Parts of Speech Review

Every word in a sentence plays a role. The eight main parts of speech are the building blocks of English grammar.

Noun

A person, place, thing, or idea. "The dog chased the ball."

Verb

An action or state of being. "She runs every morning."

Adjective

Describes a noun. "The tall tree swayed."

Adverb

Describes a verb, adjective, or another adverb. "She ran quickly."

Pronoun

Replaces a noun. "He gave it to them."

Preposition

Shows position or relationship. "The cat sat on the mat."

Conjunction

Joins words, phrases, or clauses. "I like tea and coffee."

Interjection

Expresses emotion. "Wow, that was amazing!"

Subject-Verb Agreement

The subject and verb in a sentence must agree in number. A singular subject needs a singular verb; a plural subject needs a plural verb.

CORRECT

"The dog runs in the park." (singular subject, singular verb)

CORRECT

"The dogs run in the park." (plural subject, plural verb)

WRONG

"The dog run in the park." (singular subject with plural verb)

Tricky Cases

Compound subjects with "and": "Tom and Sarah are coming." (plural)
Subjects with "or"/"nor": "Neither the cat nor the dogs are outside." (verb agrees with nearest subject)
Phrases between subject and verb: "The box of chocolates is on the table." (subject is "box", not "chocolates")

Commonly Confused Words

their / there / they're

their = belonging to them. "That is their house."
there = a place, or introducing something. "Put it over there."
they're = they are. "They're coming to the party."

your / you're

your = belonging to you. "Is this your book?"
you're = you are. "You're doing great!"

Tip: If you can replace it with "you are" and it still makes sense, use "you're".

its / it's

its = belonging to it. "The cat licked its paw."
it's = it is / it has. "It's raining outside."

Sentence Fragments & Run-ons

Sentence Fragment

An incomplete sentence missing a subject, verb, or complete thought.

"Because it was raining."

"We stayed inside because it was raining."

Run-on Sentence

Two or more sentences joined without proper punctuation or a conjunction.

"I love reading I go to the library every week."

"I love reading, so I go to the library every week."

Ways to Fix a Run-on

1. Full stop: "I love reading. I go to the library every week."
2. Comma + conjunction: "I love reading, so I go to the library every week."
3. Semicolon: "I love reading; I go to the library every week."

Key Vocabulary

Subject

The person or thing performing the action in a sentence.

Predicate

The part of the sentence containing the verb that tells what the subject does.

Clause

A group of words containing a subject and a verb. Can be independent or dependent.

Agreement

When the subject and verb match in number (singular/plural).

Worked Examples

1

Fix this sentence: "The group of students were noisy."

Step 1: Identify the subject. The subject is "group" (singular), not "students".

Step 2: A singular subject needs a singular verb: "was" instead of "were".

Corrected: "The group of students was noisy."

2

Choose the correct word: "______ going to the concert tonight." (Their / There / They're)

Step 1: Try expanding: "They are going to the concert tonight" — this makes sense.

Step 2: Since "they are" works, use the contraction form.

Answer: "They're going to the concert tonight."

3

Identify the error: "Running through the park on a sunny day."

Step 1: Check for a subject — who is running? There is no subject.

Step 2: This is a sentence fragment because it lacks a subject and a main verb.

Fix: "She was running through the park on a sunny day."

Knowledge Check

Select the correct answer for each question. Click "Check Answer" to see if you are right.

Question 1

Choose the correct sentence:

"The team are playing well today." "The team is playing well today." "The team were playing well today." "The team been playing well today."

Question 2

Fill in the blank: "The students left ______ bags in the classroom."

there they're their they

Question 3

Which of the following is a sentence fragment?

"She walked to school." "We had a great time at the park." "The sun was shining brightly." "Although it was cold outside."

Question 4

Choose the correct sentence: "______ always important to check ______ work before submitting."

"It's ... your" "It's ... you're" "Its ... your" "Its ... you're"

Question 5

Which is the best fix for this run-on: "I wanted to go swimming it was too cold outside"?

"I wanted to go swimming, it was too cold outside." "I wanted to go swimming, but it was too cold outside." "I wanted to go swimming because it was too cold outside." "I wanted to go swimming and it was too cold outside."

Grammar & Usage