Parts of Speech | Types, Rules, Best 100+ Examples

A sentence is a group of words having a clear meaning. Hence, words used in sentences are called PARTS OF SPEECH.

There are eight types of Parts of Speech in English. They are Nouns, Pronouns, Verbs, Adverbs, Prepositions, Adjectives, conjunctions, and Interjection.

Parts of Speech #1

NOUN

A Noun is a naming word

Types of Nouns

NOUN & NOUN EQUIVALENTS

Proper Noun
- Subhas
- Kolkata
- Everest
Common Noun
- boy
- girl
- book
Collective Noun
- class
- army
- navy
Material Noun
- gold
- water
- milk
Abstract Noun
- love
- beauty
- honesty
Gerund/Verbal Noun (-ing’ nouns)
- reading
- walking
- swimming

PROPER NOUN	Subhas is a brilliant boy. Kolkata is a big city.
COMMON NOUN	The cow is a useful animal. The dog is faithful to its master.
COLLECTIVE NOUN	Who is the first boy in the class? The crowd was dispersed by the police.
MATERIAL NOUN	Gold is a valuable metal. We cannot live without water.
ABSTRACT NOUN	Honesty is the best policy. Truth cannot be replaced by anything else.
GERUND/VERBAL NOUN	Swimming is good exercise. I like reading novels. I am engaged in reading a book.

Parts of Speech #2

PRONOUN

A Pronoun is used in place of a Noun.

Types of Pronoun

PRONOUNS IN DIFFERENT PERSONS & CASES

PERSON	SUBJECT	OBJECT	POSSESSIVE
1st Person	Singular – I Plural – We	me us	my, mine our, ours
2nd Person	Singular – You Plural – You	You You	Your, Yours Your, Yours
3rd Person	Singular – He, She, It Plural – They	Him, Her, It Them	His, Her, Its Their, Theirs

Parts of Speech #3

ADJECTIVE

An Adjective denotes the quality, quantity, condition, degree, and number of a Noun or a Pronoun.

Types of Adjective

DIFFERENT TYPES OF ADJECTIVES

Quality
- good
- bad
- ugly
Quantity
- much
- little
- far
Condition
- asleep
- weak
- conscious
Degree
- stronger
- tallest
- shortest
Number
- two
- three
- many

PROPER ADJECTIVE	(Adjective from Proper Noun) Indian, Chinese.
DEMONSTRATIVE ADJECTIVE	this, that, these, those.
DISTRIBUTIVE ADJECTIVE	each, every, either, neither.

Parts of Speech #4

VERBS

A Verb is a doing word.

Types of Verbs

Verbs are classified in four ways :

Verb Pattern 1
- Principal
- Auxiliary
Verb Pattern 2
- Transitive
- Intransitive
Verb Pattern 3
- Finite
- Infinitive
Verb Pattern 4
- State
- Event

VERBS PATTERN – 1 (PRINCIPAL & AUXILIARY)

PRINCIPAL VERBS

The principal Verb is the mainspring of a sentence.

BE/HAVE/DO	I am a boy. She is a girl. I have short hair. She has long hair. I do my homework regularly. She does her duties carefully.
OTHER VERBS	I read English daily. He/She writes a letter to his/her friend.

AUXILIARY VERBS

Auxiliary Verbs or helping verbs are of two types:

PRIMARY AUXILIARIES	Be Verb: is, am, are, was, were, been, being Have Verb: have, has, had, having Do Verb: do, does, did
MODAL AUXILIARIES	can, could, shall, should, will, would, may, might, must, dare, need, used to, ought to

VERB PATTERN – 2 (TRANSITIVE INTRANSITIVE)

A Transitive verb takes an object. But an Intransitive verb does not require it.

TRANSITIVE	INTRANSITIVE
They have caught a thief.	The birds are flying.
He has bought a fish.	The boy is laughing.
He is eating rice.	The girl is smiling.
She is preparing breakfast.	Why are you weeping?

VERB PATTERN- 3 (FINITE VERB & INFINITIVE)

A Finite verb completes the action of a Verb. But an Infinitive does not complete it. It is not limited by the Tense of the verb or the Person or number of the Subject.

FINITE VERB	INFINITIVE
Bimal goes to school.	Bimal does not like to go to school.
The mangoes taste sweet.	The mangoes are sweet to taste.
He attended three meetings.	He had three meetings to attend.
We can save India by patriotism.	Patriotism is the way to save India.
He is so ill that he cannot bear the strain of the journey.	He is too ill to bear the strain of the journey.

VERB PATTERN – 4: STATE VERBS & EVENT VERBS

In modern English grammar, Verbs are divided into two broad categories. They are State Verbs and Event Verbs.

STATE VERBS & EVENT VERBS

State Verbs
- State of Perceiving- see, hear, feel, smell, etc.
- State of Mind and Emotional State- love, forget, like, hate, wish, etc.
- State of Being- be, remain
- State of Relationship- have, own, owe
Event Verbs
- Single Event- buy, sell, etc.
- Repeated Event- wash, walk, etc.

Parts of Speech #5

ADVERBS

An Adverb is a word used to modify any part of speech, except a Noun, a Pronoun, and an Interjection.

NOTE: The definition given in most of the traditional grammar books is: “An adverb is a word used to modify a verb, an adjective or another adverb.” But it is evidently wrong as an Adverb may also modify Prepositions and Conjunctions.

Example:

Lila goes slowly. (Adverb modifies a verb)
She is a very beautiful girl. (Adverb modifies an adjective)
She goes very slowly. (Adverb modifies another adverb)
The bird flew exactly over her head. (Adverb modifies a preposition)
I dislike her simply because she is very rude. (Adverb modifies conjunction)

NOTE: As a general rule, an Adjective qualifies a Noun or a Pronoun, but some grammarians think that in some exceptional cases an Adverb may also modify a Noun or a Pronoun
Even Prabir praised them. [An adverb modifies a Noun]
Only he was included in the list. [Adverb modifies a Pronoun]

An Adverb may denote time, place, number manner degree, reason, purpose, condition, and contrast.

Types of Adverbs

Time:
- Indefinite: after, ago, soon, early
- Definite: now, today, tomorrow
Place: here, there, far, near
Number: once, twice, thrice, again, seldom, never, always, often
Manner: slowly, surely, certainly, badly, well, thus, probably, possibly
Degree: very, much, partly, wholly, quite, almost, enough

SUBORDINATING ADVERBIAL

Reason: as, so, because
Purpose: that, so that
Condition: if, unless
Contrast: though, although

EXAMPLES OF ADVERBS

Time	He will come now.
Place	We must take some rest here.
Number	He did this once, but he will not do it again.
Manner	He did his work slowly but surely.
Degree	I am quite sure.
Reason	As he is ill, he will not come.
Purpose	We read that we can learn.
Condition	I shall help you if you come.
Contrast	Though he is rich, he is not happy.

Parts of Speech #6

A Preposition is a word that is placed before a Noun or a Pronoun to show the relation of that Noun or Pronoun with any other word of the sentence.

PREPOSITIONS

Types of Prepositions

General Prepositions
Appropriate Prepositions

Examples of General Prepositions

The book is on the table,
The bird flew over his head.
The sky is above our heads.
The man is under the tree.
The fish is in the pond.
The frog jumped into the pond.

Some Common Preposition: at, about, above, across, after, against, along, among, before, behind, below, beneath, beside, besides, beyond, by, down, for, from, in, into, of, off, on, over, since, than, through, to, towards, under, up, upon, with, within, without.

Example:

The boy is going to school.
The snake was killed by Ram.
The snake was killed with a stick.
I am waiting for you.
The apple fell from the tree.
He will not take less than fifty rupees.
Have you broken the leg of a chair?
He lives in Sekendarpur.
They live in Kolkata.

Appropriate Prepositions

He was absent from the meeting.
He died of cholera.
Beware of dogs.

Parts of Speech #7

CONJUNCTIONS

A Conjunction is a word used for joining two words, phrases, or clauses.

CONJUNCTIONS THAT JOIN WORDS OR PHRASES

I need a pen and a pencil.
I need not a pen but a pencil.
I need a pen or a pencil.
I need a pen as well as a pencil of good quality.

Types of Conjunctions

Conjunctions that join the clauses are subdivided into two main classes (1) Co-ordinating (ii) Subordinating.

(1) CO-ORDINATING CONJUNCTION

Cumulative: and, both, also, too, as well as, not only….but also
Alternative: or, either….or, neither….nor, otherwise
Adversative: but, still, yet, however, nevertheless
Illative: so, for, therefore

EXAMPLES OF COORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS

TYPE 1: CUMULATIVE

Ram and Shyam went to school.
He got the prize and left the place.
He is guilty and you also.
He is an idler and a gambler too.
The boy, as well as the girl, is guilty.
He was not only accused but also convicted.

TYPE 2: ALTERNATIVE

I shall go there or you will come here.
Either he or his parents did this work.
Neither she nor her brother was guilty.
Leave the place, otherwise, you will be caught.

TYPE 3: ADVERSATIVE

He is poor but honest.
He is very rich, still (yet) he is not contented.
Everyone was against him; however (nevertheless), he stuck to his point.

TYPE 4: ILLATIVE

He was ill, So he could not come to school.
I am not going out, for my friend will come now.
He was found guilty, therefore he was hanged.

(2) SUBORDINATING CONJUNCTION

Apposition: that, why, how
Reason: as, because
Purpose: that, so that, in order that
Condition: if provided
Effect: that
Time: before, after, when
Comparison: as, as much as, no less than
Manner: as, so far as
Contrast: though, although
Place: where, wherever

EXAMPLES OF SUBORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS

TYPE 1: APPOSITION

I know (the fact) that he is honest.
He told us (the fact) that the train had left the station.
He made a promise that he would return soon.
I don’t know (the fact) why he has come.
I don’t know (the way) how he has done this.

TYPE 2: REASON

He deserves the reward because he has worked hard.
As he was ill, he could not come to school.

TYPE 3: PURPOSE

Men work that (so that) they may earn a living.

TYPE 4: EFFECT

He talked so much that his voice became hoarse.

TYPE 5: CONDITION

If you come, I shall go there.

TYPE 6: CONTRAST

Though (Although) he was ill, he did his duties.

TYPE 7: COMPARISON

He is as clever as I (am).
He likes you as much as I (like you).
He loves poetry no less than fiction.

TYPE 8: DEGREE OF MANNER

Men will reap, as they sow.
This is not true, so far as I can find out.

TYPE 9: TIME

I shall leave the room as soon as my brother returns home.
He had worked hard before he succeeded.
He returned home after he had done the work.
My friend came when I was getting ready to go out.
He came here while it was raining.
No one can harm us as long as (so long as) we are united.

TYPE 10: PLACE

I shall go where he will go.
I shall find him out wherever he lies.

Parts of Speech #8

INTERJECTION

An Interjection, in the true sense, is not a part of speech as it has no connection with any other word in the sentence. So, an Interjection is merely an exclamatory word thrown into a sentence to denote some strong feeling or emotion.

Ah! What a fun.
Oh! You have come at last.
Alas! The man is dead.
Example
Hurrah! We have won the match,
Bravo! You have done well.
Fie! What a liar you are.

Parts of Speech Exercise

Fill in the gaps by using the correct nominal forms of the words given in the brackets :

Amal was praised for his…….(honest)
……..is a good exercise. (swim)
We should not show…….to animals. (cruel)
The……..of the wall is 10 feet. (high)
Greed leads to sin, and sin leads to…….(dead)
Vidyasagar was famous for his…….(kind)
Tell me the……..and……..of your book. (long, broad)
King Solomon was celebrated for his………(wise)
The boy was praised for his………(intelligent)

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