There are thousands of words in a language. But not all of them have the same job; some words express action, other words express a thing. When we want to build a sentence, we use the different types of word, each with a specific role. Think of them like the parts of a house. When we want to build a house, we use concrete to make the foundations or base. We use bricks to make the walls. We use window frames to make the windows. Each part of the house has its own job. We can categorize English words into 7 basic types: verb, noun, adjective, adverb, pronoun, preposition and conjunction
It’s quite important to recognize parts of speech. It helps us analyse sentences and understand them, but also to construct good sentences. This is a summary of the 7 parts of speech:
|
function |
example |
example in context |
|
|
Verb |
action or state |
(to) be, have, do, like, work, sing |
Cat is an animal. Do you have a bike? He doesn´t like coke. |
|
Noun |
thing or person |
pen, cat, Madrid, Ana |
This is your cat. He lives in Madrid. I have two pens. |
|
Adjective |
describes a noun |
good, big, red, interesting |
My cat is small. I like red cars. It is an interesting book. |
|
Adverb |
describes a verb, adjective or adverb |
quickly, silently, well, badly, very |
My cat eats quickly. She reads silently. |
|
Pronoun |
replaces a noun |
I, you, he, she… |
She is beautiful. You are a good student. We are happy. |
|
Preposition |
links a noun to another word |
to, at, after, on, but |
We went to school on Monday. I read at home. |
|
Conjunction |
joins clauses , sentences or words |
and, but, when |
I like books and films. I like books but I don’t like films. |