UNIT 1 THE BASICS OF GRAMMAR

Apuntes

UNIT I: THE BASICS OF GRAMMAR The purpose of this handout is to introduce you to some basic grammar notions. This document provides an initial exposure to some common terminology, and you may need time to become familiar with this metalanguage. These new terms will become more meaningful as you encounter them in context along the course. SECTION #1 MAJOR AND MINOR WORD CLASSES. PARTS OF SPEECH. Most linguists acknowledge that classifying words by their part of speech may pose some difficulty. The reason behind this assumption is that there are three criteria for de fi ning them: semantic (based on the meaning of the word), structural (concerning its form or position) and functional (in terms of the grammatical function the word has in a sentence). According to those criteria, parts of speech are usually grouped into two categories: ➔ Major word classes: nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. They are termed ‘major’ because they carry most of the content or meaning of a sentence. Such classes are also ‘open’ in that new words are added as they are coined. ➔ Minor word classes: auxiliary verbs, prepositions, pronouns, determiners, and conjunctions. They...