Page 153 - New Grammar with a Smile 6

One Word, Different

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Parts of Speech

Words are the smallest units of every language. Based on their usage and functions,
words are categorised into different types, or parts of speech. In English grammar,
there are eight major parts of speech—noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, adverb,
conjunction, preposition and interjection.

1. Noun: It is the name of a person, a place, an animal, thing or a feeling.
For example, Vikram, M G Road, dog, schoolbag, love.

2. Pronoun: It is the word that is used in place of a noun. For example, he, she, him,
it, they, us, himself, ourselves.

3. Verb: It is used to denote action. For example, went, smiled, was walking, have
been watching.

4. Adjective: It describes a noun or a pronoun. For example, happy, beautiful, his,
its, my, yours.

5. Adverb: It modifies a verb, an adjective or another adverb. For example, warmly,
there, outside.

6. Conjunction: It is a word that is used to join words or sentences. For example,
and, but, until, when, where.

7. Preposition: It shows the relationship between a noun or a pronoun with another
part of speech in a sentence. For example, in, on, under.

8. Interjection: It is a word that is used as an exclamation and can stand alone. For
example, Ouch!, Hurray!, Bravo!.

Sometimes, words belong to different parts of speech. For example,
• I love my parents. (verb)
This book is about the love a child has for her parents. (noun)
‘Romeo and Juliet’ is a love story. (adjective)
• I went to the fair yesterday. (noun)
That was a fair judgement. (adjective)
The players played fair. (adverb)

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