TSLB2092

English Grammar
for the Language
Teacher

The Structure of Words

DR NURUL ‘IZZATI BT MD FUAD
REF: LDS TEAM, KOMATHY SENATHY RAJAH
TOPIC 1: THE STRUCTURE OF WORDS
• Word category
- Simple words
- Complex words
• Word classes (Content words)
- Nouns
- Verbs
- Pronouns
- Adjectives
- Adverbs
1. The Structure of Words

Word category Word classes (Content words)

Simple words Nouns
Complex words Verbs
Pronouns
Adjectives
Adverbs
Word Classes ( Function words)

- Prepositions

- Conjuctions

- Determiners
Word Category
– Simple words
• Simple words are words that can
have one or more syllables, but in
the case of a multisyllable word,
the meaning of the word is not
related to the meaning of any
syllable
Word Category – Complex words
• A complex word is defined as a base word combined with a derivational element, such as
an affix or a suffix. I.E, the word live + ly= lively. There are four origins that explain the
formation of complex words
• In English grammar and morphology, a complex word is a word made up of two or more
morphemes. Contrast with monomorphemic word.
• A complex word may consist of (1) a base (or root) and one or more affixes (for example,
quicker), or (2) more than one root in a compound (for example, blackbird).
Examples and Observations
• "[W]e say that bookishness is a complex word, whose immediate
components are bookish and -ness, which we can express in
shorthand by spelling the word with dashes between each morph:
book-ish-ness.
• The process of dividing a word into morphs is called parsing." (Keith
M. Denning et al., English Vocabulary Elements. Oxford University
Press, 2007)
Transparency and Opaqueness
• "A morphologically complex word is semantically transparent if its
meaning is obvious from its parts: hence 'unhappiness' is semantically
transparent, being made up in a predictable fashion from 'un,' 'happy,'
and 'ness.’
• A word like 'department,' even though it contains recognizable
morphemes, is not semantically transparent.
• The meaning of 'depart' in 'department' is not obviously related to
the 'depart' in 'departure.' It is semantically opaque." (Trevor A.
Harley, The Psychology of Language: From Data to Theory. Taylor &
Francis, 2001)
 Example: Blender
• Blender
• it consists of two morphemes, blend and er.
• Besides, we can say that blend is the root, since it is not further
analysable, and at the same time the base to which the suffix -er is
attached.
• To conclude, if we carry out morphological analysis, we usually show
what morphemes a word consists of and describe these morphemes
in terms of their type." (Ingo Plag et al, Introduction to English
Linguistics. Walter de Gruyer, 2007)
Word classes (Content words)

Nouns Verbs

Adjectives Pronouns

Adverbs
 Nouns are naming words.

They name people, places and objects.

They can also name ideas, emotions, qualities

and activities.
WHAT ARE Here are some examples of nouns:

NOUNS? Peter, Elizabeth, driver, sister, friend.

Bristol, Severn, Brazil, pen, dog, money.

Love, beauty, industry, nature, greed, pain.

A noun tells us what someone or something
is called.

It can be used to refer to a person (Hassan, boy,

thief), a job title (doctor), a place (Kuala Lumpur),
an object (letter), an activity/event (singing,
dancing), a quality (wisdom, strength), a group
(crowd, team) or whatever name we can think of.
Types of noun
 All nouns can be divided into proper
and common nouns.
 Common nouns can then be divided
into countable and uncountable
nouns.
 Both countable and uncountable nouns
can then be further divided into
concrete and abstract nouns.
 We’ll look at each type in turn.
PROPER NOUNS

Two distinctive features:

Proper nouns name a specific [usually a one-of-a-kind]

item.

It will begin with a capital letter no matter where it

occurs in a sentence
 ◦Words which show someone’s social status or job are called
titles. They are spelled with a capital letter. You use a title in
front of a person’s name when your are talking about them
Proper Noun in a formal way.
Doctor Baker, Mrs Rajah, Lady Diana, Lord Mountbatten,
– Referring to Datok Jaafar.
◦Note- Most words which are titles can also be count nouns,
people and usually without a capital letter.

things by …… lawyers, scholars, poets, presidents and so on

……. Maybe he will be a President one day.
name ◦The names of organizations, institutions, ships, magazines,
books, plays, paintings and other unique things are also
proper nouns and are spelled with capital letters.
…. Harvard University
 All nouns which are not proper nouns
are common nouns.

Common A few examples: cup, art, paper, work,

nouns
frog, bicycle, atom, family, mind.

Common nouns are either countable or

uncountable.
 Concrete nouns

They are mostly the

Cake, oxygen, iron, boy, dog,
Concrete nouns are the names of objects and
pen, glass, pomegranate,
words that most animals (countable) and
substances or materials earthworm and door are all
people think of as concrete nouns.
nouns. (uncountable).
 CONCRETE NOUNS
You can experience this group of nouns with your five senses: you
see them, hear them, smell them, taste them and feel them.
Pinky, Diana’s cat, licked strawberry ice cream of her chin.

Ice-cream is a concrete noun. You can see the pink, taste the flavour and
feel your tongue growing cold.
Any noun that you can experience with at least one of your 5 senses is
a concrete noun.
Concrete nouns
Concrete nouns are perceivable by the senses and name something you can see, hear, smell, taste
or
touch. These include people, animals, places and objects. Consider the following concrete nouns:

People: dentist, firefighter, man, Rita

Animals: barracuda, gorilla, puppy, tiger

Places: Empire State Building, island, mountain, Turkey

Objects: cake, fruit, keys, coffee cup

 Abstract nouns

Abstract nouns name ideas, feelings and qualities.

Most, though not all, are uncountable.

Many are derived from adjectives and verbs and have

characteristic endings such as –ity, -ness, -ence, and
-tion.

They are harder to recognise as nouns than the concrete

variety.
 Your five senses cannot detect this group
of nouns. You cannot see, hear, smell, taste
or feel them.

Abstract Diane pushed Pinky off her lap to register

Nouns
her anger.

Anger is an example of an abstract noun.

What colour is anger? What texture is
anger? Who knows? What flavour is anger?
No clue! You cannot taste it.
 Abstract nouns name things you cannot see, hear, smell, taste or fell. In
other words, abstract nouns are not tangible. They name actions, events,
ideas, states of mind and qualities. Consider the following abstract nouns:

Actions and events: childhood, Friday, September, war

Ideas: energy, freedom, ideas, luck

Abstrac States of mind: anger, courage, depression, freedom

t
nouns Qualities: beauty, truth, kindness, truth

Conditions: cancer, a cold, the flu, diabetes

Abstract noun or adjective

You won’t confuse abstract nouns Happy is an adjective. It behaves Happiness behaves like a noun: The
with adjectives, as long as you apply like one: very happy; so happy; happiness I feel; her happiness; great
a few tests. happier; as happy as happiness.
 ◦Many nouns have two forms, the singular form, which
is used to refer to one person or thing and the plural
form, which is used to refer to more than one person or
thing.
◦These nouns refer to people or things which can
be counted. You can put numbers in front of
them.
◦For example: … book… books or three brothers or ten
Count Noun minutes.
◦These nouns are called count nouns or
countable nouns.
◦For most count nouns the plural form has ‘-s’ at the
end, which distinguishes it from the singular ones.
◦Some count nouns have the same form for
both singular and plural.
◦… a sheep
◦…. Nine sheep
 ◦Some nouns refer to general things such as qualities,
processes and topics rather than to individual items
or events. These nouns have only one form, are not
used with numbers and are not usually used with
determiners like ‘the’ or ‘a’.
◦When you use an uncount noun as the subject of a
verb, you use a singular form of the verb. Eg: Fear
Uncount begins to creep slowly into their hearts.
◦Although uncount nouns refer to things which
Nouns cannot be counted and are not used with numbers,
you often want to refer to an amount of something
which is expressed by an uncount noun.
Sometimes, you can do this by putting a determiner
such as ‘all’, ‘some’ or ‘little’ in front of the noun.
◦It gave him little time.
LET’S TRY: IDENTIFY THE NOUNS IN
THE TEXT BELOW
◦ Francis Macomber had, half an hour before, been carried to his tent
from the edge of the camp in triumph on the arms and shoulders of the
cook, the personal boys, the skinner and the porters. The gun-bearers
had taken no part in the demonstration. When the native boys put him
down at the door of his tent, he had shaken all their hands, received
their congratulations, and then gone into the tent and sat on the bed
until his wife came in. She did not speak to him when she came in and
he left the tent at once to wash his face and hands in the portable wash
basin outside and go over to the dining tent to sit in a comfortable
canvas chair in the breeze and the shade.
ANSWER KEY
◦ Francis Macomber had, half an hour before, been carried to his
tent from the edge of the camp in triumph on the arms and
shoulders of the cook, the personal boys, the skinner and the
porters. The gun-bearers had taken no part in the demonstration.
When the native boys put him down at the door of his tent, he had
shaken all their hands, received their congratulations, and then
gone into the tent and sat on the bed until his wife came in. She did
not speak to him when she came in and he left the tent at once to
wash his face and hands in the portable wash basin outside and go
over to the dining tent to sit in a comfortable canvas chair in the
breeze and the shade.
 PERSONAL

PRON OU N
• ASpersonal pronoun
subjective/objective subjective/objective refers to a specific
person or thing and
I/me we/us changes its form to
indicate person,
you/you you/you
number, gender, and
he,she,it/him,her,it they/them case.
 • A subjective personal pronoun
SU BJECT I V indicates that the pronoun is
E acting as the subject of the
PERSONAL sentence. The subjective personal
pronouns are "I," "you," "she," "he,"
PRONOUNS "it," "we," "you," "they."
 I We
You
You The
y
SU BJECT I V He, She
E
PERSONAL ,It
PRONOUNS
Examples:

He saw the ship.

They are two years

 EX AM PLES OF SU BJECT I V E
PERSON AL PRONOUNS

I was glad to find When she was a

You are surely the After many
the bus pass in young woman, she
strangest child I years, they
the bottom of earned her living
have ever met. returned to
the green as a coal miner.
their homeland.
knapsack.
 • An objective personal pronoun
OBJECTIVE indicates that the pronoun is
acting as an object of a verb,
PERSONAL compound verb, preposition, or
infinitive phrase. The objective
PRON OU N personal pronouns are: "me,"
S "you," "her," "him," "it," "us," "you,"
and "them."
 Singula Plura
r• me l
• you us
• him, her, you
it
OBJECTIVE Examples: Please givetheme the ball.
PERSONAL m
The dog hit it.
PRON OU N
S Sarah showed them beautiful

flowers. Many people worked for

him.
 After reading the pamphlet, Judy threw it into the
garbage can.

The pronoun "it" is the direct object of

the verb "threw".
OBJECTIVE
PERSONAL
The agitated assistant stood up and faced the
angry delegates and said, "Our leader will
PRON OU N address you in five minutes."
S
In this sentence, the pronoun "you" is
the direct object of the verb "address."
 Object pronouns used as
direct objects, indirect
objects and objects of a
preposition.

NOTE
***NEVER USE ME AS
A SUBJECT
PRONOUN.
• Dad and I are going to the
zoo.
 A possessive pronoun indicates
that the pronoun is acting as a
marker of possession and defines
who owns a particular object or
person.
PO SSESSI V E
PRONOUNS

denote possession
mine yours hers, his, (its)
singular

plural ours yours theirs

 The smallest gift is
mine.

EX AM PLE This is
S OF yours.
POSSESSI V
E His is on the kitchen
PRONOUNS counter.
Theirs will be
delivered tomorrow.
REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS
myself ourselves
yourself yourselves
himself, herself, itself themselves

(also oneself, thyself)

Reflexive use:

reflexive. pronouns refer back to the subject

• -> the object NP is co-referential with the subject
NP
• The barber shaved himself.
• (John went to the barber and he shaved him.)
 As the object of the verb: I
hurt myself.

HOW ARE As the object of a

REFLEXIVE preposition: She was
PRON OU N sitting by herself.
S
USED? As the indirect object of a
verb: He poured himself
a drink.
 Myself, ourselves, yourself, yourselves,
himself, herself, itself, themselves

Pronouns that end in – self and –

REFLEXIVE selves
Mike gave himself a Our guests
big served
PRO N O U N raise. themselves
S dinner.

***Remember: Reflexive Pronouns

refer back to the subject.
 D EM O N ST RAT I V E
PRONOUNS
•A demonstrative pronoun points to and
identifies a noun or a pronoun. "This" and
"these" refer to things that are nearby
SINGULAR PLURAL
either in space or in time, while "that" and
NEAR this these
"those" refer to things that are farther
away in space or time. DISTANT that those

• That
is most common in conversation,
often it has a vague reference.
That’s what I thought.
• This is most frequent in academic writing
 - point out a person, place
, thing or idea.

- this, that , these and

those
D EM ON ST RAT I V
Singular:This is
E PRONOUNS
mine.
• That is the right
answer.
Plural: These are my
favorite books.
• Those are too
small.
 • An interrogative pronoun is used in a
question. It helps to ask about
something. The interrogative pronouns
are what, which, who, whom, and
compound words ending in "ever," such
as whatever, whichever, whoever, and
I N T ERROGAT I V whomever.
E PRONOUNS • What on earth is that?
• Who ate the last Fig Newton?
• Which wants to see the dentist first??
He asked in a nice way what had happened.
 I N T ERROGAT I V E
PRON OU N S
• Interrogative pronouns are:
who, whom, whose, what, which
Who and whom are used when talking about a person.
What is use when talking about a place, thing or idea.
Which and whose are used for both.
• There is the question on selectivity:
What book is that?
Which book is
that?
Which refers to a specific set of books, what is less
specific.
 I N T ERROGAT I V E AN D
D EM ON ST RAT I V E
PRONOUNS
Interrogative
pronouns:
who, peopl
whom e
what things
which to people or
whose things
ownership
**Who is always used as subject or predicate
pronoun. Ex: Who was that man? The winner was
who?
Whom is always used as an object.

 Whom did you call? “You did call whom”

 You told whom our secret? “You told our
secret to whom”
 For whom did the caller ask? “The caller
did ask for whom”

**DON’T CONFUSE WHOSE FOR

WHO’S. WHO’S IS A CONTRACTION

Who’s your Whose name is

FOR WHO
friend?
IS. it?
Your friend is who It is whose name
I N D EFI N I T E
PRON OU N S
• plural indefinite pronouns take plural verbs or
plural personal pronouns
[both, few, many, others]
A few of the justices were voicing their opposition.
• singular or plural: For indefinite pronouns that
can be singular or plural, it depends on what the
indefinite pronoun refer to
[all, any, more, most, none, some]
All of the people clapped their
hands. All of the newspaper was
soaked.
  All, another, any, anyone, both, each,
everybody, everything, few, many, most, no
one, some, several
 Ex: Everyone brought his or her special dish to
the
party.
I N D EFI N I T  Some Indefinite pronouns can be both
E singular and plural.
Some Indefinite pronouns can be used as
PRONOUNS

pronouns, nouns (Subjects) and
adjectives.
 Ex: All of the girls will be eating ice cream.
 All of the food was great.
 Several men went to the store on sale day.
 IN THE FOLLOWING SENTENCES USE
P R O N O U N S IN PLACE OF NOUNS
WHEREVER YOU CAN.
1. From the top of the hill, Shyam and Sundar saw the Northumberland straight.

2. The soup was delicious!

3. Karl rode the horse.
4. Meera and Seema performed in the talent show.
5. Gianna petted the puppy.
6. Louis cleaned the house.
7. Lisa and I baked the cake.
8. Kamal is my friend.
9. The presentation was very interesting.
10. Mark and Joe did well on the science project.
 CHECK YOUR ANSWERS
1. Shyam and Sundar : They
2. The soup : It
3. Karl : He
4. Meeta and Seema : They
5. Gianna : She
6. Louis : He
7. Lisa and I : We
8. Kamal : He
9. The presentation : It
10. Mark and Joe : They
 Adjective
• An adjective is a word used with a
noun to describe or point out, the
person, animal, place or thing which
the noun names, or tell the number
or quantity.

• An adjective modifies a noun or a

pronoun by describing, identifying
or quantifying words. (Adjective
means added to). It may be defined
as a word used with a noun to add
something for its meaning.
Form

One-word adjective

Compound adjective

Participle/Participial

Noun as adjective
 a word which modifies a
noun or pronoun
One-word
adjective It is one word that
modifies the meaning of
another word, phrase or
clause.
 beautiful girl
One-word
adjective
small child
 A compound adjective is formed when two or more adjectives
work together to modify the same noun. These terms should be
hyphenated to avoid confusion or ambiguity.

Incorrect: The black and blue mark suggested that he had been
involved in an altercation.

Compound Correct: The black-and-blue mark suggested that he had been

Adjective involved in an altercation.

Incorrect: Her fifteen minute presentation proved decisive to the

outcome of the case.

Correct: Her fifteen-minute presentation proved decisive to the

outcome of the case.
Participle Adjective

an adjective that has the same form as

the participle (that is, a verb ending in
-ing or -ed/-en) and that usually
exhibits the ordinary properties of an
adjective.

Also called a verbal adjective or a

deverbal adjective.
 We usually use the present participle (ending in -ing)
to talk about the person, thing, or situation which
has caused the feeling:

It was such a long, boring flight (so I was bored).

Participle
Adjectives I read a really interesting book about history (so I
was interested).

Many people find spiders frightening (so they're

frightened when they see spiders).
Can you identify the participle adjectives?
1 What an alarming noise! I was alarmed by the loud bang.

2
That TV programme is really amusing. He was amused to hear his little son singing in
the bath.
3
I've never seen such a boring film! The students looked bored as the teacher talked
and talked.
4
I find these instructions very confusing! Could I was confused, because I asked two people and
you come and help me? they told me two different things.
5
This weather is depressing! Is it ever going to I was feeling depressed, so I stayed at home with
stop raining? hot chocolate and a good book.
6
That is the most embarrassing photo! I look John was really embarrassed when he fell over in
terrible! front of his new girlfriend.
 • We write the "noun as adjective" and the
real noun in several different ways:
• two separate words (car door)
How do we • two hyphenated words (book-case)
write the • one word (bathroom)
"noun as • There are no easy rules for this. We even
write some combinations in two or all
adjective"? three different ways: (head master, head-
master, headmaster)
References
• https://study.com/academy/lesson/base-words-definition-examples.h
tml
• https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-complex-word-1689889
• https://www.learngrammar.net/english-grammar/verb
• https://www.learngrammar.net/english-grammar/linking-verbs-defini
tion-examples-lists
• https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter/grammar/preposi
tions#:~:text=Knowledge%20Check%3A%20Prepositions-,Preposition
%20Basics,%2C%22%20and%20%22to.%22
 TUTORIAL TASK
Group/ Pair Work
a. describe the assigned word classes with appropriate
examples. You may use any text : newspaper, article,
short story, reading passages, etc
- Nouns
- Pronouns
- Adjectives

Share your description with the class using ppt.