Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

function word

 noun
     
Related topics: Grammar
function word [countable]
a word that does not mean anything on its own, but shows the relationship between other words in a sentence, for example words such as 'but' or 'if'
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

Dictionary pictures of the day
Do you know what each of these is called?
What is the word for picture 1? What is the word for picture 2? What is the word for picture 3? What is the word for picture 4?
Click on any of the pictures above to find out what it is called.

Explore our topic dictionary

Browse the dictionary