The 8 Parts of Speech: Examples and Rules

Every word is a part of speech. The term “part of speech” refers to the role a word plays in a
sentence. And like any workplace or TV show with an ensemble cast, these roles were designed
to work together. 

Read on to learn about the different parts of speech that the words we use every day fall into, and
how we use them together to communicate ideas clearly.

The 8 parts of speech

1 Nouns

A noun is a word that names person, place, concept, or object. Basically, anything that names a
“thing” is a noun, whether you’re talking about a basketball court, San Francisco, Cleopatra, or
self-preservation. 

Nouns fall into two categories: common nouns and proper nouns. Common nouns are general
names for things, like planet and game show. Proper nouns are specific names for individual
things, like Jupiter and Jeopardy!

Types of nouns

Nouns form a large proportion of English vocabulary and they come in a wide variety of types.
Nouns can name a person:

Albert Einstein
the president
my mother
a girl

Nouns can also name a place:

Mount Vesuvius
Disneyland
my bedroom

Nouns can also name things, although sometimes they might be intangible things, such as
concepts, activities, or processes. Some might even be hypothetical or imaginary things.

shoe
faucet
freedom
The Elder Wand
basketball