Parts of Speech: Definitions, Examples & 8 Types
Last Updated : 09 Apr, 2025
Every word is a part of speech playing a specific role in sentences or paragraphs. Parts of speech provide an organized way to align words and phrases, it is a fundamental meaning for a language to become more understandable and serve a specific purpose. Here, in this article, we will see what is Part of Speech, its types, and its uses. So let us dive in deeper to learn more about it!
What is Part of Speech?
The English language has thousands of words and every word has some function to perform. Some words are there to show action, some to join, and some to name something. There are 8 different parts of speech including nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, prepositions, conjunction, and interjection. And together, all the functions performed by words in the English language fall under Parts of speech.
Parts of Speech Definition
The parts of speech are the "traditional grammatical categories to which words are assigned in accordance with their syntactic functions, such as noun, verb, adjective, adverb, and so on." In other words, they refer to the different roles that words can play in a sentence and how they relate to one another based on grammar and syntax.
Parts of Speech Chart
| Types | Function | Examples | Sentences |
|---|
| Noun | Refers to Things or person | Pen, Chair, Ram, Honesty | Cars are expensive. This chair is made of wood. Ram is a topper. Honesty is the best policy. |
|---|
| Pronoun | Replaces a noun | I, you, he, she, it, they | They are expensive. It is of wood. He is a topper. It is the best policy |
|---|
| Adjective | Describes a noun | Super, Red, Our, Big, Great class | Supercars are expensive The red chair is for kids Ram is a class topper. Great things take time. |
|---|
| Verb | Describes action or state | Play, be, work, love, like | I play football I will be a doctor I like to work I love writing poems. |
|---|
| Adverb | Describes a verb, adjective or adverb | Silently, too, very | I love reading silently. It is too tough to handle. He can speak very fast. |
|---|
| Preposition | Links a noun to another word | at, in, of, after, under, | The ball is under the table. I am at a restaurant. she is in trouble. I am going after her. It is so nice of him |
|---|
| Conjunction | Joins clauses and sentences | and, but, though, after | First, I will go to college and then I may go to Fest. I don’t have a car but I know how to drive. She failed the exam though she worked hard. He will come after he finishes his match. |
|---|
| Interjection | Shows exclamation | oh! wow!, alas! Hurray! | Oh! I got fail again. Wow! I got the job. Alas! She is no more. Hurray! We are going to a party. |
|---|
All Parts of Speech with Examples
There are 8 different types of parts of speech i.e., Nouns, Pronouns, Adjectives, Verbs, Adverb, prepositions, Conjunction, and Interjection.
Noun -
A noun is a word that names a person, place, thing, state, or quality. It can be singular or plural. Nouns are a part of speech.
- Function: Refers to Things or person
- Examples: Pen, Chair, Ram, Honesty
- Sentences: Cars are expensive, This chair is made of wood, and Ram is a topper, Honesty is the best policy.
Pronoun -
The word used in place of a noun or a noun phrase is known as a pronoun. A pronoun is used in place of a noun to avoid the repetition of the noun.
- Function: Replaces a noun
- Examples: I, you, he, she, it, they
- Sentences: They are expensive, It is of wood, He is a topper, It is the best policy
Adjective -
A word that modifies a noun or a pronoun is an adjective. Generally, an adjective’s function is to further define and quantify a noun or pronoun.
- Function: Describes a noun
- Examples: Super, Red, Our, Big, Great, class
- Sentences: Supercars are expensive, The red chair is for kids, Ram is a class topper, and Great things take time.
Verb -
A word or a group of words that describes an action, a state, or an event is called a verb. A verb is a word that says what happens to somebody or what somebody or something does.
- Function: Describes action or state
- Examples: Pen, Chair, Ram, Honesty
- Sentences: I play football, I will be a doctor, I like to work, I love writing poems.
Adverb -
A verb, adjective, another adverb, determiner, clause, preposition, or sentence is typically modified by an adverb. Adverbs often answer questions like “how,” “in what way,” “when,” “where,” and “to what extent” by expressing things like method, place, time, frequency, degree, level of certainty, etc
- Function: Describes a verb, adjective, or adverb
- Examples: Silently, too, very
- Sentences: I love reading silently, It is too tough to handle, He can speak very fast.
Preposition -
A preposition is called a connector or linking word which has a very close relationship with the noun, pronoun or adjective that follows it. Prepositions show position in space, movement, direction, etc.
- Function: Links a noun to another word
- Examples: at, in, of, after, under,
- Sentences: The ball is under the table, I am at a restaurant, she is in trouble, I am going after her, It is so nice of him
Conjunction -
A conjunction is a word that connects clauses, sentences, or other words. Conjunctions can be used alone or in groups of two.
- Function: Joins clauses and sentences
- Examples: and, but, though, after
- Sentences: First, I will go to college and then I may go to Fest, I don't have a car but I know how to drive, She failed the exam though she worked hard, He will come after he finishes his match.
Interjection -
An interjection is a word or phrase expressing some sudden feelings of sadness or emotions.
- Function: Shows exclamation
- Examples: oh! wow!, alas! Hurray!
- Sentences: Oh! I got fail again, Wow! I got the job, Alas! She is no more, Hurray! We are going to a party.
These are the main parts of speech, but there are additional subcategories and variations within each. Understanding the different parts of speech can help construct grammatically correct sentences and express ideas clearly.
Sentence Examples for the 8 Parts of Speech
Noun
- Examples: Luggage, Cattle.
- Sentence: Never leave your luggage unattended.
- In some places, cattle are fed barely.
Pronoun
- Examples: who, either, themselves
- Sentence: I know a man who plays the guitar very well.
- Either of the two cars is for sale.
- They enjoyed themselves at the party.
Adjective
- Examples: kind, moving, wounder.
- Sentence:
- She is a kind person.
- Boarding a moving bus can be dangerous.
- Never poke a wounded animal.
Verb
- Examples: Praise, Hate, Punish
- Sentence: She always praises her friends.
- I don't hate anybody.
- The boy has been punished by his teacher
Adverb
- Examples: Always, enough, immediately
- Sentence: we should always help each other.
- We should be wise enough to understand what is good for us.
- We should leave bad habits immediately.
Preposition
- Examples: Off, Below, From. to
- Sentence:
- He plunged off the cliff
- I live below the 9th floor.
- I travel daily from Delhi to Noida.
Conjunction
- Examples: whereas, as well as, so,
- Sentence: The new software is fairly simple whereas the old one was a bit complicated.
- The finance company is not performing well as well as some of its competitors.
- He was ready so he may come.
Interjection
- Examples: oops! whoa! phew!
- Sentence: Oops! I forgot to mention her name.
- Whoa! you drive fast.
- Phew! That was a close call, we had a narrow escape.
Parts of Speech Exercise - Test your Knowledge of Part of speech
Choose the correct Parts of Speech of the BOLD word from the following questions.
1. Let us play, Shall We?
a. Conjunction
b. Pronoun
c. Verb
2. It is a good practice to arrange books on shelves.
a. Verb
b. Noun
c. Adjective
3. Whose books are these?
a. Pronoun
b. Preposition
c. verb
4. Father, please get me that toy.
a. Pronoun
b. Adverb
c. Adjective
5. His mentality is rather obnoxious.
a. Adverb
b. Adjective
c. Noun
6. He is the guy whose money got stolen.
a. Pronoun
b. Conjunction
c. Adjective
7. I will have finished my semester by the end of this year.
a. Interjection
b. Conjunction
c. Preposition
8. Bingo! That's the one I have been looking for
a. Interjection
b. Conjunctio
c. Preposition
Quiz Answers:
1. c, 2. b, 3. a, 4. c, 5. a, 6. b, 7. c, 8. a
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Preposition
Interjection