Word Classes Ling 140: English Grammar for Teachers Winter, 2014 Lecture 3 Dr. Jan FrodesenTopics for today • Importance of word classes • Overview of word classes* Content categories • nouns • verbs • adjectives • adverbs * These are the types given by The Structure of English for Readers, Writers and Teachers; lists may vary across reference guidesTopics for today Word class types, cont. Functional categories • determiners (including quantifiers before nouns) • intensifiers • auxiliaries • prepositions • coordinating conjunctions • connectives* • subordinating conjunctions • proforms * referred to by many other terms: sentence connectors, sentence adverbs are just two of themMore on Word classes Why are word classes important? • The grammatical class of a word determines .… • what other kinds of words we can combine it with: a beautiful day * a beautifully day  We use adjectives, not adverbs, to qualify nouns. • the order in which we combine words: a beautiful day * a day beautiful  We put adjectives before the nouns they qualify.Word classes Why are word classes important? • The grammatical class of a word determines .… • which form of a word we choose: two days *two day  After numbers greater than one we use a plural form of the noun. Teachers need to know word classes in order to explain and illustrate: • correct word combinations • word order • word forms.Content word classes: Nouns Key considerations • To know the grammar of a noun means • to know whether the noun is countable or non-countableContent word classes: Nouns Key considerations • To know the grammar of a noun means • to know how to combine one noun with another one • to choose and construct the correct possessive formsContent word classes: Nouns Definition • A noun describes a person, place or thing; furthermore, a noun can express a concept, quality, organization, community, sensation, or event. Noun endings • -ion, -ity, -ment, -ence, -ance, -er Proper nouns • Words beginning with a capital letter are often the names of people, places, or institutions; they are also called proper nouns. Lauren, Jack, Africa, United NationsContent word classes: Nouns Countable vs. non-countable nouns • Countable nouns: have a singular and plural form cat, cats • Non-countable nouns: have only one form furniture, equipment, water, informationContent word classes: Nouns Some non-countable nouns that trouble learners • hair, information, advice, money, news, spaghetti, travel, weather Nouns that can be countable or non-countable • wood, truth Regular and irregular plural forms • irregular plurals man/men, tooth/teeth, foot/feet • identical singular and plural forms sheep, series, crossroads • plural forms of borrowed nouns plateau/plateaux, cherub/cherubim, mafioso/mafiosiContent word classes: Nouns Genitive ’s • We add ‘s to nouns or noun phrases to express possession and a number of other relationships: Ray’s disk [possession] Lana’s sister [kinship] Kate’s leg [body part] Einstein’s theory [creation] Asia’s largest capital cities [place] two days’ holiday [time]Content word classes: Verbs Definition • Semantically, verbs denote an action or state of being • Four inflections can be used with English verbs: • third person singular present tense –s • past tense –ed • past participle –en • present participle –ing • Structurally, verbs follow nouns and are often followed by adjectives, adverbs, or other nouns • Functionally, verbs can form complete sentences with a (pro)noun: Misha laughed.Content word classes: Adjectives Key considerations • Learners typically encounter problems with • the order of two or more adjectives that occur together • constructing comparative and superlative forms • choosing the right words before or after adjectives (e.g. where to use intensifier very; when to follow an adjective with an infinitive form) Definition • Adjectives are often referred to as “describing words”. They provide information about the qualities of something described in a noun, noun phrase, or clause.Content word classes: Adjectives Adjectives vs. participles • Many adjectives have the same form as participles: The news was very surprising. We all were very surprised! Comparative and superlative forms • We add –er and –est to form the comparative and superlative forms of short adjectives (older, tallest) • Longer adjectives tend to take more/most to form the comparative and superlative • Irregular forms of degree: good better best bad worse worstContent word classes: Adjectives Multiple adjective sequences 1 size 2 shape 3 color 4 origin 5 material 6 use noun a large white loaf a sleeveless blue woolen pullover small Spanish serving dishesContent word classes: Adjectives Adjective positions • Single adjectives can occur in two slots: • Attributive: before a noun (as part of a noun phrase) The beautiful sunset inspired us. We watched the beautiful sunset from the beach. Predicative: after a noun or pronoun and a verb The sunset was beautiful. • Some adjectives can only be used in one position: He watched the entire performance. *The performance was entire.Content word classes: Adverbs Key considerations • Adverbs can perform a variety of different functions, and they can occupy various positions in a sentence. Some adverbs have quite complex meanings (yet, already, ever). Definition • Adverbs typically modify a verb, and adjective, or another adverb. Adverbs can be thought of as a wastebasket category: if it’s not a verb, adjective, noun, or preposition, chances are high it’s an adverb.Content word classes: Adverbs Adverb categories Category Example manner carefully, slowly frequency always, often time and place now, here relative time already, recently, soon degree extremely, rather, very quantity a lot, little focusing even, also, only, particularly attitude marker apparently, fortunatelyFunctional word classes: Determiners Determiners establish features of a noun other than the qualitative features that adjectives describe. They indicate to a listener or reader how a referent should be chosen. Main types of determiners* • articles: a, an, the • demonstratives: this, that, these, those • cardinal numbers: one, two, fifty, …