The note
How schools teach it now
Schools say 'word classes' rather than 'parts of speech': noun, verb, adjective, adverb, pronoun, preposition, conjunction and determiner. A word's class depends on its job in the sentence: 'after' is a preposition in 'after lunch' but a subordinating conjunction in 'after we ate'.
5-minute kitchen-table activity
Take a cereal box and hunt for one word from each class: a noun (oats), an adjective (crunchy), a verb (enjoy), a determiner (the, every) and a preposition (with, in). Write them on sticky notes with the class on the back, then make a silly sentence using one of each.
Worked example
Which word in this sentence is a preposition? The cat slept quietly under the old table.
- A preposition links a noun or pronoun to the rest of the sentence, often showing where or when (under, after, with).
- 'quietly' is an adverb, 'old' is an adjective and 'the' is a determiner.
- 'under' tells us where the cat slept, linking to 'the old table'.
Answer: under
Common mistakes to watch for
- Thinking every adverb ends in -ly; soon, often and very are adverbs too.
- Calling 'friendly' or 'lonely' adverbs; they are adjectives.
- Forgetting that words like 'the', 'a' and 'every' are determiners.
Encouragement
- Try saying
- “What job is this word doing in the sentence?”
- Rather than
- “Just learn the list of adverbs.”