ill-formed

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Explanation of "ill-formed"

Definition: The word "ill-formed" is an adjective used to describe something that is not correctly structured or does not follow the rules of grammar or accepted usage. When a sentence or phrase is ill-formed, it means that it sounds strange or incorrect to native speakers.

Usage Instructions

• Use "ill-formed" to talk about sentences or phrases that are grammatically incorrect.
• It is often used in academic or formal discussions about language.

Examples

1. Basic Example:

   • "The sentence 'He go to the store' is ill-formed because it should be 'He goes to the store.'"

2. Advanced Example:

   • "In linguistics, researchers often analyze ill-formed sentences to understand how language rules are learned and processed."

Word Variants

• Ill-formation (noun): The state of being ill-formed.

  • Example: "The ill-formation of that word made it difficult to understand."

• Well-formed (antonym): This describes something that is correctly structured or grammatically correct.

  • Example: "The sentence 'She is reading a book' is well-formed."

Different Meanings

• While "ill-formed" primarily refers to grammatical issues, it can also describe ideas or objects that are poorly structured or not well made.
  • Example: "The ill-formed argument did not convince anyone."

Synonyms

• Incorrect
• Ungrammatical
• Flawed
• Awkward (when talking about sentence structure)

Idioms and Phrasal Verbs

• There are no direct idioms or phrasal verbs that include "ill-formed," but you might encounter phrases like "make sense" when discussing whether a sentence is well-formed or ill-formed.
  • Example: "That sentence doesn't make sense; it's ill-formed."

Summary

In summary, "ill-formed" is used to describe sentences that do not follow grammatical rules, making them sound incorrect or awkward.

Academic

Adjective

1. not grammatical; not conforming to the rules of grammar or accepted usage

Synonyms

• ungrammatical