Parts of Speech

In this section you will find information about the different parts of speech. What is a part of speech? In grammar, a part of speech is defined as the role that a word (or sometimes a phrase) plays in a sentence. This page describes each part of speech and provides examples of each. Use the following menu to help you navigate through this section.

TYPES OF NOUNS	DESCRIPTION	EXAMPLES
Common	Names a general person, place, thing, or idea. These nouns are not capitalized.	building, holiday
Proper	Names a specific person, place, thing, or idea. These nouns are always capitalized.	The Empire State Building, Labor Day
Concrete	Names something that you can see, touch, taste, hear, or smell.	lion, table, The White House
Abstract	Names an idea, feeling, emotion, or quality	fear, kindness, beauty
Collective	A noun that is singular in form but names a group of people, animals, or things.	People-crew, audience, committee; Animals-herd, flock, litter; Things-collection, bundle, set
Singular	Names a single person, place, thing, or idea.	book, bush, piano, leaf, ox
Plural	Names more than one person, place, thing, or idea	books, bushes, pianos, leaves, oxen

A verb is a word that describes action or a state of being. It is the main word in the predicate of a sentence.

TYPES OF VERBS	DESCRIPTION	EXAMPLES
Action	A word that describes a physical or mental action.	The girl pointed to the correct letter. The teacher listened to the student's answer.
Linking	Links the subject to a noun or adjective in the predicate of the sentence. A linking verb says that something is, was, or will be. It does not show action.	I will be the leader of my team. She is a student in my class. The food smells funny.
Helping	Comes before the main verb. It helps state an action or show time. A main verb can have from one to three helping verbs. The helping verbs are am, are, be, being, been, can, could, did, do , does, had, has, have, is, may, might, must, shall, should, was, were, will, would.	Janet was smiling at her new kitten. James has a test on Monday. I should have completed my project.
Singular	Is used when the subject of a sentence is singular.	Samantha likes to write poems. (Samantha and likes are both singular.)
Plural	Is used when the subject of a sentence is plural.	Some dogs eat bones. (Dogs and eat are both plural.)
Active	A verb is active if the subject of the sentence is doing the action.	Jack ran down the street. (The subject Jack is doing the action.)
Passive	A verb is passive if the subject is not doing the action.	The project was made by Emma. (The subject project isn't doing the action.)
Regular	Ends in ed when stating a past action or when using a helping verb. Most verbs in English are regular.	I cook. I cooked yesterday. I have cooked.
Irregular	Does not end in ed when stating a past action or when using a helping verb.	I write. I wrote yesterday. I have written.

TYPES OF PRONOUNS	DESCRIPTION	EXAMPLES
Personal	Include subject pronouns, object pronouns, and possessive pronouns.	Please see SUBJECT, OBJECT, AND POSSESSIVE pronouns.
Subject	Used as the subject of a sentence. Subject pronouns are I, you, he, she, it, we, and they.	We were going to the zoo.
Object	Used after an action verb or as the object of a prepositional phrase. Object pronouns include me, you, him, her, it, us, and them.	Tim always calls me. (comes after action verb calls) Mary waved to him. (object of prepositional phrase to him)
Possessive	Takes the place of a possessive noun. Possessive pronouns include my, mine, your, yours, his, her, hers, its, our, ours, their, and theirs.	Her shirt is dirtier than mine.
Singular	Refer to a single person or thing. They include I, me, my, mine, he, she, him, her, his, hers, it, its, and you. Use a singular pronoun with a singular verb.	Al’s yard looked great after it was mowed. (Singular it replaces singular yard.)
Plural	Refer to more than one person or thing. They are we, us, our, ours, they, them, their, theirs, and you.	Millie hung the pictures after they were dry. (Plural they replaces plural pictures.)
Demonstrative	Point out nouns without naming them. They include this, that, these, and those.	That is a great project!
Interrogative	Ask Questions. They include what, which, who, whom, and whose.	Which can I take with me? I want to know who said that!
Indefinite	Refer to nouns in a general way without naming the words they replace. They include all, another, any, anybody, anyone, anything, both, each, either, everybody, everyone, everything, few, many, most, much, neither, nobody, none, no one, nothing, one, other, others, several, some, somebody, someone, and something.	Everything is packed in the car.
Intensive	Emphasize the words they refer to. They include myself, himself, herself, yourself, itself, themselves, yourselves, and ourselves.	Ted himself was impressed with the story.
Reflexive	Refer back to the subject of a sentence. The same pronouns that are intensive pronouns are also reflexive.	Lucy surprised even herself.

An adjective is a word that describes a noun or pronoun. An adjective usually answers one of three questions: What kind? How many? or Which one?

TYPES OF ADJECTIVES	DESCRIPTION	EXAMPLES
Demonstrative	Points out a noun. It always answer the question “Which one?” Demonstrative adjectives are this, that, these, and those.	This dress is my favorite.
Proper	Made from a proper noun and is always capitalized.	Lisa loves Chinese food. (from the proper noun China)
Positive	Describes a noun without comparing it to anything or anyone else.	Our house is big.
Comparative	Compares two people, places, thing, or ideas.	Our house is bigger than Jim’s apartment.
Superlative	Compares three or more people, places, things, or ideas.	Our house is the biggest house on the block.

TYPES OF ADVERBS	DESCRIPTION	EXAMPLES
Describes a Verb	Answers one of three questions: how? when? or where?	The ballerina dances gracefully. (How does she dance? Gracefully.) The ballerina dances anywhere. (Where does she dance? Anywhere.) The ballerina dances daily. (When does she dance? Daily.)
Describes an Adjective	Usually answers the question how?	My dad is extremely tall. (How tall? Extremely.)
Describes another Adverb	Usually answers the questions how?	My dog ran exceedingly quickly. (How quickly? Exceedingly quickly.)
Positive	Doesn’t’ make a comparison.	Ann runs fast. Phil sings loudly.
Comparative	Formed by adding er to one-syllable adverbs. Use more or less before most adverbs of more than one syllable.	Ann runs fast, but Bill runs faster. Phil sings loudly, but Meg sings more loudly.
Superlative	Formed by adding est to one-syllable adverbs. Use most or least before most adverbs of more than one syllable.	Bill runs faster than Ann, but Rita runs fastest. Meg sings more loudly than Phil, but Guy sings most loudly.

A preposition is a word or group of words that combines with a noun or pronoun to form a phrase that usually acts as an adverb, adjective, or noun. Prepositions can tell four things - location (where something is in relation to something else), direction (where something is going), time, and relationship (between a noun or pronoun and another word).

TYPES OF PREPOSITIONS	DESCRIPTION	EXAMPLES
Compound	Two or more words that work together like a one-word preposition. Some examples include according to, ahead of, along with, as for, instead of, except for, and in case of	Marilyn stood in front of me.
Prepositional Phrase	A phrase that begins with a preposition and ends with a noun or pronoun known as the object of the preposition. There may also be descriptive words in between the preposition and the object of the preposition.	Kelly sits near me. We went camping in spite of the terrible weather. Sue drove over the hill and around the forest.
Object of the Preposition	The noun or pronoun that follows a preposition in a prepositional phrase.	I put the money inside my coat pocket. The cat jumped out of the bag.

TYPES OF CONJUNCTIONS	DESCRIPTION	EXAMPLES
Coordinating	Connect words, phrases, and sentences (independent clauses). Examples are and, nor, but, for, yet, so, and or.	Megan bought apples and oranges for our lunch.
Subordinating	Connect dependent clauses to independent clauses. Examples are after, before, so, till, where, although, for, so, that, unless, whereas, as, if, than, until, wherever, as if, once, that, when, whether, because, since, though, whenever, and while.	I won’t go unless you apologize.
Correlative	Used in pairs that are split up by other words. Examples are either/or, both/or, neither/nor, not only/but also, just as/so, and whether/or.	Not only is it raining today, but it is also cold.
Adverbial	Connects clauses of equal value. Examples are accordingly, furthermore, consequently, moreover, hence, however, nevertheless, and therefore.	I hate broccoli; however, I love cauliflower.

An interjection is a word or phrase that expresses strong feelings or emotions. It usually comes at the beginning of a sentence, followed by a comma or an exclamation mark.

Nouns	Verbs	Pronouns	Adjectives
Adverbs	Prepositions	Conjunctions	Interjections