Parts of Speech

Traditional grammar classifies words based on eight parts of speech: the verb, the noun, the pronoun, the adjective, the adverb, the preposition, the conjunction, and the interjection.

For more information besides the many handouts I gave you in class, this site is very helpful. Click here.

Briefly, the noun is a person, place, thing, or idea.

The adjective describes a noun.

The adverb indicates manner, time, place, cause, or degree and answers questions such as "how," "when," "where," "how much". Adverbs generally end in "ly."

The preposition usually indicates the temporal, spatial or logical relationship of its object to the rest of the sentence.

The interjection is a word added to a sentence to convey emotion. It is not grammatically related to any other part of the sentence.

You can use a conjunction to link words, phrases, and clauses, as in the following example:

I ate the pizza and the pasta.

Call the movers when you are ready.

A pronoun can replace a noun or another pronoun. You use pronouns like "he," "which," "none," and "you" to make your sentences less cumbersome and less repetitive.
he verb is perhaps the most important part of the sentence.

A verb or compound verb asserts something about the subject of the sentence and express actions, events, or states of being.