Parts of speech refers to the work a word does in a sentence . For good writing skills, it is important to know not just the meaning of the word but also its function in a sentence.
A word in a dictionary has its function or functions given along with its meaning.
There are eight parts of speech which include:
- Noun: It also called as a “naming word” and can be the name of a person, place or an object.
- John speaks politely.
- The flowers were beautiful.
- The mob threw stones.
- Pronoun: The pronoun is a word that is used in place of a noun.
- She lives in a mansion in Mumbai.
- His advice was good.
- Adjective: The adjective is also called a “describing word” as it describes a noun.
- Anita has a good memory.
- King Solomon was a wise man.
- Verb: The verb is the “action word” and denotes an action.
- The earth revolves around the sun.
- She wrote a letter.
- Adverb: This word gives more value to a verb, adjective or an adverb.
- The old man walks slowly.
- This perfume is very strong.
- He ate his food quite quickly.
- Preposition: This word specifies the relation of a noun or a pronoun with something else.
- My grandmother is sitting on her favourite chair.
- I will watch the match in the afternoon.
- Joyce sat under a tree.
- Conjunction: Conjunctions are words that join two words or sentences.
- I bought apples and oranges from the supermarket.
- I kept quiet although I was fuming.
- Interjection: These are words that convey sudden feelings of surprise, sadness, happiness, anger or shock.
- Bravo! We have won the match!
- What! You haven’t paid your bill?
We can find out the function of a word only when we see it in a sentence.
Apart from these parts of speech, there are other words called determiners.