8 Parts of Speech With Definitions, Charts, Worksheets & Examples

8 Parts of Speech With Definitions, Charts, Worksheets & Examples

Have you guys ever wondered how the words we speak or write combine to make sentences? It’s the beauty of every language. The amazing world of language depends upon the parts of speech. You wanna beautifully write something or want to attract people with your words. If you know the parts of speech, you guys will master the English language. It’s the first thing we learn when we want to master a language. So, without any further delay, let’s discuss the parts of speech.

What is Parts Of Speech 

• Oxford Dictionary defines it as “One of the classes into which words are divided according to their grammar, such as noun, pronoun, verb, adverb, adjective, etc”. 
• Cambridge Dictionary defines it as “ One of the grammatical groups into which words are divided such as noun, pronoun, verb, etc”. 

Various Parts of Speech 

Different authors and books describe different numbers of parts of speech. 

Generally, there are 8 parts of speech in English. 

1. Nouns
2. Pronouns
3. Adjectives
4. Verbs 
5. Adverbs
6. Prepositions
7. Conjunctions
8. Interjections

Some authors also include determiners and articles in parts of speech in English grammar. Many words play different or multiple roles in a sentence as a part of speech. For example; I like your play (play as a noun) or don’t play (play as a verb). Here is the detailed comprehensive guide on parts of speech. 

Nouns 

Nouns are the names of people, things, places, ideas, or concepts. In other words, we can say everything is a noun. Sometimes, nouns can act as a subject or as a verb. Nouns are the building blocks of the sentences. They tell us who or what the sentence is about.

For example; 

Names: Imagine your family gatherings. Nouns are the names of people such as father name (Sam), mother name (Jess), Uncle name (Hicks),  Aunt name(Monica). These names are called nouns. 

Places: What is the location of the gathering? Nouns are places such as Grandma’s house in London, an Amusement Park, a Ramada hotel, or a pool. London, Park, Hotel, and Pool are nouns. 

Things: Spot the crockery, toys, gadgets, beauty products or medicines, etc. Nouns can be anything you can touch or see such as plates, cars, controllers, lipsticks, Paracetamol, etc. 

Ideas: Imaginary things, feelings, or concepts of new things are also called a noun. Things we can’t hold such as love, happiness, freedom, sadness, etc. In other words, we can say untouchable things are also nouns. 

There are various types of nouns. Common, proper, collective, countable, uncountable, singular, plural, possessive, compound, concrete, and abstract nouns. 

Examples of nouns in sentences

• I live in the United Kingdom.
• The doctors treat only new patients.

Pronouns 

A pronoun refers to a word which is used in place of a noun. Some words in sentences love to play the role of undercover. These undercover words are called pronouns. They must refer back to a previously mentioned noun through correct pronoun-antecedent agreement. Pronouns also refer to people, places, things, and ideas. 

Pronouns Charts

There are multiple types of pronouns such as personal, relative, demonstrative, reflexive, interrogative, possessive, indefinite, subject, object, reciprocal, and intensive pronouns. Imagine guys, you are writing a story of a detective named Bob. But wouldn’t it get boring if you keep writing Bob, Bob, Bob all the time? This is where pronouns help us. For example; “He, him, his, himself” can be used instead of Bob. 

Examples of Pronouns 

• I like her.
• They are amazing people.
• Who is she?

 Adjectives 

Intelligent, crazy, happy, sad, etc. Guys, you all are familiar with them. Are you? These all begin with parts of speech and are called adjectives. Here is a simple definition: “ A word that describes a noun or pronoun” or “ a word that explains further or provides more information about noun or pronoun”. They can appear as attributive such as before a noun in a sentence ( a green apple). Predicate adjectives also exist such as a appear after a noun with a linking verb ( the apple is green). 

 What is an adjective?

• Cambridge Dictionary defines it as: “ a word that describes a noun or a pronoun”. 

• Collins dictionary defines it as: 

“ An adjective is a word like big, dig, dead, etc that explains a person or a thing. It means it gives extra information about nouns or pronouns. They usually come before a noun or after linking verbs”. 

There are various types of adjectives such as comparative, superlative, coordinate, participial, denomial, predicate, compound, possessive, demonstrative, limiting, proper, descriptive, interrogative, attributive, and distributive. 

Examples of Adjectives 

• She is taller than her mother.
• I am the laziest person ever.
• This mango is the smallest one.

Verbs

Imagine if specific words for specific actions wouldn’t be discovered. Like, I am doing, doing what? I this, this what? We couldn’t speak or write about any of the actions we did. But verbs solve this problem. Verbs are to point out the particular actions. In English grammar, verbs play the most important role. It identifies what the subject in a sentence is doing or explains the course of action. Every meaningful sentence must contain one or two verbs. Verbs can change their shape to fit in the context. Verbs are connected with the subject of the sentence.

• Singular subjects: “I, You, He, She, It” will use specific forms of verbs. For example; he jumps, she runs or it happens. 
• Plural subjects: “ We, You(plural), They” will use different forms of verbs. For example; we did dishwashing, they ate, etc. 

Difference in a sentence 

• They run in the Olympics.
• He runs in the Olympics.

Verbs can explain the specific action concerning time. Is it happening now(Present), happened(Past), or will happen (Future)? 

• Present: Explain something that is happening now such as Mr bob runs every morning. 
• Past: Describe something that already happened such as Mr. Bob winning a medal in the Olympics last year. 
• Future: Predict something that will happen in the future such as Mr Bob will run in the next Olympics. 

Verbs also define voices such as the subject performing the action (Active Voice) or receiving an active ( Passive Voice). Passive voice and active voice, both are grammatically correct but the active voice is generally preferred for concise writing. 

• Active Voice: Mr Bob punches the barber. The subject is Mr Bob who is performing the action. 
• Passive Voice: The barber gets punched by Mr Bob. The subject is a barber who is receiving an action. 

What is a Verb

• Oxford Dictionary defines it as: “ a word or group of words combined to express an action or act such as driving, or a function such as happen”. 

• Cambridge dictionary defines it as: “ a word or a phrase that refers to an action, experience or a condition”. 

There are various types of verbs such as forms of verbs, main forms, helping verbs, auxiliary, transitive, intransitive, regular, irregular, linking, model, and phrasal verbs. 

Adverbs 

Adverbs team up with adjectives, verbs, or other adverbs and enhance their meaning. We can also say that adverbs are words that can modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs. Just like adjectives provide us information about nouns, an adverb used to describe the verb in a sentence. Not only verbs, adjectives or other adverbs also. 

What is an Adverb

• Oxford Dictionary defines it as: “A word that adds more info about place, manner, time, cause or degree to the verb, an adjective, a sentence or phrase, or other adverbs”. 
• Cambridge dictionary defines it as: “ a word that describes or defines more information about a verb, an adjective, phrase or sentence”. 

Here is a breakdown why adverbs are awesome: 

Verb Modifiers: They explain how, when, where, why, to what extent something happens. 

• How ( Bob runs quickly, it defines how Bob runs) 
• When ( Tomorrow is a dinner party, tomorrow is defining when the party is?) 
• Where ( The money is under the bed, under is telling us the location) 
• Why ( We decorated the house because it’s a Christmas party, because explains why we are decorating the house) 
• To some extent ( They are talking extremely loud, extremely describing the volume of tone or sound) 

There are multiple types of adverbs such as adverbs of manners, time, place, frequency, degree, or conjunctive adverbs. 

Examples in sentences 

• Let’s move outside the house.
• Today, I was invited to lunch.
• She acts nicely.

Prepositions 

Have you guys ever been to a party where everyone is just sitting awkwardly without talking to each other? No fun, no enjoyment, just a boring event. Prepositions are the event planners for your sentences. They are used to connect words and ensure that each word interacts with other words smoothly. We can say, a preposition is a word or a phrase that shows the relationship between the different parts of the sentence. They are used to indicate time, place, and direction. 

What is a Preposition 

A Preposition is a word that shows a connection of noun, a noun phrase, pronoun to other words such as to a verb, noun to noun, or an adjective. 

• Cambridge dictionary defines it as: “ a word or group of words such as in, from, to, out, and on used before noun or pronoun to show the clear place, position, method and time”.
• Collins dictionary defines it as:

 “ a word or phrase such as by, on, for, into, in, at and with which usually has a noun group as its object”.

There are various types of prepositions such as location, time, place and direction, phrasal, agents or things, detached, disguised, participle, compound, double and simple prepositions. 

Example of Preposition in a Sentence 

• I am going to America.
• I want to live in France.
• The gift is inside the drawer.

Conjunctions

Conjunctions are the connectors between the words, phrases, actions or clauses. They bring things together and make them more enjoyable. In sentences, conjunctions join words, phrases, or even clauses (mini sentences). They appear in the start, middle or end of sentences if they are connecting objects or phrases and at the latter part of a sentence, if they are connecting clauses. 

What is a Conjunction 

• Cambridge dictionary defines it as: “ a word such as and, or, but, while etc that connects words, phrases and clauses.
• Collins dictionary defines it as: 

“ any word or group of words, other than a relative pronoun, that connects words, phrases, or clauses”. 

There are various types of conjunctions such as coordinating, subordinating, and correlative conjunctions. 

Examples of conjunctions in a sentence 

• Bob And Jess love swimming.
• You can go because I am a bit busy now. 
• You guys can either choose a movie or a show. 

Interjections

We all need specific words to express our feelings such as joy, grief, sadness, and excitement. So, for this purpose, we use interjections. They are the wild cards of English grammar. Words like hurrah to show excitement, ohhh so sad for sadness, wow to admire, ouch in pain, eak to show fear etc. 

What is an Interjection

• Oxford Dictionary defines it as:

 “ a word, sound, or phrase spoken suddenly to express an emotion”.

• Cambridge dictionary defines it as: “ a word that is used to show a short sudden expression of emotion”. 

Examples of Interjections in sentences 

• Hurray! They won the match. 
• Ouch! It hurts.
• The food is amazing, Yippee!

Other parts of speech 

In English grammar, there are only 8 parts of speech but some authors also include determiners and articles in it. So, read our articles on these topics for further clarity. 

• Determiners
• Articles

Detailed And Interesting Articles 

If you guys want to know further about nouns, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, conjunction, prepositions, interjections and verbs, read our detailed articles on them. Check out our amazing and easy to go articles with definitions, examples, usage in sentences and quizzes. 

Frequently asked questions

Can a word be more than one part of speech? 

Yes, depending on the context of the sentence. For example; such as dress ( I wore a new dress, a noun)  or ( She dressed so nicely, a verb). 

Are there only 8 parts of speech in English grammar? 

The answer varies depending on the book or author you are reading. Mostly authors and writers describe 8 parts of speech but some writers also include articles and determiners in parts of speech.