Escuela de Comercio “Gral.

San Martin”
Carrera: Profesorado Inglés

Curso: 1º año

Espacio Curricular: Gramática Inglesa I

Docente: María Cecilia Juárez

Mail: juarezmariacecilia @gmail.com

CLASS Nº 3: APRIL 13th

Grammatical Units

Theory Section

In grammar, we need to identify the types of grammatical units, and how they combine to
form larger units. Grammatical units are meaningful elements which combine with each other
in a structural pattern.

Grammatical units can be combined to form longer written texts or spoken interaction, which
is known as discourse.

The types of grammatical units can be graded according to size of unit. Let`s start from the
smallest unit to the biggest.

1. MORPHEMES are parts of words, (stems, suffixes, prefixes). The part of grammar
dealing with morphemes is Morphology. Within the morphemes, we find phonemes
(the individual sounds which make up the language), and graphemes (the written
symbols we use to communicate in language). These are the smallest units of speech
and writing.

Un +friend + ly

Prefix Stem Suffix

Boy + hood build + er

Stem suffix Stem Suffix

2. WORDS consist of one or more words. They are divided into three categories:

1- Open, Lexical or Content words.

a. NOUNS
b. ADJECTIVES
c. MAIN VERBS
d. ADVERBS

2- Closed, Function or Structural words.

a. PRONOUNS:
 Personal (I , you. He etc)
 Reflexives (myself, yourself, ourselves, etc)
 Demonstratives (this-these, that –those)
 Reciprocal (each other,one another
 Possessive (mine, hers, ours,etc)
 Indefinite (somebody, anyone, etc)
 Relative (who, whom, which, that)
 Interrogative pronouns (what, who etc)

b. DETERMINERS : are words which are used before nouns . Determiners

include the following common types:
 Articles:a, an, the
 Demonstratives:this, that, these, those
 Possessives:my, your, his, her, etc.
 Quantifiers:(a) few, some, many, etc.
 Numbers:one, two, three, etc.

c. AUXILIARY VERBS:

 Primary auxiliaries : BE –DO –HAVE

 Modal auxiliaries: will- can –shall- may –must –would –could –
should –might

d. PREPOSITIONS

e. ADVERBIAL PARTICLES: they are closely linked to verbs. They are used
to build phrasal verbs. (break down – turn into, etc)

f. CONJUNCTIONS:
 COORDINATORS
 SUBORDINATORS
 3- Inserts : they are language fillers, they generally carry emotional and discoursal
meanings. They are mainly found in spoken language.

3. PHRASES. A phrase is a group or combination of two or more words. It is a unit of a

complete sentence. By itself, a phrase is not a complete sentence, as it does not relay a
complete thought. It does not contain the subject and the predicate both, so it is not
a clause either.

Types of Phrases

1] Noun Phrases: a noun phrase is any phrase that has a noun as its head and that can occupy
the same slot as a single noun or pronoun in a larger phrase or sentence.

 He was wearing a black linen shirt. Shirt is the head

Noun phrase (NP) Noun phrase (NP)

In this sentence we have two NPs, number one realized by a personal pronoun, NP2
realized a common noun containing premodification (ablack linen).

 The  black car got towed.

NP , its head is car

2] Verb Phrases: a verb phrase is a group of two or more words that can function in a sentence
in the same way as a single verb. The head of the verb phrase is a main verb.

 The teacher  is writing the answer.

Verb phrase ( auxiliary verb “is” + main verb “writing”)

 They have been playing since the last two hours

Verb phrase –VP ( auxiliary verb “have” + auxiliary verb “been” + main verb
“playing”)

 You must call your mom at once

VP (Auxiliary modal verb “must” + main verb “call”)

3] Prepositional Phrase: a prepositional phrase is a phrase that consists of a preposition
followed by, for example , a noun, a pronoun, a noun phrase or an adverb. In a prepositional
phrase there is embedment , that is one phrase within another one.

 We saw her in town the other day.

Prepositional phrase- PP containing a NP realized by a common noun

“town”. Embedment one phrase within another one.

 They managed it between them .

PP – containing a NP realized by a pronoun “them”

 What is in there?

PP- followed by an adverb.

4} ADJECTIVE PHRASES: an adjective phrase is any phrase that has an adjective as its head.
 Her behavior was unbelievable.

Adjective Phrase- Adj.P

 The results were good enough.

Adj. P.

5} ADVERB PHRASES: an adverb phrase is a group of words that has an adverb as its head.

 She got out of bed very slowly.

Adverb phrase the head is “slowly” (Adv.P)

 John is behaving rationally.

Adv. P

4. CLAUSES: a clause consists of one or more phrases. It contains a subject and a verb. It
can sometimes act as a sentence.

 Ana is a teacher.

5. SENTENCES: A complete sentence has a subject and predicate, and can often be
composed of more than one clause. As long as it has a subject and a predicate, a group
of words can form a sentence, no matter how short. There are different types of
sentences according to their complexity.
 A sentence is used to say something, to ask something, or to tell somebody to do
something.
A sentence should provide the person hearing it or reading it with enough information
for them to form a complete idea in their mind of the message that is being
communicated to them.

Examples:
 The old man sighed. (simple sentence)
 I don`t understand what you are telling me. (complex sentence)
 The day started badly and got steadily worse. (compound sentence)

Let`s start to practise!!!

So far we have already seen WORDS CLASSES, now we will focus on PHRASES, let`s go ahead!!

ACTIVITY Nº 1:which of the underlined words groups of words in the following sentences are
phrases?

1. These books are entirely suitable.

2. I`ve looked everywhere for my hiking boots.
3. My cousin`s wife went on holidays to Peru.
4. My parents are very keen on sailing.
5. She left home at the age of sixteen.
6. Do you take sugar?
7. They saw various strange objects on the table.
8. The plumber`s bill should have been paid last week.
9. Sadly, she died of her injuries.
10. A removal van pulled up outside the house.

ACTIVITY Nº 2: Say what sort of phrases (noun phrase, verb phrase, etc.) the underlined word-
groups in the following sentences are, and CIRCLE the word that is the HEAD of each phrase.

1. We will consider your suggestion carefully.

2. There were some lovely little calves in the field.
3. Her criticisms were totally unjustified.
4. We stared at her in amazement.
 5. I was completely exhausted by the time I got home.
6. There were two small boys standing on the doorstep.
7. That is a very serious allegation.
8. By evening, they had still not reached the farmhouse.

ACTIVITY Nº 3: Given the following sentences identify the phrases in each of them . Underline
them.

FOR EAXMPLE:

The meal was eaten in silence.

NP VP PP

1. In Britain, such a thing would never have happened.

2. The man was wearing a tattered old coat.
3. The little girl was glowing with pride.
4. Put the toys on that box.
5. He pressed a coin into the man`s hand.
6. We were utterly exhausted.
7. Exercise is very good for you.
8. She is a normal teenager.
9. The country has a serious balance of payments problems.
10. She gave him a great big kiss.
11. I would like those red roses.
12. She was carrying the eggs in a cardboard brown square ox.
13. I`m very interested in modern Chinese poetry.
14. The report was over fifty pages long.
15. My trip to Japan was a once in a lifetime experience.
16. The man dropped his wallet on the bus.
17. Many trees had been damaged in the storm.
18. I`ve got their names in my little black book.
19. We`re planning a three day protest.
20. The waiter brought them a jug.
ACTIVITY Nº 4: Given the following sentences, identify the different parts of speech and the
word class they belong to.

EXAMPLE:

We were well treated by our captors.

Parts of speech

We Pronoun- closed word class

were Primary auxiliary verb as main
verb – open word class
well Adverb – open word class
treated Main verb- open word class
by Preposition- closed word class
our Possessive pronoun- closed word
class.
Captors Noun- open word class.

The waiter brought them a jug.

Parts of speech Word class

The Article-
waiter
brought Main verb-
them
a
jug Noun -

I`m very interested in modern Chinese poetry.

Parts of speech Word class

I
am
very
interested
In
modern
Chinese
poetry

She gave him a great big kiss.

Parts of speech Word class

She
gave
him
a
great
big
kiss

I would like those red roses.

Parts of speech Word class

I
would
like
those
red
roses

By evening, they had still not reached the farmhouse.

Parts of speech Word class

By
evening
they
had
still
not
reached
the
farmhouse
 That dress really suits you.

Parts of speech Word class

That
dress
really
suits
you