Content Words and Function Words Flashcards
Function Word - Determiners
These function as adjectives to modify nouns and also appear in front of nouns to show the reader whether the noun is general or specific
Articles: a, an, the
Demonstratives: my, your, their, ours, our, whose, his, hers, which, its
Quantifiers: Some, both, many, a few, a lot, any, much, a little, several, none, all
Function Word - Conjunctions
Conjunctions connect parts of a sentence, such as items on a list, two separate sentences, or clauses and phrases to a sentence.
For, and, neither, but, or, yet, so, because, as , however
Function Word - Prepositions
Prepositions begin with prepositional phrases, which contain nouns and other modifiers. Prepositions function to give more information about nouns.
in, of, between, on, with, by, at, without, through, over, across, around, into, within
Function Word - Pronouns
Pronouns are words that stand in for nouns. Their antecedent needs to be clear, or the reader will be confused.
she, they, he, it, him, her, you, me, anybody, somebody, someone, anyone
Function Word - Modals
Modal verbs express condition or possibility. Its not certain something is going to happen, but it ‘might’.
may, might, can, could, will, would, shall, should
Function Word - Qualifiers
Qualifiers function like adverbs and show the degree of an adjective or verb, but they have no real meaning themselves.
very, really, quite, somewhat, rather, too, pretty (much)
Function Word - Question words
Besides forming questions, they can also appear in statments, such as in “I don’t know how in the world that happened,” where the question is how.
how, where, what, when, who, why
Content Words - Nouns
A noun is a word that names something, such as a person, place, thing, or idea
Content Words - Verbs
verbs are words that represent actions that are external (run, jump, work) and internal (love, think, consider)
Content Words - Adjectives
Words that describe the qualities of states of being nouns
Content Words- Adverbs
An adverb is a verb that modifies (describes) a verb (“he sings loudly”)
Content Words - Interjections
An interjection is a word or phrase used to express a feeling or to request or demand something. While interjections are a part of speech, they are not grammatically connected to other parts of a sentence.
