Parts of Speech — Answer Key
Part A: Multiple Choice
Circle the best answer for each question.
1. The word "play" can be a noun or a verb. In which sentence is it used as a noun?
A) We play soccer after school.
B) The play lasted two hours.
C) Please play that song again.
D) They play in the park.
In "The play lasted two hours," "play" names a thing (a performance), so it functions as a noun rather than an action verb.
2. Which word in this sentence is a preposition? "The children hid behind the large oak tree."
A) children
B) hid
C) behind
D) large
"Behind" shows where the children hid in relation to the tree, and expressing position relative to another object is what prepositions do.
3. In "Goodness, that thunderstorm was loud!" what part of speech is goodness?
A) noun
B) adjective
C) adverb
D) interjection
"Goodness" expresses surprise at how loud the thunderstorm was, and exclamations that show strong emotion are interjections.
4. Which sentence contains exactly two pronouns?
A) She gave the book to the teacher.
B) He told her about the surprise.
C) The dog chased its tail.
D) My brother likes pizza.
"He" and "her" are both pronouns in this sentence -- "he" is the subject pronoun and "her" is the object pronoun, giving exactly two.
Part B: Fill in the Blank
Write the correct answer on each line.
1. In "The explorers traveled beyond the mountains," the word beyond is a preposition.
"Beyond" shows that the explorers went past the mountains to the other side, and expressing direction relative to another object is what prepositions do.
2. In "She danced gracefully, and the crowd cheered," the conjunction is and.
"And" joins two complete ideas -- her dancing and the crowd cheering -- into one sentence, which is the role of a conjunction.
3. In "Nobody expected the surprise ending," the word nobody is a pronoun.
"Nobody" stands in for "no person" without naming anyone specific, making it an indefinite pronoun that refers to zero people.
4. In "The ancient castle stood silently on the hill," the adverb is silently.
"Silently" describes how the castle stood -- it modifies the verb "stood" by telling the reader there was no sound, which makes it an adverb.
5. In "Alas, the hero could not save the kingdom," the word alas is an interjection.
"Alas" expresses sorrow or regret at the start of the sentence, and words that show strong emotion on their own are interjections.