A word’s part of speech tells you what job it can do in a sentence. Spotting nouns, verbs and adjectives is the first step towards punctuating correctly, choosing between “good” and “well”, or understanding why “run” can be a noun in one sentence and a verb in the next.
The “Parts of speech” variant gives a short definition, an example and a quick test for each word class. The “Find an example” variant turns the wheel into a game: the player must name a word that fits the slice, then check the answer with the test provided.
How to use it
- When introducing the topic, use the “Parts of speech” variant: spin, read the definition, then find another example in your reading book.
- To practise as a group, switch to “Find an example”: each player has ten seconds to suggest a word.
- Check the answer with the test in the description (swap the word, make it plural, add “very”…).
- Score one point per correct answer, two if the player also builds a sentence where the word keeps the same part of speech.
All the options
- Common noun
- Names a general person, animal, thing or idea rather than a specific one. Examples: teacher, river, happiness. Test: it fits after “the” or “a”.
- Proper noun
- Names one specific person, place or thing and always starts with a capital letter. Examples: Maya, Edinburgh, the Thames, Tuesday.
- Pronoun
- Stands in for a noun so you do not repeat it. Example: “Sam missed the bus because he overslept.” Others: she, it, they, them, mine, who.
- Verb
- Shows an action or a state of being and changes with tense. Examples: jump, think, is, became. Test: you can put “to” in front of its base form or change it to the past.
- Adjective
- Describes a noun or pronoun. Examples: a tall tree, the room was quiet. Test: it usually fits between “the” and a noun, or after “very”.
- Adverb
- Modifies a verb, an adjective or another adverb, often saying how, when, where or how much. Examples: quickly, yesterday, here, very.
- Preposition
- Links a noun or pronoun to the rest of the sentence, often showing place or time. Examples: in, on, under, before, with. “The keys are under the mat.”
- Coordinating conjunction
- Joins words or clauses of equal weight. There are seven, remembered as FANBOYS: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so.
- Subordinating conjunction
- Introduces a clause that depends on the main clause. Examples: because, although, when, if, unless. “We stayed in because it was raining.”
- Interjection
- A word or short phrase that expresses emotion or a reaction, often followed by an exclamation mark. Examples: wow, ouch, oops, hey.
- Determiner
- Comes before a noun to show which one or how many. Examples: the, a, this, my, some, every, three. Articles (a, an, the) are the most common determiners.
Frequently asked questions
How many parts of speech are there in English?
Traditional grammar lists eight: noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition, conjunction and interjection. Many modern grammars and school curricula add determiners as a ninth class.
Can a word be more than one part of speech?
Yes, very often. “Run” is a verb in “I run every day” and a noun in “I went for a run”; “fast” is an adjective in “a fast car” and an adverb in “she drives fast”. Always decide from the job the word does in that sentence.
How do you tell an adjective from an adverb?
An adjective describes a noun (“a careful driver”); an adverb describes a verb, adjective or another adverb (“she drives carefully”). If you can ask “how?” about an action and the word answers it, it is an adverb.
What is the difference between a preposition and a conjunction?
A preposition is followed by a noun or pronoun (“after lunch”); a conjunction joins two clauses, each with its own verb (“after we ate lunch”). Some words, like “after”, “before” and “since”, can be either.