Every English sentence is built from words doing different jobs. The grammar that names these jobs is called the parts of speech or word classes. In the NDA paper this idea quietly powers spotting-errors, fill-in-the-blanks and sentence-improvement questions. This Cavalier guide makes all eight classes simple, scannable and exam-ready.
What Are Word Classes?
A word class (also called a part of speech) is a group of words that behave the same way in a sentence. Traditional English grammar, as taught in Wren & Martin, sorts every word into eight classes: noun, pronoun, adjective, verb, adverb, preposition, conjunction and interjection.
The eight parts of speech are: Noun, Pronoun, Adjective, Verb, Adverb, Preposition, Conjunction, Interjection. A handy memory string is N-P-A-V-A-P-C-I.
Think of a sentence as a small team. The noun is the player, the verb is the action, the adjective describes the player, the adverb describes the action, and the small words (prepositions and conjunctions) hold everyone together. Once you can name each player’s job, grammar errors jump out at you.
The most important idea in this whole topic is this: a word does not belong to a fixed class forever. Its class depends on the job it is doing in that particular sentence. We will return to this again and again, because it is exactly where the NDA sets its traps.
Why Word Classes Matter for the NDA
The NDA English paper carries 200 marks (100 questions of 2 marks each). A large grammar block — spotting errors, sentence improvement, fill in the blanks and ordering of words — depends entirely on knowing which class a word belongs to.
- You cannot spot a wrong adverb if you cannot tell an adverb from an adjective.
- Fill-in-the-blank options often differ only in class (e.g. success vs successful vs successfully).
- Sentence-improvement answers hinge on putting the right class in the right slot.
NDA has negative marking of 0.83 marks (one-third) per wrong answer. Identifying the word class first stops you from picking an option that simply ‘sounds’ right.
So word classes are not a dry chapter to skip — they are the hidden engine behind a third of the English paper. Master them once and many other topics become easier.
Nouns: The Naming Words
A noun is the name of a person, place, thing, animal or idea. It answers who? or what?
- Proper noun → a particular name, always capitalised: Delhi, Kavya, India
- Common noun → a general name: city, girl, country
- Collective noun → a group as one unit: team, army, herd
- Abstract noun → an idea you cannot touch: honesty, courage, freedom
- Material noun → a substance: gold, water, iron
Nouns can be countable (book/books) or uncountable (water, advice, information). Uncountable nouns take a singular verb and no plural ‘-s’: The information is correct, not informations are.
Many abstract nouns are formed from other classes by adding suffixes: kind (adjective) → kindness (noun); free → freedom; arrive (verb) → arrival. Spotting these endings (−ness, −ment, −tion, −ity, −dom) is a fast way to recognise a noun in a confusing sentence.
Pronouns: Stand-ins for Nouns
A pronoun is used in place of a noun so we do not keep repeating it. In ‘Rahul said he was tired’, he replaces Rahul.
- Personal → I, you, he, she, it, we, they
- Possessive → mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs
- Reflexive → myself, yourself, himself, themselves
- Relative → who, whom, which, that
- Demonstrative → this, that, these, those
Mixing up subject and object pronouns. Say ‘between you and me’, not ‘between you and I’, because after a preposition you need the object form (me).
The noun a pronoun stands for is its antecedent, and the two must agree in number and gender. Every student must bring his or her book is correct because every student is singular. NDA loves testing this agreement, so always check what each pronoun is pointing back to.
Adjectives: The Describing Words
An adjective describes or adds information to a noun or pronoun. It answers what kind? how many? which?
- Quality → a brave soldier
- Quantity → much, little, some
- Number → three, first, many
- Demonstrative → this book, those pens
Adjectives have three degrees of comparison: positive (tall), comparative (taller) and superlative (tallest). Use -er/-est for short words and more/most for longer ones (more beautiful, never more beautifuller).
A frequent NDA trap is using the comparative when comparing more than two things, or the superlative for only two. Rule: two things → comparative (the taller of the two); three or more → superlative (the tallest in the class).
Verbs: The Action and State Words
A verb shows an action (run, eat, write) or a state of being (is, seem, become). Every complete sentence needs at least one verb — it is the heart of the sentence.
- Transitive verb → needs an object: She kicked the ball.
- Intransitive verb → no object: The baby slept.
- Auxiliary (helping) verb → is, am, are, have, do, will, can, must
- Finite verb → changes with subject and tense; non-finite → infinitive (to go), gerund (going), participle (gone)
The verb must agree with its subject in number. A singular subject takes a singular verb: The list of items is long — the subject is list (singular), not items.
Auxiliary verbs combine with main verbs to form tenses and the passive voice (was written). Knowing which word is the auxiliary and which is the main verb is essential for tense-based error questions, a regular NDA feature.
Adverbs: Describing the Action
An adverb modifies a verb, an adjective or another adverb. It answers how? when? where? how much? Many adverbs end in -ly (quickly, badly), but not all.
- Manner → She sang sweetly. (how)
- Time → He came yesterday. (when)
- Place → Sit here. (where)
- Degree → It is very hot. (how much)
Using an adjective where an adverb is needed. Say ‘She drives carefully’ (adverb modifies the verb drives), not ‘She drives careful’. The opposite trap: after verbs like feel, look, taste, use an adjective — The soup tastes good, not tastes well.
The adjective-versus-adverb confusion is one of the most tested points in NDA spotting-errors. Whenever a describing word sits next to a verb, ask: is it describing the doer (adjective) or the doing (adverb)?
Prepositions, Conjunctions and Interjections
These small words are called function words because they show relationships and join ideas rather than carry heavy meaning.
Preposition
A preposition shows the relation of a noun/pronoun to another word — usually of place, time or direction: in, on, at, under, between, since, for. The cat sat on the mat.
Conjunction
A conjunction joins words, phrases or clauses: and, but, or, because, although, while. He was tired but happy.
Interjection
An interjection is a sudden word or sound that expresses emotion, usually followed by an exclamation mark: Oh! Alas! Hurrah! Wow!
Prepositions are a goldmine for NDA traps — learn fixed pairs like good at, married to, afraid of, depend on, different from. The wrong preposition is a classic error to spot.
Conjunctions also come in correlated pairs that must be used together: either…or, neither…nor, not only…but also, both…and. Mixing these (neither…or) is a frequent mistake the examiner plants on purpose.
Same Word, Different Class
This is the single most important idea for the NDA. A word’s class is decided by its job in the sentence, not by the word itself. The same spelling can be several different parts of speech.
Take the word well:
- I am well. → adjective (describes I)
- She sings well. → adverb (describes sings)
- Draw water from the well. → noun (a thing)
- Well, let us begin. → interjection
Look at round too: a round table (adjective), come round (adverb), the next round (noun), walk round the park (preposition), they will round the cape (verb). One word, five classes!
Naming a word’s class from memory instead of from its use. Always test the word inside its actual sentence by asking what job it is doing right there.
Worked Example: Labelling a Sentence
Let us label every word in a sentence to lock in the method, then build a checklist for error questions.
Identify the part of speech of each word: “Wow, the brave soldier quickly crossed the river.”
Notice how each word was placed by asking what is it doing here? — not by recalling a list. This habit makes error-spotting almost automatic, because a word in the wrong job will instantly feel out of place.
Most NDA grammar questions are really word-class questions in disguise. Run this quick checklist on any sentence:
- Find the verb and its subject — do they agree in number?
- Check every describing word — should it be an adjective or an adverb?
- Check each preposition — is it the fixed pair the verb/adjective demands?
- Check pronouns — do they match their antecedent and use the right case?
- Check degree of comparison — two things or more than two?
If a sentence ‘feels wrong’ but you cannot say why, name the class of each suspicious word. The error almost always lives in a word doing the wrong job — an adjective where an adverb belongs, or the wrong preposition. This turns a guessing game into a fast, mechanical scan.
Previous-Year Style Practice
Here is a question in the exact NDA style. Decide your answer before reading the solution.
Q. In the sentence ‘She spoke very fluent in three languages’, the underlined word is wrong. Which part of speech is needed instead, and what is the correct word?
Answer: An adverb is needed, because the word modifies the verb spoke (it tells us how she spoke). The adjective fluent must become the adverb fluently — ‘She spoke very fluently in three languages.’
When a describing word sits right after a verb, suspect it should be an adverb. The missing -ly is one of the most common planted errors in NDA papers.
Quick Revision
You now have a working map of all eight word classes and a method to apply them under exam pressure — no rote rules, just clear thinking about what each word is doing.
- Eight parts of speech: noun, pronoun, adjective, verb, adverb, preposition, conjunction, interjection.
- Noun names; pronoun replaces a noun; adjective describes a noun.
- Verb shows action/state; adverb describes a verb, adjective or adverb.
- Prepositions show relations; conjunctions join; interjections express emotion.
- A word’s class depends on its job in the sentence, not the word alone.
- Watch fixed prepositions, subject-verb agreement and adjective-vs-adverb traps.
Practise labelling a few sentences daily and running the five-point error checklist, and the grammar half of the NDA English paper will become some of your surest marks.
Frequently asked questions
How many parts of speech are there in English?
Traditional grammar, as in Wren and Martin, recognises eight parts of speech: noun, pronoun, adjective, verb, adverb, preposition, conjunction and interjection. Articles (a, an, the) are often treated as a special kind of determiner alongside these.
Can the same word be more than one part of speech?
Yes, and this is a favourite NDA trap. A word like 'well' or 'round' can be a noun, verb, adjective, adverb or even an interjection depending on the job it does in that particular sentence. Always judge the class from its use, not from memory.
What is the difference between an adjective and an adverb?
An adjective describes a noun or pronoun (a 'quick' runner), while an adverb describes a verb, adjective or another adverb (he runs 'quickly'). Many adverbs end in -ly, but not all, so test the word by asking what it is modifying.
Why are word classes important for the NDA exam?
Spotting errors, fill in the blanks, sentence improvement and ordering of words all depend on knowing which class a word belongs to. The wrong adjective, adverb or preposition is the most commonly planted error, so naming the class quickly is a core skill.
How do function words differ from content words?
Content words (nouns, main verbs, adjectives, adverbs) carry the meaning, while function words (prepositions, conjunctions, pronouns, auxiliaries) hold the sentence together. NDA error questions often hide mistakes in these small function words, especially prepositions.
Related NDA English topics
Want a teacher to walk you through NDA English?
Cavalier's NDA batches break every topic into classroom sessions with daily practice, tests and doubt-clearing.