Understand the rule first
Classify a word by what it does in context, not by the word in isolation. Ask whether it names, replaces, describes, modifies, links or shows action.
Word classes 11+ practice
Identify a word’s grammatical job within its sentence.
Classify the words in ‘The remarkably quiet fox waited.’
- Fox names an animal, so it is a noun.
- Quiet describes fox, so it is an adjective.
- Remarkably modifies quiet, so it is an adverb.
A common misconception
Assuming a word always belongs to one class even when its function changes between sentences.
Reusable method: Ask which word the target word is describing or replacing.Question 1 of 8 EnglishcoreWhat word class is ‘carefully’ in ‘Rosa carefully opened the box’?
- Aadverb
- Badjective
- Cnoun
- Dpronoun
Need a hint?
It modifies how the action was performed.
Show worked answer
Answer A: adverb
Carefully modifies the verb opened, so it is an adverb.
Quick method: Ask which word the target word is describing or replacing.
Question 2 of 8 EnglishcoreWhat word class is ‘ancient’ in ‘The ancient bridge collapsed’?
- Averb
- Badjective
- Cadverb
- Dnoun
Need a hint?
It describes the bridge.
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Answer B: adjective
Ancient describes the noun bridge, so it is an adjective.
Quick method: Ask which word the target word is describing or replacing.
Question 3 of 8 EnglishcoreWhat word class is ‘They’ in ‘They carried the boxes’?
- Adeterminer
- Bnoun
- Cpronoun
- Dpreposition
Need a hint?
It replaces the names of people.
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Answer C: pronoun
They stands in place of nouns, so it is a pronoun.
Quick method: Ask which word the target word is describing or replacing.
Question 4 of 8 Englishexam-styleWhat word class is ‘record’ in ‘We will record the result’?
- Anoun
- Badjective
- Cadverb
- Dverb
Need a hint?
It names the action that will be done.
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Answer D: verb
Record expresses the action in this sentence, so it is a verb.
Quick method: Ask which word the target word is describing or replacing.
Question 5 of 8 Englishexam-styleWhat word class is ‘light’ in ‘The light faded slowly’?
- Anoun
- Bverb
- Cadjective
- Dadverb
Need a hint?
It is the thing that faded.
Show worked answer
Answer A: noun
Light names the subject of the sentence, so it is a noun.
Quick method: Ask which word the target word is describing or replacing.
Question 6 of 8 Englishexam-styleWhat word class is ‘beyond’ in ‘The path continued beyond the gate’?
- Apreposition
- Bpronoun
- Cadjective
- Dnoun
Need a hint?
It shows the relationship between the path and gate.
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Answer A: preposition
Beyond introduces the noun phrase ‘the gate’, so it is a preposition.
Quick method: Ask which word the target word is describing or replacing.
Question 7 of 8 Englishexam-styleWhat word class is ‘but’ in ‘We hurried, but the doors had closed’?
- Aadverb
- Bconjunction
- Cdeterminer
- Dverb
Need a hint?
It joins two contrasting clauses.
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Answer B: conjunction
But is a coordinating conjunction.
Quick method: Ask which word the target word is describing or replacing.
Question 8 of 8 Englishexam-styleWhat word class is ‘ours’ in ‘The final decision was ours’?
- Anoun
- Badjective
- Cpronoun
- Dpreposition
Need a hint?
It stands in place of a possessive noun phrase.
Show worked answer
Answer C: pronoun
Ours is a possessive pronoun.
Quick method: Ask which word the target word is describing or replacing.