Grammar Flashcards
Name the part of speech of the word in CAPITALS, then turn the card over for the answer and why.
All 130 cards
The 8 parts of speech 8
What describes a noun? adjective: tells which one or what kind about a noun or pronoun, as in red and sleepy. What joins words or clauses? conjunction: connects words, phrases or clauses, as in and, but, because and if. What links a noun to the rest? preposition: shows how its noun relates to the rest, as in under the bed and after lunch. What names a person or thing? noun: names a person, place, thing or idea, as in teacher, river and courage. What shows action or being? verb: tells what the subject does or is, as in jump, think, is and seems. What shows sudden feeling? interjection: a word of feeling that stands apart from the sentence, as in wow and ouch. What stands in for a noun? pronoun: takes the place of a noun, as in she for Maria and them for the books. What tells how, when or where? adverb: describes a verb, an adjective or another adverb, as in slowly, soon and very.
Show all 130 cards (122 more)
The 8 parts of speech
Find the noun
Find the pronoun
Find the verb
Find the adjective
Find the adverb
Find the preposition
Find the conjunction
Find the interjection
4 sentence types
14 punctuation marks
Find the noun 12
The DOG ran home. noun: DOG names an animal, and it is the subject of the sentence. Give the plant a DRINK. noun: DRINK is a thing here, after a. In Drink your milk it is a verb. He lost his left SHOE. noun: SHOE names a thing. The adjective left describes it. Her KINDNESS helped us. noun: KINDNESS names an idea. You cannot touch it, but it is still a noun. My brother has a COLD. noun: COLD names an illness here. In the cold wind it is an adjective. The PLAY starts at six. noun: PLAY is a show here, after the. In The kids play outside it is a verb. Rain fell on the ROOF. noun: ROOF names a thing. It is the object of the preposition on. SLEEP helps you grow. noun: SLEEP is the subject here. In Babies sleep a lot it is a verb. The TEACHER smiled. noun: TEACHER names a person. Ask Who smiled? and the answer is a noun. TEXAS is a big state. noun: TEXAS names one place, so it is a proper noun and keeps its capital. Their TEAM won the game. noun: TEAM names a group of people, which makes it a collective noun. We took a long WALK. noun: WALK is a thing here, after a long. In We walk to school it is a verb.
Find the pronoun 12
The cat cleaned ITSELF. pronoun: ITSELF is a reflexive pronoun. It points back to the cat. Dad gave HIM a ride. pronoun: HIM is the object form of he: he before the verb, him after it. Did YOU feed the fish? pronoun: YOU stands in for the person spoken to, the same for one or many. EVERYONE clapped. pronoun: EVERYONE is an indefinite pronoun. It names no one person and is singular. Is this pencil YOURS? pronoun: YOURS stands in for your pencil. Possessive pronouns take no apostrophe. Mom called THEM inside. pronoun: THEM stands in for whoever was called: the children, the dogs. The red bike is MINE. pronoun: MINE stands in for my bike. My needs a noun after it, mine does not. SHE found the key. pronoun: SHE stands in for a name such as Maria and is the subject. THEY live next door. pronoun: THEY stands in for people already named, such as the neighbors. THIS is my seat. pronoun: THIS stands alone as the subject. In this seat it describes a noun instead. WE planted six seeds. pronoun: WE stands in for the speaker plus at least one other person. WHO left the door open? pronoun: WHO stands in for a person not yet known. It asks, so it is interrogative.
Find the verb 12
The baby IS asleep. verb: IS shows being, not action. It links baby to asleep. He RAN to the bus. verb: RAN is the past tense of run, an irregular verb. Runned is not a word. The kids PLAY outside. verb: PLAY is the action here. In The play starts at six it is a noun. Leo SEEMS tired today. verb: SEEMS is a linking verb. It joins Leo to the adjective tired. Mia PAINTED the fence. verb: PAINTED is a past tense action. The ending ed marks a regular verb. Our dog SLEEPS all day. verb: SLEEPS is the action. Its s ending matches the singular subject dog. Please CLOSE the window. verb: CLOSE is the command. The subject you is understood. She WILL call later. verb: WILL is a helping verb. It puts the main verb call in the future. The soup SMELLS good. verb: SMELLS is a linking verb here, so the adjective good follows it, not well. They HAVE eaten lunch. verb: HAVE is a helping verb here. With eaten it makes the verb phrase have eaten. WATER the plants, please. verb: WATER is the command here. In a glass of water it is a noun. We WALK to school. verb: WALK is the action. In We took a long walk it is a noun.
Find the adjective 12
The COLD wind blew. adjective: COLD describes wind. In My brother has a cold it is a noun. The FAST car won. adjective: FAST describes the noun car. In She runs fast it is an adverb. Her room was MESSY. adjective: MESSY describes room, after the linking verb was. My OLDER sister drives. adjective: OLDER is the comparative of old. It compares two people. Our FRIENDLY neighbor waved. adjective: FRIENDLY ends in ly yet describes the noun neighbor, so it is no adverb. The puppy is PLAYFUL. adjective: PLAYFUL describes puppy. The ending ful often marks an adjective. She wore a RED scarf. adjective: RED tells what kind of scarf. A color word before a noun is an adjective. The test felt HARD. adjective: HARD describes test, after the linking verb felt. In works hard it is an adverb. That soup is HOT. adjective: HOT describes soup. An adjective can follow a linking verb such as is. This is the TALLEST tree. adjective: TALLEST is the superlative of tall. It compares three or more trees. We caught an EARLY bus. adjective: EARLY describes the noun bus. In We left early it is an adverb. We climbed a STEEP hill. adjective: STEEP tells what kind of hill we climbed.
Find the adverb 12
The dog ran QUICKLY. adverb: QUICKLY tells how the dog ran. Many adverbs are an adjective plus ly. He NEVER eats peas. adverb: NEVER tells how often he eats peas. He works HARD. adverb: HARD tells how he works. Hardly is a different word that means almost not. It is NOT my coat. adverb: NOT makes the verb negative. Dictionaries list not as an adverb. It rained YESTERDAY. adverb: YESTERDAY tells when it rained. Lunch will start SOON. adverb: SOON tells when lunch will start. Please wait HERE. adverb: HERE tells where to wait. She runs FAST. adverb: FAST tells how she runs. It takes no ly, and fastly is not a word. She sings WELL. adverb: WELL tells how she sings. Good is the adjective, well the adverb. That was VERY loud. adverb: VERY describes the adjective loud. It tells how loud. They played OUTSIDE. adverb: OUTSIDE tells where, with no noun after it. Before the gate it is a preposition. We left EARLY. adverb: EARLY tells when we left. In an early bus it is an adjective.
Find the preposition 12
The ball rolled DOWN the hill. preposition: DOWN shows direction. Its object is the hill. The cat hid UNDER the bed. preposition: UNDER shows where. Its object is the bed. He came WITH his cousin. preposition: WITH shows who came along. Its object is his cousin. He stood OUTSIDE the gate. preposition: OUTSIDE has an object, the gate. With no object it is an adverb. The key is IN my pocket. preposition: IN shows where. In my pocket is the whole prepositional phrase. No talking DURING the test. preposition: DURING shows when. Its object is the test. She sat BETWEEN two friends. preposition: BETWEEN shows position. Its object is two friends. This gift is FOR you. preposition: FOR ties the pronoun you to gift. A pronoun can be the object. Wash up BEFORE dinner. preposition: BEFORE has a noun object, dinner. In before we eat it is a conjunction. We drove TO the lake. preposition: TO shows direction toward the lake. In to swim, to belongs to the verb. We eat lunch AT noon. preposition: AT shows when. At noon is a prepositional phrase. We walked ACROSS the bridge. preposition: ACROSS shows direction, from one side of the bridge to the other.
Find the conjunction 12
ALTHOUGH it was cold, we swam. conjunction: ALTHOUGH opens a clause that contrasts with we swam. Call me IF you get lost. conjunction: IF joins a condition to the main clause. Do you want milk OR juice? conjunction: OR joins two choices, milk and juice. He is small YET strong. conjunction: YET joins two adjectives and means but. In not yet it is an adverb. He smiled BECAUSE he won. conjunction: BECAUSE joins a reason, he won, to the main clause. It rained, BUT we played. conjunction: BUT joins two sentences and shows a contrast. A comma comes before it. It was late, SO we left. conjunction: SO joins a result to its cause, with a comma before it. Sam AND Lee are twins. conjunction: AND joins two nouns, Sam and Lee, into one subject. She read WHILE he cooked. conjunction: WHILE joins two actions that happen at the same time. Wait UNTIL the bell rings. conjunction: UNTIL joins the clause the bell rings to the command wait. Wash up BEFORE we eat. conjunction: BEFORE joins a clause, we eat. In before dinner it is a preposition. We will go UNLESS it rains. conjunction: UNLESS joins the one condition that would stop the plan.
Find the interjection 12
HELLO, is anyone home? interjection: HELLO is a greeting, and greetings count as interjections. HEY, wait for me! interjection: HEY calls for attention. No other word in the sentence depends on it. HOORAY! We won! interjection: HOORAY shows joy. OOPS, my pencil broke. interjection: OOPS owns up to a small mistake. OUCH! That hurt. interjection: OUCH shows pain. It can stand alone with an exclamation point. PHEW, we made it. interjection: PHEW shows relief. SHH! The baby is asleep. interjection: SHH asks for quiet. It is a word even with no vowel in it. UGH, more rain. interjection: UGH shows disgust or annoyance. WELL, that was odd. interjection: WELL only opens the sentence here. In She sings well it is an adverb. WHOA, slow down! interjection: WHOA means stop or slow down. Mind the spelling: w, h, o, a. WOW, that was loud! interjection: WOW shows surprise. A comma sets it off from the sentence. YIKES, that was close! interjection: YIKES shows alarm.
4 sentence types 12
Which type? Can owls swim? interrogative: the helping verb can moves in front of the subject owls. Which type? Catch the bus. imperative: it gives a command. The subject you is understood. Which type? How cold it is! exclamatory: How does not ask here. A question would run How cold is it? Which type? I wonder who won. declarative: it reports a question without asking it, so it ends with a period. Which type? Is the bus late? interrogative: it asks a question and ends with a question mark. Which type? Owls eat mice. declarative: it tells something. Most sentences in a book are declarative. Which type? Tell me your name. imperative: it asks for information, yet its form is a command. Which type? The bus is late. declarative: it states a fact and ends with a period. Which type? Watch out! imperative: it is a command. The exclamation point adds force, not a new type. Which type? What a late bus! exclamatory: it shows strong feeling and ends with an exclamation point. Which type? What a mess! exclamatory: What a plus a noun shows strong feeling. It asks nothing. Which type? Where is my hat? interrogative: it opens with a question word and asks for information.
14 punctuation marks 14
Name the mark: ! exclamation point: ends a sentence or interjection said with strong feeling. Name the mark: " " quotation marks: go around a speaker's exact words, in pairs. Name the mark: ' apostrophe: shows possession (Sam's hat) or missing letters (can't), never a plain plural. Name the mark: ( ) parentheses: hold extra information the sentence could do without. Name the mark: , comma: separates list items, clauses and phrases, and the day from the year in a date. Name the mark: - hyphen: joins words or word parts, as in twenty-one. It is shorter than a dash. Name the mark: . period: ends a statement or a mild command. British English calls it a full stop. Name the mark: ... ellipsis: three dots that show left-out words or a sentence that trails off. Name the mark: / slash: shows a choice, as in and/or, and splits the parts of a date such as 9/19. Name the mark: : colon: introduces a list or an explanation, and splits hours from minutes in 3:15. Name the mark: ; semicolon: joins two related sentences with no and or but: I ran; he hid. Name the mark: ? question mark: ends a direct question. I wonder who won takes a period instead. Name the mark: [ ] brackets: mark words a writer adds inside someone else's quotation. Name the mark: — dash: marks a sudden break in thought or sets off an aside. Longer than a hyphen.
How this list was compiled: Own sentences and own explanations. Checked 2026-09-19. The part of speech of each of the 96 capitalised words, as it is used in its sentence, against the English section of that word's Wiktionary entry (https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/outside and the same address for the other words), where a heading for that part of speech had to be present; each word was then read in its sentence, because nine of the words appear twice with two different answers (walk, play, cold, fast, early, hard, well, outside and before). The eight traditional parts of speech and their jobs, and the note that some classifications count determiners such as the as adjectives, against https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Part_of_speech ; linking verbs (be, seem, smell, feel) against https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linking_verb ; greetings as interjections against https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interjection . The four sentence types against https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sentence_function . The names and jobs of the 14 marks against https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_punctuation , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bracket , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dash , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyphen and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slash_%28punctuation%29 . Grade placement follows Common Core language standards L.1.1j, L.3.1a and L.5.1a as printed in the standards document hosted by CCSSO, https://learning.ccsso.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/ELA_Standards1.pdf . Licence: own work
How it works These grammar flashcards are 130 cards in 11 sets: 96 short sentences with one word in capitals to name, twelve for each of the eight parts of speech, plus the eight definitions, 12 sentence-type cards and 14 punctuation marks.
Read the full guide
Nine words come up twice, with two answers
WALK is a noun in We took a long WALK and a verb in We WALK to school; PLAY does too. COLD is a noun, then an adjective. FAST and EARLY are adjectives before a noun and adverbs after a verb. HARD is an adjective after felt and an adverb after works. OUTSIDE the gate and BEFORE dinner are prepositions with an object; played OUTSIDE is an adverb, and BEFORE we eat a conjunction. WELL is an interjection, then an adverb.
Print only the parts your class has met
Pick a set under Show only, turn a card, then Print cards. A set of 12 fills one sheet of Letter or A4 printed on both sides; all 130 take 11 sheets. Print fold-over cards suits a one-sided printer.
Quiz mode accepts adj, adv, prep and conj, and takes linking verb or helping verb on those five verb cards.
Our FRIENDLY neighbor waved catches pupils taught that ly means adverb. Ask what the word describes.
Pair the twin cards in one round, so pupils read the sentence before they answer.
Questions and answers
What are the 8 parts of speech?
Noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition, conjunction and interjection. The first set has one card for each, with its job and examples on the back. Each of the eight then has 12 sentence cards of its own.
When are the parts of speech taught?
Grades 1 to 5. In the Common Core language standards the four sentence types are a grade 1 skill, nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs grade 3, and conjunctions, prepositions and interjections grade 5. That is our reading, not an official alignment.
Is the word the an adjective?
It depends on the program. Many teach a, an and the as adjectives, which keeps the count at eight; others call them articles or determiners. No card here asks about an article, or about my or this before a noun, so the deck fits both.
Why is Watch out! imperative and not exclamatory?
A sentence type comes from what the sentence does, not from its end mark. Watch out! gives a command, so it is imperative. The three exclamatory cards open with What or How and ask nothing: What a mess! How cold it is!