Lexis and Semantics Flashcards
what is lexis?
what is semantics?
lexis - vocabulary of a language
semantics - meaning in language
common noun
All nouns that
aren’t proper
nouns - not specific name
proper noun
specific people
and places: Paris,
Andrew, Venus
concrete noun
things that exist
physically:
computer, house,
dog
abstract noun
things that do not
exist physically;
feelings, ideas and
qualities
collective noun
groups of people,
animals or objects:
team, family, flock,
gaggle, litter, herd
pre-modifying adjective (attributive adjective)
Come before a
noun to describe it
post-modifying adjective (predicative adjective)
Come after the
noun to describe it
comparative adjective
Compare one noun
to another e.g.
bigger, smaller
superlative adjective
The adjective is the
least or the most
e.g. ‘biggest’,
‘strongest’
noun phrases
Nouns modified by
adjectives that
could be replaced
by a pronoun e.g.
‘the beautiful
animal was kept in
a cage’
dynamic verb
A verb you can
physically see e.g.
running, walking
stative verb
A verb that is a
state not an action
e.g. thinking,
wondering
transitive verb
A type of dynamic
verb that requires a
noun e.g. ‘she
kicked the ball’
intransitive verb
Don’t require a
noun e.g she
sneezed, she
laughed
infinitive verb
A verb you can’t tell
the tense from e.g.
to wake, to run, to
love
finite verb
A verb you can tell
the tense of e.g.
she was waiting
auxiliary verb
These help us
understand the
tense of another
verb. There are only
three – be, do,
have.
modal auxiliary verb
These tell you the
necessity of
possibility attached
to a verb e.g.
should, could,
would, may, might
adverbs
Modify verbs by
telling us the
manner, time,
place, frequency,
degree, quantity or
evaluation of a
verb
pronoun
Replace the noun
in a sentence. Harry
went to school
becomes he went
to school, the
pronoun replaces
Harry.
personal pronoun
Replaces the
subject or object in
a sentence e.g. I,
we, me, him
reflexive pronoun
Indicate object of a
verb is the same as
the subject of the
sentence e.g. ‘-
self/-selves in
themselves’ like in
‘they were going to
do it themselves
indefinite pronoun
Do not refer to any
specific person of
thing e.g.
‘someone’
‘anything’
‘everything
demonstrative pronoun
They tend to point
to something e.g.
‘that’, this’ (but if it
comes before a
noun it isn’t the
pronoun)
possessive pronoun
Show possession
(hers, ours, mine)
only when not
placed before the
noun.
interrogative pronoun
Used when asking
a question e.g.
who, whose,
which, what (in
who did this, which
is it)
relative pronoun
Act as linking words
in a sentence
always placed
immediately AFTER
the noun they refer
to e.g. whom, who,
whose, which, that.
(The man, who had
decided to go
home, was walking
very quickly)
personal
First person involves
you personally (I,
we, me, us, our,
my)
Second person is
you, your, yours
only
Third person
involves other
people e.g. he,
she, they, them,
their
articles
There are only types they
are either definite
(the) or indefinite (a
or an)
determiners
Often confused
with pronouns, they
are always before
the noun, not after
it e.g. this car is
new. They tell us
which ‘thing’ is
being referred to.
quantifiers
Are a type of
determiner that
show quantity e.g.
he had ‘a few
cows’, he ‘did not
have enough milk’
prepositions
A word that tells
you where or when
something is in
relation to
something else e.g.
inside, outside,
after, before
coordinating conjunctions
they join like with like
(i.e., they join a
noun with another
noun, an adjective
with another
adjective etc.). The
most common ones
are and, but, and
or.
subordinating
conjunctions
they join
subordinate clauses
to main clauses.
Common examples
are although,
because, if, since,
unless, until, and
while.
correlative
conjunctions
used in pairs to join
alternatives or
equal elements. The
most common pairs
are either/or,
neither/nor, and not
only/but also.
