The eight parts of speech When determining the usage of words in sentences, it is helpful to understand the eight parts of speech. The NOUN is the first of the eight parts of speech. Nouns name persons, places, things, or ideas. Nouns can be concrete or abstract. Concrete nouns can be touched.
Nouns can be proper or common.
Nouns that begin with a capital letter are proper nouns. They have a specific name or title and refer to a particular person, place, thing, or idea. Common nouns do not begin with capital letters because they are less specific. In general, pronouns can be personal, indefinite, interrogative, and demonstrative. Note that there are no apostrophes used with possessive personal pronouns.