Parts of speech are a foundation of the English language. They are the building blocks of sentences. Understanding and using them correctly is critical to effective communication. This post will explore the nine parts of speech in English and provide examples for each.
What are the Parts of Speech?
There are nine parts of speech in English: verbs, nouns, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections, article. Each part of speech explains how a word is used in a sentence. For example, a verb is a word that indicates an action or occurrence, such as “run,” “jump” or “be.” A noun is a word that names a person, place, or thing, such as “man,” “woman” or “table.” An adjective modifies a noun or pronoun to describe, identify or quantify someone or something, such as “green” in “the green tablecloth” or “first” in “first-class tickets.” An adverb also modifies verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs to indicate manner, time, or place, such as “slowly” in “He spoke slowly” or “here” in “Come here.”
Pronouns take the place of nouns and usually refer to someone previously mentioned or understood from the context (such as he/she/it/they), whereas conjunctions join words, phrases or clauses (such as and/but/or). Finally, interjections are words used to express strong feelings or emotions (such as Wow! or Oops!).
The following sections will provide more detail on each part of speech, including definitions and examples.
9 Parts of Speech in English
Verbs
A verb is a word that indicates an action or occurrence. It can be a mental action, such as “think” or “believe,” or a physical action, such as “run” or “jump.” Verbs can also express existence or state of being, such as “am,” “is” and “are.” The following are some examples of verbs:
- I think, therefore I am.
- She runs quickly.
- The leaves are green.
Nouns
A noun is a word that names a person, place, thing or idea. There are four types of nouns: common, proper, collective and abstract. A common noun names a general class of objects, such as “table” or “chair.” A proper noun names a specific object, such as “John” or “Africa.” Collective nouns name groups of things or people, such as “family” or “team.” Abstract nouns name ideas or concepts, such as “love” or “anger.” The following are some examples of nouns:
- I have a dream.
- She is the queen of hearts.
- They are a happy family.
Adjectives
An adjective modifies a noun or pronoun to describe, identify or quantify someone or something. They usually come before the noun or pronoun they modify, but there are also some adjectives that come after the noun (such as “recent” in “the most recent news”). Adjectives can be used to express degree (such as “very” or “extremely”), size (such as “big” or “small”), age (such as “young” or “old”), shape (such as “round” or “square”), color (such as “red” or “blue”), nationality (such as “Japanese” or “Spanish”) and material (such as “wooden” or “plastic”). The following are some examples of adjectives:
- This is a big problem.
- She is a beautiful woman.
- They are happy children.
Adverbs
An adverb modifies verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs to indicate manner, time, place, relative degree, or certainty. They usually come after the verb, adjective or adverb they modify, but there are also some adverbs that come before the verb (such as “never” in “I never see him”). Adverbs can be used to express manner (such as “slowly” or “quickly”), time (such as “now” or “later”), place (such as “here” or “there”), degree (such as “very” or “extremely”) and certainty (such as “certainly” or “definitely”). The following are some examples of adverbs:
- He speaks slowly.
- She ran quickly.
- We will meet again soon.
Pronouns
Pronouns take the place of nouns and usually refer to someone previously mentioned or understood from the context. The most common pronouns are “I,” “you,” “he,” “she,” “it,” “we,” and “they.” There are also relative pronouns (such as “who,” “which,” and
Conjunctions
A conjunction is a word used to join words, phrases or clauses. The most common conjunctions are “and,” “but,” and “or.” The following are some examples of conjunctions:
- I am happy and she is sad.
- He is small but he is strong.
- Either you come with us or you stay here.
Interjections
An interjection is a word used to express strong feelings or emotions. The most common interjections are “wow,” “oops,” “ouch,” and “hey.” The following are some examples of interjections:
- Wow! That was amazing!
- Oops! I didn’t see you there.
- Hey! I know you!
Prepositions
A preposition is a word used to show relationships between people or things. The most common prepositions are “in,” “on,” and “at.” The following are some examples of prepositions:
- The book is on the table.
- I am at the park.
- He is in the house.
Articles
An article is a word used to modify a noun. The most common articles are “a,” “an” and “the.” The following are some examples of articles:
- I saw a dog.
- We went to the park.
- She is an actress.
20 Examples of Parts of Speech
1- She is my friend. (Friend→Noun)
2- I have a dream. (Dream→Noun)
3- They are happy children. (Happy→Adjective, Children→Noun)
4- He speaks slowly. (Slowly→Adverb, Speaks→Verb)
5- She ran quickly. (Quickly→Adverb, Ran→Verb)
6- We will meet again soon. (Soon→Adverb, Meet→Verb)
7- I am happy and she is sad. (Happy→Adjective, Sad→Adjective)
8- He is small but he is strong. (Small→Adjective, Strong→ Adjective)
9- Either you come with us or you stay here. (Either→Conjunction, Or→Conjunction)
10- Wow! That was amazing! (Wow→Interjection)
11- Oops! I didn’t see you there. (Oops→Interjection)
12- Hey! I know you! (Hey→Interjection)
13- The book is on the table. (On→Preposition, Book→Noun, Table→Noun)
14- I am at the park. (At→Preposition, Park→Noun)
15- He is in the house. (In→Preposition, House→Noun)
16- We went to the movies. (To→Preposition, Movies→Noun)
17- I have a lot of homework. (A→Article, Homework→Noun)
18- We’re going to an amusement park. (To→Preposition, An→Article, Amusement→Noun, Park→Noun)
19- Do you want an apple or a banana? (A→Article, Apple→Noun, Banana→Noun)
20- I saw the most beautiful sunset. (The→Article, Most→Adverb, Beautiful→ Adjective, Sunset→Noun)