Yesterday I gave the ATAR Notes EngLang lecture. In the lecture, there was a bunch of questions to attempt at home. You can find the slides that I used and the questions here. In this post, I'll be going through the solutions to the questions.
I invite you to reply/comment your thoughts on the questions/solutions, or if you have any questions/need any help/think I got an answer wrong/etc.
Solutions to Q1
a. Identify the word class of the 20 most common English words.
1. the: the is a determiner.
In a sentence:
The wolf was scared by the moon
the is in that classic determiner position: right before a noun.
2. be: be, and its other forms like is, am, etc., can either be a verb or an auxiliary verb.
3. to: to is a preposition.
4. of: of is another preposition.
5. and: and is a conjunction, more specifically a coordinating conjunction.
6. a: a is a determiner.
7. in: in is a preposition
8. that: that can be a few different things, but is usually a pronoun or a determiner.
9. have: have, just like be, can be either a verb or an auxiliary verb.
10. I: I is a pronoun.
11. it: it is a pronoun.
12. for: for is a preposition.
13. not: not is usually classified as an adverb.
14. on: on is a preposition
15. with: with is a preposition.
16. he: he is a pronoun.
17. as: as can be many things, but is perhaps most often a preposition or conjunction.
18. you: you is a pronoun.
19. do: do can be a verb or an auxiliary verb, or I guess a noun as well.
20. at: at is a preposition.
a. What types of word classes are most common here? And why?
Function words are a lot more common, in fact every word in the top 20 can be a function word. This is because there's just quite a limited number of function words out there, a very small number compared to content words, so we will commonly reuse the same function words.
Solutions to Q2
a. List some possible meanings of the following modal verbs. Keep in mind that many can have multiple meanings.
So keep in mind that there are a wide range of correct solutions here: the function of a modal verb
can: expresses probability or ability
Rest coming soon...
Solutions to Q3
a. Identify the word formation processes that formed the following words.
deepfake
deepfake is a compounding.
scoby
scoby is an acronym, coming from the phrase symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast. An acronym takes the first letter off a series of words, and is pronounced as a word (as opposed to letter-by-letter).
gentailer
gentailer is a blend, a combination of generate and retailer.
broflake
broflake is another blend, coming from bro and snowflake.
tweetstorm
tweetstorm is a compounding.
BDE
BDE, meaning Big Dick Energy, is an initialism. Initialism are formed in the same way as acronyms, but they're pronounced letter-by-letter.
Solutions to Q4
a. Come up with sentences which include the following words having undergone conversion of word class.
So there are infinitely many sentences you could have come up with here. Here are just some examples:
whiteboard
Situation: You're in a corporate meeting brainstorming slogans for your craft beer. Your friend Kenneth has a good suggestion for a slogan so you yell out:
Great idea, let's whiteboard that!
Melbourne
Situation: You've just moved to Melbourne from Bendigo and you self-consciously feel like your country attire doesn't fit in the city. You think to yourself:
Hmm, I'd better Melbourne up my wardrobe...
Julian Assange
Situation: Your friend lets you crash at theirs after an 18th. However, for some reason, their parents aren't going to let you stay the night and they throw you out on the footpath. You shake your fist at them and mutter:
They've bloody Julian Assange-d me!
Trojan Horse
Situation: You've been on a few dates with this guy, and you're trying to hide your dark secret: your obsession of chef Iain Hewitson. You think to yourself:
This guy's going to be so shocked if he finds out I've Trojan Horse-d him...
Solutions to Q5
a. Form clefts from the following sentences.
b. Identify which part of the sentence (e.g. subject, object, adverbial) has been emphasised.
With high-flying marks, Brown thwarted the Carlton defence.
It was with high-flying marks that Brown thwarted the Carlton defence.
(the adverbial with high-flying marks has been emphasised)
It was Brown who thwarted the Carlton defence with high-flying marks.
(the subject, Brown, has been emphasised.
It was the Carlton defence that was thwarted by Brown with high-flying marks.
(the object, the Carlton defence, has been emphasised.
In the 70s, disco was king.
It was in the 70s that disco was king.
(the adverbial in the 70s has been emphasised)
It was disco that was king in the 70s.
(the subject, disco, has been emphasised)
Hillary and Norgay reached the summit of Everest in 1953.
It was Hillary and Norgay who reached the summit of Everest in 1953.
It was the summit of Everest which was reached by Hillary and Norgay in 1953.
It was in 1953 that Hillary and Norgay reached the summit of Everest.
The pheasant has no agenda.
It is the pheasant who has no agenda.
Solutions to Q6
Coming soon...
Solutions to Q7
Coming soon...
Home
Help
Search
Login
