fundamentals of language Flashcards
what is lexis
the study of what words have been chosen and their meaning
pragmatics
how meanings change in different situations
nouns
naming words: name, object, person, etc.
proper / concrete nouns
names for people, place or things
concrete/ common nouns
things you can touch, see or measure
abstract nouns
things you can’t touch or see, they are feelings
collective noun
a word that describes a specific group of nous
eg pack of wolves
noun phrase
group of words that tell us more about a noun
adjectives
describes nouns
adjectival pre modification
adjectives that describe a noun and are placed in front of it
adjectival post modification
adjectives that describes a noun that is placed after a noun
comparative adjective
adding suffix ‘er’
eg prettier
superlative adjective
adding suffix ‘est’
eg prettiest
comparative adjective (way 2)
adding ‘more’ / ‘less’
eg less interesting than …
more interesting that …
superlative adjective
adding ‘most’ / ‘least’
descriptive adjective
tell us factual things about a noun
eg a RED car
evaluative adjective
gives an opinion about a noun
eg a GRIM meal
verbs
doing words / actions / states og being
stative verbs
refer to state of mind or condition
eg love, seem ,am ,is
dynamic verbs
describe actions we can take
eg eat, drink, run
modal verbs
auxillary verb is used to express properties
eg possibility, obligation, ability, permission
simple past, present and future tense
verbs carry tense
eg jumps => simple present
jumped => simple past
will jump => simple future
continuous past, present and future tense
eg is jumping => continuous present
was jumping => continuous past
will be jumping => continuous future
regular verbs
form past tense by adding suffix ‘ed’
eg to laugh, to talk
irregular verbs
unpredictable past tense
eg to sing => sang
auxillary verbs
helping verb
eg i MIGHT eat this
primary auxillary verb
creating tense and different tenses
TO DO => (do, does, did)
TO HAVE => (have, has, had)
TO BE => (am, is, was, were)
modal auxillary verbs
indicates possibility, obligation etc
imperative verb
command or instruction
register
level of formality of a text
can be high, low, mixed or colloquial
pronouns
replace nouns or noun phrases
eg it, she, her, he
subject and object pronouns
personal pronouns change depending on whether they are the subject or object in the sentence
demonstrative pronouns
pronouns that refer to specific things
eg this, that, those
reflexive pronouns
used as a direct object when the object is the same as the subject of the verb
eg myself, himself, themself
possessive pronoun
indicates possession
eg his, hers, mine, ours
interrogative pronouns
appear at the beginning of questions
eg who what where when why
indefinite pronouns
not a definite reference
eg each, few, some, many, someone
simile
when things are compared to one another using ‘as’ or ‘like’
metaphore
when things are compared to one another without ‘as’ or ‘like’
idiom
used to convey complex emotional states
collocations
an expression the relies on that common association of words
adverbs
describe verbs and tell us more about the verb
adverbs of mannor
answers ‘how’ the verb was done
eg he sang SWEETLY, LOUDLY
adverb of time
answers ‘when’ the verb was done
eg he sang YESTERDAY, TODAY, A WHILE AGO
adverb of frequency
answers ‘how often’ a verb was done
eg he sang OFTEN, REGULARLY, NEVER, ALWAYS
adverb of possibility
answers ‘how likely’ a verb was done
eg he will MAYBE, DEFINITELY, PROBABLY sing
adverb of degree
answers ‘to what extent’ was the verb
eg it was REALLY good, TOTALLY rubbish
determiner
comes before a noun, they describe who the nouns belong to
prepositions
the position of something
eg on, beside, under
simple sentence
contains a single idea, a verb and a participant
minimum of : subject => person/ object /place
& verb => action / activity
minor sentence
not actual sentences
eg social phrases, interjections, exclamations, abbreviations
simple sentences (subject verb object)
verb is happening to the object
noun or pronoun does the action
noun or pronoun that receives that action of the verb
simple sentence (subject verb compliment)
like an object but doesn’t receive the action of the verb
it receives the subject
verbs that take compliments : coptula verbs
simple sentance (subject verb adverbial)
adverbial => adverb or group of verbs that tells where / when / why / how the verb happened
clauses
2 sentences hooked together using ‘and’
conjunctions
words which stitch 2 clauses together
eg so and because as while also when ets
co-ordinating conjunction
indicates equality between clauses
FANBOYS => for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so
compound sentences
contain 2 independent clauses conjoined by a co-ordinating conjunction (FANBOYS)
complex sentence
sentences that combines an independent clause and a dependent clause with a subordinating comjunction
subordinating conjunction rule
subordinating conjunctions are inseparable from dependent clauses
active
act of doing
passive
having something done to you
active voice
verb is carried out BY the subject and can take a direct object - verb done to object
passive voice
verb is done to the subject. the agent is indicated by prepositions.
singular first person pronouns
talking about yourself
i me mine myself
singular 2nd person pronoun
talking to someone
you yours yourself
singular third person pronoun
talking about someone else
he his hers her herself
plural first person pronoun
talking about yourself + others
we us ours ourselves
plural second person pronoun
talking to others
you yours yourself
plural third person pronoun
talking about others
