Parts of Speech

The words in English can be classified (according to their functions in a sentence) into Parts of Speech.

  1. Noun
  2. Pronoun
  3. Adjective
  4. Verb
  5. Adverb
  6. Preposition
  7. Conjunction
  8. Interjection

1. Noun

Noun is simply called as the Naming Word. A name of a Person, Place, Animal, Thing. Examples: Bangalore, Tiger, Table.

There are five different kinds of noun:

  1. Proper Noun
  2. Common Noun
  3. Collective Noun
  4. Material Noun
  5. Abstract Noun

2. Pronoun

The repetition of a noun in a sentence or a set of sentences is very boring. So, Grammar prescribes that instead of repeating the noun, you may use a word for that noun called as pronoun. So, pronoun is a word used for or in the place of noun. Examples: She, It, They.

A pronoun must itself be something equivalent to a noun. It should not be mentioned until the noun has been mentioned. A pronoun must be of the same number, gender and person as the noun it stands for.

Pronouns can be:

  1. Personal
  2. Reflexive
  3. Demonstrative
  4. Indefinite
  5. Distributive
  6. Relative
  7. Interrogative

3. Adjective

A word that qualifies or describes a noun or a pronoun. Examples:

  • Our team played a good game.
  • Every sentence that he spoke was listened to with great attention.

4. Verb

A verb expresses what the subject of a sentence is or does, or has, or what is done to it.

Examples:

  • Mr.John teaches Mathematics.
  • He has taught the subject for twenty-five years.
  • She is a capable teacher.

5. Adverb

A word that modifies an adjective or a verb or another adverb. Examples:

  • I am deeply grateful to you for your timely help.
  • This horse runs very fast.

6. Preposition

Look at the words underlined in these sentences:

  • Work in the college begins at 10 a.m.
  • He wrote the document with a pen.
  • The professor gave a lecture on Superconductivity.
  • The P.M. reaches Bangalore after the President does.

The words underlined are called Prepositions because they normally take position before (pre) a noun. The preposition is said to 'govern' the noun that follows it. The noun is said to be the 'object' of the preposition.

Besides single-word prepositions, there are also phrases which do the work of prepositions and are called 'Phrase Prepositions'.

7. Conjunction

A Conjunction is a word that joins words, phrases and sentences.

Example: 

  • Delhi and Mumbai are densely populated cities.
  • She must be either the President or the Secretary of Pakistan.
  • The professor read the essay and was impressed by it.
  • He is not only intelligent in his studies but also industrious in his life.

8. Interjection 

Word which expresses a strong or sudden feeling like Surprise, Joy, Fear, Sadness, etc. 

It is not grammatically connected with the rest of the sentence. Usually, exclamation mark is put after it.

Examples: Aha! Hurrah! Well! Dear! Oh!