Parts of Speech — Complete Guide for BCS

Concept

Every word in an English sentence belongs to one of 8 parts of speech. Identifying them correctly is the foundation of BCS English grammar. The 8 parts are:

#	Part of Speech	Definition	Example
1	Noun	Names a person, place, thing, or idea	Dhaka, honesty, book
2	Pronoun	Replaces a noun	he, they, whom
3	Verb	Shows action or state of being	run, is, think
4	Adjective	Describes a noun or pronoun	tall, beautiful, five
5	Adverb	Modifies a verb, adjective, or another adverb	quickly, very, often
6	Preposition	Shows relationship between a noun and another word	in, on, between
7	Conjunction	Connects words, phrases, or clauses	and, but, because
8	Interjection	Expresses strong emotion	Alas!, Hurrah!, Oh!

Key Rules

Suffix-Based Identification (The BCS Shortcut)

The fastest way to identify a part of speech in BCS exams is by suffix:

Suffix	Part of Speech	Examples
-tion, -sion, -ment, -ness, -ity, -ance, -ence	Noun	education, movement, kindness, ability
-ful, -less, -ous, -able, -ible, -ive, -al, -ish	Adjective	hopeful, careless, dangerous, readable
-ize, -fy, -en	Verb	modernize, simplify, strengthen
-ly	Usually Adverb	quickly, slowly, happily

WARNING: -ly Words That Are ADJECTIVES (Not Adverbs!)

This is a top BCS trap. These common -ly words are adjectives:

• friendly — She is a friendly person. (NOT: She spoke friendly.)
• lovely — What a lovely day!
• lonely — He felt lonely.
• costly — It was a costly mistake.
• cowardly — That was a cowardly act.
• lively — She has a lively personality.

These words have no standard adverb form. We say "in a friendly manner" NOT "friendlily."

Collective Nouns — BCS Favourite List

Collective Noun	Used For
a pride of lions	lions
a flock of birds	birds
a fleet of ships	ships
a swarm of bees	bees
a school of fish	fish
a bouquet of flowers	flowers
a pack of wolves	wolves
a litter of puppies	puppies

Adjective Order Rule (OSASCOMP)

When multiple adjectives appear before a noun, they follow a fixed order:

Opinion → Size → Age → Shape → Color → Origin → Material → Purpose

• A beautiful large old rectangular brown Italian wooden dining table.
• BCS shortcut: O-S-A-S-C-O-M-P (remember: "Oh So A Student Can Order Many Pizzas")

Comparison Trap: "Senior TO" Not "Senior Than"

Words like senior, junior, superior, inferior, prior, anterior, posterior take "to" — NEVER "than".

• He is senior to me. ✅
• He is senior than me. ❌

Linking Verb Rule

After linking verbs (is, am, are, was, were, seem, appear, feel, look, taste, smell), use an adjective, NOT an adverb.

• The food smells good. ✅ (not "well")
• She looks beautiful. ✅ (not "beautifully")

BCS Shortcuts

1. See -tion/-ment/-ness? → It's a Noun. Always.
2. See -ful/-less/-ous/-able? → It's an Adjective. Always.
3. See -ly? → Usually Adverb, BUT check the list of adjective exceptions (friendly, lovely, lonely, costly, cowardly, lively).
4. After is/am/are/was/were/seem/feel/look? → Use Adjective, NOT Adverb.
5. Comparison with senior/junior/superior/inferior? → Always use "to", never "than".
6. "A pride of..." → Lions. Memorize the collective noun list — it appears almost every year.

Solved Examples

Q1. Choose the correct option: "She is very _____ to everyone." (a) friend (b) friendly (c) friendlily (d) friendship

Answer: (b) friendly Explanation: After the linking verb "is", we need an adjective. "Friendly" is an adjective (despite ending in -ly). "Friendlily" is not a standard word. "Friend" is a noun. "Friendship" is a noun.*

Q2. Identify the part of speech of the underlined word: "His kindness impressed everyone." (a) Verb (b) Adjective (c) Adverb (d) Noun

Answer: (d) Noun Explanation: The suffix -ness always makes a word a noun. Kind (adj) + ness = kindness (noun). It is the subject of the sentence.*

Q3. Fill in the blank: "He is senior _____ me by three years." (a) than (b) from (c) to (d) of

Answer: (c) to Explanation: "Senior", "junior", "superior", "inferior", "prior" always take "to" — never "than". This is a Latin-origin comparison rule.*

Q4. Which is the correct adjective order? (a) a red big ball (b) a big red ball (c) a ball red big (d) a ball big red

Answer: (b) a big red ball Explanation: Adjective order: Size comes before Color (OSASCOMP rule). "Big" = size, "red" = color. So "big red ball" is correct.*

Q5. "The flowers smell _____." Choose the correct option. (a) sweetly (b) sweet (c) sweetness (d) sweeten

Answer: (b) sweet Explanation: "Smell" is used as a linking verb here (describing the flowers, not the action of smelling). After a linking verb, use an adjective (sweet), not an adverb (sweetly).*

Common Mistakes — Watch Out!

1. "Friendly" is an ADJECTIVE, not an adverb. Students see -ly and assume adverb. Remember: friendly, lovely, lonely, costly, cowardly, lively are all adjectives.
2. After a linking verb (is/am/are/feel/look/smell/taste), use an ADJECTIVE, not an adverb. "She looks beautiful" NOT "She looks beautifully."
3. "Senior than" is ALWAYS wrong. Use "senior to." Same for junior, superior, inferior, prior.
4. Confusing noun and adjective forms. "Beauty" is a noun, "beautiful" is an adjective. Check suffix: -ty = noun, -ful = adjective.
5. Ignoring adjective order. "A wooden large table" is wrong. Size before Material: "A large wooden table."

Question Pattern Recognition

• "Identify the part of speech of X" → Check the suffix first, then check its position in the sentence.
• "Fill in the blank after is/am/are/seem/feel" → You need an adjective, not an adverb.
• "Senior/junior/superior + ___" → Answer is always "to."
• "A ___ of lions/birds/ships" → Collective noun recall question.
• "Choose the correct order of adjectives" → Apply OSASCOMP: Opinion-Size-Age-Shape-Color-Origin-Material-Purpose.