English words fall into 8 or 9 word classes, also called parts of speech: nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, interjections, and often articles. This overview explains each class with a few examples.
You use verbs, nouns, and prepositions every day, and after elementary school you probably never gave them much thought. Yet native speakers and learners of English alike can profit from knowing the word classes and which words belong to which class.
The word classes in English
The traditional grammar of English has eight word classes. Many dictionaries and grammars add articles as a ninth, which gives this list:
- Adjective
- Adverb
- Article
- Conjunction
- Interjection
- Noun
- Preposition
- Pronoun
- Verb
In many European languages, a word's ending often shows which class it belongs to. In English, this is much harder to tell. Some words even belong to more than one class: email is a noun in I sent an email and a verb in Email me tomorrow, and fast can be an adjective (a fast car) or an adverb (she runs fast). The explanations below will help you tell which word belongs to which class.
The word classes can also be divided into two groups: open classes and closed classes. Open classes accept new words all the time, while a closed class almost never gains a new member.
| Open word classes | Closed word classes |
|---|---|
| Adjectives | Articles |
| Adverbs | Auxiliary verbs |
| Interjections | Conjunctions |
| Nouns | Prepositions |
| Verbs (except auxiliary verbs) | Pronouns |
Adjectives
Adjectives describe a noun or a pronoun (see below). They modify other words and give them more detail.
Examples: beautiful, big, sad, angry, gray, artificial, exciting, tidy, Spanish
All about adjectives has more on this class.
Adverbs
Despite their name, adverbs are closely related to adjectives, not to verbs, when it comes to their function in a sentence. They describe or modify verbs, adjectives, other adverbs, and whole sentences, and they add even more detail to your writing.
Examples: very, typically, quite, fast, greatly, loudly, yesterday, soon
The suffix -ly is a typical sign of an adverb, but not all adverbs are formed by adding it to an adjective: fast, quite, and very are not. And not all words that end in -ly are adverbs: friendly and ugly are adjectives.
All about adverbs has more on this class.
Articles
Articles are small words that mark a noun as definite or indefinite. English has only one definite article, the, and two forms of the indefinite article, a and an. Other European languages, such as German and French, have articles that change with the gender of the noun (der, die, das and le, la, l').
Examples: the, a, an
Articles belong to a larger group called determiners, which also includes words like this, these, and some. All about articles has more on this class.
Conjunctions
Conjunctions connect words, phrases, or whole clauses with each other.
Examples: and, or, but, until, because
All about conjunctions has more on this class.
Interjections
Interjections, or exclamations, are words or short phrases that express emotion. Surprise, pleasure, anger, pain, and other strong feelings can be expressed with this word class.
Examples: hooray, alas, ouch, well done
All about interjections has a longer list.
Nouns
Nouns name a concrete or abstract thing. This includes objects, ideas, actions, qualities, people, and places.
Examples: house, boat, love, dream, Sara, baker, necklace, sadness, tiredness, New York, suburb
English also distinguishes between count nouns and noncount nouns. Count nouns can be used with a number or with a word for a quantity, such as each or several. They have a singular and a plural form, even though the two are sometimes spelled the same (one sheep, two sheep).
We would have invited more guests to the party, but we only have three tables.
We would have needed several tables to invite the whole group.
Noncount nouns, or mass nouns, cannot be used with a number. They name things that you do not count one by one, such as water, sand, or advice.
I fear we are running out of water.
A sentence like I drank six waters yesterday sounds odd in careful English. Use a count noun for the portion instead: I drank six glasses of water yesterday. (In everyday speech, waters can mean bottles or glasses of water, but that is informal.)
All about nouns has more on this class.
Prepositions
Prepositions show how other words in a sentence relate to each other, for example in place or in time.
Examples: in, after, on, with, to, by, because of
Pronouns
Pronouns are very similar to nouns. They take the same positions in a sentence and replace a noun that everyone in the conversation already knows.
Examples: that, he, she, they, them, us, ours, themselves
Michael bought a strange pet yesterday. He really thought a python was a good idea.
What you need to know about pronouns has more on this class.
Verbs
Verbs are among the most essential word classes: without a verb, you cannot form a complete sentence. Verbs describe an action (jump), a state (be), or an occurrence (happen). They change with the tense and agree with the subject of the sentence.
Examples: talk, enjoy, feel, is, did, jump, seem, expand, rain, run, have
All about verbs has more on this class.