In English, words are used in one of eight parts of speech: noun, pronoun, adjective, verb, adverb, conjunction, preposition, and interjection. This table includes an explanation and examples of each of the eight parts of speech:
Noun | Person, place, or thing | Wow! After the game, silly Mary ate her apples and carrots quickly. | game, Marry, apples, carrots |
Pronoun | Takes the place of a noun | Wow! After the game, silly Mary ate her apples and carrots quickly. | her |
Adjective | Describes a noun or pronoun | Wow! After the game, silly Mary ate her apples and carrots quickly. | the, silly |
Verb | Shows action or state of being | Wow! After the game, silly Mary ate her apples and carrots quickly. | ate |
Adverb | Describes a verb, another adverb, or an adjective and tells how, where, or when something is done | Wow! After the game, silly Mary ate her apples and carrots quickly. | quickly |
Conjunction | Joins words, phrases, and clauses | Wow! After the game, silly Mary ate her apples and carrots quickly. | and |
Preposition | First word in a phrase that indicates the relationship of the phrase to other words in the sentence | Wow! After the game, silly Mary ate her apples and carrots quickly. | after |
Interjection | A word that shows emotion and is not related to the rest of the sentence | Wow! After the game, silly Mary ate her apples and carrots quickly. | Wow! |
Attribution:
“Parts of Speech” by Saylor Academy licensed under CC BY NC SA.