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Words don’t only mean something; they also do something. In the English language, words are grouped into word classes based on their function, i.e. what they do in a phrase or sentence. In total, there are nine word classes in English.
Word class meaning and example
All words can be categorised into classes within a language based on their function and purpose.
An example of various word classes is ‘The cat ate a cupcake quickly.’
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The = a determiner
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cat = a noun
-
ate = a verb
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a = determiner
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cupcake = noun
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quickly = an adverb
Word class function
The function of a word class, also known as a part of speech, is to classify words according to their grammatical properties and the roles they play in sentences. By assigning words to different word classes, we can understand how they should be used in context and how they relate to other words in a sentence.
Each word class has its own unique set of characteristics and rules for usage, and understanding the function of word classes is essential for effective communication in English. Knowing our word classes allows us to create clear and grammatically correct sentences that convey our intended meaning.
Word classes in English
In English, there are four main word classes; nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. These are considered lexical words, and they provide the main meaning of a phrase or sentence.
The other five word classes are; prepositions, pronouns, determiners, conjunctions, and interjections. These are considered functional words, and they provide structural and relational information in a sentence or phrase.
Don’t worry if it sounds a bit confusing right now. Read ahead and you’ll be a master of the different types of word classes in no time!
| All word classes | Definition | Examples of word classification |
| Noun | A word that represents a person, place, thing, or idea. | cat, house, plant |
| Pronoun | A word that is used in place of a noun to avoid repetition. | he, she, they, it |
| Verb | A word that expresses action, occurrence, or state of being. | run, sing, grow |
| Adjective | A word that describes or modifies a noun or pronoun. | blue, tall, happy |
| Adverb | A word that describes or modifies a verb, adjective, or other adverb. | quickly, very |
| Preposition | A word that shows the relationship between a noun or pronoun and other words in a sentence. | in, on, at |
| Conjunction | A word that connects words, phrases, or clauses. | and, or, but |
| Interjection | A word that expresses strong emotions or feelings. | wow, oh, ouch |
| Determiners | A word that clarifies information about the quantity, location, or ownership of the noun | Articles like ‘the’ and ‘an’, and quantifiers like ‘some’ and ‘all’. |
The four main word classes
In the English language, there are four main word classes: nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. Let’s look at all the word classes in detail.
Nouns
Nouns are the words we use to describe people, places, objects, feelings, concepts, etc. Usually, nouns are tangible (touchable) things, such as a table, a person, or a building.
However, we also have abstract nouns, which are things we can feel and describe but can’t necessarily see or touch, such as love, honour, or excitement. Proper nouns are the names we give to specific and official people, places, or things, such as England, Claire, or Hoover.
Cat
House
School
Britain
Harry
Book
Hatred
‘My sister went to school.‘
Verbs
Verbs are words that show action, event, feeling, or state of being. This can be a physical action or event, or it can be a feeling that is experienced.
Lexical verbs are considered one of the four main word classes, and auxiliary verbs are not. Lexical verbs are the main verb in a sentence that shows action, event, feeling, or state of being, such as walk, ran, felt, and want, whereas an auxiliary verb helps the main verb and expresses grammatical meaning, such as has, is, and do.
Run
Walk
Swim
Curse
Wish
Help
Leave
‘She wished for a sunny day.’
Adjectives
Adjectives are words used to modify nouns, usually by describing them. Adjectives describe an attribute, quality, or state of being of the noun.
Long
Short
Friendly
Broken
Loud
Embarrassed
Dull
Boring
‘The friendly woman wore a beautiful dress.’
Fig 1. Adjectives can describe the woman and the dress
Adverbs
Adverbs are words that work alongside verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs. They provide further descriptions of how, where, when, and how often something is done.
Quickly
Softly
Very
More
Too
Loudly
‘The music was too loud.’
All of the above examples are lexical word classes and carry most of the meaning in a sentence. They make up the majority of the words in the English language.
The other five word classes
The other five remaining word classes are; prepositions, pronouns, determiners, conjunctions, and interjections. These words are considered functional words and are used to explain grammatical and structural relationships between words.
For example, prepositions can be used to explain where one object is in relation to another.
Prepositions
Prepositions are used to show the relationship between words in terms of place, time, direction, and agency.
In
At
On
Towards
To
Through
Into
By
With
‘They went through the tunnel.’
Pronouns
Pronouns take the place of a noun or a noun phrase in a sentence. They often refer to a noun that has already been mentioned and are commonly used to avoid repetition.
Chloe (noun) → she (pronoun)
Chloe’s dog → her dog (possessive pronoun)
There are several different types of pronouns; let’s look at some examples of each.
- He, she, it, they — personal pronouns
- His, hers, its, theirs, mine, ours — possessive pronouns
- Himself, herself, myself, ourselves, themselves — reflexive pronouns
- This, that, those, these — demonstrative pronouns
- Anyone, somebody, everyone, anything, something — Indefinite pronouns
- Which, what, that, who, who — Relative pronouns
‘She sat on the chair which was broken.’
Determiners
Determiners work alongside nouns to clarify information about the quantity, location, or ownership of the noun. It ‘determines’ exactly what is being referred to. Much like pronouns, there are also several different types of determiners.
- The, a, an — articles
- This, that, those — you might recognise these for demonstrative pronouns are also determiners
- One, two, three etc. — cardinal numbers
- First, second, third etc. — ordinal numbers
- Some, most, all — quantifiers
- Other, another — difference words
‘The first restaurant is better than the other.’
Conjunctions
Conjunctions are words that connect other words, phrases, and clauses together within a sentence. There are three main types of conjunctions;
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Coordinating conjunctions — these link independent clauses together.
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Subordinating conjunctions — these link dependent clauses to independent clauses.
- Correlative conjunctions — words that work in pairs to join two parts of a sentence of equal importance.
For, and, nor, but, or, yet, so — coordinating conjunctions
After, as, because, when, while, before, if, even though — subordinating conjunctions
Either/or, neither/nor, both/and — correlative conjunctions
‘If it rains, I’m not going out.’
Interjections
Interjections are exclamatory words used to express an emotion or a reaction. They often stand alone from the rest of the sentence and are accompanied by an exclamation mark.
Oh
Oops!
Phew!
Ahh!
‘Oh, what a surprise!’
Word class: lexical classes and function classes
A helpful way to understand lexical word classes is to see them as the building blocks of sentences. If the lexical word classes are the blocks themselves, then the function word classes are the cement holding the words together and giving structure to the sentence.
Fig 2. Lexical and functional word classes
In this diagram, the lexical classes are in blue and the function classes are in yellow. We can see that the words in blue provide the key information, and the words in yellow bring this information together in a structured way.
Word class examples
Sometimes it can be tricky to know exactly which word class a word belongs to. Some words can function as more than one word class depending on how they are used in a sentence. For this reason, we must look at words in context, i.e. how a word works within the sentence. Take a look at the following examples of word classes to see the importance of word class categorisation.
The dog will bark if you open the door.
The tree bark was dark and rugged.
Here we can see that the same word (bark) has a different meaning and different word class in each sentence. In the first example, ‘bark’ is used as a verb, and in the second as a noun (an object in this case).
I left my sunglasses on the beach.
The horse stood on Sarah’s left foot.
In the first sentence, the word ‘left’ is used as a verb (an action), and in the second, it is used to modify the noun (foot). In this case, it is an adjective.
I run every day
I went for a run
In this example, ‘run’ can be a verb or a noun.
Word Class — Key takeaways
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We group words into word classes based on the function they perform in a sentence.
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The four main word classes are nouns, adjectives, verbs, and adverbs. These are lexical classes that give meaning to a sentence.
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The other five word classes are prepositions, pronouns, determiners, conjunctions, and interjections. These are function classes that are used to explain grammatical and structural relationships between words.
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It is important to look at the context of a sentence in order to work out which word class a word belongs to.
Frequently Asked Questions about Word Class
A word class is a group of words that have similar properties and play a similar role in a sentence.
Some examples of how some words can function as more than one word class include the way ‘run’ can be a verb (‘I run every day’) or a noun (‘I went for a run’). Similarly, ‘well’ can be an adverb (‘He plays the guitar well’) or an adjective (‘She’s feeling well today’).
The nine word classes are; Nouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, prepositions, pronouns, determiners, conjunctions, interjections.
Categorising words into word classes helps us to understand the function the word is playing within a sentence.
Parts of speech is another term for word classes.
The different groups of word classes include lexical classes that act as the building blocks of a sentence e.g. nouns. The other word classes are function classes that act as the ‘glue’ and give grammatical information in a sentence e.g. prepositions.
The word classes for all, that, and the is:
‘All’ = determiner (quantifier)
‘That’ = pronoun and/or determiner (demonstrative pronoun)
‘The’ = determiner (article)
Final Word Class Quiz
Word Class Quiz — Teste dein Wissen
Question
A word can only belong to one type of noun. True or false?
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Answer
This is false. A word can belong to multiple categories of nouns and this may change according to the context of the word.
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Question
Name the two principal categories of nouns.
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Answer
The two principal types of nouns are ‘common nouns’ and ‘proper nouns’.
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Question
Which of the following is an example of a proper noun?
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Question
Name the 6 types of common nouns discussed in the text.
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Answer
Concrete nouns, abstract nouns, countable nouns, uncountable nouns, collective nouns, and compound nouns.
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Question
What is the difference between a concrete noun and an abstract noun?
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Answer
A concrete noun is a thing that physically exists. We can usually touch this thing and measure its proportions. An abstract noun, however, does not physically exist. It is a concept, idea, or feeling that only exists within the mind.
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Question
Pick out the concrete noun from the following:
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Pick out the abstract noun from the following:
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Question
What is the difference between a countable and an uncountable noun? Can you think of an example for each?
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Answer
A countable noun is a thing that can be ‘counted’, i.e. it can exist in the plural. Some examples include ‘bottle’, ‘dog’ and ‘boy’. These are often concrete nouns.
An uncountable noun is something that can not be counted, so you often cannot place a number in front of it. Examples include ‘love’, ‘joy’, and ‘milk’.
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Question
Pick out the collective noun from the following:
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Question
What is the collective noun for a group of sheep?
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Answer
The collective noun is a ‘flock’, as in ‘flock of sheep’.
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Question
The word ‘greenhouse’ is a compound noun. True or false?
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Answer
This is true. The word ‘greenhouse’ is a compound noun as it is made up of two separate words ‘green’ and ‘house’. These come together to form a new word.
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Question
What are the adjectives in this sentence?: ‘The little boy climbed up the big, green tree’
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Answer
The adjectives are ‘little’ and ‘big’, and ‘green’ as they describe features about the nouns.
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Question
Place the adjectives in this sentence into the correct order: the wooden blue big ship sailed across the Indian vast scary ocean.
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Answer
The big, blue, wooden ship sailed across the vast, scary, Indian ocean.
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Question
What are the 3 different positions in which an adjective can be placed?
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Answer
An adjective can be placed before a noun (pre-modification), after a noun (post-modification), or following a verb as a complement.
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Question
In this sentence, does the adjective pre-modify or post-modify the noun? ‘The unicorn is angry’.
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Answer
The adjective ‘angry’ post-modifies the noun ‘unicorn’.
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In this sentence, does the adjective pre-modify or post-modify the noun? ‘It is a scary unicorn’.
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Answer
The adjective ‘scary’ pre-modifies the noun ‘unicorn’.
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Question
What kind of adjectives are ‘purple’ and ‘shiny’?
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Answer
‘Purple’ and ‘Shiny’ are qualitative adjectives as they describe a quality or feature of a noun
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Question
What kind of adjectives are ‘ugly’ and ‘easy’?
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Answer
The words ‘ugly’ and ‘easy’ are evaluative adjectives as they give a subjective opinion on the noun.
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Which of the following adjectives is an absolute adjective?
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Which of these adjectives is a classifying adjective?
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Question
Convert the noun ‘quick’ to its comparative form.
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Answer
The comparative form of ‘quick’ is ‘quicker’.
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Question
Convert the noun ‘slow’ to its superlative form.
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Answer
The comparative form of ‘slow’ is ‘slowest’.
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Question
What is an adjective phrase?
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Answer
An adjective phrase is a group of words that is ‘built’ around the adjective (it takes centre stage in the sentence). For example, in the phrase ‘the dog is big’ the word ‘big’ is the most important information.
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Question
Give 2 examples of suffixes that are typical of adjectives.
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Answer
Suffixes typical of adjectives include -able, -ible, -ful, -y, -less, -ous, -some, -ive, -ish, -al.
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Question
What is the difference between a main verb and an auxiliary verb?
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Answer
A main verb is a verb that can stand on its own and carries most of the meaning in a verb phrase. For example, ‘run’, ‘find’. Auxiliary verbs cannot stand alone, instead, they work alongside a main verb and ‘help’ the verb to express more grammatical information e.g. tense, mood, possibility.
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Question
What is the difference between a primary auxiliary verb and a modal auxiliary verb?
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Answer
Primary auxiliary verbs consist of the various forms of ‘to have’, ‘to be’, and ‘to do’ e.g. ‘had’, ‘was’, ‘done’. They help to express a verb’s tense, voice, or mood. Modal auxiliary verbs show possibility, ability, permission, or obligation. There are 9 auxiliary verbs including ‘could’, ‘will’, might’.
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Question
Which of the following are primary auxiliary verbs?
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Is
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Play
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Have
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Run
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Does
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Could
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Answer
The primary auxiliary verbs in this list are ‘is’, ‘have’, and ‘does’. They are all forms of the main primary auxiliary verbs ‘to have’, ‘to be’, and ‘to do’. ‘Play’ and ‘run’ are main verbs and ‘could’ is a modal auxiliary verb.
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Question
Name 6 out of the 9 modal auxiliary verbs.
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Answer
Answers include: Could, would, should, may, might, can, will, must, shall
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Question
‘The fairies were asleep’. In this sentence, is the verb ‘were’ a linking verb or an auxiliary verb?
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Answer
The word ‘were’ is used as a linking verb as it stands alone in the sentence. It is used to link the subject (fairies) and the adjective (asleep).
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Question
What is the difference between dynamic verbs and stative verbs?
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Answer
A dynamic verb describes an action or process done by a noun or subject. They are thought of as ‘action verbs’ e.g. ‘kick’, ‘run’, ‘eat’. Stative verbs describe the state of being of a person or thing. These are states that are not necessarily physical action e.g. ‘know’, ‘love’, ‘suppose’.
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Question
Which of the following are dynamic verbs and which are stative verbs?
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Drink
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Prefer
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Talk
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Seem
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Understand
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Write
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Answer
The dynamic verbs are ‘drink’, ‘talk’, and ‘write’ as they all describe an action. The stative verbs are ‘prefer’, ‘seem’, and ‘understand’ as they all describe a state of being.
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Question
What is an imperative verb?
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Answer
Imperative verbs are verbs used to give orders, give instructions, make a request or give warning. They tell someone to do something. For example, ‘clean your room!’.
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Question
Inflections give information about tense, person, number, mood, or voice. True or false?
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Question
What information does the inflection ‘-ing’ give for a verb?
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Answer
The inflection ‘-ing’ is often used to show that an action or state is continuous and ongoing.
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How do you know if a verb is irregular?
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Answer
An irregular verb does not take the regular inflections, instead the whole word is spelt a different way. For example, begin becomes ‘began’ or ‘begun’. We can’t add the regular past tense inflection -ed as this would become ‘beginned’ which doesn’t make sense.
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Question
Suffixes can never signal what word class a word belongs to. True or false?
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Answer
False. Suffixes can signal what word class a word belongs to. For example, ‘-ify’ is a common suffix for verbs (‘identity’, ‘simplify’)
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A verb phrase is built around a noun. True or false?
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Answer
False. A verb phrase is a group of words that has a main verb along with any other auxiliary verbs that ‘help’ the main verb. For example, ‘could eat’ is a verb phrase as it contains a main verb (‘could’) and an auxiliary verb (‘could’).
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Question
Which of the following are multi-word verbs?
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Shake
-
Rely on
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Dancing
-
Look up to
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Answer
The verbs ‘rely on’ and ‘look up to’ are multi-word verbs as they consist of a verb that has one or more prepositions or particles linked to it.
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Question
What is the difference between a transition verb and an intransitive verb?
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Answer
Transitive verbs are verbs that require an object in order to make sense. For example, the word ‘bring’ requires an object that is brought (‘I bring news’). Intransitive verbs do not require an object to complete the meaning of the sentence e.g. ‘exist’ (‘I exist’).
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Answer
An adverb is a word that gives more information about a verb, adjective, another adverb, or a full clause.
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Question
What are the 3 ways we can use adverbs?
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Answer
We can use adverbs to modify a word (modifying adverbs), to intensify a word (intensifying adverbs), or to connect two clauses (connecting adverbs).
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Question
What are modifying adverbs?
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Answer
Modifying adverbs are words that modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs. They add further information about the word.
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Question
‘Additionally’, ‘likewise’, and ‘consequently’ are examples of connecting adverbs. True or false?
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Answer
True! Connecting adverbs are words used to connect two independent clauses.
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Question
What are intensifying adverbs?
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Answer
Intensifying adverbs are words used to strengthen the meaning of an adjective, another adverb, or a verb. In other words, they ‘intensify’ another word.
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Question
Which of the following are intensifying adverbs?
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Calmly
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Incredibly
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Enough
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Greatly
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Answer
The intensifying adverbs are ‘incredibly’ and ‘greatly’. These strengthen the meaning of a word.
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Question
Name the main types of adverbs
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Answer
The main adverbs are; adverbs of place, adverbs of time, adverbs of manner, adverbs of frequency, adverbs of degree, adverbs of probability, and adverbs of purpose.
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Question
What are adverbs of time?
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Answer
Adverbs of time are the ‘when?’ adverbs. They answer the question ‘when is the action done?’ e.g. ‘I’ll do it tomorrow’
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Question
Which of the following are adverbs of frequency?
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Usually
-
Patiently
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Occasionally
-
Nowhere
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Answer
The adverbs of frequency are ‘usually’ and ‘occasionally’. They are the ‘how often?’ adverbs. They answer the question ‘how often is the action done?’.
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Question
What are adverbs of place?
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Answer
Adverbs of place are the ‘where?’ adverbs. They answer the question ‘where is the action done?’. For example, ‘outside’ or ‘elsewhere’.
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Question
Which of the following are adverbs of manner?
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Never
-
Carelessly
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Kindly
-
Inside
Show answer
Answer
The words ‘carelessly’ and ‘kindly’ are adverbs of manner. They are the ‘how?’ adverbs that answer the question ‘how is the action done?’.
Show question
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Sometimes, the world can be disappointing. But when those moments inevitably come, remembering the phrase “at least” helps us to see the bright side of things.
You may have encountered both “at least” and “atleast” at various points in your reading and writing, but one is incorrect.
Writing “atleast,” is a common error that depicts the correct phrase “at least” as a single term. The only proper use is the two-word phrase, “at least,” which is a phrase that combines the preposition “at” and the noun or adverb “least” to mean “at minimum.”
Writing “at least” can raise some questions; why is it “at least” with a space? What does the phrase mean? Does the phrase have any simpler synonyms? You’ll have answers to these questions, and more — just keep reading.
“At least” is not one word. Instead, it is a two-word phrase, and a phrase is a combination of words that make up a part of a complete sentence (source). “At least” cannot stand alone as a single sentence:
Incorrect: At least. My day was getting better.
Correct: At least my day was getting better.
“At least” is a common phrase both in speaking and writing, which means errors in writing, such as the lack of space, spread and are relatively common. You can see a similar situation occur with some compound words. Take a look at “Highschool or High School: Which Is Correct” to learn more.
What Is the Definition of “At Least”?
“At least” is a two-word phrase used to indicate the least thing that is correct, guaranteed, tolerable, factual, or beneficial. At least can also be used to refer to multiple meanings at once.
“At least” is a combination of the preposition “at” and the word “least.” The preposition “at” usually shows the relationship between two things, such as the subject and time, location, measurement, or state of being.
The second word, “least,” can function as a noun, adverb, adjective, determiner, or pronoun. This word is the superlative form of “little” and refers to the value/quantity of something, either stating the amount is minor or lesser than another amount.
I was not the least bit interested. (meaning not even the smallest amount)
She received the least pizza because she was the youngest. (the smallest amount in comparison to others)
Idioms
Additionally, the phrase “at least” is an idiom (source). This means that it is so much more than the sum of its parts. Idioms are common words or phrases that you can use, but they also have meanings that differ from the terms that make them up (source). Consider the examples below:
- The drama teacher told us to break a leg before we stepped on the stage.
- That exam was a piece of cake.
- We need to finish this tomorrow, come rain or shine.
If we took the sentences above literally, they would be pretty offensive. So, we need to be able to comprehend idioms to conclude their actual meaning.
- Break a leg = wishing someone good luck (usually used in the theater)
- Piece of cake = easy
- Rain or shine = no matter what happens
When it comes to idioms, knowing the meanings of the words that make up the idiom isn’t of much help. Instead, it’s better to understand the interpretation of the idiom on its own.
Defining “At Least”
“At least” has three purposes. In a nutshell, it either refers to a value amount, a small action, or changes the trajectory of a sentence.
The first purpose is the easiest to understand because it has a set formula with a value or measurement before or after the idiom.
- It would cost her at least $25 to get her oil changed.
- I would have to wait at least two weeks for my new ID.
- She swore he was at least six feet tall.
The second purpose is to refer to a small action, essentially requesting someone do a minimal amount of work or put in a minimal amount of effort. For example:
- You don’t need to clean the house, but at least clean your room.
- On days I feel lazy, I at least wash my face and brush my teeth.
- I have to research for at least a year before I can even begin to write my novel.
The phrase “at least” can also change the trajectory of a sentence. That may sound confusing, but it essentially means that you can use it to point out a silver lining or dampen the effect of something.
I mean, I didn’t get many gifts, but at least I had a lot of messages.
I’ve seen Pride and Prejudice 20 times. At least I’ve watched the proposal scene that frequently.
Maybe I was never popular, but at least my friends were one in a million.
How Do You Use “At Least” in a Sentence?
First, you can use “at least” mid-sentence to correct a previous error in the sentence or written text:
- I broke my leg. At least, that’s what it felt like.
This sentence starts with a definitive statement indicating that the speaker broke their leg. However, using “at least” and stating it was just a feeling implies that the speaker may not have broken their leg but instead refers to hyperbolic pain.
The second way “at least” can be useful is when you use it to refer to a minimum guarantee:
- Go to the park; at least there you’ll get some fresh air.
Here, the speaker says that if you go to the park, you’ll always have a guarantee that you’ll get some fresh air.
You can also use “at least” before a more acceptable scenario, indicating something you might tolerate instead:
- I’d love to travel the world, or at least leave this small town for a couple of weeks.
Another way you can use “at least” is to establish a fact, but one you may not be entirely sure of:
- It took me at least three days to finish off all my work.
This means that the speaker took three or more days to finish off their work. Therefore, any number of days before two is wrong, and any number above three has the potential to be correct.
Writing “At Least” in Math
You’ll also find “at least” similarly in math (source). Take, for example:
- X is at least seven.
This means that X=7 or any value above it. Using math symbols, it would be X ≥ 7*.
Note that the symbol ≥ means “more/greater than or equal to.”
Another common way that you can use “at least” is to indicate a silver lining or something beneficial in a lousy situation or to an otherwise objectionable object.
- It had been a difficult day, but at least it was finally over.
More Practice Using “At Least”
Look at the five sentences below and see if you can figure out the purpose of “at least.”
1. I don’t have much, but at least I still have me.
2. I was at least 15 when I first met my best friend.
3. At least answer all the multiple-choice questions in the exam.
4. My mom said I should call her at least once a week.
5. “I’m a doctor,” at least that’s what I told her mom.
Review the answers below, and see if you understand the above sentences adequately.
1. Beneficial: the writer indicates that they can rely on themselves despite all life’s shortcomings.
2. Factual: This indicates the speaker believes their age was 15 or older when they met their best friend.
3. Tolerable: The speaker indicates that even though it is hard, the addressee should at the minimum answer the multiple-choice questions.
4. Factual: It refers to numbers — the mom says the speaker should call once or more every week.
5. Correction: The speaker says they told someone they were a doctor. However, they likely are not.
What Can You Use Instead of “At Least”?
You may hesitate to use “at least,” either because you’re not comfortable using it or you fear it is too repetitive. To remedy this, seek out a synonym.
What Is a Synonym?
You may have encountered synonyms in your English classes. These are words that share the same or a similar meaning to another word. This means that when writing, these words are often interchangeable, but not always.
For example:
- I brewed a cup of hot tea.
- I brewed a cup of warm tea.
In these sentences, the words “hot” and “warm” both refer to the drink’s temperature.
You may be wondering what that has to do with “at least.” The truth is that synonyms aren’t confined to words. Phrases can also have synonyms, particularly “at least.”
Synonyms for “At Least”
There are multiple synonyms for “at least.” When writing, you may adapt the phrase “at least” a little bit using “at the very least/at the least.” This accentuates your point further. Look at the sentences below and see if you agree.
- He could’ve at least brushed his hair before showing up.
- At the very least, he could’ve brushed his hair before showing up.
Another valid synonym is “at the minimum.” You would use this chiefly when “at least” refers to a small action or silver lining.
- At the minimum, do your laundry.
- I may have been rude. But, at the minimum, I was honest.
While the term is comparatively obscure, American English speakers might use leastways/leastwise in place of “at least.” However, you can only use the word leastways when “at least” indicates a correction or a change in intention (source):
- The bedroom was cold, but leastways we had an AC.
- I liked her, leastwise until recently.
Synonyms in Limited Circumstances
A more common synonym would be the adverb “anyway.” This adverb has multiple uses, but it can only substitute “at least” in certain scenarios. You can use this when “at least” stands for “at any rate.”
- I broke my leg. Anyway, that’s what it felt like.
“In any case” can also stand in place of “at least.” However, this is only useful when discussing an aside or a remark that changes the trajectory of a sentence.
That’s why you cannot use it in situations like the second sentence below marked with an ✘ without changing the phrase’s meaning:
- I am stuck at this job for at least the next five years.✔
- I am at this job for, in any case, the next five years.✘
- He is nice. At least that’s what I’ve told others.✔
- He is nice. In any case, that’s what I’ve told others.✔
When writing, just bear in mind that “in any case” cannot always replace “at least” or vice versa. Sometimes the context of the sentence requires one or the other, so if you are uncertain, check a dictionary first.
Mathematical Synonyms
Another synonym for “at least” is “not less than.” However, you would use this only when “at least” refers to a quantity, value, or measurement.
- I read at least 50 pages before I gave up.✔
- I read no less than 50 pages before I gave up.✔
These synonyms are useful as they can stand in place of “at least” without requiring that you change the order of your sentence, for the most part.
At Least vs. At Most
It’s impossible to research “at least” without coming across “at most.” These two are what we in English know as antonyms — they represent opposing concepts. These phrases do this in two ways:
First, in figurative language, “at most” refers to “at the most,” while “at least” means “at the least.” You can see the difference in the sentence below.
- My friend told me before her party, “at least bring yourself; at most, bring a gift.”
Second, these opposing phrases can refer to the value of something. When you say “at least,” the value/measurement you are speaking about is equal to or more than the written value that follows. When you say “at most,” the value is equal to or less than the written value that follows.
So, think of the sentences:
- Kevin ate at least three cookies.
- Sarah ate at most three cookies.
This article was written for strategiesforparents.com.
These sentences state that Kevin ate three or more cookies while Sarah ate three or fewer.
Final Thoughts
“At least” is a phrase you’ll find pretty often. Unfortunately, however, errors in usage and spelling are common.
The most common of these is “atleast.” This is an error because “at least” is not a single word but, rather, a phrase and an idiom; remember that an idiom is a type of phrase with a figurative meaning separate from its independent parts.
In either case, if you wish to use “at least,” make sure you are writing it as two words. Plus, if you fear repetition in your writing, try using a synonym.
Словосочетания
at least — по крайней мере; во всяком случае; хотя бы
at least five hours — по меньшей мере пять часов; как минимум пять часов
persist for at least — продолжаться не менее
at least some sort of — какой-никакой
so, at least, he is styled — так его, по крайней мере, называют
thus much at least is clear — хоть это, по крайней мере, ясно
you might at least say thank you — мог бы, по крайней мере, спасибо сказать
you might at least say «thank you» — мог бы, по крайней мере, спасибо сказать
You might at least say you are sorry. — Могли бы, по крайней мере, извиниться.
you might at least say ❝thank you❞ — мог бы, по крайней мере, спасибо сказать
ещё 16 примеров свернуть
Автоматический перевод
по крайней мере, минимум, по меньшей мере, как минимум, в наименьший, менее, не менее, не реже, хотя бы, хоть, крайний
Перевод по словам
least — наименее, как минимум, наименьший, минимальный, минимальное количество
Примеры
Try at least to be civil.
По крайней мере, постарайтесь быть вежливыми.
I dust at least once a week.
Я протираю пыль, по крайней мере, раз в неделю.
I’ve been there at least twice.
Я был там как минимум дважды.
At least 40 people were killed.
По крайней мере, сорок человек были убиты.
At least he was honest with you.
По крайней мере, он был с тобой честен.
At least she had the nous to ring.
По крайней мере, у неё хватило ума позвонить.
She does at least 20 lengths a day.
Она переплывает бассейн не меньше двадцати раз в день.
ещё 23 примера свернуть
Примеры, ожидающие перевода
Outwardly, at least, he was an optimist. 
Well, at least for several seconds I was.
He has at least two other projects on the go.
He looked to be at least 20 pounds overweight.
…keep him in detainer for at least 72 hours…
Для того чтобы добавить вариант перевода, кликните по иконке ☰, напротив примера.
In English grammar, a word class is a set of words that display the same formal properties, especially their inflections and distribution. The term «word class» is similar to the more traditional term, part of speech. It is also variously called grammatical category, lexical category, and syntactic category (although these terms are not wholly or universally synonymous).
The two major families of word classes are lexical (or open or form) classes (nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs) and function (or closed or structure) classes (determiners, particles, prepositions, and others).
Examples and Observations
- «When linguists began to look closely at English grammatical structure in the 1940s and 1950s, they encountered so many problems of identification and definition that the term part of speech soon fell out of favor, word class being introduced instead. Word classes are equivalent to parts of speech, but defined according to strict linguistic criteria.» (David Crystal, The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language, 2nd ed. Cambridge University Press, 2003)
- «There is no single correct way of analyzing words into word classes…Grammarians disagree about the boundaries between the word classes (see gradience), and it is not always clear whether to lump subcategories together or to split them. For example, in some grammars…pronouns are classed as nouns, whereas in other frameworks…they are treated as a separate word class.» (Bas Aarts, Sylvia Chalker, Edmund Weiner, The Oxford Dictionary of English Grammar, 2nd ed. Oxford University Press, 2014)
Form Classes and Structure Classes
«[The] distinction between lexical and grammatical meaning determines the first division in our classification: form-class words and structure-class words. In general, the form classes provide the primary lexical content; the structure classes explain the grammatical or structural relationship. Think of the form-class words as the bricks of the language and the structure words as the mortar that holds them together.»
The form classes also known as content words or open classes include:
- Nouns
- Verbs
- Adjectives
- Adverbs
The structure classes, also known as function words or closed classes, include:
- Determiners
- Pronouns
- Auxiliaries
- Conjunctions
- Qualifiers
- Interrogatives
- Prepositions
- Expletives
- Particles
«Probably the most striking difference between the form classes and the structure classes is characterized by their numbers. Of the half million or more words in our language, the structure words—with some notable exceptions—can be counted in the hundreds. The form classes, however, are large, open classes; new nouns and verbs and adjectives and adverbs regularly enter the language as new technology and new ideas require them.» (Martha Kolln and Robert Funk, Understanding English Grammar. Allyn and Bacon, 1998)
One Word, Multiple Classes
«Items may belong to more than one class. In most instances, we can only assign a word to a word class when we encounter it in context. Looks is a verb in ‘It looks good,’ but a noun in ‘She has good looks‘; that is a conjunction in ‘I know that they are abroad,’ but a pronoun in ‘I know that‘ and a determiner in ‘I know that man’; one is a generic pronoun in ‘One must be careful not to offend them,’ but a numeral in ‘Give me one good reason.'» (Sidney Greenbaum, Oxford English Grammar. Oxford University Press, 1996)
Suffixes as Signals
«We recognize the class of a word by its use in context. Some words have suffixes (endings added to words to form new words) that help to signal the class they belong to. These suffixes are not necessarily sufficient in themselves to identify the class of a word. For example, -ly is a typical suffix for adverbs (slowly, proudly), but we also find this suffix in adjectives: cowardly, homely, manly. And we can sometimes convert words from one class to another even though they have suffixes that are typical of their original class: an engineer, to engineer; a negative response, a negative.» (Sidney Greenbaum and Gerald Nelson, An Introduction to English Grammar, 3rd ed. Pearson, 2009)
A Matter of Degree
«[N]ot all the members of a class will necessarily have all the identifying properties. Membership in a particular class is really a matter of degree. In this regard, grammar is not so different from the real world. There are prototypical sports like ‘football’ and not so sporty sports like ‘darts.’ There are exemplary mammals like ‘dogs’ and freakish ones like the ‘platypus.’ Similarly, there are good examples of verbs like watch and lousy examples like beware; exemplary nouns like chair that display all the features of a typical noun and some not so good ones like Kenny.» (Kersti Börjars and Kate Burridge, Introducing English Grammar, 2nd ed. Hodder, 2010)
We use the quantifier least to talk about quantities, amounts and degree. (The) least is the superlative form of little.
We use the least with different classes of words.
We use the least to make the superlative forms of longer adjectives and the majority of adverbs:
Rosalind seems to be the least worried about their move. (+ adjective)
The least environmentally damaging power source is also the most expensive.
The machines that worked (the) least efficiently were replaced.
We use the least with a noun to mean ‘less than all of the others’. We can leave out the noun when it is obvious:
He did the least work of any of us.
We had a quiz. Rory got the most points. Tim got the least. (the least points)
We use least and the least with a verb as an adverb:
None of them worked much, but Karen worked the least.
Think of the person you’d least expect to get the job.
At least
We use at least (and with more emphasis at the very least) to talk about a minimum number or amount, meaning ‘no less than’:
There were at least twenty people there.
It’ll cost you £3,000 at the very least.
We also use at least to express a minimum of what we expect to happen, usually when we are annoyed about something:
You could at least have phoned me to say you weren’t coming. I waited for ages.
We use at least to rephrase something we have said, to make it more accurate:
She hasn’t got any children. At least, I don’t think she has.
We also use at least to introduce something positive in a situation that seems negative:
It’s a shame it’s so cold but at least it isn’t raining.