English Grammar

Parts of Speech — Building Blocks of Every Sentence

Every English word belongs to one of eight parts of speech. The same word can change its category based on how it is used in a sentence, so learning to spot the role of a word is the foundation of grammar accuracy in objective exams.

Exam relevance: Spotting Errors, Sentence Improvement, Fill in the Blanks and Cloze tests in SSC CGL/CHSL, RRB NTPC, IBPS PO/Clerk and Insurance exams routinely test the difference between adjective vs. adverb, preposition vs. conjunction, and noun vs. verb forms.

On this page

  1. Noun
  2. Pronoun
  3. Verb
  4. Adjective
  5. Adverb
  6. Preposition
  7. Conjunction
  8. Interjection

1Noun

A noun names a person, place, thing, idea, quality or activity.

Nouns are classified by what they refer to. Proper nouns name specific entities and are always capitalised. Common nouns name a class. Abstract nouns name qualities or feelings (love, honesty). Collective nouns name a group taken as one unit (team, jury). Countable nouns can be pluralised; uncountable nouns (water, advice, information) cannot.

Examples
  • Proper: Ravi visited Jaipur during Diwali.
  • Common: The boy gave the book to the teacher.
  • Abstract: Honesty is the best policy.
  • Collective: The committee has taken its decision.
Exam tip: Uncountable nouns take singular verbs and never use a/an. Say 'a piece of advice', not 'an advice'.

2Pronoun

A pronoun replaces a noun to avoid repetition.

Personal pronouns (I, you, he, she) refer to people. Relative pronouns (who, which, that) introduce relative clauses. Demonstrative pronouns (this, that, these, those) point out things. Indefinite pronouns (someone, anybody, none) refer to non-specific entities. Reflexive pronouns (myself, yourself, themselves) reflect the action back to the subject.

Examples
  • Personal: She finished her homework before he arrived.
  • Relative: The girl who won the prize is my cousin.
  • Demonstrative: This is heavier than that.
  • Reflexive: He hurt himself while playing.
Exam tip: Use a reflexive pronoun only when the subject and object are the same person. 'I cut myself' is correct, but 'Myself Ravi' is wrong; say 'I am Ravi'.

3Verb

A verb expresses an action, occurrence or state of being.

Action verbs (run, eat, write) describe what someone does. Stative verbs (know, believe, own, love) describe a state and are usually not used in continuous tense. Transitive verbs need a direct object (She wrote a letter). Intransitive verbs do not (He sleeps). Finite verbs change with subject and tense; non-finite verbs (infinitive, gerund, participle) do not.

Examples
  • Action: The dog chased the cat.
  • Stative: I know the answer. (Not: I am knowing the answer.)
  • Transitive: She bought a saree.
  • Intransitive: The child laughed loudly.
Exam tip: 'Have, like, want, need, understand, contain, belong' are stative — avoid the -ing form in present continuous.

4Adjective

An adjective qualifies or describes a noun or pronoun.

Descriptive adjectives tell what kind (red, beautiful). Quantitative adjectives tell how much (some, little, enough). Comparative form compares two things (taller, more useful). Superlative form compares three or more (tallest, most useful). Most one- and two-syllable adjectives add -er/-est; longer adjectives use 'more/most'.

Examples
  • Descriptive: She wore a red saree.
  • Quantitative: There is little water in the bottle.
  • Comparative: Ravi is taller than his brother.
  • Superlative: She is the most intelligent student in class.
Exam tip: Never use double comparatives or superlatives. 'More taller' and 'most easiest' are wrong.

5Adverb

An adverb modifies a verb, an adjective or another adverb.

Adverbs of manner answer 'how' (quickly, well). Adverbs of place answer 'where' (here, abroad). Adverbs of time answer 'when' (yesterday, soon). Adverbs of frequency answer 'how often' (always, never, seldom). Adverbs of degree tell 'to what extent' (very, almost, quite).

Examples
  • Manner: She sings beautifully.
  • Place: The children are playing outside.
  • Time: We will meet tomorrow.
  • Frequency: He always reaches office on time.
Exam tip: Adverbs of frequency are placed before the main verb but after the verb 'to be': 'He always comes early' / 'He is always late'.

6Preposition

A preposition shows the relation of a noun or pronoun to another word in the sentence.

Prepositions of time (in, on, at, since, for, by) tell when. Prepositions of place (in, on, at, between, among, beside) tell where. Prepositions of direction (to, into, through, towards, across) tell which way. Many verbs and adjectives in English are followed by a fixed preposition that must be memorised.

Examples
  • Time: We will meet on Monday at 5 p.m.
  • Place: The book is on the table beside the lamp.
  • Direction: He ran through the field towards the river.
  • Fixed: She is good at Mathematics and afraid of dogs.
Exam tip: Use 'in' for months/years/cities, 'on' for days/dates, 'at' for clock-time and small places. 'Since' is used with a point of time, 'for' with a duration.

7Conjunction

A conjunction joins words, phrases or clauses.

Coordinating conjunctions (For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So — FANBOYS) join elements of equal importance. Subordinating conjunctions (because, although, since, if, when, unless) join a dependent clause to an independent clause. Correlative conjunctions come in pairs: either…or, neither…nor, not only…but also, both…and.

Examples
  • Coordinating: He studied hard, but he failed.
  • Subordinating: Although she was tired, she finished the work.
  • Correlative: Either Ravi or his friends are coming.
  • Correlative: Not only did she win, but she also broke the record.
Exam tip: After 'either/or' and 'neither/nor', the verb agrees with the noun closest to it: 'Neither the boys nor the girl is at fault.'

8Interjection

An interjection is a short word or phrase that expresses sudden emotion.

Interjections stand apart from the rest of the sentence and are usually followed by an exclamation mark. They convey joy (Hurrah!), sorrow (Alas!), surprise (Wow! Oh!), approval (Bravo!) or pain (Ouch!). They have no grammatical function but add emotion.

Examples
  • Wow! What a beautiful sunset!
  • Alas! He could not survive the accident.
  • Hurrah! Our team has won the match.
  • Oh! I forgot my wallet at home.

Quick Revision Facts

  • Same word, different role: 'Light' can be noun (turn on the light), verb (light the lamp), or adjective (light bag).
  • Adjective answers 'what kind/how many?'; adverb answers 'how/when/where/how often?'.
  • All prepositions take an object — usually a noun or pronoun in objective case (to me, not to I).
  • FANBOYS = For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So — the 7 coordinating conjunctions.

Frequently Asked Questions

Look at the role the word plays in the sentence, not the word itself. The same word can be a noun, verb or adjective depending on context. Ask: Is it naming something (noun)? Doing something (verb)? Describing a noun (adjective)? Modifying a verb/adjective (adverb)?

Yes — they are articles, which are a sub-category of determiners (often grouped with adjectives). Modern grammar treats determiners as a separate class.
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