The Eight Word Classes
<h3>Why do word classes matter?</h3>
<p>Understanding word classes allows you to make precise, technical analysis comments about a writer's language choices.</p>
<h3>The Eight Word Classes</h3>
<table style="width:100%;border-collapse:collapse">
<tr style="background:#f0f9f4"><th style="padding:8px;border:1px solid #ddd">Class</th><th style="padding:8px;border:1px solid #ddd">What it does</th><th style="padding:8px;border:1px solid #ddd">Example</th></tr>
<tr><td style="padding:8px;border:1px solid #ddd"><strong>Noun</strong></td><td style="padding:8px;border:1px solid #ddd">Names a person, place, thing, or idea</td><td style="padding:8px;border:1px solid #ddd">girl, London, joy</td></tr>
<tr><td style="padding:8px;border:1px solid #ddd"><strong>Verb</strong></td><td style="padding:8px;border:1px solid #ddd">Shows action or state</td><td style="padding:8px;border:1px solid #ddd">run, think, is</td></tr>
<tr><td style="padding:8px;border:1px solid #ddd"><strong>Adjective</strong></td><td style="padding:8px;border:1px solid #ddd">Describes a noun</td><td style="padding:8px;border:1px solid #ddd">tall, crimson, exhausted</td></tr>
<tr><td style="padding:8px;border:1px solid #ddd"><strong>Adverb</strong></td><td style="padding:8px;border:1px solid #ddd">Modifies a verb, adjective, or other adverb</td><td style="padding:8px;border:1px solid #ddd">quickly, very, almost</td></tr>
<tr><td style="padding:8px;border:1px solid #ddd"><strong>Pronoun</strong></td><td style="padding:8px;border:1px solid #ddd">Replaces a noun</td><td style="padding:8px;border:1px solid #ddd">he, she, they, it, we</td></tr>
<tr><td style="padding:8px;border:1px solid #ddd"><strong>Preposition</strong></td><td style="padding:8px;border:1px solid #ddd">Shows relationship between words</td><td style="padding:8px;border:1px solid #ddd">in, on, under, through</td></tr>
<tr><td style="padding:8px;border:1px solid #ddd"><strong>Conjunction</strong></td><td style="padding:8px;border:1px solid #ddd">Joins words or clauses</td><td style="padding:8px;border:1px solid #ddd">and, but, because, although</td></tr>
<tr><td style="padding:8px;border:1px solid #ddd"><strong>Determiner</strong></td><td style="padding:8px;border:1px solid #ddd">Goes before a noun to specify it</td><td style="padding:8px;border:1px solid #ddd">the, a, this, my, every</td></tr>
</table>