Word Classes

Identifying Different Word Classes

 

In the 11+ exams, some questions focus on how words are being used within a sentence. Children might be asked to spot a noun or verb in a sentence, or they may need to count how many adjectives or adverbs are in a line of text. To answer these questions confidently, they need to know the key word classes and understand what each type of word does in a sentence.

This section breaks down the most important word types and gives plenty of examples to help children recognise them quickly and accurately.

Some 11+ questions will ask children to recognise what type of word is being used.

For example:

  • The text includes words like ‘ran’, ‘whispered’ and ‘was’. What type of words are these? (answer: verbs)
  • Which word from the sentence is an adverb?
  • How many adjectives are in this sentence?
  • Write down two nouns from this sentence.

Understanding word classes helps children spot how language works and how writers construct their sentences to achieve specific effects on the reader.

 

 

Nouns

A noun is a person, place, thing or idea.

Examples: dog, cities, happiness, Mrs Singh

  • Look for the name of something. If you can touch it, think about it or name it, it’s probably a noun.
  • If you can put ‘a’, ‘an’ or ‘the’ in front of it, it’s probably a noun.
  • You can also check by seeing if you can turn it into a plural.

 

 

Verbs

A verb is an action or a state of being.

Examples: run, eat, is, were, thought

  • If the word is doing something or showing something happening or existing, it’s a verb.
  • Try putting the word after ‘he’, ‘she’ or ‘it’. If the sentence makes sense, it could be a verb:
    • He runs
    • She is
    • It flew

 

 

Adjectives

An adjective describes a noun. It tells us more about what something looks like, feels like or is like.

Examples: red, angry, quiet, shiny

  • If the word is describing a thing or person, it’s probably an adjective.
  • Look for it before a noun:
    • a quiet dog
    • her kind words
    • the shiny apple
  • Or sometimes, after a noun:
    • the proposal was ridiculous
    • geese are so silly

 

 

Adverbs

An adverb can describe:

  • a verb – He spoke loudly.
  • an adjective – The film was really exciting.
  • or another adverb – They ran very quickly.

Examples: badly, especially, very

  • If the word is describing something that isn’t a noun, it’s probably an adverb.
  • Try placing it near the verb or adjective:
    • He walked slowly.
    • She spoke very softly.
    • They arrived early.

 

 

Conjunctions

A conjunction joins words, phrases or parts of a sentence.

Examples: and, but, because, so, although

If the word links two ideas or joins parts of a sentence, it’s a conjunction.

Check if it connects two thoughts:

  • I was tired but happy
  • She stayed at home because it was raining

 

 

Prepositions

A preposition shows where, when or how something happens.

Examples: under, before, on, after, beside

  • Prepositions often come before a noun.
  • If the word tells you the position or timing of something, it’s probably a preposition:
    • The cat is under the table
    • We arrived after lunch

 

Be careful!

Prepositions need to be followed by a noun. Depending on how they are used in a sentence, words like ‘in’, ‘on’ and ‘after’ can sometimes be used as adverbs instead.

For example…

  • Come in!
  • The show must go on.
  • They left, and the others followed after.

In these examples, the words work as adverbs because they are linked to verbs, not nouns. 

 

 

Pronouns

A pronoun replaces a noun to avoid repeating it.

Examples: he, she, it, they, we, you, them

  • If the word stands in for a person or thing, it’s a pronoun.
  • Check if it replaces a noun that has already been mentioned:
    • James went to the shop. He bought bread.
    • The books are new. They are on the table.

 

 

Articles

An article is a word that comes before a noun and helps introduce it.

There are only three articles: a, an, the

If the word comes before a noun. and helps you know whether something is general (a/an) or specific (the), it’s an article:

  • a dog (any dog)
  • an apple (any apple)
  • the glass (a specific glass)

 

‘The’ is used when:

  • You’re talking about something specific
  • Or when the person you’re speaking to already knows what you mean

I’d love to go to the moon = There are actually lots of moons, but we’re not talking about just any moon out there in space. We we mean our moon.

I’m going to see the doctor this afternoon = The use of ‘the’ shows a shared familiarity with the idea of seeing a doctor, rather than introducing a particular doctor.

 

A or An?

  • ‘An’ is used before words that start with a vowel sound.
    • An audience
    • An ugly duckling
    • An hour (we don’t say the ‘h’ in ‘hour’ – we pretend it’s not there. So it makes a vowel sound, like ‘our’)
  • ‘A’ is used before words that start with a consonant sound.
    • A bottle
    • A fountain
    • A unicorn (This one sounds like it starts with a ‘y’ (consonant) – like ‘you-nicorn’, so it gets ‘a’, not ‘an’.)

 

 

Read the full sentence, then ask:

  • Is the word doing something? → Probably a verb
  • Is it describing something? → Probably an adjective or adverb
  • Is it a thing, person or place? → Probably a noun
  • Is it joining two ideas? → Probably a conjunction
  • Is it telling you where or when something happens? → Probably a preposition
  • Is it standing in for a noun? → Probably a pronoun
  • Is it telling you whether something is general or specific? → Probably an article

 

When you’re trying to spot different word classes in an exam question, it helps to break the sentence into parts and ask yourself what each word is doing.

 

 

Top tips for getting it right:

  • If you can make it plural, it’s probably a noun (e.g. computer → computers, woman → women)
  • If you can put ‘very’ in front of it, it’s probably an adjective or adverb (e.g. very damp, very timidly)
  • If you could do it, it’s probably a verb (e.g. run, build, complain)

 

 

Adjectives vs Adverbs: 

The main difference between adjectives and adverbs is that adjectives always describe nouns, whilst adverbs can describe verbs, adjectives or even other adverbs. 

 

Let’s take a look at a few examples:

 

The tall tree swayed gently. 

First, let’s work out which words are describing something…

  • ‘the’ = article
  • ‘tall’ = describing word
  • ‘tree’ = noun (thing)
  • ‘swayed’ = verb (action)
  • ‘gently’ = describing word

Now, let’s work out what each describing word is describing…

  • ‘tall’ describes the tree (noun), so that’s an adjective.
  • ‘gently’ describes how the tree is swaying (verb), so that’s an adverb.

 

 

The cake was incredibly sweet.

First, let’s work out which words are describing something…

  • ‘the’ = article
  • ‘cake’ = noun (thing)
  • ‘was’ = verb (state)
  • ‘incredibly’ = describing word
  • ‘sweet’ = describing word

Now, let’s work out what each describing word is describing…

  • ‘incredibly’ describes the word ‘sweet’ (adjective), so that’s an adverb.
  • ‘sweet’ describes the cake (noun), so that’s an adjective.

 

 

He ran very quickly.

First, let’s work out which words are describing something…

  • ‘he’ = pronoun
  • ‘ran’ = verb (action)
  • ‘very’ = describing word
  • ‘quickly’ = describing word

Now, let’s work out what each describing word is describing…

  • ‘very’ describes the word ‘quickly’ (adverb), so that’s an adverb.
  • ‘quickly’ describes how he ran (verb), so that’s an adverb.

 

 

Tip: Look out for words like very, really, quite and too. These adverbs often come before an adjective or another adverb to make its meaning stronger.

Common Confusion: -ly Words
Lots of adverbs end in -ly, but not all of them! And some -ly words (like friendly) are actually adjectives. So instead of relying only on spelling, teach children to ask whether the word is describing a noun or describing something else.

Word Classes Example Questions

Click here to see the text!

Q1- What type of word is ‘perceived’ on line 2?

A) noun

B) verb

C) adjective

D) adverb

E) preposition

B) verb

Verbs are words that show an action is happening.

‘Perceived’ is a past tense verb that means ‘saw’.

Q2- What type of words are the following? relentlessly (line 4), softly (line 5), slowly (line 7), deliberately (line 7), quietly (line 13), monotonously (line 13)

A) nouns

B) verbs

C) adjectives

D) adverbs

E) prepositions

D) adverbs

Adverbs are used to describe verbs, adjectives or other adverbs. They often end in -ly.

Which of these words is an adjective?

A) gusts (line 4)

B) murmur (line 6)

C) ticking (line 14)

D) steadily (line 17)

E) vivid (line 21)

E) vivid

Adjectives describe nouns. In this text, the adjective ‘vivid’ describes the new ‘chapter’ of Mr Ellery’s existence.

Q4- What type of words are the following? upon (line 1), in (line 1), with (line 5), against (line 8), of (line 15)

A) nouns

B) verbs

C) adjectives

D) adverbs

E) prepositions

E) prepositions

Remember that a preposition shows where, when or how something happens.

Q5- Which of these words is a noun?

A) long (line 4)

B) carrying (line 5)

C) solitude (line 10)

D) about (line 19)

E) begin (line 21)

C) solitude (line 10) 

Remember that nouns are people, places or things.

Solitude is a concept (thing).

Q6- Write down a word or phrase that is used to describe how the figure moves.

‘slowly yet deliberately’

The text uses these two adverbs to describe how the figure moves.