Parts of speech exercise

What part of speech is each of the words in italics?

1. Muslims fast in the month of Ramzan.

2. He is the right man in the right place.
3. There is not much truth in what he says.
4. His theories are hard to understand.
5. A little learning is a dangerous thing.
6. Still waters run deep.
7. What annoys me most is his obstinacy.
8. As he was ambitious, I felt that I shouldn’t trust him.
9. He is like his father.
10. Do not talk like that.
11. The next moment he was dead.
12. He has been ill since yesterday.
13. They are all waiting for you.
14. It has been raining since yesterday.
15. Age brings wisdom.

Parts of speech exercise

Words in English belong to different classes or categories called parts of speech. There
are mainly eight parts of speech. They are: nouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs,
conjunctions, prepositions, pronouns and interjections.
In the following sentences identify the part of speech of the underlined word.

1. She could not recognize him.

2. Where have you been all this while?

3. You should not have done this.

4. A friend in need is a friend indeed.

5. A rolling stone gathers no moss.

6. He could have asked my permission before borrowing my car.

7. I don’t know what they are doing there.

8. She has a pretty daughter.

9. The wind was blowing fiercely.

10. I was horrified to hear that someone had broken into my home.

11. Don’t step on the grass.

12. He stopped short of calling me a liar.

Parts of speech exercise

Read the instructions given with each question and find the best answer.

1. Which set of words are only nouns?

a. complexity, analysis, thesis, axis

b. ridiculous, sophisticated, anxious, complex

c. penance, science, monotonous, vibrancy

2. Which set of words are only adjectives?

a. kind, vibrant, luminance, eager

b. autonomous, eligible, warm, open

c. ridicule, ignore, captivate, enchant

3. Which set of words are only verbs?

a. activate, annul, propagate, surrender

b. emulate, dilapidated, enamor, renounce

c. propaganda, verify, eagerly, overt

4. Which set of words are only adverbs?
a. up, yesterday, hard, fatally

b. deadly, open, vast, thoroughly

c. privacy, provocatively, anxiously, well

5. Which set of words are only conjunctions?

a. down, out, under, with

b. so, because, however, yet

c. and, but, or, because of

6. Which set of words are only prepositions?

a. behind, into, when, as

b. between, over, across, to

c. from, while, whereas, near

Parts of speech exercise

What part of speech are the underlined words?

1. She thought of a wise plan. Thought is a

............................
a. verb

b. adverb

c. adjective
2. I want to go now. Now is a/an
.....................................
a. preposition

b. adjective

c. adverb

3. Where are you going? You is a

.....................................
a. verb

b. noun

c. pronoun

4. That was a lovely evening. Lovely is a/an

.......................................
a. noun

b. adjective

c. adverb

5. My father works in a factory. Factory is a/an

...................................
a. pronoun

b. noun

c. adjective
6. She must be a stupid. Stupid is a/an
.....................................
a. noun

b. adjective

c. verb

7. Selena is my best friend. Best is a/an

....................................
a. noun

b. adjective

c. adverb

8. The dress was expensive; still I bought it.

Bought is a ....................................
a. verb

b. adverb

c. preposition

9. It is my doll. It is a/an .........................................

a. noun

b. pronoun

c. adjective
10. The sun gives us heat and light. Gives is a/an
........................................
a. verb

b. pronoun

c. adverb

11. Do it quickly. Quickly is a/an

..................................
a. adverb

b. adjective

c. verb

12. She went to the market to buy some

vegetables. To is a/an ....................................
a. verb

b. preposition

c. conjunction

13. I helped him because I liked him. Because is

a/an ...................................
a. preposition

b. conjunction

c. adverb
14. Jasmines are white in color. White is a/an
.....................................
a. noun

b. adjective

c. pronoun

15. The cat is under the bed. Under is a/an

...................................
a. preposition

b. conjunction

c. adverb

Parts of speech exercise

You have to read the following sentences and underline the word or words that belong
to the part of speech specified in the bracket.

An example is given below.

Question: She must have reached home. (verb)

Answer: She must have reached home.

1. She went to the market and bought some eggs.

Here went is a ................................
a. verb

b. adverb
c. noun

2. I want to go now. Here now is a/an

..............................
a. verb

b. adjective

c. adverb

3. What are you doing there? Here there is a/an

..................................
a. adjective

b. adverb

c. verb

4. There is a mouse underneath the piano.

Underneath is a/an ........................................
a. conjunction

b. preposition

c. adverb

5. Masons build houses. Masons is a/an

.....................................
a. verb

b. adverb

c. noun
6. John is my best friend. Here John is a/an
........................................
a. Proper noun

b. Collective noun

c. Common noun

7. She looked up but didn’t see anything. Here up

is a/an ............................................
a. verb

b. adverb

c. conjunction

8. My family live in different parts of India. Here

family is a/an ..........................................
a. common noun

b. abstract noun

c. collective noun

9. That was a difficult question. Here difficult is

a/an ...........................................
a. adjective

b. adverb

c. preposition
10. She was very impressed with her results.
Here very is a/an ...............................................
a. adjective

b. adverb

c. verb

11. Although she is poor, she is happy. Although

is a/an ............................................
a. conjunction

b. preposition

c. verb

12. Have we bought enough chairs? Enough is

a/an ..............................................
a. adverb

b. adjective

c. preposition

13. The policeman didn’t run fast enough to catch

the thief. Here fast is a/an
.........................................
a. adjective

b. adverb

c. verb
Parts Of Speech Exercise
What part of speech is the given word?

1. This wood will make a good hiding place. Here

hiding is a/an …………………….
a. verb

b. adverb

c. adjective

2. She was made to repeat the whole story. Here

story is a/an …………………….
a. verb

b. pronoun

c. noun

3. They lived many miles from the town. Which of

the following is the preposition?
a. they

b. many

c. from

4. The government seems to change its mind a

great deal. Here seems is a/an
…………………………
a. verb
b. adverb

c. noun

d. conjunction

5. In the two weeks in the job he made himself

thoroughly disliked. Here thoroughly is a/an
………………………
a. adjective

b. adverb

c. verb

6. Can you make me a birthday cake by Monday?

Here me is a/an ……………………..
a. noun

b. pronoun

c. preposition

7. Alice and James got married last week. Here

last week is a/an ……………………..
a. adjective

b. adverb

c. preposition
8. After three very unhappy years, they divorced.
Here after is a/an ……………………
a. Conjunction

b. Preposition

c. Verb

9. I have been married to you for twenty years

and I still don’t understand you. Here twenty is
a/an ……………………..
a. adjective

b. adverb

c. verb

d. noun

10. I couldn’t think clearly, and I felt hot. Here felt

is a/an …………………….
a. noun

b. conjunction

c. verb

d. adverb
11. The manager says that we may leave our
coats in the bathroom. Here manager is a/an
……………………….
a. noun

b. pronoun

c. adverb

12. The rain made the grass wet. Here wet is a/an
………………………
a. adjective

b. adverb

c. verb

Decide which parts of speech are the underlined words

1. You have to believe in yourself if you ever expect to be successful at

something.
2. We left for the mountain just before six in the morning.
3. We first went to the store to buy a few things.
4. We had a breakfast at a café near the rail station.
5. My friend wasn't strong enough to lift his heavy rucksack.
6. I helped him carry it.
7. The weather was very cold.
8. My friend said, "Oh! What a cold weather!"
9. We didn't spend the night there.
10. We got back home late at night but we didn't go to sleep immediately. We were very
hungry.
1. Steve can play the trumpet.
2. Do you like dogs?
3. They listen to music every day.
4. She is an old lady.
5. The group went climbing in the mountains.
6. This is a fast car.
7. He did well in the test.
8. My father drives carefully.
9. Has your father ever been to Australia?
10. The play was fantastic.

Answers

1. Fast: verb
2. Right: adjective (modifies the noun place)
3. Truth: abstract noun
4. Hard: adjective (complement of the noun theories)
5. Dangerous: adjective (modifies the noun thing)
6. Waters: noun
7. Annoys: verb
8. Trust: verb
9. Like: preposition
10. That: demonstrative pronoun
11. Next: adjective
12. Since: preposition
13. Waiting: verb
14. Since: preposition
15. Age: abstract noun
Answers

1. She could not recognize him. (recognize – verb)

2. Where have you been all this while? (have – auxiliary verb)

3. You should not have done this. (you – pronoun)

4. A friend in need is a friend indeed. (friend – noun)

5. A rolling stone gathers no moss. (rolling – adjective)

6. He could have asked my permission before borrowing my car. (permission – noun)

7. I don’t know what they are doing there. (there – adverb)

8. She has a pretty daughter. (pretty – adjective)

9. The wind was blowing fiercely. (fiercely – adverb)

10. I was horrified to hear that someone had broken into my home. (that – conjunction)

11. Don’t step on the grass. (on – preposition)

12. He stopped short of calling me a liar. (liar – noun)

Answers

1. a) complexity, analysis, thesis, axis

2. b) autonomous, eligible, warm, open

3. a) activate, annul, propagate, surrender

4. a) up, yesterday, hard, fatally

5. b) so, because, however, yet

6. c) between, over, across, to

Notes

Nouns are the names of people, things or places.

Adjectives are describing words.

Verbs are action words.

Conjunctions are joining words.

Adverbs are words used to modify verbs.

Prepositions are words used to join a noun to another word in the sentence.

Answers
1. Thought – verb (Thought is the past simple form of the verb think. It also has an –
ing form: thinking. The word is a verb when it has present, past and participle forms. )

2. Now – adverb (Most words indicating time, place, manner, reason etc. are adverbs.
Of course, this is not a good definition and some time expressions are prepositions, not
adverbs. If you don’t know whether a particular word is a preposition or an adverb, try
this simple test. Is that word followed by a noun? If it is, then it is a preposition. Adverbs
are not followed by nouns.)

3. You – personal pronoun (There are very few personal pronouns and they are: he,
she, it, they, I, me, we and you. Memorize this list if you still have trouble recognizing
pronouns.)

4. Lovely – adjective (A word that goes before a noun is usually an adjective. Adjectives
also have comparative and superlative forms: Lovely, lovelier, loveliest)

5. Factory – noun (Nouns are the names of people, things, places etc.)

6. Stupid – noun

7. Best – adjective
8. Bought – verb

9. It – personal pronoun

10. Gives – verb

11. Quickly – adverb (Most words ending in –ly are adverbs.)

12. To – preposition

13. Because – conjunction (A conjunction is a word used to join two clauses. There are
only a limited number of conjunctions in English. Common examples are: because, as,
since, when, after, before, and, but, or, yet etc.)

14. White – adjectives (The names of colors are always adjectives.)

15. Under – preposition

Answers
1. She went to the market and bought some eggs. (verb)

2. I want to go now. (adverb)

3. What are you doing there? (adverb)

4. There is a mouse underneath the piano. (preposition)

5. Masons build houses. (noun)

6. John is my best friend. (proper noun)

7. She looked up but didn’t see anything. (adverb)

8. My family live in different parts of India. (collective noun)

9. That was a difficult question. (adjective)

10. She was very impressed with her results. (adverb)

11. Although she is poor, she is happy. (conjunction)

12. Have we bought enough chairs? (adjective)

13. The policeman didn’t run fast enough to catch the thief. (adverb)

Notes

The word enough can be an adjective and an adverb.

Answers
1. This wood will make a good hiding place. Here hiding is an adjective.
2. She was made to repeat the whole story. Here story is a noun.
3. They lived many miles from the town. Which of the following is the preposition? From
4. The government seems to change its mind a great deal. Here seems is a verb.
5. In the two weeks in the job he made himself thoroughly disliked. Here thoroughly is
an adverb.
6. Can you make me a birthday cake by Monday? Here me is a pronoun.
7. Alice and James got married last week. Here last week is an adverb.
8. After three very unhappy years, they divorced. Here after is a conjunction.
9. I have been married to you for twenty years and I still don’t understand you. Here
twenty is an adjective.
10. I couldn’t think clearly, and I felt hot. Here felt is a verb.
11. The manager says that we may leave our coats in the bathroom. Here manager is a
noun.
12. The rain made the grass wet. Here wet is an adjective.

Answer :

1. You have to believe in yourself if you ever expect to be successful at

something. pronoun
2. We left for the mountain just before six in the morning. verb
3. We first went to the store to buy a few things. preposition
4. We had a breakfast at a café near the rail station. noun
5. My friend wasn't strong enough to lift his heavy rucksack. adjective
6. I helped him carry it. pronoun
7. The weather was very cold. adverb
 8. My friend said, "Oh! What a cold weather!" interjection
9. We didn't spend the night there. adverb
10. We got back home late at night but we didn't go to sleep immediately. We were very
hungry. conjunction

1. Steve can play the trumpet. auxiliary

2. Do you like dogs? verb
3. They listen to music every day. verb
4. She is an old lady. adjective
5. The group went climbing in the mountains. noun
6. This is a fast car. adjective
7. He did well in the test. adverb
8. My father drives carefully. adverb
9. Has your father ever been to Australia? noun
10. The play was fantastic. noun