speech 5 sentence

Parts of Speech

What are the parts of speech, a formal definition.

Table of Contents

The Part of Speech Is Determined by the Word's Function

Are there 8 or 9 parts of speech, the nine parts of speech, (1) adjective, (3) conjunction, (4) determiner, (5) interjection, (7) preposition, (8) pronoun, why the parts of speech are important, video lesson.

• You need to dig a well . (noun)
• You look well . (adjective)
• You dance well . (adverb)
• Well , I agree. (interjection)
• My eyes will well up. (verb)
• red, happy, enormous
• Ask the boy in the red jumper.
• I live in a happy place.
• I caught a fish this morning! I mean an enormous one.
• happily, loosely, often
• They skipped happily to the counter.
• Tie the knot loosely so they can escape.
• I often walk to work.
• It is an intriguingly magic setting.
• He plays the piano extremely well.
• and, or, but
• it is a large and important city.
• Shall we run to the hills or hide in the bushes?
• I know you are lying, but I cannot prove it.
• my, those, two, many
• My dog is fine with those cats.
• There are two dogs but many cats.
• ouch, oops, eek
• Ouch , that hurt.
• Oops , it's broken.
• Eek! A mouse just ran past my foot!
• leader, town, apple
• Take me to your leader .
• I will see you in town later.
• An apple fell on his head .
• in, near, on, with
• Sarah is hiding in the box.
• I live near the train station.
• Put your hands on your head.
• She yelled with enthusiasm.
• she, we, they, that
• Joanne is smart. She is also funny.
• Our team has studied the evidence. We know the truth.
• Jack and Jill went up the hill, but they never returned.
• That is clever!
• work, be, write, exist
• Tony works down the pit now. He was unemployed.
• I will write a song for you.
• I think aliens exist .

Are you a visual learner? Do you prefer video to text? Here is a list of all our grammar videos .

Video for Each Part of Speech

The Most Important Writing Issues

The top issue related to adjectives.

The Top Issue Related to Adverbs

• Extremely annoyed, she stared menacingly at her rival.
• Infuriated, she glared at her rival.

The Top Issue Related to Conjunctions

• Burger, Fries, and a shake
• Fish, chips and peas

The Top Issue Related to Determiners

The Top Issue Related to Interjections

The top issue related to nouns, the top issue related to prepositions, the top issue related to pronouns, the top issue related to verbs.

• Crack the parts of speech to help with learning a foreign language or to take your writing to the next level.

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• Knowledge Base
• Parts of speech

The 8 Parts of Speech | Chart, Definition & Examples

A part of speech (also called a word class ) is a category that describes the role a word plays in a sentence. Understanding the different parts of speech can help you analyze how words function in a sentence and improve your writing.

The parts of speech are classified differently in different grammars, but most traditional grammars list eight parts of speech in English: nouns , pronouns , verbs , adjectives , adverbs , prepositions , conjunctions , and interjections . Some modern grammars add others, such as determiners and articles .

Many words can function as different parts of speech depending on how they are used. For example, “laugh” can be a noun (e.g., “I like your laugh”) or a verb (e.g., “don’t laugh”).

Table of contents

• Prepositions
• Conjunctions
• Interjections

Other parts of speech

Interesting language articles, frequently asked questions.

A noun is a word that refers to a person, concept, place, or thing. Nouns can act as the subject of a sentence (i.e., the person or thing performing the action) or as the object of a verb (i.e., the person or thing affected by the action).

There are numerous types of nouns, including common nouns (used to refer to nonspecific people, concepts, places, or things), proper nouns (used to refer to specific people, concepts, places, or things), and collective nouns (used to refer to a group of people or things).

Ella lives in France .

Other types of nouns include countable and uncountable nouns , concrete nouns , abstract nouns , and gerunds .

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A pronoun is a word used in place of a noun. Pronouns typically refer back to an antecedent (a previously mentioned noun) and must demonstrate correct pronoun-antecedent agreement . Like nouns, pronouns can refer to people, places, concepts, and things.

There are numerous types of pronouns, including personal pronouns (used in place of the proper name of a person), demonstrative pronouns (used to refer to specific things and indicate their relative position), and interrogative pronouns (used to introduce questions about things, people, and ownership).

That is a horrible painting!

A verb is a word that describes an action (e.g., “jump”), occurrence (e.g., “become”), or state of being (e.g., “exist”). Verbs indicate what the subject of a sentence is doing. Every complete sentence must contain at least one verb.

Verbs can change form depending on subject (e.g., first person singular), tense (e.g., simple past), mood (e.g., interrogative), and voice (e.g., passive voice ).

Regular verbs are verbs whose simple past and past participle are formed by adding“-ed” to the end of the word (or “-d” if the word already ends in “e”). Irregular verbs are verbs whose simple past and past participles are formed in some other way.

“I’ve already checked twice.”

“I heard that you used to sing .”

Other types of verbs include auxiliary verbs , linking verbs , modal verbs , and phrasal verbs .

An adjective is a word that describes a noun or pronoun. Adjectives can be attributive , appearing before a noun (e.g., “a red hat”), or predicative , appearing after a noun with the use of a linking verb like “to be” (e.g., “the hat is red ”).

Adjectives can also have a comparative function. Comparative adjectives compare two or more things. Superlative adjectives describe something as having the most or least of a specific characteristic.

Other types of adjectives include coordinate adjectives , participial adjectives , and denominal adjectives .

An adverb is a word that can modify a verb, adjective, adverb, or sentence. Adverbs are often formed by adding “-ly” to the end of an adjective (e.g., “slow” becomes “slowly”), although not all adverbs have this ending, and not all words with this ending are adverbs.

There are numerous types of adverbs, including adverbs of manner (used to describe how something occurs), adverbs of degree (used to indicate extent or degree), and adverbs of place (used to describe the location of an action or event).

Talia writes quite quickly.

Other types of adverbs include adverbs of frequency , adverbs of purpose , focusing adverbs , and adverbial phrases .

A preposition is a word (e.g., “at”) or phrase (e.g., “on top of”) used to show the relationship between the different parts of a sentence. Prepositions can be used to indicate aspects such as time , place , and direction .

I left the cup on the kitchen counter.

A conjunction is a word used to connect different parts of a sentence (e.g., words, phrases, or clauses).

The main types of conjunctions are coordinating conjunctions (used to connect items that are grammatically equal), subordinating conjunctions (used to introduce a dependent clause), and correlative conjunctions (used in pairs to join grammatically equal parts of a sentence).

You can choose what movie we watch because I chose the last time.

An interjection is a word or phrase used to express a feeling, give a command, or greet someone. Interjections are a grammatically independent part of speech, so they can often be excluded from a sentence without affecting the meaning.

Types of interjections include volitive interjections (used to make a demand or request), emotive interjections (used to express a feeling or reaction), cognitive interjections (used to indicate thoughts), and greetings and parting words (used at the beginning and end of a conversation).

Ouch ! I hurt my arm.

I’m, um , not sure.

The traditional classification of English words into eight parts of speech is by no means the only one or the objective truth. Grammarians have often divided them into more or fewer classes. Other commonly mentioned parts of speech include determiners and articles.

• Determiners

A determiner is a word that describes a noun by indicating quantity, possession, or relative position.

Common types of determiners include demonstrative determiners (used to indicate the relative position of a noun), possessive determiners (used to describe ownership), and quantifiers (used to indicate the quantity of a noun).

My brother is selling his old car.

Other types of determiners include distributive determiners , determiners of difference , and numbers .

An article is a word that modifies a noun by indicating whether it is specific or general.

• The definite article the is used to refer to a specific version of a noun. The can be used with all countable and uncountable nouns (e.g., “the door,” “the energy,” “the mountains”).
• The indefinite articles a and an refer to general or unspecific nouns. The indefinite articles can only be used with singular countable nouns (e.g., “a poster,” “an engine”).

There’s a concert this weekend.

If you want to know more about nouns , pronouns , verbs , and other parts of speech, make sure to check out some of our language articles with explanations and examples.

Nouns & pronouns

• Common nouns
• Proper nouns
• Collective nouns
• Personal pronouns
• Uncountable and countable nouns
• Verb tenses
• Phrasal verbs
• Types of verbs
• Active vs passive voice
• Subject-verb agreement

A is an indefinite article (along with an ). While articles can be classed as their own part of speech, they’re also considered a type of determiner .

The indefinite articles are used to introduce nonspecific countable nouns (e.g., “a dog,” “an island”).

In is primarily classed as a preposition, but it can be classed as various other parts of speech, depending on how it is used:

• Preposition (e.g., “ in the field”)
• Noun (e.g., “I have an in with that company”)
• Adjective (e.g., “Tim is part of the in crowd”)
• Adverb (e.g., “Will you be in this evening?”)

As a part of speech, and is classed as a conjunction . Specifically, it’s a coordinating conjunction .

And can be used to connect grammatically equal parts of a sentence, such as two nouns (e.g., “a cup and plate”), or two adjectives (e.g., “strong and smart”). And can also be used to connect phrases and clauses.

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Parts of Speech in English

Parts of speech are categories of words that perform similar grammatical roles in phrase and sentence structures. You might wonder what the different parts of speech are and how to identify them. This reference explains parts of speech, including nouns, verbs, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, determiners, conjunctions, prepositions, and interjections, with examples.

You’ll also learn about open and closed word classes, how to determine a part of speech in a sentence, and their roles in simple and complex sentence constructions. This guide includes a useful picture, a video, and a quiz on parts of speech to help solidify your understanding.

Parts of Speech

What Are Parts Of Speech?

Parts of speech are word categories defined by their roles in sentence structures. These categories are organized by the functions and meanings they convey. In English, there are around ten common parts of speech:  nouns ,  verbs ,  adjectives ,  adverbs ,  pronouns ,  prepositions ,  conjunctions ,  interjections ,  determiners , and  articles .

Open and Closed Word Classes

Closed word classes  are parts of speech that do not have newer words introduced over time. These include pronouns, conjunctions, determiners, and prepositions.

Open word classes  are parts of speech that can have newer words introduced over time. These include nouns, verbs, adjectives, interjections, and adverbs.

Different Parts of Speech (with Examples)

The noun (n.).

A  noun  gives a name to something. There are different types of nouns like proper, collective, possessive, and common nouns.

Jeffrey, Korea, pen, New Year, dog, cat, elephant, garden, school, work, music, town, Manila, teacher, farmer, Bob, Sean, Michael, police officer, France, coffee, football, danger, happiness…

Example sentences:

• The  teacher  told the  children  to stop chattering in class.
• John  is good at  French  but weak at  History .

Common Noun :  Names a general item.

• Here is a  cup .
• Do you want a  cake ?

Proper Noun:  Names a specific item.

• The capital of  England  is  London .
• Sarah  is beautiful.

Collective Noun:  Refers to a group.

• The  swarm  of bees was headed straight towards our picnic.
• At church on Sunday, the  choir  sings loudly.

Possessive Noun:  Shows ownership.

• This is my  dog’s  ball.
• That is  Sarah’s  friend.

The Verb (v.)

A  verb  describes an action. There are three main types: action, linking, and modal verbs.

Walk, is, seem, realize, run, see, swim, stand, go, have, get, promise, invite, listen, sing, sit, laugh, walk…

• Don’t  try  to  run  before you can  walk .
• Did you  kiss  anybody?
• Leave  me alone!

Action Verb :  Describes an action.

• The man  walked  down the street.
• I  laughed  at his joke.
• She  ran  to catch the bus before it left.
• The chef  chopped  the vegetables into small pieces for the salad.

Linking Verb:  Connects the subject to a noun, adjective, or pronoun.

• Sarah  feels  cold.
• I  am  very tired.
• The flowers in the garden  are  blooming beautifully in the spring.
• The soup  smells  delicious and makes my mouth water.

Modal Verb:  Helps the main verb and shows the speaker’s thoughts.

• I  might  walk to the park this afternoon.
• He  can  eat the last slice of cake.
• You  must  listen to me!

The Pronoun (pron.)

A  pronoun  replaces a noun. There are various types of pronouns like reflexive, indefinite, possessive, and relative pronouns.

I, me, we, you, he, she, yours, himself, its, my, that, this, those, us, who, whom

• Richard isn’t at work this week;  he ‘s gone on holiday.
• Don’t tell  her  the truth.
• She tried it  herself .
• You can’t blame  him  for  everything .
• The woman  who  called yesterday wants to buy the house.

Reflexive Pronoun:  Refers to self.

• I am going to keep this last cupcake for  myself .
• Peter always puts  himself  first.

Indefinite Pronoun:  Refers to a non-specific person or item.

• Can you take  all ?
• I need to speak to  someone  about this rash on my arm.

Possessive Pronoun:  Shows ownership.

• This bag is not  yours , it’s  mine .
• Her book is so new, while  his  looks vintage.

Relative Pronoun:  Introduces an adjective clause.

• This is the woman  who  will be working with you.
• Is this the book  that  everyone is raving about?

The Adjective (adj.)

An  adjective  describes a noun or pronoun.

Beautiful, seven, cute, second, tall, blue, angry, brave, careful, healthy, little, old, generous, red, smart, two, small, tall, some, good, big, useful, interesting…

• This is a  blue  car.
• The  small  squirrel ran up the tree.
• During the thunderstorm, we saw some  heavy  rain.
• My mother has  short  hair.
• The documentary on TV last night was very  interesting .
• My son has an  impressive  collection of toy soldiers.
• The weather is  hot  and  sunny  today.
• My vacation was  exciting .
• The leaves on that tree are  green  and  large .

The Adverb (adv.)

An  adverb  modifies an adjective, verb, or another adverb. Many adverbs end in -ly, but not all do.

Neatly, tomorrow, very, badly, fully, carefully, hardly, nearly, hungrily, never, quickly, silently, well, really, almost…

• This is an  extremely  attractive photograph.
• I have a  very  large pet dog.
• My car drives  quickly .
• When I am running late for work, I eat my breakfast  rapidly .
• The boy is crying  loudly .
• She  carefully  preserved all his letters.

Determiners and Articles

Determiners and articles help clarify the nouns they introduce.  Articles  can be definite ( the ) or indefinite ( a ,  an ).

The, a, an, this, that, these, those, many, few, each, every, some, any, no, which, what

• The  cat is sleeping on  a  mat.
• Can  an  apple be green?
• This  book is very interesting.
• Each  student must bring their own lunch.

The Conjunction (conj.)

A  conjunction  connects words, phrases, or clauses. Some common conjunctions are  and ,  but ,  or ,  so ,  because , and  although .

And, but, or, so, because, although, if, until, while, since, when, after, before, as

• I want to buy a sandwich  and  a drink.
• She was tired  but  happy.
• You can go to the party  or  stay home.
• They were late  because  of the traffic.
• Although  it was raining, we went for a walk.

The Preposition (prep.)

A  preposition  shows the relationship of a noun (or pronoun) to another word. Common prepositions include  at ,  on ,  in ,  by ,  with , and  about .

At, on, in, by, with, about, above, below, between, during, for, from, over, under, through

• The cat is  on  the roof.
• She sat  by  the window.
• We will meet  at  the park  in  the afternoon.
• The book is  about  a boy  with  a magical power.

The Interjection (interj.)

An  interjection  is a word or phrase that expresses strong emotion or sudden exclamation. Common interjections include  wow ,  ouch ,  oh , and  hey .

Wow, ouch, oh, hey, ah, ugh, ew, hmm, yay, yikes, whoa, oops, aha, hurray, ew, oh no

• Wow ! That’s amazing!
• Ouch ! That hurt.
• Oh ! I didn’t see you there.
• Hey ! Wait for me.
• Yay ! We won the game.

In this section, you’ve learned about different parts of speech with examples and sample sentences. Each part of speech plays a unique role in creating meaningful sentences.

How To Determine A Part Of Speech In A Sentence

To determine a part of speech in a sentence, look at the word being used, its context, and what meaning it brings to the sentence structure. Here are some questions you can ask about a particular word:

• Is it a person, place, idea, name, or thing?  It is a  noun .
• Is the word used in place of a noun?  It is a  pronoun .
• Does the word convey an action, occurrence, or state of being?  It is a  verb .
• Does the word modify a noun?  It is an  adjective .
• Does the word modify a verb, adjective, or itself?  It is an  adverb .
• Is the word placed in front of a noun to form a modifying phrase?  It is a  preposition .
• Does the word link a phrase or clause?  It is a  conjunction .
• Is the word a quick expression of emotion?  It is an  interjection .
• Is the word placed before a noun to clarify it?  It is a  determiner  or an  article .

By asking these questions, you can identify the correct part of speech for any word in a sentence.

Parts of Speech and Sentence Construction

Simple/basic sentences.

In its simplest form, a sentence can have one  independent clause .

For example, the sentence “I walk to the store” contains one clause.

• “I” is the subject of the clause, while “walk” is the verb.
• The ending phrase, “walk to the store” would be the verb phrase, or  predicate , of the sentence.

This entire sentence “I walk to the store” is an independent clause, expresses one subject doing one action — and is known as a  simple sentence .

Knowing this, apply the fact that nouns and pronouns will often be the subjects or objects of simple sentences, while verbs will convey actions. So once again:

• I  (subject, pronoun)
• walk  (verb)
• to  (preposition)
• the  (article)
• store  (object, noun)

Complex Sentences

Complex sentences contain an independent clause and one or more dependent clauses. These sentences use conjunctions such as  because, since, which,  or  who  to connect clauses. Consider the structure and an example below:

• Independent Clause:  She reads a book
• Dependent Clause:  because she wants to learn

By combining these clauses, one forms a complex sentence:  She reads a book because she wants to learn.

Other examples of complex sentences:

• Although the weather was cold, they decided to go for a hike.
• She completed her assignment before she went out with her friends.
• When you finish your homework, we can go to the movies.
• Because my coffee was too cold, I heated it in the microwave.
• If you save your money, you can buy a new bicycle.

Parts of Speech Video

Learn all parts of speech in English with a useful video lesson.

Parts Of Speech Quiz

Here are some Parts Of Speech exercises for you to practice:

A. In the sentence “I ran to the tallest tree”, what part of speech is the word “tallest”?

• A preposition
• An adjective

B. In the 2000s, the word  staycation  described the act of staying home for a vacation. Since “staycation” is a noun and a new word, what class of words does it belong to?

• The Open word class
• The Closed word class
• The Infinitive word class

C. In the sentence “I’ll have a few tacos”, what part of speech is the phrase “a few”?

• Interjections
• Determiners

Answers: A) 3, B) 1, C) 3

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Understanding the 8 Parts of Speech: Definitions and Examples

General Education

If you’re trying to learn the grammatical rules of English, you’ve probably been asked to learn the parts of speech. But what are parts of speech and how many are there? How do you know which words are classified in each part of speech?

The answers to these questions can be a bit complicated—English is a difficult language to learn and understand. Don’t fret, though! We’re going to answer each of these questions for you with a full guide to the parts of speech that explains the following:

• What the parts of speech are, including a comprehensive parts of speech list
• Parts of speech definitions for the individual parts of speech. (If you’re looking for information on a specific part of speech, you can search for it by pressing Command + F, then typing in the part of speech you’re interested in.) 
• Parts of speech examples
• A ten question quiz covering parts of speech definitions and parts of speech examples

We’ve got a lot to cover, so let’s begin!

Feature Image: (Gavina S / Wikimedia Commons)

What Are Parts of Speech? 

The parts of speech definitions in English can vary, but here’s a widely accepted one: a part of speech is a category of words that serve a similar grammatical purpose in sentences.  

To make that definition even simpler, a part of speech is just a category for similar types of words . All of the types of words included under a single part of speech function in similar ways when they’re used properly in sentences.

In the English language, it’s commonly accepted that there are 8 parts of speech: nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, conjunctions, interjections, and prepositions. Each of these categories plays a different role in communicating meaning in the English language. Each of the eight parts of speech—which we might also call the “main classes” of speech—also have subclasses. In other words, we can think of each of the eight parts of speech as being general categories for different types within their part of speech . There are different types of nouns, different types of verbs, different types of adjectives, adverbs, pronouns...you get the idea. 

And that’s an overview of what a part of speech is! Next, we’ll explain each of the 8 parts of speech—definitions and examples included for each category. 

There are tons of nouns in this picture. Can you find them all? 

Nouns are a class of words that refer, generally, to people and living creatures, objects, events, ideas, states of being, places, and actions. You’ve probably heard English nouns referred to as “persons, places, or things.” That definition is a little simplistic, though—while nouns do include people, places, and things, “things” is kind of a vague term. I t’s important to recognize that “things” can include physical things—like objects or belongings—and nonphysical, abstract things—like ideas, states of existence, and actions. 

Since there are many different types of nouns, we’ll include several examples of nouns used in a sentence while we break down the subclasses of nouns next!

Subclasses of Nouns, Including Examples

As an open class of words, the category of “nouns” has a lot of subclasses. The most common and important subclasses of nouns are common nouns, proper nouns, concrete nouns, abstract nouns, collective nouns, and count and mass nouns. Let’s break down each of these subclasses!

Common Nouns and Proper Nouns

Common nouns are generic nouns—they don’t name specific items. They refer to people (the man, the woman), living creatures (cat, bird), objects (pen, computer, car), events (party, work), ideas (culture, freedom), states of being (beauty, integrity), and places (home, neighborhood, country) in a general way. 

Proper nouns are sort of the counterpart to common nouns. Proper nouns refer to specific people, places, events, or ideas. Names are the most obvious example of proper nouns, like in these two examples: 

Common noun: What state are you from?

Proper noun: I’m from Arizona .

Whereas “state” is a common noun, Arizona is a proper noun since it refers to a specific state. Whereas “the election” is a common noun, “Election Day” is a proper noun. Another way to pick out proper nouns: the first letter is often capitalized. If you’d capitalize the word in a sentence, it’s almost always a proper noun. 

Concrete Nouns and Abstract Nouns

Concrete nouns are nouns that can be identified through the five senses. Concrete nouns include people, living creatures, objects, and places, since these things can be sensed in the physical world. In contrast to concrete nouns, abstract nouns are nouns that identify ideas, qualities, concepts, experiences, or states of being. Abstract nouns cannot be detected by the five senses. Here’s an example of concrete and abstract nouns used in a sentence: 

Concrete noun: Could you please fix the weedeater and mow the lawn ?

Abstract noun: Aliyah was delighted to have the freedom to enjoy the art show in peace .

See the difference? A weedeater and the lawn are physical objects or things, and freedom and peace are not physical objects, though they’re “things” people experience! Despite those differences, they all count as nouns. 

Collective Nouns, Count Nouns, and Mass Nouns

Nouns are often categorized based on number and amount. Collective nouns are nouns that refer to a group of something—often groups of people or a type of animal. Team , crowd , and herd are all examples of collective nouns. 

Count nouns are nouns that can appear in the singular or plural form, can be modified by numbers, and can be described by quantifying determiners (e.g. many, most, more, several). For example, “bug” is a count noun. It can occur in singular form if you say, “There is a bug in the kitchen,” but it can also occur in the plural form if you say, “There are many bugs in the kitchen.” (In the case of the latter, you’d call an exterminator...which is an example of a common noun!) Any noun that can accurately occur in one of these singular or plural forms is a count noun. 

Mass nouns are another type of noun that involve numbers and amount. Mass nouns are nouns that usually can’t be pluralized, counted, or quantified and still make sense grammatically. “Charisma” is an example of a mass noun (and an abstract noun!). For example, you could say, “They’ve got charisma, ” which doesn’t imply a specific amount. You couldn’t say, “They’ve got six charismas, ” or, “They’ve got several charismas .” It just doesn’t make sense! 

Verbs are all about action...just like these runners. 

A verb is a part of speech that, when used in a sentence, communicates an action, an occurrence, or a state of being . In sentences, verbs are the most important part of the predicate, which explains or describes what the subject of the sentence is doing or how they are being. And, guess what? All sentences contain verbs!

There are many words in the English language that are classified as verbs. A few common verbs include the words run, sing, cook, talk, and clean. These words are all verbs because they communicate an action performed by a living being. We’ll look at more specific examples of verbs as we discuss the subclasses of verbs next!

Subclasses of Verbs, Including Examples

Like nouns, verbs have several subclasses. The subclasses of verbs include copular or linking verbs, intransitive verbs, transitive verbs, and ditransitive or double transitive verbs. Let’s dive into these subclasses of verbs!

Copular or Linking Verbs

Copular verbs, or linking verbs, are verbs that link a subject with its complement in a sentence. The most familiar linking verb is probably be. Here’s a list of other common copular verbs in English: act, be, become, feel, grow, seem, smell, and taste. 

So how do copular verbs work? Well, in a sentence, if we said, “Michi is ,” and left it at that, it wouldn’t make any sense. “Michi,” the subject, needs to be connected to a complement by the copular verb “is.” Instead, we could say, “Michi is leaving.” In that instance, is links the subject of the sentence to its complement. 

Transitive Verbs, Intransitive Verbs, and Ditransitive Verbs

Transitive verbs are verbs that affect or act upon an object. When unattached to an object in a sentence, a transitive verb does not make sense. Here’s an example of a transitive verb attached to (and appearing before) an object in a sentence: 

Please take the clothes to the dry cleaners.

In this example, “take” is a transitive verb because it requires an object—”the clothes”—to make sense. “The clothes” are the objects being taken. “Please take” wouldn’t make sense by itself, would it? That’s because the transitive verb “take,” like all transitive verbs, transfers its action onto another being or object. 

Conversely, intransitive verbs don’t require an object to act upon in order to make sense in a sentence. These verbs make sense all on their own! For instance, “They ran ,” “We arrived ,” and, “The car stopped ” are all examples of sentences that contain intransitive verbs. 

Finally, ditransitive verbs, or double transitive verbs, are a bit more complicated. Ditransitive verbs are verbs that are followed by two objects in a sentence . One of the objects has the action of the ditransitive verb done to it, and the other object has the action of the ditransitive verb directed towards it. Here’s an example of what that means in a sentence: 

I cooked Nathan a meal.

In this example, “cooked” is a ditransitive verb because it modifies two objects: Nathan and meal . The meal has the action of “cooked” done to it, and “Nathan” has the action of the verb directed towards him. 

Adjectives are descriptors that help us better understand a sentence. A common adjective type is color.

#3: Adjectives

Here’s the simplest definition of adjectives: adjectives are words that describe other words . Specifically, adjectives modify nouns and noun phrases. In sentences, adjectives appear before nouns and pronouns (they have to appear before the words they describe!). 

Adjectives give more detail to nouns and pronouns by describing how a noun looks, smells, tastes, sounds, or feels, or its state of being or existence. . For example, you could say, “The girl rode her bike.” That sentence doesn’t have any adjectives in it, but you could add an adjective before both of the nouns in the sentence—”girl” and “bike”—to give more detail to the sentence. It might read like this: “The young girl rode her red bike.”   You can pick out adjectives in a sentence by asking the following questions: 

• Which one? 
• What kind? 
• How many? 
• Whose’s? 

We’ll look at more examples of adjectives as we explore the subclasses of adjectives next!

Subclasses of Adjectives, Including Examples

Subclasses of adjectives include adjective phrases, comparative adjectives, superlative adjectives, and determiners (which include articles, possessive adjectives, and demonstratives). 

Adjective Phrases

An adjective phrase is a group of words that describe a noun or noun phrase in a sentence. Adjective phrases can appear before the noun or noun phrase in a sentence, like in this example: 

The extremely fragile vase somehow did not break during the move.

In this case, extremely fragile describes the vase. On the other hand, adjective phrases can appear after the noun or noun phrase in a sentence as well: 

The museum was somewhat boring. 

Again, the phrase somewhat boring describes the museum. The takeaway is this: adjective phrases describe the subject of a sentence with greater detail than an individual adjective. 

Comparative Adjectives and Superlative Adjectives

Comparative adjectives are used in sentences where two nouns are compared. They function to compare the differences between the two nouns that they modify. In sentences, comparative adjectives often appear in this pattern and typically end with -er. If we were to describe how comparative adjectives function as a formula, it might look something like this: 

Noun (subject) + verb + comparative adjective + than + noun (object).

Here’s an example of how a comparative adjective would work in that type of sentence: 

The horse was faster than the dog.

The adjective faster compares the speed of the horse to the speed of the dog. Other common comparative adjectives include words that compare distance ( higher, lower, farther ), age ( younger, older ), size and dimensions ( bigger, smaller, wider, taller, shorter ), and quality or feeling ( better, cleaner, happier, angrier ). 

Superlative adjectives are adjectives that describe the extremes of a quality that applies to a subject being compared to a group of objects . Put more simply, superlative adjectives help show how extreme something is. In sentences, superlative adjectives usually appear in this structure and end in -est : 

Noun (subject) + verb + the + superlative adjective + noun (object).

Here’s an example of a superlative adjective that appears in that type of sentence: 

Their story was the funniest story. 

In this example, the subject— story —is being compared to a group of objects—other stories. The superlative adjective “funniest” implies that this particular story is the funniest out of all the stories ever, period. Other common superlative adjectives are best, worst, craziest, and happiest... though there are many more than that! 

It’s also important to know that you can often omit the object from the end of the sentence when using superlative adjectives, like this: “Their story was the funniest.” We still know that “their story” is being compared to other stories without the object at the end of the sentence.

Determiners

The last subclass of adjectives we want to look at are determiners. Determiners are words that determine what kind of reference a noun or noun phrase makes. These words are placed in front of nouns to make it clear what the noun is referring to. Determiners are an example of a part of speech subclass that contains a lot of subclasses of its own. Here is a list of the different types of determiners: 

• Definite article: the
• Indefinite articles : a, an 
• Demonstratives: this, that, these, those
• Pronouns and possessive determiners: my, your, his, her, its, our, their
• Quantifiers : a little, a few, many, much, most, some, any, enough
• Numbers: one, twenty, fifty
• Distributives: all, both, half, either, neither, each, every
• Difference words : other, another
• Pre-determiners: such, what, rather, quite

Here are some examples of how determiners can be used in sentences: 

Definite article: Get in the car.  

Demonstrative: Could you hand me that magazine?  

Possessive determiner: Please put away your clothes. 

Distributive: He ate all of the pie. 

Though some of the words above might not seem descriptive, they actually do describe the specificity and definiteness, relationship, and quantity or amount of a noun or noun phrase. For example, the definite article “the” (a type of determiner) indicates that a noun refers to a specific thing or entity. The indefinite article “an,” on the other hand, indicates that a noun refers to a nonspecific entity. 

One quick note, since English is always more complicated than it seems: while articles are most commonly classified as adjectives, they can also function as adverbs in specific situations, too. Not only that, some people are taught that determiners are their own part of speech...which means that some people are taught there are 9 parts of speech instead of 8! 

It can be a little confusing, which is why we have a whole article explaining how articles function as a part of speech to help clear things up . 

Adverbs can be used to answer questions like "when?" and "how long?"

Adverbs are words that modify verbs, adjectives (including determiners), clauses, prepositions, and sentences. Adverbs typically answer the questions how?, in what way?, when?, where?, and to what extent? In answering these questions, adverbs function to express frequency, degree, manner, time, place, and level of certainty . Adverbs can answer these questions in the form of single words, or in the form of adverbial phrases or adverbial clauses. 

Adverbs are commonly known for being words that end in -ly, but there’s actually a bit more to adverbs than that, which we’ll dive into while we look at the subclasses of adverbs!

Subclasses Of Adverbs, Including Examples

There are many types of adverbs, but the main subclasses we’ll look at are conjunctive adverbs, and adverbs of place, time, manner, degree, and frequency. 

Conjunctive Adverbs

Conjunctive adverbs look like coordinating conjunctions (which we’ll talk about later!), but they are actually their own category: conjunctive adverbs are words that connect independent clauses into a single sentence . These adverbs appear after a semicolon and before a comma in sentences, like in these two examples: 

She was exhausted; nevertheless , she went for a five mile run. 

They didn’t call; instead , they texted.  

Though conjunctive adverbs are frequently used to create shorter sentences using a semicolon and comma, they can also appear at the beginning of sentences, like this: 

He chopped the vegetables. Meanwhile, I boiled the pasta.  

One thing to keep in mind is that conjunctive adverbs come with a comma. When you use them, be sure to include a comma afterward! 

There are a lot of conjunctive adverbs, but some common ones include also, anyway, besides, finally, further, however, indeed, instead, meanwhile, nevertheless, next, nonetheless, now, otherwise, similarly, then, therefore, and thus.  

Adverbs of Place, Time, Manner, Degree, and Frequency

There are also adverbs of place, time, manner, degree, and frequency. Each of these types of adverbs express a different kind of meaning. 

Adverbs of place express where an action is done or where an event occurs. These are used after the verb, direct object, or at the end of a sentence. A sentence like “She walked outside to watch the sunset” uses outside as an adverb of place. 

Adverbs of time explain when something happens. These adverbs are used at the beginning or at the end of sentences. In a sentence like “The game should be over soon,” soon functions as an adverb of time. 

Adverbs of manner describe the way in which something is done or how something happens. These are the adverbs that usually end in the familiar -ly.  If we were to write “She quickly finished her homework,” quickly is an adverb of manner. 

Adverbs of degree tell us the extent to which something happens or occurs. If we were to say “The play was quite interesting,” quite tells us the extent of how interesting the play was. Thus, quite is an adverb of degree.  

Finally, adverbs of frequency express how often something happens . In a sentence like “They never know what to do with themselves,” never is an adverb of frequency. 

Five subclasses of adverbs is a lot, so we’ve organized the words that fall under each category in a nifty table for you here: 

It’s important to know about these subclasses of adverbs because many of them don’t follow the old adage that adverbs end in -ly. 

Here's a helpful list of pronouns. (Attanata / Flickr )

#5: Pronouns

Pronouns are words that can be substituted for a noun or noun phrase in a sentence . Pronouns function to make sentences less clunky by allowing people to avoid repeating nouns over and over. For example, if you were telling someone a story about your friend Destiny, you wouldn’t keep repeating their name over and over again every time you referred to them. Instead, you’d use a pronoun—like they or them—to refer to Destiny throughout the story. 

Pronouns are typically short words, often only two or three letters long. The most familiar pronouns in the English language are they, she, and he. But these aren’t the only pronouns. There are many more pronouns in English that fall under different subclasses!

Subclasses of Pronouns, Including Examples

There are many subclasses of pronouns, but the most commonly used subclasses are personal pronouns, possessive pronouns, demonstrative pronouns, indefinite pronouns, and interrogative pronouns. 

Personal Pronouns

Personal pronouns are probably the most familiar type of pronoun. Personal pronouns include I, me, you, she, her, him, he, we, us, they, and them. These are called personal pronouns because they refer to a person! Personal pronouns can replace specific nouns in sentences, like a person’s name, or refer to specific groups of people, like in these examples: 

Did you see Gia pole vault at the track meet? Her form was incredible!

The Cycling Club is meeting up at six. They said they would be at the park. 

In both of the examples above, a pronoun stands in for a proper noun to avoid repetitiveness. Her replaces Gia in the first example, and they replaces the Cycling Club in the second example. 

(It’s also worth noting that personal pronouns are one of the easiest ways to determine what point of view a writer is using.) 

Possessive Pronouns

Possessive pronouns are used to indicate that something belongs to or is the possession of someone. The possessive pronouns fall into two categories: limiting and absolute. In a sentence, absolute possessive pronouns can be substituted for the thing that belongs to a person, and limiting pronouns cannot. 

The limiting pronouns are my, your, its, his, her, our, their, and whose, and the absolute pronouns are mine, yours, his, hers, ours, and theirs . Here are examples of a limiting possessive pronoun and absolute possessive pronoun used in a sentence: 

Limiting possessive pronoun: Juan is fixing his car. 

In the example above, the car belongs to Juan, and his is the limiting possessive pronoun that shows the car belongs to Juan. Now, here’s an example of an absolute pronoun in a sentence: 

Absolute possessive pronoun: Did you buy your tickets ? We already bought ours . 

In this example, the tickets belong to whoever we is, and in the second sentence, ours is the absolute possessive pronoun standing in for the thing that “we” possess—the tickets. 

Demonstrative Pronouns, Interrogative Pronouns, and Indefinite Pronouns

Demonstrative pronouns include the words that, this, these, and those. These pronouns stand in for a noun or noun phrase that has already been mentioned in a sentence or conversation. This and these are typically used to refer to objects or entities that are nearby distance-wise, and that and those usually refer to objects or entities that are farther away. Here’s an example of a demonstrative pronoun used in a sentence: 

The books are stacked up in the garage. Can you put those away? 

The books have already been mentioned, and those is the demonstrative pronoun that stands in to refer to them in the second sentence above. The use of those indicates that the books aren’t nearby—they’re out in the garage. Here’s another example: 

Do you need shoes? Here...you can borrow these. 

In this sentence, these refers to the noun shoes. Using the word these tells readers that the shoes are nearby...maybe even on the speaker’s feet! 

Indefinite pronouns are used when it isn’t necessary to identify a specific person or thing . The indefinite pronouns are one, other, none, some, anybody, everybody, and no one. Here’s one example of an indefinite pronoun used in a sentence: 

Promise you can keep a secret? 

Of course. I won’t tell anyone. 

In this example, the person speaking in the second two sentences isn’t referring to any particular people who they won’t tell the secret to. They’re saying that, in general, they won’t tell anyone . That doesn’t specify a specific number, type, or category of people who they won’t tell the secret to, which is what makes the pronoun indefinite. 

Finally, interrogative pronouns are used in questions, and these pronouns include who, what, which, and whose. These pronouns are simply used to gather information about specific nouns—persons, places, and ideas. Let’s look at two examples of interrogative pronouns used in sentences: 

Do you remember which glass was mine? 

What time are they arriving? 

In the first glass, the speaker wants to know more about which glass belongs to whom. In the second sentence, the speaker is asking for more clarity about a specific time. 

Conjunctions hook phrases and clauses together so they fit like pieces of a puzzle.

#6: Conjunctions

Conjunctions are words that are used to connect words, phrases, clauses, and sentences in the English language. This function allows conjunctions to connect actions, ideas, and thoughts as well. Conjunctions are also used to make lists within sentences. (Conjunctions are also probably the most famous part of speech, since they were immortalized in the famous “Conjunction Junction” song from Schoolhouse Rock .) 

You’re probably familiar with and, but, and or as conjunctions, but let’s look into some subclasses of conjunctions so you can learn about the array of conjunctions that are out there!

Subclasses of Conjunctions, Including Examples

Coordinating conjunctions, subordinating conjunctions, and correlative conjunctions are three subclasses of conjunctions. Each of these types of conjunctions functions in a different way in sentences!

Coordinating Conjunctions

Coordinating conjunctions are probably the most familiar type of conjunction. These conjunctions include the words for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so (people often recommend using the acronym FANBOYS to remember the seven coordinating conjunctions!). 

Coordinating conjunctions are responsible for connecting two independent clauses in sentences, but can also be used to connect two words in a sentence. Here are two examples of coordinating conjunctions that connect two independent clauses in a sentence: 

He wanted to go to the movies, but he couldn’t find his car keys. 

They put on sunscreen, and they went to the beach. 

Next, here are two examples of coordinating conjunctions that connect two words: 

Would you like to cook or order in for dinner? 

The storm was loud yet refreshing. 

The two examples above show that coordinating conjunctions can connect different types of words as well. In the first example, the coordinating conjunction “or” connects two verbs; in the second example, the coordinating conjunction “yet” connects two adjectives. 

But wait! Why does the first set of sentences have commas while the second set of sentences doesn’t? When using a coordinating conjunction, put a comma before the conjunction when it’s connecting two complete sentences . Otherwise, there’s no comma necessary. 

Subordinating Conjunctions

Subordinating conjunctions are used to link an independent clause to a dependent clause in a sentence. This type of conjunction always appears at the beginning of a dependent clause, which means that subordinating conjunctions can appear at the beginning of a sentence or in the middle of a sentence following an independent clause. (If you’re unsure about what independent and dependent clauses are, be sure to check out our guide to compound sentences.) 

Here is an example of a subordinating conjunction that appears at the beginning of a sentence: 

Because we were hungry, we ordered way too much food. 

Now, here’s an example of a subordinating conjunction that appears in the middle of a sentence, following an independent clause and a comma: 

Rakim was scared after the power went out. 

See? In the example above, the subordinating conjunction after connects the independent clause Rakim was scared to the dependent clause after the power went out. Subordinating conjunctions include (but are not limited to!) the following words: after, as, because, before, even though, one, since, unless, until, whenever, and while. 

Correlative Conjunctions

Finally, correlative conjunctions are conjunctions that come in pairs, like both/and, either/or, and neither/nor. The two correlative conjunctions that come in a pair must appear in different parts of a sentence to make sense— they correlate the meaning in one part of the sentence with the meaning in another part of the sentence . Makes sense, right? 

Here are two examples of correlative conjunctions used in a sentence: 

We’re either going to the Farmer’s Market or the Natural Grocer’s for our shopping today. 

They’re going to have to get dog treats for both Piper and Fudge. 

Other pairs of correlative conjunctions include as many/as, not/but, not only/but also, rather/than, such/that, and whether/or. 

Interjections are single words that express emotions that end in an exclamation point. Cool!

#7: Interjections 

Interjections are words that often appear at the beginning of sentences or between sentences to express emotions or sentiments such as excitement, surprise, joy, disgust, anger, or even pain. Commonly used interjections include wow!, yikes!, ouch!, or ugh! One clue that an interjection is being used is when an exclamation point appears after a single word (but interjections don’t have to be followed by an exclamation point). And, since interjections usually express emotion or feeling, they’re often referred to as being exclamatory. Wow! 

Interjections don’t come together with other parts of speech to form bigger grammatical units, like phrases or clauses. There also aren’t strict rules about where interjections should appear in relation to other sentences . While it’s common for interjections to appear before sentences that describe an action or event that the interjection helps explain, interjections can appear after sentences that contain the action they’re describing as well. 

Subclasses of Interjections, Including Examples

There are two main subclasses of interjections: primary interjections and secondary interjections. Let’s take a look at these two types of interjections!

Primary Interjections  

Primary interjections are single words, like oh!, wow!, or ouch! that don’t enter into the actual structure of a sentence but add to the meaning of a sentence. Here’s an example of how a primary interjection can be used before a sentence to add to the meaning of the sentence that follows it: 

Ouch ! I just burned myself on that pan!

While someone who hears, I just burned myself on that pan might assume that the person who said that is now in pain, the interjection Ouch! makes it clear that burning oneself on the pan definitely was painful. 

Secondary Interjections

Secondary interjections are words that have other meanings but have evolved to be used like interjections in the English language and are often exclamatory. Secondary interjections can be mixed with greetings, oaths, or swear words. In many cases, the use of secondary interjections negates the original meaning of the word that is being used as an interjection. Let’s look at a couple of examples of secondary interjections here: 

Well , look what the cat dragged in!

Heck, I’d help if I could, but I’ve got to get to work. 

You probably know that the words well and heck weren’t originally used as interjections in the English language. Well originally meant that something was done in a good or satisfactory way, or that a person was in good health. Over time and through repeated usage, it’s come to be used as a way to express emotion, such as surprise, anger, relief, or resignation, like in the example above. 

This is a handy list of common prepositional phrases. (attanatta / Flickr) 

#8: Prepositions

The last part of speech we’re going to define is the preposition. Prepositions are words that are used to connect other words in a sentence—typically nouns and verbs—and show the relationship between those words. Prepositions convey concepts such as comparison, position, place, direction, movement, time, possession, and how an action is completed. 

Subclasses of Prepositions, Including Examples

The subclasses of prepositions are simple prepositions, double prepositions, participle prepositions, and prepositional phrases. 

Simple Prepositions

Simple prepositions appear before and between nouns, adjectives, or adverbs in sentences to convey relationships between people, living creatures, things, or places . Here are a couple of examples of simple prepositions used in sentences: 

I’ll order more ink before we run out. 

Your phone was beside your wallet. 

In the first example, the preposition before appears between the noun ink and the personal pronoun we to convey a relationship. In the second example, the preposition beside appears between the verb was and the possessive pronoun your.

In both examples, though, the prepositions help us understand how elements in the sentence are related to one another. In the first sentence, we know that the speaker currently has ink but needs more before it’s gone. In the second sentence, the preposition beside helps us understand how the wallet and the phone are positioned relative to one another! 

Double Prepositions

Double prepositions are exactly what they sound like: two prepositions joined together into one unit to connect phrases, nouns, and pronouns with other words in a sentence. Common examples of double prepositions include outside of, because of, according to, next to, across from, and on top of. Here is an example of a double preposition in a sentence: 

I thought you were sitting across from me. 

You see? Across and from both function as prepositions individually. When combined together in a sentence, they create a double preposition. (Also note that the prepositions help us understand how two people— you and I— are positioned with one another through spacial relationship.)  

Prepositional Phrases

Finally, prepositional phrases are groups of words that include a preposition and a noun or pronoun. Typically, the noun or pronoun that appears after the preposition in a prepositional phrase is called the object of the preposition. The object always appears at the end of the prepositional phrase. Additionally, prepositional phrases never include a verb or a subject. Here are two examples of prepositional phrases: 

The cat sat under the chair . 

In the example above, “under” is the preposition, and “the chair” is the noun, which functions as the object of the preposition. Here’s one more example: 

We walked through the overgrown field . 

Now, this example demonstrates one more thing you need to know about prepositional phrases: they can include an adjective before the object. In this example, “through” is the preposition, and “field” is the object. “Overgrown” is an adjective that modifies “the field,” and it’s quite common for adjectives to appear in prepositional phrases like the one above. 

While that might sound confusing, don’t worry: the key is identifying the preposition in the first place! Once you can find the preposition, you can start looking at the words around it to see if it forms a compound preposition, a double preposition of a prepositional phrase. 

10 Question Quiz: Test Your Knowledge of Parts of Speech Definitions and Examples

Since we’ve covered a lot of material about the 8 parts of speech with examples ( a lot of them!), we want to give you an opportunity to review and see what you’ve learned! While it might seem easier to just use a parts of speech finder instead of learning all this stuff, our parts of speech quiz can help you continue building your knowledge of the 8 parts of speech and master each one. 

Are you ready? Here we go:  

1) What are the 8 parts of speech? 

a) Noun, article, adverb, antecedent, verb, adjective, conjunction, interjection b) Noun, pronoun, verb, adverb, determiner, clause, adjective, preposition c) Noun, verb, adjective, adverb, pronoun, conjunction, interjection, preposition

2) Which parts of speech have subclasses?

a) Nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs b) Nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, conjunctions, and prepositions c) All of them! There are many types of words within each part of speech.

3) What is the difference between common nouns and proper nouns?

a) Common nouns don’t refer to specific people, places, or entities, but proper nouns do refer to specific people, places, or entities.  b) Common nouns refer to regular, everyday people, places, or entities, but proper nouns refer to famous people, places, or entities.  c) Common nouns refer to physical entities, like people, places, and objects, but proper nouns refer to nonphysical entities, like feelings, ideas, and experiences.

4) In which of the following sentences is the emboldened word a verb?

a) He was frightened by the horror film .   b) He adjusted his expectations after the first plan fell through.  c) She walked briskly to get there on time.

5) Which of the following is a correct definition of adjectives, and what other part of speech do adjectives modify?

a) Adjectives are describing words, and they modify nouns and noun phrases.  b) Adjectives are describing words, and they modify verbs and adverbs.  c) Adjectives are describing words, and they modify nouns, verbs, and adverbs.

6) Which of the following describes the function of adverbs in sentences?

a) Adverbs express frequency, degree, manner, time, place, and level of certainty. b) Adverbs express an action performed by a subject.  c) Adverbs describe nouns and noun phrases.

7) Which of the following answers contains a list of personal pronouns?

a) This, that, these, those b) I, you, me, we, he, she, him, her, they, them c) Who, what, which, whose

8) Where do interjections typically appear in a sentence?

a) Interjections can appear at the beginning of or in between sentences. b) Interjections appear at the end of sentences.  c) Interjections appear in prepositional phrases.

9) Which of the following sentences contains a prepositional phrase?

a) The dog happily wagged his tail.  b) The cow jumped over the moon.  c) She glared, angry that he forgot the flowers.

10) Which of the following is an accurate definition of a “part of speech”?

a) A category of words that serve a similar grammatical purpose in sentences. b) A category of words that are of similar length and spelling. c) A category of words that mean the same thing.

So, how did you do? If you got 1C, 2C, 3A, 4B, 5A, 6A, 7B, 8A, 9B, and 10A, you came out on top! There’s a lot to remember where the parts of speech are concerned, and if you’re looking for more practice like our quiz, try looking around for parts of speech games or parts of speech worksheets online!

What’s Next?

You might be brushing up on your grammar so you can ace the verbal portions of the SAT or ACT. Be sure you check out our guides to the grammar you need to know before you tackle those tests! Here’s our expert guide to the grammar rules you need to know for the SAT , and this article teaches you the 14 grammar rules you’ll definitely see on the ACT.

When you have a good handle on parts of speech, it can make writing essays tons easier. Learn how knowing parts of speech can help you get a perfect 12 on the ACT Essay (or an 8/8/8 on the SAT Essay ).

While we’re on the topic of grammar: keep in mind that knowing grammar rules is only part of the battle when it comes to the verbal and written portions of the SAT and ACT. Having a good vocabulary is also important to making the perfect score ! Here are 262 vocabulary words you need to know before you tackle your standardized tests.

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Ashley Sufflé Robinson has a Ph.D. in 19th Century English Literature. As a content writer for PrepScholar, Ashley is passionate about giving college-bound students the in-depth information they need to get into the school of their dreams.

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Sentence Parts and Sentence Structures

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• An Introduction to Punctuation
• Ph.D., Rhetoric and English, University of Georgia
• M.A., Modern English and American Literature, University of Leicester
• B.A., English, State University of New York

The job of grammar is to organize words into sentences, and there are many ways to do that (or we could say, "words can be organized into sentences in many different ways"). For this reason, describing how to put a sentence together isn't as easy as explaining how to bake a cake or assemble a model plane. There are no easy recipes, no step-by-step instructions. But that doesn't mean that crafting an effective sentence depends on magic or good luck.

Experienced writers know that the basic parts of a sentence can be combined and arranged in countless ways. So as we work to improve our writing, it's important to understand what these basic structures are and how to use them effectively.

We'll begin by introducing the traditional parts of speech and the most common sentence structures.

Parts of Speech

One way to begin studying basic sentence structures is to consider the traditional parts of speech (also called word classes): nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, articles, and interjections. Except for interjections ("ouch!"), which have a habit of standing by themselves, the parts of speech come in many varieties and may show up just about anywhere in a sentence. To know for sure what part of speech a word is, we have to look not only at the word itself but also at its meaning, position, and use in a sentence.

Parts of a Sentence

The basic parts of a sentence are the subject, the verb, and (often, but not always) the object. The subject is usually a noun — a word that names a person, place, or thing. The verb (or predicate) usually follows the subject and identifies an action or a state of being. An object receives the action and usually follows the verb.

Adjectives and Adverbs

A common way of expanding the basic sentence is with modifiers, words that add to the meanings of other words. The simplest modifiers are adjectives and adverbs . Adjectives modify nouns, while adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs.

Prepositional Phrases

Like adjectives and adverbs, prepositional phrases add meaning to the nouns and verbs in sentences. A prepositional phrase has two basic parts: a preposition plus a noun or a pronoun that serves as the object of the preposition.

Basic Sentence Structure

There are four basic sentence structures in English:

• A simple sentence is a sentence with just one independent clause (also called a main clause): Judy laughed.
• A compound sentence contains at least two independent clauses: Judy laughed and Jimmy cried .
• A complex sentence contains an independent clause and at least one dependent clause: Jimmy cried when Judy laughed.
• A compound-complex sentence contains two or more independent clauses and at least one dependent clause: Judy laughed and Jimmy cried when the clowns ran past their seats .

Coordination

A common way to connect related words, phrases, and even entire clauses is to coordinate them — that is, connect them with a basic coordinating conjunction such as "and" or "but."

Adjective Clauses​

To show that one idea in a sentence is more important than another, we rely on subordination, treating one word group as secondary (or subordinate) to another. One common form of subordination is the adjective clause, a word group that modifies a noun. The most common adjective clauses begin with one of these relative pronouns: who , which , and that .

Appositives

An appositive is a word or group of words that identifies or renames another word in a sentence — most often a noun that immediately precedes it. Appositive constructions offer concise ways of describing or defining a person, place, or thing.

Adverb Clauses

Like an adjective clause, an adverb clause is always dependent on (or subordinate to) an independent clause. Like an ordinary adverb, an adverb clause usually modifies a verb, though it can also modify an adjective, adverb, or even the rest of the sentence in which it appears. An adverb clause begins with a subordinating conjunction, an adverb that connects the subordinate clause to the main clause.

Participial Phrases

A participle is a verb form used as an adjective to modify nouns and pronouns. All present participles end in -ing . The past participles of all regular verbs end in -ed . Irregular verbs, however, have various past participle endings. Participles and participial phrases can add vigor to our writing, as they add information to our sentences.

Absolute Phrases

Among the various kinds of modifiers, the absolute phrase may be the least common but one of the most useful. An absolute phrase, which consists of a noun plus at least one other word, adds details to an entire sentence — details that often describe one aspect of someone or something mentioned elsewhere in the sentence.

Four Functional Types of Sentences

There are four main types of sentences that can be distinguished by their function and purpose:

• A declarative sentence makes a statement: Babies cry.
• An interrogative sentence poses a question: Why do babies cry?
• An imperative sentence gives instructions or expresses a request or demand: Please be quiet.
• An exclamatory sentence expresses strong feelings by making an exclamation: Shut up!
• English Grammar
• Definition and Discussion of Lexical-Function Grammar
• English Grammar: Discussions, Definitions, and Examples
• Complex Sentences in English Grammar
• Sentence Imitation in English
• What Is Parsing? Definition and Examples in English Grammar
• Subjects, Verbs, and Objects
• Definition and Examples of Syntax
• surface structure (generative grammar)
• Sentence Definition and Examples in English Grammar
• Construction Grammar
• What Is a Predicate?
• English Language Sentence Structure
• How to Form a Balanced Sentence
• What Are the Parts of a Prepositional Phrase?
• Transformational Grammar (TG) Definition and Examples

Parts of Speech: The Ultimate Guide for Students and Teachers

This article is part of the ultimate guide to language for teachers and students. Click the buttons below to view these.

What are Parts of Speech ?

Just as a skilled bricklayer must get to grips with the trowel, brick hammer, tape measure, and spirit level, the student-writer must develop a thorough understanding of the tools of their trade too.

In English, words can be categorized according to their common syntactic function in a sentence, i.e. the job they perform.

We call these different categories Parts of Speech . Understanding the various parts of speech and how they work has several compelling benefits for our students.

Without first acquiring a firm grasp of the various parts of speech, students will struggle to fully comprehend how language works. This is essential not only for the development of their reading comprehension but their writing skills too.

Parts of speech are the core building blocks of grammar . To understand how a language works at a sentence and a whole-text level, we must first master parts of speech.

In English, we can identify eight of these individual parts of speech, and these will provide the focus for our Complete Guide to Parts of Speech .

THE EIGHT PARTS OF SPEECH (Click to jump to each section)

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Often the first word a child speaks will be a noun, for example, Mum , Dad , cow , dog , etc.

Nouns are naming words, and, as most school kids can recite, they are the names of people, places, and things . But, what isn’t as widely understood by many of our students is that nouns can be further classified into more specific categories. 

These categories are:

Common Nouns

Proper nouns, concrete nouns, abstract nouns, collective nouns, countable nouns, uncountable nouns.

All nouns can be classified as either common or proper .

Common nouns are the general names of people, places, and things. They are groups or classes on their own, rather than specific types of people, places, or things such as we find in proper nouns.

Common nouns can be further classified as abstract or concrete – more on this shortly!

Some examples of common nouns include:

People: teacher, author, engineer, artist, singer.

Places: country, city, town, house, garden.

Things: language, trophy, magazine, movie, book.

Proper nouns are the specific names for people, places, and things. Unlike common nouns, which are always lowercase, proper nouns are capitalized. This makes them easy to identify in a text.

Where possible, using proper nouns in place of common nouns helps bring precision to a student’s writing.

Some examples of proper nouns include:

People: Mrs Casey, J.K. Rowling, Nikola Tesla, Pablo Picasso, Billie Eilish.

Places: Australia, San Francisco, Llandovery, The White House, Gardens of Versailles.

Things: Bulgarian, The World Cup, Rolling Stone, The Lion King, The Hunger Games.

Nouns Teaching Activity: Common vs Proper Nouns

• Provide students with books suitable for their current reading level.
• Instruct students to go through a page or two and identify all the nouns.
• Ask students to sort these nouns into two lists according to whether they are common nouns or proper nouns.

As mentioned, all common and proper nouns can be further classified as either concrete or abstract .

A concrete noun is any noun that can be experienced through one of the five senses. In other words, if you can see, smell, hear, taste, or touch it, then it’s a concrete noun.

Some examples of concrete nouns include:

Abstract nouns refer to those things that can’t be experienced or identified through the five senses.

They are not physical things we can perceive but intangible concepts and ideas, qualities and states.

Some examples of abstract nouns include:

Nouns Teaching Activity: Concrete Vs. Abstract Nouns

• Provide students with a book suitable for their current reading level.
• Instruct students to go through a page or two and identify all the nouns (the lists from Practice Activity #1 may be suitable).
• This time, ask students to sort these nouns into two lists according to whether they are concrete or abstract nouns.

A collective noun is the name of a group of people or things. That is, a collective noun always refers to more than one of something.

Some examples of collective nouns include:

People: a board of directors, a team of football players, a cast of actors, a band of musicians, a class of students.

Places: a range of mountains, a suite of rooms, a union of states, a chain of islands.

Things: a bale of hay, a constellation of stars, a bag of sweets, a school of fish, a flock of seagulls.

Countable nouns are nouns that refer to things that can be counted. They come in two flavors: singular and plural .

In their singular form, countable nouns are often preceded by the article, e.g. a , an , or the .

In their plural form, countable nouns are often preceded by a number. They can also be used in conjunction with quantifiers such as a few and many .

Some examples of countable nouns include:

COUNTABLE NOUNS EXAMPLES

Also known as mass nouns, uncountable nouns are, as their name suggests, impossible to count. Abstract ideas such as bravery and compassion are uncountable, as are things like liquid and bread .

These types of nouns are always treated in the singular and usually do not have a plural form. 

They can stand alone or be used in conjunction with words and phrases such as any , some , a little , a lot of , and much .

Some examples of uncountable nouns include:

UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS EXAMPLES

Nouns Teaching Activity: How many can you list ?

• Organize students into small groups to work collaboratively.
• Challenge students to list as many countable and uncountable nouns as they can in ten minutes.
• To make things more challenging, stipulate that there must be an uncountable noun and a countable noun to gain a point.
• The winning group is the one that scores the most points.

Without a verb, there is no sentence! Verbs are the words we use to represent both internal and external actions or states of being. Without a verb, nothing happens.

There are many different types of verbs. Here, we will look at five important verb forms organised according to the jobs they perform:

Dynamic Verbs

Stative verbs, transitive verbs, intransitive verbs, auxiliary verbs.

Each verb can be classified as being either an action or a stative verb.

Dynamic or action verbs describe the physical activity performed by the subject of a sentence. This type of verb is usually the first we learn as children. 

For example, run , hit , throw , hide , eat , sleep , watch , write , etc. are all dynamic verbs, as is any action performed by the body.

Let’s see a few examples in sentences:

• I jogged around the track three times.
• She will dance as if her life depends on it.
• She took a candy from the bag, unwrapped it, and popped it into her mouth.

If a verb doesn’t describe a physical activity, then it is a stative verb.

Stative verbs refer to states of being, conditions, or mental processes. Generally, we can classify stative verbs into four types:

• Emotions/Thoughts

Some examples of stative verbs include: 

Senses: hurt, see, smell, taste, hear, etc.

Emotions: love, doubt, desire, remember, believe, etc.

Being: be, have, require, involve, contain, etc.

Possession: want, include, own, have, belong, etc.

Here are some stative verbs at work in sentences:

• That is one thing we can agree on.
• I remember my first day at school like it was yesterday.
• The university requires students to score at least 80%.
• She has only three remaining.

Sometimes verbs can fit into more than one category, e.g., be , have , look , see , e.g.,

• She looks beautiful. (Stative)
• I look through the telescope. (Dynamic)

Each action or stative verb can also be further classified as transitive or intransitive .

A transitive verb takes a direct object after it. The object is the noun, noun phrase, or pronoun that has something done to it by the subject of the sentence.

We see this in the most straightforward English sentences, i.e., the Subject-Verb-Object or SVO sentence. 

Here are two examples to illustrate. Note: the subject of each sentence is underlined, and the transitive verbs are in bold.

• The teacher answered the student’s questions.
• She studies languages at university.
• My friend loves cabbage.

Most sentences in English employ transitive verbs.

An intransitive verb does not take a direct object after it. It is important to note that only nouns, noun phrases, and pronouns can be classed as direct objects. 

Here are some examples of intransitive verbs – notice how none of these sentences has direct objects after their verbs.

• Jane’s health improved .
• The car ran smoothly.
• The school opens at 9 o’clock.

Auxiliary verbs, also known as ‘helping’ verbs, work with other verbs to affect the meaning of a sentence. They do this by combining with a main verb to alter the sentence’s tense, mood, or voice.

Auxiliary verbs will frequently use not in the negative.

There are relatively few auxiliary verbs in English. Here is a list of the main ones:

• be (am, are, is, was, were, being)
• do (did, does, doing)
• have (had, has, having)

Here are some examples of auxiliary verbs (in bold) in action alongside a main verb (underlined).

She is working as hard as she can.

• You must not eat dinner until after five o’clock.
• The parents may come to the graduation ceremony.

The Subject-Auxiliary Inversion Test

To test whether or not a verb is an auxiliary verb, you can use the Subject-Auxiliary Inversion Test .

• Take the sentence, e.g:
• Now, invert the subject and the suspected auxiliary verb to see if it creates a question.

Is she working as hard as she can?

• Can it take ‘not’ in the negative form?

She is not working as hard as she can.

• If the answer to both of these questions is yes, you have an auxiliary verb. If not, you have a full verb.

Verbs Teaching Activity: Identify the Verbs

• Instruct students to go through an appropriate text length (e.g., paragraph, page, etc.) and compile a list of verbs.
• In groups, students should then discuss and categorize each verb according to whether they think they are dynamic or stative, transitive or intransitive, and/or auxiliary verbs.

The job of an adjective is to modify a noun or a pronoun. It does this by describing, quantifying, or identifying the noun or pronoun. Adjectives help to make writing more interesting and specific. Usually, the adjective is placed before the word it modifies.

As with other parts of speech, not all adjectives are the same. There are many different types of adjectives and, in this article, we will look at:

Descriptive Adjectives

• Degrees of Adjectives

Quantitative Adjectives

Demonstrative adjectives, possessive adjectives, interrogative adjectives, proper adjectives.

Descriptive adjectives are what most students think of first when asked what an adjective is. Descriptive adjectives tell us something about the quality of the noun or pronoun in question. For this reason, they are sometimes referred to as qualitative adjectives .

Some examples of this type of adjective include:

• hard-working

In sentences, they look like this:

• The pumpkin was enormous .
• It was an impressive feat of athleticism I ever saw.
• Undoubtedly, this was an exquisite vase.
• She faced some tough competition.

Degrees of Adjectives 

Descriptive adjectives have three degrees to express varying degrees of intensity and to compare one thing to another. These degrees are referred to as positive , comparative , and superlative .

The positive degree is the regular form of the descriptive adjective when no comparison is being made, e.g., strong .

The comparative degree is used to compare two people, places, or things, e.g., stronger .

There are several ways to form the comparative, methods include:

• Adding more or less before the adjective
• Adding -er to the end of one syllable adjectives
• For two-syllable adjectives ending in y , change the y to an i and add -er to the end.

The superlative degree is typically used when comparing three or more things to denote the upper or lowermost limit of a quality, e.g., strongest .

There are several ways to form the superlative, including:

• Adding most or least before the adjective
• Adding -est to the end of one syllable adjectives
• For two-syllable adjectives ending in y , change the y to an i and add -est to the end.

There are also some irregular adjectives of degree that follow no discernible pattern that must be learned off by students, e.g., good – better – best .

Let’s take a look at these degrees of adjectives in their different forms.

Let’s take a quick look at some sample sentences:

• It was a beautiful example of kindness. 

Comparative

• The red is nice, but the green is prettier .

Superlative

• This mango is the most delicious fruit I have ever tastiest. 

Quantitive adjectives provide information about how many or how much of the noun or pronoun.

Some quantitive adjectives include:

• She only ate half of her sandwich.
• This is my first time here.
• I would like three slices, please.
• There isn’t a single good reason to go.
• There aren’t many places like it.
• It’s too much of a good thing.
• I gave her a whole box of them.

A demonstrative adjective identifies or emphasizes a noun’s place in time or space. The most common demonstrative adjectives are this , that , these , and those .

Here are some examples of demonstrative adjectives in use:

• This boat is mine.
• That car belongs to her.
• These shoes clash with my dress.
• Those people are from Canada.

Possessive adjectives show ownership, and they are sometimes confused with possessive pronouns.

The most common possessive adjectives are my , your , his , her , our , and their .

Students need to be careful not to confuse these with possessive pronouns such as mine , yours , his (same in both contexts), hers , ours , and theirs .

Here are some examples of possessive adjectives in sentences:

• My favorite food is sushi.
• I would like to read your book when you have finished it.
• I believe her car is the red one.
• This is their way of doing things.
• Our work here is done.

Interrogative adjectives ask questions, and, in common with many types of adjectives, they are always followed by a noun. Basically, these are the question words we use to start questions. Be careful however, interrogative adjectives modify nouns. If the word after the question word is a verb, then you have an interrogative adverb on hand.

Some examples of interrogative adjectives include what , which , and whose .

Let’s take a look at these in action:

• What drink would you like?
• Which car should we take?
• Whose shoes are these?

Please note: Whose can also fit into the possessive adjective category too.

We can think of proper adjectives as the adjective form of proper nouns – remember those? They were the specific names of people, places, and things and need to be capitalized.

Let’s take the proper noun for the place America . If we wanted to make an adjective out of this proper noun to describe something, say, a car we would get ‘ American car’.

Let’s take a look at another few examples:

• Joe enjoyed his cup of Ethiopian coffee.
• My favorite plays are Shakespearean tragedies.
• No doubt about it, Fender guitars are some of the best in the world.
• The Mona Lisa is a fine example of Renaissance art.

Though it may come as a surprise to some, articles are also adjectives as, like all adjectives, they modify nouns. Articles help us determine a noun’s specification. 

For example, ‘a’ and ‘an’ are used in front of an unspecific noun, while ‘the’ is used when referring to a specific noun.

Let’s see some articles as adjectives in action!

• You will find an apple inside the cupboard.
• This is a car.
• The recipe is a family secret.

Adjectives Teaching Activity: Types of Adjective Tally

• Choose a suitable book and assign an appropriate number of pages or length of a chapter for students to work with.
• Students work their way through each page, tallying up the number of each type of adjective they can identify using a table like the one below:

• Note how degrees of adjective has been split into comparative and superlative. The positive forms will take care of in the descriptive category.
• You may wish to adapt this table to exclude the easier categories to identify, such as articles and demonstrative, for example.

Traditionally, adverbs are defined as those words that modify verbs, but they do so much more than that. They can be used not only to describe how verbs are performed but also to modify adjectives, other adverbs, clauses, prepositions, or entire sentences.

With such a broad range of tasks at the feet of the humble adverb, it would be impossible to cover every possibility in this article alone. However, there are five main types of adverbs our students should familiarize themselves with. These are:

Adverbs of Manner

Adverbs of time, adverbs of frequency, adverbs of place, adverbs of degree.

Adverbs of manner describe how or the way in which something happens or is done. This type of adverb is often the first type taught to students. Many of these end with -ly . Some common examples include happily , quickly , sadly , slowly , and fast .

Here are a few taster sentences employing adverbs of manner:

• She cooks Chinese food well .
• The children played happily together.
• The students worked diligently on their projects.
• Her mother taught her to cross the road carefully .
• The date went badly .

Adverbs of time indicate when something happens. Common adverbs of time include before , now , then , after , already , immediately , and soon .

Here are some sentences employing adverbs of time:

• I go to school early on Wednesdays.
• She would like to finish her studies eventually .
• Recently , Sarah moved to Bulgaria.
• I have already finished my homework.
• They have been missing training lately .

While adverbs of time deal with when something happens, adverbs of frequency are concerned with how often something happens. Common adverbs of frequency include always , frequently , sometimes , seldom , and never .

Here’s what they look like in sentences:

• Harry usually goes to bed around ten.
• Rachel rarely eats breakfast in the morning.
• Often , I’ll go home straight after school.
• I occasionally have ketchup on my pizza.
• She seldom goes out with her friends.

Adverbs of place, as the name suggests, describe where something happens or where it is. They can refer to position, distance, or direction. Some common adverbs of place include above , below , beside , inside , and anywhere .

Check out some examples in the sentences below:

• Underneath the bridge, there lived a troll.
• There were pizzerias everywhere in the city.
• We walked around the park in the pouring rain.
• If the door is open, then go inside .
• When I am older, I would like to live nearby .

Adverbs of degree express the degree to which or how much of something is done. They can also be used to describe levels of intensity. Some common adverbs of degree include barely , little , lots , completely , and entirely .

Here are some adverbs of degree at work in sentences:

• I hardly noticed her when she walked into the room.
• The little girl had almost finished her homework.
• The job was completely finished.
• I was so delighted to hear the good news.
• Jack was totally delighted to see Diane after all these years.

Adverb Teaching Activity: The Adverb Generator

• Give students a worksheet containing a table divided into five columns. Each column bears a heading of one of the different types of adverbs ( manner , time , frequency , place , degree ).
• Challenge each group to generate as many different examples of each adverb type and record these in the table.
• The winning group is the one with the most adverbs. As a bonus, or tiebreaker, task the students to make sentences with some of the adverbs.

Pronouns are used in place of a specific noun used earlier in a sentence. They are helpful when the writer wants to avoid repetitive use of a particular noun such as a name. For example, in the following sentences, the pronoun she is used to stand for the girl’s name Mary after it is used in the first sentence. 

Mary loved traveling. She had been to France, Thailand, and Taiwan already, but her favorite place in the world was Australia. She had never seen an animal quite as curious-looking as the duck-billed platypus.

We also see her used in place of Mary’s in the above passage. There are many different pronouns and, in this article, we’ll take a look at:

Subject Pronouns

Object pronouns, possessive pronouns, reflexive pronouns, intensive pronouns, demonstrative pronouns, interrogative pronouns.

Subject pronouns are the type of pronoun most of us think of when we hear the term pronoun . They operate as the subject of a verb in a sentence. They are also known as personal pronouns.

The subject pronouns are:

Here are a few examples of subject pronouns doing what they do best:

• Sarah and I went to the movies last Thursday night.
• That is my pet dog. It is an Irish Wolfhound.
• My friends are coming over tonight, they will be here at seven.
• We won’t all fit into the same car.
• You have done a fantastic job with your grammar homework!

Object pronouns operate as the object of a verb, or a preposition, in a sentence. They act in the same way as object nouns but are used when it is clear what the object is.

The object pronouns are:

Here are a few examples of object pronouns in sentences:

• I told you , this is a great opportunity for you .
• Give her some more time, please.
• I told her I did not want to do it .
• That is for us .
• Catherine is the girl whom I mentioned in my letter.

Possessive pronouns indicate ownership of a noun. For example, in the sentence:

These books are mine .

The word mine stands for my books . It’s important to note that while possessive pronouns look similar to possessive adjectives, their function in a sentence is different.

The possessive pronouns are:

Let’s take a look at how these are used in sentences:

• Yours is the yellow jacket.
• I hope this ticket is mine .
• The train that leaves at midnight is theirs .
• Ours is the first house on the right.
• She is the person whose opinion I value most.
• I believe that is his .

Reflexive pronouns are used in instances where the object and the subject are the same. For example, in the sentence, she did it herself , the words she and herself refer to the same person.

The reflexive pronoun forms are:

Here are a few more examples of reflexive pronouns at work:

• I told myself that numerous times.
• He got himself a new computer with his wages.
• We will go there ourselves .
• You must do it yourself .
• The only thing to fear is fear itself .

This type of pronoun can be used to indicate emphasis. For example, when we write, I spoke to the manager herself , the point is made that we talked to the person in charge and not someone lower down the hierarchy. 

Similar to the reflexive pronouns above, we can easily differentiate between reflexive and intensive pronouns by asking if the pronoun is essential to the sentence’s meaning. If it isn’t, then it is used solely for emphasis, and therefore, it’s an intensive rather than a reflexive pronoun.

Often confused with demonstrative adjectives, demonstrative pronouns can stand alone in a sentence.

When this , that , these , and those are used as demonstrative adjectives they come before the noun they modify. When these same words are used as demonstrative pronouns, they replace a noun rather than modify it.

Here are some examples of demonstrative pronouns in sentences:

• This is delicious.
• That is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.
• These are not mine.
• Those belong to the driver.

Interrogative pronouns are used to form questions. They are the typical question words that come at the start of questions, with a question mark coming at the end. The interrogative pronouns are:

Putting them into sentences looks like this:

• What is the name of your best friend?
• Which of these is your favourite?
• Who goes to the market with you?
• Whom do you think will win?
• Whose is that?

Pronoun Teaching Activity: Pronoun Review Table

• Provide students with a review table like the one below to revise the various pronoun forms.
• They can use this table to help them produce independent sentences.
• Once students have had a chance to familiarize themselves thoroughly with each of the different types of pronouns, provide the students with the headings and ask them to complete a table from memory.  

Prepositions

Prepositions provide extra information showing the relationship between a noun or pronoun and another part of a sentence. These are usually short words that come directly before nouns or pronouns, e.g., in , at , on , etc.

There are, of course, many different types of prepositions, each relating to particular types of information. In this article, we will look at:

Prepositions of Time

Prepositions of place, prepositions of movement, prepositions of manner, prepositions of measure.

• Preposition of Agency
• Preposition of Possession
• Preposition of Source

Phrasal Prepositions

It’s worth noting that several prepositional words make an appearance in several different categories of prepositions.

Prepositions of time indicate when something happens. Common prepositions of time include after , at , before , during , in , on .

Let’s see some of these at work:

• I have been here since Thursday.
• My daughter was born on the first of September.
• He went overseas during the war.
• Before you go, can you pay the bill, please?
• We will go out after work.

Sometimes students have difficulty knowing when to use in , on , or at . These little words are often confused. The table below provides helpful guidance to help students use the right preposition in the right context.

The prepositions of place, in , at , on , will be instantly recognisable as they also double as prepositions of time. Again, students can sometimes struggle a little to select the correct one for the situation they are describing. Some guidelines can be helpful.

• If something is contained or confined inside, we use in .
• If something is placed upon a surface, we use on .
• If something is located at a specific point, we use at .

A few example sentences will assist in illustrating these:

• He is in the house.
• I saw it in a magazine.
• In France, we saw many great works of art.
• Put it on the table.
• We sailed on the river.
• Hang that picture on the wall, please.
• We arrived at the airport just after 1 pm.
• I saw her at university.
• The boy stood at the window.

Usually used with verbs of motion, prepositions of movement indicate movement from one place to another. The most commonly used preposition of movement is to .

Some other prepositions of movement include:

Here’s how they look in some sample sentences:

• The ball rolled across the table towards me.
• We looked up into the sky.
• The children ran past the shop on their way home.
• Jackie ran down the road to greet her friend.
• She walked confidently through the curtains and out onto the stage.

Preposition of manner shows us how something is done or how it happens. The most common of these are by , in , like , on , with .

Let’s take a look at how they work in sentences:

• We went to school by bus.
• During the holidays, they traveled across the Rockies on foot.
• Janet went to the airport in a taxi.
• She played soccer like a professional.
• I greeted her with a smile.

Prepositions of measure are used to indicate quantities and specific units of measurement. The two most common of these are by and of .

Check out these sample sentences:

• I’m afraid we only sell that fabric by the meter.
• I will pay you by the hour.
• She only ate half of the ice cream. I ate the other half.
• A kilogram of apples is the same weight as a kilogram of feathers.

Prepositions of Agency

These prepositions indicate the causal relationship between a noun or pronoun and an action. They show the cause of something happening. The most commonly used prepositions of agency are by and with .

Here are some examples of their use in sentences:

• The Harry Potter series was written by J.K. Rowling.
• This bowl was made by a skilled craftsman.
• His heart was filled with love.
• The glass was filled with water.

Prepositions of Possession

Prepositions of possessions indicate who or what something belongs to. The most common of these are of , to , and with .

Let’s take a look:

• He is the husband of my cousin.
• He is a friend of the mayor.
• This once belonged to my grandmother.
• All these lands belong to the Ministry.
• The man with the hat is waiting outside.
• The boy with the big feet tripped and fell.

Prepositions of Source

Prepositions of source indicate where something comes from or its origins. The two most common prepositions of source are from and by . There is some crossover here with prepositions of agency.

Here are some examples:

• He comes from New Zealand.
• These oranges are from our own orchard.
• I was warmed by the heat of the fire.
• She was hugged by her husband.
• The yoghurt is of Bulgarian origin.

Phrasal prepositions are also known as compound prepositions. These are phrases of two or more words that function in the same way as prepositions. That is, they join nouns or pronouns to the rest of the sentence.

Some common phrasal prepositions are:

• According to
• For a change
• In addition to
• In spite of
• Rather than
• With the exception of

Students should be careful of overusing phrasal prepositions as some of them can seem clichéd. Frequently, it’s best to say things in as few words as is necessary.

Preposition Teaching Activity: Pr eposition Sort

• Print out a selection of the different types of prepositions on pieces of paper.
• Organize students into smaller working groups and provide each group with a set of prepositions.
• Using the headings above as categories, challenge students to sort the prepositions into the correct groups. Note that some prepositions will comfortably fit into more than one group.
• The winning group is the one to sort all prepositions correctly first.
• As an extension exercise, students can select a preposition from each category and write a sample sentence for it.

ConjunctionS

Conjunctions are used to connect words, phrases, and clauses. There are three main types of conjunction that are used to join different parts of sentences. These are:

• Coordinating
• Subordinating
• Correlative

Coordinating Conjunctions

These conjunctions are used to join sentence components that are equal such as two words, two phrases, or two clauses. In English, there are seven of these that can be memorized using the mnemonic FANBOYS:

Here are a few example sentences employing coordinating conjunctions:

• As a writer, he needed only a pen and paper.
• I would describe him as strong but lazy.
• Either we go now or not at all.

Subordinating Conjunctions

Subordinating conjunctions are used to introduce dependent clauses in sentences. Basically, dependent clauses are parts of sentences that cannot stand as complete sentences on their own. 

Some of the most common subordinate conjunctions are: 

Let’s take a look at some example sentences:

• I will complete it by Tuesday if I have time.
• Although she likes it, she won’t buy it.
• Jack will give it to you after he finds it.

Correlative Conjunctions

Correlative conjunctions are like shoes; they come in pairs. They work together to make sentences work. Some come correlative conjunctions are:

• either / or
• neither / nor
• Not only / but also

Let’s see how some of these work together:

• If I were you, I would get either the green one or the yellow one.
• John wants neither pity nor help.
• I don’t know whether you prefer horror or romantic movies.

Conjunction Teaching Activity: Conjunction Challenge

• Organize students into Talking Pairs .
• Partner A gives Partner B an example of a conjunction.
• Partner B must state which type of conjunction it is, e.g. coordinating, subordinating, or correlative.
• Partner B must then compose a sentence that uses the conjunction correctly and tell it to Partner A.
• Partners then swap roles.

InterjectionS

Interjections focus on feelings and are generally grammatically unrelated to the rest of the sentence or sentences around them. They convey thoughts and feelings and are common in our speech. They are often followed by exclamation marks in writing. Interjections include expressions such as:

• Eww! That is so gross!
• Oh , I don’t know. I’ve never used one before.
• That’s very… err …generous of you, I suppose.
• Wow! That is fantastic news!
• Uh-Oh! I don’t have any more left.

Interjection Teaching Activity: Create a scenario

• Once students clearly understand what interjections are, brainstorm as a class as many as possible.
• Write a master list of interjections on the whiteboard.
• Partner A suggests an interjection word or phrase to Partner B.
• Partner B must create a fictional scenario where this interjection would be used appropriately.

With a good grasp of the fundamentals of parts of speech, your students will now be equipped to do a deeper dive into the wild waters of English grammar. 

To learn more about the twists and turns of English grammar, check out our comprehensive article on English grammar here.

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MORE ARTICLES RELATED TO PARTS OF SPEECH

• English Grammar
• Parts of Speech

Parts of Speech - Definition, 8 Types and Examples

In the English language , every word is called a part of speech. The role a word plays in a sentence denotes what part of speech it belongs to. Explore the definition of parts of speech, the different parts of speech and examples in this article.

Table of Contents

Parts of speech definition, different parts of speech with examples.

• Sentences Examples for the 8 Parts of Speech

A Small Exercise to Check Your Understanding of Parts of Speech

Frequently asked questions on parts of speech, what is a part of speech.

Parts of speech are among the first grammar topics we learn when we are in school or when we start our English language learning process. Parts of speech can be defined as words that perform different roles in a sentence. Some parts of speech can perform the functions of other parts of speech too.

• The Oxford Learner’s Dictionary defines parts of speech as “one of the classes into which words are divided according to their grammar, such as noun, verb, adjective, etc.”
• The Cambridge Dictionary also gives a similar definition – “One of the grammatical groups into which words are divided, such as noun, verb, and adjective”.

Parts of speech include nouns, pronouns, verbs, adverbs, adjectives, prepositions, conjunctions and interjections.

8 Parts of Speech Definitions and Examples:

1. Nouns are words that are used to name people, places, animals, ideas and things. Nouns can be classified into two main categories: Common nouns and Proper nouns . Common nouns are generic like ball, car, stick, etc., and proper nouns are more specific like Charles, The White House, The Sun, etc.

Examples of nouns used in sentences:

• She bought a pair of shoes . (thing)
• I have a pet. (animal)
• Is this your book ? (object)
• Many people have a fear of darkness . (ideas/abstract nouns)
• He is my brother . (person)
• This is my school . (place)

Also, explore Singular Nouns and Plural Nouns .

2. Pronouns are words that are used to substitute a noun in a sentence. There are different types of pronouns. Some of them are reflexive pronouns, possessive pronouns , relative pronouns and indefinite pronouns . I, he, she, it, them, his, yours, anyone, nobody, who, etc., are some of the pronouns.

Examples of pronouns used in sentences:

• I reached home at six in the evening. (1st person singular pronoun)
• Did someone see a red bag on the counter? (Indefinite pronoun)
• Is this the boy who won the first prize? (Relative pronoun)
• That is my mom. (Possessive pronoun)
• I hurt myself yesterday when we were playing cricket. (Reflexive pronoun)

3. Verbs are words that denote an action that is being performed by the noun or the subject in a sentence. They are also called action words. Some examples of verbs are read, sit, run, pick, garnish, come, pitch, etc.

Examples of verbs used in sentences:

• She plays cricket every day.
• Darshana and Arul are going to the movies.
• My friends visited me last week.
• Did you have your breakfast?
• My name is Meenakshi Kishore.

4. Adverbs are words that are used to provide more information about verbs, adjectives and other adverbs used in a sentence. There are five main types of adverbs namely, adverbs of manner , adverbs of degree , adverbs of frequency , adverbs of time and adverbs of place . Some examples of adverbs are today, quickly, randomly, early, 10 a.m. etc.

Examples of adverbs used in sentences:

• Did you come here to buy an umbrella? (Adverb of place)
• I did not go to school yesterday as I was sick. (Adverb of time)
• Savio reads the newspaper everyday . (Adverb of frequency)
• Can you please come quickly ? (Adverb of manner)
• Tony was so sleepy that he could hardly keep his eyes open during the meeting. (Adverb of degree)

5. Adjectives are words that are used to describe or provide more information about the noun or the subject in a sentence. Some examples of adjectives include good, ugly, quick, beautiful, late, etc.

Examples of adjectives used in sentences:

• The place we visited yesterday was serene .
• Did you see how big that dog was?
• The weather is pleasant today.
• The red dress you wore on your birthday was lovely.
• My brother had only one chapati for breakfast.

6. Prepositions are words that are used to link one part of the sentence to another. Prepositions show the position of the object or subject in a sentence. Some examples of prepositions are in, out, besides, in front of, below, opposite, etc.

Examples of prepositions used in sentences:

• The teacher asked the students to draw lines on the paper so that they could write in straight lines.
• The child hid his birthday presents under his bed.
• Mom asked me to go to the store near my school.
• The thieves jumped over the wall and escaped before we could reach home.

7. Conjunctions are a part of speech that is used to connect two different parts of a sentence, phrases and clauses . Some examples of conjunctions are and, or, for, yet, although, because, not only, etc.

Examples of conjunctions used in sentences:

• Meera and Jasmine had come to my birthday party.
• Jane did not go to work as she was sick.
• Unless you work hard, you cannot score good marks.
• I have not finished my project,  yet I went out with my friends.

8. Interjections are words that are used to convey strong emotions or feelings. Some examples of interjections are oh, wow, alas, yippee, etc. It is always followed by an exclamation mark.

Examples of interjections used in sentences:

• Wow ! What a wonderful work of art.
• Alas ! That is really sad.
• Yippee ! We won the match.

Sentence Examples for the 8 Parts of Speech

• Noun – Tom lives in New York .
• Pronoun – Did she find the book she was looking for?
• Verb – I reached home.
• Adverb – The tea is too hot.
• Adjective – The movie was amazing .
• Preposition – The candle was kept under the table.
• Conjunction – I was at home all day, but I am feeling very tired.
• Interjection – Oh ! I forgot to turn off the stove.

Let us find out if you have understood the different parts of speech and their functions. Try identifying which part of speech the highlighted words belong to.

• My brother came home  late .
• I am a good girl.
• This is the book I  was looking for.
• Whoa ! This is amazing .
• The climate  in  Kodaikanal is very pleasant.
• Can you please pick up Dan and me on  your way home?

Now, let us see if you got it right. Check your answers.

• My – Pronoun, Home – Noun, Late – Adverb
• Am – Verb, Good – Adjective
• I – Pronoun, Was looking – Verb
• Whoa – Interjection, Amazing – Adjective
• Climate – Noun, In – Preposition, Kodaikanal – Noun, Very – Adverb
• And – Conjunction, On – Preposition, Your – Pronoun

What are parts of speech?

The term ‘parts of speech’ refers to words that perform different functions in a sentence  in order to give the sentence a proper meaning and structure.

How many parts of speech are there?

There are 8 parts of speech in total.

What are the 8 parts of speech?

Nouns, pronouns, verbs, adverbs, adjectives, prepositions, conjunctions and interjections are the 8 parts of speech.

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15 Powerful Speech Opening Lines (And How to Create Your Own)

Hrideep barot.

• Public Speaking , Speech Writing

Powerful speech opening lines set the tone and mood of your speech. It’s what grips the audience to want to know more about the rest of your talk.

The first few seconds are critical. It’s when you have maximum attention of the audience. And you must capitalize on that!

Instead of starting off with something plain and obvious such as a ‘Thank you’ or ‘Good Morning’, there’s so much more you can do for a powerful speech opening (here’s a great article we wrote a while ago on how you should NOT start your speech ).

To help you with this, I’ve compiled some of my favourite openings from various speakers. These speakers have gone on to deliver TED talks , win international Toastmaster competitions or are just noteworthy people who have mastered the art of communication.

After each speaker’s opening line, I have added how you can include their style of opening into your own speech. Understanding how these great speakers do it will certainly give you an idea to create your own speech opening line which will grip the audience from the outset!

Alright! Let’s dive into the 15 powerful speech openings…

Note: Want to take your communications skills to the next level? Book a complimentary consultation with one of our expert communication coaches. We’ll look under the hood of your hurdles and pick two to three growth opportunities so you can speak with impact!

1. Ric Elias

Opening: “Imagine a big explosion as you climb through 3,000 ft. Imagine a plane full of smoke. Imagine an engine going clack, clack, clack. It sounds scary. Well I had a unique seat that day. I was sitting in 1D.”

How to use the power of imagination to open your speech?

Putting your audience in a state of imagination can work extremely well to captivate them for the remainder of your talk.

It really helps to bring your audience in a certain mood that preps them for what’s about to come next. Speakers have used this with high effectiveness by transporting their audience into an imaginary land to help prove their point.

When Ric Elias opened his speech, the detail he used (3000 ft, sound of the engine going clack-clack-clack) made me feel that I too was in the plane. He was trying to make the audience experience what he was feeling – and, at least in my opinion, he did.

When using the imagination opening for speeches, the key is – detail. While we want the audience to wander into imagination, we want them to wander off to the image that we want to create for them. So, detail out your scenario if you’re going to use this technique.

Make your audience feel like they too are in the same circumstance as you were when you were in that particular situation.

2. Barack Obama

Opening: “You can’t say it, but you know it’s true.”

3. Seth MacFarlane

Opening: “There’s nowhere I would rather be on a day like this than around all this electoral equipment.” (It was raining)

How to use humour to open your speech?

When you use humour in a manner that suits your personality, it can set you up for a great speech. Why? Because getting a laugh in the first 30 seconds or so is a great way to quickly get the audience to like you.

And when they like you, they are much more likely to listen to and believe in your ideas.

Obama effortlessly uses his opening line to entice laughter among the audience. He brilliantly used the setting (the context of Trump becoming President) and said a line that completely matched his style of speaking.

Saying a joke without really saying a joke and getting people to laugh requires you to be completely comfortable in your own skin. And that’s not easy for many people (me being one of them).

If the joke doesn’t land as expected, it could lead to a rocky start.

Keep in mind the following when attempting to deliver a funny introduction:

• Know your audience: Make sure your audience gets the context of the joke (if it’s an inside joke among the members you’re speaking to, that’s even better!). You can read this article we wrote where we give you tips on how you can actually get to know your audience better to ensure maximum impact with your speech openings
• The joke should suit your natural personality. Don’t make it look forced or it won’t elicit the desired response
• Test the opening out on a few people who match your real audience. Analyze their response and tweak the joke accordingly if necessary
• Starting your speech with humour means your setting the tone of your speech. It would make sense to have a few more jokes sprinkled around the rest of the speech as well as the audience might be expecting the same from you

4. Mohammed Qahtani

Opening: Puts a cigarette on his lips, lights a lighter, stops just before lighting the cigarette. Looks at audience, “What?”

5. Darren Tay

Opening: Puts a white pair of briefs over his pants.

How to use props to begin your speech?

The reason props work so well in a talk is because in most cases the audience is not expecting anything more than just talking. So when a speaker pulls out an object that is unusual, everyone’s attention goes right to it.

It makes you wonder why that prop is being used in this particular speech.

The key word here is unusual . To grip the audience’s attention at the beginning of the speech, the prop being used should be something that the audience would never expect. Otherwise, it just becomes something that is common. And common = boring!

What Mohammed Qahtani and Darren Tay did superbly well in their talks was that they used props that nobody expected them to.

By pulling out a cigarette and lighter or a white pair of underwear, the audience can’t help but be gripped by what the speaker is about to do next. And that makes for a powerful speech opening.

6. Simon Sinek

Opening: “How do you explain when things don’t go as we assume? Or better, how do you explain when others are able to achieve things that seem to defy all of the assumptions?”

7. Julian Treasure

Opening: “The human voice. It’s the instrument we all play. It’s the most powerful sound in the world. Probably the only one that can start a war or say “I love you.” And yet many people have the experience that when they speak people don’t listen to them. Why is that? How can we speak powerfully to make change in the world?”

How to use questions to open a speech?

I use this method often. Starting off with a question is the simplest way to start your speech in a manner that immediately engages the audience.

But we should keep our questions compelling as opposed to something that is fairly obvious.

I’ve heard many speakers start their speeches with questions like “How many of us want to be successful?”

No one is going to say ‘no’ to that and frankly, I just feel silly raising my hand at such questions.

Simon Sinek and Jullian Treasure used questions in a manner that really made the audience think and make them curious to find out what the answer to that question is.

What Jullian Treasure did even better was the use of a few statements which built up to his question. This made the question even more compelling and set the theme for what the rest of his talk would be about.

So think of what question you can ask in your speech that will:

• Set the theme for the remainder of your speech
• Not be something that is fairly obvious
• Be compelling enough so that the audience will actually want to know what the answer to that question will be

8. Aaron Beverley

Opening: Long pause (after an absurdly long introduction of a 57-word speech title). “Be honest. You enjoyed that, didn’t you?”

How to use silence for speech openings?

The reason this speech opening stands out is because of the fact that the title itself is 57 words long. The audience was already hilariously intrigued by what was going to come next.

But what’s so gripping here is the way Aaron holds the crowd’s suspense by…doing nothing. For about 10 to 12 seconds he did nothing but stand and look at the audience. Everyone quietened down. He then broke this silence by a humorous remark that brought the audience laughing down again.

When going on to open your speech, besides focusing on building a killer opening sentence, how about just being silent?

It’s important to keep in mind that the point of having a strong opening is so that the audience’s attention is all on you and are intrigued enough to want to listen to the rest of your speech.

Silence is a great way to do that. When you get on the stage, just pause for a few seconds (about 3 to 5 seconds) and just look at the crowd. Let the audience and yourself settle in to the fact that the spotlight is now on you.

I can’t put my finger on it, but there is something about starting the speech off with a pure pause that just makes the beginning so much more powerful. It adds credibility to you as a speaker as well, making you look more comfortable and confident on stage. 

If you want to know more about the power of pausing in public speaking , check out this post we wrote. It will give you a deeper insight into the importance of pausing and how you can harness it for your own speeches. You can also check out this video to know more about Pausing for Public Speaking:

9. Dan Pink

Opening: “I need to make a confession at the outset here. Little over 20 years ago, I did something that I regret. Something that I’m not particularly proud of. Something that in many ways I wish no one would ever know but that here I feel kind of obliged to reveal.”

10. Kelly McGonigal

Opening: “I have a confession to make. But first I want you to make a little confession to me.”

How to use a build-up to open your speech?

When there are so many amazing ways to start a speech and grip an audience from the outset, why would you ever choose to begin your speech with a ‘Good morning?’.

That’s what I love about build-ups. They set the mood for something awesome that’s about to come in that the audience will feel like they just have to know about.

Instead of starting a speech as it is, see if you can add some build-up to your beginning itself. For instance, in Kelly McGonigal’s speech, she could have started off with the question of stress itself (which she eventually moves on to in her speech). It’s not a bad way to start the speech.

But by adding the statement of “I have a confession to make” and then not revealing the confession for a little bit, the audience is gripped to know what she’s about to do next and find out what indeed is her confession.

11. Tim Urban

Opening: “So in college, I was a government major. Which means that I had to write a lot of papers. Now when a normal student writes a paper, they might spread the work out a little like this.”

12. Scott Dinsmore

Opening: “8 years ago, I got the worst career advice of my life.”

How to use storytelling as a speech opening?

“The most powerful person in the world is the storyteller.” Steve Jobs

Storytelling is the foundation of good speeches. Starting your speech with a story is a great way to grip the audience’s attention. It makes them yearn to want to know how the rest of the story is going to pan out.

Tim Urban starts off his speech with a story dating back to his college days. His use of slides is masterful and something we all can learn from. But while his story sounds simple, it does the job of intriguing the audience to want to know more.

As soon as I heard the opening lines, I thought to myself “If normal students write their paper in a certain manner, how does Tim write his papers?”

Combine such a simple yet intriguing opening with comedic slides, and you’ve got yourself a pretty gripping speech.

Scott Dismore’s statement has a similar impact. However, just a side note, Scott Dismore actually started his speech with “Wow, what an honour.”

I would advise to not start your talk with something such as that. It’s way too common and does not do the job an opening must, which is to grip your audience and set the tone for what’s coming.

13. Larry Smith

Opening: “I want to discuss with you this afternoon why you’re going to fail to have a great career.”

14. Jane McGonigal

Opening: “You will live 7.5 minutes longer than you would have otherwise, just because you watched this talk.”

How to use provocative statements to start your speech?

Making a provocative statement creates a keen desire among the audience to want to know more about what you have to say. It immediately brings everyone into attention.

Larry Smith did just that by making his opening statement surprising, lightly humorous, and above all – fearful. These elements lead to an opening statement which creates so much curiosity among the audience that they need to know how your speech pans out.

This one time, I remember seeing a speaker start a speech with, “Last week, my best friend committed suicide.” The entire crowd was gripped. Everyone could feel the tension in the room.

They were just waiting for the speaker to continue to know where this speech will go.

That’s what a hard-hitting statement does, it intrigues your audience so much that they can’t wait to hear more! Just a tip, if you do start off with a provocative, hard-hitting statement, make sure you pause for a moment after saying it.

Silence after an impactful statement will allow your message to really sink in with the audience.

Related article: 5 Ways to Grab Your Audience’s Attention When You’re Losing it!

15. Ramona J Smith

Opening: In a boxing stance, “Life would sometimes feel like a fight. The punches, jabs and hooks will come in the form of challenges, obstacles and failures. Yet if you stay in the ring and learn from those past fights, at the end of each round, you’ll be still standing.”

How to use your full body to grip the audience at the beginning of your speech?

In a talk, the audience is expecting you to do just that – talk. But when you enter the stage and start putting your full body into use in a way that the audience does not expect, it grabs their attention.

Body language is critical when it comes to public speaking. Hand gestures, stage movement, facial expressions are all things that need to be paid attention to while you’re speaking on stage. But that’s not I’m talking about here.

Here, I’m referring to a unique use of the body that grips the audience, like how Ramona did. By using her body to get into a boxing stance, imitating punches, jabs and hooks with her arms while talking – that’s what got the audience’s attention.

The reason I say this is so powerful is because if you take Ramona’s speech and remove the body usage from her opening, the entire magic of the opening falls flat.

While the content is definitely strong, without those movements, she would not have captured the audience’s attention as beautifully as she did with the use of her body.

So if you have a speech opening that seems slightly dull, see if you can add some body movement to it.

If your speech starts with a story of someone running, actually act out the running. If your speech starts with a story of someone reading, actually act out the reading.

It will make your speech opening that much more impactful.

Related article: 5 Body Language Tips to Command the Stage

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Final Words

So there it is! 15 speech openings from some of my favourite speeches. Hopefully, these will act as a guide for you to create your own opening which is super impactful and sets you off on the path to becoming a powerful public speaker!

But remember, while a speech opening is super important, it’s just part of an overall structure.

If you’re serious about not just creating a great speech opening but to improve your public speaking at an overall level, I would highly recommend you to check out this course: Acumen Presents: Chris Anderson on Public Speaking on Udemy. Not only does it have specific lectures on starting and ending a speech, but it also offers an in-depth guide into all the nuances of public speaking. 

Being the founder of TED Talks, Chris Anderson provides numerous examples of the best TED speakers to give us a very practical way of overcoming stage fear and delivering a speech that people will remember. His course has helped me personally and I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking to learn public speaking. 

No one is ever “done” learning public speaking. It’s a continuous process and you can always get better. Keep learning, keep conquering and keep being awesome!

Lastly, if you want to know how you should NOT open your speech, we’ve got a video for you:

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450 + Examples of Five Word Sentences in English

Let’s Explore Five Word Sentences Together!

In this exciting adventure, we’ll discover sentences made up of five amazing words! These sentences are like mini stories, using just five words to tell us something interesting or fun.

Get ready to dive into the world of five-word sentences and uncover the magic of language!

5 Word Sentences Examples

100 unique five-word sentences.

Short Story with Five Words Sentences

Here are some fun and simple stories for kids, using only five-word sentences!

Lets learn with fun!

The Adventures of Max

So, once upon a time, a little bunny named Max. Max loved to play outside. He hopped around the garden. Max found a shiny stone. He picked it up happily. Max saw a big tree. He decided to climb it. Max reached a high branch. He could see the pond. Max jumped down with joy. He ran towards the pond. Max saw many colorful fish. He smiled and felt happy. Max played there for hours. The sun started to set. Max decided to head home. He walked back through garden. Max’s mommy waited at home. She gave him a hug. Max felt warm and loved. He shared his day’s adventures. Max ate dinner with family. He felt very sleepy afterwards. Max went to his bed. He closed his eyes peacefully. Max dreamed of new adventures. He was a happy bunny. Goodnight, little Max bunny.

The Lost Treasure Hunt

One a bright sunny morning, Tom woke up excitedly. He found an old map. The map showed hidden treasure. Tom grabbed his trusty backpack. He went out to explore. Tom followed the winding path. He crossed a small bridge. Tom saw a dark cave. He entered it bravely. Tom used his flashlight carefully. He saw sparkling gems inside. Tom followed the shiny trail. He reached a secret door. Tom pushed it open slowly. Inside, there was a chest. Tom opened it with excitement. The chest was full of gold. Tom couldn’t believe his eyes. He had found the treasure. Tom felt proud and happy. He decided to share treasure. Tom returned home very excited. He told his family everything. They celebrated with a feast. Tom’s adventure was a success. He dreamed of more adventures. Tom slept with a smile. He was a true explorer. Goodnight, brave treasure hunter Tom.

Lets Practice More

Lets write some more 5 words sentences in comment box and practice more.

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• Language , Speechwriting

Powerful Sentence Structure for Your Speech

Mannerofspeaking.

• May 26, 2016

Powerful sentence structure is fundamental to captivating writing or speaking. Here is a little gem of advice from writer  Gary Provost . (The highlighting is mine.)

Vary Sentence Length This sentence has five words. Here are five more words. Five-word sentences are fine. But several together become monotonous. Listen to what is happening. The writing is getting boring. The sound of it drones. It’s like a stuck record. The ear demands some variety. Now listen. I vary the sentence length, and I create music. Music. The writing sings. It has a pleasant rhythm, a lilt, a harmony. I use short sentences. And I use sentences of medium length. And sometimes when I am certain the reader is rested, I will engage him with a sentence of considerable length, a sentence that burns with energy and builds with all the impetus of a crescendo, the roll of the drums, the crash of the cymbals—sounds that say listen to this, it is important. So write with a combination of short, medium, and long sentences. Create a sound that pleases the reader’s ear. Don’t just write words. Write music.

The difference in sentence structure between the first paragraph and the second and third paragraphs is stark. To get the full effect, read them aloud.

This advice is not just useful for novelists; it is also important when it comes to writing a speech. You want to vary the sentences so that there is a dynamic flow to your words. When the sentences contrast, the words come alive.

For example, take the sentence structure in Barack Obama’s speech after the 2008 New Hampshire Primary:

It was a creed written into the founding documents that declared the destiny of a nation. Yes, we can. It was whispered by slaves and abolitionists as they blazed a trail towards freedom through the darkest of nights. Yes, we can. It was sung by immigrants as they struck out from distant shores and pioneers who pushed westward against an unforgiving wilderness. Yes, we can. It was the call of workers who organized, women who reached for the ballot, a president who chose the moon as our new frontier, and a king who took us to the mountaintop and pointed the way to the promised land. Yes, we can, to justice and equality.

Two other thoughts when it comes to adding punch to your sentences.

The first is to write your speech as something to be heard, not to be read. Yes, the words may look nice on paper, but people are going to be listening, not reading. So write the way you would speak. Practice your speech out loud and record yourself. If a sentence sounds robotic, that is usually a sign that it needs to be revised.

The second is something about which I have written before , but it is worth repeating; namely, that you should write your speech out, not in paragraphs, but rather as a poem. This will allow you to get a sense for the rhythm of the words, the cadence, where to pause, where to place the emphasis. Even if you do not  read your speech, crafting it this way will help you formulate your ideas, choose the right words and deliver them well.

By way of example, here is the second paragraph of Gary Provost’s advice above, rewritten as a poem:

Now listen. I vary the sentence length,  and I create music. Music. The writing sings. It has a pleasant rhythm, a lilt, a harmony. I use short sentences. And I use sentences of medium length. And sometimes when I am certain the reader is rested, I will engage him with a sentence of considerable length, a sentence that burns with energy and builds with all the impetus of a crescendo, the roll of the drums, the crash of the cymbals— sounds that say listen to this, it is important.

Notice how each line ends with a powerful word. Notice, also how I have sometimes split a single sentence into multiple stanzas. Doing so makes the pauses and points of emphasis more obvious.

For more information about speechwriting—and a free speechwriting course—check out Global Speechwriter , the website of my friend, Brent Kerrigan. Brent has a wealth of speechwriting experience and knows his stuff.

Like this article?

I love speaking for a large public. In the past, I did theater as a hobby.

Thanks for the comment, Sophie. We share the same passion. Whether I am giving a speech or doing improv theatre, there is a real rush to being in front of an audience!

I agree…I love it too!

Interesting. I have been doing this intuitively. It must be because I have sang in choirs all my life and I am also a professional dancer. Or was, anyway. Music is an intrinsic part of life. It is intertwined in my DNA.

Completely agree about the significance of music in our lives. Thanks for the comment.

Thanks John for sharing and spreading more good public speaking ideas & pointers.

I particularly appreciate your final point of not writing out a “final or reading script” in paragraphs but as a poem. It is surprising how infrequently this approach is actually used.

I find this approach has an additional benefit. It is a good way to make a final reading script when I do not have the luxury of memorizing the speech. Each line is a “snap-shot” or “chunk”. This makes “never-read-and-speak-at-the-same-time” more achievable. I have described it in more detail in a recent answer to a QUORA question: Point 3. May be of interest to your readers: https://www.quora.com/How-do-I-remember-so-many-informations-for-presentation-or-speech/answer/Rashid-Kapadia?srid=HrGm&share=2875c063

Good Luck … Rashid

Thank you, Rashid. And a terrific answer on Quora! In fact, I use the “memory palace” to remember lists of things. I learned it years ago from a cassette tape that my father played for me on battery-operated tape recorder during a long-distance car trip. I was fascinated by the concept. In my case, I use 20 different parts of a car to remember lists of 20 and more things.

Very good to note that you appreciate the value of “memory palace” approach. I cannot recommend “Moonwalking with Einstein” highly enough. I think it is specially important to expose children to this technique. After all “our lives are the sum of our memories”.

That’s a great example from Gary, so thanks for sharing it.

If your mind’s at all like mine, you’ll have specific sentence lengths in mind for each highlight colour you use. I’m curious what those numbers were!

What a fantastic tip about writing out a speech as a poem. Currently I tend to use bold text to show where I’ll stress a word, but sometimes I end up with too many of those and it sounds unnatural. So I’ll have to try your “stanza” method.

P.S. The photo of a stone wall really reminds of a picture of multicoloured tiles that I used in my post called “How consistent should you make your slides?” My answer to that rhetorical question is “Go for cohesion instead.” Just like samey sentences sound soporific, what I call “cookie-cutter consistency” on your slides puts people to sleep, too!

Thanks, Craig. When I saw the writing example from Gary, I knew that I had to write about it. Of course, we speak differently than we write, but the principle of varying the length of our sentence or phrases is the same.

Writing speeches out like a poem is something I started doing a long time ago. I remember reading somewhere that when Winston Churchill reviewed his speeches that he had had typed up for him, he would insist that each line had to end with a word that could be emphasized. Ending a line with a “the” or an “an” was not acceptable!

This approach could work for reading too. Anything to energise an email. Cut though the clutter.

Absolutely, Bridgit. In fact, the inspiration comes from an article on writing and reading.

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Testimonials

John delivered a keynote address about the importance of public speaking to 80 senior members of Gore’s Medical Device Europe team at an important sales event. He was informative, engaging and inspirational. Everyone was motivated to improve their public speaking skills. Following his keynote, John has led public speaking workshops for Gore in Barcelona and Munich. He is an outstanding speaker who thinks carefully about the needs of his audience well before he steps on stage.

Karsta Goetze

TA Leader, Gore and Associates

I first got in touch with John while preparing to speak at TED Global about my work on ProtonMail. John helped me to sharpen the presentation and get on point faster, making the talk more focused and impactful. My speech was very well received, has since reached almost 1.8 million people and was successful in explaining a complex subject (email encryption) to a general audience.

CEO, Proton Technologies

John gave the opening keynote on the second day of our unit’s recent offsite in Geneva, addressing an audience of 100+ attendees with a wealth of tips and techniques to deliver powerful, memorable presentations. I applied some of these techniques the very next week in an internal presentation, and I’ve been asked to give that presentation again to senior management, which has NEVER happened before. John is one of the greatest speakers I know and I can recommend his services without reservation.

David Lindelöf

Senior Data Scientist, Expedia Group

After a morning of team building activities using improvisation as the conduit, John came on stage to close the staff event which was organised in Chamonix, France. His energy and presence were immediately felt by all the members of staff. The work put into the preparation of his speech was evident and by sharing some his own stories, he was able to conduct a closing inspirational speech which was relevant, powerful and impactful for all at IRU. The whole team left feeling engaged and motivated to tackle the 2019 objectives ahead. Thank you, John.

Umberto de Pretto

Secretary General, World Road Transport Organization

I was expecting a few speaking tips and tricks and a few fun exercises, but you went above and beyond – and sideways. You taught me to stand tall. You taught me to anchor myself. You taught me to breathe. You taught me to open up. You taught me to look people in the eye. You taught me to tell the truth. You taught me to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes. I got more than I bargained for in the best possible way.

Thuy Khoc-Bilon

World Cancer Day Campaign Manager, Union for International Cancer Control

John gave a brilliant presentation on public speaking during the UN EMERGE programme in Geneva (a two days workshop on leadership development for a group of female staff members working in the UN organizations in Geneva). His talk was inspirational and practical, thanks to the many techniques and tips he shared with the audience. His teaching can dramatically change our public speaking performance and enable us as presenters to have a real and powerful impact. Thank you, John, for your great contribution!

HR Specialist, World Health Organization

John is a genuine communication innovator. His seminars on gamification of public speaking learning and his interactive Rhetoric game at our conference set the tone for change and improvement in our organisation. The quality of his input, the impact he made with his audience and his effortlessly engaging style made it easy to get on board with his core messages and won over some delegates who were extremely skeptical as to the efficacy of games for learning. I simply cannot recommend him highly enough.

Thomas Scott

National Education Director, Association of Speakers Clubs UK

John joined our Global Sales Meeting in Segovia, Spain and we all participated in his "Improv(e) your Work!" session. I say “all” because it really was all interactive, participatory, learning and enjoyable. The session surprised everybody and was a fresh-air activity that brought a lot of self-reflection and insights to improve trust and confidence in each other inside our team. It´s all about communication and a good manner of speaking!"

General Manager Europe, Hayward Industries

Thank you very much for the excellent presentation skills session. The feedback I received was very positive. Everyone enjoyed the good mix of listening to your speech, co-developing a concrete take-away and the personal learning experience. We all feel more devoted to the task ahead, more able to succeed and an elevated team spirit. Delivering this in a short time, both in session and in preparation, is outstanding!

Henning Dehler

CFO European Dairy Supply Chain & Operations, Danone

Thanks to John’s excellent workshop, I have learned many important tips and techniques to become an effective public speaker. John is a fantastic speaker and teacher, with extensive knowledge of the field. His workshop was a great experience and has proven extremely useful for me in my professional and personal life.

Eric Thuillard

Senior Sales Manager, Sunrise Communications

John’s presentation skills training was a terrific investment of my time. I increased my skills in this important area and feel more comfortable when speaking to an audience. John provided the right mix between theory and practice.

Diego Brait

Director of the Jura Region, BKW Energie AG

Be BOLD. Those two words got stuck in my head and in the heads of all those ADP leaders and associates that had the privilege to see John on stage. He was our keynote speaker at our annual convention in Barcelona, and his message still remains! John puts his heart in every word. Few speakers are so credible, humble and yet super strong with large audiences!

Guadalupe Garcia

Senior Director and Talent Partner, ADP International

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Grade 5 Parts of Speech Worksheets

Other parts of speech worksheets for fifth grade.

These worksheets focus on the use of prepositions ( at, to in, from .... ), prepositional phrases ( by the water ), interjections ( Wow! ) and conjunctions.  Grade 5 nouns, verbs and pronouns worksheets are found in a separate section.

Prepositions

Identifying prepositions - identify which words are prepositions

Choosing prepositions - correct the use of prepositions in the sentences

Writing with prepositions - fill in the missing blanks in the text with prepositions

Prepositional phrases - identify the preposition and the prepositional phrases

Prepositional phrases as adjectives - write prepositional phrases to describe nouns

Interjections

Identify interjections - Find the interjections (Wow!, Ouch!) in the sentences

Writing interjections - add appropriate interjections to the sentences

Mild or strong interjections - decide whether the interjections are mild or strong, and punctuate appropriately

Conjunctions

Coordinating conjunctions - combine sentences using a coordinating conjunction and a comma

Subordinating conjunctions - combine sentences using a subordinating conjunction from the word bank

Coordinating or subordinating? - identify what type of conjunction the sentence has

Correlative conjunctions - complete the sentences with correlative conjunctions ( not - but, either - or, .... )

Sample grade 5 parts of speech worksheet

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5 Word Sentences (138 Examples)

A sentence is a group of words containing a subject (the topic in the sentence) and a predicate (the word that describes the subject) and brings a message as a whole. It expresses thoughts in varied forms such as statements, questions or inquiries, commands or instructions, and an exclamation in expressing emotions. In writing, the first word of the sentence usually begins with a capital letter and ends with a punctuation mark that could be a period (.), question mark (?), or exclamatory point (!). There are four types of sentences namely: Declarative , interrogative, imperative, and exclamatory sentences. In this writing, you are going to learn from the examples of five (5) words sentences . Observe that each sentence varies its meaning depending on how it was delivered. Learn also to identify which type of sentences it would be.

Examples of Five (5) Word Sentences

Printable examples:.

It is easy to construct five (5) word sentences. And when words are combined together they make meanings and express messages. Now, you have to try to make your own example of sentences with the combination of five simple words.

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Sentences with although conjunction (87 examples), sentences with where (50 examples), past continuous tense sentences (affirmative, negative & questions), future perfect tense sentences | 50 examples, 41 example sentences with furthermore, sentences about christmas tree (50 examples), leave a reply cancel reply.

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260+ V Words, Phrases, Sentences, and Reading Passages

As promised here are the words for your unlimited use .

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Initial V by Syllables

vaccination

Valentine's Day

vice-president

vital statistics

valedictorian

variability

veterinarian

video recorder

vulnerability

Medial V by Syllables

screwdriver

advertisement

controversy

disadvantage

environment

orange flavor

scuba diver

anniversary

civilization

involuntary

observatory

recovery room

availability

conversationally

developmentally

environmentally

involuntarily

special delivery

Final V by Syllables

destructive

New Year's Eve

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Initial V Phrases and Sentences

best vacation

white vacuum

paper valentine

green valley

vanilla ice cream

basket of vegetables

fun video game

lakeside village

classical violin

erupting volcano

sand volleyball

They are on vacation at the beach.

I need to vacuum the rug.

She made a valentine for her teacher.

You can see the valley between the mountains.

The van was on the side of the road.

I would like vanilla ice cream please.

The vase was on the table.

He picked the vegetables from his garden.

She keeps it in her red velvet box.

The cold air is coming from the vent.

He bought the vest on the mannequin.

The vet is helping our dog.

Their family played the video game together.

The village was by the lake.

She played the violin for her friend.

The volcano is going to erupt soon.

My volleyball is over there in the sand.

Don't forget to vote today.

Medial V Phrases and Sentences

hungry beaver

quenching beverage

clever thinking

four-leaf clover

drive-in theater

long driveway

ice cream flavor

party invite

winding river

number seven

cold shiver

The beaver was digging for dinner.

The beverage was refreshing on the hot day.

The clever girl solves problems.

She found a four-leaf clover

The diver was wearing full wetsuit gear.

The drive-in was closed.

He was a friendly bus driver.

The car is in the driveway.

What flavor of ice cream do you want?

I put gravy on my turkey.

He is trying to lift the heavy ball.

I am going to invite my friends to the party.

They made sure the wood is level.

She jumped over him.

The river was warm in the summer.

They made a seven out of stars.

If it's too cold you will shiver.

I travel a lot for my work.

Final V Phrases and Sentences

large beehive

brave matador

racing dive

number five

forgive each other

leather glove

black olive

close shave

shirt sleeve

kitchen stove

Don't throw rocks at the beehive.

The matador was brave.

The cave was by the ocean.

In swimming, you dive to start the race.

The dove was quietly cooing in the tree.

They went for a drive on a dusty road.

He ran in lane five.

He asked his wife to forgive him.

I want to give you this.

Her glove will keep her hand warm.

They really love each other.

They are getting ready to move.

Oil is dripping from the olive.

He saves money in his piggy bank.

I shave my face in the morning.

He fixed the sleeve under his coat.

Boil the water on the stove.

The wave crashed into the lighthouse.

V Reading Paragraphs

A little rainbow of her own.

Vegetables come in a large variety of shapes, sizes, and colors. My neighbor, Vi, owns a vegetable farm. The farm belonged to her parents until they became too old to work on it. Vi started farming when she was seven. She didn't know how much she loved her vegetable farm until she tried something else. 

For a few years, she saved her money to become a vet. She liked animals and thought she would enjoy helping them. She volunteered at a veterinary clinic. During her visit, she observed mostly nice animals, but some were very mean. 

After this experience she was convinced that she wasn't brave enough to work as a veterinarian. Besides, she liked the privacy she had while working on the farm. Having and working on her own land gave her a strong sense of satisfaction. She believed that she was part of her environment and that was her driving force to grow the freshest vegetables in the valley.

Vi was positive that her vegetable farm was her own piece of heaven. She loved what she did and that was enough for her.

Vance's Vacation

Every summer Vance and his family went on vacation to Beaver Mountain. It only took them a few hours to travel there from their home in Vermont. They spent seven days hiking, playing volleyball, and driving all over the mountain in their van. Vance's family loved to explore different parts of the mountain as well as the small village on the South side.

Their family always went to the drive-in and watched a movie at least one night during their vacation. The village also had fun shops and stores with clever souvenirs that Vance bought each year to remember their vacation that summer. This year he bought a miniature volcano from the souvenir shop.

There was an old folktale about Beaver Mountain that was told by one of the village's oldest residents. The man's name was Mr. Dove. He was ninety-seven.

He told the story about how Beaver Mountain used to be an active volcano. He said hundreds of years ago Beaver Mountain was just a valley, until there was a big earthquake that caused the Mountain to form. The earthquake was so violent that it caused lava to come out of the top of the mountain.

"During that time there were rivers of lava," Mr. Dove said. Vance closed his eyes and tried to imagine what it would have been like to drive around all the lava during those days.

"We probably would have gone on vacation somewhere else," he said to his Mom, giggling.

Vance was glad there wasn't a river of lava all around Beaver Mountain. He loved visiting every summer and didn't want that to change.

Learning Violin

Learning to play the violin takes many years of lessons and practice. Vicki had just started playing and was at a beginner's level. On Valentine's Day, she had heard the most beautiful violin solo. She saw a couple having dinner by the river. They were staring into each other's eyes and she could tell they were in love.

When the man started playing the violin for the couple, something happened inside Vicki. She thought the violin sounded so beautiful that she wanted to learn how to play it. The trouble was, she really liked playing video games. Video games are much more fun to play than practicing the violin. Vicki didn't think about that when she asked her mom if she could take violin lessons.

At first, Vicki dove right in. She practiced five nights a week. She had visions of herself playing the violin for the governor or on a boat in Venice for a couple in love. However, as Vicki improved her skills, the music she played became more advanced. She would have to practice longer and think harder about the music she was playing. Playing video games was much easier than thinking hard about playing her violin every day.

One day, Vicki gave the violin to her mom.

"I don't want to play the violin anymore, it's too hard," she said. But Vicki's mom didn't want her quit. She knew playing the violin would be a valuable skill that Vicki could have for the rest of her life. Vicki's mom visited her during lunch at school the next day.

"If playing the violin was easy then everyone would do it," her mom said. "Remember the vision you had for yourself about playing the violin professionally?" she asked.

"Yes." said Vicki.

"I don't expect you to become a master violinist, unless you want to be. But there is a lot of value in knowing how to play an instrument and you will receive more of a personal victory by continuing and not quitting. Please don't stop," she said.

Vicki thought about it the rest of the day. That night when her mom was putting the vacuum away, Vicki told her she would not quit playing the violin. Her mom knew what she could achieve and was happy with Vicki's decision.

This list of functional words was professionally selected to be the most useful for a child or adult who has difficulty with producing the "V" sound.

We encourage you to use this list when practicing at home.

Doing home practice will help your child make much faster progress toward correct production.

Speech-Language Pathologists (SLPs) are only able to see students/clients 30-60 mins (or less) per week.

This is not enough time  for your child to overcome an articulation disorder with the "V" sound. But with high caseloads...

...it's all SLPs can do.

There's  only so much time  in the day.

Every day that your child goes without practice  it becomes more and more difficult  to correct an "V" error because he/she continues to say it incorrectly. 

SEE ALSO:   The Best Books for Speech Therapy Practice

We know life is busy , but if you're reading this you're probably someone who cares about helping their loved one as much as you can.

Practice 5-10 minutes whenever you can, but try to do it on a consistent basis (daily).

Please, please, please use this list to practice.

It will be a great benefit to you and your loved one's progress.

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Elicit 5 Word Utterances using Picture Support!

Drag and Drop or Printable for Interactive Velcro Book

Use Carrier Phrase "I see" to build 5 Word Utterances

Interactive Sentence Expansion Activity

Great for Speech Therapy, Special Education, and Early Learners !

Uses realistic images that are appropriate for Middle and High School Learners in Special Education

Target increasing and expanding expressive language with this resource. Increase MLU through exposure and modeling of consistent sentence structure . Repetition works, especially when your students can feel successful and independent!

Use this to target a range of communication skills!

• expanding utterances to 5 words
• descriptive word combinations
• increasing MLU
• creating a functional statement "I see"
• teach functional and common words
• sentence building
• answering and model "what" questions

Created to be reinforcing and completed independently! My students love feeling empowered when they can complete this task alone. Once it is mastered we use it as quick warm up.

Vocabulary words included: numbers (1-10), colors, car, pot, apple, chair, frog, cookie, fish, flower, shirt, basketball

INCLUDE 2 LEVELS FOR DIGITAL VERSION!!

Level A: No discrimination skills needed, drag and drop symbols to target sentence expansion

Two Versions Included:

-8.5x11 "letter sized" PDF Doc (Great for set up in a typically sized 1 inch binder, can send back and forth from school to home for practice)

-Drag and Drop for Teletherapy, Tablets, and White Boards!

I've used this same set with AAC Users using the following communication applications LAMP WFL, Touch Chat, and Proloquo2Go!! I model the phrases using these real familiar images, as oppose to limiting my students to only symbols in the system - this promotes independence for users and leads to quick generalization of targets!

If you like these check out these activities:

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Sentence-Expansion-Interactive-BUNDLE-for-SpEd-SPEECH-GOOGLE-SlidesPrintable-6343149

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/5-Word-Sentence-Expansion-Winter-Themed-Speech-Therapy-Special-Ed-6296396

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Serial california tesla road rage driver nathaniel radimak released from prison — less than a year into 5-year sentence.

A pipe-wielding Tesla driver who terrorized California highways with his fits of road rage was released from prison less than a year into his prison sentence on Wednesday, leaving his victims “disappointed” in the state’s justice system.

Nathaniel Radimak, 37, was freed on parole from state prison on Wednesday after serving only ten months of the five-year sentence handed down to the hot-head EV driver last September, according to KTLA 5 .

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said Radimak had served “his full sentence as defined by law” and was granted 424 days for time served while awaiting sentencing, 212 for actual days in jail, and another 212 days for good behavior.

During Radimak’s run of terror, he would smash passing cars with a metal pipe, make threats and harass motorists across Southern California.

In a now-viral video, Radimak jumped out of his charcoal-colored 2022 Tesla Model X with no license plates armed with a pipe and pummeled the truck behind him on Jan. 11, 2023. Radimak drove away after striking the vehicle several times.

Radimak was arrested weeks later, where police discovered steroids and more than $30,000 in his car.

Following his arrest, it was discovered Radimak had a long rap sheet as a criminal “which spans nearly two decades and crosses multiple states,” KTLA reported, citing prosecutors.

Last September, Radimak was found guilty on several felony counts during his rampage from 2022 to 2023.

The road rager, however, would plead guilty to assault, vandalism, elder abuse, and criminal threats and was sentenced to five years in prison after he struck a plea deal with prosecutors.

Now released and back on the streets of California, several women who were victims of his rampage are outraged over his release and are “worried” for their safety.

High-profile attorney Gloria Allred represents three victims of Radimak’s attack.

“I’m very disappointed in the overall outcome of this case leading up to his release,” one of Radimak’s victims, identified as Jane Doe, told KTLA Wednesday.

“I highly doubt Radimak has learned from his mistakes and will be coming out a changed person after a short time.”

“I’m worried he will try to find the victims whose names have been released,” Jane Doe shared.

Allred said her clients were notified he was being freed from prison on the day of his release.

“His early release has shocked and disappointed many of the victims whom I represent,” Allred told NBC Los Angeles .

“Many of these victims were never consulted about the plea deal and were never given a chance to speak at the sentencing.”

Another one of the Tesla terror’s anonymous victims, identified as “Jane Doe 1,” told NBC she “prays” his “brief time behind bars taught him a lesson.”

Like Radimak’s other victims, she feels that California’s justice system has let her down.

“Parole boards continue to allow perpetrators to walk free after serving just minimal time, putting a lot of innocent people at risk and sending criminals the wrong message,” she said, slamming the Golden State’s leniency with how they handle criminals.

California’s violent crime rate in 2023 was 18% higher than when Gov. Gavin Newsom assumed office in 2019, according to data from the Public Policy Institute of California .

In 2022, aggravated assaults in California increased by 25.3% and homicides by 33.9% compared to 2019.

Nearly all inmates in California automatically receive Good Conduct Credit (GCC) upon entering the penal system under Proposition 57 , passed in November 2016 before Newsome took office.

According to a 2023 report by CBS News , GCC “shortens violent sentences by 33.3% and nonviolent sentences by 50-66.6% the day they arrive in prison.”

Since 2019, tens of thousands of felons have been released early with credits and then rearrested for violent crimes, the outlet reported.

“We don’t know if (CDCR’s programs) are working,” a principal investigator for the Public Policy Institute of California, Heather Harris, told the outlet in June 2023.

California lawmakers passed a bill requiring the CDCR to track the effectiveness of its rehabilitation programs following a state audit in 2018 .

However, in 2019, Gov. Newsom  vetoed the bill , stating it “would require the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to contract with a researcher to conduct a recidivism analysis of the effectiveness of rehabilitation programs and to submit a report to the Legislature. The goal of this bill can be accomplished administratively,” CBS reported.

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‘Peeping Tom’ electrician who secretly filmed women handed extended sentence

James Denholm targeted 18 victims by secretly filming them through windows and even a keyhole while they undressed, had sex and used the toilet.

A perverted Aberdeen electrician who secretly filmed women in their homes for a decade has been locked up for almost three years.

James Denholm installed hidden cameras to watch his unsuspecting victims and recorded them undressing and using the toilet.

The depraved voyeur sneaked into one victim’s home undetected for five years, even bringing along a sex doll and dressing it in her clothing, Aberdeen Sheriff Court was told.

Denholm’s disturbing crimes were finally exposed when the woman discovered a recording device and charger under her bed and contacted the police on May 23 2022.

Denholm pled guilty to 11 charges of voyeurism , two of stalking, two of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner, and one of taking, permitting or making indecent images or pseudo-images of children.

Fiscal depute Kirsty Martin   said: “The accused had previously been in the complainer’s property on one occasion to assist with electrical work.”

Hard drives, memory cards, mobile phones, laptops and cameras were all seized from Denholm’s home and examined by digital forensic experts.

The woman was identified in various videos and images saved onto SD cards.

“These included images and videos of her taken through a peephole along with images of her parcels, which the complainer had never received, and images of a sex doll wearing her work ID lanyard and clothing, images of the sex doll in underwear which did not belong to the complainer,” Ms Martin explained.

The material was recorded between 12 August 2018 and 23 May 2023 without consent and with the victim “unaware that the accused had been in her property or her bedroom”.

She told officers she felt “violated and unsafe”.

Investigators also uncovered a sick stash of indecent images of children stored on a laptop and three hard drives.

Pervert installed camera in public bathroom

The prosecutor told Sheriff Graham Buchanan that another incriminating video from June 27 2013 – discovered on Denholm’s laptop – showed him setting up a camera “within a public bathroom”.

Ms Martin added: “The video then captures the [two] complainers using the toilet. When police contacted the complainers, they confirmed they had not consented to being filmed.

“Both complainers indicated to police when they were notified of the video that they felt their privacy had been violated and would be cautious and wary in shared public spaces in the future.”

In another charge, a woman was “shocked, upset and felt violated” at learning she was video-recorded without her knowledge or consent on an occasion between February 18 2016 and December 31 2016 when she and Denholm were “engaging in sexual activity” at his home.

Ms Martin told the court that another woman “felt violated and was upset and angry” upon hearing she had also fallen victim to Denholm in the same way on December 30 2016.

“She also stated she was less trusting and concerned about being recorded secretly in the future,” the prosecutor explained.

Couple moved home after repeatedly being stalked by peeping Tom

Videos seized from Denholm revealed he had repeatedly filmed a couple through the window of their bottom-floor flat between May 1 2017 and March 31 2018.

A seventh charge stated that another couple, who were not known to Denholm, were so disturbed by his campaign of stalking that they felt forced to move house.

Ms Martin said: “During the evening of April 30 2020, the complainers were at home within their bedroom. Their blinds were closed, but the window was open.

“The male complainer looked out of the window and saw a male staring at the bedroom window. The male complainer shouted at the man asking what he was doing.

“The male complainer then got dressed and ran out to try and trace the man. Police were contacted but the man was not traced.”

In winter 2020, the couple found footprints outside their bedroom windows on two consecutive days.

Then, on July 14 2021, the female complainer returned home from a night out.

“After about 15 minutes she was getting changed in the spare room and saw a man’s hand on the outside of the bedroom window,” Ms Martin told the court.

“She ran to the window and shouted and the man ran off. The male complainer was in the other bedroom and heard this.”

The pair searched for the culprit and called the police but the offender was not traced at the time.

“In September 2021, the complainers moved house due to concern over these incidents,” the fiscal explained.

Forensic examination of various memory cards and a mobile phone later recovered from Denholm’s property yielded images that linked him to the unsolved incidents.

A young woman, who was only 17 at the time she was first targeted by Denholm, was unknowingly filmed in eight videos.

“The videos were taken through a window and a keyhole. The videos capture the complainer in various states of undress, exposing her breasts and buttocks,” the prosecutor told the court.

Image taken of breastfeeding photo ‘tainted a special memory’

Another woman was recorded in 63 images and videos in her home “wearing her underwear, pyjamas or naked”.

Ms Martin said “she felt it was an invasion of her privacy and she felt scared, anxious and vulnerable”.

In another charge, a 16-minute video was recovered of a complainer who had been filmed through her window as she undressed.

When police contacted the complainer she confirmed she was unaware of the video being taken and had not consented.

Another woman described feeling “shocked, sick and horrified” that Denholm had photographed her lingerie and images inside various photobooks.

Ms Martin added: “These included photos of the complainer breastfeeding and the complainer in a bikini.

“She was particularly alarmed by the photo taken of the image of her breastfeeding and stated it had tainted a special memory.”

‘Violated and fearful’

In another charge, a “violated, upset and angry” woman had been video-recorded without her permission as she engaged in sexual activity with Denholm at his property.

The forensic examination of various memory cards and a mobile phone recovered from Denholm’s home showed him at another victim’s address setting up cameras within the bathroom.

Videos and images showed the victim using the bathroom on various occasions.

Another woman said she felt “violated and fearful” upon learning that Denholm had taken images of her underwear, clothing, drivers licence, ID card and screenshots of her social media accounts in her home while she was away on holiday.

A 16th charge detailed how Denholm had videos of a woman at his home “using the toilet, showering and changing”.

Some of the videos also captured the victim engaging in sexual activity with Denholm.

Footage also showed him setting up the recording device.

‘Peeping Tom a lonely, socially isolated person’

As the troubling details of his crimes were read out in the courtroom, a fidgeting Denholm sat slumped forward in the dock with his head against his arm.

Defence counsel David Moggach described his “peeping Tom” client as a “lonely, socially isolated person” and added that “he’s on the autistic spectrum and has ADHD”.

Mr Moggach explained: “It’s difficult, and I have tried to explore on several occasions with Mr Denholm, what actually caused this to come about, why he did it, what he gained, and the likes.

“He does, I think, find it difficult to articulate his reasons why. Mr Denholm must accept he’s committed serious offences which have been a serious breach of trust.

“I think that is something he’s now, with the assistance of the programme work he’s been exposed to in the last year or so, come to appreciate and realise.”

Speaking about his voyeuristic client’s motivations for the sexual offending, the defence counsel said Denholm had not shared or distributed images or videos of his victims.

Mr Moggach told the sheriff: “It appears as though he perhaps gained more of a high in the implementation of the risk that was involved in doing it than the high he got from viewing the material that he obtained.”

Mr Moggach referred to a social work report on the offender that had suggested rehabilitative programme work with a community order might be more effective than a custodial sentence.

‘A very serious breach of trust’

However, Sheriff Graham Buchanan disagreed.

“I have to look at it from all sides, although your primary focus is on Mr Denholm and how his problems may be addressed, I also have to look at the wider public interest and the need to punish,” Sheriff Buchanan told Mr Moggach.

“I can say, having read the numerous victim impact statements, that most if not all of the victims have suffered quite serious psychological harm.”

The sheriff told Denholm: “It’s clear that many of your victims have suffered serious psychological harm as a result of the shock which they experienced when they discovered what you had done.

“Most of these offences involved a very serious breach of trust on your part.

“Given the number and serious nature of the offences which you committed, I’m in no doubt that the only appropriate disposal is one which includes a period of imprisonment.”

Sheriff Buchanan handed Denholm, of Fonthill Avenue, Aberdeen, an extended sentence of five years and two months.

It included locking him up for two years and eight months with a further two years and six months in the community on licence.

Denholm was placed on the sex offenders register for an indefinite period, and banned indefinitely by a non-harassment order from contacting four of his victims.

A Sexual Harm Prevention Order was also imposed on Denholm preventing him from contacting people under the age of 16 unless supervised for a period of seven years.

For all the latest court cases in Aberdeen as well as crime and breaking incidents, join our Facebook group .

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Mark Cuban says Elon Musk's 'biggest power play' on X is letting users think they have free speech

• X isn't the "bastion of free speech" everyone thinks it is, says Mark Cuban.
• The "Shark Tank" star said the platform is "only as free as Elon wants it to be.
• Cuban has frequently accused Musk of running X based on the latter's own whims.

Mark Cuban doesn't think social media platform X is as free as Elon Musk says it is.

"I know everyone thinks this platform is a bastion of free speech. I see the opposite," Cuban wrote in an X post on Sunday.

The "Shark Tank" star gave his opinion of Musk's ownership of X while engaging with professional gambler, Haralabos Voulgaris on the platform.

Musk acquired Twitter in October 2022, before renaming it X in July 2023.

"Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated," Musk said in statement in April 2022, when the acquisition was announced.

Musk said that he wanted to improve Twitter by introducing "new features, making the algorithms open source to increase trust, defeating the spam bots, and authenticating all humans."

But the X of today, Cuban said, isn't what Musk initially promised.

"It's only as free as Elon wants it to be. He can intimidate. He can alter the algorithm. He can suspend anyone he wants at any time," Cuban wrote on Sunday.

"He is the ultimate arbiter of everything on here. And the biggest power play is him making everyone think their speech is free speech Until he decides it isn't, and there is nothing any of us can do about it."

Cuban, however, hasn't stopped using X.

"Which is why whenever he calls me out or calls me names, I'll throw something back at him. It's fun," Cuban said in his post to Voulgaris.

"And you know I always enjoy and respect our back and forth."

I don’t think it’s tragic. I like to engage with different people on any number of topics. Kills time when I’m doing cardio or in between emails. I know everyone thinks this platform is a bastion of free speech. I see the opposite. It’s only as free as Elon wants it to be.… — Mark Cuban (@mcuban) September 1, 2024

This isn't the first time Cuban has accused Musk of running X based on his own whims and fancies.

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Last month, Cuban said in an interview on "The Daily Show" that Musk might have adjusted X's algorithm to suit his own preferences.

"When you write an algorithm — I haven't written a lot, it's been a while — but when you write one, you get to set the parameters of what you want to see happen. And he certainly has done that to the things he likes," Cuban said, without providing evidence of Musk's manipulation of the algorithm.

Cuban's accusation spurred a response from Musk, who wrote just days later in an X post that his platform is open-source, unlike other platforms.

Cuban, Musk said, was seeing more content from right-wing accounts because the algorithm was taking into account Cuban's frequent interactions with them. Cuban has been known to respond to a wide variety of accounts on X.

Musk later followed up with another post that called Cuban a giant turd in human form .

Cuban only had a brief response for Musk: a series of heart hand emojis.

🫶🫶🫶 https://t.co/ByayAZlB7q — Mark Cuban (@mcuban) August 14, 2024

In June, Cuban told Business Insider that he has no issues with Musk despite their heated exchanges on X.

Besides X, the pair have gone head-to-head on topics like corporate diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives and the US presidential election this year.

"I have fun sparring with Elon. He likes to troll and so do I," Cuban said in June.

Representatives for Musk at X and Cuban didn't immediately respond to requests for comment from BI sent outside regular business hours.

Watch: 5 ways Elon Musk shook up Twitter as CEO

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