Parts of Speech

Introduction
Words help us talk about the world, and we divide them into categories based on what they do.

Nouns
A noun describes a person, place, thing, or idea.

Here are a few examples of sentences with nouns.

"We're sitting on a hill." A hill's a place, and also a thing. Either way, the word "hill" is a noun.

"A mockingbird landed on John's shoulder." The word "mockingbird" is a noun, since it also describes a thing.

"Annie is a girl, and Tom is a boy." Both "boy" and "girl" are nouns, describing a person.

Verbs
A verb describes an action.

Here are a few examples of sentences with verbs.

"We saw a bird fly past us." The word "fly" is a verb.

"Wally throws rocks into the lake." "Throw" is a verb.

"The rock sinks to the bottom." "Sink" is also a verb.

Adjectives
Adjectives describe or modify nouns.

Here are a few examples of sentences with adjectives.

"Richard is sitting in a purple chair." "Purple" is an adjective describing the chair.

"We're sitting by a large lake." "Large" is an adjective describing the lake.

Adverbs
Adverbs describe or modify verbs, and sometimes adjectives or other adverbs.

Here are a few examples of sentences with adverbs.

"Dana stood up quickly." "Quickly" is the adverb here, telling us how fast Dana stood up.

"Morris talks very loudly." Here, the adverb "loudly" tells us how Morris talks, and the adverb "very" modifies loudly, intensifying the effect.

When It All Comes Together...
Here's a sentence that uses nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs.

"Seeing the giant, hungry monster, Max and Gordon quickly ran home."

If you put together the four parts of speech that I've talked about, you might be able to use them to form a proper sentence.