FUNCTIONS OF

LANGUAGE
 FUNCTIONS
Outside of its context, a word cannot be accurately
labeled. Even a word as simple as the cannot always
be labeled as an article. For example, "The is hard to
pronounce for people learning English." In this
sentence, the is functioning as the subject; it is
doing a noun thing, so it will be labeled a noun in
this sentence.

2
 FUNCTIONS
The lion is scary.
The is hard to pronounce for people
learning English.

3
 FUNCTIONS
Also, consider the word "light":
⋆ Turn on the light. NOUN
⋆ I wish you wouldn't light your cigarette in here.
VERB
⋆ The cake was light and fluffy.ADJECTIVE
⋆ His eyes were light blue. ADVERB

4
 FUNCTIONS
In other words, A WORD IS LABELED BECAUSE
OF ITS FUNCTION, not the other way around.
Failure to understand this principle is probably the
primary cause of confusion for students of grammar.

5
 FUNCTIONS
Students usually know that the subject of a sentence
must be a noun ( or pronoun). However, they often
fall into the trap of calling every noun in a sentence
the "subject." This is an all too common error. This
problem can be avoided if one understands functions
within a sentence and realizes that labels are to be
attached accordingly. A WORD CAN HAVE ONLY
ONE LABEL AT A TIME!
6
 1.
FUNCTIONS OF A
NOUN
 SUBJECT
⋆ who or what the sentence is about; who or what
is doing the action.

Example:
Equality under the law is guaranteed for all.
(What is guaranteed?)

8
 SUBJECT
The lonely wolf  howled at the moon.
Grammar is a difficult subject.
If it were Monday, people would be at work.
My brother, Sasha, is the best person in the world.
Pencils always break before a test.

9
 direct object
⋆ who or what receives the action of the verb.

Example:
Sara returned the dress to the designer.

10
 direct object
The sailor sailed the ship across the Indian Ocean.
Dad drove mom to the airport.
The kindergarteners prefer short stories over poetry.
Dad built a treehouse for my 11th birthday.

11
 indirect object
⋆ who or what follows an implied "to" or "for"

Example:
The teacher gave Bill an A in the course.

12
 indirect object
Becky baked Bernice a plateful of cookies.
In art class, I made my roommate a sculpture.
The sun gave the garden a pocketful of sunshine.
Seamus assembled Marie a brand new office chair.

13
 object of the preposition
⋆ answers "Who?" or "What?" after the preposition

Example:
I hung a picture on the wall. (On the what?)

14
 Object of the preposition
The ants get in your ears when you are sleeping.
Inside every cynical person, there is a disappointed
idealist.
Are those biscuits on the table for the dogs?

15
 subject complement
⋆ who or what follows a linking verb and means
the same as the subject

Example:
Margaret was the mother of five.

16
 Subject complement
Ella was a ghost.
Ben is a policeman.
My friend is a doctor.
Michael Jackson was a great singer.

17
 appositive
⋆ renames another noun

Example:
Henry, my cousin, lives on my block.

18
 appositive
Gus, Eric's black cat, slowly crept up behind the
kittens.
The bookshelf, a large piece of furniture, was
moved into the house first.
They couldn't believe when the little boy stood up to
John, the biggest bully in school.

19
 direct address
⋆ who or what is being talked to

Example:
I told you, Larry, that I'll be there when I get there!

20
 Direct address
William and Mary, will you make sure you clean up
your rooms?
I don't know, Grandma, whether I want chicken or
fish for dinner.
I am sure you didn't mean to break the lamp, Kevin.

21
22
Thanks!

23