Parts of Speech
Parts of Speech
Every English word belongs to one of eight parts of speech: noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition, conjunction and interjection. A word's part of speech is decided by its work in the sentence, not by the word itself — 'water' is a noun in one sentence and a verb in another.
The eight parts
| Part of speech | Work | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | Names a person, place, thing or idea | Meena, Patna, book, honesty |
| Pronoun | Used in place of a noun | he, she, it, they, who |
| Verb | Shows action or state | run, is, seem, write |
| Adjective | Describes a noun or pronoun | tall, blue, three, this |
| Adverb | Modifies a verb, adjective or another adverb | quickly, very, yesterday |
| Preposition | Shows relation of a noun to another word | in, on, at, under, between |
| Conjunction | Joins words or clauses | and, but, because, although |
| Interjection | Expresses sudden feeling | Oh! Alas! Hurrah! |
Kinds of nouns
- Proper — a particular name, always capitalised: Ganga, Sunita, Ranchi.
- Common — a class of things: river, girl, city.
- Collective — a group taken as one: team, crowd, herd, class.
- Material — a substance: gold, water, wood.
- Abstract — a quality or idea that cannot be touched: honesty, childhood, beauty.
The same word, different parts
This is where CTET sets its questions. Look at the work the word does:
- 'Please water the plants' — verb. 'The water is cold' — noun.
- 'She works hard' — adverb. 'It is a hard question' — adjective.
- 'He came after me' — preposition. 'He came after I left' — conjunction.
- 'That is my book' — adjective before a noun. 'That is mine' — pronoun.
Adjective or adverb
An adjective answers which, what kind, how many about a noun. An adverb answers how, when, where, how much about a verb. In 'She sings beautifully', beautifully tells how she sings, so it is an adverb; in 'She has a beautiful voice', beautiful describes the noun voice.
✗ In 'The team are playing well', 'team' is a plural noun. | ✓ 'Team' is a collective noun and normally takes a singular verb in Indian school usage: the team is playing well.
संकेत: शब्द का भेद वाक्य में उसके काम से तय होता है — 'water' कहीं संज्ञा है और कहीं क्रिया।
Parts of speech give 1-2 questions in the English portion. Almost every item underlines a word in a sentence and asks its part of speech, so never decide from the word alone — read what it is doing. The most repeated trap uses a word that can be both adjective and adverb, such as hard, fast, late or early. A second trap uses 'after', 'before' and 'since', which are prepositions before a noun and conjunctions before a clause.
Frequently asked questions
How do you find the part of speech of a word?
By looking at the work it does in that particular sentence. The same word can be a noun, a verb or an adjective in different sentences, so the function decides the part of speech, not the word itself.
What is an abstract noun?
A noun that names a quality, state or idea which cannot be seen or touched, such as honesty, courage, childhood, beauty and freedom. It is often formed from an adjective or a verb.
What is the difference between an adjective and an adverb?
An adjective describes a noun or pronoun and answers which, what kind or how many. An adverb modifies a verb, an adjective or another adverb and answers how, when, where or to what extent.
60-second recap
- Eight parts of speech; the function in the sentence decides which.
- Nouns: proper, common, collective, material, abstract.
- Adjectives describe nouns; adverbs modify verbs, adjectives or adverbs.
- Hard, fast, late and early can be both adjective and adverb.
- After, before and since are prepositions before nouns and conjunctions before clauses.