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Glite Dictionary
✅ About choosing 📝 Word combination rules
selectional

selectional

9.6
About which words can go together in a sentence
  • adjective
  • /sɪˈlɛkʃənl/
  • Specialized
: selectivo
  • Linguists study selectional restrictions to understand how verbs and nouns can be combined.

Examples

  • The selectional properties of certain adjectives limit which nouns they can describe.

  • Teachers often explain selectional rules when helping students form correct English sentences.

  • The selectional restrictions in English are quite complex.

  • Understanding selectional constraints helps in learning grammar.

  • Linguists study selectional restrictions to understand how verbs and nouns can be combined.

  • The selectional properties of certain adjectives limit which nouns they can describe.

  • Teachers often explain selectional rules when helping students form correct English sentences.

Antonyms

unrestricted
23 4.1

Free from limits and control, it allows people to use or access

How Restrictive

strict
371 3.2
restrictive
49 4.7
selectional
  • Specialized
9.6
permissive
  • Jargon
14 4.9
nonrestrictive
  • Specialized
1 7.5

Surface Forms

selectional positive

Morphology

selectional = selection (opaque) = select + ion + al

Although the word is formally based on 'selection' plus '-al', the technical linguistic meaning is specialized and not directly guessable for most learners.

Etymology

Selectional comes from the base select ('to choose') plus the endings -ion and -al ('related to'). In grammar, selectional ideas mean that some words 'choose' which other words can go with them, so selectional rules explain which word pairs are allowed in a sentence.