Grammatical

Categories
and Word
Classes
Defining Grammatical Categories
A grammatical category is a set of syntactic features that
express meanings from the same conceptual domain, occur in
contrast to each other, and are typically expressed in the same
fashion.

Grammatical morphemes maybe either free roots (function

words) or bound affixes (inflectional suffixes).

The following list of grammatical categories will be exposed

through the nominal categories (number, gender, person, case,
degree, definitiness and deixis) and then the verbal categories
(tense, aspect, mood, and voice).
Number: Singular
and Plural
1 Count Nouns 2 Demonstratives
Singular and plural Words like "this,"
count nouns are "that," "these,"
often distinguished and "those" show
by adding "-s" whether we are
(e.g., dog/dogs). talking about one
thing or many.
3 Pronouns
Pronouns also change to show singular or
plural (I/we, my/our, mine/ours,
myself/ourselves).
Gender: Natural and Grammatical
Masculine
Many languages assign masculine gender to
nouns referring to males. Example: The strong
lion roared.
Feminine
Feminine gender typically applies to females.
Example: The graceful swan glided across the
lake.
Common
Common gender is used for nouns of either sex.
Example: The talented teacher inspired her
students.
Neuter
Neuter gender designates neither masculine nor
feminine. Example: The old house stood on the
hill.
Person: Speaker, Addressee, and References
1st Person 3rd Person
Refers to someone or something other
Refers to the speaker or the person than the speaker or addressee.
speaking. Example: "I went to the Example: "He is a talented musician."
store." Another example: "We are Another example: "The book is on the
having dinner tonight." table."

1 2 3

2nd Person
Indicates the addressee or the person
being spoken to. Example: "You should
try this cake." Another example: "Are
you feeling better today?"
Case: Function of
Noun Phrases
Nominative Genitive
The subject Shows possession or
performing the relation. Example:
action. Example: The cat's toy was
The cat sat on the under the bed.
mat.
Objective
The object receiving the action.
Example: The dog chased the ball.
Degree: Expressing Intensity
Positive Degree
Describes a quality without comparison to another entity. It
1 simply states the presence of the quality. Example: The dog is
big.

Comparative Degree
2 Compares the degree of a quality in two things. It
indicates that one entity possesses the quality to a
greater extent than another. Example: This dog is
bigger than that cat.
Superlative Degree
Indicates the highest degree of a quality among
3
three or more entities. It shows that one entity
surpasses all others in terms of that quality.
Example: This is the biggest dog in the park.
Definiteness: Known
vs. Unknown
Definite Articles
These articles (like "the") point to a
specific item already known to the
speaker and listener. Example: The dog
we saw earlier barked loudly.
Indefinite Articles
These articles ("a" or "an") introduce a
new, previously unmentioned item.
Example: A dog barked in the distance.
 Deixis
Deixis means "pointing via language". Any linguistic form used to do this "pointing"
is called a deictic expression. Words like here, there, this, that, now and then, as
well as most pronouns, such as /, we, you, he, her and them are deictic
expressions.

1. Spatial Deixis (related to location):

• "Put the book there.“
• "Can you come here for a moment?“

2. Temporal Deixis (related to time):

• "I'll do it now.“
• "We met then, during the summer holidays.“

3. Personal Deixis (related to participants):

• "I think you should talk to her.“
• "We are going to the party tonight. Do you want to join?“

Deictic expressions depend on the context of the conversation to clarify their meaning (e.g.,
"here" depends on the speaker's location).
Verbal Categories: Tense, Aspect, and Voice
Tense Aspect
Expresses the time of an action or state of Describes the duration or completion of an
being (past, present, future). Example: She action. Example: He was walking when it
walked to the store (past tense). Another started to rain (imperfect aspect). Example:
example: She walks to the store every day She had finished her work before leaving
(present tense). One more example: She will (perfective aspect). Example: They are
walk to the store tomorrow (future tense). working on the project (progressive aspect).

Mood Voice
Indicates the speaker's attitude toward the Shows whether the subject performs the
action. Example: The sun is shining. action (active) or receives the action
(declarative - states a fact). Example: Close (passive). Example: The dog bit the mailman
the door! (imperative - gives a command). (active voice). The mailman was bitten by the
Example: Did you finish your homework? dog (passive voice).
(interrogative - asks a question). Example: I
suggest that she go to the doctor. (subjunctive
- expresses a wish or suggestion).
Conclusion: Understanding Language
Structure
By understanding grammatical categories, we gain a
deeper appreciation for the intricate structure and
meaning-making capabilities of language.
Word Classes: A
Guide to
Grammar
Nouns: Naming Entities
Common Nouns Proper Nouns
A noun is a word which is used to A noun is a word which is used to
denote a person (traffic warden, denote a concrete or abstract
woman, Prime Minister, pianist entity (binoculars, fork, field, truth,
etc.) Represent general entities incoherence etc.) Denote specific
like people, places, or things. For individuals, places, or events.
example, "dog" is a common They are capitalized and unique,
noun. Examples include: woman, such as "Paris". Examples include
office, garden, truth, and York, John, Christmas, and
incoherence. Saturday.
Verbs: The Action Words
• Verbs describe actions, states of being, or occurrences.

• They form the core of a sentence, showing

what the subject is doing or experiencing. For
example, in 'The girl plays the piano,' 'plays' is
the verb.
• Verbs are categorized into transitive and intransitive verbs.
• Transitive verbs (e.g., 'throw' in 'The boy threw
the ball', 'read' in 'She read a book', 'build' in
'They built a house') require a direct object.
• Intransitive verbs (e.g., 'sleep' in 'The baby
sleeps', 'run' in 'He runs quickly', 'exist' in
'Unicorns exist only in myth') do not take a
• direct
Examplesobject.
from our discussion on nouns: 'Paris
is' (intransitive) vs. 'John bought a car'
(transitive), 'The dog barks' (intransitive), 'She
wrote a letter' (transitive).
Adjectives: Describing Nouns
Attributive Adjectives Predicative Adjectives
These adjectives come before the These adjectives follow a linking
noun they modify, directly verb (such as "is," "are," "seems,"
describing its qualities. "becomes") and describe the
subject.
For example, in "the bright sun,"
"bright" is an attributive adjective For instance, in "The sky is blue,"
directly modifying "sun." Another "blue" is a predicative adjective
example: "The fluffy cat slept describing "sky." Another example:
soundly." Here, "fluffy" modifies "The flowers smell sweet." Here,
"cat". "sweet" modifies "flowers" and
follows the linking verb "smell".
Adverbs: Modifying Verbs, Adjectives, and Other Adverbs
Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs, providing additional information about how, when, where, or to
what extent an action or quality is present. They describe the manner, time, place, frequency, or degree of an action
or state of being.
Examples modifying verbs:
• He ran quickly. (manner)
• She sings beautifully. (manner)
• They arrived early. (time)
• He works here. (place)
• She frequently visits her grandmother. (frequency)
Examples modifying adjectives:
• The sun is incredibly bright. (degree)
• She is remarkably intelligent. (degree)
• It was an unusually cold day. (degree)
Examples modifying other adverbs:
• He spoke very slowly. (degree)
• She walked too quickly. (degree)
• The car drove exceptionally fast. (degree)
Adverbs can be single words (e.g., now, then, here, there, very, quite), phrases
(e.g., at once, in short, all day long), or clauses (e.g., after the game, because of the rain).
Pronouns: Replacing Nouns
• Pronouns replace nouns to avoid repetition and make
writing more concise. Example: Instead of "John loves
John's dog," we can say "John loves his dog."

• Personal pronouns (I, you, he, she, it, we, they) refer to
individuals or groups. Examples: I went to the park; She
is a great friend; They are on holiday.

• Possessive pronouns (mine, yours, his, hers, ours,

theirs) show ownership. Examples: That book is mine;
This car is hers; The house is theirs.
• Demonstrative pronouns (this, that, these, those)
point to specific things. Examples: This is my coffee; That
is a nice car; These are delicious cookies.
• Interrogative pronouns (who, whom, whose, what,
which) ask questions. Examples: Who is going? Whom did
you meet? Whose book is this?
• Indefinite pronouns (some, any, many, few, all, none)
refer to unspecified nouns. Examples: Some people are
happy; Any questions?
Prepositions:
Showing
Relationships
Prepositions show how words relate to
each other in a sentence. They indicate
location, time, direction, or other
relationships between a noun or pronoun
and another word in the sentence. For
example, "The book is on the table"
shows location, while "We arrived before
sunset" shows time. Prepositions are
followed by a noun phrase (e.g., 'in the
park').
Example 1: The cat sat on the mat.
Example 2: The treasure is hidden inside the
chest.
Conjunctions
Coordinating Conjunctions Subordinating Conjunctions
This type is always used to Joins two or more unequal
connect elements that share clauses to one another.
the same grammatical status, Typically a main clause will be
that is, main clause to main connected to a subordinate
clause, verb to verb, noun to clause. Examples: because,
noun, adjective to adjective although, while, since, if,
and so on. Examples: and, unless, when.
but, or, nor, for, yet, so.
Example: I stayed home
Example: Apples are sweet, because I was sick.
and oranges are tart.
Interjections:
Expressing Emotions
Interjections are words or phrases that express
sudden emotions or feelings. They are often
used to emphasize a point or add a personal
touch. Filled pauses such as "uh," "er," and "um"
are also considered interjections.
Examples include: Wow!, Ouch!, Hello!,
Goodbye!, Cheers!, Hooray!. Interjections are
often placed at the beginning of a sentence and
are often followed by an exclamation mark. An
interjection is sometimes expressed as a single
word or non-sentence phrase, followed by a
punctuation mark.

For example, "Alas! I've lost my keys!"

Understanding
Word Classes:
Key Takeaways
By understanding word classes, we gain a
deeper understanding of how language
works. This knowledge helps us to write
more clearly, effectively, and accurately.
 References
Laurel J. Brinton, Donna Brinton. The Linguistic Structure of Modern
English. Jobn Benjamins Publishing, 2010. Pages 1-358 \

Wikipedia. (n.d). Interjection. Retrieved from:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interjection

TESOL-direct. (n.d). Word classes in English grammar. Retrieved from:

https://www.tesol-direct.com/guide-to-english-grammar/word-classes

Grammar -Monster. (n.d). What is the aspect of a Verb? Retrieved from:

http://www.grammar-monster.com/glossary/aspect.htm

Barbara Abbot. Definitie and indefinite. Encyclopedia of Language and

Linguistics, 2nd edition. Retrieved from:
https://www.msu.edu/~abbottb/def&inde.pdf