Word class
Open classes
Verb - describes actions and states (werkwoord)
- Michael remembered her name.
- I like ice cream.
Ordinary Verb - has meaning on its own, can be the only verb in a phrase
- Jack eats a lot of apples.
- I am surfing the internet.
- The weather was lovely on Saturday.
Auxiliary Verb - has no meaning, only grammatical function, always used in combination with
ordinary verb
- I am surfing the internet.
- He has played outside.
- He didn’t like the sunshine.
Difference:
- Did he ask her a question? (auxiliary)
- He did the dishes. (ordinary)
Modal verb – adds meaning to the ordinary verb (can, will, could, shall, must, would, might, should)
- You should pay attention.
- This plan might not work.
- Can you hear me?
Noun - describes people, places, things, ideas (zelfstandig naamwoord)
- The sun is shining.
- Dogs bark.
Adjective - modifies nouns (bijvoeglijk naamwoord)
- She wore a yellow bikini.
- The Big Ben is beautiful.
Adverb - modifies verbs (bijwoord)
- She truly loved her shoes.
- That guy on popstars sang horribly.
Closed classes
Determiner - expresses a reference of a noun in the context
Articles - state whether the noun is definite or indefinite
- The house is on fire.
- She ate an apple.
Quantifiers - indicate the quantity of the noun without being exact
- I saw some ducks.
- There aren’t any books in the library.
Numerals - indicate the exact quantity or order of the noun
- We have two cats.
- His first wish was a brand new skateboard.
,Possessive - indicates who or what the noun belongs to
- That’s my house you see over there.
- You should always do your best.
Demonstrative - used to draw attention to nouns
- That book is my favourite of all time.
- Look at those rainclouds.
Interrogative - used to introduce questions
- Which song is your favourite?
- Whose coat is this?
Pronoun - replaces a noun (or noun phrase)
Personal - replaces a noun (mostly to avoid repetition)
- John told me he would be late.
- When I met my friends, they had already ordered.
Possessive - indicates possession without a noun following in the same phrase
- Here, you can borrow mine.
- Yours is much better than this one.
Demonstrative - draws attention to something without a noun following in the same phrase
- That is my favourite of all time.
- Look at those.
Interrogative - used to introduce questions without a name following in the same phrase
- Who is that creepy guy over there?
- What are you looking at?
Relative - refers back to an earlier noun to link two sentences
- This is the house that Jack built.
- My brother, who lives in Manchester, is a doctor.
Reflexive - used instead of personal pronoun when the one doing the action and undergoing the
action are the same
- I cut myself this morning.
- He embarrassed himself by doing that.
Indefinite - refers to non-specific beings, objects, or places
- I hope I’ll meet somebody there.
- You are not going anywhere.
Preposition - expresses different types of relations (for example in place or time) (voorzetsel)
- It is on the table.
- I’ll see you before noon.
Conjunction - links two words, phrases or clauses (voegwoord)
- Would you like apples or pears?
- He studied hard, because he wanted to pass.
, About word class:
words can belong to more than one class
Promise
- to promise = verb
- a promise = noun
That
- that book = determiner
- the book that I like = pronoun
- I said that he should read this book = conjunction
Also, everything is context based
Nouns
What is a noun?
- Concrete nouns:
- Person: student, owner, Samantha
- Place: street, park, Utrecht
- Thing: computer, book, Porsche
- Abstract nouns:
- Idea: principle, concept, love
Singular vs plurals
Pronunciation of plural nouns:
- The pronunciation of this -s depends on the preceding sound
- After voiced sounds /z/
- Teams, babies, areas, rooms
- After voiceless sounds /s/
- Streets, ships, deaths, sacks
- After sibilants (as extra syllable) /ɪz/
- Buses, boxes, dashes, mirages
Plural forms: spelling exceptions
- Words that end in s, ss, ch, sh, x: + -es
- bus buses
- kiss kisses
- watch watches
- Words that end in consonant + y: -y -ies
- hobby hobbies
- baby babies
- But not with vowel + y
- boy boys
- play plays
- Words that end in f(e): usually, f(e) -ves
- wolf wolves
- life lives
- But not always:
- belief beliefs
- handkerchief handkerchiefs
- Words that end in o: usually, + -es
- hero heroes
- tomato tomatoes
- potato potatoes
Open classes
Verb - describes actions and states (werkwoord)
- Michael remembered her name.
- I like ice cream.
Ordinary Verb - has meaning on its own, can be the only verb in a phrase
- Jack eats a lot of apples.
- I am surfing the internet.
- The weather was lovely on Saturday.
Auxiliary Verb - has no meaning, only grammatical function, always used in combination with
ordinary verb
- I am surfing the internet.
- He has played outside.
- He didn’t like the sunshine.
Difference:
- Did he ask her a question? (auxiliary)
- He did the dishes. (ordinary)
Modal verb – adds meaning to the ordinary verb (can, will, could, shall, must, would, might, should)
- You should pay attention.
- This plan might not work.
- Can you hear me?
Noun - describes people, places, things, ideas (zelfstandig naamwoord)
- The sun is shining.
- Dogs bark.
Adjective - modifies nouns (bijvoeglijk naamwoord)
- She wore a yellow bikini.
- The Big Ben is beautiful.
Adverb - modifies verbs (bijwoord)
- She truly loved her shoes.
- That guy on popstars sang horribly.
Closed classes
Determiner - expresses a reference of a noun in the context
Articles - state whether the noun is definite or indefinite
- The house is on fire.
- She ate an apple.
Quantifiers - indicate the quantity of the noun without being exact
- I saw some ducks.
- There aren’t any books in the library.
Numerals - indicate the exact quantity or order of the noun
- We have two cats.
- His first wish was a brand new skateboard.
,Possessive - indicates who or what the noun belongs to
- That’s my house you see over there.
- You should always do your best.
Demonstrative - used to draw attention to nouns
- That book is my favourite of all time.
- Look at those rainclouds.
Interrogative - used to introduce questions
- Which song is your favourite?
- Whose coat is this?
Pronoun - replaces a noun (or noun phrase)
Personal - replaces a noun (mostly to avoid repetition)
- John told me he would be late.
- When I met my friends, they had already ordered.
Possessive - indicates possession without a noun following in the same phrase
- Here, you can borrow mine.
- Yours is much better than this one.
Demonstrative - draws attention to something without a noun following in the same phrase
- That is my favourite of all time.
- Look at those.
Interrogative - used to introduce questions without a name following in the same phrase
- Who is that creepy guy over there?
- What are you looking at?
Relative - refers back to an earlier noun to link two sentences
- This is the house that Jack built.
- My brother, who lives in Manchester, is a doctor.
Reflexive - used instead of personal pronoun when the one doing the action and undergoing the
action are the same
- I cut myself this morning.
- He embarrassed himself by doing that.
Indefinite - refers to non-specific beings, objects, or places
- I hope I’ll meet somebody there.
- You are not going anywhere.
Preposition - expresses different types of relations (for example in place or time) (voorzetsel)
- It is on the table.
- I’ll see you before noon.
Conjunction - links two words, phrases or clauses (voegwoord)
- Would you like apples or pears?
- He studied hard, because he wanted to pass.
, About word class:
words can belong to more than one class
Promise
- to promise = verb
- a promise = noun
That
- that book = determiner
- the book that I like = pronoun
- I said that he should read this book = conjunction
Also, everything is context based
Nouns
What is a noun?
- Concrete nouns:
- Person: student, owner, Samantha
- Place: street, park, Utrecht
- Thing: computer, book, Porsche
- Abstract nouns:
- Idea: principle, concept, love
Singular vs plurals
Pronunciation of plural nouns:
- The pronunciation of this -s depends on the preceding sound
- After voiced sounds /z/
- Teams, babies, areas, rooms
- After voiceless sounds /s/
- Streets, ships, deaths, sacks
- After sibilants (as extra syllable) /ɪz/
- Buses, boxes, dashes, mirages
Plural forms: spelling exceptions
- Words that end in s, ss, ch, sh, x: + -es
- bus buses
- kiss kisses
- watch watches
- Words that end in consonant + y: -y -ies
- hobby hobbies
- baby babies
- But not with vowel + y
- boy boys
- play plays
- Words that end in f(e): usually, f(e) -ves
- wolf wolves
- life lives
- But not always:
- belief beliefs
- handkerchief handkerchiefs
- Words that end in o: usually, + -es
- hero heroes
- tomato tomatoes
- potato potatoes
