Grammar one, chapter 1 word classes Flashcards
What are word classes usually called?
The parts of speech
What can word classes be divided into ?
Open classes and closed classes
Name the open classes
nouns, adjectives, main verbs, adverbs. They are open to new words
Name closed classes
pronouns, determiners, auxiliariy verbs, conjunctions, prepositions. They are not open to new words.
Can a word belong to more than one class?
yes
what are homonyms?
words that share the same form but are not related in meaning. ex: peer (belonging to a group) or peer (to look)
what ar homophones?
words that share the same sound but differ in spelling for ex: weigh, and way
what are homographs?
words that share the same spelling but differ in pronounciation; row and row (quarrel)
What are lexical words?
Those listed as main entries in dictionaries but they include any associated grammatical forms
what are suffixes?
endings added to words to form new words
What are some noun suffixes?
-tion (education, relation)
-er,-or (camper, actor)
-ism (optimism, socialism)
-ity (mentality,normality)
-ment (environment, government)
-ness (happieness, darkness)
Are some suffixes part of the words when they were borrowed from other languages?
Yes
What are proper nouns?
Nouns that are the names of spesific people, places or occasions and they usually begin with a capital letter; Shakespeare, New York
Can proper nouns be converted into common nouns ?
yes, like the thomsons I knew. Thomson cannot ordinarily be made plural but here they mean the people in the family with the name Thomson.
What are common nouns?
Nouns that are not names, such as capital in; the capital of the Netherlands
What subclasses can common verbs be divided into?
Type of referent; concrete or abstract nouns
grammatical form: count or non-count
what are concrete nouns?
They refer to people, places, things: girl, kitchen, car
what are abstract nouns?
They refer to qualities, states or actions; humour, belief, honesty
Can some nouns be either concrete or abstract?
Yes, depending on the their meaning:
Concrete: Thomas can kick a football 50 yards (concrete)
abstract: Thomas often plays football on saturdays (abstract)
What are count-nouns?
Refer to enttities that can be counted: They can have both singular and plural forms and they can be accompanied by determiners that refer to distinctions in number.
a student , many students
What are non-count nouns?
Nouns that cannot be counted; information, furniture, software. They are treated as singulair an can be accompanied by determiners that do not refer to distinctions in number; your information, that information
is there a general tendency for abstract nouns to be non-count?
yes
Can some nouns be count or non-count?
Yes, depending on their meaning
Name two situations were non-count can be converted into count-nouns with two types of special use
- when the count noun refers to different kinds or variaties; the shop has a large selection of cheeses
- when the count noun refers to units that are obvious in the situation; I`ll have two coffees please