AS English Language Word Classes – The nuts and bolts of language

Nouns – sometimes referred to an naming words – they are the words we give to people, places, objects, feelings, ideas and so on. Break it down. As with all elements of language we can break it down further. Nouns Proper Common Concrete Abstract Collective Can you give examples for each?

Adjectives ‘describing words’ – used with nouns. They help to modify the meaning, expressing the noun more clear. Again, they can be broken down. Comparatives and Superlatives A C S Big bigger biggest Can you come up with some more?

Exam questions Proper noun Common noun Concrete noun Abstract noun Collective noun AbjectiveComparativeSuperlative mysterious swarm Abba marvellous further equality most wonderful aeroplane far Concorde Easy? Hard? Why might this be useful for you in the exam? How does it help you to analyse and group a text?

Verbs and Adverbs Most sentences will contain one or more verbs and they usually tell you what the subject is doing or being. Base form – where all other forms of the verb derive. Main verb – expresses the main meaning Auxillary – placed in front of main verbs – two types Primary – be, have, do Modal – used in conjunction with main verbs. They are: can will shall may must could would should might They alter the tone or meaning of something. Verbs can be active or passive. Give some examples. Adverbs – give us more information about verbs. Many are formed by adding –ly to the end of adjectives. Identify all the verbs in the statement below, stating whether they are main or auxillary. I have been to the United States three times. I have a month’s holiday in August and will be going again, though I may spend some time in Mexico as well.

Other classes of words Find the definition for the following words and give some examples!! Pronoun – personal, possessive, reflexive, demonstrative, indefinite, relative, interrogative Conjunctions – word that links words or groups of words Prepositions – shows the relationship of one group of words and another Determiners – precede nouns and refer directly to them – the, a, my Look at the text in front of you! Try to pick out all of the types of language we have looked at so far.

The wonderful world of sentences!! Sentences can be simple – contain only one clause, compound – consist of two or more simple sentences joined by conjunctions or complex – contains main and subordinate clauses. Give me some examples please!! There are four main functions of sentences: Declarative – make statements Interrogative – ask questions Imperative – give instructions Exclamatory – emphatic, indicated by an exclamation point!!

Orthography Basically means the spelling and other aspects of the writing system. Can you read the text below? I cdnuolt blveiee that I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd what I was rdgnieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mind. Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn’t mttaer inwaht oredr the ltteers in awrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is that the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can still raed it wouthit a porbelm. This is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the word as a wlohe. Amzanig huh? yaeh and I awlyas thought slpeling was ipmorantt!! Spelling has a tendency to change and evolve just like every other aspect of language. Write a message to a friend in txt spk and then how you would on MSN, using emoticons.

Word structure. Sometimes referred to as morphology, here we consider the elements that combine to form words. These involve morphemes, prefixes and suffixes. Morphemes Smallest unit of language that expresses meaning. Words that have more than one morpheme usually consist of a root word and one or more affixes (either prefix, suffix or both). Affixes can also be called bound morpheme – they do not make meaning on their own. Affixes fall into two type, inflectional and derivational. Inflectional Always appear as suffixes and indicate: plurals, possession, verb in the past tense, an adjective that is comparative or superlative and a present tense verb is third person singular!! Derivative Both prefixes and suffixes – used to change the word class or to affect the meaning.

Punctuation Enables you to read and fully understand a text. Changing punctuation can alter the meaning of a text. Read the texts below! Dear Jack, I want a man who knows what love is all about. You are generous, kind, thoughtful. People who are not like you admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me for other men. I yearn for you. I have no feelings whatsoever when we’re apart. I can be forever happy – will you let me be yours? Jill or Dear Jack, I want a man who knows what love. Is all about you are generous, kind, thoughtful people who are not like you. Admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me. For other men I yearn! For you I have no feelings whatsoever. When we’re apart I can be forever happy. Will you let me be? Yours, Jill Try to write one of your own!!