Parts of Speech – Definition, Examples & Types

Parts of Speech Definition

When a sentence is written, various types of words are used and a place is assigned to these words to make the sentence correct in the context of grammar and syntax. These various words used are known as parts of speech.

Parts of Speech Types

Main parts of speech are as follows:

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

Though Articles are not considered as parts of speech, we have discussed them also as they are highly important in a sentence. So you can think of a sentence as sentence = article + combination of parts of speeches.

A sentence is always a combination of all or a few of these parts of speech. Let us have a detailed explanation of all parts of speech one by one.

Noun

Definition

A noun is a word that refers to a place, a person, a thing, an animal, a quality, an idea, or an action.

Example/s

New York, James, cat, book, beauty, dog, table, chair, Las Vegas, Neil, San Francisco, etc. are some examples of nouns.

• John is a good boy.
• Mery is playing in the ground.

There are various classifications of nouns but the most common classification is as follows:

1. Common Nouns – e.g. boy, girl, dog, etc
2. Proper Nouns – e.g. London, Emily, Google, etc.
3. Collective Nouns – e.g. class, group, team, etc.
4. Abstract Nouns – e.g. hate,  love, anger, etc.
5. Material Noun – e.g. gold, silver, iron, etc.

Pronoun

Definition

A pronoun is a word used in place of a noun in a sentence. In a sentence, pronouns are used to avoid repetitive use of a noun.

Example/s

He, she, his, him, her, it, that, etc.

• Ron goes to the morning walk daily. He runs for 5 km on a regular basis.
• I don’t trust Ryma. She always lies to me.

Pronouns can be classified into the following 8 categories

1. Personal Pronoun – e.g.he, she, they, etc.
2. Demonstrative Pronouns – e.g. this, these, etc.
3. Possessive Pronouns – e.g. mine, yours, etc.
4. Reciprocal Pronouns – e.g. each other, one another.
5. Interrogative Pronouns – e.g. who, which, etc.
6. Indefinite Pronouns – e.g. none, several, etc.
7. Reflexive Pronouns – e.g. myself, yourself, etc.
8. Relative Pronouns – e.g. which, where, etc.

Verb

Definition

Verbs are generally used to express actions, states of beings, or state of occurrence.

Example/s

Go, play, watch, do, run, feel, keep, put, etc.

• Lina walks along the road.
• Lincon does his work honestly.

Verbs can be classified in these categories:

1. Action Verbs – transitive verbs, intransitive verbs.
2. Auxiliary Verbs – has, have, etc.
3. Modal Verbs – shall, will, may, might, etc.

Adjective

Definition

An adjective is that part of speech that describes or modifies a noun or pronoun in the sentence.

Example/s

That boy, this girl, his dog, her cat, a beautiful horse, lovely baby, nice attire, etc.

• Rose is a beautiful flower. It smells good.
• Ahna bought a dress. She is happy now.
• The little boy brought me a bunch of flowers.

Adjectives have 3 different degrees – positive degree, comparative degree, superlative degree of adjectives.

Different types of adjectives are as under:

1. Adjective of a Quality – Attributive & Predicative e.g.honest boy, wise king, pleasant weather, etc.
2. Adjective of Quantity e.g. some milk, enough sugar, sufficient food, etc.
3. Adjective of Number – Definite & Indefinite e.g. one boy, two girls, three stars, etc.
4. Proper Adjective e.g. British rule, Christian population, etc.
5. Demonstrative Adjective – this, that, those, etc.
6. Interrogative Adjective – whose, what, which, etc.
7. Distributive Adjective – each, every, either, etc.
8. Possessive Adjective – my, his, your, her, etc.

Adverb

Definition

An adverb is the part of speech that modifies a verb, an adjective, a clause or another adverb also.

Example/s

• Fortunately, everyone is safe.
• She enjoyed it very much at the party.
• He ate quickly.

Generally, adverbs are classified as

1. Adverbs of Time – today, tomorrow, yesterday, last year, now, daily, etc.
2. Adverbs of Place – up, back, near, around, inside, everywhere, etc.
3. Adverbs of Manner – slowly, sadly, happily, badly, rapidly, etc.

Conjunction

Definition

The conjunction is that part of speech that connects words, phrases, clauses, coordinate words or sentences.

Example/s – and, or, nether…nor, either…or, but, while, etc.

• She said that she would dance.
• Your dress looks beautiful but not comfortable.

Various types of conjunctions are given as:

1. Coordinate Conjunctions – and, or, but, etc.
2. Subordinate Conjunctions – untill, unless, since, etc.
3. Corelative Conjunctions – neither…nor. Either…or, but…also, lest…should, etc.

Preposition

Definition

A preposition is a word that is used to show the relationship between a noun/pronoun and the other part of a sentence. Prepositions are used before a noun/pronoun usually.

Examples/ – at, far, by, over, under, before, after, toward, above, along, among, etc.

• I go to my office by bus.
• Birds are sitting on the tree.
• I was swimming in the river.
• I got a gift from a friend.

Different types of prepositions are given as:

1. Simple Prepositions – e.g. at, or, in, under, above, of, over, down, etc.
2. Double Preposition – e.g. without, into, onto, upon, etc.
3. Compound Preposition -e.g. In the middle of, in addition to, in front of, according to, etc.
4. Participle Preposition – e.g. following, regarding, considering, during, etc. 
5. Phrase Preposition – e.g. on the floor, across the river, under the tree, before the mirror, etc.

Interjection

Definition

In a sentence, interjections are used to express or show the feeling of the author. These are used to express various expressions such as surprise, joy, excitement, shock, enthusiasm, etc.

Example/s – Aha, uh, oops, ouch, oh, ah, yuck, eew, etc.

• Alas! She is no more. May God rest her in peace.
• Wow, you are looking like a doll in this dress.
• Ah! I can’t believe, she was cheating on me.
• Hey! Get out of this car now.
• Yuck! He vomited during our lunchtime.

Articles

Definition

An article is a word used with a noun in a sentence that identifies whether a noun is definite or indefinite.

Based on the above definition, articles can be classified as

1. Definite Articles – The
2. Indefinite articles – A, an.

Example/s

• Nancy is the girl who saved me last night.
• A boy is walking o the road.
• A Mr. Ron standing on the door is asking about you.