Language Levels Flashcards
Lexeme
Lexis is a plural form; the singular of which is lexeme
Lexicon
A particular set of words
Common nouns
Common nouns are general, like dogs, writers and feelings
These do not need capital letters unless they are starting a sentence
Proper nouns
Proper nouns are specific objects, people or things. For example, Daniel, Shakespeare and English.
These always need a capital letter.
Concrete nouns
Concrete nouns can be touched, like a plug, a phone and a tree.
Abstract nouns
Nouns like love and pain are about feelings and states of being. We call these abstract nouns.
Collective nouns
Collective nouns are nouns used to describe groups. For example, a flock of birds and a litter of kittens.
Base adjectives
Base adjectives are just plain adjectives without anything suffixes (added onto the end) onto the word. For example, big, pretty and high.
Comparative adjectives
Base adjectives become comparative when the “-er” suffix is added onto the end of the base adjective. For example, bigger, prettier and higher.
Superlative adjectives
Base adjectives become superlative when the “-est” suffix is added onto the end. For example, biggest, prettiest and highest.
Main verb
A main verb describes the main action of the clause. For example, eats, sleeps and walks.
Auxiliary verb
An auxiliary verb is a verb which helps the main verb of the sentence. For example, do and be.
These verbs can also be used to express possibility. For example can, might and will. These particular auxiliary verbs are described as modal auxiliary verbs.
Copular verb
A copular verb links the subject to a noun or adjective that complements the subject.
The most common copular verb is the verb “is” (and all of its conjugations like am, were and are).
Other examples are: appear, seem, look, sound, smell, taste, feel, become and get.
The food tastes amazing, Henry is bad at football, Margaret feels angry.
Dynamic verbs
Dynamic verbs are actions that can start and end. For example, shout, hit and build.
These verbs can either be material or verbal.
Material verbs
Material verbs are concerned with events.
Anna drove to work, James parked his car, eddy melted butter in the pan.
Verbal verbs
Verbal verbs are concerned with a communication.
Anna sang the song on her way to work, molly and billie woke for hours, Jennifer shouted at her mother.
Stative verbs
Stative verb describe actions/states which are quite constant. For example, think, believe and love.
These can be broken down into mental (or cognitive) or relational.
Mental verbs
Mental Stative verbs describe an intrinsic process.
Ellie thought about writing a book. Sally loved her brother dearly. I do believe in fairies.
Relational verbs
Relational Stative verbs show the relation between things or show a state of being.
Ellie became an author. Isaac owns three cars. The box contains my socks.
Intransitive verbs
When a verb doesn’t have a direct object.
The teacher smirked. Alex laughed manically. Bertie wept.
Transitive verb
When a verb has a direct object.
Jake bought a new phone. Sally ate all the cupcakes. Stephen baked banana bread.
Active voice
When a subject is performing an action, the verb uses the active voice.
Ryan played the character well. Christian loved his wife. I want to sleep.
Passive voice
When the subject is being acted on (I.e. it is passive to the action), the verb uses the passive voice.
The character was played well by Ryan. Christian’s wife was loved by Christian. I was overcome by sleep.
Imperative verb
The imperative mood is where there is a command.
Listen to me! Hurry up. Make me a sandwich, please.
Indicative mood
The indicative mood indicated a fact.
He will never be satisfied. Patrick plays the guitar. George visited his grandmother yesterday.
Interrogative mood
The interrogative mood is where there is a question.
Have you read this? Will you marry me? Are you friends with Tammy?
Conditional mood
The conditional mood expresses a proposition.
The conditional mood is made up of the modal verb “would” + the infinitive verb (without the “to”).
I would live in London, if I could afford it.
If she had arrived earlier, we would have had a party. I would like sushi for dinner.
Subjunctive mood
The subjunctive mood describes a hypothetical situation.
It is important that you agree to these terms. I recommend that you buy a new dress for the wedding. If I were you, I would be careful.
Place (adverbs)
Indicates a location
E.g. inside, outside, near, close to
Manner (adverbs)
Describes the way things happen.
E.g. happily, angrily, sadly, depressingly.
Time (adverbs)
Indicates a time.
E.g. soon, tomorrow, later, yesterday.
Frequency (adverbs)
Indicated how often something happens.
E.g. always, never, sometimes, occasionally.
Reflexive pronouns
Myself, ourselves, yourself, yourselves, himself/herself/itself, themselves.
Relative pronouns
Relative pronouns link the noun to a clause.
Relative pronouns include ( but are not limited to) who, what, where.
Izzy, who played the saxophone, had a gig tonight. Cigarettes, which are bad for your health, are very expensive.
Demonstrative pronouns
Direct attention towards something.
THIS is the car Jess owns. THOSE boys are very good at football. THESE students are the brightest in the class.
Definite article
Is used when there is something specific. Open THE door, please. THE police officer could not catch the THE thief.
Indefinite article
Is used for something more general.
Choose A door, any door. Can you pick up A carrot from the shops?
Quantifier
Can be specific or general and display a quantity. I have LOTS OF friends. I only have a FEW pens.
Coordinating conjunctions
Work to join two of the same clause together.
Subordinating conjunctions
Join a main clause and a subordinate clause together. These include: until, because and before.
Synonyms
Words that have the same meaning but are different words.
Antonym
Words that mean the opposite.
Homophones
Words with the same sound.
Homographs
Words with the same spelling.
Homonym
Words with same sound and spelling.
Morpheme
The smallest unit of meaning and they make up all words. A morpheme can either be free, bound, a prefix or a suffix.
Free morpheme
Can stand on its own. E.g. Friend
Bound morpheme
Can be added to the start or end of a free morpheme. If a bound morpheme is added to the start of a free morpheme, it is called a prefix-bound morpheme. If it is bound to the end of the free morpheme, it is called a suffix-bound morpheme. E.g. Un (prefix-bound) + friend (free) + ly (suffix-bound) = unfriendly.
Minor sentence/ fragment
Not an independent full sentence. How odd! Yes, please. I promise.
Simple sentence
A sentence with a single subject and the SVO order. The cat sat on the mat.
Compound sentence
A single sentence with two simple sentences joined by a conjunction.
