Grammar Word Search With Parts of Speech, Punctuation and Clues

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Name Date

Grammar Word Search

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0 of 16 words found

NGFRAGMENTRSYUC

CCFHMSONOUNHORC

ENLELTCHLIIKLAO

ATRFSIOPLURALPN

SPHTEIZRAEPOHOJ

KSSENNEEKPINRSU

SIMNTESFAREYVTN

POSSESSIVENMLRC

DIBENTIXADAOSOT

FEDCCSUFFIXZIPI

NWIOERXOICCMPHO

WGVMQRPHRASETEN

PCEMSCAPITALDGY

TNRAASHOPERIODM

GDWOCADJECTIVET

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NounNOUN
AdjectiveADJECTIVE
ConjunctionCONJUNCTION
PluralPLURAL
PossessivePOSSESSIVE
TenseTENSE
SentenceSENTENCE
PredicatePREDICATE
PhrasePHRASE
FragmentFRAGMENT
PeriodPERIOD
CapitalCAPITAL
CommaCOMMA
ApostropheAPOSTROPHE
PrefixPREFIX
SuffixSUFFIX

16 of 24 words from the Grammar Terms list.

Sort these six words into nouns, verbs and adjectives: lizard, arrive, shiny, teacher, forget, tall.

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Large print Lower-case letters Name and date line on paper

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Answer key: Grammar Word Search

NGFRAGMENTRSYUC

CCFHMSONOUNHORC

ENLELTCHLIIKLAO

ATRFSIOPLURALPN

SPHTEIZRAEPOHOJ

KSSENNEEKPINRSU

SIMNTESFAREYVTN

POSSESSIVENMLRC

DIBENTIXADAOSOT

FEDCCSUFFIXZIPI

NWIOERXOICCMPHO

WGVMQRPHRASETEN

PCEMSCAPITALDGY

TNRAASHOPERIODM

GDWOCADJECTIVET

NOUN, ADJECTIVE, CONJUNCTION, PLURAL, POSSESSIVE, TENSE, SENTENCE, PREDICATE, PHRASE, FRAGMENT, PERIOD, CAPITAL, COMMA, APOSTROPHE, PREFIX, SUFFIX

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All 128 words

Parts of Speech 16

Action Jump, write, carry: the kind of verb that tells what someone or something does.
Adjective Tall, blue, sleepy: a word that describes a noun.
Article A, an, the: one of three small words that come before a noun.
Common City, day, girl: the kind of noun that names any one of a class, with no capital letter.
Conjunction And, but, because: a word that joins words, phrases or clauses.
Determiner This, both, my, any: a word before a noun that tells which one or how many.
Grammar The rules for how the words of a language change form and fit together in sentences.
Helping Has in has eaten, will in will go: the kind of verb that works with a main verb.
Interjection Wow, ouch, hey: a word that shows sudden feeling and can stand alone.
Linking Is, seem, become: the kind of verb that joins the subject to a word that describes it.
Modifier Red in the red kite: a word, phrase or clause that describes or limits another word.
Noun Dog, city, idea: a word that names a person, place, thing or idea.
Preposition Under, after, with: a word that shows how a noun relates to the rest of the sentence.
Proper Ohio, Friday, Maria: the kind of noun that names one particular thing. It takes a capital.
Speech Every word in a sentence belongs to one of the eight or nine parts of ___.
Verb Run, think, is: a word that shows an action or a state of being.

Show all 128 words (112 more)

Pronouns and Adverbs 18

Adverb Quickly, never, very: a word that tells how, when, where or how much.
Antecedent Mia in Mia lost her hat: the noun that a pronoun refers back to.
Case I or me, he or him: the form a pronoun takes for its job in the sentence.
Degree Tall, taller, tallest: a step of comparison. Also what very and quite show.
Demonstrative This, that, these, those: a word that points out which one is meant.
Frequency Always, often, never: adverbs of ___ tell how often something happens.
Indefinite Someone, anything, nobody: a pronoun that names no particular person or thing.
Intensifier Very, really, extremely: a word that makes the word after it stronger.
Interrogative Where is my hat? The kind of sentence, or a word such as who or what, that asks.
Manner Slowly, loudly, well: adverbs of ___ tell how something is done.
Negative No, not, non-: a word or part of a word that says something is not so.
Objective Me, him, her, us, them: the form of a pronoun used as the object of a verb.
Personal I, you, he, she, we, they: the kind of pronoun that shows who is speaking or spoken about.
Place Here, there, outside: adverbs of ___ tell where something happens.
Pronoun She, it, they, whom: a word that stands in for a noun.
Reflexive Myself, herself, themselves: a pronoun that points back to the subject.
Relative Who, which, that: a pronoun that starts a clause about the noun just before it.
Time Now, yesterday, soon: adverbs of ___ tell when something happens.

Nouns and Adjectives 13

Abstract Courage, freedom, luck: a noun for an idea, which you cannot see or touch.
Collective Team, flock, family: a noun that names a group as one unit.
Comparative Taller, faster, more careful: the form that compares two things.
Compound Sunflower, high school: two words joined to name one thing. Also a sentence of two main clauses.
Concrete Flower, rain, desk: a noun for something you can see, hear or touch.
Countable Two apples, three chairs: a noun that has a plural and can follow a number.
Definite The is the ___ article, because it points to one particular thing.
Descriptive Green in green grass: the kind of adjective that tells what something is like.
Number Dog or dogs, is or are: whether a word is singular or plural.
Plural Cats, boxes, children: the form of a noun that means more than one.
Possessive The dog's, my, their: a form that shows who owns something.
Singular Cat, box, child: the form of a noun that means just one.
Superlative Tallest, fastest, most careful: the form that compares three or more things.

Verbs and Tense 21

Active The dog chased the cat: the voice in which the subject does the action.
Agreement She runs, they run: the match in number and person between a subject and its verb.
Auxiliary Have, can, will: another name for a helping verb, used with a main verb.
Conjugate I am, you are, she is: to give the forms of a verb for each person, number and tense.
Future Will walk, will sing: the verb form for something that has not happened yet.
Gerund Swimming in Swimming is fun: an -ing verb form used as a noun.
Infinitive To run, to be, to sing: the basic verb form, often after the word to.
Irregular Go and went, child and children: a word that does not follow the usual pattern.
Modal Can, may, must, should: a helping verb that shows what is possible or needed.
Mood A plain fact, a command or a wish: the verb form that shows which one is meant.
Participle Baked in baked beans, running in running water: a verb form used as an adjective.
Passive The cat was chased by the dog: the voice in which the subject receives the action.
Past Walked, sang, was: the verb form for something that already happened.
Perfect Has eaten, had left: a verb form for an action finished before a certain time.
Person First (I, we), second (you), third (he, she, it, they): who a pronoun or verb points to.
Present Walks, sings, is: the verb form for something happening now.
Progressive Is running, was reading: a verb form for an action that is still going on.
Subjunctive Were in I wish she were here: the verb form for a wish or something not real.
Tense Walked, walks, will walk: the form of a verb that shows when something happens.
Transitive Kicked in She kicked the ball: a verb that needs a direct object.
Voice Active or passive: the verb form that shows whether the subject acts or is acted on.

Sentence Parts 18

Appositive My sister in Ana, my sister, sings: a noun placed beside another noun to rename it.
Clause When the bell rang: a group of words with its own subject and predicate.
Complement Tired in The team looked tired: a word or words that complete the predicate.
Coordinating And, but, or, so: the kind of conjunction that joins two equal parts.
Correlative Either and or, both and and: conjunctions that work as a pair.
Direct The ball in Ana threw me the ball: the ___ object is the thing the verb acts on.
Fragment Because I was late. A piece of a sentence punctuated as if it were whole.
Independent The rain stopped: the kind of clause that can stand alone as a sentence.
Main We stayed in, from We stayed in because it rained: the ___ clause, which can stand alone.
Object The ball in She kicked the ball: the noun that receives the action of the verb.
Phrase In the morning, the tall girl: a group of words that work as one part of a sentence.
Predicate Barked loudly in The dog barked loudly: the part that tells what the subject does or is.
Run-on I ran he walked. Two sentences joined with no punctuation or joining word.
Semicolon The mark ( ; ) that joins two main clauses without a joining word.
Sentence A group of words with a subject and a predicate that can stand alone.
Subject The dog in The dog barked: who or what the sentence is about.
Subordinate Because it rained: the kind of clause that cannot stand alone as a sentence.
Syntax The way words are put in order to build phrases and sentences.

Kinds of Sentences 12

Capital A, B, C, not a, b, c: the large letter that starts a sentence or a name.
Command Sit down. A sentence that tells someone to do something.
Complex I left when the bell rang. A sentence with a main clause and a clause that depends on it.
Declarative The sky is blue. The kind of sentence that makes a statement.
Exclamation A sudden cry such as ouch or hooray, or a sentence that shows strong feeling.
Exclamatory The kind of sentence that shows strong feeling and ends with an exclamation point.
Imperative Close the door. The kind of sentence that gives a command or makes a request.
Period The dot ( . ) that ends a statement and follows many abbreviations.
Question Do bats sleep in the day? A sentence that asks something.
Request Please pass the salt. A polite way to ask someone to do something.
Simple Birds sing. The kind of sentence with just one clause.
Statement Bats sleep in the day. A sentence that tells something and ends with a period.

Punctuation and Capitals 20

Abbreviation Dr. for Doctor, St. for Street: a shortened form of a word, often ending in a period.
Apostrophe The mark ( ' ) in don't and in the dog's bowl: it shows a missing letter or an owner.
Brackets The square marks [ ] around words added to someone else's writing.
Colon The mark ( : ) that comes before a list, an example or an explanation.
Comma The mark ( , ) that separates ideas or items inside a sentence.
Dash A mark longer than a hyphen that shows a break or a pause in a sentence.
Ellipsis Three dots ( ... ) that show words have been left out.
Hyphen The short mark ( - ) that joins the parts of a word such as well-known.
Initial M. in M. Lopez: the first letter of a name, written as a capital with a period.
Italics Slanted print, used for the names of books and for a word you want to stress.
Lowercase a, b, c: the small letters, as opposed to capitals.
Parentheses The curved marks ( ) around extra words that a sentence could do without.
Punctuation The marks, such as commas and periods, that split writing into sentences and parts.
Question mark The mark ( ? ) at the end of a sentence that asks something.
Quotation marks The pairs of marks that show the exact words someone said or wrote.
Series Red, white and blue: three or more items in a row, separated by commas.
Slash The slanted mark ( / ) used between choices, as in and/or.
Title The name of a book, song or movie, where the important words begin with capitals.
Underline To draw a line under a word or a book name to make it stand out.
Uppercase A, B, C: another name for capital letters.

Word Parts and Forms 10

Acronym Scuba and radar: a word made from the first letters of other words.
Affix A prefix or a suffix: any word part that must be attached to a base.
Base Help in helpful and unhelpful: the plain word that prefixes and suffixes are added to.
Contraction Don't, I'm, we'll: two words shortened into one, with an apostrophe for the missing letters.
Ending -ed in walked, -s in cats: letters added after the base to change the form of a word.
Inflection Dog to dogs, speak to spoke: a change in the form of a word to show number or tense.
Prefix Un- in unhappy, re- in redo: a word part added to the front of a word.
Root The part of a word that carries its main meaning, before anything is added to it.
Suffix -ness in kindness, -ful in helpful: a word part added to the end of a word.
Usage The way words and phrases are actually used by the people who speak a language.

How this list was compiled: 128 grammar terms chosen and defined for this site, in eight themed lists plus a key terms list, an easy list and a hard list. Most clues open with an example and then give the meaning, so clue mode asks the pupil to name the term from words that show it. Reading and genre words such as paragraph, synonym, plot and simile are left to the language arts and literary terms word searches. Every term, the grammar sense behind every clue and the part of speech of every example word were checked in the American Heritage Dictionary, https://www.ahdictionary.com/, on 2026-09-19; points of usage were checked the same day in English Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/. Noun and Pronoun never share a list, and neither do Verb and Adverb, because the shorter word reads inside the longer one in a grid. No clue names a real person, a brand or a book. Licence: own work

How it works

Predicate, Apostrophe and 14 more terms are already hidden in this grammar word search, across and down in a 15 by 15 grid. Eleven lists sort 128 words, from Parts of Speech to Punctuation and Capitals.

Read the full guide

Parts of speech on one worksheet

Pick Parts of Speech under Start from a list for a parts of speech word search. The list holds exactly 16 words, so the opening grid hides them all, from Noun and Verb to Interjection and Determiner. Pronoun and Adverb lead the next list.

Clues that open with an example

Tick Show clues, not words, for a grammar terms word search that tests the idea, not the spelling. Pupils read "Quickly, never, very: a word that tells how, when, where or how much" and hunt for Adverb.

Under the list the sheet prints a sorting task: lizard, arrive, shiny, teacher, forget and tall, two each for nouns, verbs and adjectives.
For grades 2 and 3, pick Short Grammar Words (20 words such as Noun and Comma) and, under More options, Large print.
Question mark is hidden with no gap and Run-on with no hyphen. After the puzzle, print noun flashcards.

Questions and answers

How many parts of speech are there?

Most school lists count eight: noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition, conjunction and interjection. Some add a ninth, the determiner, which takes in a, an and the. All nine names are on this page. The count follows Wikipedia's Part of speech article, read September 2026.

Why are Noun and Pronoun never in the same puzzle?

NOUN sits inside PRONOUN, and VERB inside ADVERB. A grid holding both would give the shorter word two right answers. So Noun and Verb are in Parts of Speech, while Pronoun and Adverb lead Pronouns and Adverbs. Print both to cover all eight.

Which grammar terms are on the list?

The 128 words name the parts of speech, sentence parts and kinds, verb tenses, punctuation marks and word parts such as Prefix. Paragraph, Synonym and other writing words are on the ELA word search. Spellings follow the American Heritage Dictionary, September 2026.

All 128 words

Parts of Speech 16

Pronouns and Adverbs 18

Nouns and Adjectives 13

Verbs and Tense 21

Sentence Parts 18

Kinds of Sentences 12

Punctuation and Capitals 20

Word Parts and Forms 10

How it works

Parts of speech on one worksheet

Clues that open with an example

Questions and answers

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