As I have written repeatedly, the line between grammatical forms is blurry at best, especially among lexical categories like noun, verb, and adjective. Grammatical form and grammatical function distinguish one word class from other. The lines between functional categories are typically much clearer than the lines between lexical categories. As closed classes that do not […] 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
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
Traditional grammars define verbs as “action or state of being words.” Main verbs, or principal verbs, fall into five categories in English grammar. Copular verbs are English verbs that link the subject complement in the predicate to the grammatical subject. Copular verbs are similar to intransitive verbs and thus cannot occur within passive constructions. Some […] More
Notional grammars define verbs as “action or state of being words.” Main verbs, or principal verbs, fall into five categories in English grammar. Intransitive verbs are English verbs that cannot or do not take objects. Intransitive verbs cannot occur within passive constructions. Some common intransitive English verbs include the following: collapse cough cry die disappear […] More
Pronouns are small words that can take the place of other grammatical forms such as nouns and noun phrases. Possessive pronouns express possession of or some other relationship to another word or phrase and can perform five grammatical functions: subject, subject complement, direct object, indirect object, and prepositional complement. Pronouns from three categories of pronouns […] More
Prepositions are notionally defined by traditional grammars as a word that “links to other words, phrases, and clauses” and that “expresses spatial or temporal relations.” A prepositional phrase consists of a preposition plus another word, phrase, or clause functioning as the prepositional complement. In grammar, a subject complement is a word, phrase, or clause that […] More
Verbs are traditionally defined 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, a subject complement is a word, phrase, or clause that […] More
Pronouns are small words that can take the place of nouns, noun phrases, and other grammatical forms. Subject pronouns are pronouns that perform two functions in clauses: subject and subject complement. Subjects are words, phrases, and clauses that perform the action of or act upon the verb. Subject complements are words, phrases, and clauses 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
