We can categorize English words into 9 basic types called "parts of speech" or "word

classes". It's quite important to recognize parts of speech..

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.

Key Takeaways: Parts of Speech

Word types divide into nine parts of speech, such as nouns, prepositions, adjectives,
and adverbs.

Some words can be more than one part of speech, depending on context and usage.

Interjections can be sentences on their own.

Every sentence you write or say in English includes a few words that fall into 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 but leave off interjections as a 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.

Word Classes

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). Although we can add to the open classes of
words as language develops, those in the closed classes are pretty much set in
stone. (See examples below.)

Some traditional grammars have treated articles as a distinct part of speech. Modern
grammars more often include articles in the category of determiners, which identify or
quantify a noun. Even though they modify nouns like adjectives, they are different in that
articles are an essential part of the proper syntax of a sentence, and determiners are
necessary to convey the meaning of the sentence. Adjectives are optional parts of a
sentence.

In contemporary linguistics, the label part of speech has generally been discarded in
favor of the term word class or syntactic category.
Noun

Nouns are a person, place, or thing (or even an abstraction, such as an idea). They can
take on myriad roles in a sentence, from the subject of it all to the object of an action or
any other (literal) thing in between. They are capitalized when they're an official name of
something or someone. For example pirate, Caribbean, ship, freedom, Captain Jack
Sparrow

Pronoun

Pronouns stand in for nouns in a sentence. Examples: I, you, he, she, it, ours, them,
who, which, anybody, ourselves

Verb

Verbs are what happens in a sentence. They're either action words or show the state of
being (is, was) of the subject of the sentence. They change form based on tense
(present, past) and the subject of the sentence (singular or plural). Examples: sing,
dance, believe, seem, finish, eat, drink, be, become

Adjective

Adjectives describe nouns or pronouns. They specify which one, how much, or what
kind. Examples: hot, lazy, funny, unique, bright, beautiful, poor, smooth

Adverb

Adverbs describe verbs, adjectives, or even other adverbs. They specify when
something happened, where, how, why, and how much. Examples: softly, lazily, often,
only, hopefully, softly, sometimes

Preposition

Prepositions show a relationship between a noun (or a pronoun) and the other words in
a sentence. They come at the start of a prepositional phrase. For example: up, over,
against, by, for, into, close to, out of, apart from

Conjunction

Conjunctions join words, phrases, and clauses in a sentence. Examples: and, but, or,
so, yet, with

Articles and Determiners

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. Examples: articles: a, an, the; determiners: these, that, those; enough, much,
few; which, what

Interjection

Interjections are expresAs covered in the lesson nouns, nouns are naming
words. There are several different kinds of nouns. This page describes the
most common types.

Common Nouns
A common noun is the word used for a class of person, place or thing.

Examples:

 car
 man
 bridge
 town
 water
 metal
 ammonia
Note: Common nouns are capitalized only when they start a sentence.

Common nouns are further classified into:

 Abstract nouns – things you cannot see or touch (e.g., bravery, joy)
 Collective nouns – words to describe groups (e.g., team, choir)
 Compound nouns – nouns made up of more than one word (e.g.,
court-martial, pickpocket, water bottle)
 Concrete nouns – things you can see or touch (e.g., tree, cloud)
 Non-countable nouns (mass nouns) – things you cannot count (e.g.,
food, music)
 Gender-specific nouns – words which are definitely male or female
(e.g., vixen, actress)
 Verbal nouns – nouns derived from verbs (e.g., a building, an attack)
 Gerunds – nouns that represent actions
(e.g., running fast, guessing a number)
Proper Nouns
A proper noun is the name of a person, place or thing (i.e., its own name). A
proper noun always starts with a capital letter. For example:

 Michael
 Africa
 Peking
 Dayton Peace Accord
 United Nations
 The Tower of London
 Uncle George
(Uncle is written with a capital letter because it is part of his name.)

 My favourite auntie is Auntie Sally.

(In this example, the first auntie is a common noun, but the
second Auntie is part of a proper noun.)

 The Red Lion

Read more about using capital letters for proper nouns but not common
nouns.

Collective Nouns
A collective noun is the word used for a group of people or things. For
example:

 Choir
 Team
 Jury
 Shoal
 Cabinet (of ministers)
 Regiment
The big question with collective nouns is whether they should be treated as
singular or plural. The answer is: They can be treated as singular or plural
depending on the sense of your sentence.

Read more about treating collective nouns as singular and plural.

Pronouns
A pronoun is a word used to replace a noun.

Pronouns are one of the eight parts of speech which are adjectives, adverbs
conjunctions, interjections, nouns, prepositions, pronouns, and verbs.

Even though they are classified as a different part of speech to nouns,

pronouns are nouns. They always play the role of a noun in a sentence.

 James is the first choice for the post. He has applied for it twice
already.
(He is a pronoun. In this example, it replaces the proper noun James.)
(It is a pronoun. Here, it replaces the common noun post.)

 Some / Who / This

(The term pronoun covers lots of words, and all three words above
are classified as pronouns. There is whole section dedicated
to pronouns.)

Gerunds
Gerunds are formed from verbs. They end -ing. They are a type of common
noun.

 I love baking.
(baking – the name of an activity; it is formed from the verb to bake.)

 Thinking is required to solve this problem.

(thinking – the name of an activity; it is formed from the verb to think.)

Gerunds are different from other nouns because they can take an object or be
modified with an adverb.

 I love baking bread.

(Here, bread is the object of the gerund baking.)

 Thinking laterally is required to solve this problem.

(Here, the gerund thinking has been modified by the adverb laterally.)
Compound Nouns
Compound nouns are nouns made up of two or more words. Some compound
nouns are hyphenated, some are not, and some combine their words to form
a single word. For example:

 Mother-in-law
 Board of members
 Court-martial
 Forget-me-not
 Manservant
 Pickpocket
 Paper-clip

sions that can stand on their own as complete sentences. They are words that often
carry emotion. Examples: ah, whoops, ouch, yabba dabba do!