ENGLISH GRAMMAR 1

Información y Requisitos:

Anual, regular (teórica práctica) con

exàmen final.
Seis horas cátedras semanales.
aprobar el 75% de tres parciales con
recuperación de un solo parcial integral
final
asistencia 75%.
Trabajos prácticos aprobados.
 WHAT IS LANGUAGE?

 It is a system of communication by written or spoken words used by people of an

area or country.

HOW CAN WE LEARN A LANGUAGE?

Native language: it is used as the first language.

Nonnative language: it is used as a second

language ( intranational language) and as a foreign
language( international purposes).
 WHAT IS
LINGUISTICS?

It is a science that involves the scientific study of language and

how it works. It includes the following branches: Phonetics,
Phonology, Morphology, Syntax, Semantics, and Pragmatics.

GRAMMAR

The rules by which words change their forms and are combined into
sentences, or the study or the use of these rules (Longman, Dictionary of
Contemporary English)

The systematic study and description of language in terms of either syntax or morphology
alone or these together with aspects of phonology, orthography, semantics, pragmatics and
word formation.
WE WILL CONCENTRATE ON:

MORPHOLOGY: it studies the internal structure of words, of how words

are formed out of morphemes.
SYNTAX: it studies how words are combined to form phrases,
clauses and sentences.

SEMANTICS: it studies meanings.

 MORPHEME

 WORD

 PHRASE

 CLAUSE

 SENTENCE
 THE MORPHEME: it is the minimal unit of language with
meaning. It may be a word or part of it. E.g.: car, unhappy, goes

 THE WORD: it is a part of speech formed out of morphemes. E.g.: woman,

typical, cars.

1. Open class of words: they are constantly changing in the language and thus
admit and incorporate new members. These words are also called lexical or
content words. They include:
 Nouns
 Lexical verbs
 Adjectives
 Adverbs
2. Closed class of words: they are relatively fixed and unchanging in the language. They
are also called “grammatical”, “function” or “structure words”. They include:2.

 Pronouns
 Articles
 Prepositions
 Numerals
 Quantifiers and multipliers
 Conjunctions
 Interjections
 Auxiliary verbs
 THE PHRASE: generally, it is a group of words. The phrase is defined by its
“head word”. We have the following phrases: noun phrase, verb phrase,
adverb phrase, adjective phrase and prepositional phrase. E.g.:

 The man (NP), Argentina (NP)

 Very good (ADJ P)
 Quickly (ADV P)
 Are (VP) goes (VP)
 At school (PREP P)

 THE CLAUSE : it is a group of phrases. It has at least one NP and one VP. E.g. Maria is tall
 THE SENTENCE: it represents the highest level in the hierarchy. There are three
types of sentences.

1. SIMPLE SENTENCE: it consists of only one clause. Eg :

She is very nice
She goes to school at 8 am

2. COMPOUND SENTENCE: it consists of two or more independent clauses linked

by a coordinating conjunction. E.g. :
My sister is very clever and she is studying maths at university
He likes pasta but he doesn’t like spaghetti.

3. COMPLEX SENTENCE: It is made up of a main clause and subordinate or

dependent clauses linked to the main one by means of a subordinating
conjunction. Eg:
Although Jane saved money, she couldn’t buy her a present