Parts of Speech ESL Games, Worksheets & Activities
Parts of Speech Playbook
ESL Parts of Speech Worksheet - Grammar and Vocabulary Exercises: Gap-fill, Providing Vocabulary, Identifying, Sentence Completion
Here is an informative parts of speech worksheet to help introduce students to nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, and conjunctions...
Tales of Grammar
ESL Parts of Speech Activity - Grammar, Vocabulary and Writing: Matching, Collaborative Writing - Group Work
In this imaginative parts of speech activity, students match words with parts of speech and then use the words in a collaborative short story. To begin, in groups, students play a matching game where they...
Word Whiz
ESL Parts of Speech Game - Grammar: Identifying, Matching, Providing Vocabulary, Gap-fill - Group Work
Here is an entertaining parts of speech game to help students practice verbs, nouns, adjectives and adverbs. In the game, students race to identify the missing part of speech in a sentence and complete...
Parts of Speech Parley
ESL Parts of Speech Activity - Vocabulary and Speaking: Gap-fill, Asking and Answering Questions - Group and Pair Work
In this insightful parts of speech speaking activity, students review their knowledge of the basic parts of speech while completing, asking and answering conversation questions. First, in two groups, students...
Silly Sentences
ESL Parts of Speech Activity - Vocabulary and Grammar: Brainstorming, Categorising, Forming Sentences - Pair Work
This creative parts of speech activity helps students learn and practice how to use nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs in sentences. First, brainstorm nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs as a class. Students...
Verbs, Nouns, Adjectives, and Adverbs
ESL Parts of Speech Worksheet - Vocabulary Exercises: Categorising, Binary Choice, Error Correction, Gap-fill - Speaking Game: Forming Sentences - Pair Work
This free parts of speech worksheet helps students learn how to identify verbs, nouns, adjectives, and adverbs and use them in sentences. First, students...
What Type of Word?
ESL Parts of Speech Game - Grammar: Gap-fill, Guessing, Sentence Completion, Freer Practice - Group Work
Here is a useful parts of speech game to help students identify the position of verbs, nouns, adjectives and adverbs in sentences. In groups of three, two students play the first game and one student acts...
Crucial Combinations
ESL Parts of Speech Game - Vocabulary: Identifying, Gap-fill, Guessing - Pair Work
In this fun parts of speech game, students race to guess missing parts of speech in sentences. First, in two groups, students identify the two missing parts of speech in each sentence on their worksheet, writing down their answers. Next...
Parts of Speech Dominoes
ESL Parts of Speech Game - Grammar, Vocabulary and Speaking: Matching, Forming Sentences - Group Work
In this productive parts of speech game, students match words with parts of speech and make sentences using the words. The first player places one of their dominoes at either end of the domino...
Parts of Speech Practice
ESL Parts of Speech Worksheet - Grammar and Vocabulary Exercises: Matching, Categorizing, Identifying, Gap-fill
Here is a free parts of speech worksheet to help students learn and practice the eight parts of speech. Students start by matching definitions to the correct parts of speech. Next, students put words...
Word Family Races
ESL Parts of Speech Game - Grammar and Vocabulary: Multiple Choice, Identifying, Matching - Group Work
In this engaging parts of speech game, students identify which of several related words is the correct part of speech to complete sentences. In groups, students take turns picking up a card...
Word Wizard
ESL Parts of Speech Worksheet - Grammar Exercises: Gap-fill, Identifying, Categorising, Error Correction, Unscrambling
In this comprehensive parts of speech worksheet, students identify parts of speech and use them to construct grammatically correct sentences. Students start by completing sentences with...
Parts of Speech Bingo
ESL Parts of Speech Game - Vocabulary and Listening: Matching - Group Work
In this enjoyable parts of speech game, students play bingo by matching advanced parts of speech with words. You or a student reads a word at random from the caller's sheet. There are four words to choose from for each part of speech...
Understanding Parts of Speech
Parts of speech are the categories that group every word in a sentence by the job it does, such as naming things (nouns), expressing actions (verbs), or describing qualities (adjectives). When students cannot identify what part of speech a sentence slot needs, they slot in the wrong word form and produce errors like 'She runs quick' instead of 'She runs quickly,' which immediately mark their writing as inaccurate.
This page spans A1 to C1 levels with thirteen resources across worksheets, card games, a dominoes game, and a bingo game, including two free downloads.
The eight parts of speech each play a distinct role in a sentence, from naming people and things to connecting ideas and expressing emotion.
| Part of Speech | Function | Example Word | Example Sentence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Noun | Names a person, place, thing, or idea | city | 'The city never sleeps.' |
| Verb | Expresses an action or state | run | 'They run every morning.' |
| Adjective | Describes or modifies a noun | bright | 'She wore a bright jacket.' |
| Adverb | Modifies a verb, adjective, or other adverb | quickly | 'He quickly finished his work.' |
| Preposition | Shows the relationship between a noun and another word | on | 'The book is on the table.' |
| Conjunction | Connects words, phrases, or clauses | but | 'I wanted to go, but I was tired.' |
| Pronoun | Replaces a noun to avoid repetition | they | 'Maria left early. They always do.' |
| Interjection | Expresses a sudden feeling or reaction | wow | 'Wow, that was unexpected.' |
When to Use Parts of Speech
Avoiding repetition with pronouns: A writer switches from a noun to a pronoun when the noun has already been introduced and repeating it would make the text feel clunky, so a passage that opens 'David called the office' can continue 'He left a message' rather than naming David again.
Choosing prepositions to signal precise relationships: A speaker selects a preposition carefully when the spatial or logical relationship between two things needs to be exact, so saying 'the meeting is on Friday at three' rather than 'the meeting is Friday three' removes all ambiguity about time and place.
Using conjunctions to control sentence logic: A writer reaches for a conjunction when they want to show the logical relationship between two ideas rather than leaving readers to infer it, so 'I studied hard, so I passed' signals cause and effect in a way that two separate sentences would not.
3-Step Framework for Teaching Parts of Speech
1. Introduce and Label: Start with a structured introduction that moves from reading to identifying. The worksheet walks students through descriptions of each part of speech, then asks them to label the word in bold in each sentence according to its part of speech. That identification step is the real test: students have to stop and decide what job each word is doing, not just match a definition.
2. Consolidate Through Collaborative Storytelling: Move into creative production with a matching and writing activity. Groups first pair word cards with their part-of-speech cards, then each group selects one word for each part of speech and writes a short story containing all six words, for example building a story around 'snake, sit, hungry, really, on, so.' The constraint forces genuine grammatical thinking because every chosen word has to function correctly in the story.
3. Push Precision With a Word Family Race: Finish with a fast-paced game that demands precise discrimination. The reader presents three related words from a word family such as 'enjoy, enjoyment, enjoyable,' and the other group members race to choose the correct word to complete the sentence and correctly identify its part of speech to win the card.
Common Mistakes with Parts of Speech
Using the wrong preposition: Students often transfer preposition use directly from their first language, choosing a preposition that feels logical to them but does not match standard English usage. Wrong: 'I arrived to the airport at six.' Correct: 'I arrived at the airport at six.'
Using a noun form instead of an adjective: Students often use the noun form of a word in a position that requires an adjective, particularly with words from the same family that look similar in both forms. Wrong: 'The weather was beauty yesterday.' Correct: 'The weather was beautiful yesterday.'
Common Questions About Teaching Parts of Speech
What is a good worksheet for teaching parts of speech?
The free worksheet Parts of Speech Practice covers all eight parts of speech in one resource, moving from matching definitions to categorizing words, identifying errors, and completing sentences with students' own ideas, giving a teacher a single worksheet that tracks from recognition through to production in around 30 minutes.
What is an engaging game for practicing parts of speech?
What makes the game Word Whiz engaging is that every player is active on every turn. One student reads a sentence aloud using BLANK for the missing word, and all others race to put down the correct part of speech card and say a suitable word at the same time, for example 'study' for 'Ali and Tom BLANK every day.'
What is an effective speaking activity for reviewing parts of speech?
The activity Parts of Speech Parley works well for a quick review because students speak and think about word class at the same time. They complete conversation questions by filling in a suitable word and identifying whether it is a noun, verb, adjective, or adverb, then ask those same questions to a partner and share their findings with the class.
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