Parts of speech: noun, verb, adjective, adverb, pronoun
Short answer: Parts of speech are the types of words in a sentence, grouped by the job each word does. The five most important are noun (names a person, animal, place or thing), verb (an action or a state), adjective (describes a noun), adverb (says how, when or where) and pronoun (stands in for a noun). The same word can have a different job in different sentences.
At a glance
| Part | Job | Example |
|---|---|---|
| noun | names a person, animal, place or thing | The cat sleeps. |
| verb | shows an action or a state | The cat sleeps. |
| adjective | describes a noun | The small cat sleeps. |
| adverb | says how, when or where | The cat sleeps quietly. |
| pronoun | stands in for a noun | It sleeps. |
The five parts
- Noun: names a person, an animal, a place or a thing: cat, school, Mia.
- Verb: shows an action or a state: run, eat, be, know.
- Adjective: describes a noun: red, small, happy.
- Adverb: says how, when, where or how often: slowly, now, here, always.
- Pronoun: stands in for a noun: he, she, it, they, me.
How to tell
- Ask what the word does in this sentence, not what it means.
- Does it name something? It is a noun. Does it show an action or a state? It is a verb.
- Does it describe a noun? It is an adjective. Does it say how, when or where something happens? It is an adverb.
- Does it stand in for a noun? It is a pronoun.
- If you are not sure, move the word to another sentence. A word may be a noun in one sentence and a verb in the next.
Same word, different job
Many English words have more than one part of speech. The sentence tells you which one it is.
| Sentence | Word | Part of speech |
|---|---|---|
| I like the walk. | walk | noun |
| I walk to school. | walk | verb |
| It is a fast car. | fast | adjective |
| He runs fast. | fast | adverb |
| The light is on. | light | noun |
| Please light the candle. | light | verb |
Check yourself
- Which word is the verb? “The boy kicks a ball.”
Show the answer
kicks It shows the action.
- Which word is the adjective? “She wore a red coat.”
Show the answer
red It describes the coat.
- What part of speech is “quickly” in “He ran quickly”?
Show the answer
an adverb It says how he ran.
Questions
How many parts of speech are there?
Traditional grammar lists eight: noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition, conjunction and interjection. Articles and determiners (a, the, my) are often added as a ninth group. This guide starts with the five that matter most.
Why learn the parts of speech?
They let you check a sentence: it needs a verb, nouns need the right articles, adjectives go before nouns, and adverbs describe actions.
Can a word be two parts of speech?
Yes. Walk, water, light and fast all do. Look at the job the word does in the sentence.
Part of the Parts of speech guide in the 📘 Grammar tool. Đọc bằng tiếng Việt.
Written for English learners by the English for Fun team. How we write our lessons · Last updated 2026-11-05.
Reviewed by Chinh Q. Hoang, PhD, founder, English for Fun · 2026-10-30