Student Grammar Workbook

based on the Morpho-syntax course for second year English students

Introduction to words

Exercise 1
Read the following excerpts from conversation and news.
How many word tokens are there in each excerpt? (Count the orthographic words. Count
contractions as one word.)
How many word types are there in each?
To get you started: the first word type you meet in 1 (don’t) is repeated four times, so there
are four tokens of the word type don’t.
1 Don’t let me do that okay? Don’t let me marry Justin okay? Do not let me marry him.
I don’t care what I say, just don’t let me marry him.
2 The great metalworking centres of the time were in Mesopotamia, Iran, and Egypt.
The best works of Jazira have an edge on the others. The inlay depicts intricate little
scenes...

Exercise 2
Each of the words below contains two or more morphemes: a stem and at least one prefix or
suffix.
Write each word, putting a hyphen between its morphemes (e.g. dis-agree-d) and
underlining the stem (e.g. dis-agree-d).
Distinguish between derivational and inflectional affixes: circle derivational affixes and
mark inflectional affixes with a wavy line underneath.
disagreed reconsideration unemployment reviewed
overcarefulness exchanging healthier independent
activity strengthens disrespectful unfortunately

Lexical word classes

Exercise 3
• In the list below, group word forms together if they belong to the same lexeme. Identify the
base form of each lexeme, and write it in capitals at the beginning of its group (e.g. LOOK,
looked, looking, looks). Hint: Try to find six lexemes, each containing two or more word
forms.
• Which word forms are ambiguous, because they belong to two different lexemes? (For
example, leaves belongs both to LEAF a noun, and LEAVE, a verb.)
• What word class does each lexeme belong to? (For example, noun, verb, adjective or
adverb)
life build building soon
live lived sooner buildings

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lives soonest liveliest built
lively builds livelier living

Exercise 4
• In the passages below, identify each lexical word as a noun, lexical verb, adjective, or
adverb.
• Compare the frequency of each lexical word class in the passages to the general patterns in
conversation and academic prose.
To get you started, all lexical words are underlined in the first extract.
1 A: Um can you get me a screw driver?
B: Where?
A: Uh well just bring my tool box.
B: Oh okay. Wow. Be careful. We’re gonna have to take those off. Do circuits run
back there?
A: Yep.
B: Okay. Move this. You want me to take off this? Ouch!
A: That should – you okay?
B: Yeah. I guess I should put on shoes.

2 We take it as a challenge to integrate in a natiral way the newest discoveries of plate

tectonics, marine geology, geochemistry, geophysics. And lunar and Martian geology
into the traditional discussions od such topics as geomorphology, sedimentation,
petrology, volcanism, and structural geology. We have not introduced the very new at
the expense of eliminating the essential material, both traditional and modern, that a
good course in geology should cover.
3 The trail opens into an orchard. The trees stand in the shadows, and the horse’s hooves
crunch in the cool mud. Off to your left, the sun is a yellow sliver over a distant line,
and you watch, rocking up there on your broad-backed horse, as daylight creeps across
the brown flower stems. A field of mist to your right reminds you of a dream you had.
The wind quickens.

Exercise 5
Many orthographic words in English can function in different word classes, depending on the
context.
• Identify the lexical word class of the underlined words below.
1a I was flat on my back.
back = noun
1b I already told him to back off.
back = verb
2a It’s pretty hard to do that.
2b I felt like I was pretty.
3a Actually, it’s fun to horse around with danger.
3b He is quite handy on a horse.
4a His ability to abstract and formulate higher-level logical categories of thought will t
also be compromised.
4b The abstract usually includes the major objectives of the proposal.
4c At the end of the journey is an abstract sculpture of the universe.
5a I go fast because I want to get back quick.
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5b By early September it seemed that the fast might go on indefinitely.
5c I’m normally a fast learner.

Exercise 6
Words ending in -ing can function as either a noun, a lexical verb, or an adjective.
• Mark each of the underlined -ing words as a noun, a lexical verb, or an adjective.
• Briefly state how you made your decision.
1a The price was coming down all the time.
coming is a lexical verb; it is the main verb of the whole clause
1b The coming weekend is relatively quiet.
coming is an adjective; it precedes and modifies the noun weekend, and the meaning
is “the weekend which is coming”
2a the running of the business
2b the sound of running feet behind me
3a ‘I’m not a drinking man’
3b a small drinking cup
4a another offering of sausage and mash
4b They began by offering him bad bargain prices
5a Of course, it all seemed very exciting
5b get it home without exciting any remarks

Function word classes

Exercise 7
In the following extracts, the function words are underlined
• Classify each function word as: determiner, pronoun, auxiliary verb, preposition, negator,
coordinator, subordinator, adverbial particle, or other special class.
1 A: You know who! see around* a lot*, is it your godbrother, with the cap?
you = pronoun; who = pronoun; it = pronoun; your = determiner; with =
preposition; the = determiner
B: Yeah*, he’s* living around here.
A: Ever since I saw him at the cafe I have seen him around so much.
B: Did he say hi to you?
A: No, ‘cause I don’t think he recognizes me.
*Note: Around is both an adverb and a preposition in this passage. A lot is an adverb, spelled
as two orthographic words. Inserts are in italics. Contractions combine two different function
words.
2 Any reasonably well-known professional scientist will receive from time to time
letters written by well-meaning people who indicate, usually in guarded terms, that
they have in their possession the solution to the riddle of the universe <...>

Exercise 8
• In the following extracts from fiction writing, underline all function words. The first four
function words in 1 are underlined to get you started.
1 How can I tell her? She will think she’s losing me forever. But she isn’t, and surely if I
tell her, then after a while she will see that it is all right* and forgive me.

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2 For Jan was still suffering from the romantic illusion — the cause of so much misery
and so much poetry — that every man has only one* real love in his life. At an
unusually late age, he had lost his heart for the first* time <...>.
*Note: Treat all right as a single adverb. Do not count numerals like one and first as function
words.

Exercise 9
• Identify all verbs in the following extracts as: primary auxiliary verbs, primary lexical verbs,
modal auxiliary verbs, or lexical verbs.
1 It was snowing down here today
Was = primary auxiliary verb; snowing = lexical verb
2 So we can just tell everybody.
3 Do you think they will have any sheep dog trials today?
4 I guess somebody must have already bought the socks and tennis balls.
5 A: You should have gone up and introduced yourself and asked her ‘Young lady what
are your intentions?’
B: That would have been really rude — David would have rightfully killed me for that
one.

Exercise 10
Each of the orthographic words below can belong to different word classes. (In fact, each of
these words can be used in at least three word classes.)
• Find sentences for each word illustrating how it is used in different word classes (Use any
English language materials available to you. If no materials are available, create your own
examples.)
long like that after

Exercise 11
In academic writing, we often encounter words that we don’t know. However, by using the
clues available from morphology and grammatical context, we can usually figure out the word
class of these words. The following passage contains several nonsense words, which are
underlined.
• Identify the word class of each made-up word.
• Briefly state what evidence you used to determine the word class.
Other reports have remanstroted an even chranger positive bitegration with plasma
charestarob, which is the main cholesterol-carrying wisotrotein. The grangest test of
the hypothesis that increased unintandal cholesterol is redectative is that
hyperextentment lawerity should divarently reduce the incidence of trischaemic heart
disease.

Exercise 12
Different forms of the same lexeme generally have different spellings, because inflectional
endings are added:
look look-ed look-ing look-s
But one of the annoying things about English is that the stem of a lexeme can also change its
spelling, depending on the inflectional ending that follows it. In this activity, we focus on

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regular verbs. Notice that while the verb stem look is spelled the same in all four word forms,
provide ‘adjusts’ its spelling to different endings:
provide provid-ed provid-ing provide-s
• Analyse the following lists of verb forms to figure out the rules for ‘adjusting’ the spelling
depending on the inflectional suffix.
• Write out four rules: (1) a rule for dropping silent -e, (2) a rule for doubling the consonant,
(3) a rule for adding -e before -s, and (4) a rule for changing -y to -ie or -i, or for changing -ie
to -y.
Notes: Stem-final -y can function as a vowel (as in cry) or as a consonant (as in play). The
symbol ‘ in the list below means that the following syllable is stressed. This can make a
difference.
call called calling calls
ask asked asking asks
row rowed rowing rows
use used using uses
like liked liking likes
move moved moving moves
hope hoped hoping hopes
need needed needing needs
stop stopped stopping stops
pad padded padding pads
‘open opened opening opens
‘visit visited visiting visits
re’but rebutted rebutting rebuts
pass passed passing passes
wish wished wishing wishes
watch watched watching watches
play played playing plays
die died dying dies
lie lied lying lies
ap’ply applied applying applies
cry cried crying cries
copy copied copying copies

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