Why do you think it is important to study Content words and Function words?
Autor: Rosangela dos Santos | Publicado: 2016-04-07T12:14:00-03:00



Why do you think it is important to study Content words and Function words?

Let's take a look!



Content words are in bold.


Mary has
     lived in England for ten years.
He's going to fly to Chicago next
     week.
I don't understand this chapter
     of the book.
The children will be swimming in
     the ocean at five o'clock.
John had
     eaten lunch before his colleague arrived.
The best time to study is early
     in the morning or late in the evening.
The trees along the river are beginning
     to blossom.
Our friends called us yesterday
     and asked if we'd like to visit them next month.
You'll be happy to know that
     she's decided to take the position.
I won't give away your secret.



Content Words vs. Function Words


Each word in
English belongs to one of the eight parts of
speech. Each word in English is also
either a content word&nbsp;or a function word. Let's think about what these two
types mean:


Content = information,
meaning
Function
= necessary words for grammar


In other
words, content words give us the most important information while function
words are used to stitch those words together.


Content Word Types


Content words are usually nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs. A
noun tells us which object, a verb tells us about the action happening, or the
state. Adjectives give us details about objects and people and adverbs tell us
how, when or where something is done. Nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs give
us important information required for understanding.


Noun = person, place or thing
Verb =
action, state
Adjective
= describes an object, person, place or thing
Adverb
= tells us how, where or when something happens


Other Content Words


While nouns,
verbs, adjectives and adverbs are the most important content words there are a
few other words that are also key to understanding. These include negatives no,
not and never, demonstrative pronouns including this, that, these and those, and question words what, where, when, how and why.


&nbsp;Function Word Types


Function
words help us connect important information. Function words are important for
understanding, but they add little in meaning beyond defining the relationship
between two words. Function words include: auxiliary
verbs, prepositions, articles,
conjunctions and pronouns. Auxiliary verbs are used to establish the tense,
prepositions show relationships in time and space, articles show us something
that is specific or one of many, and pronouns refer to other nouns.


Auxiliary
verbs = do, be, have - help with conjugation of tense
Prepositions = show relationships in time and space
Articles = used to indicate specific or non-specific nouns
Conjunctions = words that connect 
Pronouns -
refer to other nouns


Why is this Important?


Knowing the
difference between content and functions words is important because content
words are stressed in conversation in English. Function words are non-stressed. In other words, function
words are not emphasized in speech, while content words are highlighted.
Knowing the difference between content and function words can help you in
understanding, and, most importantly, in pronunciation skills.



http://esl.about.com/od/learningtechniques/a/Content-And-Function-Words.htm acesso em 07.04.2016