Games / Parts of Speech. How to Teach Effectively

31.10.2025

6 minutes

Activities
Methodology

Dozens of books have been written. Piles of articles teach how to teach somebody. The Internet is full of lifehacks. However, it might not ignite that spark in your students’ eyes. Even though this is educational, students may lose concentration or motivation to learn.

How to amend it? Using alternative sources isn’t enough. Flashcards, debates, role plays, different exercises, games and activities, and fun parts of speech activities are beneficial in one case — when they’re effective for practicing the different parts of speech.

Sure, not by games alone. It will teach, in case the teacher knows how to show it. Leading and having a teaching approach before the games will make a combo out of that.

How to Implement a Teaching Approach

Present In The Context

It would be a bad idea to turn your lesson into a lecture and start like that: “What is a noun? A noun is a part of speech…”. The students will feel overwhelmed immediately: difficult terms, rules, and no understanding of what the teacher will want from them.

What if the teacher explains the same noun, but does not point that out? For example: “So, students, what can you see right now? Name it, please.” Here are the answers immediately. “A laptop, a cup, a window, a notebook, my cat on my armchair, etc”.

Then, the teacher says, “Right, so people and things (that you have actually named) are nouns. They answer the question 'who' or 'what'. Isn’t it? Try to ask. What? - a laptop.”

In such a way, the students will straight away see what on earth it is that and how to even deal with it?

Then, absolutely, rules can be added. They are mandatory, but the students get an understanding of them much better. They already know what they are told about.

Learning Through Comparison

It comes as no surprise that the second foreign language is much easier to learn. Why? There is experience, mistakes, and knowledge learned from them.

It is easier when you have something to compare with. It is easy peasy to understand articles or the subjunctive mood if the students have learned it previously in another language. They have an overall vision of it and do not feel lost.

However, it is not a problem to compare something in one and the same language. Pretty enough examples.

For instance:

“I wrote the letter yesterday.”
“I have written the letter.”
“I was writing the letter from 5 to 7 p.m.”
“I have been writing the letter the whole evening.”

Thanks to such a comparison, the teacher can explain tenses. At the same time, the students can see the difference in meaning and verb forms, analyse everything, define tenses, and see how to use them.

Visualisation

Colours affect the learning process, as well as some gestures and motions, mind maps, and tables. The teacher can establish a rule to use colour to highlight something highly important.

The brighter it is, the better it will stay in memory. It is great to learn new words using gestures where it’s possible. Visual learners will store it, 100%.

Mind maps give a wholesome understanding of the material. It helps to concentrate and see the whole picture. Tables with rules are great “cheat sheets” to have at hand and run over them any time. So, it makes for self-learning outside of the class, too.

Game Ideas

How to choose one or another correctly? Make it funny and helpful? It’s high time to dive deeper into the kinds of games for practicing the different parts of speech.

The Context

Previously, it was mentioned how to teach nouns. That’s how the students can define them and have some fun.

But not by nouns alone! Here’s how to teach verbs.

The teacher can say: “To speak is something we can do. That’s an action. It’s a verb. What else can you do?” And, for example, answers: “To run, to laugh, to learn…” The students can give various verbs and grasp this, too.

The next point, let it be adverbs. The teacher says: “How can we speak?”. The answers are like: “Fast, slowly, loud, quiet…” - “These are adverbs. They answer the question “how”.

So, the students can learn parts of speech by posing questions. The first step can be done in OCD.

After that, they can work with cards either individually or in pairs. The teacher separately gives cards with the parts of speech and words that the students have to match.

As the students deduce categories by meaning and function, not memorization, there is a real connection to everyday English. What is more, it encourages the learners to analyse and notice changes.

Sentence Builders

As the students can define the parts of speech, the next step is on.

The teacher hands out cards to everyone. Their task is to combine these flashcards and use the most out of them.

The teacher can set the theme (probably something the students are learning at that moment) and define some other details: e.g., should it be logical or funny. Then, the students can work in groups or pairs, reading their sentences and explaining why each word fits its part.

Such a game will help to build up creative thinking and understanding. It is not about making it automatic, but realising how it sounds and what it means. And this meaning is completely on them.

Blocks Of Words

This game differs from the previous ones as it gives a little bit of challenge and sparks the competition. The teacher chooses one part of speech— block, and the students have to name 3 random examples. For example: “Name me 3 adjectives.” And they have to say it fast. ‘Slow, tall, beautiful, red…”.

In this case, grammar is practiced orally, not in writing. Some novelties should be added. The game will help to recall knowledge, strengthen memory. Its format adds challenge and reward, increasing motivation. The brain starts thinking in emergent situations, which develops vigilance.

The Gaps

The teacher needs to prepare a story based on the students’ level and the topic that they have learnt. However, there should be some missing point – the parts of speech.

It looks like that “Once, there was a (noun)” or “Accidently (pronoun) (verb) loudly and everyone looked (preposition) him”. The students can fill in the gaps in the whole text on their own without any difficulty. Then, check it together in pairs, and later OCD with the teacher.

Another option. It can be done together straight away.

The students read sentence by sentence and fill in the gaps with the words they feel. Again, it might be something logical or complete nonsense. It won’t affect the result if the words are grammatically correct.

So, let them be creators and have some fun.

Here, grammar is integrated into storytelling. That’s why the learners learn to create meaning through context.

Write It Down

The teacher needs to prepare sentences of different difficulty to hand out to the students. At first, it can be 3 sentences for each.

For example:

She kept silent while he was talking the whole evening.
My mom was cooking while I was writing my essay.
Tomorrow will be sunny.

So, the teacher hands out strips of paper with the sentences. The task is to write down the parts of speech for every single word. Then, the students can read their sentences to each other. Or the teacher might ask them to swap these strips of paper and check their classmates' work.

It will be an extra task: to check somebody’s sentences.

That will help to be more fluent in the parts of speech and more apt at noticing some mistakes and correcting them.

Wanted

Here we go again. And the students’ task is to work with the text. This time, it is completed, and all words are in their places. Every single time, it will be a new task, even though the text is the same.

For instance, the teacher can say: “Highlight all verbs”. The students may take their favorite pencil and start playing this flamboyant game.

The teacher can shift this task many times, as the different parts of speech can be assigned to look for. Every single time, it will be captivating for the students.

Later, the whole text will be filled with colors. The students can make such a color bank for themselves and have this text as an example.

They will know that all verbs are green, adjectives are pink, and numerals are orange, for instance. In case they need some examples or revision, they know where to look for them.

Define And Say

That’s a speaking activity for the whole class. The teacher can start by saying a random word. Let it be “a pot”. The first student has to name a part of speech. “A noun”. After that, the same student says another random word that comes to their mind, as the teacher previously did.

The second student names a part of speech, and the third student does the same: defining the parts of speech, coming up with their own word. And, one by one, as Catch-22.

To make it more challenging, the teacher might set some time, like ten seconds, for an answer. It will speed the students up a little bit and make a funny atmosphere again.

Overall, this exercise engages body, mind, and memory. Here, the students learn to link movements to meaning. Further, lowers anxiety, making grammar playful.

Grammar Detectives

The teacher can combine the students into groups. Their task is to look for a certain part of speech. How? It might be really different. First and foremost, the teacher needs to point out a special number of words and where to find them.

For example:

10 verbs in the text given to you
Write 15 examples on your own
Find 8 verbs in the examples that you have written from the previous lesson
Find 10 verbs in the book where this topic is explained

This game will help them to recall as much information as possible. As they look for these verbs, the learners will reread everything. Tricky, huhuh. But they didn’t even guess. It was a game for them. It can be played with any parts of speech, btw.

Golden Tips

Firstly, always connect games to real language use, not isolated drills. When it is clear how and when to use, the students will use.

Start with the context and real-life examples. Then, the rule is understood, not learned by heart.

Second of all, no matter whether it’s an individual or a group task, do not make it a competition between the students. It should be a competition with the previous selves.

Everyone learns at their own pace, including their own traits of character, environment, time, and possibilities. Let the students make mistakes, learn from them, and become better versions of themselves.

No comparison or inferiority complex. Time and patience. For both the teachers and the learners.

Finally, here is the next tip that stems from. Keep feedback positive — focus on “why this word fits here.” It’s impossible to imagine how proud they are of themselves at that moment. Just the right answer.

Such a tiny, but tremendous moment for the learners.

The teacher’s task is to teach, correct, for sure. But they need to know how to communicate with the learners; that’s beyond the question. How to direct them, inspire, advise, correct, help, but never judge or compare.

Only then can it lead to knowledge and well-being. The students need to feel safe and comfortable in the lessons. It affects their development and learning process as well.

So, the teacher is not only about grammar and the parts of speech — it is much more. For educators looking to deepen their expertise, the Grade University platform provides innovative tools and resources tailored for interactive classroom experiences.

Additionally, exploring online courses for English teachers can offer fresh insights and certification opportunities to refine your teaching strategies.

For further inspiration, another insightful blog post about how to teach parts of speech, where shares creative tips on making grammar lessons interactive and enjoyable for young learners.