grammatical word

USAGE SUMMARY

The phrase "grammatical word" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used when discussing the nature of a word in terms of its grammatical function or role in a sentence. Example: "In the sentence 'She quickly ran to the store,' the word 'quickly' is a grammatical word that modifies the verb."

✓ Grammatically correct

Science

News & Media

Academia

Human-verified examples from authoritative sources

Exact Expressions

6 human-written examples

2) Does grammatical word class affect word learning?

Early Childhood Research Quarterly

Syntax describes the rule system that governs how words are combined into larger meaningful units of phrases, clauses, and sentences, while morphology describes the aspect of language that governs word structure and includes grammatical word inflections that carry tense.

Columbia University

There is a grammatical word that should not be in this sentence.

BBC

To make FLA approach more accessible to teachers, a comparison of the functional grammar terms and the traditional grammatical word class categories is provided.

Functional Linguistics

"Many of the toddlers we studied made a small sound, a soft breath, or a pause, at exactly the place that a grammatical word would normally be uttered," Dye said in a statement.

Huffington Post

The word-final phonemic sound [t] in Finnish, for example, can signal a meaningful grammatical word ending when placed after the stem of a noun or verb.

Cerebral Cortex

Human-verified similar examples from authoritative sources

Similar Expressions

54 human-written examples

Some special grammatical words also have the tone °.

Encyclopedia Britannica

While high-frequency grammatical words were often entered, avoidance of more difficult words was also recurrent.

System

Many texters alter just the grammatical words (such as "you" and "be").

The Guardian - Books

Sentence structure was expressed by word order, word grouping, and the use of specific grammatical words, or particles.

Encyclopedia Britannica

Although analytical methods of expressing grammatical meanings (through prepositions and other "empty" grammatical words) are present in older strata of the language, they are used to the exclusion of all other means only in the case system of Modern Bulgarian and Macedonian.

Encyclopedia Britannica

Expert writing Tips

Best practice

When discussing specific linguistic features, use "grammatical word" to precisely denote a word's role in sentence structure or grammar, rather than its semantic content.

Common error

Don't use "grammatical word" interchangeably with terms like "content word" or "lexical word" if you specifically want to highlight grammatical function. "Grammatical word" points to its role in structuring a sentence, not necessarily its meaning.

Linguistic Context

The phrase "grammatical word" functions as a noun phrase, where "grammatical" acts as an adjective specifying the type of word. As noted by Ludwig, it refers to a word considered from the perspective of its grammatical role or function within a sentence.

Expression frequency: Uncommon

Frequent in

Science

40%

News & Media

30%

Academia

20%

Less common in

Encyclopedias

5%

Wiki

3%

Formal & Business

2%

Ludwig's WRAP-UP

In summary, "grammatical word" is a phrase used to describe a word in terms of its grammatical function or role in a sentence, which is considered grammatically correct by Ludwig. It's most frequently encountered in scientific, academic and news-related contexts. While not exceedingly common, its usage is appropriate when discussing linguistic features that emphasize the structural importance of a word. Alternative phrases like "function word" or "syntactic word" can be employed depending on the specific nuance you wish to convey. When using the phrase, ensure you are highlighting the word's grammatical contribution rather than its semantic content. Overall, while Ludwig shows it's not overly frequent, it is accurate and appropriate in specific contexts.

More alternative expressions

Phrases that express similar concepts, ordered by semantic similarity:

function word

Focuses on the word's role in the sentence structure rather than its general grammatical classification.

functional word

Similar to "function word", emphasizing the operational role in a sentence.

syntactic word

Highlights the word's relation to syntax, the arrangement of words in sentences.

structural word

Indicates the word's contribution to the overall structure of a sentence.

grammatical element

Replaces "word" with a broader term, encompassing morphemes or other components.

form word

Emphasizes the word's role as a grammatical marker rather than a content carrier.

lexical item with grammatical function

Emphasizes the item's lexical nature while clarifying its specific grammatical purpose.

empty word

Draws attention to words that primarily serve a grammatical purpose and carry little lexical meaning.

part of speech

Refers to the traditional grammatical categories like noun, verb, adjective etc.

grammatical category

Highlights the classification of the word within a system of grammar.

FAQs

How is a "grammatical word" different from a content word?

A "grammatical word" primarily serves a structural role in a sentence, indicating relationships between other words. Content words, on the other hand, carry the main meaning. Examples of "function words", a type of grammatical word, include prepositions, articles, and conjunctions.

What are some examples of "grammatical words"?

Common examples include articles (a, an, the), prepositions (in, on, at), conjunctions (and, but, or), and auxiliary verbs (is, are, was, were). These words primarily contribute to the structure and grammar of a sentence.

How does the use of "grammatical words" vary across languages?

Languages differ in how they employ "grammatical words". Some languages rely heavily on them to indicate grammatical relationships, while others use inflections or word order more extensively. For example, English uses prepositions, which are "grammatical function words", to a great extent.

What's the difference between "grammatical word" and "lexical word"?

"Grammatical word" refers to a word whose primary function is to indicate grammatical relationships within a sentence. A lexical word is a word that carries semantic content (e.g. nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs).