purports that Haitians had stolen and eaten a neighbor’s cat, and the message from the X account adds that “ducks and pets are disappearing.” That post has been viewed 4.9 million times, according to X’s public metrics.
The man who originally posted the photo said that it was taken in Columbus, Ohio, and that he didn’t know the person’s ethnicity and he said he didn’t believe the photo should have been used to spread false rumors.
Even so, the post sparked a major jump for the rumor. What had been steady conversation that spread in August was beginning to die out early this month, according to data from Peak Metrics, a company that tracks online threats. But the goose post led to a second wave of virality.
From there, the rumors snowballed . Claims of residents’ pets being stolen, animal sacrifice and voodoo worshiping, as well as discussions about the “great replacement” conspiracy, began to circulate, according to an analysis by Memetica, a digital investigations company.
The memes followed. Artificial intelligence-generated images first circulated on 4chan and then in MAGA communities on X of pets and waterfowl being embraced and protected by Trump, which pushed the conspiracy theories even further into the mainstream. At the height of the spread this week, Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, promoted the baseless rumors on his own X account.
“It’s possible, of course, that all of these rumors will turn out to be false,” Vance posted. But he told his followers, without proof that the rumors weren’t true, they shouldn’t “let the crybabies in the media dissuade you, fellow patriots. Keep the cat memes flowing.”
As the rumors gained steam in conservative online spaces , Blood Tribe was planning real-world actions.
On Aug. 10, about a dozen masked Blood Tribe members carrying banners adorned with swastikas marched in downtown Springfield, labeling the event an “anti-Haitian Immigration march.” On Facebook, Mayor Rob Rue said: “There was an attempt to disrupt our community by an outside hate group. Nothing happened, except they expressed their First Amendment rights.”
Blood Tribe’s Gab account shot back and invited its followers to harass the mayor. “Hello, Springfield Ohio! We hear you have a real problem with Haitian ‘refugees.’”
On Aug. 27, Drake Berentz, the only Blood Tribe member apart from Pohlhaus who marches with his face shown, stood before the Springfield City Commission. Identifying himself by his online moniker, Berentz offered “a word of warning” before his mic was cut off for threatening the commission. He was escorted out by police.
Springfield isn’t Blood Tribe’s first target, and it’s not likely to be its last, said Jeff Tischauser , a senior researcher for the Southern Poverty Law Center who monitors hate groups. Blood Tribe and other hate groups have used the real-world actions for recruitment, attention and intimidation.
Last year, armed Blood Tribe members rallied at drag events in Columbus and Wadsworth , Ohio, chanting Nazi slogans and waving Nazi salutes. They marched at a Pride event in Watertown, Wisconsin and at the capitol in Madison , and they shouted “Heil Hitler” outside Disney World . This year, abandoning LGBTQ issues for immigration, they have protested in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Nashville, Tennessee; Pierre, South Dakota; and Springfield.
“They aim to stoke fear among local communities that they view as potentially friendly to their ideas,” Tischauser said. “Goal No. 1 is psychological trauma, to keep folks out of public life that they disagree with. Number 2 is to create these viral moments for their group to get attention on Gab and on Telegram.”
Blood Tribe, like other white nationalist groups, also seeks to normalize extremist ideas and symbols, Tischauser said. With Trump’s and the wider conservative embrace of the Haitians-eating-pets rumor, Springfield has been a success for the hate groups.
“The GOP seems to be falling into their trap,” Tischauser said. “Groups like Blood Tribe truly see themselves as pushing the GOP further to their position on policy, but also on rhetoric.”
The threat from such a mainstreaming of extremist ideas was on display in Springfield on Thursday. Blood Tribe has used its Gab account to dox Springfield residents and government employees who have spoken out against the recent rumors. City Hall had to close down Thursday after multiple government agencies there got bomb threats.
Brandy Zadrozny is a senior reporter for NBC News. She covers misinformation, extremism and the internet.
In his speech in the Closing Ceremony of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, Tony Estanguet, President of Paris 2024, mentioned a series of French athletes whose achievements during both Games made the country “explode with joy.” He also named one international athlete. A Para swimmer who enchanted French fans with his victories and charisma, Brazil’s Gabriel Araujo.
“When the Brazilian swimmer Gabrielzinho won his three gold medals in a crazy atmosphere, he definitively changed how we think about difference and sent out a powerful message to all people with disabilities: sport is for you too,” Estanguet said. “With every one of his appearances, the Paralympic revolution gained more ground.”
His impact at the Paris 2024 Paralympics was undeniable. With his remarkable performances, infectious smiles, and dance moves on the podium, Gabrielzinho captivated France. Previously known primarily in Brazil, his nickname gained global recognition.
Araujo arrived in Paris as a two-time Paralympic champion and left with three more gold medals, adding to his impressive collection. Or perhaps four, as he joked on the France 2 TV show “Quels Jeux,” where he was dubbed "the Pelé of the Pools," in reference to the legendary Brazilian footballer Pelé.
“The warmth and affection I received from the French fans made me feel like I’m leaving not just with the medals I won in the pool, but with a fourth medal for the incredible experiences I had in Paris,” said the 22-year-old.
The S2 swimmer successfully defended his titles in the men’s 200m freestyle S2 and the men’s 50m backstroke S2 at La Defense Arena, while also upgrading his Tokyo 2020 silver in the 100m backstroke S2 to a gold in Paris 2024.
"It's a feeling of mission accomplished, of duty fulfilled," Gabrielzinho said. "I came to Paris to win three golds, and I'm really happy I did."
Beyond his swimming achievements, Araujo was honoured as the male flagbearer for Brazil during the Opening Ceremony of the Paralympic Games.
“It was an honour, a privilege — an opportunity I didn’t expect, especially now (so early in his career),” he shared.
Gabrielzinho’s journey began when a physical education teacher, Aguilar Freitas, noticed his potential and entered him into a school swimming competition.
"Neither my mother nor I knew that he had signed me up. I went, competed, and won three gold medals. That’s how I started swimming, and I never stopped. Swimming is the best thing that ever happened to me—it completely changed my life," Gabrielzinho recalled in a 2019 interview about his early career.
Now, he is the athlete to beat in his class and a crowd favourite not only in Brazil but also in France. A six-time world champion, with titles from Madeira 2022 and Manchester 2023, Gabrielzinho understands that expectations will only grow after Paris. Yet, he insists there is no secret to his success — just hard work.
“You don’t win a medal just in the water. There’s a whole process behind it. When I’m in the water, I’m not alone. It’s about the people who support me, especially my coach Fabio Antunes, whose fantastic work made these results possible. If I’ve achieved all this, it’s because of an ever-growing desire to win and a belief that I can go even further than I ever imagined.”
Paralympic Games 1 200m Freestyle S2 - Paris 2024 - 3:58.92 1 50m Backstroke S2 - Paris 2024 - 50.93 1 100m Backstroke S2 - Paris 2024 - 1:53.67 1 200m Freestyle S2 - Tokyo 2020 - 4:06.52 1 50m Backstroke S2 - Tokyo 2020 - 53.96 2 100m Backstroke S2 - Tokyo 2020 - 2:02.47
World Championships 1 100m Backstroke S2 - Manchester 2023 - 1:55.34 1 200m Freestyle S2 - Manchester 2023 - 4:01.51 1 50m Backstroke S2 - Manchester 2023 - 54.08 1 100m Backstroke S2 - Madeira 2022 - 1:57.69 1 200m Freestyle - S2 - Madeira 2022 - 3:59.06 1 50m Backstroke S2 - Madeira 2022 - 53.24
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This, that, these, those - English Grammar Today - a reference to written and spoken English grammar and usage - Cambridge Dictionary
The 8 parts of speech 1 Nouns. A noun is a word that names a person, place, concept, or object. Basically, anything that names a "thing" is a noun, whether you're talking about a basketball court, San Francisco, Cleopatra, or self-preservation.. Nouns fall into two categories: common nouns and proper nouns.
The demonstrative adjectives this/that/these/those, which may also be pronouns, tell us where an object is located and how many objects there are. This and that are used to point to one object. This points to something nearby, while that points to something "over there." Examples: This dog is mine. This is mine. That dog is
A part of speech (also called a word class) is a category that describes the role a word plays in a sentence.Understanding the different parts of speech can help you analyze how words function in a sentence and improve your writing. The parts of speech are classified differently in different grammars, but most traditional grammars list eight parts of speech in English: nouns, pronouns, verbs ...
The 9 parts of speech are adjectives, adverbs, conjunctions, determiners, interjections, nouns, prepositions, pronouns, and verbs. (These are also known as "word classes.") A Formal Definition. A "part of speech" is a category to which a word is assigned in accordance with its syntactic functions. In English, the main parts of speech are noun ...
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 ...
Also known as word classes, these are the building blocks of grammar. Every sentence you write or speak in English includes words that fall into some of the nine parts of speech. These include nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, articles/determiners, and interjections. (Some sources include only eight parts ...
What is a Parts of Speech? A part of speech is a category that describes the role a word plays in a sentence.These roles help you understand how words function in grammar.. There are typically eight main parts of speech in English: Nouns: Words that name people, places, things, or ideas.; Pronouns: Words that replace nouns, such as he, she, it.; Verbs: Words that describe actions or states ...
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.
The 8 parts of speech are: nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections. Nouns represent people, places, things, or ideas. Pronouns replace nouns to avoid repetition. Verbs describe actions or states of being. Adjectives provide additional details about nouns.
We call these groups the parts of speech. Many words can function as multiple parts of speech. You need to look at each word in the context of a sentence in order to say what part of speech it is. The eight parts of speech are nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, conjunctions, prepositions, and interjections.
Knowing the different parts of speech is essential for good grammar. Become an expert at knowing when and what parts of speech to use with these examples.
Parts of speech are word categories defined by their roles in sentence structures. These categories are organized by the functions and meanings they convey. In English, there are around ten common parts of speech: nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, prepositions, conjunctions, interjections, determiners, and articles.
The Eight Parts of Speech. There are eight parts of speech in the English language: noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition, conjunction, and interjection. The part of speech indicates how the word functions in meaning as well as grammatically within the sentence. An individual word can function as more than one part of speech when ...
The 8 parts of speech in English are: Nouns, Adjectives, Adverbs, Verbs, Prepositions, Pronouns, Conjunctions, and Interjections. A part of speech is a category of words that have similar grammatical functions or properties. In other words, they play similar roles in a sentence. For instance, a verb shows the action of a subject or the subject ...
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.
Every word you speak or write is a part of speech. In the English language, there are 8 parts of speech: nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and articles (determiners). These parts of speech represent categories of words according to their grammatical function.
6. Conjunction. A conjunction is a word that binds words, clauses, and phrases. "And," "but," "because," and "consequently" are some examples of conjunctions. Conjunctions make it easy to construct more complex sentences because you can easily add new clauses. The category distinctions of this part of speech are: Coordinating ...
Parts of Speech refers to the different ways words can function in a sentence. There are 9 Parts of Speech in English: Parts of Speech Grammatical Function 1. Articles 2. Adjectives modifies noun 3. Adverbs a word used to modify verbs and verb phrases 4.
A part of speech (also called a word class) is a category that describes the role a word plays in a sentence. Understanding the different parts of speech can help you analyse how words function in a sentence and improve your writing. ... Note In the traditional eight parts of speech, these words are usually classed as adjectives, or in some ...
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These nine parts of speech are namely: Verbs, Nouns, Adjectives, Determiners, Adverbs, Pronouns, Prepositions, Conjunctions, and Interjections. Another additional classification is used as a part of speech, i.e., Articles, a subprogram of determiners. To comprehend the meaning and use of each word in the English language, it is essential to ...
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.
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Number 2 is to create these viral moments for their group to get attention on Gab and on Telegram." Blood Tribe, like other white nationalist groups, also seeks to normalize extremist ideas and ...
A picture of Gabriel Araujo as part of Parisienne Projections during the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris ⒸAlex Davidson/Getty Images. By World Para Swimming . In his speech in the Closing Ceremony of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, Tony Estanguet, President of Paris 2024, mentioned a series of French athletes whose achievements during ...