English 9 Honors
Intro to Sentence Diagramming
(1.5) Word Classes
Name ___________________________________________
Date ___________________________________
WORD CLASSES
It should be clear from the preceding sections that word classes, or parts of speech, are essential components of
grammatical analysis. English has traditionally been analyzed as having ten word classes:
(1.5-1)
(a) nouns
(Alfred, Tonawanda, dog, beauty, act)
verbs
(run, give, be, do, have, act)
adjective
(silly, old, good, beautiful)
Additionally, I
adverb
(quickly, finally, very, yesterday)
commiserate with the
nincompoop who
(b)pronoun
(he, we, who, no one)
disregards my
preposition
(on, at, of, near)
demonstrative
conjunction
(and, that, when, for)
pronouns.
article
(a, an, the)
Determiners
demonstrative (this, that)
interjection
(wow! yikes! holla!)
A couple of things need to be said about this list.
1. Some classes are fairly heterogeneous and contain numerous subclasses. The class of verbs, for example,
contains the subclass of auxiliaries (might, have, do, etc.).
2. Words in English can function as a member of more than one word class. The word act can be both a
noun (an act of treason) and a verb (dude is acting like fool). That can be a demonstrative (that cat)
or a conjunction (I know that he jogs). This fluidity of membership in word classes is highly
characteristic of English, especially in regards to nouns becoming verbs and verbs becoming nouns.
(“I’m so glad we’re friends” vs. “You should friend me on Facebook.”*)
The list in (1.5-1) is divided into two sets, the (a) set representing OPEN WORD CLASSES,
and the (b) set representing CLOSED WORD CLASSES. Closed word classes have relatively few members and do
not readily admit new items into their ranks. By contrast, open word classes are quite large and readily admit new
members. In general, the words contained in closed word classes are likely to be shared by all stylistic and
dialectical variants of English, while words in open word classes are more likely to vary. Specialized jargons (even
grammatical jargon) usually differ from more ordinary usage by the addition of open class words.
One final point about the list of word classes is that many languages do not use all ten. Nouns, verbs,
pronouns, and interjections are quite universal, but the other categories are not, many languages doing quite well
without one or more of them and, in some instances, adding a word class or two. When a language lacks a word
class, its speakers are not incapable of expressing the sorts of ideas the word class conveys in English. Rather,
speakers make use of other word classes and various grammatical devices to express the same meanings.
In English, the open word classes are INFLECTED under certain conditions. Inflections mark grammatical
roles or show plurality, person, or tense-aspect, without changing word class membership. For example, a noun
such as cat can be inflected for plurality (cats) or possessive case (cat’s) and still remain a noun. Similarly, a verb
can be inflected for past tense (walked) or agreement with its subject (I walk vs. he walks). Adjectives and adverbs
can be inflected for degree (silly, sillier, silliest).
With regard to inflections, we can distinguish those forms that are inflected according to the majority
pattern from those that are inflected in some idiosyncratic way. When inflections conform to the majority pattern,
they are referred to as REGULAR; when they don’t, they are referred to as IRREGULAR.
Grammatical constituents (VP, NP, PP, VC) are named after the word class of the most important word in
the phrase, referred to as the head of the phrase:
(1.5-2) constituent
head
verb phrase
verb
*Fun tidbit of info: In 2009, “Unfriend” was Oxford Dictionary’s “verb of the year.”
English 9 Honors
Intro to Sentence Diagramming
(1.5) Word Classes
Name ___________________________________________
Date ___________________________________
verb complex
verb
noun phrase
noun
prepositional phrase
preposition
In each case, if there is only one word in the phrase, that word will be the head. So if there is only one word in a
noun phrase, it will ordinarily be a noun, not an article, adjective, etc. If there is only one word in a verb phrase,
it will be a verb, and so on.
The grammatical constituents themselves consist of words, all of which have a closer relation to each
other than to words not in the phrase. For instance, the noun phrase consists of a head noun and all its modifiers:
(1.5-3) the big red barn burnt down
Words like the, big, and red don’t relate directly to anything outside the noun phrase, but serve only as
determiners and modifiers of the head noun.
REVIEW
PART I: Diagram each of the following sentences on a separate sheet of paper. Be sure to label all possible word
classes and their modifiers.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Sadly, Gerald detested the unfortunate vole.
The dog under the table was eating the leftovers.
Nell blamed the fiasco on Dudley.
Theodore might be crabby on Friday.
Ron eats Wheaties.
Horatio received the croissant from Clement.
The warthogs in the zoo depressed Gertrude.
Surprisingly, the awful play inspired Morticia.
The woman near Roscoe threw a knife.
Marilyn is sick of Boris.
PART II: Write an original sentence for each of the following patterns.
*Fun tidbit of info: In 2009, “Unfriend” was Oxford Dictionary’s “verb of the year.”
English 9 Honors
Intro to Sentence Diagramming
(1.5) Word Classes
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
subject – auxiliary – copula – predicate adjective
subject – verb – direct object – oblique object
adjunct – subject – verb – indirect object – direct object
subject – auxiliary – verb – predicate adverb – predicate adjective
subject – copula – predicate adjective – adjunct
*Fun tidbit of info: In 2009, “Unfriend” was Oxford Dictionary’s “verb of the year.”
Name ___________________________________________
Date ___________________________________