What part of speech is in fact?

"In fact" can function as two different parts of speech, depending on its role in a sentence:

* Adverbial phrase: When used to introduce a statement that contradicts or clarifies a previous statement, it functions as an adverbial phrase.

* Example: "I thought I was going to be late, but in fact, I arrived early."

* Prepositional phrase: When used to mean "actually" or "really", it functions as a prepositional phrase.

* Example: "He is in fact a very talented artist."

It's important to analyze the context of the sentence to determine the correct part of speech.