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REET L1+L2 · English (Language I/II)

Parts of Speech and Figures of Speech — REET English Notes

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This page covers the eight parts of speech in English, how to identify them from a word's job in a sentence, and the main figures of speech REET pairs with them — Simile, Metaphor, Personification, Alliteration, Assonance and more — with examples. REET 2024 carried 5 questions on these — 2 on word classes and 3 on figures of speech.

  • 5 questions in REET 2024
  • Class 5–10 grammar level
  • 8-minute read
Verified 17 September 2026 · Source: Word classes and phrase classes — English Grammar Today, Cambridge Dictionary

How REET asks this topic

REET 2024's Parts of Speech questions came with an unseen passage: the word class of 'continuously' (worked continuously → adverb) and 'handsome' (look handsome → adjective) had to be identified from the passage. Three questions came with a poem extract on Figures of Speech: what an implied simile is called (Metaphor), which figure appears in 'The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain' (the BSER key: Assonance), and which one is in 'Death lays her icy hands on all' (Personification). So the exam is testing whether you can identify a word's job in its sentence, and whether you know the definitions and examples of the figures of speech.

The Eight Parts of Speech

Part of SpeechJobExample
NounNames a person, place, thing or ideaRavi, Jaipur, book, honesty, team
PronounStands in for a nounhe, she, it, they, who, myself, this
AdjectiveDescribes a noun/pronoun (quality, number, amount)handsome boy, three pens, some water
VerbExpresses an action or state of beingrun, write, is, seem, become
AdverbDescribes a verb, adjective or another adverb (how, when, where, how much)worked continuously, very tall, quite slowly
PrepositionShows a noun/pronoun's relation to other wordsin, on, at, under, between, with
ConjunctionJoins words, phrases or sentencesand, but, or, because, although
InterjectionExpresses a sudden feeling (joy, sorrow, surprise)Oh!, Alas!, Hurrah!, Wow!

Many modern grammars treat articles/determiners (a, an, the, this) as their own class; traditional school grammar teaches them under adjectives.

A Word's Part of Speech Is Decided by Its Job

The same English word can be a different part of speech in different sentences, so identify a word by its job in the sentence rather than in isolation. 'fast': He is a fast runner (adjective), He runs fast (adverb), He kept a fast on Monday (noun), Muslims fast during Ramzan (verb). 'light': Switch on the light (noun), This bag is light (adjective), Light the lamp (verb). 'after': after the class (preposition), He came after I had left (conjunction).

Easy identification formulas: (1) A word that answers 'how/when/where' about a verb is an adverb — worked continuously (how did he work?). (2) A word that describes the quality of a person/thing is an adjective — look handsome, seem happy; note that linking verbs such as look, seem, feel, become are followed by an adjective, not an adverb (She looks beautiful, not beautifully). (3) A preposition is always followed by a noun/pronoun (its object); if a full clause follows instead, that same word is a conjunction. (4) -ly usually signals an adverb, but friendly, lovely and costly are adjectives.

What Figures of Speech Are

Figures of speech are special uses of language where words aren't taken at their literal meaning but are used to create effect, beauty, or emphasis. In REET English, these usually appear with an unseen poem or as separate questions. Understand them in two groups: (1) comparison-based — Simile, Metaphor, Personification; (2) sound-based — Alliteration, Assonance, Onomatopoeia.

The difference between Simile and Metaphor is asked about the most. A simile compares two different things explicitly, using 'like' or 'as' — He is as brave as a lion. A metaphor makes the same comparison without like/as; one thing is simply called another — He is a lion in battle. That's why a metaphor is also called an implied simile. Alliteration repeats the initial consonant sound of nearby words (Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers), while assonance repeats the same vowel sound in nearby words (The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain — the /eɪ/ sound in rain, Spain, mainly, plain).

Major Figures of Speech at a Glance

Figure of SpeechHow to spot itExample
SimileAn explicit comparison using like/asas busy as a bee; Her face shone like the moon.
MetaphorA direct comparison with no like/as (an implied simile)Life is a journey. / He is a lion in battle.
PersonificationGiving human qualities to something non-living or abstractDeath lays her icy hands on all. / The wind whispered.
AlliterationRepetition of an initial consonant soundPeter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
AssonanceRepetition of a vowel sound in nearby wordsThe rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain.
OnomatopoeiaWords that imitate a soundbuzz, hiss, tick-tock, splash
HyperboleDeliberate exaggerationI have told you a thousand times.
OxymoronContradictory words placed togetheropen secret, bitter-sweet, cruel kindness
ApostropheDirectly addressing an absent person or a non-living thingTwinkle, twinkle, little star, how I wonder what you are!
Transferred EpithetAn adjective shifted from the person it truly describes onto a thingHe spent a sleepless night.

How to Teach This to Children

Classes 3–5: Colour-coded word classes

Write a sentence on the board — 'The little girl sang sweetly.' Have children underline the noun in blue, the adjective in green, the verb in red and the adverb in yellow. Colour cues speed up recognition.

Classes 6–8: One word, many jobs

Give groups words like fast, light, round, after and have them build two sentences using different parts of speech for each. This builds the understanding that 'a word's class is decided by its job'.

Figure hunt

Run a competition to find similes (look for like/as) and personification (what is a non-living thing doing like a human?) in a textbook poem; then let children build their own similes — as cold as ___.

Teaching aids

Colour-coded parts-of-speech cards, a sentence-building set of word strips, poem charts, and tongue twisters for the sound-based figures.

Common misconceptions

Treating every -ly word as an adverb, adding an adverb after look/seem, mixing up simile and metaphor, and treating alliteration and assonance as the same thing.

Assessment idea

Ask for the part of speech of 6 underlined words in a short passage, with a one-line reason for each answer; identify and name the figure of speech in 4 lines of a poem.

Memory trick / exam tip

In Simile, the 'S' stands for a 'Similar-clear comparison' — if you see like/as, it's a simile; if not, it's a metaphor. Alliteration = 'A-B-C', repetition at the start with a consonant; Assonance = repetition of a vowel sound. For a part-of-speech question, put the word back in the sentence and ask: 'How?' → adverb; 'What kind?' → adjective.

Questions asked in REET 2024 (solved)

Question 36

‘Continuously’ is

  1. Aadverb
  2. Bnoun
  3. Cadjective
  4. Dconjunction

Explanation

‘Continuously’ विशेषण ‘continuous’ में ‘-ly’ जोड़कर बना है और अनुच्छेद में ‘worked continuously’ में क्रिया ‘worked’ की विशेषता बताता है (कैसे काम किया)। क्रिया की विशेषता बताने वाला शब्द adverb होता है।

Question 37

‘Handsome’ is :

  1. Anoun
  2. Badverb
  3. Cpreposition
  4. Dadjective

Explanation

'handsome' (सुंदर) किसी व्यक्ति के गुण का वर्णन करता है, जैसे passage में 'look handsome'। गुण बताने वाला शब्द adjective (विशेषण) होता है, अतः D सही है।

Question 74

An implied simile is also known as :

  1. AMetaphor
  2. BSimile
  3. CAssonance
  4. DPersonification

Explanation

Simile में 'like' या 'as' द्वारा स्पष्ट तुलना होती है, जबकि Metaphor (रूपक) में बिना 'like/as' के सीधे एक वस्तु को दूसरी कह दिया जाता है, जैसे 'He is a lion'। इसलिए metaphor को implied (अप्रत्यक्ष) simile कहा जाता है।

Question 78

‘The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain’ which figure of speech is used in this line ?

  1. AAssonance
  2. BSimile
  3. CMetaphor
  4. DAlliteration

Explanation

Assonance में पास-पास के शब्दों में एक ही स्वर-ध्वनि (vowel sound) की पुनरावृत्ति होती है। 'The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain' में 'rain, Spain, mainly, plain' में /eɪ/ स्वर-ध्वनि बार-बार आती है, इसलिए यह assonance है। Alliteration में आरम्भिक व्यंजन-ध्वनि दोहराई जाती है, जो यहाँ प्रमुख नहीं है।

Question 83

‘Death lays her icy hands on all’ which figure of speech is used in this line ?

  1. AMetaphor
  2. BAssonance
  3. CSimile
  4. DPersonification

Explanation

'Death lays her icy hands on all' में मृत्यु (Death) जैसी अमूर्त वस्तु को 'her' और 'hands' देकर मनुष्य की तरह प्रस्तुत किया गया है। निर्जीव या अमूर्त वस्तु पर मानवीय गुण आरोपित करना Personification (मानवीकरण) कहलाता है।

Practice questions

Question 1

In the sentence ‘She sings sweetly’, the word ‘sweetly’ is a/an:

  1. Aadjective
  2. Badverb
  3. Cnoun
  4. Dverb

Explanation

'sweetly' tells us how she sings, i.e. it describes the verb 'sings', so it is an adverb.

Question 2

In ‘He runs fast’, the word ‘fast’ is a/an:

  1. Aadjective
  2. Bnoun
  3. Cadverb
  4. Dverb

Explanation

Here 'fast' describes the manner of the verb 'runs', so it is an adverb; in 'a fast runner' the same word would be an adjective.

Question 3

Identify the interjection: ‘Alas! The old tree has fallen.’

  1. AAlas
  2. Bold
  3. Ctree
  4. Dfallen

Explanation

'Alas!' expresses a sudden feeling of sorrow, so it is an interjection.

Question 4

In ‘The cat is under the table’, ‘under’ is a:

  1. Aconjunction
  2. Badverb
  3. Cpreposition
  4. Dpronoun

Explanation

'under' comes before the noun 'table' and shows the place-relation between the cat and the table, so it is a preposition.

Question 5

Choose the correct sentence.

  1. AThe food tastes deliciously.
  2. BShe looks beautifully.
  3. CThe flowers smell sweet.
  4. DHe feels happily.

Explanation

Linking verbs such as taste, look, smell, feel are followed by an adjective describing the subject, not an adverb — The flowers smell sweet.

Question 6

‘The classroom was a zoo when the teacher left.’ The figure of speech is:

  1. ASimile
  2. BMetaphor
  3. COnomatopoeia
  4. DAlliteration

Explanation

The classroom is directly called a 'zoo' with no like/as, so this is a metaphor.

Question 7

‘The bees went buzz, buzz, buzz.’ Which figure of speech is used?

  1. AOnomatopoeia
  2. BHyperbole
  3. CPersonification
  4. DOxymoron

Explanation

'buzz' imitates the actual sound bees make, so it is onomatopoeia.

Question 8

‘It was an open secret.’ The figure of speech is:

  1. ASimile
  2. BApostrophe
  3. COxymoron
  4. DAssonance

Explanation

'open' and 'secret' are opposite in meaning placed together, so this is an oxymoron.

Question 9

Which line contains alliteration?

  1. AThe sun smiled at the sleeping village.
  2. BShe is as busy as a bee.
  3. CI have told you a million times.
  4. DO wind, where have you gone?

Explanation

The repeated initial /s/ sound in 'sun, smiled, sleeping' is alliteration. B has a simile, C a hyperbole and D an apostrophe.

Question 10

A teacher asks Class 6 learners to make two sentences using ‘light’ — once as a noun and once as an adjective. The main purpose of this activity is to help learners:

  1. Amemorise the spelling of ‘light’
  2. Bunderstand that a word’s part of speech depends on its function in a sentence
  3. Clearn the meaning of ‘light’ in Hindi
  4. Dpractise handwriting

Explanation

Having children use the same word in two different jobs helps them understand that a word's part of speech depends on its function in a sentence.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many Parts of Speech are there?+

Traditional English grammar recognises 8 parts of speech — Noun, Pronoun, Adjective, Verb, Adverb, Preposition, Conjunction and Interjection.

What is the difference between Simile and Metaphor?+

A simile makes an explicit comparison with like or as (as brave as a lion), while a metaphor compares directly without like/as (He is a lion). That's why a metaphor is called an implied simile.

What is the difference between Alliteration and Assonance?+

Alliteration repeats the initial consonant sound of nearby words; assonance repeats a vowel sound in nearby words.

What figure of speech is 'Death lays her icy hands on all'?+

Personification — the abstract idea of 'Death' is given 'her' and 'hands', presenting it as a person.

How many questions come from Parts of Speech in REET?+

REET 2024 carried 5 questions on this topic — 2 on identifying the part of speech of a passage word, and 3 on figures of speech.

Read next

One Word Substitution

One-word substitutes that come up again and again in the exam.

Nouns & Pronouns

Types of nouns, number, gender, and the kinds of pronouns.

REET Syllabus 2026

The complete subject-wise syllabus and exam pattern for Level 1 and Level 2.

REET 2024 Solved Paper

Official questions from every shift, with the BSER answer key and explanations.

Official Sources

  1. Word classes and phrase classes — English Grammar Today, Cambridge Dictionary
  2. Figure of speech — Encyclopaedia Britannica
  3. BSER — REET 2024 official question papers and final answer keys (original PDFs; no longer hosted on the board portal)

Change Log

  • 17 September 2026 — English page published — mirrors the fact-checked Hindi page, independently bilingual-accuracy checked