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:

1. 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”

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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:

1. The cat sat lazily on the mat. (The, cat, sat, lazily, on, the, mat – articles, noun, verb, adverb, preposition, article, noun)
2. I enjoy reading fascinating books. (I, enjoy, reading, fascinating, books – pronoun, verb, gerund, adjective, noun)
3. She quickly ran towards the finish line. (She, quickly, ran, towards, the, finish line – pronoun, adverb, verb, preposition, article, noun)
4. The tall trees swayed in the wind. (The, tall, trees, swayed, in, the, wind – article, adjective, noun, verb, preposition, article, noun)
5. 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)
6. 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)
7. The old man walked slowly along the beach. (The, old, man, walked, slowly, along, the, beach – article, adjective, noun, verb, adverb, preposition, article, noun)
8. 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)
9. 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)
10. The bright sun shone through the window. (The, bright, sun, shone, through, the, window – article, adjective, noun, verb, preposition, article, noun)
11. I enjoy playing soccer with my friends. (I, enjoy, playing, soccer, with, my, friends – pronoun, verb, gerund, noun, preposition, possessive adjective, noun)
12. The black cat stealthily crept along the wall. (The, black, cat, stealthily, crept, along, the, wall – article, adjective, noun, adverb, verb, preposition, article, noun)
13. She eagerly opened the gift box. (She, eagerly, opened, the, gift, box – pronoun, adverb, verb, article, noun, noun)
14. 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)
15. I want to learn a new language. (I, want, to, learn, a, new, language – pronoun, verb, infinitive marker, verb, article, adjective, noun)
16. The old lady wore a beautiful red dress. (The, old, lady, wore, a, beautiful, red, dress – article, adjective, noun, verb, article, adjective, adjective, noun)
17. He plays the piano with great skill. (He, plays, the, piano, with, great, skill – pronoun, verb, article, noun, preposition, adjective, noun)
18. The students eagerly participated in the science experiment. (The, students, eagerly, participated, in, the, science, experiment – article, noun, adverb, verb, preposition, article, noun, noun)
19. The loud thunder scared the small children. (The, loud, thunder, scared, the, small, children – article, adjective, noun, verb, article, adjective, noun)
20. We went hiking in the beautiful mountains. (We, went, hiking, in, the, beautiful, mountains – pronoun, verb, gerund, preposition, article, adjective, noun)