Grammar can be a frightening word for teachers, parents and children alike! To many of us, the word grammar may sound like a boring and difficult subject, so we have to find strategies to turn it into something interesting and fun. The structure of a language is never easy to teach; therefore, educators must find resources such as worksheets, posters, games and activities to ensure a full and lasting comprehension of the English syntax.
Everyone uses all 9 parts of speech every day without realizing it. However, it is very important to understand the role that each one plays in a sentence. These grammatical categories are the basis of language just like figures and numbers are the basis of arithmetic and algebra.
Parts of speech, also called word classes, help us form sentences and express a wide range of simple and complex ideas, thoughts and even emotions. That is why it is essential to understand the different parts of speech in English, their roles and position in a sentence. The use of “big” words like interjection, conjunction, adverb or preposition can be a stumbling block for learners. That is why we have to find as many fun forms to teach parts of speech.
What Are Parts of Speech?
Parts of speech are grammatical categories under which words are classified. Words of the same category behave in the same way, undergo the same inflections (like plurals for nouns or conjugations for verbs) and are usually placed in the same place in a sentence. For instance, an article comes before a noun, a verb usually after a subject, a conjunction stands between two elements such as two nouns, adjectives or clauses.
Which Are the 9 Parts of Speech in the English Language?
1. Nouns
This is the most used category in both oral and written language. Nouns refer to objects, living things (people, plants and animals), places, concepts and feelings. Proper nouns, like England, Socrates or Microsoft refer to a single entity and have a capital letter. Common nouns, on the contrary, refer to any or all members of a class and are not written with capital letters; for instance, dogs, a mountain, school.
2. Pronouns
These words replace nouns to avoid repetition. We can find subject (I, you), object (me, us), reflexive (himself, themselves) and possessive (mine, theirs) pronouns.
3. Adjectives
They describe nouns and pronouns in terms of quality (big, red) and quantity (three, many) or to indicate which noun we are talking about (this, my). This last category is sometimes considered as belonging to the category of determiners, that is words placed before a noun. Possessive adjectives such as my or our can also be called possessive determiners.
4. Prepositions
These are little words to describe the relationship between nouns and pronouns, such as time (before, after), place (next to, around), direction (through, across) or connection (with, without, of).
5. Adverbs
These words modify the meaning of a verb, adjective or another adverb in terms of time (now, yesterday), frequency (sometimes, never), place (there, inside), manner (quietly, gently) or degree (very, a little).
6. Conjunctions
There are 2 subcategories of conjunctions. The coordinating conjunctions are little words that link other words. There are only 7 of them, which you can remember easily with the acronym FANBOYS: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so. There are also subordinate conjunctions that also express addition (also, besides), cause (because, since), consequence (therefore, thus), opposition (although, whereas), condition (if, unless) or time relationship (while, until).
7. Verbs
These words describe actions (play, sing), states (be, become, feel) or occurrences (happen, occur).
8. Articles
The definite (the) and indefinite articles (a, an) are sometimes considered as a category of determiners.
9. Interjections
Little words to express strong emotions and feelings, such as pain (Ouch!), acclaim (Congratulations!), surprise (Oh!), admiration (Wow!), satisfaction (Yay!) or greetings (Hi!, Bye!)
10 Fun Ways to Teach Parts of Speech
1. Color the Words
Use a color code, associating one color to each category. Ask your pupils to copy or invent sentences and then color or underline each category of words. You can also do this in a collaborative way, with pupils underlining a specific category in sentences that others wrote.
2. Change Colors Into Words
Using the same color code, you can draw lines of different colors on a piece of paper or the whiteboard and ask students to replace each color with a word in order to form a sentence.
3. Pass the Ball
Make your students sit in a circle. One of them says a part of speech and throws the ball. The one that receives it says a word that belongs to this category, and so on. When no one can find a word, you can switch to another category.
4. Exquisite Cadaver
This game, invented by surrealist poets, consists in creating a sentence collectively without knowing what the others wrote before. Take a piece of paper and ask someone to write a determiner, then fold the paper and ask someone else to write an adjective, and so on with a noun, a verb, an adverb, and another determiner, adjective and noun. You can also add complements of time, place or manners. At the end, you will have crazy sentences that students can alter to make them grammatically correct.
5. Online Games
A perfect way to verify that your pupils understood the topic. Through these games, they can practice and have fun at the same time. Have a look at this game in which you have to destroy threatening asteroids, this gorilla game or this game where you have to put words in the right bucket.
6. Scavenger Hunt
Pick a short story, text or tale and challenge your students to find as many words as possible in a category. Students can work in teams and then compare their numbers and answers. Another way of playing is by saying a part of speech and asking your students to find one word that belongs to this category as quickly as possible.
7. Bingo
Print part of speech bingo cards and give them to your pupils. Then pronounce some words and they have to recognize which category it belongs to.
8. Ping Pong
Write parts of speech on plastic glasses and words on ping pong balls. Then play the game which consists of throwing the ball into the right glass.
9. Hangman
Play the usual hangman game, adding the clue of the part of speech of the word you have in mind.
10. The Parts of Speech Poem
Use this funny poem to practice and make them understand the role of each category.
Every name is called a noun,
As field and fountain, street and town.
In place of a noun, the pronoun stands
As he and she clap their hands.
The adjective describes a thing,
As magic wand or bridal ring.
The verb means action, something done,
To read and write, to jump and run.
How things are done the adverbs tell us
As quickly, slowly, badly or well.
Preposition shows relation
As in the street or at the station.
Conjunction joins in many ways,
Sentences, words or phrase and phrase.
The interjection cries out: “Hark!
I need an exclamation mark!”
