Word Types and Sentence Structure: A Comprehensive Guide
Word Types
Nouns
Examples: table, car, friendship
Adjectives
Describe nouns. Examples: street, handsome, small
Determiners
Accompany nouns.
- Articles: el, lo, la, los…
- Possessives: my, your, his…
- Numbers: one, three, six…
- Demonstratives: this, that, these, those…
- Indefinites: some, few, many…
- Interrogatives/Exclamatives: What house? What a house!
Prepositions
Examples: a, before, under, it, with, against, from, in, among…
Verbs
Examples: present, past imperfect, future imperfect…
Conjunctions
Connect sentences. Examples: and, e, ni, o, u, but, again, though, because, lest, porlotanto, although.
Adverbs
Accompany verbs.
- Location: here, there, far…
- Time: morning, evening, yesterday
- Manner: walk, run, slowly
- Affirmation/Negation: yes, no
- Quantity: much, little
Interjections
Examples: Yikes! There! Madremia!
Syntax
Sentence Components
- Direct Object (CD): What?
- Indirect Object (CI): To whom?
- Attribute: Describes the subject with a linking verb.
- Adverbials: When? Where? How? With whom? With what? How much? Why?
- Predicative Complement: Complements the verb and describes the subject. Example: John arrived tired.
- Object Complement: Complements the direct object. Example: John trusts justice.
- Agent Complement: Used in passive voice. Example: The book was read by the student.
- Noun Complement: Complements a noun. Example: Maria bought a adventure book.
- Adjective Complement: Complements an adjective. Example: Maria bought dark blue shorts.
- Apposition: Renames the noun. Examples: Maria, my cousin, bought a book. Madrid, Spain’s capital, is beautiful.
Elements of Communication
- Sender: Who writes.
- Receiver: Who receives.
- Channel: How the information is received (visual, auditory…).
- Code: Language, images, etc.
- Message: What is meant.
- Context: Where the information is received.
Verbal Periphrasis
Mood
- Obligation/Necessity: must, have to, should
- Doubt/Probability: may, might
- Possibility: can
- Habitual: usually
Aspect
- Inchoative: Action is about to begin.
- Durative: Action is in progress.
- Resultative: Action is completed.
- Iterative: Action is repeated.
Text Analysis
Theme
Main idea.
Summary
Concise overview of the text.
Macrostructure
Organization of ideas.
Thesis
Author’s main argument.
Structure
How the text is organized.
Linguistic Function
Referential, expressive, appellative, phatic, poetic, metalinguistic.
Deixis
Personal, social, spatial, temporal.
Sentential Mood
Exclamatory, imperative, declarative, interrogative, hesitant, optative.
Evaluative Lexical Items
Words with strong connotations.
Figures of Speech
Irony, metaphor, hyperbole, etc.
Types of Arguments
Data, scientific, personal, justice, health, morals, ethics, social.
Cohesion Mechanisms
Syntactic: enumeration, reformulation, correction, cause/consequence, opposition, rating, addition, exemplification.
Semantic: synonym, antonymy, hyponymy, hyperonymy, anaphora, cataphora.
Linguistic Register
Formal, standard, colloquial.
Text Typology
Expository, argumentative, narrative, descriptive, dialogue.
Scope of Use
Journalistic, scientific, legal, administrative, literary.
Purpose
Inform, persuade, entertain.
Critical Appraisal
Evaluation of the text’s effectiveness.
Personal Opinion
Individual response to the text.