The different parts of speech in English. Although there are many different ways to communicate in English, it can be useful to know that there are only 9* different parts of speech from which all sentences, phrases or utterances are made.
*Some people believe that there are only 8 parts of speech, with articles being part of the adjective group.
The different parts of speech are:
- nouns
- verbs
- adverbs
- adjectives
- articles
- pronouns
- prepositions
- conjunctions
- interjections
Understanding which groups words are in can help you to break down sentences and improve your understanding and grammatical accuracy. Below is a table showing the different parts of speech and an example.
| Part of speech | Common use | Example |
| Verb | to describe an action | He sat. |
| Noun | To describe a thing | He sat on the chair. |
| Adverb | To describe the verb | He slowly sat on the chair. |
| Adjective | To describe the noun | He slowly sat on the tall chair. |
| Pronoun | To talk about who | He slowly sat on the tall chair. |
| Preposition | To talk about where or when | He slowly sat on the tall chair. |
| Conjunction | Used to join ideas | He slowly sat on the tall chair but fell off. |
| Article | Used to give more information about the noun | He slowly sat on the tall chair but fell off. |
| Interjection | A short exclamation – not a full sentence | Ouch! He hit the floor. |
It is also useful to keep a vocabulary list and group words together that come from the same parts of speech.
For example:
adjectives – e.g. glamorous
You should try to also learn their antonyms and synonyms to build your vocabulary.
e.g. alluring, attractive (synonyms) – dowdy, plain (antonyms)
and think about their comparatives and superlatives e.g. – (adj) more glamorous (comparative) the most glamorous (superlative)
nouns – e.g. accommodation
(check spelling and think about articles etc) – uncountable, no ‘a’ or ‘an’
You should try to also learn their synonyms to build your vocabulary.
e.g. place of residence, dwelling, abode (synonyms)
verbs – e.g. drive
(and their past and participle forms);
drove, driven
prepositions – e.g. on
(with examples of their different uses),
e.g. on the sofa, but in an arm chair.
conjunctions – e.g. moreover
(with examples of use and punctuation)
Smoking is expensive; moreover, it is detrimental to health.
Ready to test you skills? Try this test to see what you know!