Christian Autonomous University of Nicaragua

UCAN – León
Department of English
Bachelor’s degree in English with a Concentration in Translation and Interpretation

Subject: Morphosyntax of English I.

Unit 3: Morphology.

Contents:

- Nouns and adjectives.

- Pronouns.
- Articles.
- Verbs.
- Adverbs.
- Prepositions and conjunctions.
- Analysis and translation of sentences.

► Nouns & Adjectives

A noun is a part of speech that names a person, place, thing, idea, animal, quality, or action. Along with
verbs, nouns are the principal elements of any sentence. In the following examples, the nouns are italicized.

- He opened the parcel.

- Into each life some rain must fall.
- She is a student.
- John gave the men their money for the work.

All the italicized words in the above sentences are examples of nouns. Just as people can be
classified according to a number of characteristics, such as hair color, height, weight, occupation, income,
or nationality, so can nouns be classified according to specific characteristics.
 Christian Autonomous University of Nicaragua
UCAN – León
Department of English
Bachelor’s degree in English with a Concentration in Translation and Interpretation

TYPES OF NOUNS

COMMON NOUNS PROPER NOUNS COUNTABLE NOUNS

They name any one of a class or It is the official name of a These are nouns which can form
kind of people, places or things. particular person, place, or a plural, and which can be
Examples: thing. preceded by a/an, or a number.
Chair, desk, book, etc. Examples: Examples:
George, American, London, etc. A bus, an umbrella, two books,
etc.
COLLECTIVE NOUNS HYPHENATED NOUNS ABSTRACT NOUNS
These are names for a collection These are nouns which are It refers to something with which
or a number of people or things. formed from two or more words a person cannot physically
Example: joined by hyphens. interact (i.e. something
Group, class, herd, team, etc. Examples: intangible).
Sister-in-law, step-parent, Examples:
runner-up, etc. Belief, love, idea, feeling, etc.

An adjective is a word that always refers to a noun, pronoun, or other word or group of words
playing the part of a noun. Adjectives qualify, describe, or limit nouns or pronouns.

1.- Demonstrative adjectives: this, these, that, those, every, each, either, etc.

2.- Qualifying adjectives (color, size, shape, time, condition, appearance,

personality, etc.): red, tall, round, drunk, sour, Muslim, honest, pretty, etc.
Types of
Adjectives 3.- Quantitative adjectives (Quantifiers): some, many, a few, much, etc.

4.- Gentilic adjectives: Spanish, French, Nicaraguan, etc.

5.- Participle adjectives, Compound adjectives and numeral adjectives.

 Christian Autonomous University of Nicaragua
UCAN – León
Department of English
Bachelor’s degree in English with a Concentration in Translation and Interpretation

► PRONOUNS
Pronouns /ˈprǝʊnaʊnz/ are words which can be used in the place of nouns.

TYPES OF PRONOUNS
Personal Pronouns or Possessive Pronouns Object Pronouns Reflexive Pronouns
Subject Pronouns
I Mine Me Myself
You Yours You Yourself
He His Him Himself
She Hers Her Herself
It Its It Itself
We Ours Us Ourselves
You Yours You Yourselves
They Theirs Them Themselves
Indefinite Pronouns Reciprocal Pronouns Demonstrative Interrogative
Pronouns Pronouns
One Each other This Who
Anyone One another These What
Everyone That Which
No one Those
Somebody
Someone
Anybody
Everybody
Anything
Something
Nothing
Relative Pronouns

These are pronouns which are used to begin a subordinate clause, since it indicates the relationship of
the subordinate clause to the rest of the sentence.

Who, Which, That

Examples:
1.- The woman who is standing near the windows is a doctor.
2.- The suitcase which we purchased last week is very strong.
3.- Did you find the keys that were missing?
 Christian Autonomous University of Nicaragua
UCAN – León
Department of English
Bachelor’s degree in English with a Concentration in Translation and Interpretation

► ARTICLES
An article is a part of speech which is placed before nouns and indicates gender and number.

TYPES OF ARTICLES
INDEFINITE ARTICLE DEFINITE ARTICLE
A / AN THE /ˈdI, ˈdǝ/

This articles is usually used only with singular Use the with:
countable nouns in order to:
1.- Name a profession 1.- Oceans, rivers, seas, gulfs, and plural lakes.

He is a student. The Red sea

My dad is a doctor. The Atlantic Ocean
The Persian Gulf
2.- Make a general statement The Great Lakes

It is a good idea to have a bank account. 2.- Mountains

3.- Refer something not mentioned before The Andes

The Rocky mountains
Where can I find a drugstore?
Suddenly we heard an eerie sound. 3.- Earth and moon

4.- With the meaning of per The earth

The moon
Once a week.
Two dollars a dozen 4.- schools, colleges, and universities when the
Four times a year phrase begins with school, university, etc.

The University of Florida

The School of Science
The University of Managua

5.- Ordinal Numbers before nouns

The First World War

The third chapter

6.- Wars (except “world wars”)

 Christian Autonomous University of Nicaragua
UCAN – León
Department of English
Bachelor’s degree in English with a Concentration in Translation and Interpretation

The Korean war

7.- Historical documents

The Constitution

8.- Ethnic groups

The Indians
The Aztecs
The Mayas

► VERBS & ADVERBS

A verb is a word that indicates an action, an event, or a state.

Regular Verbs
This types of verbs forms its past
and past participle by just adding
–ED at the end of the verb.
Work  Worked  Worked
Play  Played  Played
 Note: For rules about
forming the past and past
participle of regular verbs, go
to your grammar notes about
this topic.
Modal or Auxiliary Verbs
Modal verbs or auxiliary verbs
that are used to express ability,
possibility, permission, or
obligation. These modal verbs
are: can, could, may, might, be
able to, will, would, have to,
must, ought to, should, shall.
TYPES OF VERBS
Irregular Verbs Mixed Verbs
This type of verbs changes its These verbs are a mix between
forms completely. We must learn regular and irregular verbs, that
the past and past participle by is, the verb may have two simple
heart because these verbs do not pasts and two past participles.
follow any rule.
Clothe  Clothed/Clad 
Speak  Spoke  Spoken Clothed/Clad
Come  Came  Come Chide  Chided/Chid 
Chided/Chidden
Prepositional Verbs Phrasal Verbs
Prepositional verbs are a These are verbs which are
combination of a verb and a accompanied by an adverb or
preposition that cannot be preposition modifying the
separated and must be followed meaning of the main verb. These
by an object. can be separable and
Laugh at, look at, listen to, inseparable.
knock at, consist of, beg of, Ask out, ask for, bend over,
wait for, believe in, etc. break up, find out, wake up,
etc.
 Christian Autonomous University of Nicaragua
UCAN – León
Department of English
Bachelor’s degree in English with a Concentration in Translation and Interpretation

 Helping verbs: to be (am, is, are, was, were, being, and been), to have (has, had), to do (does, did).
An adverb is a word that modifies a verb, adjective, other adverbs, or various other types of words,
phrases or clauses.

The types of adverbs commonly studied are the following:

 Adverbs of manner
 Adverbs of Frequency
 Adverbs of degree
 Adverbs of time
 Adverbs of place
 Adverbs of comment

 Adverbs of Manner: This type of adverbs is used to say how somebody does something. This type of
adverbs is formed mostly by adding the suffix “ly”.
- Slowly - Naturally
- Easily - Well
- Carefully - Fast
- Simply - Hard

Placement of Adverbs of Manner: The adverbs of manner can be placed at end of the sentence or clause
but also can be placed after the verb “to be” and auxiliary verbs, and before other verbs.

Examples:

1. He plays the piano badly.

2. She is slowly finishing her Master’s degree.
3. They sang the song very well.
4. You will easily get used to it.

 Adverbs of Frequency: This type of adverbs is used to say how often something happens.
- Always - Occasionally
- Usually - Rarely
- Frequently - Seldom
- Often - Hardly ever
- Sometimes - Never
 Christian Autonomous University of Nicaragua
UCAN – León
Department of English
Bachelor’s degree in English with a Concentration in Translation and Interpretation

Placement of Adverbs of Frequency: This type of adverbs can be placed at the beginning or middle of
the sentence or clause.

At the beginning of the sentence In the middle of the sentence (after the verb “to
be” or auxiliary verbs; before other verbs)
- Usually - Always
- Normally - Ever
- Often - Never
- Frequently - Rarely
- Sometimes - Sometimes
- Occasionally - Often
- Seldom
- Hardly ever

Examples:

1. Usually we see him at lunch.

OR
We usually see him at lunch.
2. Normally she does exercise in the morning.
OR
She normally does exercise in the morning.
3. Sometimes I work as an interpreter.
OR
I sometimes work as an interpreter.
4. He always takes flowers to his girlfriend.
5. He is always lazy.
6. We have never eaten Moroccan food.
7. Do you ever sleep?

 Adverbs of Comment: This kind of adverbs is used to give one’s opinion about something.
- Luckily - Obviously
- Clearly - Fortunately
- Apparently - Unfortunately
- Seemingly - As luck would have it

Placement of Adverbs of Comment: This type of adverbs goes at the beginning of a sentence or clause.
 Christian Autonomous University of Nicaragua
UCAN – León
Department of English
Bachelor’s degree in English with a Concentration in Translation and Interpretation

Examples:

1. Karl and Dina had a car accident but fortunately, they escaped unhurt.
2. She was late for the concert but luckily, there were a few seats left.
3. Apparently he is a good dancer.
4. Obviously, she’s upset, but what can we do for her?
5. I studied very hard all week long, but unfortunately I wasn’t able to pass the TOEFL Test.
6. I didn’t plan to stop there, but as luck would have it, the shop was open when I went by.

 Adverbs of Degree: This type of adverbs is used to describe or modify and adjective.
- At most - Completely
- At least - Mostly
- Even - More
- Enough - Totally
- Extremely - Very

Placement of Adverbs of Degree: This kind of adverbs goes in the middle of the sentence (i.e., after the
verb “to be” or auxiliary verbs).

Examples:

1. He is completely crazy.
2. She is more intelligent than her brother.
3. She works very hard.
4. You can even do this!
5. I’ll be there at 4 o´clock at most.
6. At least, Schweinstein sent you a bunch of flowers for your birthday.
 Christian Autonomous University of Nicaragua
UCAN – León
Department of English
Bachelor’s degree in English with a Concentration in Translation and Interpretation

► PREPOSITIONS & CONJUNCTIONS

A preposition is a word that shows the relationship between a noun or pronoun and other words in a
sentence.

There are three kinds of prepositions:

Prepositions of place or Prepositions of movement or Prepositions of Time

location travel
These prepositions are used to These prepositions indicate the These prepositions indicate in
indicate that a person, animal or
place where a person, animal or what moment an action
thing is located in a concrete thing is going to go or comes happens.
place. from.
At, in, on, from.. to, till, since,
At, in, on, over, under, below, From, to, into, out of, off, over, for, before, after.
above, near, close to, beside, round, across, through, by, on.
next to, opposite, in front of,
behind, outside, between,
among.

 General prepositions: but, beyond, like, concerning, until, within, without, up, out of, about,
toward, etc.

CONJUNCTIONS
Conjunctions are words which are used to link two words or phrases.

Conjunctions are divided in:

Coordinate Conjunctions Correlative Conjunctions Subordinate Conjunctions

Coordinate conjunctions are
used to join two similar
grammatical constructions; for
instance, two words, two
phrases or two clauses.
And, but, or, nor, yet
Correlative conjunctions are used in
pairs, in order to show the
relationship between the ideas
expressed in different parts of a
sentence.
Both … and, either … or, neither
… nor, hardly … when, if … then,
no sooner … than, not only … but
also, rather … than, etc.
These may begin with relative
pronouns such as that, what,
whatever, etc.
As, after, although, though,
because, before, for, if, lest,
since, so, so that, unless,
until, whereas, while, in
addition, as if, as though,
even if, so as to, etc.
 Christian Autonomous University of Nicaragua
UCAN – León
Department of English
Bachelor’s degree in English with a Concentration in Translation and Interpretation

► ANALYSIS AND TRANSLATION OF SENTENCES

The key to success in translating and interpreting sentences is to be able to analyze sentences
morphosyntanctically in order to convey a message in a clear way. Have a look at the following examples
in which we are going to identify parts of speech and meaning.

Marie works in a bank.

Marie : Proper noun (Personal pronoun/subject pronoun).

Works : Conjugation of the verb “to work” in simple present with third person singular.

In : Preposition of place.

A : Indefinite article. Modifier of

Bank : Noun. place

Marie works in a bank.

P.P / noun
V Prep. Ind.
S.P
article

She told Mark but Anthony.

She : Personal pronoun/subject pronoun

Told : Conjugation of the verb “to tell” in simple past.

Mark : Proper noun (male).

But : Preposition.

Anthony : Proper noun (male).

 Christian Autonomous University of Nicaragua
UCAN – León
Department of English
Bachelor’s degree in English with a Concentration in Translation and Interpretation

According to the morphosyntactic analysis carried out above, the word “but” is doing the function of a
preposition instead of a conjunction, adverb, or noun. Keep in mind that according to the part of speech
that this word is playing, is going to have its meaning.

BUT /ˈbʌt/ : Noun (pero), Conjunction (pero, sin embargo, que), Preposition (excepto, menos,
salvo), Adverb (no más que).

Translation: Ella se lo dijo (o contó) a Mark menos (o excepto) a Anthony.

Harry is washing the dishes.

Harry : Proper noun (male).

Is : Conjugation of the verb “to be” in simple present with the third person singular.

Washing : progressive form of the verb “to wash”.

The : Definite article.

Dishes : Noun.

Is washing : Verb phrase (present progressive or continuous)

 This sentence may have two meanings or equivalents into Spanish according to the context. It may
have a progressive meaning or a future meaning.

 ASSIGNMENT: Analyze the following sentences morphosyntanctically. Do not forget to

translate them correctly.

1.- She opened a checking account at the bank last week.

2.- He is not only arrogant but also selfish.
3.- He is but a child.
4.- I saw her to the door.
5.- We got to San Diego at 7 P.M.
6.- When you go to the store, please buy a bottle of chocolate milk and a dozen oranges.
7.- He does not need those books.
8.- Martha was playing the piano badly.