Word Classes

• Determiners:

  introduces a noun

  [SPECIFIC]

  • Possessives: Mine, yours, hers, etc.
  • Demonstratives: this, that, those, there
  • Definite article: The
  • Numerical: (number of nouns), one apple, the second time
• Determiners:

  introduces a noun

  [GENERAL]

  • Indefinite articles: a/an
  • Quantifiers: (actual number not stated) - a few, many, a lot
• Conjunctions:

  joins clauses together

  • Coordinative conjunction: Used to join clauses of equal value

  [For, and, but, nor]

  "He went to the park AND watched pigeons fly"

  • Subordinating conjunction: Joins clauses of unequal value

  [If, although, whilst, when]

  I was sad UNTIL I went into A-Level english language
• Pronouns

  • Singular pronoun:

  One thing

  [I, me, mine, her]

  • Plural pronoun:

  Reference to multiple things

  [Their, we, them]
• Verbs:

  a word used to describe an action of a noun

  • [ACTIVE VERB]: subject/person DOES the action of verb

  "The dog chewed the bone"

  • [PASSIVE VERB]: Subject receives the action of verb

  "The bone was chewed by the dog"
• Verbs

  a word used to describe an action of a noun

  • [Main Verb]: Verb that carried the most meaning

  "He should have EATEN his greens"

  • [Transitive verbs]: Verb followed by subject (thing receiving action of word)

  "I was EATING CAKE"

  • [Intransitive verb]: a verb not followed by a subject

  "I was EATING..."

  • [Auxiliary Verbs]: supporting main verb

  "He CAN have pudding after he HAS eaten his greens"

  • [Modal Verbs]: range of attitudes towards likely hood of event, shows ability, intention, permission and prediction

  [Can, could, may, might, must, shall, should]
• Adverbs

  Gives info about verbs and adjectives

  "Kirsten is an EXTREMELY good dancer"

  • Manner: How something is done "slowly"
  • Frequency: How often something is done "Often"
  • Degree: to what intensity something is done "very", "quite"
  • Time: When something is done "tomorrow"
  • Place: where/what direction something has gone "backwards", "forwards"
  • Comment: adding an opinion to clause or phrase "Fortunately"
• Phrases:

  • [Noun Phrase]: Groups of words which revolve around noun

  "The eerie, abandoned house"

  • [Adverbial Phrase]: groups of verbs that describes a function like an adverb

  "Teri ran AS FAST AS SHE COULD"

  • [Prepositional Phrase]: begins with preposition and ends with noun, tells you position/location of something

  "The mouse hid UNDER THE WARDROBE"

  • [Verb Phrase]: consists of main and auxiliary verb

  "The brown cow IS JUMPING over the fence"
• Clauses:

  • [main clause]: contains subject performing a verb - "lily ran"
  • [subordinate clause]: gives additional info / supports main clause - "ALTHOUGH SHE WAS CLUMSY, Harriet caught the ball"
  • [Relative clause]: type of subordinate cause - "My friend Axel, WHO LOVES FOOTBALL, practices every evening" (where, who, where, which)
• Sentence classification:

  • Declarative: gives information
  • Imperative: gives orders and instructions (starts w/ verb)
  • Interrogatives: asks questions
  • Exclamative-express: exclamation mark
• Sentence Types:

  • [COMPOUND SENTENCE]: two independent clauses linked by coordinating conjunction

  "I went to Manchester THEN I went to Liverpool"

  • [COMPLEX SENTENCE]: main clause and a subordinate clause linked by a subordinating conjunction

  "The workers left the building WHEN they heard"

  • [COMPOUND-COMPLEX SENTENCE]: two coordinating clauses connected by a coordinating conjunction and at least one subordinate clause

  "Some children went home early BUT others remained BECAUSE the had no transport"
• Sentence Types:

  • [MINOR SENTENCE]: complete and meaningful statement that don't have subject & verb combo

  "Goodbye", "Sounds good"

  • [SIMPLE SENTENCE]: must have subject and verb that expresses complete thought

  "The SNOW FALLS"
• Adjuncts:

  integral part of sentence and provides reader with additional info to that contained in subject, verb, object or complement

  • WHERE: [In the park, Over the hill]
  • WHEN: [At midnight - time, duration, frequency]
  • WHY: [Because of rain, since he left - reason/purpose]
  • HOW: [In silence, angrily, with a smile - manner/means]
• Conjuncts:

  adverbial phrases, words, clauses that connects different sections of text, cohesive function that help text flow by giving continuity to earlier info

  [ADDITION]: ALSO, FURHERMORE

  [OPPOSION]: HOWEVER, ON THE OTHER HAND

  [REINFORCEMENT]: BESIDES, ANYWAYS, AFTERALL

  [EXPLAINING]: FOR AN EXAMPLE

  [LISTING]: FIRSTLY

  THEREFORE, AS A RESULT, MEANWHILE
• Disjunct:

  adverbial verb, phrases & clauses

  enable speaker to express belief / opinion

  [In my opinion, unfortunately, of course]
• Phrases:

  Noun phrases:

  • head words
  • determiner
  • qualifiers
  • Modifiers (adverbs)

  Verb phrases:

  [Primary auxiliary]

  added to main verb to show time tenses

  • "I AM going mad, I HAD eaten a bad meal"

  [Modal auxiliary verb:]

  Shows certainty or importance of something

  • I will leave at 10PM, I MIGHT have dinner
• Adjectives: a word that describes a noun

  • attributive: adjective comes before a noun - ferocious beast
  • predicative: adjective comes after noun - it was majestic and vibrant
  • comparative: compares one subject to another - I bet last year was GREATER THAN..."
  • superlative: describes one noun to maximum emphasis - [greatest, strongest,]
  • evaluative: evaluates noun in positive or negative way - [great, awful dreadful]