Both English learners and native English speakers can agree: There are a lot of words in the English language! You’ll find words that name people, words that describe action, and words that connect other words.
That’s where English parts of speech come in. Knowing the parts of speech in English grammar helps you say what you want by putting words in the correct order so other English speakers can understand you. Find out how to use all the parts of speech in English with definitions and example sentences. You’ll sound and write like a fluent English speaker very quickly!
Table of Contents
What are the parts of speech in English?
There are eight main parts of speech in English, and part of learning how to speak English is knowing how to use each one in your writing and conversations.
Most English words fall into one of these eight categories. Some words fall into more than one category, depending on how they’re used in a sentence. That’s why it’s important to know how each part of speech works and where you would see it in an English sentence.
| Part of Speech | Function | Example |
| noun | names a person, place, or thing | The dog barked. |
| verb | shows action or connects words | The dog barked. |
| adjective | describes a noun | The brown dog barked. |
| adverb | describes a verb or adjective | The dog barked loudly. |
| pronoun | replaces a noun | He barked. |
| preposition | shows relationships between words | The dog barked at the cat. |
| conjunction | connects two parts of a sentence | The dog barked and the cat ran. |
| interjection | expresses feelings | Wow! The dog barked! |
For an English sentence to be called a complete sentence, it needs to have at least one noun and one verb. But adding additional English parts of speech makes your sentences more detailed and interesting! Adding more words helps you build different types of sentences in English.
1. Noun: Names a person, place, or thing
A noun is a person, place, or thing in a sentence. It answers the questions Who? or What? There are two main types of nouns: common nouns and proper nouns.
Common nouns
A common noun names a general person, place, or thing. You’ll see the English articles the, a, or an before most common nouns. You don’t capitalize them in a sentence, unless they’re the first word in the sentence.
| Common Noun | Pronunciation | Example |
| house | hous | I live in a house. |
| car | kahr | The car is white. |
| door | dohr | We walked through the door. |
| pencil | PEN-suhl | Do you have a pencil? |
| child | chahyld | The child ran away. |
These common nouns are singular, which means that there is only one of each. Most English nouns become plural when you add an –s or –es to the end (houses, cars, doors), and some change form (child→children).
Proper nouns
Another type of noun is the proper noun. Proper nouns are specific nouns, so instead of boy, you could say Matthew (the name of the boy). Proper nouns are always capitalized, and you don’t usually use a, an, or the before them.
| Proper Noun | Pronunciation | Example |
| John | jon | John is my father. |
| Pinetree School | pahyn-tree skool | I go to Pinetree School. |
| Mr. Smith | MIS-ter smith | We said hello to Mr. Smith. |
| Main Street | meyn street | Do you live on Main Street? |
| New York | noo yawrk | Mom visited New York. |
You don’t usually see plural proper nouns because there’s only one of them. But if there are plural proper nouns, such as the Smiths, you would make them plural and add the in front of them.
2. Verb: Shows action or connects words
Verbs describe what nouns do in a sentence. You conjugate verbs in English based on what noun is performing the action and if the verb is regular or irregular. Action verbs and connecting verbs are the two main types of verbs.
Action verbs
Most English verbs are action verbs. They show actions that you can see or perform with your body. Present tense action verbs usually add -s or -es to the end, depending on the noun in the sentence.
| Action Verb | Pronunciation | Example |
| run | ruhn | Do you run every morning? |
| sleep | sleep | I sleep in my room. |
| talk | tawk | They talk on the phone. |
| play | pley | You play the piano well. |
| eat | eet | We eat dinner together. |
Irregular verbs like run and sleep change form in the past tense (ran and slept). Regular verbs like talk or play add -d or -ed in the past tense (talked and played). Memorize which English verbs are regular and irregular so you can conjugate them correctly.
Connecting verbs
Some verbs make connections in a sentence instead of showing action. Linking verbs, stative verbs, and helping verbs are all kinds of connecting verbs.
| Connecting Verb | Pronunciation | Example |
| be | bee | She will be happy. |
| look | look | I look at the food. |
| seem | seem | They seem like nice people. |
| become | bih-KUHM | Jen wants to become a doctor. |
| have | hav | I have three dogs. |
Some irregular connecting verbs, such as be, change form in the present tense (am, is, are) and the past tense (was, were). Regular connecting verbs like look or seem follow regular conjugation rules (looks, seems).
3. Adjective: Describes a noun
Adjectives add more details to your sentence. In English parts of speech, adjectives come before nouns to describe them. They can also come after connecting verbs like be (am, is, are) to describe the subject.
| Adjective | Pronunciation | Example |
| beautiful | BYOO-tuh-fuhl | My beautiful sister graduated today. |
| funny | FUHN-ee | That kid is funny. |
| green | green | I parked my green car. |
| clean | kleen | Our house is clean. |
| big | big | We climbed a big mountain. |
You can add more than one adjective to a sentence for even more detail. For example, you can say I parked my big green car, or you can say My beautiful sister is funny.
4. Adverb: Describes a verb or adjective
Like adjectives, adverbs add important details to your sentence. An adverb’s job in a sentence is to describe a verb or adjective, which makes your English writing and speaking clear.
Adverbs of manner
Most adverbs are made by adding -ly to the end. These adverbs show how a noun performed an action. You can place adverbs before or after a verb.
| Adverb | Pronunciation | Example |
| quickly | KWIK-lee | The boy eats quickly. |
| loudly | LOUD-lee | We laughed loudly. |
| carefully | KAIR-fuh-lee | I carefully unwrapped the gift. |
| happily | HAP-uh-kee | The bird happily chirps. |
| proudly | PROUD-lee | My parents smiled proudly. |
Adverbs of time, place, frequency, and degree
Other adverbs show different details about a verb or adjective. They explain when, where, how often, or to what degree an action happens in a sentence. These adverbs can also appear before or after a verb or adjective.
| Adverb | Pronunciation | Example |
| often | AW-fuhn | I often play video games. |
| very | VER-ee | You are very kind. |
| soon | soon | We’ll leave the party soon. |
| sometimes | SUHM-tahymz | Sometimes I travel to another city. |
| here | heer | Put the package here. |
Adverbs like often and sometimes show how much something happens. Very and other adverbs come before adjectives to show their degree. Adverbs like soon show when an action happens, and adverbs like here explain where it happens.
5. Pronoun: Replaces a noun
When you’ve learned English nouns, it’s time to learn English pronouns. Pronouns replace nouns in a sentence, so you’re not repeating yourself. They make English writing and speaking easier to understand.
Subject pronouns
English has both subject pronouns and object pronouns. A subject pronoun replaces the noun that performs the action in the sentence.
| Subject Pronoun | Pronunciation | Example |
| I | ahy | I live two miles away. |
| you | yoo | You are my best friend. |
| he | hee | He knows my grandmother. |
| she | shee | She is my sister. |
| it | iht | It is my favorite book. |
| we | wee | We walked to the store. |
| they | thay | They like to cook. |
Object pronouns
An object pronoun replaces the object in a sentence. Some pronouns, including you and it, are the same in their subject and object roles.
| Object Pronoun | Pronunciation | Example Sentence |
| me | mee | The teacher helped me. |
| you | yoo | I’ll buy you some lunch. |
| him | him | Janey talked to him. |
| her | hur | Did she call you? |
| it | iht | I’ve read it twice. |
| us | uhs | Please visit us. |
| them | them | I met them in high school. |
Follow our guide on English pronouns to learn about other types of pronouns, including possessive pronouns (like mine and ours), indefinite pronouns (like anyone and nobody), relative pronouns (like which and who), and reflexive pronouns (like myself and yourself).
6. Preposition: Shows relationships between words
A preposition links words together in a sentence to show a relationship. Usually, prepositions show where an object is or where it’s going. But they can show other types of relationships, too.
| Preposition | Pronunciation | Example |
| at | at | I’m at the store. |
| from | fruhm | Johann is from Germany. |
| in | ihn | The book was in my room. |
| through | throo | Let’s walk through the tunnel. |
| with | with | He went to the movies with Jessica. |
Prepositions like at and in show where the noun is (the store and my room). From and with connect two pairs of nouns in their sentences (Johann and Germany; movies and Jessica). Prepositions like through show movement in a sentence.
7. Conjunction: Connects two parts of a sentence
Conjunctions connect different parts of a sentence. They can link words, phrases, or clauses (groups of words with a noun and verb). They show relationships of the two parts of a sentence that they link.
| Conjunction | Pronunciation | Example |
| and | and | Becky and Paul are married. |
| but | buht | I went to the store, but it was closed. |
| or | awr | He wants milk or coffee. |
| so | soh | Sarah is hungry, so she ate a sandwich. |
| because | bih-KUHZ | I walked home because my bike was broken. |
| if | ihf | We can watch a movie if we finish our homework. |
Conjunctions like and, but, or, and so show an equal relationship between the words, phrases, or clauses they connect. Other conjunctions, including because and if, connect dependent clauses (clauses that aren’t their own sentences) to independent clauses.
8. Interjection: Expresses feelings
English speakers use interjections to show their feelings in a sentence. Interjections are most common in casual writing or speech. You can use a comma (,), period (.), or an exclamation point (!) after an interjection, depending on how strong the feeling is.
| Interjection | Pronunciation | Example |
| wow | wou | Wow! That cake looks wonderful! |
| oh no | oh noh | Oh no. I broke my pencil. |
| hey | hay | Hey, what time is it? |
| uh oh | UH-oh | Uh oh. You’re late. |
| ouch | owch | Ouch! That hurt! |
Using interjections is a good way to sound like a native English speaker. Try adding them to your conversations or writing today!
Learning English starts with the parts of speech
The parts of speech in English are the building blocks to sentences in your speaking and writing. Once you know how to use them, you’re on the way to becoming a fluent English speaker! Learn more about how Rosetta Stone works to get your English learning journey started today.
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