Grammar and Morphology Flashcards
auxiliary verb
A verb that precedes the lexical verb in a verb phrase e.g. I DO believe in fairies. He MAY visit. DO you want me to come? Peter HAS finished the book. The rain WAS falling all day. She DID not run yesterday.
clause
a group of phrases which usually has a tensed verb phrase.
complex sentence
A sentence made up of one main clause and at least one subordinate clause e.g. CHOOSING STONE FOR THE GARDEN WALL (subordinate clause) WAS (main clause verb phrase) very complicated BECAUSE THERE WERE SO MANY OPTIONS IN THE GARDEN CENTRE (subordinate clause)
compound
A word or phrase made up of at least two free morphemes e.g. wallpaper, small-talk
compound sentence
a sentence made up of at least two main clauses linked by a cord dating conjunction e.g. The sky was dark (main clause) and the wind whipped our hair (main clause)
declarative
A grammatical mood where the subject is followed by the verb in a sentence which expresses a statement e.g. the balloon flew over the mountain.
ellipsis
the omission of part of a sentence that can be understood by the context. e.g. The sprinter had broken the world record, (/) reached a new PB and (/) charmed the crowds.
head word
the main linguistic item in a phrase.
imperative
the grammatical mood expressing a directive using a verb in the base form with no subject e.g. sit. don’t eat it. stop.
interrogative
A grammatical mood expressing a question, in which the subject and the verb are inverted e.g. has she got a cat? would they buy a book? Des he want to come?
main clause
a clause that can stand alone, has a tensed verb phrase, and makes sense
minor sentence
A sentence or utterance that lacks one or more of the clause elements, often formulaic in structure.
morpheme
The smallest unit of meaning e.g. dog (free), re-(bound)
morphology
The study of the structure of words in terms of morphemes
noun phrase
A phrase which usually has noun as its head, that can function as a subject, object, complement or adverbial in a clause.
phrase
a group of words that has no finite verb (except for a verb phrase) e.g. a sleeping dog (noun); very clear blue (adjective; really soon (adverb); is going (verb)
post-modification
lexical items that follow the head in a phrase e.g. the horse THAT BITES; very happy TO SEE YOU
pre-modification
lexical items that precede the head in a phrase e.g. QUITE sad; APPLE tree.
sentence
A grammatical structure made up of one or more clauses, marked by a capital letter and a full stop in written language (called an utterance when spoken).
simple sentence
a sentence made up of one main clause e.g. the atronaught fastened his seat belt
subordinate clause
a clause that can not stand alone so needs another clause to complete it e.g. BECAUSE I WAS TIRED, I went to bed early.
syntax
the study of the grammatical relationships between words in sentences
tag questions
An interrogative structure that is attached to the end of a statement to encourage a reply e.g. it’s good, isn’t it? I don’t like it, do you?
tense
A change in the form of a verb to indicate timescale e.g. he walkS (present) he walkED (past).
verb phrase
A phrase made top of a single lexical verb, or up to four auxiliaries and a lexical verb e.g. follows, was following, should have been following, may have been being followed
