The eight parts of speech in grammar are nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, conjunctions, prepositions, and interjections. Words in sentences represent these different parts of speech.
Patterns of English word usage have developed over time, creating grammar and syntax rules that are expected in written and spoken language. The eight parts of speech are put together in certain ways to form sentences. At a minimum, a complete sentence must have a noun and a verb (or a subject and a predicate). Parts of speech are added to sentences to create complexity and description.
The eight parts of speech are listed below with examples:
Noun
Common Noun
This type of noun refers to a person, place, thing, or idea.
Examples:
table, state, apartment, anger, sky, woman
The bird flew in the sky.
Proper Noun
Proper nouns refer to specific people, things, or places. They are always capitalized.
Examples:
August, Heidi, White House, Monday, Paris
Heidi visited the White House.
Pronoun
Pronouns substitute for nouns in a sentence.
Examples:
her, he, him, his, she, our, their, who, which, himself
She was driving her car.
Adjective
An adjective is a word that describes, or modifies, nouns and pronouns. It can describe such things as the quality, amount, color, or size.
Examples:
large, bright, young, Greek, this, seventh, her, many
A large, brick building sat on the abandoned lot.
Verb
Verbs are action words. They indicate a state of being for the object. Verbs describe what the noun or pronoun is doing, feeling, or thinking.
Examples:
walked, choose, makes, spend, love, go, wishes, thinking
The girl thought about her two choices.
Adverb
Adverbs describe, or modify, a verb, adjective, phrase, or other adverbs in a sentence. They indicate how, where, when, or how much.
Examples:
quickly, thus, faster, forever, seldom, too, moderately
The dog barked loudly when the delivery truck arrived.
Conjunction
Conjunctions join words or groups of words such as phrases or clauses.
Examples:
and, either, because, or, both, yet, since, still
Anna couldn’t walk very well because her toe was broken.
Preposition
Prepositions show how a noun or a pronoun is related to another word in the sentence.
Examples:
behind, into, until, across, during, from, after, across, within
We parked behind the mall.
Interjection
An interjection is a word not related grammatically to a sentence. It is used with an exclamation point, and shows strong emotion or surprise.
Examples:
Wow! Oh! Aha! Cheers!
Wow! That was a great movie!
Jake Learns All 8 Parts of Speech, a teacher resource book by Drema McNeal, is an interactive grammar book. It introduces students to the eight parts of speech in a fun, story format. Look for it in your library, or visit Amazon.com for more information by clicking on the book below.
Parts of Speech Bingo Game is a fun way for students to review. The game is available at Amazon.com by clicking on the image below:
