Parts of speech are categories that describe how words function in a sentence. A word may name something, express an action, describe another word, connect ideas, show a relationship, or perform another grammatical role.
Start with The 8 Parts of Speech for an overview of the main word classes and their functions. You can then explore detailed lessons on nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections.
Yes, you can start a sentence with although. Although is a subordinating conjunction that introduces contrast or concession. It often presents a fact that makes the result in the main clause seem surprising or unexpected. A full although-clause normally needs…
Yes, you can start a sentence with or. Or is a coordinating conjunction that may introduce another choice, possibility, explanation, or question. It also appears in expressions such as or rather and or else. Sentence-initial or usually connects to an…
Yes, you can start a sentence with but. But is a coordinating conjunction that introduces contrast, limitation, correction, or an unexpected difference. When it begins a sentence, it connects the new statement to an idea that came before it. A…
Yes, you can start a sentence with a conjunction. Words such as and, but, or, so, and yet may begin a sentence when they connect the new sentence to an earlier idea. Subordinating conjunctions such as because, although, if, and…
Verbs such as arrive, sneeze, disappear, and occur can be used without a direct object. Other verbs, including change, grow, move, and run, may also appear without an object in some sentences. The list below shows more than 140 English…
Can and could are closely related, but the difference is not simply present versus past. That works in sentences such as I can swim now and I could swim when I was five, but it does not explain Could you…
A transitive verb is used with a direct object, but that does not mean every verb in a transitive verbs list must be transitive in every sentence. English verbs can behave differently depending on how they are used. The list…
Compare these two sentences: The afternoon heat dried the towels. The towels dried on the balcony. The verb dry appears in both, but its pattern changes. In the first sentence, the towels is the direct object, so dried is transitive.…
Choosing between has, have, and had mainly depends on two things: the subject and the verb structure you need. In the simple present, use has with he, she, it, and other third-person singular subjects. Use have with I, you, we,…
Prepositions are words that show how one part of a sentence connects to another. They often tell you where something is, when it happens, or how it moves. Without prepositions, sentences feel incomplete or unclear, even when the main idea…
Some of the most common English verbs are irregular. Go becomes went and gone, write becomes wrote and written, while cut stays cut in all three forms. An irregular verb does not follow the standard regular pattern for forming its…
Different grammar resources give different numbers of linking verbs. One list may contain 15, another 20, and a broader reference may include even more. The difference exists because many English verbs have a linking function only in certain meanings or…