Question 1
"The dog" in: 'The dog barked loudly.'
💡 'Dog' names a thing (an animal) — a noun.
Year 7 — Grammar & Language
Word classes
Identify the main word classes, use word class knowledge to build accurate sentences, and recognise a word class shift (e.g. a noun used as a verb).
Understand
Word classes (also called parts of speech) categorise words by their grammatical function: nouns (naming things), verbs (actions/states), adjectives (describing nouns), adverbs (describing verbs/adjectives), pronouns (replacing nouns), prepositions (showing relationships, like 'under', 'before'), and conjunctions (joining words/clauses). Understanding word classes helps you build grammatically accurate sentences and notice when a writer deliberately shifts a word's usual class for effect.
“She Googled the answer in seconds.”
'Google' started as a proper noun (the company name), but here it's used as a VERB ('Googled') — a word class shift. Language does this often, and recognising it helps you understand both grammar rules and how language evolves creatively.
Spot it
Identify the word class of the underlined word in each sentence.
Question 2
"loudly" in: 'The dog barked loudly.'
💡 'Loudly' describes the verb 'barked' — an adverb.
Question 3
"beautiful" in: 'The beautiful garden bloomed in spring.'
💡 'Beautiful' describes the noun 'garden' — an adjective.
Think about it
The word 'text' is normally a noun ('I received a text'), but is now also commonly used as a verb ('I'll text you later'). Why might language naturally develop these word class shifts over time?
Try it
Identify the word class shift.
They friended each other online within minutes of meeting.
Question 1
What word class shift has happened with 'friended'?
💡 Think about the word 'friend' in its most common, original usage.
Practise
Identify the word class of the underlined word in each sentence.
Question 1
"quickly" in: 'She finished the race quickly.' Word class?
Question 2
"under" in: 'The cat hid under the table.' Word class?
Question 3
"ran" in: 'He ran to the shop.' Word class?
Question 4
In one word, what do we call the category a word belongs to based on its grammatical function (e.g. noun, verb, adjective)?
💡 It's the topic of this lesson.
Question 5
"they" in: 'They arrived early.' Word class?
Question 6
"and" in: 'She ran and jumped.' Word class?
Apply
Read the passage, then answer the questions below.
The team decided to workshop the new proposal before the meeting. It was a risky move — normally, they would email their ideas around quietly, but this time, they wanted to properly interrogate every weak point before presenting it.
Question 1
"workshop" in this passage shows which word class shift?
💡 'Workshop' is usually a place/event (a noun) — here it's an action.
Question 2
"email" in this passage shows which word class shift?
💡 'Email' is usually the name of a message (a noun) — here it describes an action.
Question 3
What word class is 'quietly' in this passage?
💡 It describes HOW they would email their ideas.
Challenge
Explain in two or three sentences why recognising word class shifts (like 'workshop' and 'email' being used as verbs) is a useful skill, even though these usages might once have been considered grammatically 'incorrect'.
Review
A quick mastery check — 3 questions.
Question 1
A verb is a word that expresses...
Question 2
An adjective is a word that...
Question 3
"I'll google it." This shows which word class shift?
Want to practise clause order and connectives across sentences? Try the sentence builder →