Natural Language Processing · M2 · papers
Q1B · Content and function words
Solved re-exam · February 2026
M2-relevant questions from an actual TEE paper · original marks retained for longer practice
ii. Which category (function words and content words) belong to open class and closed class? Justify your answer.
iii. For the sentence “The small cat is sleeping under the tree”, identify the function words and content words. [5 marks]
Answer
Content words carry much of a sentence’s lexical meaning, usually including nouns, main verbs, adjectives and many adverbs. Function words primarily express grammatical relationships, including determiners, prepositions, conjunctions, pronouns and auxiliary verbs.
| Category | Typical class | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Content words | Open class | New nouns, verbs and adjectives enter the language readily, such as new technology names |
| Function words | Closed class | The grammatical inventory is relatively stable; new determiners or pronouns are much less frequently added |
| Word | Role in this sentence | Category |
|---|---|---|
| The | Determiner | Function |
| small | Adjective | Content |
| cat | Noun | Content |
| is | Auxiliary supporting progressive tense | Function |
| sleeping | Main verb | Content |
| under | Preposition | Function |
| the | Determiner | Function |
| tree | Noun | Content |
Final answer: content words = small, cat, sleeping, tree; function words = The, is, under, the. “is” is auxiliary here; a word’s role must be judged in context. “Closed” means relatively resistant to new members, not that change is logically impossible.
Yaad rakho: Content words scene batate hain; function words grammar ka connection banate hain.