Lesson Plans 6-8
(Week 6-8)
Chapter Three: Word Classes
1. Learning Objectives
Upon completing this chapter, students are expected to be able to:
1.1 Identify word classes
1.2 Identify open class and closed class words
1.3 State the use of certain words in sentences
1.4 Use appropriate words in sentences
1.5 Understand the different functions of words
1.6 Identify nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and function words
2. Topics of Content
2.1 What is a word?
2.2 What is word class?
2.3 Criteria for word classes
2.4 Open and closed word classes
3. Teaching and Learning Method
3.1 Lectures
3.2 Brainstorming
3.3 Discussions
3.4 Assignments
3.5 Presentations
3.6 Identification of word classes
4. Teaching Materials
4.1 Main textbook
4.2 Supplementary materials
4.3 Transparencies
4.4 Charts
4.5 Worksheet
4.6 English Dictionaries
4.7 Authentic texts from books, newspapers, etc.
5. Measurement and Evaluation
Students will be evaluated on:
5.1 Exercises in the book
5.2 Participation in discussions
5.3 Completion of assignments
5.4 Observation the of a attention and participation of the students in class
5.5 Observation the students’ interest in group work.
5.6 Observation the students’ questions and answers on the lectures given in
class.
Chapter Three
Word Classes
What is word?
At first glance the most basic unit of linguistic structure appears to be the word.
The word, though, is far from the fundamental element of study in linguistics; it is already
the result of a complex set of more primitive parts. The study of morphology concerns
the construction of words from more basic components corresponding roughly to units
of meaning. There are two basic ways that new words are formed, traditionally classified
as inflectional forms and derivational forms. Inflectional forms use a root form of a word
and typically add a suffix so that the word appears in the appropriate form for the
sentence. Verbs are the best examples of this in English. Each verb has a basic form
that then is typically changed depending on the subject and the tense of the sentence.
For example, the verb sigh will take suffixes such as -s, -ing, and -ed to create the verb
forms sighs, sighing, and sighed, respectively. These new words are all verbs and share
the same basic meaning. Derivational morphology involves the derivation of new words
from other forms. The new words may be in completely different categories from their
subparts. For example, the noun friend is made into the adjective friendly by adding the
suffix - ly. A more complex derivation would allow you to derive the noun friendliness
from the adjective form. There are many interesting issues concerned with how words
are derived and how the choice of word form is affected by the syntactic structure of the
sentence that constrains it.
What is Word Classes?
Words are fundamental units in every sentence, so we will begin by looking at
these. Consider the words in the following sentence:
My brother drives a big car.
We can tell almost instinctively that brother and car are the same type of word,
and also that brother and drives are different types of words. By this we mean that
brother and car belong to the same word class. Similarly, when we recognize that
brother and drives are different types, we mean that they belong to different word
classes.
English words can be grouped together into word classes. The word classes are
called parts of speech. They are classified into open class and closed class. The open
class or major word classes consist of four classes of word: noun, adjective, adverb and
verb. The closed classes or minor word classes consist of articles, determiners,
pronouns, prepositions, conjunctions, auxiliaries and interjections.
We recognize seven Major word classes:
Verb
Noun
Determiner
Adjective
Adverb
Preposition
Conjunction
be, drive, grow, sing, think
brother, car, David, house, London
a, an, my, some, the
big, foolish, happy, talented, tidy
happily, recently, soon, then, there
at, in, of, over, with
and, because, but, if, or
We may find that other grammars recognize different word classes from the ones
listed here. They may also define the boundaries between the classes in different ways.
In some grammars, for instance, pronouns are treated as a separate word class,
whereas we treat them as a subclass of nouns. A difference like this should not cause
confusion. Instead, it highlights an important principle in grammar, known as
GRADIENCE. This refers to the fact that the boundaries between the word classes are
not fixed rigidly. Many word classes share characteristics with others, and there is
considerable overlap between some of the classes. In other words, the boundaries are
"fuzzy", so different grammars categorize them differently.
For the rest of the class we explore the idea that the environment of a word can
appear in the table.
Table of Word Classes
Word Class
Noun
Examples
Interjection
The yellow dog.
The cats.
The rabbit’s collar.
Very warm
Hotter
More interesting
Longest
Most boring
Jumped
Singing
I might sleep.
Please leave!
Really loud
I happily jumped
Very happily
The yellow dog
A yellow dog
This yellow dog
My yellow dog
Dogs or cats
Scream and shout
I perspire but you sweat
He might jump, mightn’t he?
He would not jump.
I could jump and so could she.
Alas!, Dear me!
Numeral
two pens, four books
Adjective
Open class
Verb
Adverb
Determiner
Conjunction
Closed class
Auxiliary Verb
Criteria for Word Classes
We began by grouping words more or less on the basis of our instincts about
English. We somehow "feel" that brother and car belong to the same class, and that
brother and drives belong to different classes. However, in order to conduct an informed
study of grammar, we need a much more reliable and more systematic method than this
for distinguishing between word classes.
We use a combination of three criteria for determining the class of a word:
1. The meaning of the word
2. The form or ‘shape' of the word
3. The position or ‘environment' of the word in a sentence
1. Meaning
Using this criterion, we can generalize about the kind of meanings that words
convey. For example, we could group together the words brother and car, as well as
David, house, and London, on the basis that they all refer to people, places, or things. In
fact, this has traditionally been a popular approach to determining members of the class
of nouns. It has also been applied to verbs, by saying that they denote some kind of
"action", like cook, drive, eat, run, shout, walk.
This approach has certain merits, since it allows us to determine word classes
by replacing words in a sentence with words of "similar" meaning. For instance, in the
sentence My son cooks dinner every Sunday, we can replace the verb cooks with other
"action" words:
My son cooks dinner every Sunday
My son prepares dinner every Sunday
My son eats dinner every Sunday
My son misses dinner every Sunday
On the basis of this replacement test, we can conclude that all of these words
belong to the same class, that of "action" words, or verbs.
However, this approach also has some serious limitations. The definition of a
noun as a word denoting a person, place, or thing, is wholly inadequate, since it
excludes abstract nouns such as time, imagination, repetition, wisdom, and chance.
Similarly, to say that verbs are "action" words excludes a verb like be, as in
I want to be happy. What "action" does be refers to here? So although this criterion has
a certain validity when applied to some words, we need other, more stringent criteria as
well.
2. The form or 'shape' of a word
Some words can be assigned to a word class on the basis of their form or
`shape'. For example, many nouns have a characteristic -tion ending:
action, condition, contemplation, demonstration, organization, repetition
Similarly, many adjectives end in -able or -ible:
acceptable, credible, miserable, responsible, suitable, terrible
Many words also take what are called Inflection, that is, regular changes in their
form under certain conditions. For example, nouns can take a plural inflection, usually by
adding an -s at the end:
car -- cars
dinner -- dinners
book -- books
Verbs also take inflections:
walk -- walks -- walked -- walking
3. The position or `environment' of a word in a sentence
This criterion refers to where words typically occur in a sentence, and the kinds of words
which typically occur near to them. We can illustrate the use of this criterion using a
simple example.
Compare the following:
1. I cook dinner every Sunday
2. The cook is on holiday
In 1, cook is a verb, but in 2, it is a noun. We can see that it is a verb in 1
because it takes the inflections which are typical of verbs:
I cook dinner every Sunday
I cooked dinner last Sunday
I am cooking dinner today
My son cooks dinner every Sunday
And we can see that cook is a noun in 2. because it takes the plural -s inflection
The cooks are on holiday
If we really need to, we can also apply a replacement test, based on our first
criterion, replacing cook in each sentence with "similar" words:
Notice: that we can replace verbs with verbs, and nouns with nouns, but we cannot
replace verbs with nouns or nouns with verbs:
I chef dinner every Sunday
The eat is on holiday
It should be clear from this discussion that there is no one-to-one relation
between words and their classes. Cook can be a verb or a noun -- it all depends on how
the word is used. In fact, many words can belong to more than one word class. Here are
some more examples:
She looks very pale (verb)
She's very proud of her looks (noun)
He drives a fast car (adjective)
He drives very fast on the motorway (adverb)
Turn on the light (noun)
I'm trying to light the fire (verb)
I usually have a light lunch (adjective)
You will see here that each in bold print word can belong to more than one word
class. However, they only belong to one word class at a time, depending on how they
are used. So it is quite wrong to say, for example, "cook is a verb". Instead, we have to
say something like "cook is a verb in the sentence I cook dinner every Sunday, but it is a
noun in The cook is on holiday".
Of the three criteria for word classes that we have discussed here, the Internet
Grammar will emphasize the second and third - the form of words, and how they are
positioned or how they function in sentences.
Open and Closed Word Classes
Some word classes are Open, that is, new words can be added to the class as the
need arises. The class of nouns, for instance, is potentially infinite, since it is continually
being expanded as new scientific discoveries are made, new products are developed,
and new ideas are explored. In the late twentieth century, for example, developments in
computer technology have given rise to many new nouns:
Internet, web-site, URL, CD-ROM, email, newsgroup, bitmap, modem,
multimedia
New verbs have also been introduced:
download, upload, reboot, right-click, double-click
The adjective and adverb classes can also be expanded by the addition of new
words, though less prolifically.
On the other hand, we never invent new prepositions, determiners, or conjunctions.
These classes include words like of, the, and but. They are called Closed word classes
because they are made up of finite sets of words which are never expanded (though
their members may change their spelling, for example, over long periods of time). The
subclass of pronouns, within the open noun class, is also closed.
Words in an open class are known as open-class items. Words in a closed class are
known as closed-class items.
1. Open Classes
Open classes (also called content words) contain most of the words in a
language since they are readily open to new words. For example, we can form new
nouns or adjectives by adding derivations. The words in these classes carry the
principal meaning of a sentence in which they occur.
1.1 Nouns
Nouns are commonly thought of as "naming" words, and specifically as the
names of "people, places, or things". Nouns such as John, London, and computer
certainly fit this description, but the class of nouns is much broader than this. Nouns also
denote abstract and intangible concepts such as birth, happiness, evolution,
technology, management, imagination, revenge, politics, hope, cookery, sport,
literacy....
Nouns are identified through a series of formal tests. They are also classified by two
aspects of form; their inflectional and derivational morpheme. Besides this, we can
apply a functional definition of nouns, because other parts of speech also occur in
typically nominal functions. For more suitable analyses, we must consider the forms of
nouns.
Moreover, most nouns are morphologically characterized by their ability to take
typical inflexion and derivation.
Typical derivations of nouns are:
-age anchorage, coverage, postage
-ance appearance, clearance, utterance
-ation affirmation, information, transformation
-cy democracy, emergency
-dom boredom, freedom, kingdom
-ee advisee, employee, payee
-eer engineer, mountaineer, profiteer
-ence difference, existence, priesthood
-ess actress, governess, murderess
-ette cigarette, usherette, maisonnette
-er-or farmer, actor, employer
-hood childhood, parenthood, priesthood
-ing working, writing, walking
-ism idealism, organism, nationalism
-ist royalist, socialist, specialist
- ity ability, nationality, responsibility
-ment amendment, commandment, shipment
-ness goodness, bitterness, happiness
-ship friendship, relationship, membership
-tion education, vocation, fruition
Most nouns have distinctive Singular and Plural forms. The plural of a regular
noun is formed by adding -s to the singular:
Singular Plural
car
cars
dog
dogs
house houses
However, there are many irregular nouns which do not form the plural in this way:
Singular Plural
man
men
child
children
sheep
sheep
The distinction between singular and plural is known as Number Contrast.
We can recognize many nouns because they often have the, a, or an in front of them:
the car
an artist
a surprise
the egg
a review
These words are called determiners, which is the next word class we will look at.
Nouns may take an -'s ("apostrophe s") or Genitive Marker to indicate possession:
the boy's pen
a spider's web
my girlfriend's brother
John's house
If the noun already has an -s ending to mark the plural, then the genitive marker
appears only as an apostrophe after the plural form:
the boys' pens
the spiders' webs
the Browns' house
The genitive marker should not be confused with the 's form of contracted verbs,
as in Wanchai's a good boy (= Wanchai is a good boy).
Nouns often co-occur without a genitive marker between them:
rally car
table top
cheese grater
University entrance examination
We will look at these in more detail later, when we discuss noun phrases.
Most nouns can take two inflectional suffixes. One to mark number (the plural)
and one to mark case (genitive).
The plural
The plural morpheme {S 1 } can be realized in three ways:
/s/
after base ending in voiceless sounds except sibilants, e.g. ants, books,
map, roofs, lips, hats, births;
/z/
after base ending in voiced sounds except sibilants, e.g. cars, birds,
days, trees, bars, laws, zoos, boys, beds, pencils;
/z/ after bases ending in sibilants, e.g.
/s/
horses, nurses, kisses
/z/
noises, sizes, noses
/z / brushes, dishes, clashes
/tƒ/ churches, torches, witches
/dƷ/ pledges, bridges, languages
There are four exceptions to the pluralization rule above.
1) Change in the base + regular suffix, e.g.
/Ɵ/  /ð / + /z/ : baths, mouths, paths
/f/  /v/ + /z/ : halves, knives, leaves
/s/  /z/ + /z/ : houses
2) Change in the base without a suffix (= mutation)
goose

geese
foot 
mouse 
mice
louse 
man

men
woman 
tooth

teeth
3) No change ( = zero plural ), e.g.
deer
grouse
sheep
species
Chinese series
Swiss
salmon
4) End in –en plural
ox 
oxen
child 
children
feet
lice
women
Japanese
Portuguese
The genitive
The genitive is one of the two cases of the English noun, the other being the
common case.
In the singular the genitive morpheme { S 2 } can be realized in the following
three ways:
/s/
after bases ending in voiceless sounds except sibilants, e.g.:
ship
the ship’s crew
wife
his wife’s car
dentist
the dentist’s drill
Sam
Sam’s motorcycle
/z/ after bases ending in voiced sounds except sibilants, e.g.:
George
George’s report
brother
her brother’s book
play
the play’s title
/z/
after bases ending in sibilants, e.g.:
George
George’s properties
horse
a horse’s tail
village
the village’s population
In plural nouns, the genitive morpheme is realized in two ways:
/z/
with irregular plurals not ending in -s. e.g.:
men
men’s clothes
women
women’s lip
children
children’s books
/Ø/ in all other cases, e.g.:
student
the students’ union
girl
a girls’ school
teacher
a teachers’ club
officers
the officers’ mess
The spelling of genitive suffix in both the singular and plural is either ’s or ’ The
possibilities and the relations between spelling and pronunciation are set in the table.
Genitive
Singular
Plural
Spelling
’s
’s or ’
’
’s
’
Pronunciation
/s/, /z/, /z/
/z/, /Ø/
/Ø /
/z/
/Ø/
Examples
Ship’s; wife’s
Sam’s
girls’
men; women
students’; girls;
1.1.3. Classes of noun
Nouns can be subdivided into:
1. Common nouns: these are further subdivided into count nouns and mass
nouns:
2. Proper nouns: nouns which name specific people or places are known as
Proper Nouns.
John
Mary
London
France
Many names consist of more than one word:
John Wesley
Queen Mary
South Africa
Atlantic Ocean
Buckingham Palace
Proper nouns may also refer to times or to dates in the calendar:
January, February, Monday, Tuesday, Christmas, Thanksgiving
All other nouns are common nouns.
Since proper nouns usually refer to something or someone unique, they do not
normally take plurals. However, they may do so, especially when number is being
specifically referred to:
There are three Davids in my class
We met two Christmases ago
For the same reason, names of people and places are not normally preceded by
determiners the or a/an, though they can be in certain circumstances:
It's nothing like the America I remember
My brother is an Einstein at maths
As table shows, this classification can be based on a number of syntactic criteria.
Plural Numeral many, few Much,
Def.
Indef.
several
Little
article
article
Count
+
+
+
-
+
+
Mass
-
-
-
+
+
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Common
Proper
Proper nouns do not occur in the plural and cannot be preceded by numerals or
by quantifiers such as many, few, several, much and little. Nor can they be preceded by
the definite and indefinite articles. The subclassification of common nouns into count
nouns and mass nouns is based on the fact that count nouns are positive with respect to
five of the criteria used, whereas mass nouns are positive with respect to only two
criteria: they collocate with the quantifiers much and little as well as with the definite
article. Consider:
Criteria
Examples
Plural
count :
table - tables
mass :
music - musics
proper :
France - Frances
Numerals
count :
two tables, two pens
mass :
two musics, two despairs
proper :
two Frances
Many/few/several
count :
many tables, many pens
mass :
many musics, many despairs
proper :
many Frances
Much/little
count :
much table, much pen
mass :
much music, much despair
proper :
much France
Definite article
count :
the table, the pen
mass :
the music, the despair
proper :
the France
Indefinite article
count :
a table, a pen
mass :
a music, a despair
proper :
a France
Proper nouns normally have unique reference, that is they refer to one particular
person, country, town, etc. This semantic property explains why they occur in the
singular only and cannot be preceded by articles, numerals and quantifiers.
Occasionally, however, proper nouns lose their unique reference, in which case they are
treated as count nouns, so that they can be pluralized and be preceded by numerals,
articles and by quantifiers like, many, few and several:
1.2. Verbs
Verbs have traditionally been defined as "action" words or "doing" words. The
verb in the following sentence is rides:
Paul rides a bicycle
Here, the verb rides certainly denotes an action which Paul performs - the action of
riding a bicycle. However, there are many verbs which do not denote an action at all.
For example, in Paul seems unhappy, we cannot say that the verb seems denotes an
action. We would hardly say that Paul is performing any action when he seems unhappy.
So the notion of verbs as "action" words is somewhat limited.
We can achieve a more robust definition of verbs by looking first at their formal
features.
The Base Form
Here are some examples of verbs in sentences:
1. She travels to work by train
2. David sings in the choir
3. We walked five miles to a garage
4. I cooked a meal for the family
Notice that in 1 and 2, the verbs have an -s ending, while in 3 and 4, they have
an -ed ending. These endings are known as Inflections, and they are added to the Base
Form of the verb. In 1, for instance, the -s inflection is added to the base form travel.
Certain endings are characteristic of the base forms of verbs:
Ending
-ate
-ify
-ise/-ize
Base Form
concentrate, demonstrate, illustrate
clarify, dignify, magnify
baptize, conceptualize, realize
Past and Present Forms
When we refer to a verb in general terms, we usually cite its base form, as in "the
verb travel", "the verb sing". We then add inflections to the base form as required.
Base Form
travel
sing
walk
+
+
+
+
Inflection
1. She
to work by train
s
2. David
in the choir
s
3. We
five miles to a garage
ed
a meal for the whole
4. I
cook
+
ed
family
These inflections indicate Tense. The -s inflection indicates the Present Tense,
and the -ed inflection indicates the Past Tense.
Verb endings also indicate Person. Recall that when we looked at nouns and
pronouns, we saw that there are three persons, each with a singular and a plural form.
These are shown in the table below.
Person
Singular
Plural
we
1st Person I
you
2nd person you
3rd Person he/she/John/the dog they/the dogs
In sentence 1, She travels to work by train, we have a third person singular
pronoun she, and the present tense ending -s. However, if we replace she with a plural
pronoun, then the verb will change:
1. She travels to work by train
2. They travel to work by train
The verb travel in 2 is still in the present tense, but it has changed because the
pronoun in front of it has changed. This correspondence between the pronoun (or noun)
and the verb is called Agreement or Concord. Agreement applies only to verbs in the
present tense. In the past tense, there is no distinction between verb forms: she
travelled/they travelled.
There are three derivational suffixes that are typical of the class of verbs:
-en :
brighten, darken, lighten
-ify :
purify, clarify, simplify
-ize :
economize, individualize, scandalize
Most English verbs can add four inflectional morphemes; namely
1. Third person singular present tense

{S 3 }
2. Past tense

{D 1 }
3. Past participle

{D 2 }
4. Present participle

{ing}
The rules of present tense morpheme {S 2 } in the third person are similar for
pluralization of nouns regularly realized in three ways:
/s/
after base ending in voiceless sounds except sibilant, e.g.:
talks, stops, walks
/z/
after base ending in voiced sounds except sibilant, e.g.:
learns, snores, destroys, pays, climbs, grows
/iz/ after base ending in a sibilant:
/s/
mixes, promises
/z/
freezes, sizes
/iz/ fishes, washes
/t /
catches, touches
/d/ budges, lodges
The past tense morpheme {D 1 } and the past participle morpheme {D 2 } of
regular verbs are realized in three ways:
/t/
after bases ending in voiceless sounds
except /t/ e.g.
laughed, kissed, tripped, stopped, walked
/d/ after bases ending in voiced sounds
except /d/ or /t/ e.g.
answered, cried, learned, parted, rotted
/Іd/ after bases ending in /t/ or /d/ e.g.
listed, ended
The present participle morpheme {ing} is always realized, such as, listening,
writing, learning, speaking and playing. English has over 200 irregular verbs, and
irregular verbs form its past tense or past participle {D 2 } (or both) in other ways than
those described for regular verbs. There are four possibilities as illustrated in the table
below.
Base
burst
cost
All three forms identical cut
hit
put
set
Base + {D 1 }
burst
cost
cut
hit
put
set
Base +{D 2 }
burst
cost
cut
hit
put
set
begin
choose
do
All three forms different drink
go
speak
swim
wear
began
chose
did
drank
went
spoke
swam
wore
begun
chosen
done
drunk
gone
spoken
swum
worn
{D 1 } ={D 2 }
Bases {D 2 }
bring
find
hang
keep
lead
sit
teach
think
come
run
overrun
brought
found
hung
kept
led
sat
taught
thought
came
ran
overran
brought
found
hung
kept
led
sat
taught
thought
come
run
overrun
Class of Verb
Word class of the verb, there are two subclasses that can be distinguished:
auxiliary verbs and lexical verbs. The former makes up a closed class, the later an open
class.
These classes have four major differences between lexicon verbs and auxiliary
verbs.
a) Lexical verbs require periphrastic ‘do’ in negative sentences with and in
negative sentences with not. Auxiliary can co-occur with not and can have special
contracted negative forms.
Compare:
Sam loves dog.
- * Sam loves not dog. (the statement is ungrammatical)
- Sam does not love dogs
He can sing a song. - He cannot (can’t) sing a song.
b) Lexical verbs require periphrastic ‘do’ in yes/no questions, in WH-questions
where the WH- item is not the subject and in sentences opening with a negative
adverbial. Auxiliaries can come before the subject.
Compare:
Robert plays the violin.
- Plays Robert the violin?
(the statement is ungrammatical)
- Does Robert play the violin?
Robert can play the violin. - Can Robert play the violin?
Sam leaves tomorrow.
- When leaves Sam?
(the statement is ungrammatical)
- When does Sam leave?
Sam left yesterday
- When left Sam?
(the statement is ungrammatical)
- When did Sam leave?
Sam is leaving tomorrow.
- When is Sam leaving?
A dentist seldom visits his patients. - Seldom a dentist visits his patients.
(the statement is ungrammatical)
- Seldom does a dentist visit his
patients.
A dentist can seldom
- Seldom can a dentist visit his
visits his patients.
patients.
c) Lexical verbs cannot be used in ‘code’.
Compare:
Should I meet a manager?
You can do it and he can do it
Do your students love linguistics?
John reads and Paul reads.
-
Yes, you should meet a manager.
Yes, you should.
You can do it and so can he.
Yes, they love linguistics.
(the statement is ungrammatical)
- Yes, they do.
- John reads and so reads Paul.
(the statement is ungrammatical)
- John reads and so does Paul.
The first two examples show that, instead, of repeating the auxiliary verb
together with the lexical verb (and its complement), it is possible to repeat only the
auxiliary verb. The auxiliary in such sentences is said to be used in ‘code’. The key to
the code is provided by the preceding context. The last two examples show that lexical
verbs (and their complement ,if any) must be replaced by a form of ‘do’.
d) Lexical verbs cannot be used emphatically to express a contrast, but require
emphatic ‘do’. Auxiliaries, on the other hand, can be used emphatically.
Compare:
Your son did not see her.
- Yes, he saw her.
(the statement is ungrammatical)
- Yes, he did see her.
Your son has not seen her. - Yes, he has seen her.
1) Lexical Verbs.
Lexical verbs constitute the principal part of the verb phrase. They can be
accompanied by auxiliaries, but they can also occur in verb phrases that do not contain
any other verbal forms.
Compare:
My aunt
may move next week.
may be moving next week.
moved last week
There are two ways of classifying lexical verbs. The first is base on
complementation, the second involves the distinction between one-word and multi-word
verbs.
2) Complement Verbs and Intransitive Verbs
In the sentence structures, lexical verbs can be classified as those of verbs that
do not require a complement (intransitive verbs) and verbs that do (complement verbs).
A classification based on complementation depends on whether or not the lexical verb
in a sentence can occur on its own (i.e. without a complement) or obligatorily followed
by words that complement its meaning.
The following sentences contain intransitive verbs:
The dogs bark.
The sun is shining.
The spy had disappeared.
The class of complement verb consists of two subclasses:
Complement verbs consist of transitive complement verbs and non-transitive
complement verbs.
a. Transitive complement verbs
Some transitive complement verbs require only a direct object (DO). Others are,
in addition, followed by another complement, i.e. by an indirect object (IO), a
benefactive object (BO), and an objective attribute (OA), or a predicator complement
(PC). The four classes of transitive verbs thus distinguished are:
1. Monotrasitive verbs (DO only)
The man kicked his football.
The farmer kicked the dog.
2. Ditransitive verbs (IO + DO/BO + DO)
She gave her toy.
He called her a taxi.
3. Complex transitive verbs (DO + OA)
They find him a bore.
We found his excuse unbelievable.
4. Transitive PC verbs (DO + PC)
She reminds me of her mother.
b. Non-transitive complement verbs
Non-transitive complement verbs consist of two sub-classes: copulas (or linking
verbs), i.e. verbs that are followed by a subject attribute (SA) and verbs which are
followed by a predicator complement without an accompanying direct object:
1. Copulas (SA):
Sam is an operator.
He looks sad.
2. Non-transitive PC verbs (PC)
She remembers her brother.
This pen belongs to Steven.
Complement
verbs
Transitive
complement
verbs
Non-transitive
complement
verbs
LEXICAL
VERBS
The classification of lexical verbs is shown in the table below.
Monotransitive verbs (DO only)
Ditransitve verbs (IO + DO/BO + DO)
Complex transitive verbs (DO + OA)
Transitive PC verbs (DO + PC)
Copulas (SA)
Non-transitive PC verbs (PC only)
Intransitive verbs: no complement
1.3. Adjectives
Adjectives can be identified using a number of formal criteria. However, we may
begin by saying that they typically describe an attribute of a noun:
cold weather
large windows
violent storms
Some adjectives can be identified by their endings. Typical adjectival endings include:
-able/-ible
-al
-ful
-ic
-ive
-less
-ous
achievable, capable, illegible, remarkable
biographical, functional, internal, logical
beautiful, careful, grateful, harmful
cubic, manic, rustic, terrific
attractive, dismissive, inventive, persuasive
breathless, careless, groundless, restless
courageous, dangerous, disastrous, fabulous
However, a large number of very common adjectives cannot be identified in this
way. They do not have typical adjectival form:
bad
bright
clever
cold
common
complete
dark
deep
difficult
distant
elementary
good
great
honest
hot
main
morose
old
quiet
real
red
silent
simple
strange
wicked
wide
young
As this list shows, adjectives are formally very diverse. However, they have a
number of characteristics which we can use to identify them.
Characteristics of Adjectives
Adjectives can take a modifying word, such as very, extremely, or less, before
them:
very cold weather
extremely large windows
less violent storms
Here, the modifying word locates the adjective on a scale of comparison, at a
position higher or lower than the one indicated by the adjective alone.
This characteristic is known as GRADABILITY. Most adjectives are gradable,
though if the adjective already denotes the highest position on a scale, then it is nongradable:
my main reason for coming
The principal role in the play
my very main reason for coming
the very principal role in the play
As well as taking modifying words like very and extremely, adjectives also take
different forms to indicate their position on a scale of comparison:
big -- > bigger -- > biggest
The lowest point on the scale is known as the Absolute form, the middle point is
known as the Comparative form, and the highest point is known as the Superlative form.
Here are some more examples:
Absolute Comparative
Superlative
dark
darker
darkest
new
newer
newest
old
older
oldest
young
younger
youngest
In most cases, the comparative is formed by adding -er , and the superlative is
formed by adding -est, to the absolute form. However, a number of very common
adjectives are irregular in this respect:
Absolute
Comparative
Superlative
good
better
best
bad
worse
worst
far
farther
farthest
Some adjectives form the comparative and superlative using more and most
respectively:
Absolute
important
miserable
recent
Comparative
more important
more miserable
more recent
Superlative
most important
most miserable
most recent
Many members of the class of adjectives are identifiable on the basis of typical
derivation suffixes. The comparative and the superlative inflections characterize many
adjectives.
Some common derivational suffixes for adjectives
-able, -ible communicable, reasonable, visible, comprehensible
-al, -ial
normal, racial, editorial
-ful
beautiful, careful, cheerful, useful
-ic
atomic, historic, allergic
-ical
economical, historical, political
-ish
childish, foolish, tallish
-ive, -ative attractive, abortive, massive,
-less
endless, harmless, speechless
-like
ladylike, manlike, warlike
-ous, -ious famous, dangerous, spacious
-y
cloudy, really, windy
From a syntactic point of view we can distinguish the attributive and the
predicative use of an adjective. Most adjectives can be used attributively as well as
productively. Attribute adjectives are constituents of the noun phrase and precede the
noun head. Predicative adjectives function in the structure of the sentence as either
subject attribute or object attribute.
Examples:
Attributive
A nice car
a green door
That foolish idea
many witty remarks
Attributive adjectives normally precede the noun phrase head, but in some
cases they follow the noun head:
somebody important
the person responsible
something interesting
the tickets available
Predicative
subject attributive
The window is white.
Her plan seem excellent.
My coffee is hot.
object attributive
We painted the window white
We consider her plan excellent.
I prefer my coffee hot.
Most adjectives can be attributively as well as predicatively, such as brave,
calm, clever, hungry, and noisy.
This is a comfortable chair. (attributive)
This chair is comfortable.
(predicative)
I made the chair comfortable. (predicative)
Some adjectives can be used both attributively and predicatively, though there
are adjectives that can only be used in one of these ways.
Some adjectives are attributive only, such as chief, indoor, inner, latter, main,
nonsense, outdoor, outer.
Attributive only
Examples:
the inner court
the outer suburbs
sheer nonsense
an utter fool
the main cause
the upper story
Predicative only
Most adjectives beginning with a- are used predicatively only.
Examples:
asleep
awake
alive
afraid
alone
aware
Some adjectives can be both attributely and predicatively in one meaning, but
are restricted to the attributive function in another meaning:
Attributive and predicative
an old book
- that book is old.
real gold
- that gold is real.
a perfect room
- that room is perfect.
a true story
- that story is true
Attributive only:
a true hero
-that hero is true.
a perfect idiot
-that idiot is perfect.
a real hero
-that hero is real
the right woman
-that woman is right
1.4. Adverbs
Adverbs are used to modify a verb, an adjective, or another adverb:
1. Mary sings beautifully
2. David is extremely clever
3. This car goes incredibly fast
In 1, the adverb beautifully tells us how Mary sings. In 2, extremely tells us the
degree to which David is clever. Finally, in 3, the adverb incredibly tells us how fast the
car goes.
Before discussing the meaning of adverbs, however, we will identify some of
their formal characteristics.
Many adverbs are identified on the basis of derivational suffixes. Typical
derivational suffixes are:
-ly
:
heavily, fully, wisely
-ward(s)
:
afterward, homeward, upwards
-wise
:
clockwise, edgewise, lengthwise
On the other hand, not all words ending in ‘-ly’ are adverbs. For instance, words like
beastly, friendly, lively, lovely and lonely belong to the class of adjectives.
Only a small number of adverbs are characterized by the comparative and
superlative inflection. The majority of these are identical in form with adjectives, as seen
in the following.
Examples:
early
earlier
earliest
fast
faster
fastest
hard
harder
hardest
quick
quicker
quickest
well
better
best
badly
worse
worst
Syntactically speaking we can distinguish two major functions of adverbs. Firstly,
they function as adverbial or they modify the head in adjective and adverb phrases.
Secondly, they modify the head in adjective and adverb phrases.
When functioning as sentence constituents adverbs express such meaning as
time, place, manner and degree.
Examples:
The bus arrived yesterday.
They are leaving for Bangkok tomorrow.
He absolutely refused to travel.
A student has been studying attentively.
The prisoners were punished cruelly.
They can also express the attitude of the speaker towards what he is saying, as
follows:
Unfortunately, they seem to be mistake.
Honestly, they tried to call her.
Adverbs can also be constituents of phrases, where adverbs modify the head of
an adjective or adverb phrase.
Modifier of adjective phrase head or adverb phrase head
adjective phrase
adverb phrase
very interesting
almost always
exceptionally brave
hardly ever
very useful
rather quickly
really good
most obviously
truly astonishing
fairly well
Formal Characteristics of Adverbs
From our examples above, you can see that many adverbs end in -ly. More
precisely, they are formed by adding -ly to an adjective:
slow
quick
soft
sudden
gradual
Adjective
slowly
quickly
softly
suddenly
gradually
Adverb
Because of their distinctive endings, these adverbs are known as –ly Adverbs.
However, not all adverbs end in -ly. Note that some adjectives also end in -ly, including
costly, deadly, friendly, kindly, likely, lively, manly, and timely.
Like adjectives, many adverbs are Gradable, that is, we can modify them using
very or extremely:
softly
very softly
suddenly
very suddenly
slowly
extremely slowly
The modifying words very and extremely are themselves adverbs. They are
called Degree Adverbs because they specify the degree to which an adjective or
another adverb applies. Degree adverbs include almost, barely, entirely, highly, quite,
slightly, totally, and utterly. Degree adverbs are not gradable (extremely, very).
Like adjectives, too, some adverbs can take Comparative and Superlative forms,
with -er and -est:
Somyos works hard -- Somchai works harder -- I work hardest
However, the majority of adverbs do not take these endings. Instead, they form
the comparative using more and the superlative using most:
Adverb
Comparative
Superlative
recently
more recently
most recently
effectively
more effectively
most effectively
frequently
more frequently
most frequently
In the formation of comparatives and superlatives, some adverbs are irregular:
Adverb
well
badly
little
much
Comparative
better
worse
less
more
Superlative
best
worst
least
most
Adverbs and Adjectives
Adverbs and adjectives have important characteristics in common -- in particular
their gradability, and the fact that they have comparative and superlative forms.
However, an important distinguishing feature is that adverbs do not modify nouns, either
attributively or predicatively:
Adjective
Somsak is a happy child
Somsak is happy
Adverb
Somsak is a happily child
Somsak is happily
The following words, together with their comparative and superlative forms, can
be both adverbs and adjectives:
early, far, fast, hard, late
The following sentences illustrate the two uses of early:
Adjective
I'll catch the early train
Adverb
I awoke early this morning
The comparative better and the superlative best, as well as some words
denoting time intervals (daily, weekly, monthly), can also be adverbs or adjectives,
depending on how they are used.
We have incorporated some of these words into the following exercise. See if
you can distinguish between the adverbs and the adjectives.
2. Closed Classes
Closed classes (also called function words) contain relatively few words since
they do not allow the creation of new word. That is, it is not easy to form new articles or
pronouns. Closed class words tend to occur at or towards the beginning of the larger
units of which they are part; in this respect they are markers of the units they introduce.
The membership is unrestricted since they do not allow the creation of new
members.
2.2 Determiners
Nouns are often preceded by the words the, a, or an. These words are called
determiners. They indicate the kind of reference which the noun has. The determiner the
is known as the definite article. It is used before both singular and plural nouns:
Singular
the taxi
the paper
the apple
Plural
the taxis
the papers
the apples
The determiner a (or an, usually when the following noun begins with a vowel) is
the indefinite article. It is used when the noun is singular:
a taxi
a paper
an apple
The articles the and a/an are the most common determiners, but there are many others:
any taxi
that question
those apples
this paper
some apple
whatever taxi
whichever taxi
Many determiners express quantity:
all examples
both parents
many people
each person
every night
several computers
few excuses
enough water
no escape
Perhaps the most common way to express quantity is to use a numeral. We look at
numerals as determiners in the next section.
Numerals and Determiners
Numerals are determiners when they appear before a noun. In this position,
cardinal numerals express quantity:
one book
two books
twenty books
In the same position, ordinal numerals express sequence:
first impression
second chance
third prize
The subclass of ordinals includes a set of words which are not directly related to
numbers (as first is related to one, second is related to two, etc). These are called
general ordinals, and they include last, latter, next, previous, and subsequent. These
words also function as determiners:
next week
last orders
previous engagement
subsequent developments
When they do not come before a noun, as we've already seen, numerals are a
subclass of nouns. And like nouns, they can take determiners:
the two of us
the first of many
They can even have numerals as determiners before them:
five twos are ten
In this example, twos is a plural noun and it has the determiner five before it.
Determiner and Pronoun
There is considerable overlap between the determiner class and the subclass of
pronouns. Many words can be both:
Pronoun
This is a very boring book
That's an excellent film
Determiner
This book is very boring
That film is excellent
As this table shows, determiners always come before a noun, but pronouns are
more independent than this. They function in much the same way as nouns, and they
can be replaced by nouns in the sentences above:
This is a very boring book Ivanhoe is a very boring book
That's an excellent film
Witness is an excellent film
On the other hand, when these words are determiners, they cannot be replaced
by nouns:
This book is very boring Ivanhoe book is very boring
That film is excellent
Witness film is excellent
Personal pronouns (I, you, he, etc) cannot be determiners. This is also true of
possessive pronouns (mine, yours, his/hers, ours, and theirs). However, these pronouns
do have corresponding forms which are determiners:
Possessive Pronoun
The white car is mine
Yours is the blue coat
The car in the garage is his/hers
Sombat's house is big, but ours is bigger
Theirs is the house on the left
Determiner
My car is white
Your coat is blue
His/her car is in the garage
Our house is bigger than Sombat's
Their house is on the left
Definite and indefinite articles can never be pronouns. They are always
determiners.
The Order of Determiners
Determiners occur before nouns, and they indicate the kind of reference which
the nouns have. Depending on their relative position before a noun, we distinguish three
classes of determiners.
Pre-determiner Central Determiner Post-determiner Noun
I met
all
my
many
friends
A sentence like this is somewhat unusual, because it is rare for all three
determiner slots to be filled in the same sentence. Generally, only one or two slots are
filled.
Pre-determiners
Pre-determiners specify quantity in the noun which follows them, and they are of
three major types:
1. "Multiplying" expressions, including expressions ending in times:
twice my salary
double my salary
ten times my salary
2. Fractions
half my salary
one-third my salary
3. The words all and both:
all my salary
both my salaries
Pre-determiners do not normally co-occur:
all half my salary
Pre-determiners co-occur with determiners, normally preceding them:
all the boys
both these umbrellas
half Ratta’s time
If we say all boys the position is occupied by the Zero Article. Many of the
determiners and pre-determiners function like pronouns.
NP
Pre Det
both
NP
Det
N
these
umbrellas
In the above example, both predetermines the determiner these which in turn
determines umbrellas.
Central Determiners
The definite article the and the indefinite article a/an are the most common
central determiners:
all the book
half a chapter
As many of our previous examples show, the word my can also occupy the
central determiner slot. This is equally true of the other possessives:
all your money
all his/her money
all our money
all their money
The demonstratives, too, are central determiners:
all these problems
twice that size
four times this amount
Post-determiners
Cardinal and ordinal numerals occupy the post-determiner slot:
the two children
his fourth birthday
This applies also to general ordinals:
my next project
our last meeting
your previous remark
her subsequent letter
Other quantifying expressions are also post-determiners:
my many friends
our several achievements
the few friends that I have
Unlike pre-determiners, post-determiners can co-occur:
my next two projects
several other people
Post-determiners follow the determiners and precede the adjectives. While
adjectives can occur in any order, post-determiners have fixed positions. The following
three classes of post-determiners can be recognized.
Ordinals
Cardinals
Superlative/Comparative
first
one
more
second
two
most
third
three
fewer
next
many
fewest
last
few
less
final
several
least
Conjunctions
Conjunctions are used to express a connection between words. The most
familiar conjunctions are and, but, and or:
Paul and David
cold and wet
tired but happy
slowly but surely
tea or coffee
hot or cold
They can also connect longer units:
Paul plays football and David plays chess.
I play tennis but I don't play well.
We can eat now or we can wait till later.
There are two types of conjunctions. Coordinating Conjunction (or simply
coordinators) connect elements of `equal' syntactic status:
Paul and David
I play tennis but I don't play well
meat or fish
Items which are connected by a coordinator are known as Conjoins. So in ‘I play
tennis but I don't play well’, the conjoins are “I play tennis” and “I don't play well.”
On the other hand, subordinating conjunctions (or subordinators) connect
elements of `unequal' syntactic status:
I left early because I had an interview the next day
We visited Madame Tussaud's while we were in London
I'll be home at nine if I can get a taxi
Other subordinating conjunctions include although, because, before, since, till,
unless, whereas, whether
Coordination and subordination are quite distinct concepts in grammar. Notice,
for example, that coordinators must appear between the conjoins:
(Somjit plays football) and (Sommai plays chess)
And (Sommai plays chess) (Somjit plays football)
However, we can reverse the order of the conjoins, provided we keep the
coordinator between them:
Sommai plays chess and Somjit plays football
In contrast with this, subordinators do not have to occur between the items they
connect:
I left early because I had an interview the next day
Because I had an interview the next day, I left early
But if we reverse the order of the items, we either change the meaning completely:
I left early because I had an interview the next day
I had an interview the next day because I left early
or we produce a very dubious sentence:
I'll be home at nine if I can get a taxi
I can get a taxi if I'll be home at nine
This shows that items linked by a subordinator have a very specific relationship
to each other -- it is a relationship of syntactic dependency. There is no syntactic
dependency in the relationship between conjoins. We will explore this topic further when
we look at the grammar of clauses.
Auxiliary Verbs
In the examples of -ing and -ed forms which we looked at earlier, you may have
noticed that in each case two verbs appeared:
1. The old lady is writing a play
2. The film was produced in Hollywood
Writing and produced each has another verb before it. These other verbs (is and
was) are known as Auxiliary Verbs, while writing and produced are known as Main Verbs
or Lexical Verbs. In fact, all the verbs we have looked at on the previous pages have
been main verbs.
Auxiliary verbs are sometimes called Helping Verbs. This is because they may
be said to "help" the main verb which comes after them. For example, in The old lady is
writing a play, the auxiliary is helps the main verb writing by specifying that the action it
denotes is still in progress.
Auxiliary Verb Types
In this section we will give a brief account of each type of auxiliary verb in
English. There are five types in total:
Passive be
Progressive
be
Perfective
have
Modal
can/could
may/might
shall/should
will/would
must
Dummy Do
This is used to form passive constructions, eg.
The film was produced in Hollywood
It has a corresponding present form:
The film is produced in Hollywood
We will return to passives later, when we look at voice.
As the name suggests, the progressive expresses action in
progress:
The old lady is writing a play
It also has a past form:
The old lady was writing a play
The perfective auxiliary expresses an action accomplished in the
past but retaining current relevance:
She has broken her leg
(Compare: She broke her leg)
Together with the progressive auxiliary, the perfective auxiliary
encodes aspect, which we will look at later.
Modals express permission, ability, obligation, or prediction:
You can have a sweet if you like
He may arrive early
Paul will be a footballer some day
I really should leave now
This subclass contains only the verb do. It is used to form
questions:
Do you like cheese?
to form negative statements:
I do not like cheese
and in giving orders:
Do not eat the cheese
Finally, dummy do can be used for emphasis:
I do like cheese
An important difference between auxiliary verbs and main verbs is that
auxiliaries never occur alone in a sentence. For instance, we cannot remove the main
verb from a sentence, leaving only the auxiliary:
I would like a new job
I would a new job
You should buy a new car
You should a new car
She must be crazy
She must crazy
Auxiliaries always occur with a main verb. On the other hand, main verbs can
occur without an auxiliary.
I like my new job
I bought a new car
She sings like a bird
In some sentences, it may appear that an auxiliary does occur alone. This is
especially true in responses to questions:
Q. Can you swim?
A. Yes, I can
Here the auxiliary can does not really occur without a main verb, since the main
verb -- swim -- is in the question. The response is understood to mean:
Yes, I can swim
This is known as ellipsis -- the main verb has been ellipted from the response.
Auxiliaries often appear in a shortened or contracted form, especially in informal
contexts. For instance, the auxiliary have is often shortened to 've:
I have won the lottery - -> I've won the lottery
These shortened forms are called enclitic forms. Sometimes different auxiliaries
have the same enclitic forms, so you should distinguish carefully between them:
I'd like a new job ( = modal auxiliary would)
We'd already spent the money by then ( = perfective auxiliary had)
He's been in there for ages ( = perfective auxiliary has)
She's eating her lunch ( = progressive auxiliary is)
The Nice Properties of Auxiliaries
The so-called Nice properties of auxiliaries serve to distinguish them from main
verbs. Nice is an acronym for:
Negation
Inversion
Auxiliaries take not or n't to form the negative, eg. cannot, don't, wouldn't
Auxiliaries invert with what precedes them when we form questions:
I will see you soon - - >Will I see you soon?
Code
Auxiliaries may occur "stranded" where a main verb has been omitted:
John never sings, but Mary does
Emphasis Auxiliaries can be used for emphasis:
I do like cheese
Main verbs do not exhibit these properties. For instance, when we form a
question using a main verb, we cannot invert:
Damrong sings in the choir
- - > Sings Damrong in the choir?
Instead, we have to use the auxiliary verb do:
Damrong sings in the choir
- - > Does Damrong sing in the choir?
Semi-auxiliaries
Among the auxiliary verbs, we distinguish a large number of multi-word verbs,
which are called Semi-Auxiliaries. These are two-or three-word combinations, and they
include the following:
get to
seem to
be about to
happen to
tend to
be going to
have to
turn out to
be likely to
mean to
used to
be supposed to
Like other auxiliaries, the semi-auxiliaries occur before main verbs:
The film is about to start
I'm going to interview the Prime Minister
I have to leave early today
You are supposed to sign both forms
I used to live in that house
Some of these combinations may, of course, occur in other contexts in which
they are not semi-auxiliaries. For example:
I'm going to London
Here, the combination is not a semi-auxiliary, since it does not occur with a main
verb. In this sentence, going is a main verb. Notice that it could be replaced by another
main verb such as travel (I'm travelling to Lomsak). The word 'm is the contracted form
of am, the progressive auxiliary, and to, as we'll see later, is a preposition.
Interjection
An Interjection is a word added to a sentence to convey emotion. It is not
grammatically related to any other part of the sentence.
We usually follow an interjection with an exclamation mark. Interjections are
uncommon in formal academic prose, except in direct quotations.
Sometimes interjections are just sounds, exclamations, gasps, or shouts, more
like noises than regular words.
These are some common Interjections:
Aha
Ahem
All right
Gadzooks
Gee Whiz
Good
Gosh
Yippee
Hey
Hooray
Indeed
My Goodness
Nuts
Oh No
Oops
Ouch
Phew
Right on
Ugh
Dear me
Whoopee
Wow
Yikes
Yoo-hoo
Yuck
Summary
Linguists divide words into two classes:
1. Open Class
2. Closed Class
Words that belong to open class are those generally classified as nouns (e.g.
pen, book, boy, brandy), verbs (e.g. see, become, appear), adjectives (e.g. good,
painful, charming, tall) or adverbs (e.g. here, now, yesterday, calmly, soundly). These
words are said to belong to the open class because more and more words continue to
be added to this class. One can always coin new words to add to the existing stock of
words in this group. Thus, the membership of this group is open ended. English
vocabulary is continually being extended by new words belonging to this group.
Open Class Words
1. Nouns
Examples of nouns are girl, table, fire, thing, idea. It is often said that nouns are
‘naming’ words, used as the name of a person, animal, place and thing. Proper nouns
name particular places or persons (e.g. Samran, Somsak, Bangkok, Phetchabun). Other
nouns (like girl, thing) are called common nouns.
2. Verbs
Examples of verbs are sing, drive, go, love. It is often said that verbs are ‘doing’
words, words that mean actions performed by someone of something.
3. Adjectives
Examples of adjectives are good, bad, lovely, friendly. It is often said that
adjectives are words which ‘describe’ or tell you something about the noun.
4. Adverbs
Examples of adverbs are now, then, often, calmly, actually, today. It is often said
that adverbs are words which tell you something about a verb, adjective or indeed other
adverbs. In the following examples, the words in bold type are adverbs:
The little boy ran quickly in the room.
The woman was very beautiful.
Tai Orathai sang very well.
The close class, on the other hand, has a fixed number of words in it. No new
words are added to it. The closed class includes word generally classified as
Determiners (e.g. a, an, the, some, any, this), Pronouns (e.g. I, me, you, we) Prepositions
(e.g. in, at, on, upon, near, far), Conjunctions (e.g. and, or, but, when, because), Modals
or Auxiliary (e.g. will, shall, can) numeral (e.g. one, first) and Interjection (e.g. Ugh!,
Alas!).
Closed Class Words
1. Determiners
Examples of determiners are the, a, an, this, that, some, any, all. Determiners
include those words known as article:
‘the’ is called the definite article, because you are talking about a definite,
particular example of a thing.
‘a, an’ is called indefinite article, because you do not mean any definite,
particular example.
Determiners also include demonstratives, e.g. this, these, etc.
Determiners function as specifying modifiers of nouns. For example, in the
phrases:
the mango
this boy
some oranges
these pens
the determiners the, this, some, and these specify the particular mango, boy,
oranges, pens being referred to.
2. Pronouns
Examples of pronouns are I, me, you, it, they, etc. It is often said that pronouns
‘replace’ nouns; for instance, in the sentence.
The good boy ate the mango.
We can use the pronouns ‘he’ and ‘it’ to replace ‘The good boy’ and ‘the mango’:
He ate it.
3. Prepositions
Examples of prepositions are in, by, with, from, to, for, etc. Prepositions are
words placed in front of a noun or pronoun to show the relationship of that noun of
pronoun to other words in the sentence. In the following examples, the words in bold
types are prepositions:
in the house
by the brook
on the table
with the girl
to her
by him
through it.
4. Conjunctions
Examples of conjunctions are and, but, that, if, when, because, etc. Conjunctions
are words which link other elements together. In the following examples, the words in
bold type are conjunctions:
Tosapol was a short man but Somyos was tall.
Veerawan ate her food because she liked vegetables.
5. Modals or Auxiliary Verbs
Examples of auxiliary verbs are can, may, will, have, be, etc. Auxiliary (or
‘helping) verbs are those common words which modify the lexical verb within the verb
phrase. They are the short verbs that help to form different tenses, telling you when
something happened, and also help to form questions. In the following examples, the
words in bold type are auxiliary verbs:
The woman was frying eggs.
Veerawan should eat her food.
Will you drink your coffee?
The dog has chewed the paper.
6. Numerals
Examples of numerals are one, two, first, second etc, and they are fairly easy to
recognize. There are two kinds of numerals: cardinal and ordinal. Cardinal numbers are
one, two, three etc.; ordinal numbers are first, second, etc.
7. Interjections
Examples of interjections are oh!, ah!, etc. It can be said that interjections are
exclamations expressing emotion.
The following is an illustration of classes of word.
Word Class
Open Classes
-
Nouns (boy, hotel, day)
Verbs (run, drink, play)
Adjectives (good, low, high)
Adverbs (quickly, completely)
Closed Classes
-
Pronouns (he, she, it, we, they)
Determiners (a, an, the, this, that, these)
Prepositions (in, on, at, under)
Conjunctions (and, but, because etc.)
Auxiliaries (will, must, can, may etc.)
Numerals (one, four, first, forth etc.)
Interjection ( Heaven!, Alas!)