- The 8 parts of speech are nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and articles.
- Every word in English can be classified as one of these 8 parts of speech.
- The term part of speech refers to a word’s role in a sentence.
- Some words can be different parts of speech depending on how they’re used in a sentence, such as work (noun and verb) and well (adverb, adjective, and noun).
- The parts of speech fall into two word classes: open (parts of speech that regularly acquire new words) and closed (parts of speech that don’t readily acquire new words).
Mastering the parts of speech is essential for clear communication, strong writing, and learning other languages. Here, we’ll explore the rules behind the different parts of speech and how to use them together in grammatically correct sentences, with examples.
Table of contents
What are the 8 parts of speech?
How to identify parts of speech
When a word can be different parts of speech
What are the 8 parts of speech?
1 Nouns
A noun is a word that names a person, place, concept, or object. Basically, anything that names a “thing” is a noun.
Nouns fall into two categories: common nouns and proper nouns. Common nouns are general names for things, such as:
Proper nouns are names or titles for specific things, such as:
2 Pronouns
Pronouns are words you substitute for specific nouns when the reader or listener already knows which specific noun you’re referring to.
Instead of saying Jennifer’s name three times in a row, you substituted she and her, and your sentences remained grammatically correct.
3 Adjectives
Adjectives are the words that describe nouns. Think about your favorite movie. How would you describe it to a friend who’s never seen it?
When describing the movie with these words, you’re using adjectives. An adjective can go right before the noun it’s describing:
But it doesn’t have to. Sometimes, adjectives are at the end of a sentence:
4 Verbs
Verbs are words that describe specific actions, whether physical or mental.
Not all verbs refer to literal actions, though. Verbs that refer to feelings or states of being, like to love and to be, are known as nonaction verbs.
The verb seems is a non-action verb, describing a state of being rather than an action. Conversely, the verbs that refer to literal actions are known as action verbs.
The verb runs is an action verb describing what he does.
5 Adverbs
An adverb is a word that describes an adjective, a verb, or another adverb.
Quietly describes how you entered (verb) the room.
Always describes how frequently a cheetah is faster (adjective) than a lion.
6 Prepositions
Prepositions tell you the relationships between other words in a sentence.
Against is the preposition because it tells us where you left your bike.
Without the preposition in, we don’t know where the pizza is.
7 Conjunctions
Conjunctions make it possible to build complex sentences that express multiple ideas.
Each of these three sentences expresses a clear idea. There’s nothing wrong with listing your preferences like this, but it’s not the most efficient way to do it. Consider instead:
In this sentence, and and but are the two conjunctions linking your ideas.
8 Articles
Articles are words that appear before nouns to indicate whether the noun is specific or general.
A, the, and an are all examples of articles. Articles come in two types: definite articles and indefinite articles. Similarly to the two types of nouns, the type of article you use depends on how specific you need to be about the thing you’re discussing.
A definite article, like the or this, describes one specific noun.
From the above sentence, we understand that the speaker is referring to a specific previously discussed car.
Now swap in an indefinite article:
The implication that you’re referring back to something specific is gone, and it becomes a more general question.
How to identify parts of speech
Sometimes, it’s difficult to tell which part of speech a word is. Here are a few easy tips for quickly figuring out what part of speech you’re dealing with:
- If it’s an adjective plus the ending –ly, it’s an adverb. Examples: commonly, quickly.
- If you can swap it out for a noun and the sentence still makes sense, it’s a pronoun. Examples: “He played basketball.” / “Steve played basketball.”
- If it’s something you do and you can modify the sentence to include the word do, it’s a verb. Examples: “I have an umbrella.” / “I do have an umbrella.”
- If you can remove the word and the sentence still makes sense, but you lose a detail, the word is most likely an adjective. Examples: “She drives a red van.” / “She drives a van.”
And if you’re ever really stumped, just look the word up. Dictionaries typically list a word’s part of speech in its entry. If it has multiple forms with different parts of speech, they are all listed with examples.
When a word can be different parts of speech
Just like y is sometimes a vowel and sometimes a consonant, some words are sometimes one part of speech and other times another.
Let’s use the example of the word work.
Now, let’s use the word well as another example.
Finally, let’s use the word but as an example.
Sometimes, words evolve to add forms that are new parts of speech. One recent example is the word adult. Before the 2010s, adult was primarily a noun that referred to a fully grown person. It could also be used as an adjective to refer to specific types of media, like adult contemporary music. At the turn of the 2010s, the word adulting, a brand-new verb, appeared in the internet lexicon. As a verb, adulting refers to the act of doing tasks associated with adulthood, like paying bills and grocery shopping.
Open vs. closed word classes
The parts of speech fall into two word classes: open and closed.
Open word classes are the parts of speech that regularly acquire new words. Language evolves, and that evolution usually takes place in nouns, adjectives, adverbs, and verbs.
Closed word classes are the parts of speech that don’t readily acquire new words. These parts of speech are more set in stone and include pronouns, conjunctions, articles, and prepositions.
The word under is a closed class preposition that indicates a relationship between the cat and the table.
The 8 parts of speech FAQs
What are the 8 parts of speech?
Nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and articles.
How do you tell what part of speech a word is?
Look at its role in the sentence. For example, does it describe an action (verb) or a thing (noun)?
Can a word be more than one part of speech?
Yes, words like well and work can function as different parts of speech depending on context.
What’s the difference between open and closed word classes?
Open class words can evolve, while closed class words remain fixed.
