Konstantin Funtikov

Konstantin Funtikov

0-14-21

Grammatical Category

The term " grammatical category" refers to specific properties of a word that can cause that word and/or a related word to change in form for grammatical reasons (ensuring agreement between words). For example, the word " boy" is a noun. Nouns have a grammatical category called " number ". The values of number are singular (one) and plural (two or more).

1. The boy is playing.

2. The boy s are playing.

In sentence 1, " boy" is in its basic form, giving its " number" the value of singular. There is one boy and the related auxiliary verb " to be" is in the singular form (is). In sentence 2, the form of " boy" has changed to " boys", giving its " number" the value of plural. There is more than one boy and the related " to be" is in the plural form (are). In the above example, the " number" of " boy" influences the form of boy, and also influences the form of a related word (be). " Number" is a " grammatical category".

English has over twenty grammatical categories. Below the most common ones for English learners are listed and their main features are summarized.

Number

Number is a property of nouns and pronouns, and indicates quantity. Number has two values:

singular: indicates one only
plural: indicates two or more

Case

Case is a property of pronouns and nouns, and expresses their relationship to the rest of the sentence. Case has three values (two of which do not apply to nouns):

subjective (pronouns only): when the word is the subject
objective (pronouns only): when the word is the object
possessive (pronouns and nouns): when the word indicates possession (ownership)

Gender

Natural gender is a property of pronouns, and differentiates the sexes. Natural gender has three values:

masculine: indicates male
feminine: indicates female
neuter: indicates everything else

Person

Person is a property of pronouns, and differentiates participants in a conversation. Person has three values:

first person: refers to the speaker
second person: refers to the hearer
third person: refers to all other people or things

Tense

Tense is a property of verbs, and most closely corresponds with location in time. Tense has two values:

past: indicates before now
present: indicates now (and sometimes before and after now)

Aspect

Aspect is a property of verbs, and expresses our view of the time structure of an activity or state. Aspect has three values:

simple: the time has no structure
continuous: expresses ongoing action
perfect: expresses completed action

Mood

Mood is a property of verbs, and relates to the speaker's feelings about the reality of what he is saying. Mood has three values:

indicative: expresses simple statement of fact
imperative: expresses command
subjunctive: expresses something desired or imagined

Voice

Voice is a property of transitive verbs*, and expresses the relationship of the subject to the action. Voice has two values:

active: the subject does the action
passive: the subject receives the action

Degree

Degree is a property of gradable adjectives and adverbs, and indicates amount. Degree has three values:

positive: indicates a basic quality
comparative: indicates a greater quality
superlative: indicates the maximum quality