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Parts of Speech

Words in English Grammar are classified based on eight ‘Parts of Speech’.

A part of speech does not explain the meaning of the word. However, it does explain how the word has been used in a particular sentence.

Hence, a word may be used as a ‘noun’ in one sentence and may be used as an ‘adjective’ or a ‘verb’ in another sentence.

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Parts of Speech

For example:

Glue is used to stick things together.

Here, the word ‘glue’ has been used as a noun.

Could you please glue the broken pieces of the vase together?

Here, the word ‘glue’ has been used as a verb.

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Parts of SpeechThe eight parts of speech are:

• Noun

• Verb

• Pronoun

• Adjective

• Adverb

• Preposition

• Conjunction

• Interjection

Let’s look at each in detail.

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Parts of Speech

• Noun

A noun is a naming word. A noun is thus used to name a person, animal, place, thing, and abstract idea. Hence, every name is called a noun.

For example, the highlighted words in the speech bubble are all nouns:

I bought a cat from the pet shop on Monday.

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Types of NounsThere are many different types of nouns. Also, you should keep in mind that a noun will belong to more than one type. The types of nouns are:

Proper Nouns

Common Nouns

Concrete Nouns

Collective Nouns

Abstract Nouns

Countable Nouns

Non-Countable

Nouns

Let’s look at each in detail.

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Types of Nouns

Proper Nouns• A ‘Proper Noun’ represents the name of a specific person, place, or thing.

Hence, you have to always write a proper noun with a capital letter. • Example: Christmas is celebrated in December every year.

Common Nouns• A common noun refers to a person, place, or thing in a general sense. So,

you can understand that a common noun is the opposite of a proper noun.

• Example: The honeybees are busy making honey in summer.

Concrete Nouns• A noun which names anything (or anyone) that you can perceive through

your physical senses of touch, sight, taste, hearing, or smell is known as a ‘Concrete Noun’. So, a concrete noun is the opposite of an abstract noun.

• Example: The teacher distributed the books which were kept on her table.

Collective Nouns• A noun used for naming a group of things, animals, or persons is known as

a ‘Collective Noun’. • Example: The pride of lions rested under the shade of a tree.

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Types of NounsAbstract Nouns• A noun which names anything (or anyone) that you cannot perceive

through your physical senses of touch, sight, taste, hearing, or smell is known as a ‘Abstract Noun’. So, an abstract noun is the opposite of a concrete noun.

• Example: Money cannot buy you happiness, nor can it diminish your sorrow.

Countable Nouns• A countable noun names anything (or anyone) that you can count.

Countable nouns may have either singular or plural forms. Hence, countable nouns are the opposite of non-countable nouns and collective nouns.

• Example: We painted the door blue and the windows green.

Non-Countable Nouns• A non-countable noun names anything (or anyone) that you cannot

usually count. Hence, countable nouns are the opposite of countable nouns and are similar to collective nouns. It always takes a singular verb in a sentence.

• Example: Henry Cavendish discovered hydrogen.

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A ‘Verb’ is an action word. It asserts something about the subject of the sentence and expresses actions, events, or states of being. The verb or compound verb is the most important element of the predicate of a sentence.

For example, the highlighted words in the speech bubble are all verbs:

Parts of Speech• Verb

Marilyn sings every morning in the Church

choir.

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Parts of Speech• Pronoun

A pronoun is used in the place of a noun and hence, can replace a noun or another pronoun.

For example, the highlighted words in the speech bubble are all pronouns:

He is reading his favorite book.

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Types of PronounsPronouns are classified into various types such as follows:

Personal Pronoun

Interrogative Pronoun

Demonstrative Pronoun

Indefinite Pronoun

Relative Pronoun

Reflexive Pronoun

Intensive Pronoun

Let’s look at each in detail.

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Types of PronounsDemonstrative Pronouns• A pronoun that points to and identifies a noun or a pronoun is known as a

‘Demonstrative Pronoun’. Demonstrative pronouns such as ‘this’ and ‘these’ are used to refer to things that are nearby either in space or in time, while ‘that’ and ‘those’ refer to things that are farther away in space or time.

• Example: This is the latest equipment while that is the one we used earlier.

Interrogative Pronouns• An interrogative pronoun is used to ask questions. Interrogative pronouns

are compound words formed by combining words such as ‘who’, ‘whom’, ‘which’, ‘what’ with the suffix ‘ever’.

• Example: To whom should you submit the report?

Personal Pronouns• A pronoun that refers to a specific person or thing is known as a personal

pronoun. Moreover, personal pronouns change their form to indicate person, number, gender, and case. Personal pronouns can be further classified as:o Subjective Personal Pronounso Objective Personal Pronounso Possessive Personal Pronouns

Let’s look at each type of

Personal Pronoun in

detail.

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Types of Pronouns

Subjective Personal Pronouns

A pronoun that indicates that it is acting

as the subject of the sentence is known

as a ‘Subjective Personal Pronoun’. Some

of the subjective personal pronouns are

‘I’, ‘you’, ‘she’, ‘he’, ‘it’, ‘we’, ‘you’, ‘they’

etc.

Example: Are you the new developer who

joined this month?

Objective Personal Pronouns

A pronoun that indicates that it is acting

as an object of a verb is known as an

‘Objective Personal Pronoun’. Some of

the objective personal pronouns are:

‘me’, ‘you’, ‘her’, ‘him’, ‘it’, ‘us’, ‘you’, and

‘them’.

Example: The President of the company

would meet you in a few minutes.

Possessive Personal Pronouns

A pronoun that acts as a marker of possession and defines who owns a particular

object or person is known as a ‘Possessive Personal Pronoun’. Some of the

possessive personal pronouns are ‘mine’, ‘yours’, ‘hers’, ‘his’, ‘its’, ‘ours’ and ‘theirs’.

Example: This workstation is mine.

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Types of Pronouns

Relative Pronouns• Relative pronouns are words such as ‘who’, ‘whom’, ‘that’, and

‘which’, ‘whoever’, ‘whomever’, and ‘whichever’. Such pronouns are used to link one phrase or clause to another phrase or clause.

• Example: The student who gets the highest grades receives an award from the Principal.

Indefinite Pronouns• A pronoun that refers to an identifiable but not specified person

or thing is known as an ‘Indefinite Pronoun’. Some of the most common indefinite pronouns are ‘all’, ‘another’, ‘any’, ‘anybody’, ‘anyone’, ‘anything’, ‘each’, ‘everybody’, ‘everyone’, ‘everything’, ‘few’, ‘many’, ‘nobody’, ‘none’, ‘one’, ‘several’, ‘some’, ‘somebody’, and ‘someone’.

• Example: There were many people at the party but only a few had dressed as per the dress code.

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Types of Pronouns

Reflexive Pronouns• Reflexive pronouns are used to refer back to the subject of the

clause or sentence.• Some of the reflexive pronouns are: ‘myself’, ‘yourself’, ‘herself’,

‘himself’, ‘itself’, ‘ourselves’, ‘yourselves’, and ‘themselves’. Each of the reflexive pronouns can also be used as an intensive pronoun.

• Example: After the exams, I asked myself why I had not studied hard enough.

Intensive Pronouns• An intensive pronoun is a pronoun used to emphasize its

antecedent. The form of intensive pronouns is identical to reflexive pronouns.

• Example: The Judge himself asked the accused to admit to the crime.

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Parts of Speech• Adjective

An adjective is a word that describes a noun or pronoun. Hence, an adjective modifies a noun or a pronoun by describing, identifying, or quantifying words.

For example, the highlighted words in the speech bubble are all adjectives:

There was a small printer and an old

laptop in the office.

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Types of AdjectivesThere are various types of adjectives such as:

Possessive Adjectives

Demonstrative Adjectives

Interrogative Adjectives

Indefinite Adjectives

Let’s look at each in detail.

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Types of AdjectivesPossessive Adjectives• A possessive adjective is similar to a possessive pronoun but is

used as an adjective to modify a noun.• Example: I can't complete my report because I don't have the

complete data.Demonstrative Adjectives• The demonstrative adjectives are similar to the demonstrative

pronouns, but are used as adjectives to modify nouns.• Example: When the manager looked at that report, he nearly

fainted.

Interrogative Adjectives• An interrogative adjective is similar to an interrogative pronoun,

but is used to modify a noun.• Example: What data do you need to complete your report?

Indefinite Adjectives• An indefinite adjective is similar to an indefinite pronoun, but is

used to modify a noun.• Example: Many people believe that politicians are corrupt.

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A word that is used to modify a verb, an adjective, another adverb, a phrase, or a clause is known as an ‘Adverb’. Hence, an adverb indicates manner, time, place, cause, or degree.

For example, the highlighted words in the speech bubble are all adverbs:

Parts of Speech

• Adverb

The manager quickly checked the email.

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Types of AdverbAdverbs is further classified as ‘Conjunctive Adverbs’.

Conjunctive Adverbs

Conjunctive Adverbs• A conjunctive adverb is used to join two clauses

together. Some of the most common conjunctive adverbs are: ‘also’, ‘finally’, ‘hence’, ‘however’, ‘instead’, ‘likewise’, ‘meanwhile’, ‘nevertheless’, ‘then’, ‘therefore’ and ‘thus’. A conjunctive adverb always requires a semicolon to join two independent clauses.

• Example: The management has cut on operation costs; consequently, expenses on parties and get together have been decreased.

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Parts of Speech• Preposition

A word that is used to link nouns, pronouns and phrases to other words in a sentence is known as a ‘Preposition’. The word or phrase that the preposition introduces is called the object of the preposition.

For example, the highlighted words in the speech bubble are all prepositions:

The mobile is on the table.

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A ‘Conjunction’ is a linking word that is used to link words, phrases and clauses.

For example, the highlighted words in the speech bubble are all conjunctions:

I went out for a movie and dinner on Sunday.

Parts of Speech• Conjunction

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Types of ConjunctionThere are various types of conjunctions such as:

Co-ordinating Conjunctions

Subordinating Conjunctions

Correlative Conjunctions

Let’s look at each in detail.

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Types of ConjunctionCo-ordinating Conjunctions• A co-ordinating conjunction is used to join individual words,

phrases, and independent clauses. Some of the co-ordinating conjunctions are: ‘and’, ‘but’, ‘or’, ‘nor’, ‘for’, ‘so’, ‘or’, ‘yet’ etc.

• Example: Lions and tigers belong to the cat family.

Subordinating Conjunctions• A subordinating conjunction introduces a dependent clause. It

then shows the nature of the relationship among the independent clause(s) and the dependent clause(s).

• The most common subordinating conjunctions are: ‘after’, ‘although’, ‘as’, ‘because’, ‘before’, ‘how’, ‘if’, ‘once’ etc.

• Example: If you complete your project on time, your check would be mailed on Monday.

Correlative Conjunctions• Correlative conjunctions always appear in pairs. They are used to

link equivalent sentence elements. The most common correlative conjunctions are ‘both...and’, ’either...or’, ’neither...nor’, ‘not only...but also’, ‘so...as’, and ‘whether...or’.

• Example: You can either go to Italy or Greece for a vacation.

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A word that is added to a sentence to convey emotion is known as an ‘Interjection’.

For example, the highlighted words in the speech bubble are all interjections:

Parts of Speech

• Interjection

Oh no! I forgot about today’s meeting with

the client.

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