Content
&
Function
Words
© OneStepNow Education 𓊍
Content and Function Words
Definition/Features
Understanding content and function words is foundational to understanding English orthography. Many of our conventions or "rules" are often violated because a word is a function word. In fact, the conventions we teach are often attached with this understanding, such as: "Complete native English content words do not end in <i>, <j>, <u>, or <v>. " Content, or lexical, words are those words that carry meaning in our language; they are the nouns, main verbs, adjectives and most adverbs in our lexicon. Function, or grammatical, words are the "glue" that hold sentences together to help them make sense. In the sentence, "The dog ate all of his dinner," dog, ate, and dinner are the content words; the rest are function words. The distinction can be less binary. For example, if I say, "Billy ran three laps around the track," then three is acting as a function word; it is a determiner telling us "how many" laps. However, when I say, "Would he be in the bottom three again?" then three leans more towards the content side; it is a noun. For spelling, content words are typically spelled with three letters or more. Function words may be spelled with less than three, but may be spelled with more, as in through and because. In many content words, like egg, we double a final consonant to follow this "three-letter" convention. Content words are usually found with longer "spellings" than their homophonic counterparts For instance, the /i/ in be is spelled with an <e>, but the same sound is spelled with a digraph <ee> in the noun bee. Some graphemes can be found only in content words, like <j> and <z>. Longer "spellings" may be so that content words attract stress. Often function words in a sentence will have a reduced vowel, as they are unstressed in context. The word for in the sentence, "Dad grilled hamburgers for dinner" sounds more like /fɜr/ and students may spell it *fur. In many instances, we reduce function words so far, they become newer words we may use when we text, like hafta and gonna.
Sources: Crystal, D. (2011). A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics. John Wiley & Sons. Cummings, D. W. (1988). American English spelling : an informal description. Johns Hopkins University Press. Function word. (2023, November 15). Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Function_word
© OneStepNow Education 𓊍
Introduction
Content and Function Words
Read this sentence together. Watch and learn. What do you notice? What do you wonder?
Our
barks
small
dog
the
at
squirrels.
loudly
© OneStepNow Education 𓊍
Practice Together : Identify
Content and Function Words
Read the sentence together. Which words are content words? Which words are function words? How do you know?
The
moved
two
boys
down
hallway.
quietly
© OneStepNow Education 𓊍
Content and Function Words
Practice Together : Identify
Read the sentence together. Which words are content words? Which words are function words? How do you know?
Birds
nest
built
old
an
shoe.
in
© OneStepNow Education 𓊍
Practice Together : Identify
Content and Function Words
Read the sentence together. Which words are content words? Which words are function words? How do you know?
Big
through
bears
search
of
because
hunger.
trash
© OneStepNow Education 𓊍
Practice Together : Complete
Content and Function Words
Add some function words to these content words to help them "make sense" in a sentence.
teacher
gives
homework.
car
fast
highway.
drives
© OneStepNow Education 𓊍
On Your Own: Identify
Content and Function Words
Read the sentence. Which words are content words? Which words are function words? How do you know?
We
the
look
at
in
buildings
town.
tall
© OneStepNow Education 𓊍
On Your Own: Identify
Content and Function Words
Read the sentence. Which words are content words? Which words are function words? How do you know?
Quickly,
to
Mother
drove
for
store
milk.
the
© OneStepNow Education 𓊍
On Your Own: Complete
Content and Function Words
Add some function words to these content words to help them "make sense" in a sentence.
baby
cries
bottle.
red
throw
ball.
player
© OneStepNow Education 𓊍
Read the sentence with students. Remove the function words (our, at, the). Ask if the sentence makes sense. Remove the content words and ask again. Separate the content & function words. Ask students to Notice & Wonder. Explain the first list as content words. Content words carry meaning. When we remove them, the sentence doesn't make sense. Explain the words in the second list are function words. Function words help connect the content words. They are like the "glue" that helps the content words "go together." When we remove them, our sentence might still make sense, but they might not sound right, maybe more like a robot talking. Students may have noticed function words tend to be short. Although this can be true, it is not always the case.
Content & Function Words
Brad Johnson
Created on January 25, 2024
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Transcript
Content
&
Function
Words
© OneStepNow Education 𓊍
Content and Function Words
Definition/Features
Understanding content and function words is foundational to understanding English orthography. Many of our conventions or "rules" are often violated because a word is a function word. In fact, the conventions we teach are often attached with this understanding, such as: "Complete native English content words do not end in <i>, <j>, <u>, or <v>. " Content, or lexical, words are those words that carry meaning in our language; they are the nouns, main verbs, adjectives and most adverbs in our lexicon. Function, or grammatical, words are the "glue" that hold sentences together to help them make sense. In the sentence, "The dog ate all of his dinner," dog, ate, and dinner are the content words; the rest are function words. The distinction can be less binary. For example, if I say, "Billy ran three laps around the track," then three is acting as a function word; it is a determiner telling us "how many" laps. However, when I say, "Would he be in the bottom three again?" then three leans more towards the content side; it is a noun. For spelling, content words are typically spelled with three letters or more. Function words may be spelled with less than three, but may be spelled with more, as in through and because. In many content words, like egg, we double a final consonant to follow this "three-letter" convention. Content words are usually found with longer "spellings" than their homophonic counterparts For instance, the /i/ in be is spelled with an <e>, but the same sound is spelled with a digraph <ee> in the noun bee. Some graphemes can be found only in content words, like <j> and <z>. Longer "spellings" may be so that content words attract stress. Often function words in a sentence will have a reduced vowel, as they are unstressed in context. The word for in the sentence, "Dad grilled hamburgers for dinner" sounds more like /fɜr/ and students may spell it *fur. In many instances, we reduce function words so far, they become newer words we may use when we text, like hafta and gonna.
Sources: Crystal, D. (2011). A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics. John Wiley & Sons. Cummings, D. W. (1988). American English spelling : an informal description. Johns Hopkins University Press. Function word. (2023, November 15). Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Function_word
© OneStepNow Education 𓊍
Introduction
Content and Function Words
Read this sentence together. Watch and learn. What do you notice? What do you wonder?
Our
barks
small
dog
the
at
squirrels.
loudly
© OneStepNow Education 𓊍
Practice Together : Identify
Content and Function Words
Read the sentence together. Which words are content words? Which words are function words? How do you know?
The
moved
two
boys
down
hallway.
quietly
© OneStepNow Education 𓊍
Content and Function Words
Practice Together : Identify
Read the sentence together. Which words are content words? Which words are function words? How do you know?
Birds
nest
built
old
an
shoe.
in
© OneStepNow Education 𓊍
Practice Together : Identify
Content and Function Words
Read the sentence together. Which words are content words? Which words are function words? How do you know?
Big
through
bears
search
of
because
hunger.
trash
© OneStepNow Education 𓊍
Practice Together : Complete
Content and Function Words
Add some function words to these content words to help them "make sense" in a sentence.
teacher
gives
homework.
car
fast
highway.
drives
© OneStepNow Education 𓊍
On Your Own: Identify
Content and Function Words
Read the sentence. Which words are content words? Which words are function words? How do you know?
We
the
look
at
in
buildings
town.
tall
© OneStepNow Education 𓊍
On Your Own: Identify
Content and Function Words
Read the sentence. Which words are content words? Which words are function words? How do you know?
Quickly,
to
Mother
drove
for
store
milk.
the
© OneStepNow Education 𓊍
On Your Own: Complete
Content and Function Words
Add some function words to these content words to help them "make sense" in a sentence.
baby
cries
bottle.
red
throw
ball.
player
© OneStepNow Education 𓊍
Read the sentence with students. Remove the function words (our, at, the). Ask if the sentence makes sense. Remove the content words and ask again. Separate the content & function words. Ask students to Notice & Wonder. Explain the first list as content words. Content words carry meaning. When we remove them, the sentence doesn't make sense. Explain the words in the second list are function words. Function words help connect the content words. They are like the "glue" that helps the content words "go together." When we remove them, our sentence might still make sense, but they might not sound right, maybe more like a robot talking. Students may have noticed function words tend to be short. Although this can be true, it is not always the case.