There are eight parts of speech in the English language: noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition, conjunction, and interjection. The part of speech indicates how the word functions in meaning as well as grammatically within the sentence.

Understanding the 8 parts of speech is beneficial for analyzing the meaning of each word. By learning the 8 parts of speech, you can easily identify a grammatical problem in the sentence, and see whether there is a run-on sentence, a misused pronoun or a problem of the verb agreement

Figuring out parts of speech

Sometimes, it’s not easy to tell which part of speech a word is. Here are a few easy “hacks” to quickly figure out what part of speech you’re dealing with: 

• If it’s an adjective plus the ending “-ly,” it’s an adverb. Examples: commonly, quickly.
• If you can swap it out for a noun and the sentence still makes sense, it’s a pronoun. Example: We played basketball. / Steve and I played basketball. 
• If it’s something you do, and you can modify the sentence to include the word do, it’s a verb. Examples: I have an umbrella. / I do have an umbrella. 
• If you can remove the word and the sentence still makes sense, but you lose a detail, the word is most likely an adjective. Example: She drives a red van. / She drives a van. 
• If you can remove the word and the sentence doesn’t make sense, it’s likely a preposition. Example: I left my notebook on the desk. / I left my notebook the desk.

And if you’re ever really stumped, just look the word up. Dictionaries typically list the part of speech a word fits in its entry, and if it fits more than one part of speech, both are listed with examples.