The term part of speech refers to the job that a word does not in a sentence to its function or use. Since there are eight separate jobs, words are divided into eight classes or eight parts of speech; noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition, conjunction, and interjection.
| Job, Function, Use | Part of Speech | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| 1. To name a person, place, thing, quality, state, or action |
Noun | Adam, Elizabeth, pen, wit, joy, laughter. |
| 2. To substitute for a noun. | Pronoun Verb | he, she, it. |
| 3. To express action or non-action (State of being). |
Pronoun Verb | run, talk; think, is was will be |
| 4. To modify (describe or limit) the noun and pronoun. |
Adjective | strong man, ugly city, limited quantity, few hours. |
| 5. To modify any verb, adjective, or adverb. |
Adverb | think quickly, unusually ugly, very quickly. |
| 6. To show the relationship between a noun or pronoun and some other word |
Proposition | cart before horse, dog in manger, bombs over Brooklyn. |
| 7. To join two words or two groups of words. |
Conjunction | Jack and jill, candy is dandy but liquor is quicker |
| 8. To display emotion | Interjection | Oh! Gosh! Height-ho! hurrah! |
A word is a noun, verb, adjective, or other part of speech, depending on its use and on its use only. That is to say, a word is a noun if it is used like a noun, if it names; it is a preposition if it is used like a preposition, if it is used like a preposition, if it shows the relationship between nouns; and so on, in the following passage note that the word round is used in five different ways:
Our round world which I shall round once more before I die spins round and round on its axis, at the same time making a circle round the sun that results in the round of the seasons.
a. round world--adjective, because it modifies the noun world.
b. I shall round-- verb, expresses action.
c. spins round and round--adverbs, modifies verb spins.
d. circle round the sun--preposition, shows relationship between two nouns circle and sun.
a. round world--adjective, because it modifies the noun world.
b. I shall round-- verb, expresses action.
c. spins round and round--adverbs, modifies verb spins.
d. circle round the sun--preposition, shows relationship between two nouns circle and sun.
