The 8 Parts of Speech: Rules and Examples

Grammarly
Updated on February 19, 2025Parts of Speech

The eight parts of speech

are nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions,
and interjections.
Most words in English can be classified as one of these eight parts of speech,
although some, like determiners, are categorized separately in modern grammar.
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.
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Table of contents
What are parts of speech?
What are the 8 English parts of speech?
How to identify parts of speech
When a word can be different parts of speech
Open vs. closed word classes
The 8 parts of speech FAQs
What are parts of speech?
Parts of speech are the categories into which words are classified based on their
functions in a sentence. They are the fundamental building blocks of grammar,
grouping words into categories based on their roles and how they function within a
sentence.
These categories help us understand how words relate to each other and contribute
to the overall meaning of a sentence.
What are the 8 English parts of speech?
Here are the eight parts of speech:

1 Nouns
A noun is a word that names a person, place, concept, or object. Essentially,
anything that names a thing is a noun.
The players gathered on the basketball court.
San Francisco is known for its iconic Golden Gate Bridge.
Cleopatra was the last queen of ancient Egypt.
Self-preservation is a natural instinct in dangerous situations.
Common vs. proper nouns
Nouns fall into two categories: common nouns and proper nouns. Common nouns are
general names for things:
The planet orbits a distant star.
That game show was fun to watch.
Proper nouns are names or titles for specific things:
You can see Jupiter in the sky tonight.
Jeopardy! is my favorite game show.
Concrete vs. abstract nouns
Nouns can also be concrete or abstract. Concrete nouns refer to physical objects.
She gave me some beautiful flowers.
The noun flowers refers to a physical object that can be seen, touched, or smelled.
Abstract nouns refer to intangible qualities like love or courage.
Love is a powerful force.
Love represents an emotion or an idea, which lack a physical presence.
2 Pronouns
Pronouns are words you substitute for specific nouns when the reader or listener
already knows which specific noun you’re referring to.
You might say, “Jennifer was supposed to be here at eight,” then follow it with
“She’s always late; next time I’ll tell her to be here a half hour earlier.”
Instead of saying Jennifer’s name three times in a row, you
substituted she and her, and your sentences remained grammatically correct.
Types of pronouns
Pronouns fall into the following categories:
Subjective: I, he, she, we
Objective: me, him, her, us
Possessive: mine, yours, theirs
Demonstrative: this, that, these
Matching pronouns to number and gender
It’s important to match the pronoun to the noun in number and gender.
The teacher praised her students for their hard work.
Her matches the singular noun teacher in both number (singular) and gender
(female). Their matches the number of students (plural).
The teacher praised their students for their hard work.
In this instance, their is plural and does not align with the singular
noun teacher.
They/them/their can also be used as a singular, gender-neutral pronoun. Many people
use gender-neutral language like they/them/theirs and zie/hir/hirs because they
feel these pronouns express their gender identity more accurately than she or he.
The most common gender-neutral pronoun is the singular they. Today, it’s not
uncommon to see the singular they as the default neutral pronoun.
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?
That movie was funny, engaging, and well written.
When describing the movie with these words, you’re using adjectives. An adjective
can go right before the noun it’s describing:
I have a brown dog.
But it doesn’t have to. Sometimes, adjectives are at the end of a sentence:
My dog is brown.
Types of adjectives
Adjectives fall into the following categories:
Descriptive: red, large, cheerful
Quantitative: many, three, few
Comparative: taller, more beautiful
Superlative: tallest, most beautiful
Order of adjectives
When combined, adjectives follow a specific order:
Opinion → Size → Age → Shape → Color → Origin → Material → Purpose
Example She bought a lovely small old round brown British wooden coffee table.
4 Verbs
Verbs are words that describe specific actions, whether physical or mental.
Go! Be amazing!
Run as fast as you can.
The coach congratulated every participant who put in the work and competed.
Action vs. nonaction verbs
Verbs that refer to literal actions are known as action verbs.
He runs every morning.
The verb runs is an action verb describing what he does.
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.
She seems happy.
The verb seems is a nonaction verb, describing a state of being rather than an
action.
Transitive vs. intransitive verbs
Verbs can also be transitive or instransitive. A transitive verb is an action verb
that requires a direct object to complete its meaning. The object receives the
action of the verb. Without the object, the sentence may feel incomplete or
unclear.
She closed the door.
Here, the verb closed requires the object door. What did she close? The door.
An intransitive verb is an action verb that does not require a direct object to
complete its meaning. It expresses a complete thought on its own.
She sleeps.
There is no object here, and the action verb sleeps is complete without one.
5 Adverbs
An adverb is a word that describes an adjective, a verb, or another adverb. Look
for -ly endings (carefully, happily), though not all adverbs follow this pattern
(soon, often).
I entered the room quietly.
Quietly describes how you entered (verb) the room.
A cheetah is always faster than a lion.
Always describes how frequently a cheetah is faster (adjective) than a lion.
Here are some other examples of adverbs and what they can describe:
Time: yesterday, always, soon
Place: here, outside, everywhere
Manner: quietly, quickly, gracefully
Degree: very, extremely, almost
6 Prepositions
Prepositions tell you the relationships between other words in a sentence.
I left my bike leaning against the garage.
Against is the preposition because it tells us where you left your bike.
She put the pizza in the oven.
Without the preposition in, we don’t know where the pizza is.
Here are some examples of what prepositions are used for:
Direction: to, into, toward
Location: in, on, under
Time: at, before, during
Cause/Reason: because of, due to
7 Conjunctions
Conjunctions make it possible to build complex sentences that express multiple
ideas.
I like marinara sauce. I like alfredo sauce. I don’t like puttanesca sauce.
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 this structure instead:
I like marinara sauce and alfredo sauce, but I don’t like puttanesca sauce.
In this sentence, and and but are the two conjunctions linking your ideas.
The 3 types of conjunctions
Here are the three types of conjunctions, with some examples of each:
Coordinating: and, but, or, yet (I like pizza and pasta.)
Subordinating: because, although, if (She stayed home because she was sick.)
Correlative: either/or, neither/nor (Either you apologize, or I’m leaving.)
8 Interjections
An interjection is a word or phrase that expresses a strong emotion, command,
reaction, or sudden feeling. It is often used as an exclamation and is typically
followed by a comma or exclamation mark. Interjections can stand alone or be
inserted into a sentence.
Wow!That was an incredible performance.
Oops!I left my keys at home.
We won the game. Hooray!
She studied all night and, phew, finally passed the exam.
Well, I guess we should leave now.
Interjections add emotion and personality to writing, but you should generally
avoid them in formal writing.