Definition of Parts of Speech
Parts of speech refer to the basic categories into which words are classified based on their grammatical function in a sentence.
In sentences, we use different words. Not all words mean the same. For example,
- Rahim is a good boy who loves his younger brother very much. ( _ A good boy who loves his younger brother very much.
In the sentence Rahim, is, a, boy, good, who loves younger, very, each word is different and each of them conveys a different meaning.
Because we use words that express these different meanings, we can forget to express many different feelings in a single sentence. Then it is necessary to know the classification of English words according to meaning.
To help you read and get a rough idea together, below is a very brief classification according to the meaning of the English word. But before that, know that speech is made up of these words, each of them is a part of the speech. And that’s why they are called Parts of Speech.
- Classification & Examples of Parts of Speech
Here is a classification of the eight traditional parts of speech with examples:
- Nouns: words that refer to people, places, things, or ideas. Example: “book,” “dog,” “beauty,” “New York”
- Name of human: Rahim, Jerry, Tom, Khuku.
- Name of object: book, calculator, bamboo.
- Name of place: Dhaka, Bhanderkote, Khulna, Comilla, Ind America.
- Name of action: hesitation, purification, function
- Nouns: words that refer to people, places, things, or ideas. Example: “book,” “dog,” “beauty,” “New York”
[wp_quiz id=”5278″]
2. Pronouns: words that take the place of nouns. Example: “he,” “she,” “it,” “they,” “you”
Shuman is a good boy. He goes to school every day. He abides by his parents’ orders. He is a pronoun.
3. Verbs: words that express an action or state of being. Example: “run,” “jump,” “think,” “be,” “exist”
4. Adjectives: words that describe or modify nouns or pronouns. Example: “blue,” “happy,” “big,” “tall,” “delicious”
Examples:
- Rahim is a good boy.
- She is a beautiful girl.
- Jasmine wears a blue skirt.
5. Adverbs: words that describe or modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs. Examples: “quickly,” “happily,” “very,” “too,” “extremely”
- He runs swiftly—here swiftly is the adverb. But if I write—
- He runs very swiftly, then another adverb is found before swiftly. very is that adverb.
6. Prepositions: words that show the relationship between nouns or pronouns and other words in a sentence. Example: “in,” “on,” “at,” “by,” “with”
7. Conjunctions: words that connect words, phrases, or clauses in a sentence. Example: “and,” “or,” “but,” “because,” “although”
- He is poor and
- He is honest
The two sentences can be combined as follows:
- He is poor but honest.
In this case, but is a conjunction.
8. Interjections: words or phrases that express strong emotion or surprise. Example: “Wow,” “Ouch,” “Oh,” “Hey,” “Alas”
- Fie! You are a thief.
- Hello! Where are you going?
- Hurrah! We have won the game.
- Hush! The Headmaster comes.
Note that some words can be used as different parts of speech, depending on their function in a sentence. For example, “run” can be a verb (“I run every day”) or a noun (“I had a run in my stockings”).
Exercise:
- The cat sat lazily on the mat. (The, cat, sat, lazily, on, the, mat – articles, noun, verb, adverb, preposition, article, noun)
- I enjoy reading fascinating books. (I, enjoy, reading, fascinating, books – pronoun, verb, gerund, adjective, noun)
- She quickly ran towards the finish line. (She, quickly, ran, towards, the, finish line – pronoun, adverb, verb, preposition, article, noun)
- The tall trees swayed in the wind. (The, tall, trees, swayed, in, the, wind – article, adjective, noun, verb, preposition, article, noun)
- John and Sarah danced gracefully on the stage. (John, and, Sarah, danced, gracefully, on, the, stage – proper noun, conjunction, proper noun, verb, adverb, preposition, article, noun)
- My sister’s dog barks loudly at strangers. (My, sister’s, dog, barks, loudly, at, strangers – possessive pronoun, possessive noun, noun, verb, adverb, preposition, noun)
- The old man walked slowly along the beach. (The, old, man, walked, slowly, along, the, beach – article, adjective, noun, verb, adverb, preposition, article, noun)
- The delicious aroma of freshly baked bread filled the air. (The, delicious, aroma, of, freshly, baked, bread, filled, the, air – article, adjective, noun, preposition, adverb, verb, noun, verb, article, noun)
- They eagerly awaited the arrival of their guests. (They, eagerly, awaited, the, arrival, of, their, guests – pronoun, adverb, verb, article, noun, preposition, possessive adjective, noun)
- The bright sun shone through the window. (The, bright, sun, shone, through, the, window – article, adjective, noun, verb, preposition, article, noun)
- I enjoy playing soccer with my friends. (I, enjoy, playing, soccer, with, my, friends – pronoun, verb, gerund, noun, preposition, possessive adjective, noun)
- The black cat stealthily crept along the wall. (The, black, cat, stealthily, crept, along, the, wall – article, adjective, noun, adverb, verb, preposition, article, noun)
- She eagerly opened the gift box. (She, eagerly, opened, the, gift, box – pronoun, adverb, verb, article, noun, noun)
- The baby giggled happily in her mother’s arms. (The, baby, giggled, happily, in, her, mother’s, arms – article, noun, verb, adverb, preposition, possessive pronoun, possessive noun, noun)
- I want to learn a new language. (I, want, to, learn, a, new, language – pronoun, verb, infinitive marker, verb, article, adjective, noun)
- The old lady wore a beautiful red dress. (The, old, lady, wore, a, beautiful, red, dress – article, adjective, noun, verb, article, adjective, adjective, noun)
- He plays the piano with great skill. (He, plays, the, piano, with, great, skill – pronoun, verb, article, noun, preposition, adjective, noun)
- The students eagerly participated in the science experiment. (The, students, eagerly, participated, in, the, science, experiment – article, noun, adverb, verb, preposition, article, noun, noun)
- The loud thunder scared the small children. (The, loud, thunder, scared, the, small, children – article, adjective, noun, verb, article, adjective, noun)
- We went hiking in the beautiful mountains. (We, went, hiking, in, the, beautiful, mountains – pronoun, verb, gerund, preposition, article, adjective, noun)