---
title: "Parts of Speech Helper for Word Games | Chuckle Quartz"
description: "What is a noun, a verb or an adverb? Kid-friendly explanations, quick tests and examples for every word-game prompt, plus a spot-the-word quiz."
url: https://chucklequartz.lol/parts-of-speech-helper/
---

For word wizards of all ages

# Parts of speech helper

Not sure what an adverb is? Pick any prompt from our word games to see what it means, how to test a word, and plenty of examples.

Part of speech

## Noun

A noun is a naming word. It names a person, an animal, a place or a thing: teacher, giraffe, kitchen, teapot.

**Quick test:** Can you put “the” or “a” in front of it? The teapot, a giraffe: yes, so they are nouns.

### Examples

- teapot
- trampoline
- sandwich
- umbrella
- pickle
- rocket
- sofa
- bucket

In your own story template, write `[noun]`.

## Spot the word

Is the highlighted word a noun, a verb, an adjective or an adverb? Look at the job it does in the sentence.

Right: **0** of 0 Streak: **0** Best: **0**

The robot whistles when it is happy.

What kind of word is **whistles** in this sentence?

## The big four, in one sentence

Take the sentence “The sleepy walrus snored loudly.” Each word has a job:

- **walrus** is the *noun*: it names who the sentence is about.
- **snored** is the *verb*: it says what the walrus did.
- **sleepy** is the *adjective*: it describes the walrus.
- **loudly** is the *adverb*: it describes how the walrus snored.

A word’s job can change from sentence to sentence. “Dance” is a verb in “Let’s dance” and a noun in “The dance was fun”. That is why the quiz above always shows the word inside a sentence.

Some prompts, like color, animal, food or place, are not parts of speech at all. They ask for a kind of thing, and the answer is usually a noun (an animal, a food) or sometimes an adjective (a color). They are there to make stories funnier, not harder.

**Helping a child?** Use the quick test on each card: put “the” in front of a noun, “I can” in front of a verb, “very” in front of an adjective. Then let them choose the silliest example they can think of.

## Questions

**What is the difference between an adjective and an adverb?**

An adjective describes a thing (a slow turtle). An adverb describes an action, telling you how, when or where it happens (the turtle walked slowly). Many adverbs end in -ly, but not all: fast, soon and outside are adverbs too.

**Is a person’s name a noun?**

Yes. Names are proper nouns: they name one particular person, place or thing, so they start with a capital letter.

**What does “verb ending in -ing” mean?**

Take any action word and add -ing: jump becomes jumping, hop becomes hopping. It fits the gap in “I am ___ right now”.