Parts of Speech | Basic Grammar for IELTS PDF Download

What are Parts of speech?

A part of speech, or word class, is a way to categorize words based on their role in a sentence. Knowing the different parts of speech helps you understand how words work together and can make your writing better. 

The parts of speech are classified differently in different grammars, but most traditional grammars list eight parts of speech in English: nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections. Some modern grammars add others, such as determiners and articles.

Different Parts of Speech

(a) Nouns

A noun is a word that refers to a person, concept, place, or thing. Nouns can act as the subject of a sentence (i.e., the person or thing performing the action) or as the object of a verb (i.e., the person or thing affected by the action).

There are numerous types of nouns, including common nouns (used to refer to nonspecific people, concepts, places, or things), proper nouns (used to refer to specific people, concepts, places, or things), and collective nouns (used to refer to a group of people or things).

Examples: Nouns in a sentence

I’ve never read that book.

Ella lives in France.

(b) Pronouns

A pronoun is a word used in place of a noun. Pronouns typically refer back to an antecedent (a previously mentioned noun) and must demonstrate correct pronoun-antecedent agreement. Like nouns, pronouns can refer to people, places, concepts, and things.

There are numerous types of pronouns, including personal pronouns (used in place of the proper name of a person), demonstrative pronouns (used to refer to specific things and indicate their relative position), and interrogative pronouns (used to introduce questions about things, people, and ownership).

Examples: Pronouns in a sentence

I don’t really know her.

That is a horrible painting!

(c) Verbs

A verb is a word that describes an action (e.g., “jump”), occurrence (e.g., “become”), or state of being (e.g., “exist”). Verbs indicate what the subject of a sentence is doing. Every complete sentence must contain at least one verb.

Verbs can change form depending on subject (e.g., first person singular), tense (e.g., simple past), mood (e.g., interrogative), and voice (e.g., passive voice).

Regular verbs are verbs whose simple past and past participle are formed by adding“-ed” to the end of the word (or “-d” if the word already ends in “e”). Irregular verbs are verbs whose simple past and past participles are formed in some other way.

Examples: Regular and irregular verbs

“Will you check if this book is in stock?”

“I’ve already checked twice.”

(d) Adjectives

An adjective is a word that describes a noun or pronoun. Adjectives can be attributive, appearing before a noun (e.g., “a red hat”), or predicative, appearing after a noun with the use of a linking verb like “to be” (e.g., “the hat is red”).

Adjectives can also have a comparative function. Comparative adjectives compare two or more things. Superlative adjectives describe something as having the most or least of a specific characteristic.

Examples: Adjectives in a sentence

The dog is bigger than the cat.

He is the laziest person I know

(e) Adverbs

An adverb is a word that can modify a verb, adjective, adverb, or sentence. Adverbs are often formed by adding “-ly” to the end of an adjective (e.g., “slow” becomes “slowly”), although not all adverbs have this ending, and not all words with this ending are adverbs.

There are numerous types of adverbs, including adverbs of manner (used to describe how something occurs), adverbs of degree (used to indicate extent or degree), and adverbs of place (used to describe the location of an action or event).

Examples: Adverbs in a sentence

Ray acted rudely.

Talia writes quite quickly.

(f) Prepositions

A preposition is a word (e.g., “at”) or phrase (e.g., “on top of”) used to show the relationship between the different parts of a sentence. Prepositions can be used to indicate aspects such as time, place, and direction.

Examples: Prepositions in a sentence

Hasan is coming for dinner at 6 p.m.

I left the cup on the kitchen counter.

(g) Conjunctions

A conjunction is a word used to connect different parts of a sentence (e.g., words, phrases, or clauses). The main types of conjunctions are coordinating conjunctions (used to connect items that are grammatically equal), subordinating conjunctions (used to introduce a dependent clause), and correlative conjunctions (used in pairs to join grammatically equal parts of a sentence).

Examples: Conjunctions in a sentence

Daria likes swimming and hiking.

You can choose what movie we watch because I chose the last time.

We can either go out for dinner or go to the theater.

(h) Interjections

An interjection is a word or phrase used to express a feeling, give a command, or greet someone. Interjections are a grammatically independent part of speech, so they can often be excluded from a sentence without affecting the meaning.

Types of interjections include volitive interjections (used to make a demand or request), emotive interjections (used to express a feeling or reaction), cognitive interjections (used to indicate thoughts), and greetings and parting words (used at the beginning and end of a conversation).

Examples: Interjections in a sentence

Ouch! I hurt my arm.

I’m, um, not sure.

Hey! How are you doing?

Other parts of speech

The traditional classification of English words into eight parts of speech is by no means the only one or the objective truth. Grammarians have often divided them into more or fewer classes. Other commonly mentioned parts of speech include determiners and articles.

(a) Determiners

A determiner is a word that describes a noun by indicating quantity, possession, or relative position. Common types of determiners include demonstrative determiners (used to indicate the relative position of a noun), possessive determiners (used to describe ownership), and quantifiers (used to indicate the quantity of a noun).

Examples: Determiners in a sentence

This chair is more comfortable than that one.

My brother is selling his old car.

Many friends of mine have part-time jobs.

Other types of determiners include distributive determiners, determiners of difference, and numbers.

(b) Articles

An article is a word that modifies a noun by indicating whether it is specific or general. The definite article the is used to refer to a specific version of a noun. The can be used with all countable and uncountable nouns (e.g., “the door,” “the energy,” “the mountains”).

The indefinite articles a and an refer to general or unspecific nouns. The indefinite articles can only be used with singular countable nouns (e.g., “a poster,” “an engine”).

Examples: Definite and indefinite articles in a sentence

I live just outside of the town.

There’s a concert this weekend.

Karl made an offensive gesture.

How to Determine the Part of Speech

Only interjections (Hooray!) have a habit of standing alone; every other part of speech must be contained within a sentence and some are even required in sentences (nouns and verbs). Other parts of speech come in many varieties and may appear just about anywhere in a sentence.

To know for sure what part of speech a word falls into, look not only at the word itself but also at its meaning, position, and use in a sentence.

For example, in the first sentence below, work functions as a noun; in the second sentence, a verb; and in the third sentence, an adjective:

• Bosco showed up for work two hours late.
• The noun work is the thing Bosco shows up for.
• He will have to work until midnight.
• The verb work is the action he must perform.
• His work permit expires next month.
• The attributive noun (or converted adjective)work modifies the noun permit.