THE STRUCTURE CLASSES

by Dawn Bouse
Student, University of North Carolina at Pembroke, 1998

INTRODUCTION:

Structure classes consist of a number of categories that contain a limited and select amount of
words. The categories that make up these structure classes are determiners, auxiliaries, qualifiers, prepositions, conjunctions, interrogatives, expletives, and particles. Each has its own function and is used to combine or work with the form classes. Structure classes do not hold a large number of words. In addition, the words do not grow in number over time as the form classes do. They are consistent. They are also important for the purpose of speaking Standard English.

DEFINITIONS:

determiner: A determiner signals that a noun is coming up, although it may not fill the slot directly before the noun. Articles (a, an, the) are a consistent group of words that act as determiners all of the time. Several other words can act as determiners, as well. These words include possessive pronouns (my, her, his, etc.), indefinite pronouns (each, every, any, etc.), possessive nouns (noun + 's or s'), demonstrative pronouns (this/these, that/those) and numbers (one, two, three, etc.).
auxiliaries: Auxiliaries are helping words that precede the main verb. The combination of auxiliaries and the main verb make up a verb phrase. Auxiliaries include modals, forms of have and be, and forms of do.
qualifiers: In order to change or enhance the meaning of adverbs and adjectives, one uses a qualifier. Qualifiers come in the form of adverbs and precede the word they refer to. Example: very, really, even, almost, absolutely
prepositions: Prepositions are labeled either simple (one-word) or phrasal (multi-word) prepositions. Prepositions connect the nominals or noun phrases (the object of the preposition) that follow it to the rest of the sentence. Example: Simple - about, of, by, since. Phrasal - but for, next to, by means of, in front of.
conjunctions: Conjunctions connect words, phrases, and clauses in a sentence. There are different subcategories of conjunctions. These groups consist of coordinating conjunctions, correlative conjunctions, conjunctive adverbs, subordinating conjunctions, and relatives.
coordinating conjunctions: Simple one-word conjunctions consist of and, or, but, yet, nor, for. They can connect subject, verbs, clauses, and even complete sentences.
correlative conjunctions: pairs of words that are used together to connect parts of a sentence and complete sentences. They consist of both-and, either-or, neither-nor, not only-but also.
conjunctive adverbs: These conjunctions add an adverbial function to the connections made within a sentence or between two sentences. A few examples of these are therefore, nevertheless, further, for example.
subordinating conjunctions: The purpose of these conjunctions is to identify a relationship between two ideas. It is mandatory that one of the clauses in a sentence containing a subordinate clause be dependent, while the other is independent. Examples of subordinating conjunctions are when, though, although, provided that.
relatives: Relative pronouns and relative adverbs make up the category of relatives. They connect the noun phrase or clause with its modified noun. Relatives also serve different functions in their clauses. For example, pronouns function as a nominals in their clauses while adverbs function as adverbials in their clauses.
interrogatives: Interrogatives act as the introducers of questions. The purpose of these pronouns is to obtain information. A few examples are who, whose, which.
expletives: The purpose of expletives is to fit in a slot to make a sentence grammatical. They fill an empty space that has no meaning. The expletives include there, that, or, as, if and whether (or not).
there expletive: This expletive allows the subject to be delayed and allows more stress to be placed on the subject. Example: There was a problem downtown.
that expletive: The most common expletive, that has no meaning when it introduces a nominal clause. Example: I knew that he could come with us.
or expletive: This expletive does not play the same role as the alternative or. Its purpose is to introduce an explanatory appositive. Example: The mouse, or the device you use to scroll the screen, is very helpful.
as expletive: This expletive is used in certain transitive verb sentence patterns to connect an object and objective complement. Example: I think of her as a leader.
if and whether (or not) expletives: These expletives are used to make a nominal clause out of a simple yes or no question. Example: Rather than asking, "Is it cold outside?" you could state, "I wonder if it is cold outside."
particles: Particles are added to verbs to form phrasal verbs. They can be combined with both transitive and intransitive verbs. Example: Did you look up the information for your research paper?

The definitions above should give you a clear idea of each category in the structure class as well as some of the individual components they are composed of. A few ideas that are not mentioned in the definitions will be listed below in the tip boxes.

TIP: The Expanded Determiner
At certain times a determiner may have a word placed before and/or after it. These slots are labeled the predeterminer and postdeterminer slots. Both slots are optional, and the postdeterminer usually consists of ordinal numbers (first, next, etc.) and cardinal numbers (one, two, etc.).
Example:
predeterminer (half of) + determiner (the) + postdeterminer (last) + head word (pie)

TIP: Auxiliaries
Auxiliaries are not just composed of modals and the forms of have, be, and do. Other modal-like verbs are classified under the category of auxiliaries.
                     have to                     get                           be to
                     has to                       gets                          be going to
                     had to                       got                           used to
These words are often called semi-auxiliaries.

TIP: Qualifiers
Qualifiers consist of five subcategories.
1. The first group consists of adverbs that alter or emphasize the meaning of adjectives in the positive form and adverbs of manner. Example: very, quite, rather, etc. She was rather quiet tonight.
2. Another group works with both adjectives and adverbs that have comparitive qualities. Example: still, some, even, etc. He is even farther away than I thought.
3. Adverbs that can only be used in limited situations are considered qualifiers. Example: right now, almost there, etc. My sister told him to come right now.
4. Colloquial expressions, which are not always grammatically correct, are a subcategory of the qualifiers. Example: right nice, pretty close, etc. It was right nice of you to come.
5. The -ly adverbs of manner are used to add to the meaning of adjectives. Example: rarely, absolutely, surely, etc. What he did was dangerously courageous.

EXERCISES:

Determiners

Underline the determiners and circle the nouns they precede.

The blue house on Bob's street belongs to my grandmother
Even though this car is ugly, it is worth every penny.
My mom has one ticket to the concert tomorrow night.
The family drank some tea and ate a lot of crab legs.

Auxiliaries

Underline the auxiliaries and circle the main verb of each sentence.

She should walk to class in the morning.
This car used to run like a champ.
I wouldn't call him this late at night.
My brother wouldn't dare go in my room.

Qualifiers

In each pair, determine which sentence is using the given word as a qualifier. What is the class of the word in the other sentence?

    1. Pretty: The pretty girl lives next door.
                       She was pretty fast.
    2. Still: She brought me still another book.
                   The cat lay still on the floor.
    3. Absolutely: I was absolutely sick of eating pizza.
                       Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. (John Acton)
    4. Fairly: That was a fairly good meal.
                      He wasn't playing fairly.

Prepositions

Identify the prepositions and their objects in the following sentences.

The short story is part of a book edited by a large company.
This potato is only a small part of the great feast we are about to eat.
Contrary to popular belief, you do not need a psychiatrist.
I am here to speak on behalf of my brother.

Conjunctions

Identify the conjunction in each sentence and label its type.

Joe and James both love to ski.
Both Susan and Amy desire to go to Hawaii.
My hand is broken from the game; after all, I bent it backwards.
It was 100 degrees today, in case you didn't notice.
Before you leave, tell me who lives in the house next to you.

Interrogatives, Expletives, and Particles

Label the interrogatives, expletives, and particles in each sentence.

Why are you standing in that puddle of water?
I tried to find out if he was telling the truth or not.
She knew him as a friend and a lover.
How did you go to the library to look into your research topic?

Click here for answers.

Annotated Bibliography

Kolln, Martha and Robert Funk. Understanding English Grammar. Needham, Mass.: Allyn and Bacon, 1998.

This book identifies many aspects of the English language according to form and function. It is a reliable source with a few flaws in detail. Every major area of English grammar is covered and defined for the American reader to comprehend. Skates, Craig, and Bonnie Carter. The Rinehart Guide to Grammar and Usage. Orlando, Fla.: Harcourt Brace College Publishers, 1993.

Written by Dawn Bouse
Edited by Mark Canada