A noun is a person, place, thing, emotion or idea. Examples include "doctor," "house," "bell" and "happiness." Certain words, such as "happy," can become nouns when endings are changed. Noun endings include -tion, -ness and -sion.
An article modifies a noun or proper noun. There are three articles; "a," "the" and "an."
Proper nouns name a particular person, place or thing. Examples include "Susan," "Mr. Smith," "Canada" and the "Constitution of the United States." The first letters of proper names are capitalized.
A pronoun replaces a noun or proper noun in a sentence. There are many different categories of pronouns. Personal pronouns include word such as "I" or "you." Possessive pronoun replace proper nouns such as "Tyler's." The possessive pronoun used instead of "Tyler's" would be "his." Interrogative pronouns include question words such as "who" or "whom." Indefinite pronouns incorporate unspecified nouns, such as "anyone" or "someone." Demonstrative pronouns include the words "this," "that," "these" and "those." These four words can also be used as adjectives, but when used as pronouns, the word replaces a noun instead of modifying it. For example, in the sentence, "This is great," "this" is used as a pronoun because it is replacing whatever "this" is.
A verb is an action word or a word that supports an action verb. Action verbs include "run" or "swim." The verb comes in the second half of the sentence, in the predicate. A verb can also express a state of being, such as "was" or "am."
Adjectives modify nouns. Examples include "pretty" and "cold." Alternatives include "very" and "most." However, "this," "that," "those," and "these" are also adjectives when used in sentences such as, "This ball is here." "This" is describing the noun "ball," and is therefore an adjective.
An adverb modifies a verb and explains when, where or how something is done. Often, an adverb will end in -ly, but not always. Examples are "slowly" or "quickly." Examples of adverbs that do not end in -ly are "yesterday," "tomorrow," or "here."
A preposition is a linking word that connects one word to the nouns and verbs of the sentence. Examples of prepositions include "about," "above" and "during." A preposition will be part of a prepositional phrase. The phrase will always end in a noun, which is called the object of the preposition. Examples of prepositional phrases include "during the storm" and "under the tree."
Conjunctions connect independent and dependent clauses, or connect two independent clauses. Conjunctions are also used in lists. Examples of conjunctions used to connect two independent clauses include "and," "but" and "or." Subordinating conjunctions, or conjunctions used to connect an independent clause with a dependent clause, include "although" and "because."
Interjections are words used to illustrate emotions. Often they are placed alone in a sentence. Examples include, "Oh, no!" or "Wow!"