Lexical & grammatical verbs
● Lexical: content words, easy to define
● Grammatical: much harder to define (prepositions, pronouns, articles). Small words
with grammatical significance, no easy definition
Lexical (content words) Grammatical (function words)
- lexical verbs, noun, adjective, - article, conjunction, prepositions,
adverb pronoun, auxiliary verbs
● open set: changes, new words ● closed set: doesn’t change a lot
Word classes
● verbs
- tense (past/present), aspect (simple/continuous), voice (active/passive),
mood (indicative/imperative/subjunctive)
- verb phrases: several words together
- can also be one word (when there is only one verb)
- consists of: only 1 lexical verb & possibly one or more (modal)
auxiliary verbs (usually ‘to be’ or ‘to have’)
● nouns
- lexical
- countable (can be used plural) & non-countable (never used with plural form)
- concrete vs. abstract
- common (no capitals) vs. proper (capitals)
● pronouns
- smaller words in place of the noun
- subject (ow), object (lv), possessive (bz), reflective (-self)
Noun
● noun phrase: head noun + things added (articles, adjectives, adverbs)
- recognize: entire phrase can be replaced by a pronoun
Adjective
● describes a noun or pronoun
- attributive: before noun
- predicative: after, connected with a linking verb
Adverb
● describes verb, adjective, phrase, adverb
● form: adjective + ly/ily or taken from lexicon (e.g. today, however)
● exceptions:
- adjectives that already end in ly/ily
- sometimes the same form as adjective (fast, hard, long)
- when there’s a change in meaning (hard, late, short)
Verb types
1. subject + verb only
- not followed by anything required to finish/complete the meaning of the verb
, ● John is running / The painting fell / It was raining
- intransitive verbs: can stand on their own with the subject
2. subject + verb + one complement
- subject / verb / object
- monotransitive verb: completed by one object
● John kicked the ball / John saw the apple
● x does y to z
3. linking verbs
- subject / (copula) verb / subject complement
- e.g of verbs: appear, be, become, feel, grow, make, prove, remain, seem,
smell, taste, turn, look, sound
● John is fast / Mary is a writer
- recognize: replace the verb with ‘seem’
4. subject + verb + two complements
- subject / verb / indirect object / direct object OR subject / verb / direct object /
to/for indirect object
- ditransitive verbs: two complements to the verb
- direct object: what is happening / done
- indirect object: to or for whom something is happening / done
5. complex-transitive verbs
- subject / verb / object / object complement
● Mary found her own jokes extremely funny
Overview of verb types
1. Intransitive S/V
2. Mono-transitive S / V / DO
3. Linking verb S / V / SC
4. Ditransitive S / V / IO / DO or S / V / DO / IO
5. Complex-transitive S / V / DO / OC
Adverbials
● grammatical function
● modifier, part of a sentence that’s not grammatically necessary
● usually a set pattern (SVO), but adverbial is free to move
- after V, can also precede S in some cases
● all adverbs are adverbials, but not all adverbials are adverbs
● everything that gives information, but is non-essential
Prepositional phrases
● often adverbials, but can also be necessary
● prepositional complement: necessary with verb
Verb tense
● relation between the time of the state of affairs being described and the time of
writing/speaking
● present simple + past simple: verb phrase consists of one word
● tenses + form:
● Lexical: content words, easy to define
● Grammatical: much harder to define (prepositions, pronouns, articles). Small words
with grammatical significance, no easy definition
Lexical (content words) Grammatical (function words)
- lexical verbs, noun, adjective, - article, conjunction, prepositions,
adverb pronoun, auxiliary verbs
● open set: changes, new words ● closed set: doesn’t change a lot
Word classes
● verbs
- tense (past/present), aspect (simple/continuous), voice (active/passive),
mood (indicative/imperative/subjunctive)
- verb phrases: several words together
- can also be one word (when there is only one verb)
- consists of: only 1 lexical verb & possibly one or more (modal)
auxiliary verbs (usually ‘to be’ or ‘to have’)
● nouns
- lexical
- countable (can be used plural) & non-countable (never used with plural form)
- concrete vs. abstract
- common (no capitals) vs. proper (capitals)
● pronouns
- smaller words in place of the noun
- subject (ow), object (lv), possessive (bz), reflective (-self)
Noun
● noun phrase: head noun + things added (articles, adjectives, adverbs)
- recognize: entire phrase can be replaced by a pronoun
Adjective
● describes a noun or pronoun
- attributive: before noun
- predicative: after, connected with a linking verb
Adverb
● describes verb, adjective, phrase, adverb
● form: adjective + ly/ily or taken from lexicon (e.g. today, however)
● exceptions:
- adjectives that already end in ly/ily
- sometimes the same form as adjective (fast, hard, long)
- when there’s a change in meaning (hard, late, short)
Verb types
1. subject + verb only
- not followed by anything required to finish/complete the meaning of the verb
, ● John is running / The painting fell / It was raining
- intransitive verbs: can stand on their own with the subject
2. subject + verb + one complement
- subject / verb / object
- monotransitive verb: completed by one object
● John kicked the ball / John saw the apple
● x does y to z
3. linking verbs
- subject / (copula) verb / subject complement
- e.g of verbs: appear, be, become, feel, grow, make, prove, remain, seem,
smell, taste, turn, look, sound
● John is fast / Mary is a writer
- recognize: replace the verb with ‘seem’
4. subject + verb + two complements
- subject / verb / indirect object / direct object OR subject / verb / direct object /
to/for indirect object
- ditransitive verbs: two complements to the verb
- direct object: what is happening / done
- indirect object: to or for whom something is happening / done
5. complex-transitive verbs
- subject / verb / object / object complement
● Mary found her own jokes extremely funny
Overview of verb types
1. Intransitive S/V
2. Mono-transitive S / V / DO
3. Linking verb S / V / SC
4. Ditransitive S / V / IO / DO or S / V / DO / IO
5. Complex-transitive S / V / DO / OC
Adverbials
● grammatical function
● modifier, part of a sentence that’s not grammatically necessary
● usually a set pattern (SVO), but adverbial is free to move
- after V, can also precede S in some cases
● all adverbs are adverbials, but not all adverbials are adverbs
● everything that gives information, but is non-essential
Prepositional phrases
● often adverbials, but can also be necessary
● prepositional complement: necessary with verb
Verb tense
● relation between the time of the state of affairs being described and the time of
writing/speaking
● present simple + past simple: verb phrase consists of one word
● tenses + form:
