Unit 4 Function Words

Content Words & Function Words Content words (lexical words) Content words (lexical words)..carry the principal meaning in a phrase, clause or sentence...carry the principal meaning in a phrase, clause or sentence. nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs Function words Function words..have little or no lexical meaning of their own...have little or no lexical meaning of their own. used to indicate various functional relationships used to indicate various functional relationships noun determiners, auxiliaries, modals or modal auxiliaries, intensifiers, quantifiers, wh-words or question words, and connectives noun determiners, auxiliaries, modals or modal auxiliaries, intensifiers, quantifiers, wh-words or question words, and connectives

Noun determiners A noun determiner is one criterion that can be used to identify a noun because it comes before the noun that it modifies. There may also be another word or words occuring between a noun determiner and a noun. “an unusually intelligent girl” Moreover, a noun phrase can contain more than one noun determiner. “those two boys”

Types of noun determiners Noun determiners are of six types : Articles (definite and indefinite articles) : a, an, the Demonstratives : this, that, these, those Possessives: my, your, his, her, its, our, their, whose, which, John’s, students’, etc. Cardinal numerals : one, two, ninety-nine, etc. Ordinal numerals : first, second, third, etc. Indefinite determiners : many, much, more, few, a few, little, some, all, any, every, other, several, no, both, each, lots of, a lot of, etc. Note: definite = clearly known, seen, or stated

Exercise 1 Noun Determiners Exercise 1 A Inventors have tinkered with methods of air conditioning for years. Ancient Egyptians and Romans got some relief from the heat by hanging woven mats soaked with water across the entrances to their houses, so that incoming air would be cooled by evaporation. In the 15th century A.D., the famous artist and inventor Leonardo da Vinci built a water- powered fan. # I, A, A, P, A, O, A, A

The first machine that kept the humidity low and cooled the air at the same time was developed in 1902 by Willis H. Carrier, who is often called “the father of air conditioning”. Carrier built this machine for a printing plant in Brooklyn, New York, that had trouble printing in color. Paper stretches when the air is damp and shrinks when the air is dry. Since each color had to be printed separately, printings of different colors on the same sheet of paper did not line up accurately because the paper changed size between printings. Carrier’s machine kept the moisture level of the air constant by drawing the air over a row of cold pipes that condensed the excess moisture. This kept the paper at one size and also made the people in the plant feel cool. Carrier’s invention marked the beginning of scientific air conditioning. # O, D, I, P, C, P; the rest = A; This = pronoun

With all its many branches, agriculture is the world’s most important industry. It supplies the food we eat and many of the materials from which we make our clothing. Modern agriculture also provides business for many other industries. Farmers buy tractors, plows, seeders, and many other kinds of equipment. They buy supplies such as fertilizer, chemical sprays, and animal feed. The manufacturers from whom they buy these things in turn buy raw materials from other industries. Grocery stores and supermarkets, restaurants and lunch counters, and companies that can and freeze food would have nothing to sell without agriculture. Railroads and truck lines that carry farm products to market are among the other industries that depend directly or indirectly on agriculture. # I, P, I, A, P, A, A, P, I, I, I, I, A, D, I, A, I many = pronoun ; that = relative pronoun

Exercise 1 Noun Determiners (p.40)

Exercise 1 B: Indefi. Deter. ‘some’, ‘any’, ‘all’, ‘no’ 1. “Some” is used with a non-count noun or a plural count noun in an affirmative statement and in a request or an offer when ‘yes’ is expected. 2. “Any” is used with a non-count noun or a singular or plural count noun in a negative statement or question. It can also be used in an affirmative statement when a quantity of the noun may or may not exist.

3. ‘All’ is used with a non-count noun or a plural count noun in an affirmative statement or a question. There may also be another noun determiner between the indefinite determiner ‘all’ and the noun. 4. ‘No’ is used with a non-count noun or a singular or plural count noun in an affirmative statement. (A negative statement has the element ‘not’ in the main predicate. e.g., The children don’t have any homework to do today.

Helping Verbs: Auxiliaries and Modals Auxiliaries: “do”, “have”, “be” Auxiliaries: “do”, “have”, “be”  to show tense, person/number, aspect, voice in agreement with the subject I don’t know what he’s looking for. He has been working for hours. The children are playing football. Modals (Modal Auxiliaries): will, would, can, could, may, might, shall, should Modals (Modal Auxiliaries): will, would, can, could, may, might, shall, should  help express the meaning in a finite V or VP  do not change form in accordance with the person/number of the subject  Modals with the past tense form do not always indicate action in the past.

Some grammatical terms… Tense (past/present/future), Aspect (perfect/ progressive), Voice (active/passive) Tense (past/present/future), Aspect (perfect/ progressive), Voice (active/passive) Finite verb form  shows a particular tense Finite verb form  shows a particular tense Non-finite verb form  does not show a particular tense or subject, and is either the infinitive or the participle form of the verb (e.g., ‘go’ in ‘Do you want to go home?’) Non-finite verb form  does not show a particular tense or subject, and is either the infinitive or the participle form of the verb (e.g., ‘go’ in ‘Do you want to go home?’) Infinitive  the basic form of a verb Infinitive  the basic form of a verb Infinitive (with ‘to’): ‘to watch’ in ‘I want to watch TV.’ Infinitive (with ‘to’): ‘to watch’ in ‘I want to watch TV.’ Infinitive without ‘to’: ‘watch’ in ‘Does she watch TV all day long?’ Infinitive without ‘to’: ‘watch’ in ‘Does she watch TV all day long?’

Exercise 2 Auxiliaries (p.42)

a.It consists of the auxiliary ‘be’ in the present or past tense form and the verb in the present participle form. It functions as the helping verb of the main verb in a finite VP which is in active voice. Exercise 2 A ‘be’ + v.ing  Continuous (both present & past continuous)

b. It consists of the auxiliary ‘be’ in the present or past tense form and the verb in the past participle form. It functions as the helping verb of the main verb in a finite VP which is in passive voice. ‘be’ + v3  passive voice (both present & past)

c. It consists of the auxiliary ‘have’ in the present or past tense form and the verb in the past participle form. It functions as the helping verb of the main verb in a finite VP which is in active voice. ‘have’ + v3  Perfect (both present & past perfect)

d. It consists of the auxiliary ‘have’ in the present or past tense form, the auxiliary ‘be’ in the past participle form, and the verb in the present participle form. They function as helping verbs of the main verb in a finite VP which is in active voice. ‘have’ + been + v.ing  Perfect Continuous (both present & past perfect continuous)

e. It consists of the auxiliary ‘have’ in the present or past tense form, the auxiliary ‘be’ in the past participle form, and the verb in the past participle form. They function as helping verbs of the main verb in a finite VP which is in passive voice. ‘have’ + been + v3  Perfect in passive voice (both present & past)

f. It functions as the helping verb of the main verb in the infinitive form without ‘to’. It can occur in affirmative statements, negative statements, imperative statements, and questions. ‘do’ + infinitive without ‘to’  used for some grammatical functions (both present & past)

Exercise 2B Look at the passages on p.44. Let’s do it. Note: Distinguish between the main verbs ‘do’, ‘have’, ‘be’ and the auxiliaries ‘do’, ‘have’, ‘be’.

Exercise 3 Modals (p.45)