Theory & Concepts

Master Parts of Speech (Noun, Pronoun, Verb) for SSC CGL

Get comprehensive theory, expert shortcuts, and hand-picked practice questions for Parts of Speech (Noun, Pronoun, Verb) specifically designed for the SSC CGL 2025-26 pattern.

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45 min readDifficulty: Easy

Parts of Speech form the absolute foundation of the English Language syllabus in SSC CGL. Understanding Nouns, Pronouns, Verbs, Adjectives, Adverbs, Prepositions, Conjunctions, and Interjections is vital for solving high-scoring questions in Error Spotting, Sentence Improvement, and Fill in the Blanks.

Learning path

The 8 Parts of Speech
Functional Identification
Key Exam Rules & Exceptions
20 Solved Practice Questions

1. The 8 Parts of Speech

Every word in a sentence plays a specific role. Here are the 8 fundamental building blocks of grammar:

1. Noun

Names of persons, places, things, or abstract concepts.

Example: Honesty is the best policy. Delhi is large.

2. Pronoun

Replaces a noun to prevent repetitive phrasing.

Example: Rahul is absent because he is ill.

3. Verb

Shows actions, state of being, or occurrences.

Example: She wrote a letter. They are playing.

4. Adjective

Modifies or describes a noun or a pronoun.

Example: He is a brave soldier. She bought five apples.

5. Adverb

Modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb.

Example: She runs quickly. This is very sweet.

6. Preposition

Shows relationship of a noun/pronoun to other words.

Example: The book is on the table. He went into the room.

7. Conjunction

Joins words, phrases, or clauses together.

Example: Bread and butter. He ran fast but missed the train.

8. Interjection

Expresses sudden, powerful emotions or exclamations.

Example: Hurrah! We won. Alas! She is no more.

2. Key Spotting Rules for SSC CGL

Exams test words that look like one part of speech but function as another:

Gerunds vs. Present Participle: A verb ending in "-ing" acting as a Noun is a Gerund (e.g. "Swimming is good"). If it acts as an adjective, it is a Participle (e.g. "A running bus").

Adjective vs. Adverb Trap: Words like "friendly", "lovely" end in "-ly" but are Adjectives, not Adverbs. ("He behaved in a friendly manner" is correct; "He behaved friendly" is incorrect).

Nouns acting as Adjectives: When a noun modifies another noun, it is used in the singular form. (e.g., "Eye surgery", not "Eyes surgery"; "Five-star hotel", not "Five-stars hotel").

3. 20 Practice Questions (Solved)

Question 01Exam Pattern

Identify the part of speech of the underlined word: "This is a fast train."

A) Noun

B) Verb

C) Adjective

D) Adverb

Correct answer: C) Adjective

Solution

Step 1: Check the word modified: 'fast' describes 'train'.

Step 2: 'train' is a Noun.

Step 3: Words that modify nouns are Adjectives.

Conclusion: 'fast' is an Adjective. Option C.

Question 02Exam Pattern

Identify the part of speech of the underlined word: "He runs fast."

A) Noun

B) Verb

C) Adjective

D) Adverb

Correct answer: D) Adverb

Solution

Step 1: Check the word modified: 'fast' describes the action 'runs'.

Step 2: 'runs' is a Verb.

Step 3: Words that modify verbs are Adverbs.

Conclusion: 'fast' is an Adverb. Option D.

Question 03Exam Pattern

Identify the part of speech: "Swimming is a very good exercise for health."

A) Verb

B) Noun

C) Adjective

D) Pronoun

Correct answer: B) Noun

Solution

Step 1: Here, 'Swimming' acts as the subject of the sentence.

Step 2: A subject must be a noun or pronoun. An '-ing' verb acting as a noun is a Gerund.

Conclusion: 'Swimming' is a Noun (Gerund). Option B.

Question 04Exam Pattern

Find the error in the sentence: "He went to a five-stars hotel for dinner."

A) He went

B) to a five-stars

C) hotel for

D) No error

Correct answer: B) to a five-stars

Solution

Step 1: In 'five-stars hotel', 'five-stars' is acting as a compound adjective modifying 'hotel'.

Step 2: Adjectives are never pluralized.

Step 3: It should be 'five-star hotel'.

Conclusion: Error is in Option B.

Question 05Exam Pattern

Identify the underlined part of speech: "The dog jumped over the lazy cat."

A) Conjunction

B) Preposition

C) Verb

D) Adverb

Correct answer: B) Preposition

Solution

Step 1: 'over' shows the spatial relationship between 'jumped' and the noun phrase 'the lazy cat'.

Step 2: Words showing placement/relationship are prepositions.

Conclusion: Option B.

Question 06Exam Pattern

Identify the underlined part: "We had a lovely conversation yesterday."

A) Adverb

B) Adjective

C) Noun

D) Verb

Correct answer: B) Adjective

Solution

Step 1: 'lovely' describes the noun 'conversation'.

Step 2: Even though it ends in '-ly', it describes a noun, making it an adjective.

Conclusion: 'lovely' is an Adjective. Option B.

Question 07Exam Pattern

Identify the underlined word: "I can write with either hand."

A) Pronoun

B) Adjective

C) Conjunction

D) Adverb

Correct answer: B) Adjective

Solution

Step 1: 'either' is modifying the singular noun 'hand'.

Step 2: When distributive words modify a noun directly, they act as distributive adjectives.

Conclusion: Option B.

Question 08Exam Pattern

Identify the underlined word: "Either of the two plans is good."

A) Pronoun

B) Adjective

C) Conjunction

D) Adverb

Correct answer: A) Pronoun

Solution

Step 1: 'Either' is used as the subject here followed by 'of', replacing the nouns.

Step 2: This makes it a distributive pronoun.

Conclusion: Option A.

Question 09Exam Pattern

Find the error: "He behaved friendly with all the guests."

A) He behaved

B) friendly with

C) all the guests

D) No error

Correct answer: B) friendly with

Solution

Step 1: 'behaved' is a verb. We need an adverb to modify it.

Step 2: 'friendly' is an adjective, not an adverb.

Step 3: The adverb form of friendly is 'in a friendly manner'.

Conclusion: Correction: 'He behaved in a friendly manner'. Option B.

Question 10Exam Pattern

Identify the underlined word: "She went home early."

A) Noun

B) Verb

C) Adjective

D) Adverb

Correct answer: D) Adverb

Solution

Step 1: 'home' here indicates the direction/place of the action 'went'.

Step 2: Therefore, 'home' is functioning as an adverb of place here.

Conclusion: Option D.

Question 11Exam Pattern

Identify the underlined word: "This is her home."

A) Noun

B) Verb

C) Adjective

D) Adverb

Correct answer: A) Noun

Solution

Step 1: 'home' here is modified by the possessive determiner 'her'.

Step 2: A word modified by a determiner acts as a Noun.

Conclusion: 'home' is a Noun here. Option A.

Question 12Exam Pattern

Identify the underlined word: "The train arrived late."

A) Noun

B) Verb

C) Adjective

D) Adverb

Correct answer: D) Adverb

Solution

Step 1: 'late' describes the timing of the action 'arrived'.

Step 2: Modifying a verb makes it an adverb.

Conclusion: Option D.

Question 13Exam Pattern

Identify the underlined word: "The late Prime Minister was respected."

A) Noun

B) Verb

C) Adjective

D) Adverb

Correct answer: C) Adjective

Solution

Step 1: 'late' here describes the noun 'Prime Minister' (meaning deceased).

Step 2: Modifying a noun makes it an adjective.

Conclusion: Option C.

Question 14Exam Pattern

Identify the underlined part of speech: "He is but a child."

A) Conjunction

B) Preposition

C) Adverb

D) Noun

Correct answer: C) Adverb

Solution

Step 1: 'but' here means 'only' ('He is only a child').

Step 2: When 'but' means 'only' or 'just', it acts as an adverb.

Conclusion: Option C.

Question 15Exam Pattern

Identify the underlined part of speech: "No one but Ramesh attended the meet."

A) Conjunction

B) Preposition

C) Adverb

D) Pronoun

Correct answer: B) Preposition

Solution

Step 1: 'but' here means 'except' ('No one except Ramesh...').

Step 2: When 'but' functions as 'except', it acts as a preposition.

Conclusion: Option B.

Question 16Exam Pattern

Identify the underlined part of speech: "He is poor but honest."

A) Conjunction

B) Preposition

C) Adverb

D) Adjective

Correct answer: A) Conjunction

Solution

Step 1: 'but' links two adjectives 'poor' and 'honest'.

Step 2: Linking words are conjunctions.

Conclusion: Option A.

Question 17Exam Pattern

Identify the underlined word: "He is very smart."

A) Adjective

B) Adverb

C) Noun

D) Pronoun

Correct answer: B) Adverb

Solution

Step 1: 'very' describes the adjective 'smart'.

Step 2: Words modifying adjectives are adverbs.

Conclusion: Option B.

Question 18Exam Pattern

Identify the underlined word: "Water the plants daily."

A) Noun

B) Verb

C) Adjective

D) Preposition

Correct answer: B) Verb

Solution

Step 1: 'Water' is used here as an imperative command (action).

Step 2: Since it is the core action of the sentence, it is a Verb.

Conclusion: Option B.

Question 19Exam Pattern

Identify the underlined word: "Give me a glass of water."

A) Noun

B) Verb

C) Adjective

D) Pronoun

Correct answer: A) Noun

Solution

Step 1: 'water' here is the object of the preposition 'of'.

Step 2: Objects of prepositions are nouns/pronouns.

Conclusion: 'water' is a Noun here. Option A.

Question 20Exam Pattern

Identify the underlined part of speech: "Hurrah! We won the match."

A) Conjunction

B) Adjective

C) Interjection

D) Pronoun

Correct answer: C) Interjection

Solution

Step 1: 'Hurrah!' expresses sudden joy and has an exclamation mark.

Step 2: This is an Interjection.

Conclusion: Option C.

Strategy errors to avoid

Form-based Identification

Don't guess a word's part of speech solely by how it looks (e.g. assuming all "-ly" words are adverbs or all "-ing" words are verbs). Focus on its grammatical **function** in the specific sentence.

Ignoring Determiner Hints

If a word has a possessive pronoun ("my", "her", "his") or article ("a", "an", "the") preceding it, it functions as a Noun, even if it usually works as a verb or adjective.

Master the next modules

Tenses (Present, Past, Future)Subject-Verb Agreement Prepositions