FUNCTION WORDS

&
THE SEMICOLON
Castillo Morales Casandra Esmeralda
4ª B
Words are used to form patterns of English grammar and syntax. Each word falls into
one of eight categories referred to as parts of speech;Noun,Pronoun, Adjective, Verb,
Adverb, Conjunction, Preposition, Interjection.
Each word is also either a content word or a function word.
Function words
• Function words are words that exist to explain or create grammatical or structural
relationships into which the content words may fit. (to make our sentences
grammatically correct).

• Pronouns
Content words give us
• Determiners
the most important
• Prepositions information while
• Auxiliary verbs function words are used
• Conjuctions to stitch those words
together.
 Category Description Examples
• Auxiliary verbs • A form of the words to be or to have or modals • Are, was, should, has, could
• Prepositions • Words that tell relation to other words • At, on, to, near
• Conjuctions • Words that tie clauses together • And, so, but, however
• Determiners • Words that give detail to nouns • A, an, the, some, any
• Pronouns • Words that replace nouns • I, it, we, they, he, she
Examples
1. Endocrine glands are defined as organs that secrete hormones.
2. The patient was treated during her second trimester of pregnancy
3. Only a few cases hace been documented
4. Side effects are produced by many drugs
5. Surmin is one of the most important drugs uses in sleeping sickness
6. Poisoning in children is almost always the result of ingesting household products
or medications.
7. Analgesic drugs can supress symptoms, but they do not cure diseases.
8. The intestine is the part of the alimentary canal or digestive tuve beyond the
stomach
9. Palpatation is a disagreeable subjective phenomenon wich may be define as
awareness of the beating of the heart.
10. Palpitation in frequently of considerable importance in the minds of the patients
11. Beningn intracranial hypertension is more common in women than in men.
12. The wide variability in the sensitivity to alterations in cardiac activity among
different individuals must be appreciated. Some patients seem to be unaware of the
most serious tachycardia; others are seriosly troubled by an occasional extrasístole.
13. In some patients the spinal fluid pressure is elevated, but in others the pressure is
normal. In contrast, the cerebral spinal fluid protein concentration is almost always
abnormally low.
14.Acquired incontinence may occur as a result of disease or injury to the spinal cord
as in multiple sclerosis and tumor or following fractures of the spine.
15. The results of primary reconstructive surgery in cases of extrophy are cosmetically
satisfactory, but sphincter control is rarely achived.
The semicolon

• Semicolons help you connect closely related ideas when

a style mark stronger than a comma is needed. By using
semicolons effectively, you can make your writing sound
more sophisticated.
• Like comas, semicolons indicate an audible pause
(slightly longer than a comma’s but short of a period’s
full stop).
• Used to link (in a single sentence) two independent clauses that are closely related in
thought.
Overall, 309 patients (18.4%) had an arrhythmia; the most common type of arrhythmia was atrial
fibrillation, which occurred in 266 patients (86.1%).

• Use a semicolon between two independent clauses that are connected by conjunctive
adverbs or transitional phrases.
The functions of motor neurons are linked to the cerebral cortex of the brain; however, in case of reflexes,
it is the spinal cord that ensures quick and responsive motor functioning.
• Use a semicolon between items in a list or series if any of the items contain commas.
1341 patients with septic shock in 31 academic hospital EDs received treatment based on one of three
approaches: protocol-based EGDT; protocol-based standard therapy that did not require the placement of
a central venous catheter, administration of inotropes, or blood transfusions; or standard care.

• Use a semicolon between independent clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction if the

clauses are already punctuated with commas or if the clauses are lengthy.
…protocol-based standard therapy that did not require the placement of a central venous catheter,
administration of inotropes, or blood transfusions; or standard care.
Examples
1. 50% of patients have ocular abnormalities; some studies have reported a prevalence
as high as 80%; these lesions are actually retinal astrocytomas that tend to become
calcified over time.
2. Renal manifestations of TSC are the second most common clinical feature; 4 types
of lesions can occur: autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease lesions, isolated
renal cyst(s), angiomyolipomas (AMLs), and renal cell carcinomas.
3. As Alzheimer's advances through the brain it leads to increasingly severe symptoms,
including disorientation, mood and behavior changes; deepening confusion about
events, time and place; unfounded suspicions about family, friends and
professional caregivers; more serious memory loss and behavior changes; and
difficulty speaking, swallowing and walking.
4. An estimated 47.5 million people worldwide were living with dementia in 2016; that
figure was expected to increase to 75.6 million by 2030.
5. Other features have been noted in the brains of many persons with Alzheimer
disease. One of these features is a deficiency of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine;
neurons containing acetylcholine play an important role in memory.
6. Several other genes have been implicated in Alzheimer disease. Examples
include CD33, which encodes a cell surface protein of the same name; PICALM, which
encodes a protein involved in endocytosis (the cellular uptake of substances);
and CD2AP, which encodes a protein that interacts with the cell membrane and may
have a role in endocytosis.
7. 1341 patients with septic shock in 31 academic hospital EDs received treatment
based on one of three approaches: protocol-based EGDT; protocol-based standard
therapy that did not require the placement of a central venous catheter, administration
of inotropes, or blood transfusions; or standard care.
8. Any abnormalities in UOP should prompt assessment of the adequacy of circulating
blood volume, cardiac output, and blood pressure; these should be corrected if
inadequate.
9. Overall, 309 patients (18.4%) had an arrhythmia; the most common type of
arrhythmia was atrial fibrillation, which occurred in 266 patients (86.1%).
10. The functions of motor neurons are linked to the cerebral cortex of the brain;
however, in case of reflexes, it is the spinal cord that ensures quick and responsive
motor functioning.
11. The third pair of aortic arches becomes the common carotids; the fourth pair, the
aortic arch and brachiocephalic artery; the fifth pair, the pulmonary arteries and ductus
arteriosus.
12. After birth, blood in the pulmonary artery no longer bypasses the lungs; previously
it had passed to the aorta directly through a shunt offered by the ductus arteriosus.
13. Depression is treated with medicines, talk therapy (where a person talks with a
trained professional about his or her thoughts and feelings; sometimes called
“psychotherapy”), or a combination of the two.
14. Depressive disorders often start at a young age; they reduce people’s functioning
and often are recurring.
15. Infections may be responsible for the higher incidence of epilepsy in some parts of
the tropical world; those most frequently associated with epilepsy are neurocysticercosis
and falciparum malaria.
References
• --. (--). Content and function words in sentence stress. 02/06/2018, de Seattle
Learning Academy Sitio web: https://pronuncian.com/content-and-function-
words/
• Alvarez G. & Galicia F.. (1996). Palabras funcionales frecuentes. En Manual de
comprensión de textos médicos en Ingés(19-30). México: UNAM Centro de
Enseñanza de Lenguas Extranjeras.
• ---. (March 5, 2018 ). Using Semicolons. 02/06/2018, de University of Wisconsin -
Madison Sitio web: https://writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/Semicolons.html
• -. (-). Semicolon. 01/06/2018, de The Punctuation Guide Sitio web:
http://www.thepunctuationguide.com/semicolon.html
• Beare, Kenneth. (2017, November 22). Content and Function Words. Retrieved
from https://www.thoughtco.com/content-and-function-words-1211726