Parts of Speech in English: Nouns, Verbs, Adjectives and More (With Examples)
Every word in an English sentence has a job. Grammar calls these jobs the parts of speech. When you know the eight parts of speech, you can build stronger sentences, fix your own mistakes and understand how English really works.
Reading time: about 9 minutes
In this guide
- The eight parts of speech and the job of each one
- Types of nouns, pronouns, verbs and conjunctions
- How to tell an adjective from an adverb
- A full sentence broken down word by word
- A 10-question practice test with answers
The eight parts of speech at a glance
| Part of speech | Its job | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | Names a person, place, thing or idea | teacher, Lagos, book, honesty |
| Pronoun | Replaces a noun | he, she, they, mine, this |
| Verb | Shows action or state | run, is, write, seem |
| Adjective | Describes a noun or pronoun | tall, green, interesting |
| Adverb | Describes a verb, an adjective or another adverb | quickly, very, tomorrow |
| Preposition | Shows the relationship between words | in, on, under, between |
| Conjunction | Joins words, phrases or sentences | and, but, because, although |
| Interjection | Shows sudden feeling | Wow! Ouch! Hooray! |
1. Noun
A noun names a person, place, thing or idea. It is usually the star of the sentence.
- Common nouns name general things: girl, city, school.
- Proper nouns name specific people or places and begin with capital letters: Ada, Nigeria, Monday.
- Abstract nouns name ideas or feelings you cannot touch: love, freedom, courage.
- Collective nouns name a group: team, family, class.
2. Pronoun
A pronoun takes the place of a noun so you do not repeat the same word again and again. Compare: Ada left because Ada was tired and Ada left because she was tired.
- Personal: I, you, he, she, it, we, they
- Possessive: mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs
- Reflexive: myself, yourself, himself, themselves
- Demonstrative: this, that, these, those
- Relative: who, which, that
3. Verb
A verb shows an action or a state of being. Every complete sentence needs at least one verb.
- Action verbs show what someone does: She writes. They run.
- Linking verbs connect the subject to more information: He is a doctor. The soup smells good.
- Helping verbs support the main verb: She has finished. We will travel.
4. Adjective
An adjective describes a noun or pronoun. It answers questions like What kind? How many? Which one?
- a brilliant student (what kind)
- three books (how many)
- that house (which one)
5. Adverb
An adverb describes a verb, an adjective or another adverb. It tells us how, when, where, how often or how much.
- Manner: She sings beautifully.
- Time: We will leave tomorrow.
- Place: Please sit here.
- Frequency: He often reads.
- Degree: The exam was very hard.
Adjective or adverb? A quick test
Ask what the word describes. If it describes a noun, it is an adjective (a quick reply). If it describes a verb, it is an adverb (She replied quickly). Not every adverb ends in -ly: fast, well, very and often are adverbs too.
6. Preposition
A preposition shows how a noun or pronoun relates to another word in the sentence, usually in terms of place, time or direction.
| Type | Examples | Sentence |
|---|---|---|
| Place | in, on, at, under, between | The book is on the table. |
| Time | at, by, during, after, since | We wrote the test during the morning. |
| Direction | to, into, across, towards | He walked across the road. |
7. Conjunction
A conjunction joins words, phrases or sentences.
- Coordinating conjunctions join equal parts: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so. Example: I wanted to go, but it rained.
- Subordinating conjunctions join a smaller idea to a main idea: because, although, when, if, while. Example: We stayed home because it rained.
8. Interjection
An interjection expresses sudden emotion. It often stands alone and is followed by an exclamation mark: Wow! Ouch! Hooray! Oh no!
A sentence broken down word by word
Wow! The clever student quickly solved the difficult question because she studied hard.
| Word | Part of speech |
|---|---|
| Wow | Interjection |
| The | Article (often grouped with adjectives) |
| clever | Adjective |
| student | Noun |
| quickly | Adverb |
| solved | Verb |
| the | Article |
| difficult | Adjective |
| question | Noun |
| because | Conjunction |
| she | Pronoun |
| studied | Verb |
| hard | Adverb |
One word, many jobs
The part of speech depends on how a word is used, not on the word alone. Look at run and light:
- I run every morning. (verb) and We went for a run. (noun)
- Turn on the light. (noun) and The bag is light. (adjective)
Practice: name the part of speech
Name the part of speech of each bold word.
- The happy child laughed.
- Ada is my friend.
- She sings beautifully.
- The book is on the table.
- I wanted to go, but it rained.
- Ouch! That hurt.
- They are coming tomorrow.
- He runs every morning.
- We were tired because we walked far.
- She is very tall.
Show the answers
- adjective
- noun
- adverb
- preposition
- conjunction
- interjection
- pronoun
- verb
- conjunction
- adverb
Final thoughts
Do not memorise the eight parts of speech as a list only. Pick any sentence you read today and label each word. After a week of this habit, the grammar will start to feel natural.
Next, see how the parts of speech and tenses work together in the guide to have, has and had.
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