The word just is what part of speech

Last Updated: February 21, 2022 | Author: Edwin Heist

Is just is a conjunction?

Some of the most common correlative conjunctions are: both … and. either … or. just as … so.

Is just about an adverb?

just adverb (ALMOST)

“Can you see the stage?” “Yes, only just/just about.” I’ve just about finished painting the living room.

justify. (transitive) To provide an acceptable explanation for. (transitive) To be a good, acceptable reason for; warrant.

Why is only an adverb?

We use only as an adverb to mean that something is limited to some people, things, an amount or an activity: This phone is only available in Japan. Only a few hundred houses survived the hurricane without any damage.

What is the adverb form of only?

Only can be used in the following ways: as an adverb: It’s only an idea, but I thought we could try it out. She was only 18 when she had her first child. … as an adjective (always before a noun): I was an only child.

What is the noun for just?

justice. The state or characteristic of being just or fair. The ideal of fairness, impartiality, etc., especially with regard to the punishment of wrongdoing. Judgment and punishment of a party who has allegedly wronged another.

Is just an adverb of time?

just adverb uses. You use just to say that something happened a very short time ago, or is starting to happen at the present time. For example, if you say that someone has just arrived, you mean that they arrived a very short time ago.

What does the suffix just mean?

based on right; rightful; lawful: a just claim.

What does the adjective just mean?

Adjective. fair, just, equitable, impartial, unbiased, dispassionate, objective mean free from favor toward either or any side.

Is just an adverb of frequency?

There are six main adverbs of frequency that we use in English: always, usually (or normally), often, sometimes, rarely, and never.

How do you use the word just?

Just is most often used to express that something has recently happened. Use just with the present perfect tense to indicate that an action has recently occurred and influences the present moment of speaking. I’ve just been to the bank. Tom’s just arrived.

How do you use just and only?

A good way to remember the difference is to use “only” for a special or single thing, and “just” for exact ideas and recent events. I hope this is just the answer you sought! And now, I have only one request.

What does the root word just mean?

and directly from Latin iustus “upright, righteous, equitable; in accordance with law, lawful; true, proper; perfect, complete” (source also of Spanish and Portuguese justo, Italian giusto), from ius “a right,” especially “legal right, law” (see jurist; from Latin ius also come English jury (n.), injury, etc.).

Is only an adverb of degree?

The modifying words very and extremely are themselves adverbs. They are called DEGREE ADVERBS because they specify the degree to which an adjective or another adverb applies. Degree adverbs include almost, barely, entirely, highly, quite, slightly, totally, and utterly.
…
Adverb.

softly	very softly
slowly	extremely slowly

Is it OK to use the word just?

There are two ways that the word just is commonly used. One is acceptable. … An acceptable use is when the word is an adjective to describe a recent action or occurrence. “I just left the meeting; I’m on my way.”

Is Indoors an adjective or adverb?

Indoors is an adverb. If you go indoors, you go into a building. It started to rain, so we went indoors. If something happens indoors, it happens inside a building.

Just is modifying me here, not is

It’s just me.

In a comment, BillJ wrote:

In your example, it’s a adverb functioning as a focusing modifier of «me». «Just me» is thus a noun phrase functioning as predicative complement of «be».

Here just is an adverb serving as a focusing modifier of the pronoun me. It works much like only does in this regard, which is another focusing modifier.

But just is still considered an adverb here, not an adjective. The same thing happens with nearly everybody and nearly finished: in both cases, nearly is still held to be an adverb even when modifying nouns and pronouns. If this idea seems strange, and I know it may, then this is because “adverb” is a junk-yard category that we throw just about everything into when we run out of names for word classes. It’s also because the simple parts of speech we teach third-graders in America are too narrow and simplistic for use in more nuanced, precise, and exacting analyses.

Boring technical details follow.

---

Boring Details and References

The Oxford English Dictionary allows that just can have many possible parts of speech, including not just noun, adjective, verb, adverb but also other several others like intensifiers and modifiers (including focusing modifiers) of both words and phrases. This can include nouns and pronouns as well as larger constituents like phrases and clauses.

The particular use mentioned by BillJ as a focusing modifier of arbitrary constituents falls under OED just (adverb), sense 6:

1. Used to place the focus on a particular word or phrase.
   a. No less than; absolutely; actually, positively, really. In weakened sense: neither more nor less than, no other than; simply, merely.
   (a) Modifying noun phrases.

In just me, this places the focus on the pronoun me.

And That’s Not All!

However, just has many other uses as a would-be adverb. OED just (adverb) sense 2 shows just used as a modifier of all of these:

• quantifiers; adjectives; adverbs; adverbial clauses and phrases; adverbs introducing a subject or object clause; as or so with adjectives, adverbs, or quantifiers; nouns; noun phrases, noun phrases with the; prepositional phrases; pronouns; interrogative pronouns; conjunctions; correlative constructions using not just; and temporal clauses.

Specifically, it says it can modify all these types of things:

1. As a modifier: exactly, precisely; actually; very closely. Also (now archaic) even just (cf. even adv. 5).
   • a. Of place or position, modifying prepositional phrases and adverbs.
   • b. Of degree and comparison, modifying as or so with adjectives, adverbs, or quantifiers: equally or quite as ——.
   • c. Of manner, modifying prepositional phrases, adverbs, and conjunctions, esp. as, like. Also of reason or purpose, modifying prepositional phrases and conjunctions.
   • d. Of amount, number, or quantity, modifying nouns, pronouns, and quantifiers.
   • e. Of time, modifying prepositional phrases, adverbs, and temporal clauses.
   • f. Of state, identity, or similarity, or of opposition or antithesis.
     
     (a) Modifying prepositional phrases, nouns, pronouns, and adjectives. See also just it at Phrases 5, just my luck at luck n. Phrases 2f.
     
     (b) Modifying noun phrases with the.
     
     (c) Modifying interrogative pronouns and adverbs introducing a subject or object clause.
   • g. In negative contexts in preceding uses of sense 2.

Summary

So just has numerous complex uses, virtually none of which can be usefully described by a simplistic part-of-speech assignment like “adverb”. It is possible that learners’ dictionaries fail to represent all these. However, if you have a good enough dictionary to consult, not an abridged one, you will discover that these nuanced uses and many are all described there.

For those interested in a little info about this site: it’s a side project that I developed while working on Describing Words and Related Words. Both of those projects are based around words, but have much grander goals. I had an idea for a website that simply explains the word types of the words that you search for — just like a dictionary, but focussed on the part of speech of the words. And since I already had a lot of the infrastructure in place from the other two sites, I figured it wouldn’t be too much more work to get this up and running.

The dictionary is based on the amazing Wiktionary project by wikimedia. I initially started with WordNet, but then realised that it was missing many types of words/lemma (determiners, pronouns, abbreviations, and many more). This caused me to investigate the 1913 edition of Websters Dictionary — which is now in the public domain. However, after a day’s work wrangling it into a database I realised that there were far too many errors (especially with the part-of-speech tagging) for it to be viable for Word Type.

Finally, I went back to Wiktionary — which I already knew about, but had been avoiding because it’s not properly structured for parsing. That’s when I stumbled across the UBY project — an amazing project which needs more recognition. The researchers have parsed the whole of Wiktionary and other sources, and compiled everything into a single unified resource. I simply extracted the Wiktionary entries and threw them into this interface! So it took a little more work than expected, but I’m happy I kept at it after the first couple of blunders.

Special thanks to the contributors of the open-source code that was used in this project: the UBY project (mentioned above), @mongodb and express.js.

Currently, this is based on a version of wiktionary which is a few years old. I plan to update it to a newer version soon and that update should bring in a bunch of new word senses for many words (or more accurately, lemma).

What part of speech is «just» in this sentence?

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If you’ve ever found yourself wondering what part of speech a word is, you’re not alone. In this lesson, we’ll explore how to answer that question as well as why that answer can seem a bit confusing. You’ll also find a quiz at the bottom of the page so that you can test yourself, along with a free PDF download. Jackpot!

Pop quiz, hot shot! Let’s say you’re at the grocery store deciding between chunky and creamy peanut butter (tough choice) when someone walks up to you and asks, «What part of speech is the word love?»

Obviously, the first thing to do is run away from this person. But then, your mind might linger on that question, and you might start to wonder Hmm … what part of speech is the word love anyway?

At that point, you would probably think of some example sentences to figure it out.

I love peanut butter. 

From this sentence, you might conclude that love is a verb since you know that verbs express action, and love is showing an action in this sentence.

You wouldn’t be wrong, but then you might think of this sentence:

Love for peanut butter brought me to the store today. 

Wait a minute! Here, love is a noun. It’s an idea, and it’s the subject of the sentence. What’s the deal? How can love be a verb and a noun?

Here’s a secret about the parts of speech that many people don’t realize: 

Many words can function as more than one part of speech.

They will only be doing one part-of-speech job at a time, though. In our example sentences above, we can see that love can be a verb and a noun, and we can also see that it’s doing just one of those jobs in each sentence.

How can you figure out what part(s) of speech a word can be, and how will you know what the word is acting as in any given sentence?

The first thing to do is to study the parts of speech and understand how they work. 

Here’s what you can do after you have a sense of what the parts of speech are and how they work:

Let’s look at two examples of words acting as different parts of speech.

We’ll look at the words for and iron, and we’ll see them acting as different parts of speech. We’ll also take a peek at what the dictionary says for each word. 

What part of speech are the words in bold?

For

I asked for pie. (preposition)

I cried, for I knew that the pie was gone. (conjunction)

Iron

Where is the iron? (noun)

Please iron my shirt. (verb)

Test Yourself

I. Label the Parts of Speech

Directions: Name the part of speech for the underlined word in each sentence. Use a dictionary if you need one. For extra credit, diagram the sentences. Scroll down to see the answers.

II. Write Your Own Sentences

Directions: Write your own sentences using the words below. Make sure the word is being used as the part of speech indicated on the left side. Underline the word in your sentence. The first one is done for you. Feel free to use a dictionary!

1. Drive

Noun: The long drive through the countryside lifted my spirits.

Verb: I always drive within the speed limit.

2. Baby

Noun: ___________________________________

Adjective: ________________________________

Verb: ___________________________________

3. Up

Preposition: ________________________________

Adverb: ___________________________________

Answers

I. Label the Parts of Speech

* The sentence diagrams for 4, 5, 9, and 10 are available in the downloadable version of this lesson.

Answers for II. Write Your Own Sentences are also available in the free, downloadable version of this lesson.

Would you like to see another example of this concept? Let’s look at how the word balance can be a noun or a verb, and how it can help you think about your life.

A part of speech is a term used in traditional grammar for one of the nine main categories into which words are classified according to their functions in sentences, such as nouns or verbs. Also known as word classes, these are the building blocks of grammar.

Every sentence you write or speak in English includes words that fall into some of the nine parts of speech. These include nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, articles/determiners, and interjections. (Some sources include only eight parts of speech and leave interjections in their own category.)

Learning the names of the parts of speech probably won’t make you witty, healthy, wealthy, or wise. In fact, learning just the names of the parts of speech won’t even make you a better writer. However, you will gain a basic understanding of sentence structure and the English language by familiarizing yourself with these labels.

Open and Closed Word Classes

The parts of speech are commonly divided into open classes (nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs) and closed classes (pronouns, prepositions, conjunctions, articles/determiners, and interjections). The idea is that open classes can be altered and added to as language develops and closed classes are pretty much set in stone. For example, new nouns are created every day, but conjunctions never change.

In contemporary linguistics, the label part of speech has generally been discarded in favor of the term word class or syntactic category. These terms make words easier to qualify objectively based on word construction rather than context. Within word classes, there is the lexical or open class and the function or closed class.

Read about each part of speech below and get started practicing identifying each.

Noun

Nouns are a person, place, thing, or idea. They can take on a myriad of roles in a sentence, from the subject of it all to the object of an action. They are capitalized when they’re the official name of something or someone, called proper nouns in these cases. Examples: pirate, Caribbean, ship, freedom, Captain Jack Sparrow.

Pronoun

Pronouns stand in for nouns in a sentence. They are more generic versions of nouns that refer only to people. Examples:​ I, you, he, she, it, ours, them, who, which, anybody, ourselves.

Verb

Verbs are action words that tell what happens in a sentence. They can also show a sentence subject’s state of being (is, was). Verbs change form based on tense (present, past) and count distinction (singular or plural). Examples: sing, dance, believes, seemed, finish, eat, drink, be, became

Adjective

Adjectives describe nouns and pronouns. They specify which one, how much, what kind, and more. Adjectives allow readers and listeners to use their senses to imagine something more clearly. Examples: hot, lazy, funny, unique, bright, beautiful, poor, smooth.

Adverb

Adverbs describe verbs, adjectives, and even other adverbs. They specify when, where, how, and why something happened and to what extent or how often. Examples: softly, lazily, often, only, hopefully, softly, sometimes.

Preposition

Prepositions show spacial, temporal, and role relations between a noun or pronoun and the other words in a sentence. They come at the start of a prepositional phrase, which contains a preposition and its object. Examples: up, over, against, by, for, into, close to, out of, apart from.

Conjunction

Conjunctions join words, phrases, and clauses in a sentence. There are coordinating, subordinating, and correlative conjunctions. Examples: and, but, or, so, yet, with.

Articles and Determiners

Articles and determiners function like adjectives by modifying nouns, but they are different than adjectives in that they are necessary for a sentence to have proper syntax. Articles and determiners specify and identify nouns, and there are indefinite and definite articles. Examples: articles: a, an, the; determiners: these, that, those, enough, much, few, which, what.

Some traditional grammars have treated articles as a distinct part of speech. Modern grammars, however, more often include articles in the category of determiners, which identify or quantify a noun. Even though they modify nouns like adjectives, articles are different in that they are essential to the proper syntax of a sentence, just as determiners are necessary to convey the meaning of a sentence, while adjectives are optional.

Interjection

Interjections are expressions that can stand on their own or be contained within sentences. These words and phrases often carry strong emotions and convey reactions. Examples: ah, whoops, ouch, yabba dabba do!

How to Determine the Part of Speech

Only interjections (Hooray!) have a habit of standing alone; every other part of speech must be contained within a sentence and some are even required in sentences (nouns and verbs). Other parts of speech come in many varieties and may appear just about anywhere in a sentence.

To know for sure what part of speech a word falls into, look not only at the word itself but also at its meaning, position, and use in a sentence.

For example, in the first sentence below, work functions as a noun; in the second sentence, a verb; and in the third sentence, an adjective:

• Bosco showed up for work two hours late.
  • The noun work is the thing Bosco shows up for.
• He will have to work until midnight.
  • The verb work is the action he must perform.
• His work permit expires next month.
  • The attributive noun [or converted adjective] work modifies the noun permit.

Learning the names and uses of the basic parts of speech is just one way to understand how sentences are constructed.

Dissecting Basic Sentences

To form a basic complete sentence, you only need two elements: a noun (or pronoun standing in for a noun) and a verb. The noun acts as a subject and the verb, by telling what action the subject is taking, acts as the predicate. 

• Birds fly.

In the short sentence above, birds is the noun and fly is the verb. The sentence makes sense and gets the point across.

You can have a sentence with just one word without breaking any sentence formation rules. The short sentence below is complete because it’s a command to an understood «you».

• Go!

Here, the pronoun, standing in for a noun, is implied and acts as the subject. The sentence is really saying, «(You) go!»

Constructing More Complex Sentences

Use more parts of speech to add additional information about what’s happening in a sentence to make it more complex. Take the first sentence from above, for example, and incorporate more information about how and why birds fly.

• Birds fly when migrating before winter.

Birds and fly remain the noun and the verb, but now there is more description. 

When is an adverb that modifies the verb fly. The word before is a little tricky because it can be either a conjunction, preposition, or adverb depending on the context. In this case, it’s a preposition because it’s followed by a noun. This preposition begins an adverbial phrase of time (before winter) that answers the question of when the birds migrate. Before is not a conjunction because it does not connect two clauses.

1. Answer
the following question: What parts of speech function as head words
in a phrase?

1. infinitives,
   nouns, adverbs

2. prepositions,
   verbs, nouns

3. adjectives,
   conjunctions, participles

2. According to what criterion
are sentences divided into simple, complex and compound?

1. the
   number of words in the sentence

2. the
   purpose of utterance

3. the
   number of predicative lines

3. What syntactic process is
realized on a phrase-level?

1. contamination

2. modification

3. complication

4.To what part of speech does the
word ‘just’ may be assigned in the following sentence: He has
just come to see if the experiment is finished or not’.

1. adjective

2. particle

3. adverb

5.
What part of speech is ‘since’ in the following question: Since
when haven’t you seen your parents?

1. conjunction

2. preposition

3. adverb

6. To what part of speech does
the word ‘open’ belong to in the sentence: At this moment the
back door flung open?

1. verb

2. stative

3. adjective

7. What part of speech is ‘up’
in the following sentence: They rolled up the carpet.

1. postpositional
   adverb

2. preposition

3. postlog

8.
What is the role interaction not connected with?

1. the
   character of objective relations between the objects of reality

2. the
   category of verb voices

3. the
   noun cases

9.
Injunctive pragmatic type expresses one’s

1. request

2. directions

3. order

10.
What syntactic process is expressed in the following sentence: The
true adventurer watched a fascinating scene there.

1. complication

2. modification

3. elimination

11.
What method of linguistic analysis is presented
in the following sentence: The ׀׀
lecturer׀
used
׀׀
a
׀׀׀׀
lot
׀׀׀
of
׀׀׀׀
scientific
׀׀׀׀
terms.

1. oppositional

2. IC-analysis

3. Distributional

12.
Identify the type of genitive in “a man’s voice”

1. the
   genitive of dispensed qualification

2. the
   genitive of received qualification

3. the
   genitive of agent

13.
The indirect meaning of the sentence includes:

1. inference

2. explicitness

3. a
   phrase

14.
Transitional types of sentences include:

1. sentences
   with complexes of secondary predication

2. sentences
   with indendent subordinate clauses

3. sentences
   with mutually subordinated clauses

15.
The process of substitution is presented in English by
substantivization and representation

1. yes

2. no

16.
Which of the following is considered on the level of a phrase, not a
sentence:

1. an
   adverb

2. an
   attribute

3. an
   apposition

17. What morphemes are distinguished on the basis of self-dependence?

1. overt
   and covert

2. free
   and bound

3. form-building
   and word-building

18.
To which of the following types does the phrase ‘a shivering girl’
belong?

1. equipotent

2. coordinate

3. dominational

19.
Potential ability of linguistic elements to pattern with one another
is called

1. sequence

2. valency

3. government

20.
According to the theory of Bloomfield the phrase ‘irregular
features’ belongs to

1. exocentric

2. endocentric

3. progressive

21.
Retrospectively connected sentences are characterized by

1. epiphoric

2. cataphoric

3. anaphoric
   cohision

22.
The opposite for ‘adjectivization’ is

1. nominalization

2. substantivization

3. representation

23.
The it-subject in the sentence: ‘What a cold winter it was!’
is:

1. emphatic

2. impersonal

3. anticipatory

24.
The type of the phrase ‘definitely alike’ is:

1. adverbial

2. stative

3. adjectival

25.
What kind of grammatical category is presented in the following
opposition: had lived :: had been living?

1. tense

2. temporal
   correlation

3. aspect

26.
Comment on the categorical nature of the following opposition: the
man’s umbrella vs a man’s umbrella

1. the
   category of number

2. the
   category of case

3. the
   category of determination

27.
What verb categories are not observed in non-finite forms of the
verb?

1. person;

2. mood;

3. tense

Test
2

I
Answer
the following questions:

l.What
parts of speech function as nuclei in a phrase?

A
prepositions, nouns, verbs

В
adjectives, infinitives, conjunctions

С
participles, verbs, adverbs

2.
What verb categories are not observed in verbids?

A
person, tense, voice В
aspect, number, temporal correlation С
tense, mood, person

3.
What part of speech may the word italicized in the following
sentences be assigned to: A adjective В
adverb С
particle D preposition E verb F noun G postlog

1)
He has
just managed
to complete the experiment.

2)
We had a very important conversation last weekend and we haven’t
spoken since.

3)
He was just recalling fragments of friendliness and exactly
revealed
solicitude.

4)
At this moment the front door broke open.

5)
The manager of the water works
wonders
how it all came about.

6)
He only went to bed
when
he finished it up.

II
Define
the type of genitive:

1)
The clock’s tick was heavy as feet.

2)
Children’s toys are very attractive nowadays.

3)
He reserved a seat on the following week’s bus.

4)
It’s somebody else’s idea, not mine.

5)
Mrs. Pell’s response was as warm as ever.

6)
She didn’t have a mind like a woman’s at all.

7)
Michael works at Bill and Susan’s firm.

I move that we have a five minutes’ break.

9)
Her eyes met her friend’s.

10)
That little boy of our neighbours’ is looking for trouble.

11)
My friend’s liveliness was to everybody’s liking.

12)
Max’s being sent on that mission irritated all of them.

Ш
Decide
which of the terms best suits
the
suggested definition:

1.
A formal signal of a grammatical meaning

A
modifier В
marker

2.
A constituent of a verb-phrase whose design is to complete the
meaning of a phrase

A
modifier В
complement

3.
The meaning of categorical relevance signalled by a formal marker
and realized through oppositions

A
explicit meaning В
syntactical meaning

4.
One of the two planes of language structure comprising units in
their linear ordering

A
paradigrnatics В
syntagmatics

5.
Potential ability of linguistic elements to pattern with one
another

A
sequence В
valency

IV
Analyse
the following phrases as being instances
of suggested types:

1.
broad-brimmed hat

A
endocentric В
exocentric

2.
irregular features

A
coordinate В
subordinate

3.
definitely right

A
adverbial В
adjectival

V
Comment
on the categorical
nature of the following oppositions:

A
man’s-men’s В
has bought — has been buying

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When you start breaking it down, the English language is pretty complicated—especially if you’re trying to learn it from scratch! One of the most important English words to understand is the.

But what part of speech is the word the, and when should it be used in a sentence? Is the word the a preposition? Is the a pronoun? Or is the word the considered a different part of speech?

To help you learn exactly how the word the works in the English language, we’re going to do the following in this article:

• Answer the question, «What part of speech is the?»
• Explain how to use the correctly in sentences, with examples
• Provide a full list of other words that are classified as the same part of speech as the in the English language

Okay, let’s get started learning about the word the!

In the English language the word the is classified as an article, which is a word used to define a noun. (More on that a little later.)

But an article isn’t one of the eight parts of speech. Articles are considered a type of adjective, so «the» is technically an adjective as well. However, «the» can also sometimes function as an adverb in certain instances, too.

In short, the word «the» is an article that functions as both an adjective and an adverb, depending on how it’s being used. Having said that, the is most commonly used as an article in the English language. So, if you were wondering, «Is the a pronoun, preposition, or conjunction,» the answer is no: it’s an article, adjective, and an adverb!

While we might think of an article as a story that appears in a newspaper or website, in English grammar, articles are words that help specify nouns.

The as an Article

So what are «articles» in the English language? Articles are words that identify nouns in order to demonstrate whether the noun is specific or nonspecific. Nouns (a person, place, thing, or idea) can be identified by two different types of articles in the English language: definite articles identify specific nouns, and indefinite articles identify nonspecific nouns.

The word the is considered a definite article because it defines the meaning of a noun as one particular thing. It’s an article that gives a noun a definite meaning: a definite article. Generally, definite articles are used to identify nouns that the audience already knows about. Here’s a few examples of how «the» works as a definite article:

We went to the rodeo on Saturday. Did you see the cowboy get trampled by the bull?

This (grisly!) sentence has three instances of «the» functioning as a definite article: the rodeo, the cowboy, and the bull. Notice that in each instance, the comes directly before the noun. That’s because it’s an article’s job to identify nouns.

In each of these three instances, the refers to a specific (or definite) person, place, or thing. When the speaker says the rodeo, they’re talking about one specific rodeo that happened at a certain place and time. The same goes for the cowboy and the bull: these are two specific people/animals that had one kinda terrible thing happen to them!

It can be a bit easier to see how definite articles work if you see them in the same sentence as an indefinite article (a or an). This sentence makes the difference a lot more clear:

A bat flew into the restaurant and made people panic.

Okay. This sentence has two articles in it: a and the. So what’s the difference? Well, you use a when you’re referring to a general, non-specific person, place, or thing because its an indefinite article. So in this case, using a tells us this isn’t a specific bat. It’s just a random bat from the wild that decided to go on an adventure.

Notice that in the example, the writer uses the to refer to the restaurant. That’s because the event happened at a specific time and at a specific place. A bat flew into one particular restaurant to cause havoc, which is why it’s referred to as the restaurant in the sentence.

The last thing to keep in mind is that the is the only definite article in the English language, and it can be used with both singular and plural nouns. This is probably one reason why people make the mistake of asking, «Is the a pronoun?» Since articles, including the, define the meaning of nouns, it seems like they could also be combined with pronouns. But that’s not the case. Just remember: articles only modify nouns.

Adjectives are words that help describe nouns. Because «the» can describe whether a noun is a specific object or not, «the» is also considered an adjective.

The as an Adjective

You know now that the is classified as a definite article and that the is used to refer to a specific person, place, or thing. But defining what part of speech articles are is a little bit tricky.

There are eight parts of speech in the English language: nouns, pronouns, verbs, adverbs, adjectives, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections. The thing about these eight parts of speech in English is that they contain smaller categories of types of words and phrases in the English language. Articles are considered a type of determiner, which is a type of adjective.

Let’s break down how articles fall under the umbrella of «determiners,» which fall under the umbrella of adjectives. In English, the category of «determiners» includes all words and phrases in the English language that are combined with a noun to express an aspect of what the noun is referring to. Some examples of determiners are the, a, an, this, that, my, their, many, few, several, each, and any. The is used in front of a noun to express that the noun refers to a specific thing, right? So that’s why «the» can be considered a determiner.

And here’s how determiners—including the article the—can be considered adjectives. Articles and other determiners are sometimes classified as adjectives because they describe the nouns that they precede. Technically, the describes the noun it precedes by communicating specificity and directness. When you say, «the duck,» you’re describing the noun «duck» as referring to a specific duck. This is different than saying a duck, which could mean any one duck anywhere in the world!

When «the» comes directly before a word that’s not a noun, then it’s operating as an adverb instead of an adjective.

The as an Adverb

Finally, we mentioned that the can also be used as an adverb, which is one of the eight main parts of speech we outlined above. Adverbs modify or describe verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs, but never modify nouns.

Sometimes, the can be used to modify adverbs or adjectives that occur in the comparative degree. Adverbs or adjectives that compare the amounts or intensity of a feeling, state of being, or action characterizing two or more things are in the comparative degree. Sometimes the appears before these adverbs or adjectives to help convey the comparison!

Here’s an example where the functions as an adverb instead of an article/adjective:

Lainey believes the most outrageous things.

Okay. We know that when the is functioning as an adjective, it comes before a noun in order to clarify whether it’s specific or non-specific. In this case, however, the precedes the word most, which isn’t a noun—it’s an adjective. And since an adverb modifies an adjective, adverb, or verb, that means the functions as an adverb in this sentence.

We know that can be a little complicated, so let’s dig into another example together:

Giovanni’s is the best pizza place in Montana.

The trick to figuring out whether the article the is functioning as an adjective or an adverb is pretty simple: just look at the word directly after the and figure out its part of speech. If that word is a noun, then the is functioning as an adjective. If that word isn’t a noun, then the is functioning like an adverb.

Now, reread the second example. The word the comes before the word best. Is best a noun? No, it isn’t. Best is an adjective, so we know that the is working like an adverb in this sentence.

How to Use The Correctly in Sentences

An important part of answering the question, «What part of speech is the word the?» includes explaining how to use the correctly in a sentence. Articles like the are some of the most common words used in the English language. So you need to know how and when to use it! And since using the as an adverb is less common, we’ll provide examples of how the can be used as an adverb as well.

Using The as an Article

In general, it is correct and appropriate to use the in front of a noun of any kind when you want to convey specificity. It’s often assumed that you use the to refer to a specific person, place, or thing that the person you’re speaking to will already be aware of. Oftentimes, this shared awareness of who, what, or where «the» is referring to is created by things already said in the conversation, or by context clues in a given social situation.

Let’s look at an example here:

Say you’re visiting a friend who just had a baby. You’re sitting in the kitchen at your friend’s house while your friend makes coffee. The baby, who has been peacefully dozing in a bassinet in the living room, begins crying. Your friend turns to you and asks, «Can you hold the baby while I finish doing this?»

Now, because of all of the context surrounding the social situation, you know which baby your friend is referring to when they say, the baby. There’s no need for further clarification, because in this case, the gives enough direct and specific meaning to the noun baby for you to know what to do!

In many cases, using the to define a noun requires less or no awareness of an immediate social situation because people have a shared common knowledge of the noun that the is referring to. Here are two examples:

Are you going to watch the eclipse tomorrow?

Did you hear what the President said this morning?

In the first example, the speaker is referring to a natural phenomenon that most people are aware of—eclipses are cool and rare! When there’s going to be an eclipse, everyone knows about it. If you started a conversation with someone by saying, «Are you going to watch the eclipse tomorrow?» it’s pretty likely they’d know which eclipse the is referring to.

In the second example, if an American speaking to another American mentions what the President said, the other American is likely going to assume that the refers to the President of the United States. Conversely, if two Canadians said this to one another, they would likely assume they’re talking about the Canadian prime minister!

So in many situations, using the before a noun gives that noun specific meaning in the context of a particular social situation.

Using The as an Adverb

Now let’s look at an example of how «the» can be used as an adverb. Take a look at this sample sentence:

The tornado warning made it all the more likely that the game would be canceled.

Remember how we explained that the can be combined with adverbs that are making a comparison of levels or amounts of something between two entities? The example above shows how the can be combined with an adverb in such a situation. The is combined with more and likely to form an adverbial phrase.

So how do you figure this out? Well, if the words immediately after the are adverbs, then the is functioning as an adverb, too!

Here’s another example of how the can be used as an adverb:

I had the worst day ever.

In this case, the is being combined with the adverb worst to compare the speaker’s day to the other days. Compared to all the other days ever, this person’s was the worst…period. Some other examples of adverbs that you might see the combined with include all the better, the best, the bigger, the shorter, and all the sooner.

One thing that can help clarify which adverbs the can be combined with is to check out a list of comparative and superlative adverbs and think about which ones the makes sense with!

3 Articles in the English Language

Now that we’ve answered the question, «What part of speech is the?», you know that the is classified as an article. To help you gain a better understanding of what articles are and how they function in the English language, here’s a handy list of 3 words in the English language that are also categorized as articles.

Article	Type of Article	What It Does	Example Sentence
The	Definite Article	Modifies nouns by giving them a specific meaning	Please fold the laundry. Do you want to go to the concert?
A	Indefinite Article	Modifies a noun that refers to a general idea; appears before nouns that begin with a consonant.	Do you want to go to a concert?
An	Indefinite Article	Modifies a noun that refers to a general idea; appears before nouns that begin with a vowel.	Do you want to go to an arcade? Let’s get an iguana.

What’s Next?

If you’re looking for more grammar resources, be sure to check out our guides on every grammar rule you need to know to ace the SAT (or the ACT)!

Learning more about English grammar can be really helpful when you’re studying a foreign language, too. We highly recommend that you study a foreign language in high school—not only is it great for you, it looks great on college applications, too. If you’re not sure which language to study, check out this helpful article that will make your decision a lot easier.

Speaking of applying for college…one of the most important parts of your application packet is your essay. Check out this expert guide to writing college essays that will help you get into your dream school.

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