What is a Part of Speech?

A part of speech is a group of words that are used in a certain way. For example,
"run," "jump," and "be" are all used to describe actions/states. Therefore they belong
to the VERBS group.

In other words, all words in the English language are divided into eight different
categories. Each category has a different role/function in the sentence.

The English parts of speech are:

 Nouns,
 pronouns,
 adjectives,
 verbs,
 adverbs,
 prepositions,
 conjunctions
 Interjections and.
 Articles
 Nouns

A noun is a word that names a person, a place or a thing.

The word "noun" comes from the Latin word nomen, which means "name," and
nouns are indeed how we name people, places and things.

KINDS OF NOUN
NOUN - NUMBER
PRONOUN
 Adjectives

An adjective is a word that describes a person or thing.

Examples:

Big, pretty, expensive, green, round, French, loud, quick, fat.

Example sentences:

He has big blue eyes.

The new car broke down.

Types of Adjectives
Types of Adjectives

KINDS DEFINITION EXAMPLE

Comparative adjectives Comparative adjectives Whales are larger animals
are used to compare two than dolphins.
different people or things
to each other. We moved to a cheaper
apartment.
Superlative adjectives Superlative adjectives are Adrian is the fastest
used to compare more member of our team.
than two people or things
by indicating which one is Out of all of my books,
the most supreme or this one is the oldest.
extreme.
Predicate adjectives Predicate adjectives are Andrea is tall.
adjectives that appear in
the predicate of a Freddy became angry.
sentence as a subject
complement rather than
directly next to the nouns
or pronouns that they
modify.
Compound adjectives Compound adjectives are She had enough of the
adjectives that are formed double-dealing
from multiple words, salesman.
which are usually
connected by hyphens. My happy-go-lucky
daughter loved our trip to
Disneyland.
Possessive adjectives Possessive adjectives are My favorite food is pizza.
often used to express
possession or ownership. Sydney spent the day with
her parents.
Demonstrative adjectives Demonstrative adjectives This watch is cheaper
are used to express than that one.
relative positions in space
and time. This weekend is going to
be really fun.
Proper adjectives Proper adjectives are He was reading a Russian
adjectives formed from newspaper.
proper nouns.
I think Haitian food is
tasty.
Participial adjectives Participial adjectives are Travis was late for his
 adjectives that are based swimming lessons.
on participles, which are
words that usually end in The silly clown cheered up
-ed or -ing and derive the bored children.
from verbs.
Limiting adjectives Limiting adjectives are I bought some eggs at
adjectives that restrict a the store.
noun or pronoun rather
than describe any of its She found three pennies
characteristics or qualities. under the couch cushions.
Descriptive adjectives Descriptive adjectives are A lot of interesting
adjectives that describe people visit this park.
the characteristics, traits,
or qualities of a noun or She told a scary story.
pronoun
Interrogative adjectives Interrogative adjectives What color is your
are adjectives that are favorite?
used to ask questions.
Which button turns off
the lights?

Whose turn is it to wash

the cat?
Attributive adjectives Attributive adjectives are She has beautiful
adjectives that are directly handwriting.
next to the noun and
pronoun that they modify. The hungry gorilla ate
Usually, attributive the fresh mangoes.
adjectives come directly
before nouns and
pronouns but they
modify.
Distributive adjectives Distributive adjectives are Each puppy got their own
used to refer to members little doghouse.
of a group individually.
Every member of the
team scored a goal.
Adjectives – Word Order
WORD ORDER IN ENGLISH

Word order in present simple questions

 The order of words in an English question in present simple is QWASI:

(Question Word) + Auxiliary + Subject + Infinitive.

 What do you do?

 Where do they live?

 In Yes-No questions (questions that we answer saying yes or no) there is NO

Question Word.

 Do you speak English?

 Does she live here?

The auxiliary verb in present simple is be or do/does. Below, you can see a
grammar chart on the order of words in present simple questions
with be or do/does.
  Questions with am/is/are

When the verb in the sentence is be, we use am/is/are as the auxiliary
verb before the subject. Then the word order is QWAS: (Question Word) +
Auxiliary (am/is/are) + Subject

 Questions with do/does

When we have a verb that is not be, we use do/does as the auxiliary verb.
We use does with he/she/it and do with I/you/we/they. Remember that the main
verb after the subject is in the infinitive form (NOT -s or -es).

 What does she do?

 What does she does?
 Where does he work?
 Where does he works?
Question words – Grammar chart

 What + noun

We often use the question word what + noun as a question word: what time, what
colour, what size, etc.

 What colour is your jacket?

 What size do you want?
 What car does he have?

 How + adjective/adverb

We can also use how + adjective/adverb as a question word in phrases like how
often, how old, how tall, etc.

 How fast is your car?

 How big is her house?
 How often do you play sports?

COMPARITIVES AND SUPERLATIVES

VERBS
Verbs are words that show an action (sing), occurrence (develop), or state of being
(exist). Almost every sentence requires a verb. The basic form of a verb is known as
its infinitive. The forms call, love, break, and go are all infinitives.
Action Verbs

These verbs talk about what the subject is doing in the sentence. Action Verbs are
one of the most easily identifiable types of verbs. To recognize them, you simply
have to look for the word in the sentence that answers the question ‘What is the
subject doing?’. For example:

 Rose is painting the kitchen walls.

The subject here is Rose, and what is Rose doing? Rose is painting.
Hence painting is our action verb.

 My dog is sleeping on the sofa.

The subject here is dog, and what is the dog doing? The dog is sleeping.
So sleeping is our action verb.

There are two types of Action Verbs which describe the Verb and the Subject doing
the action and the Object on which the action is done, they are:

Transitive Verbs

What is a transitive verb?

These Action Verbs have a definite object on which, or for which the action is being
performed. That means that the action has a definite recipient or object. To identify
them you can ask the question what is the/did the subject-verb?

 Rose is painting the kitchen walls.

Here the verb is painting and the subject is Rose.

If we form the question – what is Rose painting?

The answer is – The kitchen walls.

Thus, we see that there was a specific object on which the action of painting was
being done.

 Hannah gave him a big hug.

Here we see that the action ‘gave’ is being performed by the subject Hannah. So the
question is what did Hannah give? And the answer is – A big hug.
Here, we also have an indirect object as ‘him’. This indirect object would be the
answer to the question:

Who did the subject (Hannah) – verb – (give) the object (hug) to?

Intransitive Verbs

What is an intransitive verb?

These verbs also show action but here there is no specific object on which the action
is being done. To recognize these verbs, we ask the question “what is the/did the
subject-verb?” If there is no answer present, then the verb in the sentence is an
Intransitive Verb. For example:

 Rose is painting right now.

Here, if we ask the question what is Rose painting? There is no answer which means
that in this sentence painting is an Intransitive Verb.

It is telling us about the action of the subject but there is no specific object for the
action.

 Hannah sneezed repeatedly.

Here, the verb is “sneezed”. If we ask the question what did Hannah sneeze? There
is no answer present for it making sneezed an intransitive verb.

Dynamic and Stative Verbs

This category of verbs deals with the verb words themselves; and whether they
indicate an action or a state of the subject. This category is not concerned with the
object in particular.

Dynamic Verbs

What is a dynamic verb?

These verbs denote an actual action or expression or process done by the subject.
They mean an action which can be seen or physically felt or the result of which is
seen or physically felt by the object or an indirect object.

 She buys new clothes every week.

Here the verb is “buys” which is an action done by the subject ‘she’, hence it is a
dynamic verb.

 He is swimming at the beach.

Here again, we have the definite action swimming done by the subject ‘he’,
making ‘swimming’ a dynamic verb in this sentence.

Stative Verbs

What is a stative verb?

These verbs refer to the state of the subject or the situation of the subject. Stative
Verbs tell us about the state of mind of the subject, or the relation between the
subject and the object. For example:

 She prefers strawberry jam.

Here the Stative Verb is ‘prefers’ which shows the thinking of the subject ‘She’
towards the object, which is ‘jam’.

 The cupboard requires a new coat of paint.

Here the subject is ‘cupboard’ and the stative verb is ‘requires’ which is telling about
the relation between the subject ‘cupboard’ and the object ‘paint’.

1-Action verbs
Action verbs represent the actions that can be done.

List of Action Verbs

 Run
 Jump
 Sing
 Dance
 Write
Examples of Verbs in Sentence
1. She runs every morning to stay fit.
2. The children played in the park for hours.
3. The dog chased the squirrel up the tree.
4. He built a beautiful sandcastle on the beach.
5. She washed her clothes at night.
2-Modal verbs
Modal verbs are a kind of auxiliary verbs that represent the possibility, ability,
obligation, and permission of doing something like, must, would, can, should, could
etc.
List of Modal Verbs
 can
 may
 might
 must
 would
Examples of Modal Verbs in Sentence
1. I can play the guitar.
2. She must finish her homework before going out.
3. They should arrive on time for the meeting.
4. We might go to the movies tonight.
5. I must attend the party.

3-Transitive verbs
These verbs express any action that affects or relates to someone else, like love,
maintain, tolerate, trust, belief etc.

List of Transitive Verbs

 Throw
 Give
 Open
 Eat
 Write
Examples of Transitive Verbs in Sentence
1. She bought a new book.
2. They ate the delicious cake.
3. He wrote a letter to his friend.
4. We built a sandcastle on the beach.
5. She loves her kids.
In these sentences, the transitive verbs “bought,” “ate,” “wrote,” and “built” are
followed by direct objects (a new book, the delicious cake, a letter, and a sandcastle,
respectively). Transitive verbs require an object to receive the action of the verb,
making them different from intransitive verbs, which do not require a direct object.
4-Intransitive verbs
These verbs always express actions and are different from transitive verbs in that no
direct object is following them, like walk, cough, play, run etc.

List of intransitive Verbs

 Arrive
 Sleep
 Laugh
 Run
 Disappear
Examples of Transitive Verbs in Sentence
1. The birds sing in the morning.
2. The child ran around the playground.
3. The flowers bloomed in the garden.
4. The sun rises in the east.
5. The river flows downstream.
In these sentences, the intransitive verbs “sing,” “ran,” “bloomed,” “rises,” and “flows”
do not require a direct object to complete their meaning. They describe actions or
states that do not transfer to an object and can stand alone in a sentence.

5-Phrasal verbs
Instead of single words, phrasal verbs consist of a combination of words, which is
used to represent an action like hand over, take over, look forward, etc.

 Break down
 Get up
 Turn off
 Put on
 Take out
Examples of Phrasal Verbs in Sentence
1. I need to catch up on my assignments before the deadline.
2. The teacher called off the class due to the snowstorm.
3. Can you look after my dog while I’m on vacation?
4. She broke down in tears when she heard the news.
5. I look forward to hearing from you.
In these sentences, the phrasal verbs are “catch up,” “call off,” “look after,” and
“broke down. Look Forward” Phrasal verbs consist of a verb and one or more
particles (prepositions or adverbs) that change or add to the original verb’s meaning.
6-Auxiliary verbs
These verbs are followed by the main verbs and are also known as auxiliary verbs.
These verbs are used to express the type of tense, to express the question or
negative thoughts in a sentence like might, will, did, can, may etc.

List of Auxiliary Verbs

 Be
 Do
 Have
 Can
 Will
Auxiliary verbs, also known as helping verbs, are used in conjunction with main verbs
to create different verb forms, tenses, moods, and voices. They assist in expressing
actions, negations, questions, possibilities, and more. While these are the auxiliary
verbs, they are typically used alongside main verbs to form complete sentences and
convey specific meanings.

Examples of Auxiliary Verbs in Sentence

1. She is studying for her exams.
2. They do not like spicy food.
3. I have finished my homework.
4. We can go to the park tomorrow.
5. You might think of it as a wrong task.
In these sentences, the auxiliary verbs “is,” “do,” “have,” and “can, Might” are used
to form different verb forms or express various aspects of the action. They assist the
main verbs “studying,” “like,” “finished,” and “go” respectively, in conveying specific
meanings or grammatical structures.

7- Stative verbs
Stative verbs represent states and not actions. These verbs mostly demonstrate
mental actions like thinking, planning, emotions, feelings and sometimes
measurements.

List of Stative Verbs

 Believe
 Love
 Understand
 Hate
 Know
Stative verbs, also known as non-action or non-continuous verbs, express a state or
condition rather than an action. They describe thoughts, emotions, senses,
possession, or states of being. Unlike dynamic verbs that indicate actions, stative
verbs typically do not have a continuous or progressive form.

Examples of Stative Verbs in Sentence

1. She believes in the power of positive thinking.
2. I love spending time with my family.
3. He knows the answer to that question.
4. They hate Mondays.
5. What are you thinking?
In these sentences, the stative verbs “believes,” “love,” “knows,” and “hate,
Thinking” describe states or conditions rather than actions. They express beliefs,
emotions, knowledge, and preferences respectively. Stative verbs typically describe
long-lasting or permanent states, and they are not typically used in continuous or
progressive forms

8-Regular verbs
These are verbs in which we can add “d or ed” in verbs to the second or third form.
And most of the verbs are regular verbs example, played, lied, walked, baked, washed
etc.

List of Regular Verbs

 Walk
 Talk
 Play
 Work
 Jump
 Cook
 Watch
 Dance
 Study
 Call

Examples of Regular Verbs in Sentence

1. She walked to the store to buy some groceries.

2. They played basketball in the park yesterday.
3. He worked late to finish his project.
 4. I watched a movie with my friends last night.
5. She washed the clothes.
In these sentences, the regular verbs “walked,” “played,” “worked,” and “watched,
Washed” are used to describe past actions or activities. They follow the regular
pattern of adding “-ed” to the base form of the verb to indicate the past tense.
9-Irregular verbs
These verbs don’t include “d or ed” in past forms like slept, read, was, spoke, felt, etc.

List of Irregular Verbs

 Go
 Eat
 Take
 Sing
 Swim
 Break
 Write
 Drive
 Speak
 Give
Irregular verbs do not follow the typical “-ed” pattern for their past tense and past
participle forms. Instead, they have unique forms that must be memorized.

Examples of irregular Verbs in Sentence

1. She went to the park yesterday.
2. They ate dinner at a fancy restaurant.
3. He wrote a heartfelt letter to his best friend.
4. We spoke to the manager about our concerns.
5. I felt you misunderstood me.
In these sentences, the irregular verbs “went,” “ate,” “wrote,” and “spoke, Felt” do
not follow the regular “-ed” pattern for their past tense forms. Instead, they have
unique forms that need to be memorized.

10-Linking verb
Linking verbs Instead of showing any action, these verbs describe the subject to add
more detail about the subject, like am, is, became, seem, looks etc.
List of Linking Verbs
 Be
 Seem
 Appear
 Become
 Feel
Linking verbs are verbs that connect the subject of a sentence to a noun, pronoun, or
adjective that describes or identifies it. They do not show action but rather express a
state of being or a condition.

Examples of Linking Verbs in Sentence

1. She is a talented musician.

2. The flowers smell beautiful.
3. The cake tastes delicious.
4. He became a doctor after years of studying.
5. She looks fine.
In these sentences, the linking verbs “is,” “smell,” “tastes,” and “became, Looks”
connect the subject to a noun or adjective that describes or identifies it. Linking
verbs help to establish a relationship between the subject and the complement in the
sentence, conveying a state of being, perception, or transformation.

11-Compound verbs
In compound verbs, two words combine and give a new meaning that represents an
action like babysit, overlook, proofreading etc.

List of Compound Verbs

 Break up
 Give in
 Wake up
 Take off
 Settle down
Examples of Compound Verbs in Sentence
1. She broke down and started crying when she heard the news.
2. They set up a new business together.
3. He looked after his younger sister while their parents were away.
4. We fall behind if we don’t keep up with our studies.
5. I’ll proofread your documents.
In these sentences, the compound verbs are “broke down,” “set up,” “looked after,”
and “fall behind, Proofread.” Compound verbs are formed by combining a verb
with an adverb or a preposition, creating a new verb with a distinct meaning. These
compound verbs add depth and nuance to the actions being described.
Irregular Verbs in English
What are irregular verbs?

Irregular verbs do not follow the conjugation rules. Usually, the simple past and past
participle tense is not formed by adding ‘d’ or ‘ed’, or ‘ied’.

For example, go-went-gone

Some irregular verbs have same past simple(V2) and past participle(V3) forms,
e.g. Bet-bet-bet
Irregular Verb List

Irregular Verbs List

Take time to understand the difference between regular and irregular verbs. It will
help you make the grammatically correct sentences.

This is the list of irregular verbs in English. Each verb is followed by past simple and
past participle.

Infinitive Past Simple Past Participle

Arise Arose Arisen

Babysit Babysat Babysat

Be was/were Been

Beat Beat Beaten

Bend Bent Bent

Begin Began Begun

Bet Bet Bet

Bind Bound Bound

Bite Bit Bitten

Bleed Bled Bled

Blow Blew Blown
Break Broke Broken
Breed Bred Bred
Bring Brought Brought
Build Built Built
Catch Caught Caught
Choose Choe Chosen
Come Came Come
Cost Cost Cost
Cut Cut Cut
Deal Dealt Dealt
Dig Dug Dug
Do Did Done
Draw Drew Drawn
Drink Drank Drunk
Drive Drove Driven
Eat Ate Eaten
Fall Fell Fallen
Feed Fed Fed
Feel Felt Felt
Find Found Found
Fly Flew Flown
Forbid Forbade Forbidden
Forget Forgot Forgotten
Forgive Forgave Forgiven
Freeze Froze Frozen
Get Got Gotten
Give Gave Given
Go Went Gone
Grow Grew Grown
Hang Hung Hung
Hanged Hanged
Have Had Had
Hear Heard Heard
Hide Hid Hidden
Hit Hit Hit

Hold Held Held

Hurt Hurt Hurt

Keep Kept Kept

Know Knew Known

Lay Laid Lain

Lead Led Led

Leave Left Left

Lend Lent Lent

Let Let Let

Lie Lay Lain

Light Lit Lit

Lose Lost Lost

Make Made Made

Mean Meant Meant

Meet Met Met

Pay Paid Paid

Put Put Put

Quit Quit Quit

Read Read Read

Ride Rode Ridden

Ring Rang Rung

Rise Rose Risen

Run Ran Run

Say Said Said

See Saw Seen

Send Sent Sent

Set Set Set

Shake Shook Shaken

Shine Shone Shone

Shoot Shot Shot

Show Showed Shown

Shut Shut Shut

Sing Sang Sung

Sink Sank Sunk

Sit Sat Sat

 Sleep Slept Slept

Slide Slid Slid

Speak Spoke Spoken

Spend Spent Spent

Spin Spun Spun

Spread Spread Spread

Stand Stood Stood

Steal Stole Stolen

Stick Stuck Stuck

Sting Stung Stung

Swear Swore Sworn

Sweep Swept Swept

Swim Swam Swum

Take Took Taken

Teach Taught Taught

Tear Tore Torn

Tell Told Told

Think Thought Thought

Throw Threw Thrown

Wake Understood Understood

Wake Woke Woken

Wear Wore Worn

Win Won Won

Wind Wound Wound

Withdrawn Withdrew Withdrawn

Write Wrote Written

“Hang” has two different meanings. The first is “to attach something in a high
position e.g. on a wall or on a hook”. In this case we use verbs
Hang-Hung-Hung
But when “Hang” means “to kill someone by putting a rope around someone’s neck
and leaving then in a high position without any support”. In this case we use verbs

Hang-Hanged-Hanged
This verb is typical of public executions in the past.

Lie has two meanings. When it means ” to put your body in a horizontal position
(normally on a bed)”, it uses Lie-Lay-Lain
But it is regular Lie-Lied-Lied when it has other meaning of “not to say the truth”.

The following verbs can be regular or irregular.

Infinitive Past Simple Past Participle

Burn Burned Burned

Burnt Burnt
Dream Dreamed Dreamed
Dreamt Dreamt

Learn Learned Learned

Learnt Learnt

Smell Smelled Smelled

Smelt Smelt
Verbs Exercises with Answers – Worksheet
Fill in the blanks with the correct form (V1, V2, V3) of the verb given in the bracket.

01. He _______ (want) to become an IAS officer.

02. Raju _______ (go) to market yesterday.

03. Latha _______ (weep) bitterly on her father’s death.

04. I have ______ (complete) my homework just now.

05. Ramya _______ (be) a student.

06. Maggie has _______ (bring) a new car.

07. We had ______ (reach) the airport by 9 O’clock.

08. She _____ (pass) her SSC in 2008.

09. Sita was cooking when I ______ (go) to the office.

10. They had already ______ (arrive) when we ______ (reach) there.

11. I will ______ (pass) the examination this time.

12. We _______ (be) students.

13. It has just _____ (rain).

14. He _____ (draw) it very well.

15. They _______ (catch) the thieves very bravely.

16. She _____ (has) her breakfast. Then she ______ (leave) for the college.

17. They sometimes ______ (watch) movies.

18. Raj ______ (meet) his family last year.

19. Rain ______ (be) the important source of water.

20. She ______ (fall) asleep while she was watching TV.
ADVERBS
Types of Adverbs

Adverbs are categorised into different types according to their functions when used
in a sentence. Given below are the different types of adverbs.

 Adverbs of Manner
 Adverbs of Time
 Adverbs of Place
 Adverbs of Frequency
 Adverbs of Degree
 Conjunctive Adverbs
PREPOSITONS

Types of Prepositions

There are five different types of prepositions in English grammar.

1. Prepositions of time (ago, before, since…)

2. Prepositions of place (under, behind, between…)
3. Prepositions of movement/ Direction (up, down, over…)
4. Prepositions for agent, instruments, devices, machines…(by, with, on…)
5. Prepositional phrases (in time, on time, in love...)

Phrasal

Movem
Agent
ent
PREPOSITIONS
TYPE

Time Place
CONJUNCTIONS

List of Conjunctions

Coordinating conjunctions list Correlative conjunctions list

for either/or
and neither/nor
nor not only/but also
but as/as
or both/and
yet whether/or
so
Subordinating conjunctions list Conjunctive adverbs list

after after all

although besides
as soon as consequently
because finally
before however
by the time nevertheless
in case then
 now that therefore
since
unless
when
whether or not
while

We started late from home. We reached the station on time

We started late from home but we reached the station on time

(DC)Although we started late from home, we reached the station on time.(IC)

INTERJECTIONS