Parts of Speech in Grammar

Parts of Speech

Nouns

• Refer to a person, place, thing, idea, or concept
• Can be classified as:
  • Proper nouns (capitalized, specific)
  • Common nouns (not capitalized, general)
  • Concrete nouns (can be perceived by senses, e.g. dog, cat)
  • Abstract nouns (cannot be perceived by senses, e.g. happiness, peace)

Pronouns

• Replace a noun
• Types:
  • Personal pronouns (e.g. I, you, he, she, it)
  • Possessive pronouns (e.g. yours, mine, hers)
  • Possessive pronouns that act as adjectives (e.g. My car needs a wash)
  • Intensive and Reflective pronouns (e.g. myself, yourself, itself)
  • Relative pronouns (e.g. who, whom, whose, that, which)
  • Interrogative pronouns (e.g. who, what, which)
  • Demonstrative pronouns (e.g. this, that, these, those)
  • Indefinite pronouns (e.g. all, any, anything, both)
  • Reciprocal pronouns (e.g. each other, one another)

Adjectives

• Describe or modify nouns or pronouns
• Answer questions like "Which condition?", "How many?", "What kind of?", "Which one?"
• Include articles (a, an, the) and some pronouns (e.g. all, her, his, its, my, their, this, and, your)

Adverbs

• Modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs
• Answer questions like "When?", "Where?", "How?", "Why?", "Under what conditions?"

Verbs

• Describe an action
• Helping verbs: am, are, be, being, can, could, will, would, had, has, have, is, may, might, must, shall, was, were

Prepositions

• Show relationships between words in a sentence
• Show direction, time, place, location, and movement
• Examples:
  • "I looked in the book." (In modifies the verb "looked")
  • "It is good to be among your friends." (Location)
  • "It will take around an hour." (Time)
  • "She lives with her parents." (Location)
  • "We walked through the gate." (Movement)

Conjunctions

• Connect words, phrases, clauses
• Types:
  • Coordinating conjunctions
  • Subordinating conjunctions
  • Conjunctive adverbs
• Examples: For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So, After, Although, As, As if, Because, Before, If, Once, Since, Than, That, Though, Unless, Until, When, Where, Whether, While, Finally, Furthermore, However, Moreover, Nevertheless, Similarly, Then, Therefore, Thus

Interjections

• Express emotions and surprise

Test your understanding of parts of speech, including nouns, concrete nouns, abstract nouns, and more in this grammar quiz.