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English Parts of Speech

There are thousands of words in any language. But not all words have the same job. For
example, some words express "action". Other words express a "thing". Other words
"join" one word to another word. These are the "building blocks" of the language. Think
of them like the parts of a house. When we want to build a house, we use concrete to
make the foundations or base. We use bricks to make the walls. We use window frames to
make the windows, and door frames to make the doorways. And we use cement to join
them all together. Each part of the house has its own job. And when we want to build a
sentence, we use the different types of word. Each type of word has its own job.
We can categorize English words into 8 basic types or classes. These classes are called
"parts of speech".
It's quite important to recognize parts of speech. This helps you to analyze sentences and
understand them. It also helps you to construct good sentences.
In this lesson, we have an overview of the eight parts of speech, followed by a quiz to
check your understanding:

Parts of Speech Table


This is a summary of the 8 parts of speech. You can find more detail if you click on each
part of speech.
part of speech

function or "job"

example words

example sentences

Verb

action or state

(to) be, have, do,


like, work, sing,
can, must

EnglishClub.com is a
web site. I like
EnglishClub.com.

Noun

thing or person

pen, dog, work,


music, town,
London, teacher,
John

This is my dog. He lives


in my house. We live in
London.

Adjective

describes a noun

a/an, the, 69, some,


good, big, red,
well, interesting

My dog is big. I like big


dogs.

Adverb

describes a verb,
adjective or adverb

quickly, silently,
well, badly, very,
really

My dog eats quickly.


When he is very hungry,
he eats really quickly.

Pronoun

replaces a noun

I, you, he, she,


some

Tara is Indian. She is


beautiful.

Preposition

links a noun to
another word

to, at, after, on, but

We went to school on
Monday.

Conjunction

joins clauses or
sentences or words

and, but, when

I like dogs and I like


cats. I like cats and dogs.
I like dogs but I don't
like cats.

Interjection

short exclamation,
sometimes inserted
into a sentence

oh!, ouch!, hi!, well Ouch! That hurts! Hi!


How are you? Well, I
don't know.

Words with More than One Job


Many words in English can have more than one job, or be more than one part of speech.
For example, "work" can be a verb and a noun; "but" can be a conjunction and a
preposition; "well" can be an adjective, an adverb and an interjection. In addition, many
nouns can act as adjectives.To analyze the part of speech, ask yourself: "What job is this
word doing in this sentence?"
In the table below you can see a few examples. Of course, there are more, even for some
of the words in the table. In fact, if you look in a good dictionary you will see that the
word but has six jobs to do:

verb, noun, adverb, pronoun, preposition and conjunction!

word

part of speech

example

work

noun

My work is easy.

verb

I work in London.

conjunction

John came but Mary didn't come.

preposition

Everyone came but Mary.

adjective

Are you well?

adverb

She speaks well.

interjection

Well! That's expensive!

but

well

afternoon noun

We ate in the afternoon.

noun acting as adjective We had afternoon tea.

Parts of Speech Quiz


Describe each part of speech in the following
sentences.
Example: Sarah left for Rome.
Sarah: noun
left: verb
for: preposition
Rome: noun
1. I bought a beautiful dress at the mall.
2. After lunch lets go out for coffee.
3. Bill knocked at the door but nobody answered.
4. Well, I dont think I will be here to answer the
phone.
5. I want to go to a university in the United
Kingdom.
6. I left my shoes under the kitchen table.
7. If we finish our work quickly we can go to the
movies.
8. Well, I am not sure I have met your sister yet.

Working with guessing games


How many parts of speech can you find in these
descriptions?

What Am I?
I am hot.
I live in the sky.
I am bright.
Don't look straight at me.
I disappear in the night.

What Am I?
I live in the water.
You can drive me.
I might make you sick.
Don't put a hole in me.
Tie me up when you're done.

What Am I?

I am in your body.
I am red.
I am the symbol for love.
Blood pumps through me.
Please don't break me.

What Am I?
I am red, green, or yellow.
I am a healthy snack.
I make good juice.
You can bite me or slice me.
Give me to a teacher.

What Am I?
I use a long track.
I transport heavy loads.
Many tourists use me.
Watch for lights to stop for me.
I will show you beautiful scenery.

What Am I?
Please blow air in me.
I come in many colors.
I'm a symbol of celebration.
Don't touch me with anything sharp.
I only last a day or two.

What Am I?

Children love to play with me.


I am not useful indoors.
Don't tangle my long string.
Look up and watch me dance.
Run if you want me to fly faster.

What Am I?
I am associated with Spring.
I love to hop in the grass.
I play in your vegetable garden.
My teeth are long and sharp.
I am soft to pet.

What Am I?
I am a home for royalty.
There are many of me in England.
I am made of stone.
I am protected by a ring of water.
I'm found in many legends.

What Am I?
I have buttons or a zipper.
You don't need me in the summer.
Hang me in your front closet.
I'll protect you from a cold wind.
I have pockets and sometimes a belt.

What Am I?
I am multi-colored.
I appear after a storm.
People always point at me.
Everyone takes my picture.
Legend says there is gold at the bottom of me.

What Am I?
I'm a pretend animal.
I have four paws.
I'm stuffed with fluff.
Please take me to bed with you.
Hug me if you have a bad dream.

What Am I?
I'll keep your hair dry.
Bring me just in case.
I'm long and light to carry.
Don't open me in the house.
I hope you don't need me today.

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