The Eight Parts of Speech in English
When studying English grammar, the most important thing you must learn is the eight parts of speech. In the English language, the eight parts of speech serve as the ultimate foundation of grammar. You can never understand some basic rules of tenses, usage, conjugation, etc. if your knowledge about the eight parts of speech is not enough.
Generally, the part of speech shows how the word functions in meaning as well as grammatically within the sentence. For instance, a word can function as over one part of speech in various circumstances.
The eight parts of speech in English are:
1. NOUN
A noun is the name of a person, place, thing, or idea.
For example: child, Cebu, Japan, mall, love
A noun is a word for a person, place, thing, or idea. Some nouns are often in pain with the articles a, an, the.
There are two kinds of nouns: Proper Nouns and Common Nouns.
Proper nouns always start with CAPITAL letters. For example, Q-ty, QQEnglish, Cebu, China, Japan, etc.
Common nouns are not written in capital letters. For example, boy, chocolate, food, pen, school, etc.
Grammatically, nouns can be singular or plural, concrete or abstract.
Nouns show possession by adding ‘s.
Additionally, 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.
Check out the nouns in our sample sentence below:
MARY dropped by their HOUSE to give her MOM the expensive GIFT, and then she left for OFFICE immediately. Exhausting!
2. PRONOUN
A pronoun is a word used in place of a noun.
For example : He, we, they, it, myself, himself
We use a pronoun in place of a noun. In English, we substitute a noun with a pronoun, 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 show 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.
Check out the pronouns in our sample sentence below:
Mary dropped by THEIR house to give HER mom the expensive gift, and then SHE left for the office immediately. Exhausting!
3. VERB
A verb is a word that expresses action or being.
For example: eat, is, talk, sleep
The verb in a sentence expresses action or being.
Some sentence contains the main verb and one or more helping verbs. (“He can cook.” Cook is the main verb, while the “can” is the helping verb.) A verb must agree with its subject in number (both are singular or both are plural).
Interestingly, verbs can be regular or irregular.
Moreover, verbs also take different forms to express tense. The tense can be present, past, or future
Check out the verbs in our sample sentence below:
Mary DROPPED by their house to GIVE her mom the expensive gift, and then she LEFT for the office immediately. Exhausting!
4. ADJECTIVE
The fourth in our eight parts of speech list is the adjective. An adjective is a word that modifies or describes a noun or pronoun.
For example : large, blue, old, many, high
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.)
Check out the adjective in our sample sentence below:
Mary dropped by their house to give her mom the EXPENSIVE gift, and then she left for the office immediately. Exhausting!
5. ADVERB
An adverb modifies or describes a verb, an adjective, or another adverb.
For example: happily, often, silently, well
In English grammar, adverbs describe or modify a verb, an adjective, or another adverb in the sentence. Only adjectives modify a noun but not adverbs. Moreover, adverbs usually answer the questions of when, where, how, why, under what conditions, or to what degree. Adverbs often end in -ly.
Check out the adverbs in our sample sentence below:
Mary dropped by their house to give her mom the expensive gift, and THEN she left for the office IMMEDIATELY. Exhausting!
6. PREPOSITION
Coming sixth in our eight parts of speech list is the preposition.
Prepositions are words we place before a noun or pronoun to form a phrase modifying another word in the sentence.
For example: on, at, top, beside, in
(on the table, at school, top of the world, next to the book, in the box)
Prepositions are words we place before a noun or pronoun to form a phrase modifying another word in the sentence. Thus, a preposition is always part of a prepositional phrase.
A prepositional phrase is a group of words consisting of a preposition, its object, and any words that modify the object. Most time, a prepositional phrase modifies a verb or a noun.
Check out the prepositions in our sample sentence below:
Mary dropped BY their house TO give her mom the expensive gift, and then she left FOR the office immediately. Exhausting!
7. CONJUNCTION
This time, let’s talk about conjunctions.
What is a conjunction? Well, a conjunction is a word that joins words, phrases, or clauses.
For example: and, but, because, for, so
Conjunctions are words that connect words, phrases, or clauses, and show the relationship between the elements joined.
There are two types of conjunctions: Coordinating and Subordinating conjunctions
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.
Check out the conjunction in our sample sentence below:
Mary dropped by their house to give her mom the expensive gift, AND then she left for the office immediately. Exhausting!
8. INTERJECTION
The eighth and last in our list of the eight parts of speech is the interjection. An interjection is a word that expresses a strong feeling or emotion.
For example : Ouchh!… oh!… Oops!…Wow!
An interjection is a word that expresses a strong feeling or emotion. It is often followed by an exclamation point.
Check out the interjection in our sample sentence below:
Mary dropped by their house to give her mom the expensive gift, and then she left for the office immediately. EXHAUSTING!
