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English grammar is the body of rules describing the properties of the English language. A language is such that its elements must be combined according to certain patterns. This article is concerned with (and restricted to) morphology, the building blocks of language; and syntax, the construction of meaningful phrases, clauses and sentences with the use of morphemes and words.
The grammar of any language is commonly approached in two different ways: A descriptive, usually based on a systematic analysis of a large text corpus and describing grammatical structures thereupon; and a prescriptive, which attempts to use the identified rules of a given language as a tool to govern the linguistic behaviour of speakers (see Linguistic prescription and Descriptive linguistics). Prescriptive grammar further concerns itself with several open disputes in English grammar, often representing changes in usage over time. This article predominantly concerns itself with descriptive grammar.
There are a number of historical, social and regional variations of the English language. For example, British English and American English have several lexical differences; however, the grammatical differences are not equally conspicuous, and will be mentioned only when appropriate. Further, the many dialects of English have divergences from the grammar described here; they are only cursorily mentioned. This article describes a generalized present-day Standard English, the form of speech found in types of public discourse including broadcasting, education, entertainment, government, and news reporting. Standard English includes both formal and informal speech.
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Seven major word classes are described here. These are: noun, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition, conjunction, and determiner. The first six are traditionally referred to as "parts of speech." There are minor word classes, such as interjections, but these do not fit into the clause and sentence structure of English.[1]
Open word classes allow new members; closed word classes seldom do.[1] Nouns such as "celebutante," (a celebrity who frequents the fashion circles)" and "mentee," (a person advised by a mentor) and adverbs such as "24/7" ("I am working on it 24/7") are relatively new words; nouns and adverbs are therefore open classes.[1] However, the pronoun, "their," as a gender-neutral singular replacement for the "his or her" (as in: "Each new arrival should check in their luggage.") has not gained complete acceptance during the more than 40 years of its life; pronouns, in consequence, form a closed class.[1]
A word can sometimes belong to several word classes. The class version of a word is called a "lexeme."[2] For example, the word "run" is usually a verb, but it can also be a noun ("It is a ten mile run to Tipperary."); these are two different lexemes.[2] Further, the same lexeme may be inflected to express different grammatical categories: for example, as a verb lexeme, "run" has several forms such as "runs," "ran," and "running."[2] Words in one class can sometimes be derived from those in another and new words be created. The noun "aerobics," for example, has recently given rise to the adjective "aerobicized" ("the aerobicized bodies of Beverly Hills celebutantes."[2])
Words combine to form phrases which themselves can take on the attributes of a word class. These classes are called phrase classes.[2] The phrase: "The ancient pulse of germ and birth" functions as a noun in the sentence: "The ancient pulse of germ and birth was shrunken hard and dry." (Thomas Hardy, The Darkling Thrush) It is therefore a noun phrase. Other phrase classes are: verb phrases, adjective phrases, adverb phrases, prepositional phrases, and determiner phrases.[2]
Nouns form the largest word class. According to Carter and McCarthy, they denote "classes and categories of things in the world, including people, animals, inanimate things, places, events, qualities and states."[2] Consequently, the words, "Mandela," "jaguar," "mansion," "volcano," "Timbuktoo," "blockade," "mercy," and "liquid" are all nouns. Nouns are not commonly identified by their form; however, some common suffixes such as "-age" ("shrinkage"), "-hood" ("sisterhood"), "-ism" ("journalism"), "-ist" ("lyricist"), "-ment" ("adornment"), "-ship" ("companionship"), "-tude" ("latitude"), and so forth, are usually identifiers of nouns.[2] There are exceptions, of course: "assuage" and "disparage" are verbs; "augment" is a verb, "lament" can be a verb; and "worship" is a verb. Nouns can also be created by conversion of verbs or adjectives. Examples include the nouns in: "a boring talk," "a five-week run," "the long caress," "the utter disdain," and so forth.
Nouns have singular and plural forms.[3] Many plural forms have -s or -es endings (dog/dogs, referee/referees, bush/bushes), but by no means all (woman/women, axis/axes, medium/media). Unlike some other languages, in English, nouns do not have grammatical gender.[3] However, many nouns can refer to masculine or feminine animate objects (mother/father, tiger/tigress, alumnus/alumna, male/female).[3] Nouns can be classified semantically, i.e. by their meanings: common nouns ("sugar," "maple," "syrup," "wood"), proper nouns ("Cyrus," "China"), concrete nouns ("book," "laptop"), and abstract nouns ("heat," "prejudice").[3] Alternatively, they can be distinguished grammatically: count nouns ("clock," "city," "color") and non-count nouns ("milk," "decor," "foliage").[4] Nouns have several syntactic features that can aid in their identification.[4] Nouns (example: common noun "cat") may be
Noun phrases are phrases that function grammatically as nouns within sentences. In addition, nouns serve as "heads," or main words of noun phrases.[4] Examples (the heads are in boldface):
The head can have modifiers, a complement, or both. Modifiers can occur before the head ("The real raw-knuckle boys ...," or "The burnt-out ends ..." and they are then called pre-modifiers; or, they can occur after the head ("who know what fighting means ...") and are called post-modifiers.[4] Example: "The rough, seamy-faced, raw-boned College Servitor ..."[8] The pre-modifying phrase, for example, is composed of determiners ("The"), adjectives ("rough," "seamy-faced," ...) and other nouns ("College").
Complements occur after the head as well; however, they are essential for completing the meaning of the noun phrase in a way that post-modifiers are not.[9] Examples (complements are italicized; heads are in boldface):
Within a sentence, a noun phrase can be a part of the grammatical subject, the object, or the complement. Examples (the noun phrase is italicized, and the head boldfaced):[9]
Verbs form the second largest word class after nouns. According to Carter and McCarthy, verbs denote "actions, events, processes, and states."[16] Consequently, "smile," "stab," "climb," "confront," "liquefy," "wake," "reflect" are all verbs. Some examples of verb endings, which while not dead giveaways, are often associated, include: "-ate" ("formulate"), "-iate" ("inebriate"), "-ify" ("electrify"), and "-ize" ("sermonize").[16] There are exceptions, of course: "chocolate" is a noun, "immediate" is an adjective, "prize" can be a noun, and "maize" is a noun. Prefixes can also be used to create new verbs. Examples are: "un-" ("unmask"), "out-" ("outlast"), "over-" ("overtake"), and "under-" ("undervalue").[16] Just as nouns can be formed from verbs by conversion, the reverse is also possible:[16]
Verbs can also be formed from adjectives:[16]
A verb is said to be regular if its base form does not change when inflections are added to create new forms.[20] An example is: base form: climb; present form: climb; -s form: climbs; -ing form: climbing; past form: climbed; -ed participle: climbed.[20] Irregular verbs are ones in which the base form changes; the endings corresponding to each form are not always unique.[20] Examples:
The verb "be" is the only verb in English which has distinct inflectional forms for each of the categories of grammatical forms: base form: be; present form: am, are; -s form: is; -ing form: being; past form: was, were; -ed participle: been.[20]
Verbs come in three grammatical types: lexical, auxiliary, and modal.[21] Lexical verbs form an open class which includes most verbs (state, action, processes, and events). For example, "dive," "soar," "swoon," "revive," "breathe," "choke," "lament," "celebrate," "consider," "ignore" are all lexical verbs.[21] Auxiliary verbs form a closed class consisting of only three members: be, do, and have.[21] Although auxiliary verbs are lexical verbs as well, their main function is to add information to other lexical verbs. This information indicates (a) aspect (progressive, perfect), (b) passive voice, and (c) clause type (interrogative, negative).[21] In the following examples, the auxiliary is in boldface and the lexical verb is italicized.
Modal verbs also form a closed class which consists of the core modals ("can," "could," "shall," "should," "will," "would," "may," "might," "must"), semi-modals ("dare," "need," "ought to," "used to"), and modal expressions ("be able to," "have to").[21] Modals add information to lexical verbs about degrees of certainty and necessity.[21] Examples:
Modal verbs do not inflect for person, number or tense.[21] Examples:
Verbs too have features that aid in their recognition:
Verb phrases are formed entirely of verbs. The verbs can be lexical, auxiliary, and modal. The head is the first verb in the verb phrase.[29] Example:
In a verb phrase, the modal comes first, then the auxiliary or several auxiliaries, and finally the lexical (main) verb.[29] When a verb phrase has a combination of modal and auxiliaries, it is constituted usually in the following order: modal verb >> perfect have >> progressive be >> passive be >> Lexical verb.[29] Examples:
Verb phrases can vary with tense, in which case they are called "tensed verb phrases."[33] Example:
There are many non-tensed forms as well:
The time frame of a non-tensed verb phrase is determined by examining that of the main clause verb.[33] Examples:
In the first case, the time frame (past) of "practicing" is determined by "was" in the main clause; in the second, the time frame (present and future) of "practicing" is determined by "will in time," also in the main clause.
Verb phrases can also express two aspects: progressive and perfect. Aspect provides additional information on the speaker's perception of time.
The progressive aspect consists of the auxiliary be form and the -ing form of the lexical verb.[43] Examples:
Properties:
The perfect aspect is created by the auxiliary "have" and the "-ed" participle form of the lexical verb.[43] It refers to a time period that includes the present moment.[43] Contrast "The flowers didn't bloom this summer" with "The flowers haven't bloomed this summer." The latter sentence suggests that the summer is not over yet.
Properties:
Finally, the two aspects, progressive and perfect, can be combined in a verb phrase: "They've been laughing so hard that their sides hurt."
The passive voice, which provides information about the roles of different participants in an event, is formed with the auxiliary "be" and the "-ed" participle form of the lexical verb.[49] Examples:
Properties:
A verb phrase can also express mood, which refers to the "factual or non-factual status of events."[49] There are three moods in English: indicative, imperative, and subjunctive.[49]
The indicative is the most common mood in English.[49] It is a factual mood, and most constructions involving the various choices of person, tense, number, aspect, modality are in the indicative mood.[49] Examples:
The imperative mood is a non-factual mood and is employed for issuing directives:[49]
The subjunctive mood is also a non-factual mood which refers to demands, desires, etc.[49] It uses the base form of the verb without inflections.[49] It is rare in English and is used after only a handful of words such as "demand," "request," "suggest," "ask," "plead," "pray," "insist," and so forth.[49] Examples:
Properties:
According to Carter and McCarthy, "Adjectives describe properties, qualities, and states attributed to a noun or a pronoun."[65] As was the case with nouns and verbs, the class of adjectives cannot be identified by the forms of its constituents.[65] However, adjectives are commonly formed by adding the some suffixes to nouns.[65] Examples: "-al" ("habitual," "multidimensional," "visceral"), "-ful" ("blissful," "pitiful," "woeful"), "-ic" ("atomic," "gigantic," "pedantic"), "-ish" ("impish," "peckish," "youngish"), "-ous" ("fabulous," "hazardous"). As with nouns and verbs, there are exceptions: "homosexual" can be a noun, "earful" is a noun, "anesthetic" can be a noun, "brandish" is a verb. Adjectives can also be formed from other adjectives through the addition of a suffix or more commonly a prefix:[65] weakish, implacable, disloyal, irredeemable, unforeseen. A number of adjective are formed by adding "a" as a prefix to a verb: "adrift," "astride," "awry."
Adjectives come in two varieties: gradable and non-gradable.[66] In a gradable adjective, the properties or qualities associated with it, exist along a scale.[66] In the case of the adjective "hot," for example, we can speak of: not at all hot, ever so slightly hot, only just hot, quite hot, very hot, extremely hot, dangerously hot, and so forth. Consequently, "hot" is a gradable adjective. Gradable adjectives usually have antonyms: hot/cold, hard/soft, smart/dumb, light/heavy.[66] Some adjectives do not have room for qualification or modification. These are the non-gradable adjectives, such as: pregnant, married, incarcerated, condemned, adolescent (as adjective), dead, and so forth.
In figurative or literary language, a non-gradable adjective can sometimes be treated as gradable, especially in order to emphasize some aspect:
A non-gradable adjective might have another connotation in which it is gradable. For example, "dead" when applied to sounds can mean dull, or not vibrant. In this meaning, it has been used as a gradable adjective:
Gradable adjectives can occur in comparative and superlative forms.[66] For many common adjectives, these are formed by adding "-er" and "-est" to the base form:[66] cold, colder, coldest; hot, hotter, hottest; dry, drier, driest, and so forth; however, for other adjectives, "more" and "most" are needed to provide the necessary qualification: more apparent, most apparent; more iconic, most iconic; more hazardous, most hazardous. Some gradable adjectives change forms atypically:[66] good, better, best; bad, worse, worst; little, less, least; some/many, more, most.
An adjective phrase may consist of just one adjective, or a single adjective which has been modified or complemented.[69]
Adjectives are usually modified by adverb phrases (adverb in boldface; adjective in italics):[69]
An adjective phrase can also consist of an adjective followed by a complement, usually a prepositional phrase, or by a "that" clause.[69] Different adjectives require different patterns of complementation (adjective in italics; complement in bold face):[69]
Examples of "that" clause in the adjective phrase (adjective in italics; clause in boldface):
An adjective phrase can combine pre-modification by an adverb phrase and post-modification by a complement,[69] as in (adjective in italics; adverb phrase and complement in boldface):
An adjective phrase is attributive when it modifies a noun or a pronoun (adjective phrase in boldface; noun in italics):[69]
An adjective phrase is predicative when it occurs in the predicate of a sentence (adjective phrase in boldface):[69]
Adverbs, according to Carter and McCarthy, are a class of words "which perform a wide range of functions. Adverbs are especially important for indicating time, manner, place, degree, and frequency of an event, action, or process."[83] They typically modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs. Adjectives and adverbs are often derived from the same word.[83] A majority of adverbs are formed by adding to "-ly" ending to their corresponding adjective form.[83] Recall the adjectives, "habitual", "pitiful", "impish", We can use them to form the adverbs:
Some suffixes that are commonly found in adverbs are "-ward(s)" and "-wise":[83]
Some adverbs have the same form as the adjectives:[83]
Some adverbs are not related to adjectives:[83]
Some adverbs inflect for comparative and superlative forms:[83]
An adverb phrase is a phrase that collectively acts as an adverb within a sentence; in other words, it modifies a verb (or verb phrase), an adjective (or adjective phrase), or another adverb.[103] The head of an adverb phrase (roman boldface), which is an adverb, may be modified by another adverb (italics boldface) or followed by a complement (italics boldface):[103]
An adverb phrase can be part of the complement of the verb "be." It then usually indicates location (adverbe phrase in boldface; form of "be" in italics):[103]
Adverb phrases are frequently modifiers of verbs:[103]
Adverb phrases are also frequently modifiers of adjectives and other adverbs (modifier in boldface; modified in italics):[103]
Adverb phrases can also be modifiers of noun phrases (or pronoun phrases) and prepositional phrases (adverb phrases in boldface; modified phrases in italics):[103]
Adverb phrases also modify determiners (modifier in boldface; modified in italics):[103]
According to Carter and McCarthy, "As well as giving information on the time, place, manner and degree of an action, event, or process, adverb phrases can also have a commenting function, indicating the attitude and point of view of the speaker or writer towards a whole sentence or utterance."[118] Examples:
Adverb phrases also indicate the relation between two clauses in a sentence.[118] Such adverbs are usually called "linking adverbs." Example:
Prepositions relate two events in time or two people or things in space.[118] They form a closed class.[118] They also represent abstract relations between two entities:[118] Examples:
Prepositions are accompanied by prepositional complements;[128] these are usually noun phrases.[128] In the above examples, the prepositional complements are:
A prepositional phrase is formed when a preposition combines with its complement.[129]. In the above examples, the prepositional phrases are:
According to Carter and McCarthy, "Conjunctions express a variety of logical relations between phrases, clauses and sentences."[128] There are two kinds of conjunctions: coordinating conjunctions and subordinating conjunctions.[128]
Coordinating conjunctions link "elements of equal grammatical status."[128] The elements in questions may vary from a prefix to an entire sentence.[128] Examples:
A correlative conjunction is a pair of constituent elements, each of which is associated with the grammatical unit to be coordinated.[128] The common correlatives in English are:
Subordinating conjunction relate only clauses to one another. They make the clause associated with them into a subordinate clause.[144] Some common subordinating conjunctions in English are: (of time) after, before, since, until, when, while; (cause and effect): because, since, now that, as, in order that, so; (opposition): although, though, even though, whereas, while; (condition): if, unless, only if, whether or not, whether or no, even if, in case (that), and so forth.[144] Examples:
Identified in English by a capitalized initial letter in its first word and by a period (or full stop) at the end of its last word, the sentence is the largest constituent of grammar.[149] A text that contains more than one sentence is no longer in the realm of grammar, but rather of discourse, as are all conversations, howsoever brief.[149] Sentences themselves consist of clauses which are the principal constituents of grammar. A clause consists of a subject, which is usually a noun phrase, and a predicate which is usually a verb phrase with an accompanying grammatical unit in the form of an object or complement.[149]
The first English grammar, Pamphlet for Grammar by William Bullokar , written with the ostensible goal of demonstrating that English was just as rule-bound as Latin , was published in 1586. Bullokar’s grammar was faithfully modeled on William Lily ’s Latin grammar, Rudimenta Grammatices (1534), which was being used in schools in England at that time, having been “prescribed” for them in 1542 by Henry VIII . Although Bullokar wrote his grammar in English and used a “reformed spelling system” of his own invention, many English grammars, for much of the century after Bullokar’s effort, were written in Latin, especially by authors who were aiming to be scholarly. Christopher Cooper’s Grammatica Linguæ Anglicanæ (1685) was the last English grammar written in Latin.
Even as late as the early 19th century, Lindley Murray , the author of one of the most widely used grammars of the day, was having to cite “grammatical authorities” to bolster the claim that grammatical cases in English are different from those in Ancient Greek or Latin.
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English grammar is the body of rules describing the properties of the English language. A language is such that its elements must be combined according to certain patterns. This article is concerned with (and restricted to) morphology, the building blocks of language; and syntax, the construction of meaningful phrases, clauses and sentences with the use of morphemes and words.
The grammar of any language is commonly approached in two different ways: descriptive, usually based on a systematic analysis of a large text corpus and describing grammatical structures thereupon; and prescriptive, which attempts to use the identified rules of a given language as a tool to govern the linguistic behaviour of speakers (see Descriptive linguistics and Linguistic prescription). Prescriptive grammar further concerns itself with several open disputes in English grammar, often representing changes in usage over time. This article predominantly concerns itself with descriptive grammar.
There are historical, social and regional variations of English. For example, British English and American English have several lexical differences; however, the grammatical differences are not equally conspicuous, and will be mentioned only when appropriate. Further, the many dialects of English have divergences from the grammar described here; they are only cursorily mentioned. This article describes a generalized present-day Standard English, the form of speech found in types of public discourse including broadcasting, education, entertainment, government, and news reporting. Standard English includes both formal and informal speech.
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Seven major word classes are described here. These are: noun, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition, conjunction, and determiner. The first six are traditionally referred to as "parts of speech." There are minor word classes, such as interjections, but these do not fit into the clause and sentence structure of English.[1]
Open word classes allow new members; closed word classes seldom do.[1] Nouns such as "celebutante", (a celebrity who frequents the fashion circles)" and "mentee," (a person advised by a mentor) and adverbs such as "24/7" ("I am working on it 24/7") are relatively new words; nouns and adverbs are therefore open classes.[1] However, invented pronouns, such as the "Spivak pronouns", as a gender-neutral singular replacement for the "his or her" (as in: "The student should bring eir books.") have gained only niche acceptance during their existence; pronouns, in consequence, form a closed class.[1]
A word can sometimes belong to several word classes. The class version of a word is called a "lexeme".[2] For example, the word "run" is usually a verb, but it can also be a noun ("It is a ten mile run to Tipperary."); these are two different lexemes.[2] Further, the same lexeme may be inflected to express different grammatical categories: for example, as a verb lexeme, "run" has several forms such as "runs," "ran," and "running."[2] Words in one class can sometimes be derived from those in another and new words be created. The noun "aerobics," for example, has recently given rise to the adjective "aerobicized" ("the aerobicized bodies of Beverly Hills celebutantes."[2])
Words combine to form phrases which themselves can take on the attributes of a word class. These classes are called phrase classes.[2] The phrase: "The ancient pulse of germ and birth" functions as a noun in the sentence: "The ancient pulse of germ and birth was shrunken hard and dry." (Thomas Hardy, The Darkling Thrush) It is therefore a noun phrase. Other phrase classes are: verb phrases, adjective phrases, adverb phrases, prepositional phrases, and determiner phrases.[2]
Nouns form the largest word class. According to Carter and McCarthy, they denote "classes and categories of things in the world, including people, animals, inanimate things, places, events, qualities and states."[2] Consequently, the words "Mandela," "jaguar," "mansion," "volcano," "Timbuktoo," "blockade," "mercy," and "liquid" are all nouns. Nouns are not commonly identified by their form; however, some common suffixes such as "-age" ("shrinkage"), "-hood" ("sisterhood"), "-ism" ("journalism"), "-ist" ("lyricist"), "-ment" ("adornment"), "-ship" ("companionship"), "-tude" ("latitude"), and so forth, are usually identifiers of nouns.[2] There are exceptions, of course: "assuage" and "disparage" are verbs; "augment" is a verb, "lament" and "worship" can be verbs. Nouns can also be created by conversion of verbs or adjectives. Examples include the nouns in: "a boring talk," "a five-week run," "the long caress," "the utter disdain," and so forth.
Nouns have singular and plural forms.[3] Many plural forms have -s or -es endings (dog/dogs, referee/referees, bush/bushes), but by no means all (woman/women, axis/axes, medium/media). Unlike some other languages, in English, nouns do not have grammatical gender.[3] However, many nouns can refer to masculine or feminine animate objects (mother/father, tiger/tigress, alumnus/alumna, male/female).[3] Nouns can be classified semantically, i.e. by their meanings: common nouns ("sugar," "maple," "syrup," "wood"), proper nouns ("Cyrus," "China"), concrete nouns ("book," "laptop"), and abstract nouns ("heat," "prejudice").[3] Alternatively, they can be distinguished grammatically: count nouns ("clock," "city," "colour") and non-count nouns ("milk," "decor," "foliage").[4] Nouns have several syntactic features that can aid in their identification.[4] Nouns (example: common noun "cat") may be
Noun phrases are phrases that function grammatically as nouns within sentences. In addition, nouns serve as "heads," or main words of noun phrases.[4] Examples (the heads are in boldface):
The head can have modifiers, a complement, or both. Modifiers can occur before the head ("The real raw-knuckle boys ...," or "The burnt-out ends ..." and they are then called pre-modifiers; or, they can occur after the head ("who know what fighting means ...") and are called post-modifiers.[4] Example: "The rough, seamy-faced, raw-boned College Servitor ..."[8] The pre-modifying phrase, for example, is composed of determiners ("The"), adjectives ("rough," "seamy-faced," ...) and other nouns ("College").
Complements occur after the head as well; however, they are essential for completing the meaning of the noun phrase in a way that post-modifiers are not.[9] Examples (complements are italicized; heads are in boldface):
Within a sentence, a noun phrase can be a part of the grammatical subject, the object, or the complement. Examples (the noun phrase is italicized, and the head boldfaced):[9]
Verbs form the second largest word class after nouns. According to Carter and McCarthy, verbs denote "actions, events, processes, and states."[16] Consequently, "smile," "stab," "climb," "confront," "liquefy," "wake," "reflect" are all verbs. Some examples of verb endings, which while not dead giveaways, are often associated, include: "-ate" ("formulate"), "-iate" ("inebriate"), "-ify" ("electrify"), and "-ize" ("sermonize").[16] There are exceptions, of course: "chocolate" is a noun, "immediate" is an adjective, "prize" can be a noun, and "maize" is a noun. Prefixes can also be used to create new verbs. Examples are: "un-" ("unmask"), "out-" ("outlast"), "over-" ("overtake"), and "under-" ("undervalue").[16] Just as nouns can be formed from verbs by conversion, the reverse is also possible:[16]
Verbs can also be formed from adjectives:[16]
A verb is said to be regular if its base form does not change when inflections are added to create new forms.[20] An example is: base form: climb; present form: climb; -s form: climbs; -ing form: climbing; past form: climbed; -ed participle: climbed.[20] Irregular verbs are ones in which the base form changes; the endings corresponding to each form are not always unique.[20] Examples:
The verb "be" is the only verb in English which has distinct inflectional forms for each of the categories of grammatical forms: base form: be; present form: am, are; -s form: is; -ing form: being; past form: was, were; -ed participle: been.[20]
Verbs come in three grammatical types: lexical, auxiliary, and modal.[21] Lexical verbs form an open class which includes most verbs (state, action, processes, and events). For example, "dive," "soar," "swoon," "revive," "breathe," "choke," "lament," "celebrate," "consider," "ignore" are all lexical verbs.[21] Auxiliary verbs form a closed class consisting of only three members: be, do, and have.[21] Although auxiliary verbs are lexical verbs as well, their main function is to add information to other lexical verbs. This information indicates (a) aspect (progressive, perfect), (b) passive voice, and (c) clause type (interrogative, negative).[21] In the following examples, the auxiliary is in boldface and the lexical verb is italicized.
Modal verbs also form a closed class which consists of the core modals ("can," "could," "shall," "should," "will," "would," "may," "might," "must"), semi-modals ("dare," "need," "ought to," "used to"), and modal expressions ("be able to," "have to").[21] Modals add information to lexical verbs about degrees of certainty and necessity.[21] Examples:
Modal verbs do not inflect for person, number or tense.[21] Examples:
Verbs too have features that aid in their recognition:
Verb phrases are formed entirely of verbs. The verbs can be lexical, auxiliary, and modal. The head is the first verb in the verb phrase.[29] Example:
In a verb phrase, the modal comes first, then the auxiliary or several auxiliaries, and finally the lexical (main) verb.[29] When a verb phrase has a combination of modal and auxiliaries, it is constituted usually in the following order: modal verb >> perfect have >> progressive be >> passive be >> Lexical verb.[29] Examples:
Verb phrases can vary with tense, in which case they are called "tensed verb phrases."[33] Example:
There are many non-tensed forms as well:
The time frame of a non-tensed verb phrase is determined by examining that of the main clause verb.[33] Examples:
In the first case, the time frame (past) of "practicing" is determined by "was" in the main clause; in the second, the time frame (present and future) of "practicing" is determined by "will in time," also in the main clause.
Verb phrases can also express two aspects: progressive and perfect. Aspect provides additional information on the speaker's perception of time.
The progressive aspect consists of the auxiliary be form and the -ing form of the lexical verb.[43] Examples:
Properties:
The perfect aspect is created by the auxiliary "have" and the "-ed" participle form of the lexical verb.[43] It refers to a time period that includes the present moment.[43] Contrast "The flowers didn't bloom this summer" with "The flowers haven't bloomed this summer." The latter sentence suggests that the summer is not over yet.
Properties:
Finally, the two aspects, progressive and perfect, can be combined in a verb phrase: "They've been laughing so hard that their sides hurt."
The passive voice, which provides information about the roles of different participants in an event, is formed with the auxiliary "be" and the "-ed" participle form of the lexical verb.[49] Examples:
Properties:
A verb phrase can also express mood, which refers to the "factual or non-factual status of events."[49] There are three moods in English: indicative, imperative, and subjunctive.[49]
The indicative is the most common mood in English.[49] It is a factual mood, and most constructions involving the various choices of person, tense, number, aspect, modality are in the indicative mood.[49] Examples:
The imperative mood is a non-factual mood and is employed for issuing directives:[49]
The subjunctive mood is also a non-factual mood which refers to demands, desires, etc.[49] It uses the base form of the verb without inflections.[49] It is rare in English and is used after only a handful of words such as "demand," "request," "suggest," "ask," "plead," "pray," "insist," and so forth.[49] Examples:
Properties:
According to Carter and McCarthy, "Adjectives describe properties, qualities, and states attributed to a noun or a pronoun."[65] As was the case with nouns and verbs, the class of adjectives cannot be identified by the forms of its constituents.[65] However, adjectives are commonly formed by adding the some suffixes to nouns.[65] Examples: "-al" ("habitual," "multidimensional," "visceral"), "-ful" ("blissful," "pitiful," "woeful"), "-ic" ("atomic," "gigantic," "pedantic"), "-ish" ("impish," "peckish," "youngish"), "-ous" ("fabulous," "hazardous"). As with nouns and verbs, there are exceptions: "homosexual" can be a noun, "earful" is a noun, "anesthetic" can be a noun, "brandish" is a verb. Adjectives can also be formed from other adjectives through the addition of a suffix or more commonly a prefix:[65] weakish, implacable, disloyal, irredeemable, unforeseen. A number of adjectives are formed by adding "a" as a prefix to a verb: "adrift," "astride," "awry."
Adjectives come in two varieties: gradable and non-gradable.[66] In a gradable adjective, the properties or qualities associated with it, exist along a scale.[66] In the case of the adjective "hot," for example, we can speak of: not at all hot, ever so slightly hot, only just hot, quite hot, very hot, extremely hot, dangerously hot, and so forth. Consequently, "hot" is a gradable adjective. Gradable adjectives usually have antonyms: hot/cold, hard/soft, smart/dumb, light/heavy.[66] Some adjectives do not have room for qualification or modification. These are the non-gradable adjectives, such as: pregnant, married, incarcerated, condemned, adolescent (as adjective), dead, and so forth.
In figurative or literary language, a non-gradable adjective can sometimes be treated as gradable, especially in order to emphasize some aspect:
A non-gradable adjective might have another connotation in which it is gradable. For example, "dead" when applied to sounds can mean dull, or not vibrant. In this meaning, it has been used as a gradable adjective:
Gradable adjectives can occur in comparative and superlative forms.[66] For many common adjectives, these are formed by adding "-er" and "-est" to the base form:[66] cold, colder, coldest; hot, hotter, hottest; dry, drier, driest, and so forth; however, for other adjectives, "more" and "most" are needed to provide the necessary qualification: more apparent, most apparent; more iconic, most iconic; more hazardous, most hazardous. Some gradable adjectives change forms atypically:[66] good, better, best; bad, worse, worst; little, less, least; some/many, more, most.
An adjective phrase may consist of just one adjective, or a single adjective which has been modified or complemented.[69]
Adjectives are usually modified by adverb phrases (adverb in boldface; adjective in italics):[69]
An adjective phrase can also consist of an adjective followed by a complement, usually a prepositional phrase, or by a "that" clause.[69] Different adjectives require different patterns of complementation (adjective in italics; complement in bold face):[69]
Examples of "that" clause in the adjective phrase (adjective in italics; clause in boldface):
An adjective phrase can combine pre-modification by an adverb phrase and post-modification by a complement,[69] as in (adjective in italics; adverb phrase and complement in boldface):
An adjective phrase is attributive when it modifies a noun or a pronoun (adjective phrase in boldface; noun in italics):[69]
An adjective phrase is predicative when it occurs in the predicate of a sentence (adjective phrase in boldface):[69]
Adverbs typically modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs. They perform a wide range of functions and are especially important for indicating "time, manner, place, degree, and frequency of an event, action, or process."[83] Adjectives and adverbs are often derived from the same word, the majority being formed by adding the "-ly" ending to the corresponding adjective form.[83] Recall the adjectives, "habitual", "pitiful", "impish", We can use them to form the adverbs:
Some suffixes that are commonly found in adverbs are "-ward(s)" and "-wise":[83]
Some adverbs have the same form as the adjectives:[83]
Some adverbs are not related to adjectives:[83]
Some adverbs inflect for comparative and superlative forms:[83]
Adverbs are most usually placed at the end of a phrase. Time adverbs (yesterday, soon, habitually) are the most flexible exception. "Connecting Adverbs", such as next, then, however, may also be placed at the beginning of a clause. Other exceptions include "focusing adverbs", which can occupy a middle position for emphasis. "[103]
An adverb phrase is a phrase that collectively acts as an adverb within a sentence; in other words, it modifies a verb (or verb phrase), an adjective (or adjective phrase), or another adverb.[104] The head of an adverb phrase (roman boldface), which is an adverb, may be modified by another adverb (italics boldface) or followed by a complement (italics boldface):[104]
An adverb phrase can be part of the complement of the verb "be." It then usually indicates location (adverbe phrase in boldface; form of "be" in italics):[104]
Adverb phrases are frequently modifiers of verbs:[104]
Adverb phrases are also frequently modifiers of adjectives and other adverbs (modifier in boldface; modified in italics):[104]
Adverb phrases can also be modifiers of noun phrases (or pronoun phrases) and prepositional phrases (adverb phrases in boldface; modified phrases in italics):[104]
Adverb phrases also modify determiners (modifier in boldface; modified in italics):[104]
According to Carter and McCarthy, "As well as giving information on the time, place, manner and degree of an action, event, or process, adverb phrases can also have a commenting function, indicating the attitude and point of view of the speaker or writer towards a whole sentence or utterance."[119] Examples:
Adverb phrases also indicate the relation between two clauses in a sentence.[119] Such adverbs are usually called "linking adverbs." Example:
Prepositions relate two events in time or two people or things in space.[119] They form a closed class.[119] They also represent abstract relations between two entities:[119] Examples:
Prepositions are accompanied by prepositional complements;[129] these are usually noun phrases.[129] In the above examples, the prepositional complements are:
A prepositional phrase is formed when a preposition combines with its complement.[130] In the above examples, the prepositional phrases are:
According to Carter and McCarthy, "Conjunctions express a variety of logical relations between phrases, clauses and sentences."[129] There are two kinds of conjunctions: coordinating conjunctions and subordinating conjunctions.[129]
Coordinating conjunctions link "elements of equal grammatical status."[129] The elements in questions may vary from a prefix to an entire sentence.[129] Examples:
A correlative conjunction is a pair of constituent elements, each of which is associated with the grammatical unit to be coordinated.[129] The common correlatives in English are:
Subordinating conjunction relate only clauses to one another. They make the clause associated with them into a subordinate clause.[145] Some common subordinating conjunctions in English are: (of time) after, before, since, until, when, while; (cause and effect): because, since, now that, as, in order that, so; (opposition): although, though, even though, whereas, while; (condition): if, unless, only if, whether or not, whether or no, even if, in case (that), and so forth.[145] Examples:
Identified in English by a capitalized initial letter in its first word and by a period (or full stop) at the end of its last word, the sentence is the largest constituent of grammar.[150] A text that contains more than one sentence is no longer in the realm of grammar, but rather of discourse, as are all conversations, howsoever brief.[150] Sentences themselves consist of clauses which are the principal constituents of grammar. A clause consists of a subject, which is usually a noun phrase, and a predicate which is usually a verb phrase with an accompanying grammatical unit in the form of an object or complement.[150]
The first English grammar, Pamphlet for Grammar by William Bullokar, written with the ostensible goal of demonstrating that English was just as rule-bound as Latin, was published in 1586. Bullokar’s grammar was faithfully modeled on William Lily’s Latin grammar, Rudimenta Grammatices (1534), which was being used in schools in England at that time, having been “prescribed” for them in 1542 by Henry VIII. Although Bullokar wrote his grammar in English and used a “reformed spelling system” of his own invention, many English grammars, for much of the century after Bullokar’s effort, were written in Latin, especially by authors who were aiming to be scholarly. John Wallis’s Grammatica Linguæ Anglicanæ (1685) was the last English grammar written in Latin.
Even as late as the early 19th century, Lindley Murray, the author of one of the most widely used grammars of the day, was having to cite “grammatical authorities” to bolster the claim that grammatical cases in English are different from those in Ancient Greek or Latin.
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