Analyzing Word Class: 'Adders' in a Sentence

The question asks us to identify the word class (part of speech) of the underlined word in the sentence: "Adders are the only poisonous snakes found across Britain." The underlined word is "Adders".

Understanding Word Classes

Words in English belong to different classes based on their function and meaning. The main word classes include:

• Nouns: Words that name people, places, things, or ideas (e.g., cat, London, happiness, Adders).
• Adjectives: Words that describe or modify nouns (e.g., poisonous, beautiful, large).
• Adverbs: Words that modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs, often indicating time, place, manner, or degree (e.g., quickly, here, very).
• Determiners: Words that introduce nouns and specify quantity or definiteness (e.g., the, a, an, some, this).

Identifying the Word Class of 'Adders'

Let's look at the sentence structure:

• "Adders" is the subject of the sentence. It is the thing that the sentence is about.
• The verb is "are".
• "the only poisonous snakes found across Britain" is the complement, describing what adders are.

Since "Adders" names a type of creature (a thing), it functions as a noun. It is the subject performing the action or being described in the sentence.

Let's consider why the other options are incorrect:

• Adjective: "Adders" does not describe another noun. Words like "poisonous" in the sentence are adjectives describing "snakes".
• Adverb: "Adders" does not modify a verb, adjective, or another adverb. It's not describing *how*, *when*, or *where* something happens.
• Determiner: "Adders" does not specify or introduce another noun like "the" or "a".

Therefore, "Adders" is a noun.