Earlier today I came across a tweet that argued against the use of the word back in the phrase some years back. Tweeter Darlink (@NW6Rd) stated: “While standing on the platform some years back…” No. ‘ago’ ‘some years AGO’ #grammar I love adpositions, of which a postposition like back is a subcategory. As a closed, […] More
Notional grammars traditionally verbs as “words that denote actions and states of being.” A verb phrase consists of a verb plus any auxiliary verbs, particles, modifiers, complements, and objects. In grammar, an adjunct adverbial is a word, phrase, or clause that modifies or describes an entire clause by providing additional information about time, place, manner, […] More
The other day I read a tweet that made some claims about adverbs: “The -s in “unawares,” as in “they were caught unawares,” is completely distinct from the pluralizing -s. It’s an adverb suffix, and it’s also in “always” and “nowadays,” and in “nights,” “weekends,” etc., as in “they work nights/weekends.” #FunWithMorphology” The -s in […] More
Are the words yesterday, today, and tomorrow adverbs or nouns? Oxford Living Dictionaries identifies all three words as an adverb first and a noun second. Etymonline lists yesterday as a noun and adverb but today and tomorrow as only adverbs. Wiktionary defines today and tomorrow as adverbs first and nouns second but yesterday as a […] More
Notional grammars define adjectives as “words that describe nouns.” Big, cute, green, small, and wonky are prototypical adjectives. In big bully, The baby is cute, and I painted the wall green, each adjective describes a noun. Big describes the noun bully, cute describes the noun baby, and green describes the noun wall. However, stating that […] More
I recently tweeted my post entitled Using Nouns and Noun Phrases as Indirect Objects. To my tweet, I received a comment that argued that, although the cat in I gave the cat a bath is indeed a recipient, the cat is not an indirect object but rather a direct object. Analyzing the cat as a […] More
Traditional grammars describe adverb clauses as dependent or subordinate clauses that consist of a subordinating conjunction followed by a clause and that perform an adverbial function. Grammatical Forms Grammatical Form of English Adverb Clauses explains the internal structures that distinguish adverb clauses from other grammatical forms. Grammatical Functions Grammatical Function of English Adverb Clauses explains […] More
Notional grammars define adverbs as “words that describe verbs, adjectives, other adverbs, and clauses.” An adverb phrase consists of an adverb plus any modifiers. Grammatical Forms Grammatical Form of English Adverbs: Positive, Comparative, and Superlative Adverbs explains the internal structures that distinguish adverbs from other grammatical forms, which includes three degrees of modification. English Adverbs […] More
Pronouns are words that take the place of nouns, noun phrases, and other grammatical forms. Intensive pronouns are pronouns that add emphasis to a statement. In English grammar, intensive pronouns are identical in form to reflexive pronouns. Unlike reflexive pronouns, however, intensive pronouns can be removed without altering the meaning or grammaticality of a sentence. […] More
Notional grammars define adverb clauses as subordinate or dependent clauses that consist of a subordinating conjunction followed by a clause and that perform adverbial grammatical functions. A clause is a grammatical structure that consists of a subject and a predicate. A dependent or subordinate clause is a clause that cannot function independently as a complete […] More
Adverb clauses are defined as subordinate or dependent clauses that consist of a subordinating conjunction followed by a clause and that perform adverbial grammatical functions. Adverb clauses perform only one grammatical function in English grammar: adjunct adverbial. Adverb Clauses as Adjunct Adverbials The one grammatical function that adverb clauses perform is the adjunct adverbial. An […] More
Notional grammars define adpositions as words that “link to other words, phrases, and clauses” and that “express spatial or temporal relations.” In addition to prepositions, the second type of adposition in the English language is the postposition. In contrast to prepositions that precede a prepositional complement, postpositions follow a postpositional complement. In grammar, an adjunct […] More