Parts of Speech Cheat Sheet — The Jobs Words Do
Study helper: This page helps you study. It does not do your homework for you. You do the thinking — this page shows you the word jobs.
Words to know
- Part of speech: one of the eight groups words are sorted into.
- Noun: a word that names a person, place, or thing.
- Pronoun: a word that takes the place of a noun.
- Verb: a word that shows an action, or a state of being.
- Adjective: a word that describes a noun or pronoun.
- Adverb: a word that describes a verb. It can also describe an adjective.
Pick your grade
Tap a button. The page will show words for your grade.
Grades 1–3
Words do jobs. Here are four word jobs.
Noun
A noun names a person, place, or thing.
Nouns answer “who?” and “what?”
Words like dog and ball are nouns.
Some nouns name ideas you cannot touch, like love.
Example: The dog is here.
Verb
A verb shows an action. A verb can also show being.
Example: The dog runs.
Adjective
An adjective describes a noun or pronoun.
Words like red, big, and tall are adjectives.
Example: The big dog is here.
Adverb
An adverb describes a verb.
Many adverbs end in -ly, but not all.
Example: The dog ran wildly.
Grades 4–6
Words are sorted into eight groups called the parts of speech: noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition, conjunction, and interjection.
Noun
A noun is a word that names a person, place, or thing.
Nouns answer “who?” and “what?” Examples are dog and ball.
Some nouns name ideas you cannot touch, like love.
Special names, like Chicago or November, are called proper nouns. They start with a capital letter.
Example: The dog found the ball.
Pronoun
A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun.
Examples are she, he, it, and they.
Example: She found the ball.
Verb
A verb is a word that shows an action, or a state of being.
Rides shows an action. Was shows being.
Example: He rides fast.
Adjective
An adjective is a word that describes a noun or pronoun.
Examples are red, big, and tall.
Example: The red ball is big.
Adverb
An adverb is a word that describes a verb. It can also describe an adjective.
Many adverbs end in -ly, but not all.
Adverbs answer how, when, why, or where.
Example: He waved wildly.
Preposition
A preposition is a word that works with a noun or pronoun to show place, time, or direction.
Examples are up the wall and of the house.
Example: The spider went up the wall.
Conjunction
A conjunction is a word that joins words, parts of sentences, or whole sentences together.
The joining words are: and, but, for, or, nor, so, yet.
Example: I like dogs and cats.
Interjection
An interjection is a word that shows strong feeling. It often stands by itself.
Examples are Wow! Ouch! Yay!
Example: Wow! That is a big dog.
Practice
Tap a question to see the answer. No scores. No data is kept.
Answer: happy. Happy describes the noun dog.
Answer: She. She takes the place of a noun.
Answer: Wow! Wow shows strong feeling and stands by itself.
Answer: and. And joins words together.
Grades 7–12 and College
Words are sorted into eight groups called the parts of speech: noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition, conjunction, and interjection.
Noun
A noun is a word that names a person, place, or thing.
Nouns answer “who?” and “what?” Examples are dog and ball.
Some nouns name ideas you cannot touch, like love.
Special names, like Chicago or November, are called proper nouns. They start with a capital letter.
Example: The dog slept in Chicago.
Pronoun
A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun.
Examples are she, he, it, and they.
Example: They found the ball.
| Subject | Object |
|---|---|
| I | me |
| we | us |
| you | you |
| she | her |
| he | him |
| it | it |
| they | them |
Verb
A verb is a word that shows an action, or a state of being.
Rides shows an action. Was shows being.
A verb can have a helper. “Was studying” is a verb phrase.
Example: He rides to school.
Example: She was studying at home.
Adjective
An adjective is a word that describes a noun or pronoun.
Examples are red, big, and tall.
Example: The tall tree is green.
Articles
Articles are part of the adjective family in this lesson.
The articles are a, an, and the. They come right before a noun.
Example: The dog is here.
Adverb
An adverb is a word that describes a verb. It can also describe an adjective.
Many adverbs end in -ly, but not all.
Adverbs answer how, when, why, or where.
Wildly describes waved. Extremely describes bright.
Example: He waved wildly.
Example: The light was extremely bright.
Preposition
A preposition is a word that works with a noun or pronoun to show place, time, or direction.
Examples are up the wall and of the house.
Word list: in, on, at, by, for, from, of, to, up, with, over, under, after, before, between.
Example: The spider went up the wall.
Conjunction
A conjunction is a word that joins words, parts of sentences, or whole sentences together.
The joining words are: and, but, for, or, nor, so, yet.
Example: I tried, but I was late.
Interjection
An interjection is a word that shows strong feeling. It often stands by itself.
Examples are Wow! Ouch! Yay!
Example: Yay! We did it.
Practice
Tap a question to see the answer. No scores. No data is kept.
Answer: happy. Happy describes the noun dog.
Answer: was studying. Was studying is a verb phrase.
Answer: extremely. Extremely describes the adjective bright.
Answer: on. On works with a noun to show place.
Sources
Purdue University, Purdue OWL — “Parts of Speech Overview”; Broward College, College Readiness Writing, Lesson 1: Parts of Speech. Checked November 2026.