The Nine Parts of Speech

Three little words we often see,

An ARTICLE, a, an and the.

NOUN’s the name of anything,

As school or garden, hoop or string.

ADJECTIVES tell the kind of noun,

As great, small, pretty, white, or brown.

Instead of nouns the PRONOUNS stand,

John’s head, his face, my arm, your hand.

VERBS tell of something being done,

To read, write, count, sing, jump, or run.

How things are done, the ADVERBS tell,

As slowly, quickly, ill or well.

A PREPOSITION stands before

A noun, as in or through a door.

CONJUNCTIONS join the nouns together,

As men and children, wind and weather.

The INTERJECTION shows surprise,

As Oh, how pretty! Ah, how wise!

The whole are called ‘nine parts of speech’,

Which reading, writing, speaking, teach.

John Neale