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Words don’t only mean something; they also do something. In the English language, words are grouped into word classes based on their function, i.e. what they do in a phrase or sentence. In total, there are nine word classes in English.
Word class meaning and example
All words can be categorised into classes within a language based on their function and purpose.
An example of various word classes is ‘The cat ate a cupcake quickly.’
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The = a determiner
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cat = a noun
-
ate = a verb
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a = determiner
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cupcake = noun
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quickly = an adverb
Word class function
The function of a word class, also known as a part of speech, is to classify words according to their grammatical properties and the roles they play in sentences. By assigning words to different word classes, we can understand how they should be used in context and how they relate to other words in a sentence.
Each word class has its own unique set of characteristics and rules for usage, and understanding the function of word classes is essential for effective communication in English. Knowing our word classes allows us to create clear and grammatically correct sentences that convey our intended meaning.
Word classes in English
In English, there are four main word classes; nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. These are considered lexical words, and they provide the main meaning of a phrase or sentence.
The other five word classes are; prepositions, pronouns, determiners, conjunctions, and interjections. These are considered functional words, and they provide structural and relational information in a sentence or phrase.
Don’t worry if it sounds a bit confusing right now. Read ahead and you’ll be a master of the different types of word classes in no time!
| All word classes | Definition | Examples of word classification |
| Noun | A word that represents a person, place, thing, or idea. | cat, house, plant |
| Pronoun | A word that is used in place of a noun to avoid repetition. | he, she, they, it |
| Verb | A word that expresses action, occurrence, or state of being. | run, sing, grow |
| Adjective | A word that describes or modifies a noun or pronoun. | blue, tall, happy |
| Adverb | A word that describes or modifies a verb, adjective, or other adverb. | quickly, very |
| Preposition | A word that shows the relationship between a noun or pronoun and other words in a sentence. | in, on, at |
| Conjunction | A word that connects words, phrases, or clauses. | and, or, but |
| Interjection | A word that expresses strong emotions or feelings. | wow, oh, ouch |
| Determiners | A word that clarifies information about the quantity, location, or ownership of the noun | Articles like ‘the’ and ‘an’, and quantifiers like ‘some’ and ‘all’. |
The four main word classes
In the English language, there are four main word classes: nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. Let’s look at all the word classes in detail.
Nouns
Nouns are the words we use to describe people, places, objects, feelings, concepts, etc. Usually, nouns are tangible (touchable) things, such as a table, a person, or a building.
However, we also have abstract nouns, which are things we can feel and describe but can’t necessarily see or touch, such as love, honour, or excitement. Proper nouns are the names we give to specific and official people, places, or things, such as England, Claire, or Hoover.
Cat
House
School
Britain
Harry
Book
Hatred
‘My sister went to school.‘
Verbs
Verbs are words that show action, event, feeling, or state of being. This can be a physical action or event, or it can be a feeling that is experienced.
Lexical verbs are considered one of the four main word classes, and auxiliary verbs are not. Lexical verbs are the main verb in a sentence that shows action, event, feeling, or state of being, such as walk, ran, felt, and want, whereas an auxiliary verb helps the main verb and expresses grammatical meaning, such as has, is, and do.
Run
Walk
Swim
Curse
Wish
Help
Leave
‘She wished for a sunny day.’
Adjectives
Adjectives are words used to modify nouns, usually by describing them. Adjectives describe an attribute, quality, or state of being of the noun.
Long
Short
Friendly
Broken
Loud
Embarrassed
Dull
Boring
‘The friendly woman wore a beautiful dress.’
Fig 1. Adjectives can describe the woman and the dress
Adverbs
Adverbs are words that work alongside verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs. They provide further descriptions of how, where, when, and how often something is done.
Quickly
Softly
Very
More
Too
Loudly
‘The music was too loud.’
All of the above examples are lexical word classes and carry most of the meaning in a sentence. They make up the majority of the words in the English language.
The other five word classes
The other five remaining word classes are; prepositions, pronouns, determiners, conjunctions, and interjections. These words are considered functional words and are used to explain grammatical and structural relationships between words.
For example, prepositions can be used to explain where one object is in relation to another.
Prepositions
Prepositions are used to show the relationship between words in terms of place, time, direction, and agency.
In
At
On
Towards
To
Through
Into
By
With
‘They went through the tunnel.’
Pronouns
Pronouns take the place of a noun or a noun phrase in a sentence. They often refer to a noun that has already been mentioned and are commonly used to avoid repetition.
Chloe (noun) → she (pronoun)
Chloe’s dog → her dog (possessive pronoun)
There are several different types of pronouns; let’s look at some examples of each.
- He, she, it, they — personal pronouns
- His, hers, its, theirs, mine, ours — possessive pronouns
- Himself, herself, myself, ourselves, themselves — reflexive pronouns
- This, that, those, these — demonstrative pronouns
- Anyone, somebody, everyone, anything, something — Indefinite pronouns
- Which, what, that, who, who — Relative pronouns
‘She sat on the chair which was broken.’
Determiners
Determiners work alongside nouns to clarify information about the quantity, location, or ownership of the noun. It ‘determines’ exactly what is being referred to. Much like pronouns, there are also several different types of determiners.
- The, a, an — articles
- This, that, those — you might recognise these for demonstrative pronouns are also determiners
- One, two, three etc. — cardinal numbers
- First, second, third etc. — ordinal numbers
- Some, most, all — quantifiers
- Other, another — difference words
‘The first restaurant is better than the other.’
Conjunctions
Conjunctions are words that connect other words, phrases, and clauses together within a sentence. There are three main types of conjunctions;
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Coordinating conjunctions — these link independent clauses together.
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Subordinating conjunctions — these link dependent clauses to independent clauses.
- Correlative conjunctions — words that work in pairs to join two parts of a sentence of equal importance.
For, and, nor, but, or, yet, so — coordinating conjunctions
After, as, because, when, while, before, if, even though — subordinating conjunctions
Either/or, neither/nor, both/and — correlative conjunctions
‘If it rains, I’m not going out.’
Interjections
Interjections are exclamatory words used to express an emotion or a reaction. They often stand alone from the rest of the sentence and are accompanied by an exclamation mark.
Oh
Oops!
Phew!
Ahh!
‘Oh, what a surprise!’
Word class: lexical classes and function classes
A helpful way to understand lexical word classes is to see them as the building blocks of sentences. If the lexical word classes are the blocks themselves, then the function word classes are the cement holding the words together and giving structure to the sentence.
Fig 2. Lexical and functional word classes
In this diagram, the lexical classes are in blue and the function classes are in yellow. We can see that the words in blue provide the key information, and the words in yellow bring this information together in a structured way.
Word class examples
Sometimes it can be tricky to know exactly which word class a word belongs to. Some words can function as more than one word class depending on how they are used in a sentence. For this reason, we must look at words in context, i.e. how a word works within the sentence. Take a look at the following examples of word classes to see the importance of word class categorisation.
The dog will bark if you open the door.
The tree bark was dark and rugged.
Here we can see that the same word (bark) has a different meaning and different word class in each sentence. In the first example, ‘bark’ is used as a verb, and in the second as a noun (an object in this case).
I left my sunglasses on the beach.
The horse stood on Sarah’s left foot.
In the first sentence, the word ‘left’ is used as a verb (an action), and in the second, it is used to modify the noun (foot). In this case, it is an adjective.
I run every day
I went for a run
In this example, ‘run’ can be a verb or a noun.
Word Class — Key takeaways
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We group words into word classes based on the function they perform in a sentence.
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The four main word classes are nouns, adjectives, verbs, and adverbs. These are lexical classes that give meaning to a sentence.
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The other five word classes are prepositions, pronouns, determiners, conjunctions, and interjections. These are function classes that are used to explain grammatical and structural relationships between words.
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It is important to look at the context of a sentence in order to work out which word class a word belongs to.
Frequently Asked Questions about Word Class
A word class is a group of words that have similar properties and play a similar role in a sentence.
Some examples of how some words can function as more than one word class include the way ‘run’ can be a verb (‘I run every day’) or a noun (‘I went for a run’). Similarly, ‘well’ can be an adverb (‘He plays the guitar well’) or an adjective (‘She’s feeling well today’).
The nine word classes are; Nouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, prepositions, pronouns, determiners, conjunctions, interjections.
Categorising words into word classes helps us to understand the function the word is playing within a sentence.
Parts of speech is another term for word classes.
The different groups of word classes include lexical classes that act as the building blocks of a sentence e.g. nouns. The other word classes are function classes that act as the ‘glue’ and give grammatical information in a sentence e.g. prepositions.
The word classes for all, that, and the is:
‘All’ = determiner (quantifier)
‘That’ = pronoun and/or determiner (demonstrative pronoun)
‘The’ = determiner (article)
Final Word Class Quiz
Word Class Quiz — Teste dein Wissen
Question
A word can only belong to one type of noun. True or false?
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Answer
This is false. A word can belong to multiple categories of nouns and this may change according to the context of the word.
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Question
Name the two principal categories of nouns.
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Answer
The two principal types of nouns are ‘common nouns’ and ‘proper nouns’.
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Question
Which of the following is an example of a proper noun?
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Question
Name the 6 types of common nouns discussed in the text.
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Answer
Concrete nouns, abstract nouns, countable nouns, uncountable nouns, collective nouns, and compound nouns.
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Question
What is the difference between a concrete noun and an abstract noun?
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Answer
A concrete noun is a thing that physically exists. We can usually touch this thing and measure its proportions. An abstract noun, however, does not physically exist. It is a concept, idea, or feeling that only exists within the mind.
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Question
Pick out the concrete noun from the following:
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Question
Pick out the abstract noun from the following:
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Question
What is the difference between a countable and an uncountable noun? Can you think of an example for each?
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Answer
A countable noun is a thing that can be ‘counted’, i.e. it can exist in the plural. Some examples include ‘bottle’, ‘dog’ and ‘boy’. These are often concrete nouns.
An uncountable noun is something that can not be counted, so you often cannot place a number in front of it. Examples include ‘love’, ‘joy’, and ‘milk’.
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Question
Pick out the collective noun from the following:
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Question
What is the collective noun for a group of sheep?
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Answer
The collective noun is a ‘flock’, as in ‘flock of sheep’.
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Question
The word ‘greenhouse’ is a compound noun. True or false?
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Answer
This is true. The word ‘greenhouse’ is a compound noun as it is made up of two separate words ‘green’ and ‘house’. These come together to form a new word.
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Question
What are the adjectives in this sentence?: ‘The little boy climbed up the big, green tree’
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Answer
The adjectives are ‘little’ and ‘big’, and ‘green’ as they describe features about the nouns.
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Question
Place the adjectives in this sentence into the correct order: the wooden blue big ship sailed across the Indian vast scary ocean.
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Answer
The big, blue, wooden ship sailed across the vast, scary, Indian ocean.
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Question
What are the 3 different positions in which an adjective can be placed?
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Answer
An adjective can be placed before a noun (pre-modification), after a noun (post-modification), or following a verb as a complement.
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Question
In this sentence, does the adjective pre-modify or post-modify the noun? ‘The unicorn is angry’.
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Answer
The adjective ‘angry’ post-modifies the noun ‘unicorn’.
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Question
In this sentence, does the adjective pre-modify or post-modify the noun? ‘It is a scary unicorn’.
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Answer
The adjective ‘scary’ pre-modifies the noun ‘unicorn’.
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Question
What kind of adjectives are ‘purple’ and ‘shiny’?
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Answer
‘Purple’ and ‘Shiny’ are qualitative adjectives as they describe a quality or feature of a noun
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Question
What kind of adjectives are ‘ugly’ and ‘easy’?
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Answer
The words ‘ugly’ and ‘easy’ are evaluative adjectives as they give a subjective opinion on the noun.
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Question
Which of the following adjectives is an absolute adjective?
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Which of these adjectives is a classifying adjective?
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Question
Convert the noun ‘quick’ to its comparative form.
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Answer
The comparative form of ‘quick’ is ‘quicker’.
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Question
Convert the noun ‘slow’ to its superlative form.
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Answer
The comparative form of ‘slow’ is ‘slowest’.
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Question
What is an adjective phrase?
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Answer
An adjective phrase is a group of words that is ‘built’ around the adjective (it takes centre stage in the sentence). For example, in the phrase ‘the dog is big’ the word ‘big’ is the most important information.
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Question
Give 2 examples of suffixes that are typical of adjectives.
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Answer
Suffixes typical of adjectives include -able, -ible, -ful, -y, -less, -ous, -some, -ive, -ish, -al.
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Question
What is the difference between a main verb and an auxiliary verb?
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Answer
A main verb is a verb that can stand on its own and carries most of the meaning in a verb phrase. For example, ‘run’, ‘find’. Auxiliary verbs cannot stand alone, instead, they work alongside a main verb and ‘help’ the verb to express more grammatical information e.g. tense, mood, possibility.
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Question
What is the difference between a primary auxiliary verb and a modal auxiliary verb?
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Answer
Primary auxiliary verbs consist of the various forms of ‘to have’, ‘to be’, and ‘to do’ e.g. ‘had’, ‘was’, ‘done’. They help to express a verb’s tense, voice, or mood. Modal auxiliary verbs show possibility, ability, permission, or obligation. There are 9 auxiliary verbs including ‘could’, ‘will’, might’.
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Question
Which of the following are primary auxiliary verbs?
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Is
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Play
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Have
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Run
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Does
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Could
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Answer
The primary auxiliary verbs in this list are ‘is’, ‘have’, and ‘does’. They are all forms of the main primary auxiliary verbs ‘to have’, ‘to be’, and ‘to do’. ‘Play’ and ‘run’ are main verbs and ‘could’ is a modal auxiliary verb.
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Question
Name 6 out of the 9 modal auxiliary verbs.
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Answer
Answers include: Could, would, should, may, might, can, will, must, shall
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Question
‘The fairies were asleep’. In this sentence, is the verb ‘were’ a linking verb or an auxiliary verb?
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Answer
The word ‘were’ is used as a linking verb as it stands alone in the sentence. It is used to link the subject (fairies) and the adjective (asleep).
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Question
What is the difference between dynamic verbs and stative verbs?
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Answer
A dynamic verb describes an action or process done by a noun or subject. They are thought of as ‘action verbs’ e.g. ‘kick’, ‘run’, ‘eat’. Stative verbs describe the state of being of a person or thing. These are states that are not necessarily physical action e.g. ‘know’, ‘love’, ‘suppose’.
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Question
Which of the following are dynamic verbs and which are stative verbs?
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Drink
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Prefer
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Talk
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Seem
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Understand
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Write
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Answer
The dynamic verbs are ‘drink’, ‘talk’, and ‘write’ as they all describe an action. The stative verbs are ‘prefer’, ‘seem’, and ‘understand’ as they all describe a state of being.
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Question
What is an imperative verb?
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Answer
Imperative verbs are verbs used to give orders, give instructions, make a request or give warning. They tell someone to do something. For example, ‘clean your room!’.
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Question
Inflections give information about tense, person, number, mood, or voice. True or false?
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Question
What information does the inflection ‘-ing’ give for a verb?
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Answer
The inflection ‘-ing’ is often used to show that an action or state is continuous and ongoing.
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Question
How do you know if a verb is irregular?
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Answer
An irregular verb does not take the regular inflections, instead the whole word is spelt a different way. For example, begin becomes ‘began’ or ‘begun’. We can’t add the regular past tense inflection -ed as this would become ‘beginned’ which doesn’t make sense.
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Question
Suffixes can never signal what word class a word belongs to. True or false?
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Answer
False. Suffixes can signal what word class a word belongs to. For example, ‘-ify’ is a common suffix for verbs (‘identity’, ‘simplify’)
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Question
A verb phrase is built around a noun. True or false?
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Answer
False. A verb phrase is a group of words that has a main verb along with any other auxiliary verbs that ‘help’ the main verb. For example, ‘could eat’ is a verb phrase as it contains a main verb (‘could’) and an auxiliary verb (‘could’).
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Question
Which of the following are multi-word verbs?
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Shake
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Rely on
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Dancing
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Look up to
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Answer
The verbs ‘rely on’ and ‘look up to’ are multi-word verbs as they consist of a verb that has one or more prepositions or particles linked to it.
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Question
What is the difference between a transition verb and an intransitive verb?
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Answer
Transitive verbs are verbs that require an object in order to make sense. For example, the word ‘bring’ requires an object that is brought (‘I bring news’). Intransitive verbs do not require an object to complete the meaning of the sentence e.g. ‘exist’ (‘I exist’).
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Answer
An adverb is a word that gives more information about a verb, adjective, another adverb, or a full clause.
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Question
What are the 3 ways we can use adverbs?
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Answer
We can use adverbs to modify a word (modifying adverbs), to intensify a word (intensifying adverbs), or to connect two clauses (connecting adverbs).
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Question
What are modifying adverbs?
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Answer
Modifying adverbs are words that modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs. They add further information about the word.
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Question
‘Additionally’, ‘likewise’, and ‘consequently’ are examples of connecting adverbs. True or false?
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Answer
True! Connecting adverbs are words used to connect two independent clauses.
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Question
What are intensifying adverbs?
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Answer
Intensifying adverbs are words used to strengthen the meaning of an adjective, another adverb, or a verb. In other words, they ‘intensify’ another word.
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Question
Which of the following are intensifying adverbs?
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Calmly
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Incredibly
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Enough
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Greatly
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Answer
The intensifying adverbs are ‘incredibly’ and ‘greatly’. These strengthen the meaning of a word.
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Question
Name the main types of adverbs
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Answer
The main adverbs are; adverbs of place, adverbs of time, adverbs of manner, adverbs of frequency, adverbs of degree, adverbs of probability, and adverbs of purpose.
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Question
What are adverbs of time?
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Answer
Adverbs of time are the ‘when?’ adverbs. They answer the question ‘when is the action done?’ e.g. ‘I’ll do it tomorrow’
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Question
Which of the following are adverbs of frequency?
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Usually
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Patiently
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Occasionally
-
Nowhere
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Answer
The adverbs of frequency are ‘usually’ and ‘occasionally’. They are the ‘how often?’ adverbs. They answer the question ‘how often is the action done?’.
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Question
What are adverbs of place?
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Answer
Adverbs of place are the ‘where?’ adverbs. They answer the question ‘where is the action done?’. For example, ‘outside’ or ‘elsewhere’.
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Question
Which of the following are adverbs of manner?
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Never
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Carelessly
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Kindly
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Inside
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Answer
The words ‘carelessly’ and ‘kindly’ are adverbs of manner. They are the ‘how?’ adverbs that answer the question ‘how is the action done?’.
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In English grammar, a word class is a set of words that display the same formal properties, especially their inflections and distribution. The term «word class» is similar to the more traditional term, part of speech. It is also variously called grammatical category, lexical category, and syntactic category (although these terms are not wholly or universally synonymous).
The two major families of word classes are lexical (or open or form) classes (nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs) and function (or closed or structure) classes (determiners, particles, prepositions, and others).
Examples and Observations
- «When linguists began to look closely at English grammatical structure in the 1940s and 1950s, they encountered so many problems of identification and definition that the term part of speech soon fell out of favor, word class being introduced instead. Word classes are equivalent to parts of speech, but defined according to strict linguistic criteria.» (David Crystal, The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language, 2nd ed. Cambridge University Press, 2003)
- «There is no single correct way of analyzing words into word classes…Grammarians disagree about the boundaries between the word classes (see gradience), and it is not always clear whether to lump subcategories together or to split them. For example, in some grammars…pronouns are classed as nouns, whereas in other frameworks…they are treated as a separate word class.» (Bas Aarts, Sylvia Chalker, Edmund Weiner, The Oxford Dictionary of English Grammar, 2nd ed. Oxford University Press, 2014)
Form Classes and Structure Classes
«[The] distinction between lexical and grammatical meaning determines the first division in our classification: form-class words and structure-class words. In general, the form classes provide the primary lexical content; the structure classes explain the grammatical or structural relationship. Think of the form-class words as the bricks of the language and the structure words as the mortar that holds them together.»
The form classes also known as content words or open classes include:
- Nouns
- Verbs
- Adjectives
- Adverbs
The structure classes, also known as function words or closed classes, include:
- Determiners
- Pronouns
- Auxiliaries
- Conjunctions
- Qualifiers
- Interrogatives
- Prepositions
- Expletives
- Particles
«Probably the most striking difference between the form classes and the structure classes is characterized by their numbers. Of the half million or more words in our language, the structure words—with some notable exceptions—can be counted in the hundreds. The form classes, however, are large, open classes; new nouns and verbs and adjectives and adverbs regularly enter the language as new technology and new ideas require them.» (Martha Kolln and Robert Funk, Understanding English Grammar. Allyn and Bacon, 1998)
One Word, Multiple Classes
«Items may belong to more than one class. In most instances, we can only assign a word to a word class when we encounter it in context. Looks is a verb in ‘It looks good,’ but a noun in ‘She has good looks‘; that is a conjunction in ‘I know that they are abroad,’ but a pronoun in ‘I know that‘ and a determiner in ‘I know that man’; one is a generic pronoun in ‘One must be careful not to offend them,’ but a numeral in ‘Give me one good reason.'» (Sidney Greenbaum, Oxford English Grammar. Oxford University Press, 1996)
Suffixes as Signals
«We recognize the class of a word by its use in context. Some words have suffixes (endings added to words to form new words) that help to signal the class they belong to. These suffixes are not necessarily sufficient in themselves to identify the class of a word. For example, -ly is a typical suffix for adverbs (slowly, proudly), but we also find this suffix in adjectives: cowardly, homely, manly. And we can sometimes convert words from one class to another even though they have suffixes that are typical of their original class: an engineer, to engineer; a negative response, a negative.» (Sidney Greenbaum and Gerald Nelson, An Introduction to English Grammar, 3rd ed. Pearson, 2009)
A Matter of Degree
«[N]ot all the members of a class will necessarily have all the identifying properties. Membership in a particular class is really a matter of degree. In this regard, grammar is not so different from the real world. There are prototypical sports like ‘football’ and not so sporty sports like ‘darts.’ There are exemplary mammals like ‘dogs’ and freakish ones like the ‘platypus.’ Similarly, there are good examples of verbs like watch and lousy examples like beware; exemplary nouns like chair that display all the features of a typical noun and some not so good ones like Kenny.» (Kersti Börjars and Kate Burridge, Introducing English Grammar, 2nd ed. Hodder, 2010)
Words are the building blocks in any sentence. They just don’t ‘mean’ something, they ‘do’ something in every sentence. Hence words are grouped into word classes based on what they do. A word class is a group of words that have certain common features. The term “word class” is analogous to the more conventional term, “part of speech.” It is also variously named grammatical category, lexical category, and syntactic category.
- Types of Word Classes
- Open and Closed Word Classes
- Open Word Classes
- Closed Word Classes
- How to identify the word classes in a sentence?
- How to classify a word class?
- What is the difference between a word class and part of speech?
Word classes can be divided into two families:
- Lexical Classes: Also known as open classes and form classes. The lexical classes include nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs.
- Function Classes: Also known as closed classes and structure classes. Includes: pronouns, determiners, conjunctions, prepositions, and interjections.
Open and Closed Word Classes
As previously mentioned some word classes are open, that is, the class can be expanded with the addition of new words. Take the example of the class of nouns, it is potentially infinite as the number of words in the class is increasing as new scientific and technological discoveries are made.
The latter half of the twentieth century witnessed developments in computer technology which have in turn given rise to many new nouns like the Internet, URL website, bitmap, email, etc.
On the other hand, the word classes of prepositions, determiners, or conjunctions are known as closed word classes. Words like of, the, and but come under these. They are named closed word classes because they consist of a definite set of words. These classes never expand even though the words included in the class may change their spelling.
Open Word Classes
1) Nouns
This class includes words that you frequently use in everyday life. Nouns are most commonly understood as “naming” words, that is, it performs the function of naming “people, places or things”.
- A person – Boy, Girl, John, etc
- A thing- House, Dog, etc
- A place- China, America, etc
However, the use of nouns is not restricted to just names of people, places, or things. Nouns also denote abstract and intangible concepts such as an idea, quality, or state. Example: Danger, Happiness, Love, etc.
2) Verbs
The words that you use to describe an action are known as verbs. Hence verbs are generally known as “action” words. Have a look at the given example: Rahul rides a scooter. The verb in the above sentence denotes an action that Rahul performs which is the action of riding a scooter.
However, the idea of verbs as “action” words is somewhat restricted. Many verbs don’t stand for action at all as in the given instance: Rahul seems desperate. We cannot say that the verb ‘seems ‘ refer to an action.
3) Adverbs
In English, an adverb describes a word that alters the meaning of a verb, adjective, or another adverb. Adverbs in a sentence give you more information about the sentence. They are used to express how an action is fulfilled. Adverbs can broadly be categorized into Simple Adverbs, IInterrogative adverbs, and Relative Adverbs.
Remember:
- Most adverbs end with the common ending – ly.
- An adverb that modifies an adjective or another adverb usually goes before it.
4) Adjectives
Adjectives describe the quality of a noun. For example They stay in a beautiful house
The word beautiful indicates or refers to one of the attributes of the house that is described. Hence beautiful becomes the adjective in the above sentence.
A point to keep in mind: Some adjectives can be identified by their ending. Typical adjective endings include: able, al, ful, ic, etc.
You can even try out our other articles on How to Improve Your Vocabulary as well to expand your knowledge base.
Closed Word Classes
1) Determiners
You might have often noticed that nouns are preceded by words like the, a, or an. These words are known as Determiners. They suggest the type of reference that the noun has.
- The determiner ‘the’ is called a Definite Article. It can be placed both before singular and plural nouns. For example The Taxi, The taxis
- The determiner a or an is known as the Indefinite Article. It is used along with a singular noun. Example: A taxi
Apart from these, many other determiners express quantity. These include ‘al’, ‘both’, ‘many’ etc.
2) Conjunctions
These are used to express connections between different words.
Example: John and David are friends. And is used as a conjunction in the given sentence.
The most familiar conjunctions in English are: and, but, and or.
Conjunctions are further divided into two:
- Coordinating Conjunctions: These conjunctions connect elements of equal syntactic structure. Example: Paul and David study together.
- Subordinating Conjunctions: Connects elements of unequal syntactic structure. Example: I left early because I had an interview the next day.
3) Prepositions
Prepositions indicate the relation between different words. They occur before a noun, pronoun, or noun phrase and indicate a direction, time, place, location, and spatial relationship. Common prepositions include across, after, at, before, by, during, from, in, into, of, on, to, under, with, without, etc.
4) Pronouns
If we did not have the pronoun word families we would have to repeat a whole lot of nouns. A word that takes the position of a noun is named as a pronoun. Pronouns can be employed as a substitute for a noun.
- Pronouns are divided into 5 categories:
- Personal Pronouns: I, you, she, etc
- Demonstrative Pronouns: This, these, etc
- Possessive Pronouns: Yours, His, etc
- Interrogative Pronouns: Which, What, etc
- Reflexive Pronouns: Herself, Himself, etc.
- Reciprocal Pronouns: Each other
- Indefinite Pronouns: Few, Nobody, etc.
- Relative Pronouns: Which, Whom, etc.
5) Interjections
Short exclamations like Oh!, Ah! etc are known as Interjections. Even though they have no grammatical value, we often use them in daily speech. Interjections are primarily used to express emotions such as anger, surprise, etc. Given below are a few examples.
Well! That hurts
Hey! Don’t be so clumsy
Remember, an interjection is always followed by an exclamation mark.
Read More:
- English Idioms
- Literary Devices
FAQs on Word Classes
1. How to identify the word classes in a sentence?
A word class is a group of words that have certain common features. To find out the word classes within a sentence it is important that you familiarise yourself with the most common word classes in English. These include nouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, prepositions, etc.
2. How to classify a word class?
Word classes in English belong to two major categories. These are Open word classes that include nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. The second category is closed word classes that include: pronouns, determiners, interjections, etc.
3. What is the difference between a word class and part of speech?
The term “word class” is analogous to the more conventional term, “part of speech”. Both these terms refer to a group of words that have certain common features.
Conclusion
To understand the grammatical structures of sentences in a better way it’s best if you begin with word classes. Even though comprehending the different word classes may initially be a hectic task, once you master word classes, you will reach the exact meaning or message conveyed by a sentence.
Calaway began his wrestling career with World Class Championship Wrestling(WCCW) in 1984.
Свою карьеру Кэлвей начал в World Class Championship Wrestling( WCCW) в 1984 году.
Cooking games| Girl games city.
Готовим игры| Город Девушка игры.
Continuous improvement programmes, including working with and implementing World Class Manufacturing techniques.
Мы внедряем долгосрочные программы по совершенствованию бизнеса, в частности применяем передовые методики World Class Manufacturing.
Guests can also enjoy free access to World Class Fitness Centre, directly across the street.
Гости могут бесплатно посещать фитнес- центр World Class через дорогу от отеля.
Ambitious goal: Let Pakite become the world class of a high-tech modern enterprise!
Амбициозная цель: Пусть Pakite стать мировым классом высокотехнологичного современного предприятия!
New golf course world class and one of Ernie Els faviourites.
Nearly every world class player has played in the tournament but Garry Kasparov.
Почти каждый из шахматистов мировой элиты принимал участие в этом турнире, кроме Гарри Каспарова.
Ближайший спа и фитнесс центр:„ WorldClass“( 700 м).
World Class— Presnya» fitness club with 25-m long pool,
beauty-spa, solarium, massage and kid’s zone next door.
На территории комплекса расположен фитнес-клуб World Class— Пресня,
с 25- и метровым бассейном, beauty- spa, солярием, массажным кабинетом и игровой комнатой для детей.
Previously, in 2001,
the IFSA in its former guise had entered an agreement with World Class Events(WCE), headed by Ulf Bengtsson, to run the Super Series.
Ранее, в 2001
году МФСА в своем прежнем составе заключил соглашение с World Class Events( WCE) во главе с Ульфом Бенгтссоном, чтобы запустить суперсерию.
We offer our customers a full range of custom die casting molding and
tool building services within a world class ISO 9001/TS16949 certified quality management system.
Мы предлагаем нашим клиентам полный диапасон изготовленных на заказ обслуживаний прессформы и инструмента
заливки формы строя внутри система управления качеством ISO типа мира аттестованная 9001/ TS16949.
Located on the mezzanine floor of the Budapest Marriott, the World Class International fitness centre offers everything within the field of health
and fitness.
На мансардном этаже отеля Budapest Marriott расположен фитнес- центр World Class International. Здесь вы найдете все, что можно предложить в области здоровья
и фитнеса.
Located on the mezzanine floor of the Budapest Marriott, the World Class International fitness centre offers everything within the field of health
and fitness.
Фитнес- центр World Class International находится на цокольном этаже отеля Budapest Marriott. Здесь вам предложат все, что могут предложить в области здоровья
и фитнеса.
In walking distance to the trendiest restaurants, the best theatres,
shops of
world
brands and such necessary facilities as a fitness centre World Class, beauty salons, bakeries and coffee shops.
В шаговой доступности находятся самые модные рестораны, лучшие театры,
магазины мировых брендов и такие необходимые удобства, как фитнес- центр World Class, салоны красоты, пекарни и кофейни.
A nice bonus to this 1-month summer course is free access to one of the best fitness centers
of the Czech Republic and the world’s leading fitness network- World Class.
Приятным бонусом к программе летнего месячного курса является возможность бесплатного посещения одного из лучших фитнес центров Чехии,
ведущей мировой фитнес сети- World Class: тренажерный зал, спортивный зал, бассейн, джакузи,
Among them,
the second charity marathon»Courage to be the first» organized by World Class and the volunteer movement SOS.
В их числе второй благотворительный марафон« Смелость быть первым», организованный World Class и волонтерским движением SOS.
From January 4 to January 10, 2013 there will be a series of
modern dance master
classes
in one of the most known fitness clubs of Moscow- World Class, premium and luxury segments.
С 4 по 10 января2013 года пройдет серия мастер-классов современных
танцев на территории одного из самых известных фитнес-клубов Москвы- World Class,» премиум» и» люкс» сегмента.
Independent Stage Company Aksioma LLC employees are going to provide technical provision for the event-
Сотрудники» Независимая Сценическая Компания» Аксиома» готовятся обеспечить техническую поддержку мероприятия-
Мастер-классы Современных танцев в World Class.
From July 8 to July 16, 2013 there will be a series of
modern dance master
classes
in one of the most known fitness clubs of Moscow- World Class, premium and luxury segments.
С 8 по 16 июля2013 года пройдет серия мастер-классов современных
танцев на территории одного из самых известных фитнес-клубов Москвы-» World Class«,» премиум» и» люкс» сегмента.
All amateurs and pro athletes can compete individually or in teams,
no matter of existence of membership at World Class.
В соревнованиях могут принять участие все желающие любители и профессионалы,
в независимости от наличия членства в сети фитнес-клубов WORLD CLASS.
Dubai has always been the most favoured investor hub and
with the upcoming Expo 2020 this world class location has become a premiere business location.
Дубай всегда был любимым хабом для инвесторов и
с предстоящей выставкой ЭКСПО 2020 из местоположения мирового класса превратился в ведущее бизнес- местоположение.
Great attention has
been paid to the dimensions of the equipment to accomplish the World Class Manufacturing requirements where the DENSO Robot
VS087 fits perfectly helping to minimize as much as possible the floor space usage when designing the DM401 Series.
Большое внимание было уделено размерам оборудования с целью реализации требований технологии мирового класса, которым идеально соответствует робот VS087 фирмы Denso,
позволяющий максимально уменьшить необходимую площадь для оборудования при проектировании серии DM401.
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Suggestions
Take part or simply watch world-class athletes compete.
Можно даже самому принять участие или просто понаблюдать за спортсменами мирового класса и как они соревнуются.
We will work closely with our partners to develop this world-class resource.
Мы будем тесно сотрудничать с нашими партнерами, чтобы развивать этот ресурс мирового класса».
I mean that you’re not some world-class chef.
Я имела в виду, что ты не какой-то первоклассный шеф-повар.
We believe world-class manufacturing begins with respect for people and the environment.
Мы считаем, что производство мирового уровня начинается с уважения к людям и окружающей среде.
We have invested much since independence towards achieving world-class health care.
Со времени получения независимости мы направили немало средств на создание системы здравоохранения мирового уровня.
Finally, you’ll complement this knowledge with world-class language training.
И, наконец, вы будете дополнять эти знания с языком мирового класса обучения.
A total of 42 world-class lottery companies participated in the summit.
В общей сложности 42 лотерейных компаний мирового класса принял участие в этом саммите.
Cost-effective communication and collaboration services built on our world-class global network.
Экономически эффективные услуги коммуникации и совместной работы, основанные на нашей глобальной сети мирового класса.
However, even world-class surfers have drowned in extremely challenging conditions.
Тем не менее, даже серферы мирового класса утонули в чрезвычайно сложных условиях.
I was hoping to turn her into a world-class editor.
I didn’t know world-class surgeons had dinner tables.
Я не знала, что у хирургов мирового класса бывают обеденные столы.
Any business can become world-class by defining what quality means.
Любой бизнес может стать бизнесом мирового класса, определив для себя «что такое качество».
Three world-class manufacturing plants and a new jet plant just announced…
Три промышленных предприятия мирового класса, и только что объявлено о строительстве нового завода по производству реактивных самолетов…
Equally significant is a world-class port.
The problem is that world-class antiquities attract robbers like flies.
Проблема в том, что древности мирового класса привлекают грабителей, как мед — мух.
This race involves world-class athletes who train specifically for this event.
В этом забеге участвуют легкоатлеты мирового класса, которые специально тренируются для этого события.
International students can get world-class education at affordable fees.
Иностранные студенты могут получить доступ к образованию мирового класса по доступной цене.
Many went on to become world-class teachers.
Многие продолжили свои занятия, став учителями мирового уровня.
Birkbeck is a world-class research and teaching institution offering evening higher education.
Биркбек — это исследовательское и образовательное учреждение мирового уровня, предоставляющее высшее образование на вечернем отделении.
Learn in world-class facilities in our state-of-the-art on-campus workshops and studios.
Учитесь на объектах мирового класса в наших современных мастерских и студиях на кампусе.
Suggestions that contain world-class
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