Tabla de Contenidos
As in Spanish, prepositions are used to give more information about nouns and verbs and link them together. The most common examples are:
- in , whose translation is “in”
- of, whose translation is “of”
- to , whose translation is “to”, “towards”
- between , whose translation is “between”
- among , whose translation is “among”
- with , whose translation is “with”
- by , whose translation is “by”
- out , whose translation is “outside”
- without , whose translation is “without”
- behind , whose translation is “behind”
- through , whose translation is “through”
- around , whose translation is “around”
- inside , whose translation is “inside”
The pronouns
Personal pronouns are words that can replace nouns:
- I, whose translation is “I”
- she , whose translation is “she”
- he , whose translation is “he”
- everyone , whose translation is “todos”, “todas”
- someone , whose translation is “someone”
- anyone , whose translation is “nobody”, “someone”
- they , whose translation is “they”, “they”
- we , whose translation is “us”
- it , whose translation is “it”, “he”, “she”
- you , whose translation is “tú”, “vosotros”, ustedes”
auxiliary verbs
Auxiliary verbs generally accompany main verbs and change the tense. Some examples are:
- The verb to be, whose translation is “to be” or “to be”.
- The verb to have , whose translation is to have.
- The verb to do, which is usually translated as “to do” or “to do”.
- The verb to get , which is usually translated as “get”.
the conjunctions
Conjunctions are responsible for connecting and organizing the parts of a sentence, two separate sentences or the elements of a list. Some examples of conjunctions are:
- and / “and”
- or / “or”
- but / “but”
- when / «when»
- however / “however”
- because / “because”
- before / “before”
- though / “although”
- neither / “ni”
The modal verbs
Modal verbs are those that express a possibility or condition:
- may / “could”
- might / “could”
- can / “can”
- could / “could”
- will / “may”
- would / “could”
- should / “should”
Interrogative words
Interrogative words are used to ask questions and usually go at the beginning of the sentence. Some of them are:
- how / “how”
- which / “which”
- what / “what”
- where / “where”
- who / “who”
- when / «when»
determinants
The determiners are the words that modify the nouns and indicate some of their characteristics such as number, gender, quantity or possession. Here we can include:
- Articles : a or an which is equivalent to “un, una” / the which is equivalent to “el, la, los, las”.
- Possessive pronouns : my / «my»; your / “you”; their “their” or “your”; our / “our”; his / “his”; her / “his”; its / “his”.
- Quantifying adverbs : much, which is equivalent to “much” / many, which is equivalent to “many”; very / “very”; few / “few”; so / «both», «very»; any / “any”; enough / “enough”; every / “todo”; too / «too much».
- Demonstrative pronouns : that / «that»; this / “this”; those / “those”; these / “these”.
interjections
Interjections are exclamations or words that are used to fill in gaps in conversation. Some examples are oh!, huh?, hmm, uhm.
Difference between content words and function words
In addition to function words, there are content words, which do have an easily identifiable and precise meaning. Content words are nouns, verbs, adjectives, and some adverbs. For example: puppy / “puppy”; house / “house”; yellow / «yellow», beautiful / «hermoso».
The distinction between content and function words was proposed by the American linguist Charles Carpenter Fries in 1952.
Example sentences with function words
To better understand the use of function words in their context, it is important to see some examples of sentences that include them:
- Yesterday I ate many apples. / “Yesterday I ate a lot of apples.”
- Oh! Sorry, that’s too much. / “Ooh! I’m sorry, it’s too much.”
- When are you coming back home? / “When will you come home?”
- They will check the old phone line tomorrow. / “They are going to check the old telephone line tomorrow.”
- This is my new collection of books, which I brought from London. / “This is my new collection of books that I brought from London.”
- There are few available seats over there. / “There are few seats available there.”
- The building was sold this morning. / “The building was sold this morning.”
- She is hiding behind that wall and her mother is looking for her. / “She’s hiding behind that wall and her mother is looking for her.”
- You could choose between this package or that offer. / “You could choose between this package or that offer.”
- We might travel to Thailand next Christmas. / “Maybe we’ll travel to Thailand next Christmas.”
Bibliography
- Espasa. English Grammar: The Ultimate Guide for Learners of English of All Levels . (2019). Spain. Espasa.
- Murphy, R.; García Clemente, F. Essential Grammar in Use: Fourth Edition in Spanish. Basic grammar of the English language . (2016, 4th edition). Spain. Cambridge University Press.
- Welsch, D. English Vocabulary: A Practical Guide. (2018). Spain. B07GGWBR46.
- Functional Connectors in English . Learningles.org. Available at https://aprenderingles.org/conectores/funcionales/ .
- Examples of grammatical words. Grammars.net. Available at https://www.gramaticas.net/2016/07/ejemplos-de-palabras-gramaticales.html.
