Mastering the 9 Parts of Speech in English Grammar

Nouns: The Naming Words

A noun is the name of a person, place, thing, or idea.

Examples: Daniel, London, table, dog, teacher, pen, city, happiness, hope.

Example sentences:

• Steve lives in Sydney.
• Mary uses a pen and paper to write letters.

Pronouns: Replacing Nouns

A pronoun is used in place of a noun or noun phrase to avoid repetition.

Examples: I, you, we, they, he, she, it, me, us, them, him, her, this, those.

Example sentences:

• Mary is tired. She wants to sleep.
• I want her to dance with me.

Adjectives: Describing Words

An adjective describes, modifies, or gives more information about a noun or pronoun.

Examples: big, happy, green, young, fun, crazy, three.

Example sentences:

• The little girl had a pink hat.

Verbs: Action and State Words

A verb shows an action or a state of being. A verb shows what someone or something is doing.

Examples: go, speak, run, eat, play, live, walk, have, like, are, is.

Example sentences:

• I like Woodward English.
• I study their charts and play their games.

Adverbs: Modifying Verbs and More

An adverb describes or modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. It tells how, where, when, how often, or to what extent. Many adverbs end in -ly.

Examples: slowly, quietly, very, always, never, too, well, tomorrow, here.

Example sentences:

• I am usually busy.
• Yesterday, I ate my lunch quickly.

Prepositions: Showing Relationships

A preposition shows the relationship of a noun or pronoun to another word. They can indicate time, place, or relationship.

Examples: at, on, in, from, with, near, between, about, under.

Example sentences:

• I left my keys on the table for you.

Conjunctions: Joining Words

A conjunction joins two words, ideas, phrases, or clauses together in a sentence and shows how they are connected.

Examples: and, or, but, because, so, yet, unless, since, if.

Example sentences:

• I was hot and exhausted but I still finished the marathon.

Interjections: Expressive Words

An interjection is a word or phrase that expresses a strong feeling or emotion. It is a short exclamation.

Examples: Ouch! Wow! Great! Help! Oh! Hey! Hi!

Example sentences:

• Wow! I passed my English test.
• Great!
• Ouch! That hurt.

Articles: Defining Nouns

An article is used before a noun. These are divided into definite (the) and indefinite (a, an). Articles help define nouns.

Examples: a, an, the.

Example sentences:

• I need a dictionary.
• The dictionary needs to be in English.