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
Traditional grammars categorize determiners with either adjectives or pronouns. But determiners are not adjectives. Repeat after me: Determiners are not adjectives. Notional grammars define adjectives as “words that modify nouns.” Adjectives describe attributes of nouns, pronouns, and noun phrases, functioning as noun phrase modifiers, subject complements, and object complements. Determiners provide non-attributive information such as […] More
Verbs are traditionally defined as “words that describe actions or states of being.” Main or principal English verbs may be either intransitive or transitive. Ambitranitive verbs are English verbs that may be either transitive/ditransitive or intransitive depending on the context. Ambitransitive verbs can occur within passive constructions when transitive or ditransitive. Most English verbs are […] More
Traditional notional grammars define verbs as “action or state of being words.” Transitive verbs in English grammar are main verbs that take an object. Ditransitive verbs take two objects: (1) a direct object and an indirect object or (2) a direct object and an object complement. Ditransitive verbs that take a direct object and an […] More
Verbs have traditionally been defined as “action or state of being words.” Main verbs, or principal verbs, fall into five categories in English grammar. Transitive verbs are English verbs that take an object. Ditransitive verbs take two objects: (1) a direct object and an indirect object or (2) a direct object and an object complement. […] More
Verbs have traditionally been defined as “action or state of being words.” Main verbs, or principal verbs, fall into five categories in English grammar. Transitive verbs are English verbs that take an object. Monotransitive verbs take only one object: a direct object. Ditransitive verbs take two objects: (1) a direct object and an indirect object […] More
Pronouns are small words that can take the place of nouns, noun phrases, and other grammatical forms. Object pronouns are pronouns that perform four functions in clauses: direct object, indirect object, object complement, and prepositional complement. Direct objects are words, phrases, and clauses that follow a transitive verb and receive the action of the verb. […] More
Traditional grammars notionally define prepositions as words that “link to other words, phrases, and clauses” and that “express spatial or temporal relations.” Prepositional phrases are phrases that consist of a preposition plus another word, phrase, or clause functioning as the prepositional complement. In grammar, an object complement is a word or phrase that directly follows […] More
Traditional grammars notionally define verbs as “words that denote an action or a state of being.” A verb phrase is a grammatical structure that consists of a verb that functions as the verb phrase head plus any auxiliary verbs, particles, modifiers, complements, and objects. In grammar, an object complement is a word or phrase that […] More
Noun clauses are independent, or subordinate, clauses that perform nominal functions. Clauses are grammatical structures that contain a subject and a predicate. Grammatical Forms Grammatical Forms of English Noun Clauses explains the internal structure of noun clauses in English. Forming Noun Clauses from Questions explains the formation of noun clauses from interrogative constructions. Grammatical Functions […] More
