Parts of Speech

Parts of speech is the term used for the basic categories of words in a language. In English, the eight primary parts of speech are nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections. Other subcategories include articles and determiners.

Purdue University’s Online Writing Lab (OWL) has many helpful resources covering parts of speech:

• Parts of Speech Overview: Definitions and examples of parts of speech, links to more handouts and exercises on particular parts of speech
• Count and Noncount Nouns: Explanations and examples of the differences between count nouns, which can be counted, and noncount nouns (mass nouns), which cannot
• Verbals: A detailed overview of gerunds, participles, and infinitives (verb forms that act as nouns, adjectives, or adverbs)
• A versus an: An explanation of when to use each indefinite article
• Using articles: An explanation of the difference between the definite article the and the indefinite articles a and an
• The Difference between Adjectives and Adverbs: How to distinguish between (and correctly use) adjectives, which modify nouns or pronouns, and adverbs, which modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs (see also Adjective or Adverb?)
• Adjectives with Countable and Uncountable Nouns: How to use adjectives such as much (with noncount nouns) and many (with count nouns)
• Several pages on prepositions: Prepositions for Time, Place, and Introducing Objects; Prepositions of Direction; Prepositions of Location; Prepositions of Spatial Relationship

My Prepositions handout includes a simple explanation how to identify prepositions and how they function grammatically, along with an exhaustive list of commonly used English prepositions I compiled.

Because of their complexity, verbs and pronouns are covered on separate pages.