1. TOPIC 12. ESSENTIAL MORPHOSYNTACTIC
ELEMENTS OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.
ELEMENTARY COMMUNICATIVE
STRUCTURES. PROGRESSIVE USE OF
GRAMMATICAL CATEGORIES TO IMPROVE
ORAL AND WRITTEN COMMUNICATION.

2. MORPHOSYNTACTIC ELEMENTS
Morphemes combine to create words and the way words form sentences.
Morphemes and syntax are the elements concerned primarily with the creation
of meaning in language.
A morpheme is the smallest linguistic unit that has meaning
or a grammatical function. A morpheme does not necessarily
have to be a word. For example in the word “cats” there are
two morphemes “cat” and “s”. We can find:
• Allomorphs are variations of a morpheme which are
pronounced differently but they all indicate the same. For
example: looked (t), wanted (id), and argued (d).
• Homonyms, in turn can be divided in homographs when a
word shares the same spelling and, therefore, the same
pronunciation but have different meanings e.g. bear: animal/
carry. Homophones are those that have the same
pronunciation but different written form, and of course
meaning e.g. to/ too/ two.

3. MORPHOSYNTACTIC ELEMENTS
• Free morphemes are those that can not stand alone as a
word. They are typically affixes (in-, -ness, -ly, etc.).
These can be of two cases:
- Derivational morphemes change the meaning of the word
creating other new word. For example, paint (V) + er:
Painter (N).
- Inflectional morphemes create a change in the function of
the word. English has only seven inflectional morphemes:
 3rd person singular: -s/ -es.
 Regular verbs past tense: -ed.
 Progressive: -ing.
 Plural: -s/ -es.
 Possessive: ‘s.
 Comparative: -er.
 Superlative: -est.

4. Morphological processes
- Prefixation: an affix is added before the base, e.g.
uncomfortable.
- Suffixation: an affix is added after the base, e.g. happily.
- Conversion: a word changes its class category but it doesn’t
change its form, e.g. book (noun), to book (verb).
- Compounding: two base forms are put together, e.g.
blackboard.
- Reduplication: it is similar to compound where the both
elements are the same or slightly different, e.g. bye bye/
wishy- washy.
- Clipping: when the word is shortened, e.g. bicycle (bike);
gasoline (gas).
- Blending: two words merge into a new one, e.g. breakfast +
lunch: brunch.
- Acronym: words are formed from the initial letters of the
word that form a name, e.g. North Atlantic Treaty
organization (NATO).

5. WORDS
Words are the smallest free forms in a language. They may be uttered in isolation.
Words may be spoken or written. Spoken words are made up of phonemes, and
written words are composed of graphemes. Classification of words:
A. Nouns are those words whose meaning and use are decided
by determiners; they are the head of noun phrases and change
to express singular, plural or Saxon genitive. There are many
types of nouns: proper (London), common (village), countable
(euros), uncountable (news) and collective (the “herd” of pigs”).
B. Verbs express actions, events or states of being. We have two
groups of verbs:
• Lexical verbs or full verbs: the main words in a verb phrase.
These verbs can be regular (they form the past simple and the
past participle adding the suffix “ed”. e.g. booked.) or irregular
(these are unpredictable and have three forms e.g. eat/ ate/
eaten.).
• Auxiliary verbs: give further semantic or syntactic information
about the main or full verb following it e.g. have run.

6. WORDS
C. Adjectives are words that describe or modify a person or thing in the
sentence e.g. the woman was brave. The inflected suffixes “er” and “est”
form the most comparatives and superlatives. We use “more” and “most”
when an adjective has more than one syllable.
D. Adverbs are words that modify verbs (providing information about time,
place and manner), adjectives or other adverbs. Manner adverbs are
formed by added the suffix “ly” to adjectives e.g. slowly.
E. Determiners are noun modifiers, such as articles (the, a/ an),
demonstratives (this/ that/ these/ those), quantifiers (some, many), etc.
F. Pronouns. A pronoun can replace a noun or another pronoun. We can
find personal (I, you, he, she, we and they), possessive personal (my,
your, his/ her, our and their), demonstrative (this/ these; that/ those),
interrogative (who, which, what…), etc.
G. Prepositions link nouns, pronouns and phrases to other words in a
sentence. A preposition usually indicates the temporal, spatial or logical
relationship of its object to the rest of the sentence e.g. the mouse is on
the table.
H. Conjunctions connect two words, phrases or clauses together. For
example: and, but, if, because, therefore…

7. Syntax and Sentences
• Syntax is the study of the principles and rules
for constructing sentences in the languages.
• A sentence is a grammatical and lexical unit
consisting of one or more words combined to
form a meaningful statement, question, request,
command, etc. A simple complete sentence
consists of a subject and a predicate. The
subject is typically a noun phrase. The predicate
is a finite verb phrase alone or with objects,
complements or adverbs.

8. Classifications of sentences
• A declarative sentence commonly makes a
statement: I’m going to leave.
• A negative sentence denies that a statement is
true: I’m not going to the school.
• An interrogative sentence requests information:
when is your birthday?
• An exclamatory sentence is a more emphatic
form of statement: Nice to see you again!
• An imperative sentence or command tells
someone to do something: go to the
supermarket.

9. VOCABULARY FOR SOCIALIZATION
1. Greetings of welcome and farewell,
seasonal greeting, etc. For example: hello,
goodbye, happy birthday and so on.
2. Asking feelings: how are you? I am fine.
3. Introducing and being introduced: nice to
meet you!
4. Inviting and offering: would you like…?
5. Congratulation, well done.
6. Permission: can I go to…?
7. Asking for things: can I borrow…?

10. Vocabulary for asking information
1. What’s your name? My name is…
2. How old are you? I’m… years old.
3. Where are you from? I’m from…
4. Where is the…?
5. What’s the weather like? It’s sunny.
6. What time is it? It’s half past three.
7. How much is it? It is (price) dollars, pounds,
euros…
8. What’s your (favourite, telephone number…)?
My… is…
9. Can you (actions)?

11. Vocabulary expressing attitude
1. Like/ dislikes: I like/ hate/ love…
2. Giving thanks: thank you very much, you
are welcome.
3. Apologising and granting forgiveness: I’m
sorry, don’t worry about it, never mind…
4. Expressing preferences and desires: I
prefer/ wish/ would like; my favourite…
5. Providing intentions: I am going to…; I will…

12. PROGRESSIVE USE OF GRAMMAR
• We don’t have to teach our youngest students
grammar in a direct way.
• A good way to expose students to a grammar
rule is through focus first on the usage (function)
and then the form (grammatical structure).
• We should bear in mind that input precedes
output as well as to develop oral skills before
the written ones.
• The content should be adapted to our students’
level and interests.
• Children should not to be asked to write
something that they can not say in English.

13. Oral expression methodology
0. Basic vocabulary and routine patterns. “E.g.
Can I go to the toilet?”
1. The assimilation stage.
- Presenting language (Listening).
E.g. To use visual and mimic aids for unknown
words.
- The controlled practice phase. E.g. Role –plays.
2. The production or creation stage.
- Controlled production. E.g. Gap –filling, questions.
- Free production phase. E.g. Dialogues.

14. Written expression methodology
0. Presentation of material: Listening or
reading. To use contextual supports.
1. The controlled practice stage. E.g.
Drills and copying related to students’
interests.
2. Controlled production. E.g. Gap –
filling, examples, templates, etc.
3. Free production phase. E.g. Pen pals.