2nd meeting of vocabulary class

Introduction to Functional Words

& Content Words

---

Words are divided into two categories: Function Words and Content Words.

Function words are closed class words (only about 300 in English) while content words are open class words (new words are being added in every language).

Function Words	examples
Prepositions	of, at, in, without, between
Pronouns	he, they, anybody, it, one
Determiners	the, a, that, my, more, much, either, neither
Conjunctions	and, that, when, while, although, or
Modal verbs	can, must, will, should, ought, need, used
Auxilliary verbs	be (is, am, are), have, got, do
Particles	no, not, nor, as

Content Words	examples
Nouns	John, room, answer, Selby
Adjectives	happy, new, large, grey
Full verbs	search, grow, hold, have
Adverbs	really, completely, very, also, enough
Numerals	one, thousand, first
Interjections	eh, ugh, phew, well
Yes/No answers	yes, no (as answers)

Note: The same lexical word can function as either content or function word depending on it’s function in an utterance.

Example 1

“I have come to see you”	“have” is a function word (auxiliary verb)
“I have three apples”	“have” is a content word (full verb)

Example 2

“One has one’s principles”	“one” is a function word (pronoun)
“I have one apple”	“one” is a content word (numeral)

Example 3

“I have no more money”	“no” is a function word (a negative particle)
“No. I am not coming”	“no” is a content word (Yes/No answer)

1 Comment