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Checksheet - How to identify word class
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Open Class Words
Open class words are extremely large in number and about 90% of the words
in our personal vocabularies belong to this class. It is possible to coin
new words in this class.
E.g. black + box - blackbox - blackboxed
nucleus - nuclear - nuked
dregs - dreggy
And we can combine meaningful parts of words (morphemes) to generate
new words:
e.g. micro - microscope - microchip
phonograph - telephone - phonology - symphony
Closed Class Words
Closed class words are relatively finite in number. They are sometimes
referred to as grammatical or function words, and they serve to link up
open class words in longer meaningful structures.
| Types of Closed Class Words |
Symbol |
Examples |
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Determiner
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(d)
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the, a, this, that, some, any, all
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Pronoun
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(pn)
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you, me, she, them, some, it, us
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Preposition
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(p)
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in, of, on, at, to, under, from
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Conjunction
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(cj)
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and, but, or, if...then, although
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Auxiliary Verb
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(aux)
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can, will, may, is, has, does, shall
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Enumerator
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(e)
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one, three, first, second, eighteenth
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Interjection
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(ij)
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oh, ah, ugh, hey, oops, gadzooks, ****!
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Three questions to help identify what class a word belongs to:
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What kind of MEANING does it have? - what does it refer to or express?
-
What is its FUNCTION? - its purpose or role relative to other words
within a phrase, clause or sentence?
-
What is its FORM? - its morphological structure ('root' and suffix,
inflections etc.)
Identifying open class words
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NOUNS (N)
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By far the most numerous word class
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Meaning?
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Typically refer to physical phenomena (concrete) or to states,
events, occasions, etc. (abstract)
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Function?
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The main element (headword) in a noun phrase which typically occurs
as the subject or object of a sentence. Often preceded by the most
common word in English. (If you can put the in front of it, it's
likely to be a noun.)
|
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Form?
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The most varied of all word classes, but they sometimes have characteristic
inflections (e.g. singer, runner; fascism, socialism; station, caution;
divinity, masculinity;falsehood, childhood; goodness, happiness;
etc.) Can be singular or plural.
|
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VERBS (V)
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The central or pivotal element in any sentence.
When analysing grammatical structure ALWAYS LOOK OUT FOR THE VERBS!
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Meaning?
|
Express actions, processes, activities, states, etc.
Inflections can convey when the action occurs (TENSE)
|
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Function?
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Main verbs always function on their own or as the headword of a
verb phrase (preceded by auxiliary verbs).
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Form?
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Verbs have characteristic inflections. They are the most inflected
word class in English.
Most English verbs are regular in inflection (thank heaven!) but
there are about 200 irregular verbs.
There are 5 different forms of the verb:
|
| |
Infinitive |
Present |
Past Participle |
Present Participle |
Past |
| Regular |
to ask
|
ask/s
|
asked
|
asking
|
asked
|
| Irregular |
to give
to write
to think
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give/s
write/s
think/s
|
gave
wrote
thought
|
giving
writing
thinking
|
given
written
thought
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ADJECTIVES (Aj)
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Meaning?
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Typically denote a quality or property attributed to a noun. They
help to specify or narrow down what the noun refers to.
Creative language often exploits unexpected collocations between
adjectives and nouns: e.g. technicolour yawn, benevolent dictatorship,
complete unashamed wally etc.
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Function?
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Modifies a noun within a noun phrase at subject or object of a
sentence. Can be the head of an adjective phrase - e.g. She is very
nice.
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Form?
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Have characteristic inflections: e.g..Dopey, funny; comical,
cynical; ridiculous, sensuous etc.
Some (not all) adjectives can also be gradable - using either inflections
or 'submodifiers':
|
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Simple
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Comparative
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Superlative
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Funny
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funnier
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funniest
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Good
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better
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best
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Beautiful
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more beautiful
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most beautiful
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Some adjectives are formed by using Present and Past Participle forms
of verbs:
e.g. the running goat, the hatched
egg, the harassed lecturer etc.
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ADVERBS (Av)
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Meaning?
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Specifies the circumstances relating to the action, process, etc.,
referred to in the verb.
The table below lists different types of adverbs alongside the questions
we can apply to the action, process (etc.) conveyed by the verb.
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| Adverb Type |
Question |
Examples |
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Manner
Place
Time
Duration
Frequency
Degree
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How?
Where?
When?
How long?
How often?
To what extent?
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well, badly, cleverly
here, there, anywhere
now, then, soon, tomorrow
briefly, always
weekly, daily, always
rather, quite, much, hardly
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Function?
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Modifies a verb - adds circumstantial information (of time, place,
manner etc.)
Adverbs of degree can modify adjectives (submodifiers - e.g.
very, hardly, rather, fairly, quite)
Adverbs are flexible creatures and can easily occur in different
places in a clause or sentence whilst other word classes tend to
be fixed in the order in which they occur:
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e.g. Suddenly he leapt up.
He leapt up suddenly.
He suddenly
leapt up.
He leapt suddenly up.
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Most typically, they function on their own as the headword of an
adverb phrase at the adverbial element in a sentence.
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Form?
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Often formed by the addition of '-ly' to an adjective (e.g. quick
- quickly; nice - nicely; enthusiastic - enthusiastically).
Some adverbs can be inflected like adjectives to give comparative
or superlative forms:
e.g. he ran sat; ...faster; ...fastest
he ran quickly; ...more quickly; ...most quickly
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Identifying closed class words
Closed class words - or 'function' words - are relatively finite in number.
They are best identified by the function they serve within phrases,
clause or sentences.
Very often they occur at the beginning of these larger units, thereby
helping to identify the units they introduce.
There are seven main types of closed class words:
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DETERMINERS (d)
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Introduce noun phrases and function as modifiers.
Include the ARTICLES 'the', 'a/an'.
Demonstratives 'this', 'that', 'those', etc.
Submodifiers 'all', 'some', 'every', 'either' (usually of quantity.)
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PRONOUNS (pn)
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Can 'stand' for any noun, therefore are 'dummy' nouns or noun phrases.
Refer to persons or objects, events, etc., just as nouns can.
Include 'Wh' words which can be RELATIVE pronouns or QUESTION markers
- 'who', 'what', 'which' etc.
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PREPOSITIONS (p)
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Introduce prepositional phrases and are followed by a noun phrase
(in, on, to, from, under, with, etc.)
Express relations of possession, place, time, etc. They therefore
function in a sentence like adverbs.
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CONJUNCTIONS (CJ)
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Most often linking words between phrases and clauses.
COORDINATING - 'and', but', 'or', 'neither', 'nor'.
SUBORDINATING - a much larger set of words which often introduce
a clause within a sentence which is related to the main clause in
a subordinate way.
E.g.'because', 'however', 'if', 'so that', 'as though' etc.
Some conjunctions occur in pairs and link two parts of an
utterance or sentence: 'if...then', 'although...yet', 'both...and',
'either...or' etc.
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AUXILIARY VERBS (aux)
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Function as auxiliaries to the main verb headword in a verb phrase.
MODAL AUXILIARIES - can, will, may, shall, could, would, might,
should, must, ought to (all convey mood)
PRIMARY VERBS - the three most common verbs in English. Irregular
in form. Can function as an auxiliary or a main verb.
|
| Infinitive |
Present |
Past |
Present Participle |
Past Participle |
|
Be
Have
Do
|
am, is, are
have, has
do, does
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was, were
had
did
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being
having
doing
|
been
had
done
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ENUMERATORS (e)
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Cardinal numbers - 'one', 'two', 'three' etc.
Ordinal numbers - 'first', 'second', 'third' etc.
General types - 'next', 'last', 'further', 'other' etc.
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INTERJECTIONS (ij)
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Somewhat 'primitive' expressions of feeling or attitude!>
Include swear words - that colourful part of people's lexical store:
'F**k!'
Greetings and conversational 'lubricants' such as 'no way',
'yes', 'OK', 'sure', 'yup!' etc.
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For a full listing - and further nuances - of
closed class words, see:
Leech, G., M. Deuchar and R. Hoogenraad (1982) English Grammar For Today.
London: Macmillan. (Chapter 3)
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