Grammar and words Flashcards
Prescriptive Grammar
The traditional approach to grammar that focuses on the ‘right way’ of speaking and writing language.
Benefits of Prescriptive Grammar:
- Good for teaching the basics of language.
- Easily understood by all speakers of the language.
Example of Prescriptive Grammar
-Hello, how was your day?
Descriptive Grammar:
The non-traditional approach to grammar that focuses on how people actually use language, it has no set of rules when speaking and writing in language.
-Slang
Pros and cons of Descriptive Grammar:
Pros: -Flexible on what language should be. -Individualistic. Cons: -Can appear 'ungrammatical' if listen or reader is unable to understand the speaker or writer.
Example of Descriptive Grammar:
Wassup, how’s de day been?
Traditional Grammatical Word Classes:
- Noun
- Adjective
- Pronoun
- Verb
- Conjunction
- Adverb
- Determiner
- Preposition
Noun:
Refers to things and objects.
Two types of nouns: Proper Nouns and Common Nouns.
Proper Nouns:
Are capitalised in English. These are names of places and people.
Common Nouns:
Everything else that isn’t a proper noun.
Common Nouns are broken into three categories:
-abstract nouns
-concrete nouns
-collective nouns
Concrete Nouns:
Physical objects i.e table, chair, pen.
Abstract Nouns:
Intangible objects i.e love, happiness, sadness.
Collective Nouns:
Objects made up of a group of objects i.e parliament, school, gangs, crews.
Verbs:
Are doing or action words.
Two types of verbs:
-main verbs
-auxiliary verbs
Main Verbs:
Describe the main action.
I.e cooking, singing or run
Auxiliary Verbs:
Sets the tense, mood, aspect and voice of main verb.
There are two types of auxiliary verbs:
-primary verbs.
-modal auxiliary verbs
Primary Verbs:
Be, have and do
Modal Auxiliary Verbs:
The modality OR assert or deny the possibility, the certainty, the ability, the obligation of future intention and other similar things of an action.
-Words such as:
could, would, should will, must, might, may, shall.
The other verbs:
Modal verb: he Do insertion: does Progressive BE: is Passive Be: was Perfect HAVE: has
Adjectives:
The modifiers of the noun properties or qualities.
Two other types of adjectives: comparative and superlative.
Comparative:
Compares the properties and qualities of two or more objects. Generally end in ‘er’ words such as prettier or funnier.
Superlative:
Compares things by stating the most particular quality. Generally end in ‘est’ words such as happiest or saddest.
Adverbs:
- Are modifiers.
- Modify the verb setting it in a time, place, and manner in which it was done.
- Can also modify adjectives. Includes words such as ‘beautifully’ or delightfully’. Generally end with ‘ly’ words.
Pronouns:
-Preplace nouns.
-Are 1st, 2nd and 3rd person words.
There are three types of pronouns:
-personal
-possessive
-reflexive
Demonstrative pronouns:
- Point to objects.
- Words such as: that, this or it.
- Context dependant, would be applicable in a sentence like ‘that cat’
Indefinite pronouns:
Don’t refer to particular objects.
Example includes words such as: anything, everything, nothing, something.
Relative pronouns:
- Are places after objects or nouns that they describe.
- They are form relative clauses.
- Includes words such as: that, which, who and whom.
Examples of Relative pronouns:
- The girl ‘who’ is crossing the road.
- The chicken ‘that’ crossed the road.
Interrogative pronouns:
Are ‘wh’ words.
Words such as: who, what, when, where.
Existential pronouns:
There. I.e there is a car.
Conjunctions:
- Connectives.
- Coordinating and subordinating conjunctions.
Coordinating Conjunctions:
Connect to clauses of equal value. Includes words such as: and, but.
Subordinating
Conjunctions:
- Words that introduce dependent subordinating clauses which add information to the main clause.
- Connect main clauses and subordinate clauses.
Examples of Subordinating
Conjunctions:
-The roads are slippery, ‘when it rains’
-They continued to praise him, ‘while he sat there questioning himself’.
- ‘’ = (for flash card)
showing the subordinate clause.
Prepositions:
- Relate to objects to each other, either by direction, position or relationship.
- Examples include: up, down, into, close to, after.
Determiner:
Are broken into many categories:
- Definite Article
- Indefinite Articles
- Possessive Determiners
- Demonstrative Determiner
- Qualifiers Determiners
Definite Article:
The
Indefinite Articles
- a, an
- depends on whether the following words begins with vowel or not.
Possessive Determiners:
similar, yet different to possessive pronouns.
these are: are, my, your, his, her, its.
- My watch = possessive determiner
- That watch is mine = possessive noun.
Demonstrative Determiner:
This, that, these, those.
Qualifiers Determiner:
Many, some, every.
Negotor NOT:
Words such as NOT.
Example: He had ‘not’ bought milk.
Infinitival TO:
Words such as TO.
Example: They have ‘to’ complete their group project before the upcoming Friday.
Lexical Words:
- Are content words, express semantic information.
- They are the main carriers of meaning.
- (open word class)
Functional Words:
- Express grammatical or relational information, primarily linking together and modifying the meaning of content words.
- (Closed word class)
