Topic

Parts of Speech

Learning resources

Level
2nd
Format
Website
Level
3rd
Format
Website
Level
5th
Format
Website
Level
4th - 7th
Format
Online class

About Parts of Speech

Most languages have eight parts of speech: nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections. Each part of speech explains not what the word is, but how the word is used. In order to identify the part of speech of a word, it is necessary to understand the function of the word in a sentence.

  • Nouns are the simplest words and they name people, places, things, and ideas.
  • Pronouns take the place of nouns and can be either singular or plural.
  • Verbs are action words that express what is happening.
  • Adjectives describe people or things and usually go in front of the noun they are describing.
  • Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs and usually come after the verb.
  • Prepositions show relationships between people or things and usually come before a noun.
  • Conjunctions connect words or groups of words.
  • Interjections are sudden outbursts and usually come at the beginning of a sentence.

Now that you understand the function of each part of speech, you can begin to identify the part of speech of words in a sentence. To do this, ask yourself what function the word is performing in the sentence. Is the word a subject, object, or verb? Does the word describe something? Is the word connecting two ideas? Once you have determined the function of the word, you can identify the part of speech.

Learning Parts of Speech