Mastering the Parts of Speech: A Fun and Effective Approach

Language is a complex structure that cannot be learned with the flick of your fingers. Every branch, whether it is vocabulary, grammar, phonetics, or something else, takes time. 

It is like an organism working with all its organs to perform some functions. The same is true of grammar. To be more precise, the grammatical classification system for words is parts of speech.

So, what exactly are parts of speech, and why are they so crucial for language learners? Let's take a closer look at their importance and how to teach them effectively!

Parts of speech are basic categories into which words are divided according to their function in a sentence. 

There are primary and secondary parts of speech. All of them do have diverse meanings, functions, and all the ins and outs to consider. 

But how can students create a sentence when they don't know what can be a subject or what to begin the sentence with? Not a rhetorical question. 

The answer is to learn parts of speech. That is just one solid example. Let’s look at more of them!

The Sentence Structure

Knowing whether the word is a noun, an adjective, or an adverb is helpful for learners to identify it and understand where to put it in the sentence.

Building Grammar Rules

We know that grammar is the relationship between the parts of speech. That is why adjectives describe nouns and go before them, and adverbs describe verbs and are put after them. 

Due to such simple rules that teachers can implement into their class and lessons, everything becomes as easy as a piece of cake.

For example, knowing the word ‘soft’ as an adjective, they can immediately make an adverb ‘soft-ly’ if they need to describe an action. 

If they need a word to describe friendly relations between people, they can just add ‘-ship’ to the word ‘friend’ or to say about the position of being a leader — ‘leadership’.

Avoiding Mistakes

If a student knows that slow is an adjective, they will never say: ‘He runs slow’ but ‘He runs slowly’. So, visible advantages are here, no joking or arguing. 

Enriching Your Vocabulary

It is great to learn words in synonym groups like ‘to drink, to sip, to gulp’ or in antonyms ‘to open — to close’. Again, the rule of word formation words here. 

And, bang…, they already know 3 more new words to build up their vocabulary.

Improving Your Writing

At first, we learn not to use auxiliary verbs in positive sentences, but later we do. We emphasise something in such a way. 

If your students write something like: ‘He did say that to me’, you can already be proud of them.

One more phrase is ‘if you will’. Like: ‘You know, I am going to do that if you will’. Doesn’t it sound majestic? And again, not a rhetorical question. Because, yes, it does, it does sound. 

In such a way, students brush up on their vocabulary, use different structures to vary their sentences, and that’s what makes them sound much more intelligent.

Learning Other Languages

As the saying goes, it is much easier to learn a second foreign language. The explanation exists. You know the concept and similarities between languages, thanks to parts of speech.

They know what the subjunctive is in French, so there is no difficulty in understanding this grammar topic in some Romance languages like Italian or Spanish, for example. 

Once students learn it, they recognise it in every language they get down to remember.

What’s more essential is how to teach students these parts of speech to avoid ambiguity. 

Teachers must ensure that ESL students become the CEOs of parts of speech. So, let’s dive deeper!

Primary Parts Of Speech

Nouns

It is an activity to get students acquainted with everyday objects and make them name everything that surrounds them. You can find some items of a special colour or form, give a hint, and encourage your students to say.

Once again, one student can take out everything from the bag so that others can name and describe it. ‘It is… to open the door’, ‘You can call somebody with…’, and so on.

One student thinks of a noun, the rest tries to guess it, giving leading yes/no questions like: ‘Is it a person?’, ‘Can you eat it?’.

Pronouns

You can catch the meaning by the name of the game. You need to swap something for the pronoun. Any noun, or a sentence consisting of a noun, can be assigned to your students, and they will replace it with the pronoun.

Make a story with your students, encouraging them to come up with one sentence that has nouns and one pronoun. 

Then, the next student needs to continue replacing nouns with pronouns and add new ones. For instance: ‘The girl with a dog went to the park.’ — ‘She was there for a long time’...

Verbs

Give your students flashcards with verbs that they will have to show, and others will guess. 

To make it even more challenging, you can require them to show a whole chain story, making sentences with these verbs in their mind, so that others retell a made-up story.

This one is perfect for acting out all forms of the verbs. Students can brush up on their skills by answering your questions immediately. 

You can pronounce any form of the verb, and they have to complete with two others. If a verb is an irregular one, it is a combo to pick up their brains. 

Make them say 3 past form, then everything else: present and future.

Previously, we mentioned that students will be able to show some actions. However, not all of them can be depicted due to the state verbs in the English language. 

As a result, the teacher can play such a game with them when they name whether the verb is stative or active.

Adjectives

Again, flashcards are lifesavers. Here, the teacher can be well-armed with two groups of them. The first one consists of different adjectives (at least five on each card), the other — random objects. 

Accidentally being given a pair for each of them, students have a few seconds to describe a certain object they see on the flashcard with other adjectives proposed from the list.

Moving on, making it more complicated. For now, students need to switch on their imagination, as there is no list of adjectives offered. 

Some words, maybe connected to current situations, events, and opinions on dilemmas. They have to express themselves, speak up their mind, and use a range of adjectives. 

‘I consider cramming for the exam as… a dishonest way/ boring/ ineffective/ efficient…’. Not only do they use adjectives, but speak their minds.

Adverbs

Provide your students with either paper or digital flashcards. One side has a verb to act out, the other — an adverb. The more sentences, the better. Creativity for extraordinary sentences is always welcome.

A debate question appears once again to make your students speak more. You can ask: ‘How would you act if you became the leader of the project?’ or ‘How would you act if you spot somebody cheating at the exam?’

Various ways to rack their brains, develop a mindset, and personal views. Everything is for the benefit!

Numerals

Flashcards come in handy, again. The teacher should prepare the cards with a number on one side and a random word on the other.

One student thinks of a number, the rest try to guess it, asking yes/no questions like: ‘Is it more than 10?’, ‘Is it more than a thousand?’

Keep in mind that numbers might be quite confusing, so start with small numbers and then gradually expand them depending on the level and age of students.

Secondary parts of speech

Conjunctions

This acronym states all the conjunctions: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so. You have to assign one of the letters to students, and they need to write a sentence with the offered one. 

This game is endless. You can practice and write as many sentences as you wish. Students develop writing skills, coming up with new ideas and putting into practice the FANBOYS acronym.

Prepare ready-made parts of the sentences that students have to combine into one and add a conjunction themselves. For example, ‘He was late. He still didn’t finish it.’ — ‘He was late, so he still didn’t finish it.’

Interjections

Make different columns of emotions for your students to categorize them:

• surprise — wow! oh! whoa!;
• disappointment — oh no! darn!;
• happiness — yay! hooray! woohoo!;
• disgust — eww! yuck!;
• thinking / hesitation — hmm… uh… well…

Ask them which ones they use every now and then, what was new, and you will recall everything in such a way.

Prepare different life situations like ‘You have missed your train’, ‘You forgot the name of the person’, and make your students react to those.

They can use a variety of interjections here. That is the privilege to learn this part of speech with them, as there is no single right option. 

You can come across different reactions, have some fun, and then make your students explain one or another to you.

Particles

Give your students some sentences with the wrong particles: “I am looking forward for seeing you”. Their task is to correct.

Make flashcards consisting of verbs on one side and particles on the other. Students will combine those into phrasal verbs, learning particles and their completely different meanings in the phrasal verbs. 

Unfair life, hah. In such students can learn more vocabulary. If you combine words by types of particles, it will be much easier because it is somewhat logical. 

For example: to use up — to use completely, to drink up — to finish drinking, to eat up — to finish eating, etc.

Prepositions

Provide your students with some pictures (should be filled with different objects) and ask them to describe everything they see, and how everything is located.

Articles

So, make a list of different nouns: countable, uncountable, always singular or always plural… Then, read them one by one with students so that they decide on the spot what article to choose.

Prepare some stories or sentences, but do not include articles. While reading that together or individually, your students will fill in the gaps with the correct ones.

To master these teaching methods and more, many educators rely on high-quality online courses for English teachers.

Summing it up, there is one more game that can include all the parts of speech together — unscrambling the words into the sentences. This one will be effective for parts of speech to make an overall review of their function and place in the sentence.

Overall tips for teaching English: