Parts of Speech Definitions

Part of speech is also known as a word class and abbreviated as POS. A POS is a category that explains the role of a word in a sentence. The eight parts of speech in English are adverbs, nouns, pronouns, adjectives, prepositions, verbs, conjunctions, and interjections. Words belonging to the same part of speech typically exhibit similar grammatical behavior. Below every part of the speech is explained in detail.

1. Noun

A noun is a word that typically serves as the name for a particular object or group of objects, including living things, locations, activities, and concepts. Nouns can work as the sentence's subject.

Examples of nouns:

Name of a person: Adam, Mia, Smith, Sophia, Sophia, Emma, etc
Name of an animal: Elephant, fox, shark, kangaroo, deer, etc.
Name of a place: Italy, Greece, India, Iraq, etc.
Name of a thing: Bed, laptop, chair, phone, book, apple, cup, etc.
Name of an idea: Superstitions, happiness, excitement, etc.

Types of nouns:

Common nouns:

The common noun denotes an idea or defines a particular type of place, person, or thing. For example, author, country, women, dog, river, etc.

Proper nouns:

A proper noun is a name given to a particular place, person, or object. For example, Elijah, Emma, Russia, Ontario, etc.

Concrete nouns:

A concrete noun is a name given to physically present and visible things. For example, laptop, chair, book, etc.

Abstract nouns:

An abstract noun is a name given to the things that are present but not visible and not physically present. For example, courage, sorrow, love, truth, honesty, etc

Material nouns:

A material noun is a word used to refer to substances, materials, or items produced from an alloy. For example, silver, gold, metal, etc.

2. Verb

A verb is a word that defines an occurrence, action, or state of being. Verbs describe what the sentence's subject is doing. The verbs can change depending on the subject, tense, mood, and voice.

Types of verbs:

Action verbs:

Verbs that are used to describe actions are called action verbs. Examples of action verbs are run, teach, walk, talk, sit, read, write, jog, cough, sleep, jump, sing, drink, present, build, tow, toss, hug, fight, etc.

Stative verbs:

A stative verb describes situations or feelings. Stative verbs are commonly used to describe opinions, attributes, feelings, states of being, and beliefs. Examples of stative verbs are love, hate, envy, trust, feel, entrust, care, cherish, sense, know, recognize, like, need, adore, and appreciate.

Transitive verbs:

A verb with a direct object in a sentence is said to be a transitive verb.

Auxiliary verbs:

An auxiliary verb is a verb that makes another verb more sensible and meaningful. It changes the other verb's tense, voice, and mood. Auxiliary verb includes am, is, are, was, have, has, do, will, and can.

Modal verbs:

Modal verbs indicate the possibility, capability, or requirement of something happening. Modal verb includes may, would, could, must, will, can, might, should, and ought to.

Phrasal verbs:

Phrasal verbs are combinations of two or more words that work as a new word with a distinct meaning from the original ones. A phrasal verb is typically created by combining a verb and a preposition. The phrasal verb includes lay off, log in, get off, run out, go all out, think through, fed up, taken aback, act on, back away, back up, look up, mix up, opt-out, and pop in.

Linking verbs:

A linking verb is a particular verb that connects a sentence's subjects to its other components.

Example of linking verbs:

Jasmine feels a bit sick today.
Sophia looks beautiful today.

In the above example, looks and feels are linking verbs that describe actions and connect the subject and predicate.

3. Pronoun

A word used in place of a noun is referred to as a pronoun. It replaces nouns in a paragraph to avoid repetitions of the noun.

Types of pronouns:

Relative pronouns:

A relative pronoun is a pronoun that links one part of a sentence to another. For example, which, where, when, why, what, whom, and whose.

Possessive pronouns:

Possessive pronouns are pronouns that indicate ownership. For example, mine, yours, hers, theirs, and its.

Reflexive pronouns:

Reflexive pronouns refer back to the sentence's subject, for example, himself, yourself, itself, etc.

Indefinite pronouns:

Indefinite pronouns don't refer to any particular place, person, or thing. The indefinite pronoun includes each, few, somebody, something, anyone, none, anybody, anywhere, anything, no one, nobody, many, and nowhere.

Personal pronouns:

Personal pronouns typically replace proper names. Personal pronoun includes her, I, they, you, he, we, she, us, him, and them.

Subject pronouns:

Pronouns that carry out the activity in a sentence are called subject pronouns. For example, they, I, we, you, and it.

Reciprocal pronouns:

Pronouns that indicate a mutual relationship are referred to as reciprocal pronouns.

4. Adjective

A word that reveals more information about a noun is an adjective. Adjectives are useful for comparing similar characteristics of several subjects that perform the same action.

Types of adjectives:

Possessive adjectives:

Possessive adjectives are utilized to indicate possession of a quality. For example, my, your, their, its, whose, etc.

Interrogative adjectives:

An interrogative adjective modifies a noun or pronoun by asking a question. For example: whose, what, and which.

Demonstrative adjectives:

Demonstrative adjectives are widely utilized to describe the subject's position in space or time. For example, this, that, these, and those.

Compound adjectives:

A compound adjective is formed by combining more than two adjectives to change the same noun. For example: absent-minded, cotton-tailed, happy-go-lucky, curly-haired, etc.

Forms of adjectives:

Forms of adjectives are also known as the degrees of comparison. There are three forms of adjectives:

Comparative form
Positive or absolute form
Superlative form

5. Adverbs

A word that modifies a verb, adjective, or sentence is known as an adverb. Adverbs are frequently formed by adding "ly" to the end of an adjective (e.g., 'quick' becomes 'quickly'). However, not all words ending with "ly" are adverbs, nor are all adverbs ending with "ly."

Types of adverbs:

Adverbs of manner:

Adverbs of manner are used in sentences to give the reader extra details about the action being performed by the subject. Examples of adverbs of manner are extravagantly, gently, comfortably, loud, lovingly, superficially, slowly, generous, quickly, earnestly, rapidly, etc.

Adverb of time:

Adverbs of the time describe when an event occurred and for how long. Examples of adverbs of time are yearly, yesterday, recently, later, quarterly, now, earlier, then, always, currently, today, rarely, momentarily, tomorrow, immediately, last month, etc.

Adverbs of place:

Adverbs of place tell us where the activity happens. Examples of adverbs of place are behind, nowhere, eastwards, nearby, northwards, miles, around, here, northeast, below, north, southeast, west, there, east, abroad, etc.

Adverb of frequency:

An adverb of frequency is used in a sentence to explain a verb or an adjective in more detail. Examples of adverbs of frequency are never, seldom, always, often, constantly, ever, daily, hourly, yearly, generally, monthly, usually, normally, scarcely, etc.

Adverbs of degree:

Adverbs of degree provide information about the intensity of an adjective or verb. Examples of adverbs of degree are too, very, horribly, almost, deeply, fully, quite, fairly, hardly, enough, largely, pretty, really, scarcely, insanely, badly, greatly, etc.

6. Prepositions

Prepositions indicate the connection between the several clauses in a sentence. It can denote things like time, place, and direction. Examples of prepositions are through, across, up, down, at, with, on, by, beside, in, beneath, between, and among.

Types of prepositions:

Preposition of time:

The prepositions of time indicate the timing of a certain action. The three most frequently used prepositions of time are at, in, and on.

Prepositions of place:

A preposition of place is used to indicate the place of something or someone.

Prepositions of direction:

Prepositions of direction are used to indicate the direction where something travels or moves.

Prepositional phrase:

A prepositional phrase consists of the modifier, the object, and the preposition. Depending on the role, prepositional phrases can be placed at a sentence's start, middle, or end.

7. Conjunctions

Conjunctions combine two or more objects, phrases, or clauses. It is also known as a connector since it is used to connect phrases.

Types of conjunctions:

Coordinating conjunctions:

A coordinating conjunction connects or combines two or more words of equal grammatical and syntactic significance. Examples of coordinating conjunctions are nor, for, and, but, yet, so, etc.

Subordinating conjunctions:

A subordinating conjunction joins independent and dependent clauses in a sentence. Examples of subordinating conjunctions are until, when, once, before, since, while, even though, if, that, wherever, and even if.

Correlative conjunctions:

Correlative conjunctions are utilized in sentences to show the relationship between two words or phrases.

Examples of correlative conjunctions are:

Such…that
Whether…or
Rather…than
Scarcely…when
Either…or
Neither…nor
Both…and

8. Interjection

A word or phrase that expresses quick sensations and emotions is known as an interjection. They are utilized to create exclamatory sentences. It is a word or term that you use to express a powerful emotion like surprise, anger, or horror. Interjection includes yippee, phew, eh, hurray, dear, oh, hey, alas, wow, ah, and phew.