Unit #1: The Secret Life of a High School Grammar Snob

Chapter 2: The Form & Structure Classes

Form & Structure Classes Form Classes: 99% of the vocabulary is made up of these words, so-called because they change form. Nouns Verbs Adjectives Adverbs

Form & Structure Classes Nouns: Have singular and plural forms: Dog/Dogs Woman/women Change form to show possession: The dog’s owner Women’s rights

Form & Structure Classes Nouns: Are marked or signaled by articles (a, an, the) or other determiners: A dog That woman My pet Some people

Form & Structure Classes Noun Phrases: Consists of a noun headword and its adjectivals/modifiers The welcoming smell of morning coffee

Form & Structure Classes Verbs: Have present-tense and past-tense forms: Bark/barked Buy/bought Have an –s form and an –ing form: Barks/barking Buys/buying

Form & Structure Classes Verb Phrases: Includes verb headword and its modifiers/adverbials mysteriously disappeared from her Superwoman lunch box.

Form & Structure Classes Adjectives: Have comparative and superlative forms: Happy/happier/happiest Expensive/more expensive/most expensive Can be qualified by words like very and too: Very happy Too expensive

Form & Structure Classes Adverbs: Have comparative and superlative forms: Soon/sooner/soonest Carefully/more carefully/most carefully Can be qualified by words like Very, Quite, and Too: Very carefully Too soon

Form & Structure Classes Adverbs: Are often formed by adding –ly to adjectives: Expensive/expensively Happy/happily

Form & Structure Classes We can distinguish adjectives from adverbs in three ways: (1) Most Adj fit into both blanks: The ___ NOUN is very ___. The happy leprechaun is very happy. The expensive necklace is very expensive.

Form & Structure Classes We can distinguish adjectives from adverbs in three ways: (2) Adv are often moveable: The dogs barked frequently The dogs frequently barked Frequently the dogs barked

Form & Structure Classes We can distinguish adjectives from adverbs in three ways: (3) Adv can usually be identified by the information they provide: When Where Why How How Often / To What Extent

Form & Structure Classes Structure Classes: small, limited groups of words that explain the grammatical / structural relationships of the form classes. Prepositions Determiners Auxiliaries Qualifiers Particles Conjunctions

Form & Structure Classes Prepositions: Forms prep phrase with a noun phrase May function as either adverbial or adjectival: The child with the brain deficiency is playing with the blender.

Form & Structure Classes Determiners: Articles (a, an, the) Possessive nouns/Pronouns (Austin’s girlfriend, their apartment) Demonstrative Pronouns (this old house, these grammar notes) Indefinite pronouns (several pies, fewer Americans)

Form & Structure Classes Auxiliaries: Helping verbs (has, have, had, will, would, can, could, shall, should, may, might, must, ought to, & forms of to be) Precedes the main verb: has been squinting should not frolic

Form & Structure Classes Qualifiers: Intensify or alter the meaning of adjectives and adverbs quite tired very thirsty every Sunday

Form & Structure Classes Particles: A preposition that combines with a verb to form a phrasal verb (idiomatic expression) Look up Find out Turn in

Form & Structure Classes Particles: A preposition that combines with a verb to form a phrasal verb (idiomatic expression) Look up on Wikipedia Particle Look up at the sun Adverb

Form & Structure Classes Conjunctions: Coordinating Correlative Subordinating

Form & Structure Classes Conjunctions: Coordinating (and, but, or, nor, for, so, yet) Correlative (not only/but also, neither/nor, either/or, both/and) Subordinating (because, when, after, if, etc.)