The Parts Of Speech

Parts of Speech

There are eight parts of speech in the English language: 

  1. noun, 
  2. pronoun, 
  3. verb, 
  4. adjective, 
  5. adverb, 
  6.  preposition, 
  7. conjunction, and 
  8. interjection.

1. The Noun


  • This part of a speech refers to words that are used to name persons, places, things, events or ideas. All nouns are naming words.
Example: Ravi, woman, boy (person); elephant, rabbit, tiger (animal); parrot, crow, sparrow (bird); Delhi, Mumbai, India (place); computer, mobile, pencil (thing); honesty, courage (idea), etc. Whatever we can see, feel or think and have names are considered nouns.

Sample Sentences:

1. Rita lives in India.

2. Mina uses an ink pen for writing.

3. Tina is very flexible.

4. Diva is looking very pretty.

5. Today is Harry’s birthday.

6. My brother is shifting to Calcutta.

2. The Pronoun


  • This part of a speech refers to a word that replaces a noun.
  • They eliminate the need for repetition.
  • A pronoun is usually substituted for a specific noun, which is called its antecedent.
Example: I, you, he, she, we, ours, mine, yours, his, her, him, hers, they, them, theirs, it, etc.

Sample Sentences:

1. Jia is a very determined child. She always focuses on her goal.

2. The largest share is mine.

3. We are Indian.

4. The teacher gave all of them punishment.

5. Tina gave her bicycle to Rina.

6. His car is bigger than ours.

3. The Adjective


  • This part of a speech refers to a word that modifies, describes or gives more information about a noun or pronoun.
  • Adjectives are describing words and normally come before the nouns.
Example: fast, quiet, useful, much, pretty, old, blue, smart, beautiful, big, sad, red, young, fun, crazy, three etc.

Sample Sentences:

1. The little boy had a blue umbrella.

2. The hardworking student received "A" grade.

3. I have two cars.

4. Wow! That cake is delicious.

5. She is a young woman.

6. Tom is a wise man.

4. The Verb

  • This part of a speech refers to a word that tells us what the subject does, or what happens to it, or what state it is in, or what possesses.
Examples: am, is, was, are, were, have, has, had, do, does, did, be, am, is, are, was, were, being, been, should, could, will, would, might, can, may, must, shall, ought (to), go, speak, run, eat, play, live, walk, like etc.

Sample Sentences:

1. They are always ready for any disaster.

2. Ria is charming.

3. Tia runs every morning.

4. I like vanilla ice-cream.

5. We had a healthy breakfast.

6. I think that she is right.

5. The Adverb

  • This part of a speech refers to a word that modifies a verb, an adjective or another adverb.
  • Adverbs tell us how, when, where, how often and to what degree (extent) something happens or takes place.
  • Adverbs often end in -ly.
Examples: gently, quickly, extremely, carefully, well, slowly, quietly, very, always, never, too, tomorrow, here etc.

Sample sentences:

1. He ate his pie quickly.

2. The teacher carefully corrected the exam copy.

3. Ravi was extremely excited about his adventure camp.

4. She danced gracefully.

5. We are going tomorrow.

6. He looked everywhere for his sunglasses.

6. The Preposition

  • This part of a speech refers to a word or a group of words that shows its relation with another noun or pronoun or a verb.
  •  Therefore it can also be called as a ‘relation’ word and comes before a noun or a pronoun in a sentence.
  • They are used to indicate time, place, direction or relationship.
Example: in, on, into, at, by, upon, across, beside, between, of, out of, for, above, below, throughout, outside, before, near etc.

Sample Sentences:

1. Rita’s act is lying under the bed.

2. She left her purse on the table.

3. He sat on the carpet.

4. Let's go into the cave.

5. They will gather at 5 o’ clock in the evening.

6. Look under the pillow.

7. The Conjunction (Connectors or Linking Words)

  • This part of a speech refers to a word that joins two or more words, phrases, or clauses. .
  • There are three kinds of conjunctions:
1. Coordinating Conjunctions:
  • These are the words that join words, phrases, and clauses of equal grammatical importance in the sentence.
  •  Example: and, but, or, so, nor, for, yet.
2. Correlative Conjunctions:
  • These are the words that join equally important ideas, but they work in pairs.
  •  Example: either...or, both...and, not only...but also, neither…nor, whether…or, either…or
3. Subordinating Conjunctions:
  • These are the words that join words, phrases, and clauses that are not equal.
  • Example: because, although, while, since, after, as, as if, before, even if, even though, if, so that, though, unless, until, when, whenever, where, wherever, whether.
Sample sentences:

1. He wants to go, but he can't.

2. She is honest and hardworking.

3. Would you like a cup of tea or a coffee?

4. He didn't clear the test because he was not prepared.

5. We were thirsty, so we ordered cold drinks.

6. I was exhausted but I still finished my assignment.

8. The Interjection

  • This part of a speech refers to a word or phrase that states strong, sudden emotions.
  • It expresses strong feelings of joy, sadness, surprise, appreciation, condemnation, etc.
  • Since interjections are commonly used to convey strong emotions, they are usually followed by an exclamation mark but in case of mild interjections we place comma after the interjection.
Example: Ouch!, Alas!, Oh!, Bravo!, Fantastic!, Gorgeous!, Wow!, Hurrah!, Pooh!, Pshaw!, Fie!, Gosh!

Sample Sentences:

1. Ouch! I got hurt.

2. Hurray! Tomorrow is a holiday.

3. Hey! You are wrong.

4. Oh, we’re late for the party.

5. Oh! I’m late for my office.

6. Wow! I cleared my IIT entrance exam.

Note 1: Articles and determiners like a, an, the, some, any, etc. are also adjectives but they are studied separately due to their importance in modifying the meaning of the word they qualify.

Note 2: Same Word – Several Parts of Speech

There are words that can be used in more than one way. This implies that a word can function as several different parts of speech. The function of a word in a sentence decides to which part of speech it belongs.

Note the highlighted words in the following sentences.

1. She like to watch plays on T.V. (noun)

2. He plays cricket during his vacation. (verb)

3. I would like a drink. (noun)

4. They drink too much alcohol. (verb)

5. Rima bought a new sofa for her house. (noun)

Practice Exercise

Worksheet 1

Q1) Name the parts of the speech of underlined words:-

1) The house was lit with bright lights.
2) Birds sing sweetly.
3) The lake flows gently under the bridge.
4) Elephants are huge and strong animals.
5) We should talk politely to our elders.
6) Wow! what a pretty painting.
7) Taj Mahal is located in Agra.
8) Parrot can talk and whistle too.
9) Shh! Keep silence in the library.
10) They jumped off the wall


Q2) Identify Nouns and Name the kinds of noun in the following sentences:-

1) We should show kindness towards the animals.
2) The army took charge of the city.
3) Asia is the largest continent of the world.
4) Emperor Ashoka was a mighty king.
5) The audience enjoyed the show.
6) Maldives is famous for clear water.
7) February is the shortest month of the year.
8) Jimmy took his dog for a walk.
9) The phone is made of plastic and metal.
10) Birbal is known for his intelligence.

Worksheet 2

Q1) Pick out the verbs.

· He ran for 3 hours. ____________________________________________

· My sister is a dancer. __________________________________________

· My uncle has an old car. ________________________________________

· Tim was inspired by the speech. __________________________________

· We celebrated the Independence Day in our school. ___________________

· They will meet us here. _________________________________________

· They are jumping. _____________________________________________

· My friend has a unique bike. ____________________________________

· She met with her friend yesterday. ________________________________

· Is he eating? _________________________________________________

· Rita didn’t know the solution. ____________________________________

· We were chatting for hours. _____________________________________

· He didn't tell us the reality. ______________________________________


Q2) Pick out the pronoun .

· She doesn’t want to go with him. _________________________________

· Who is he? ___________________________________________________

· That was amazing. _____________________________________________

· This is mine. __________________________________________________

· I can speak two languages. ______________________________________

· He is a manager in a factory. ____________________________________

· My friend gave me a nice gift. ____________________________________

· Whom did you speak to? _______________________________________

· What is your choice? __________________________________________

· She narrated the story to her friend. ______________________________

· Which laptop did you buy? ______________________________________

· I love my bike. _______________________________________________

· Is that pen yours? ____________________________________________


Q3) Circle the adjectives in the following sentences.

· Rita is a good dancer.

· It is a fascinating story.

· Our teacher is very kind.

· I like cold coffee.

· He has big blue umbrella.

· The old lady was talking to me.

· She bought a new red carpet.

· He is a successful businessman.

· She is a better student than her sisters.

· You are wealthier than me.

· You are more beautiful than your friend.

· That was the worst day of my life.

· This is the most expensive restaurant in this area.


Q4) Circle the adverbs in the following sentences.

· That child is very talented.

· He walks slowly.

· The new auditorium is very big.

· Diva worked extremely hard for her exam.

· We will go to America very soon.

· Rita always submits her assignment in time.

· He is very much interested in the project.

· You are totally wrong at this point.

· She listened secretly to their conversation.

· We find Rita inside home.

· Let’s complete it now.

· He spoke softly.

· She will join us soon.