LESSON 4

Knowing the classification of words will help you learn to choose your words. This
improves your diction.

Diction is the choice of words with regards to correctness, cleanliness, or

effectiveness to attain precision in writing.

CLASSIFICATION OF WORDS

1. LOCALISM – Refers to the word used and understood in a particular region

or section. Also called as Provincialisms are words or terms that we use
only in certain parts of a country. These class of words are not easily
understood outside of their own immediate community.

Example read:
American (cookie) – British (biscuit)
American (sneakers) – British (trainers)
American (elevator) – British (lift)

COLLOQUIALISM - also known as colloquial language and is a form of speaking

which uses an informal tone and words. It is used in a casual context and is easier
to listen to.

Most of colloquial words use CONTRACTIONS.

Example:
are y’all coming to the movies this weekend?
You’re gonna wanna see this
I ain’t going to read that book, it looks boring.

2. SLANG – It is a label for highly colloquial words. Sometimes it is generally

spoken to show inclusion in a certain social group.

Examples:
On fleek – looking perfect
 All the feels – lots of strong emotion about something

3. ABSTRACT – intangible things that cannot be detected by the five senses.

Examples:
Love, pain, leadership, learning

4. CONCRETE – identify things that can be perceived by the five senses.

Examples:
Paper, book, table, pen, plate

5. GENERAL – these are words that refer to a general referent or class. Also
called common nouns
Examples:
Flowers, bread, books, plants

6. SPECIFIC – Words that point to a particular class or referent. Also called

proper nouns
Examples:
Narra Tree, Sampaguita, Rose, Sourdough Loaf
7. SYNONYM – words with the same meaning
8. ANTONYM – words with different meaning
9. HOMONYM – words with the same sound but different in meaning
Examples:
Pail – pale
Mail – male
Sail- sale
Aloud – allowed
10. JARGONS – refer to specific words or specific language of a particular
occupation or group
11. ARCHAIC – old words rarely used except as preserved in religious and legal
purposes

SENTENCE STRUCTURE

A. A sentence is the most fundamental and versatile tool available to writers.

The subject-transitive verb-direct object pattern (S-TV-DO) is effective because it
is most familiar to readers.
Transitive Verb is a verb that requires an object to receive the action.
Answers the question “WHAT”

A transitive verb can also take more than an one object. But it will be called
INDIRECT OBJECT. Answers the question “FOR WHOM” or “TO WHOM”

S – TV – IO – DO

B. Give emphasis to the main idea. Use uncomplicated sentences to state

complex ideas. If readers have to cope with a complicated sentence in
addition to a complex idea, they are likely to become confused.

C. Parallel Structure requires that sentence elements that are alike in function
be alike in grammatical form as well.

This structure achieves an economy of words, clarifies meaning, expresses

the equality of the ideas, and achieves emphasis. Parallel structure assists
readers because it allows them to anticipate the meaning of a sentence
element on the basis of its construction. Parallel structure can be achieved
with words, phrases, or clauses.

Faulty parallelism results also when joined elements are intended to serve equal
grammatical functions but do not have equal grammatical form. Also, Faulty
parallelism sometimes occurs because a writer tries to compare items that are
not comparable.

To avoid faulty parallelism, make certain that each element in a series is similar in
form and structure to all others in the same series.

ABBREVIATION
- are shortened version of words.

There are 2 kinds of abbreviations: Initialism & Acronym

INTIALISM – are abbreviations formed by combining the initial letter of each word
in a multiword term. Initialisms are pronounced as separate letters.
 Examples:

Tarlac State University - T.S.U

DeoxyRibonucleic Acid - DNA

Uniform Resource Locator - URL

ACRONYMS - are formed by combining the first letter or letters of several words;
they are pronounced as words. Do not use period for acronyms.
Examples:

Personal Identification Number - PIN

Department of Education - DEpEd

National Aeronautics and Space Administration - NASA

In business, industry, and government, specialists and those working together on

particular projects often use abbreviations.

There is actually a tip or general rule in using abbreviation in writing:

Always SPELL OUT a term to be abbreviated the first time it is used,
followed by the abbreviation in parentheses. Thereafter, the abbreviation may
be used alone.

In long documents, repeat the full term in parentheses after the abbreviation at
regular intervals to remind readers of the abbreviation’s meaning.

ABBREVIATION USAGE:

1. NAMES OF ORGANIZATIONS – These are the most common ones.

If the term is abbreviated in the official company name that appears on
letterhead stationery or on its Web site, use the abbreviated form. If the term is
not abbreviated in the official name, spell it out in writing.
Names of divisions within organizations, terms such as Department and Division
should be not be abbreviated.
 2. MEASUREMENTS

A. Except for abbreviations that may be confused with words ,

abbreviations of measurement do not require periods.
Examples:
inch and gallon (Abbreviation: in. and gal.)
These may confuse readers if you don’t put periods. Cause in may mean a
preposition. Gal may mean a friend.

B. Abbreviations of units of measure are identical in the singular and plural.

You don’t put s even though it is in plural. Or more than 1.
Example:
1 CM and 15 CM

3. TITLES AND DEGREES – Social titles are always abbreviated when preceding
a name. Academic, professional, and honorary designations follow the
name. However, be certain that it does not duplicate a title before the
name

4. COMMON SCHOLARLY ABBREVIATIONS

NUMBERS

Write numbers from zero through ten as words, and write numbers above ten as
numerals.

Spell out numbers that begin a sentence, however, even if they would otherwise
be written as numerals. If spelling out such a number seems awkward, rewrite the
sentence so that the number does not appear at the beginning.

A. DEGREE OR SEQUENCE

In most writing, spell out small ordinal numbers, which express degree or
sequence, when they are single words.
 B. DATES – Days of the week and months should be SPELLED OUT in the text,
especially the first time it is being used.

So you have to spell them out Sunday, Monday, January, February. You may
abbreviate them the next time you use them in your write up. But you may
abbreviate them when you use them in tables, figures.

1. Years should not be abbreviated in formal writing.

2. Decades are written as numerals without an apostrophe.

In writing dates, the best approach is to avoid using an all-numeric date format.
Spell out the month.

Another, is if you are only stating month and year, do not put a comma.
Example: FEBRUARY 2021.

Avoid using ORDINAL NUMBERS: These are the 4th, 5th, example: Feb 2nd or 2nd of
February

DO NOT USE THAT UNLESS YOU ARE TOLD TO.

TIME

For time, we have 12hr system and 24hr system.

Be careful when using 12:00 because it may indicate noon or midnight.

CAPITALIZATION

The use of capital, or uppercase letters. Capital letters are used to call attention
to certain words, such as proper nouns and the first word of a sentence.

1. PROPER NOUNS – Specific names of persons, place, thing or event

 2. FIRST WORDS - The first letter of the first word in a sentence is always
capitalized

The first word after a colon is capitalized when the colon introduces two or more
sentences (independent clauses).

If a subordinate element follows the colon or if it is a dependent clause, use a

lowercase letter following the colon.

The first word of a complete sentence in quotation marks is capitalized.

3. SPECIFIC GROUPS AND PLACES – Capitalize the names of ethnic groups,

religions, and nationalities. Do not capitalize the names of social and
economic groups

The words north, south, east, and west are capitalized when they refer to sections
of the country,
but not capitalized when they refer to directions.

4. TITLES OF WORKS

Capitalize the initial letters of the first, last, and major words in the title of a book,
an article, a play, or a film.

TITLE OF BOOKS AND RESEARCH

Do not capitalize articles (a, an, the), coordinating conjunctions (and, but), or
prepositions unless they begin or end the title (The Lives of a Cell).