Function Word Classes

PDCE I- Fernández/Modinger
2021
Agenda

● The structure and function of function words: determiners, pronouns,

auxiliary verbs, prepositions, adverbial particles, coordinators, and
subordinators.

● Special classes of words

Function Words

They can be categorized in different

classes: determiners, pronouns,
auxiliary verbs, prepositions,
adverbial particles, coordinators and
subordinators .
Determiners

Determiners normally precede a ☑ WH-words and numerals

noun, and are used to help clarify the
meaning of the noun. The most
important are:

☑ The definite article

☑ Demonstrative determiners

☑ Possessive determiners

☑ Quantifiers
Pronouns Pronouns fill the position of a noun or
a whose noun phrase. The reference
☑ Indefinite Pronouns of a pronoun is usually made clear by
its context. There are major classes
☑ Relative Pronouns
of pronouns:
☑ Interrogative pronouns
☑ Personal pronouns

☑ Demonstrative Pronouns

☑ Reflexive pronouns

☑ Reciprocal pronouns

☑ Possessive Pronouns
Auxiliary Verbs
The are two kinds of auxiliary verbs:
primary auxiliaries and modal
auxiliaries. Both are auxiliary verbs
in the sense that they are added to a
main verb to help build verb phrase.

Auxiliary verbs precede the main or

lexical verb in a verb phrase: will
arrive, has arrived, is arriving, may be
arriving etc.
 Primary Auxiliaries

BASE PRES. PAST ING- ED- There are three primary auxiliaries:
TENSE TENSE PARTICIP PARTICiP.
. BE, HAVE, and DO. They have
inflections like lexical verbs, but are
be is are was, being been
am were normally unstressed. The same verbs
BE, HAVE, and DO can also act as
have has, had having had
have main verbs.
do do, does did doing done
Modal Auxiliaries WILL CAN SHALL MAY

WOULD COULD SHOULD MIGHT

There are nine modal auxiliary verbs.
As their name suggests, they are
largely concerned with expressing Each modal is the lower row is
“modality”, such as possibility, historically the past tense of the modal
necessity, prediction, and volition. The directly above it. MUST has no
modals are: matching historical past tense.

WILL, CAN, SHALL, MAY, MUST, Modals can be regarded as invariable

WOULD, COULD, SHOULD, and MIGHT. function words, with no inflections such
as -ing and -ed.
Modals occur as the first verb in a
clause and are followed by the base
form of another verb., usually the
main verb (underlined below):

I can live here quietly

They would have a different view

 Prepositions are linking words that
Prepositions introduce prepositional phrases. The
prepositional complement following
a preposition is generally a noun
phrase, so prepositions can also be
seen as linking words that connect
other structures with noun phrases.
E.g.:

Eleven fifty with the tip

She's in a new situation

That picture of mother

He's still on the phone

Most prepositions are short, Circle the preposition and underline
invariable forms: e.g.: about, after, the noun phrase functioning as a
around, as, at, by, down, for, from prepositional complement:
etc.
1. He´ll go with one of the kids
2. Late one morning in June, in the
thirty-first year year of his life, a
message was brought to Michael
K as he raked leaves in the De
Waal Park.
Now, check your answers!: The preposition is in bold, and the prepositional
phrase it introduces is enclosed in ( ). The noun phrase functioning as a
prepositional complement is underlined.

1. He´ll go (with one of the kids).

1. Late one morning (in June), (in the thirty-first year of his life), a message
was brought (to Michael K) as he raked leaves (in the Waal Park).
Prepositions can be linked to a
preceding verb, such as rely on and
confide in. E.g.

You can´t, you can't rely on any of

that information.

She confided in him above all others.

Complex Prepositions
Another set of preposition consists
ENDING IN EXAMPLES of multi-word units known as
complex prepositions, which have a
As such as meaning that cannot be derived from
for as for, except for the meaning of the parts. Two- word
complex prepositions normally end
from apart from
up with a simple preposition.
of because of, instead of,
out of, regardless of

to according to, due to,

owing to
Three- word prepositions usually
have the structure simple preposition
+ noun + simple preposition:
ENDING EXAMPLES

of by means of, in
spite of, on
account of, on top
of

to in addition to, with

regard to

as as far as, as well

as
Adverbial Particles
Adverbial particles are closely linked to
verbs. They generally follow verbs, and
closely bound to them in meaning: go They are small group of words with a
away, como back, put (sth) on, etc. They core meaning of motion. The most
are uses to build phrasal verbs. important are: about, across, along,
around, aside*, away*, by, back*, down,
forth*, home*, in, off, on out over past,
round, through, under, up.

(The ones marked * can also be

prepositions)
Adverbial particles have been called
“prepositional adverbs”, because of
their resemblance to both
prepositions (in form) and adverbs
(in syntactic role).
Coordinators

There are two types of words

traditionally called conjunctions.

☑Coordinators (also called

coordinating conjunctions)

☑ Subordinators (also called

subordinating conjunctions)
Coordinators are used to indicate a Examples:
relationship between two units such
as phrases and clauses. Mother and I saw it
Coordinators link elements which I don't want to speak too soon, but I
have the same syntactic role, and are think I have been fairly consistent this
at the same level of syntactic season
hierarchy. Thus, in any structure (X +
coordinator + Y), X and Y are Is this necessarily good or bad?
equivalent. The main coordinators
are AND, BUT, and OR.
Or has a rather infrequently used
negative counterpart, nor which is
used after negative clauses:

The donkeys did not come back, nor

did the eleven men, nor did the
helicopter.
Correlative Coordinators

Each simple coordinator can be

combined with another word, to
make a correlative coordinator:

both (X) and (Y)

either (X) or (Y)

not only (X) but also (Y)

neither (X) nor (Y)

Subordinators
They are linking words that introduce
clauses known as dependent clauses-
clauses which cannot stand alone
without another clause, called the
main clause. E.g.:

You can hold her (if you want)

The subordinator shows the

connection of meaning between the
main clause and the subordinate
clause. In the example above, the
subordinator “if” shows a relation of
condition.
In coordination, the two elements
have the same status or syntactic
hierarchy. In the case of
subordination, the dependent clause
starting with the subordinator is
embedded (or included) in the main
clause.
The great majority of subordinators introduce adverbial
clauses, adding details of time, place, reason etc. to the
main clause: after, as, because, if, since, although, while
etc.
 Three
subordinators
introduce degree As

clauses: Than

These indicate meaning That

relationships of comparison.
 If
Three That
subordinators Whether

introduce These are called complentizers

complement
because they introduce clauses
following verbs, adjectives or nouns,

clauses
( (or complementing or completing the
meaning of these key words in the

nominal clauses) main clause:

I´m glad (that I found you again)

Dependent clauses
can also be
introduced by other
forms. like wh-
words and the
relative pronoun
that. These are not
subordinators.
Complex Subordinators ENDING IN EXAMPLES
as as long, as soon
Like prepositions, subordinators may as
consist of more than one word. Most of that given (that), on
these complex subordinators end with condition (that),
as or that (often the that is optional, as provided (that),
shown by parentheses ( ): except (that). in
that, in order
that, so (that),
such (that)

others as if, as though,

even if, even
though
A few classes of
function words Existencial there is often called an
anticipatory subject. No other
have special words in English behaves in the
same way, heading a clause
qualities expressing existence:

There´s a mark on the chair

Wh- words, like subordinators,
introduce clauses. However, There were four bowls of soup
they do not form an independent
word class.
 The negator not: It is in some ways like

A few classes of an adverb, but in other respects it is

unique. Its main use is to make a
function words clause negative:

have special You can do this but (you can't do that)

qualities The infinitive marker to (not to be

confused with the common preposition
to). Its main use as a complementizer
preceding the infinitive base form of
verbs:

What do you want to drink?

I'm happy to be here right now.

A few classes of Cardinals: They answers the

function words
question how many and are uses
like determiners, with a following

have special noun: Four people were arrested.

Cardinals can also occur as head of

qualities noun phrases: Four of the tarder
have pleaded guilty.
Numerals
In their nounlike use, Cardinals can
be made plural by adding -(e)s:

Cops in twos and threes arrived

after a few minutes.
 Ordinal numbers answer the question
A few classes of “Which?” and serve to place entities in
order or in a series: first, second, third
function words etc. They can be used as determiners

have special
before a noun: It was the third week
after his death.

qualities They can also be used like nouns, as

heads of a noun phrase: The fifth, a
Ordinals man in his twenties, was accused of
stealing the money.

Ordinals are also used to form

fractions (they are pluralized): Two
thirds of the people are unemployed.
REVIEW
☑ There are seven classes of ☑ English has a large number of
function words: determiners, words which occur in more than one
pronouns, auxiliary verbs, grammatical category.
prepositions, adverbial particles,
coordinators and subordinators.

☑ There are a few other word types

which are not easily classified or
which cut across other categories:
wh-words, existential there, the
negator not, the infinite market to,
and numerals.