ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at what words are and the different classes to which words can belong. Once a word has become sufficiently established, it is usually considered for inclusion in a dictionary, such as the Oxford English Dictionary (OED). Most languages distinguish word classes such as 'nouns', 'verbs' and 'adjectives'. Nouns generally refer to things, verbs to actions, while adjectives describe qualities. In English, most nouns, both concrete and abstract nouns, can appear with a definite article. But in some cases, using a definite article with a noun appears odd. The verbs that appear with just one noun phrase are called intransitive verbs, with two noun phrases are transitive verbs and with three noun phrases to make sense are ditransitive verbs. Adjectives describe the properties of nouns, adverbs tell us more about verbs. This includes concepts such as the time, place or manner in which something happens.
