

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.
Verb: The 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. The verb or compound verb is the critical element of the predicate of a sentence. For example:
- Dracula bites his victims on the neck.
The verb “bites” describes the action Dracula takes.
- In early October, Giselle will plant twenty tulip bulbs.
Here the compound verb “will plant” describes an action that will take place in the future.
- My first teacher was Miss Crawford, but I remember the janitor Mr. Weather bee more vividly.
In this sentence, the verb “was” (the simple past tense of “is“) identifies a particular person and the verb “remember” describes a mental action.
- Karl Creelman bicycled around in world in 1899, but his diaries and his bicycle were destroyed.
In this sentence, the compound verb “were destroyed” describes an action which took place in the past.

Noun: is a word used to name a person, animal, place, thing, and abstract idea. Nouns are usually the first words which small children learn. For example:
- Late last year our neighbors bought a goat.
- Portia White was an opera singer.
- The bus inspector looked at all the passengers’ passes.
- According to Plutarch, the library at Alexandria was destroyed in 48 B.C.
- Philosophy is of little comfort to the starving.
A noun can function in a sentence as a subject, a direct object, an indirect object, a subject complement, an object complement, an appositive, an adjective or an adverb.

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. Grammarians classify pronouns into several types, including the personal pronoun, the demonstrative pronoun, the interrogative pronoun, the indefinite pronoun, the relative pronoun, the reflexive pronoun, and the intensive pronoun. For example:
- You are surely the strangest child I have ever met. (Personal pronoun).
- This must not continue. (Demonstrative pronoun).
Here “this” is used as the subject of the compound verb “must not continue’.
- Which wants to see the dentist first? (Interrogative pronoun).
“Which” is the subject of the sentence?
- Richard usually remembered to send a copy of his e-mail to himself. (Reflexive pronoun).
- I myself believe that aliens should abduct my sister. (Intensive pronoun).

Adjective: modifies a noun or a pronoun by describing, identifying, or quantifying words. An adjective usually precedes the noun or the pronoun which it modifies.
For example:
- The truck-shaped balloon floated over the treetops.
- The small boat foundered on the wine dark sea.
- The coal mines are dark and dank.
- The back room was filed with large, yellow rain boots.
An adjective can be modified by an adverb, or by a phrase or clause functioning as an adverb. In the sentence
- My husband knits intricately patterned mittens.
For example, the adverb “intricately” modifies the adjective “patterned.” Also, some nouns, many pronouns, and many participle phrases can also act as adjectives. In the sentence
- Eleanor listened to the muffled sounds of the radio hidden under her pillow.
For example, both highlighted adjectives are past participles.

Adverb: an adverb can modify a verb, an adjective, another adverb, a phrase, or a clause. An adverb indicates manner, time, place, cause, or degree and answers questions such as “how,” “when,” “where,” “how much”.
While some adverbs can be identified by their characteristic “ly” suffix, most of them must be identified by untangling the grammatical relationships within the sentence or clause as a whole. Unlike an adjective, an adverb can be found in various places within the sentence. For example:
- The seamstress quickly made the mourning clothes.
In this sentence, the adverb “quickly” modifies the verb “made” and indicates in what manner (or how fast) the clothing was constructed.
- The midwives waited patiently through a long labor.
Similarly in this sentence, the adverb “patiently” modifies the verb “waited” and describes the manner in which the midwives waited.
- The boldly spoken words would return to haunt the rebel.
In this sentence the adverb “boldly” modifies the adjective “spoken.“
- We urged him to dial the number more expeditiously.
Here the adverb “more” modifies the adverb “expeditiously.“
- Unfortunately, the bank closed at three today.
In this example, the adverb “unfortunately” modifies the entire sentence.

Preposition: links nouns, pronouns and phrases to other words in a sentence. The word or phrase that the preposition introduces is called the object of the preposition.
A preposition usually indicates the temporal, spatial or logical relationship of its object to the rest of the sentence as in the following examples:
- The book is on the table.
- The book is beneath the table.
- The book is leaning against the table.
- The book is beside the table.
- She held the book over the table.
- She read the book during class.
A prepositional phrase is made up of the preposition, its object and any associated adjectives or adverbs. A prepositional phrase can function as a noun, an adjective, or an adverb. For example:
- The children climbed the mountain without fear.
In this sentence, the preposition “without” introduces the noun “fear.” The prepositional phrase “without fear” functions as an adverb describing how the children climbed.
- There was rejoicing throughout the land when the government was defeated.
Here, the preposition “throughout” introduces the noun phrase “the land.” The prepositional phrase acts as an adverb describing the location of the rejoicing.
- The dog is hiding under the porch because it knows it will be punished for chewing up a new pair of shoes.
Here the preposition “under” introduces the prepositional phrase “under the porch,” which acts as an adverb modifying the compound verb “is hiding.”

Conjunction: 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.
- I like tea but I do not like milk.

Interjection: an interjection is a word added to a sentence to convey emotion. It is not grammatically related to any other part of the sentence.
You usually follow an interjection with an exclamation mark. Interjections are uncommon in formal academic prose, except in direct quotations. Examples:
- Ouch, that hurt!
- Oh no, I forgot that the exam was today.
- Hey! Put that down!
- I heard one guy say to another guy, “He has a new car, eh?”
- I don’t know about you but, good lord, I think taxes are too high!
Citation from: http://www.arts.uottawa.ca/writcent/hypergrammar/partsp.html
