7/21/2019 Glossary of English Grammar Terms Relates to the English Language

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/glossary-of-english-grammar-terms-relates-to-the-english-language 1/14

Grammar Terms Glossary

This glossary of English grammar terms relates to the English language. Some terms here may have additional or extended meaningswhen applied to other languages. For example, "case" in some languages applies to pronouns and nouns. In English, nouns do not havecase and therefore no reference to nouns is made in its definition here.

Term Definition

active voice one of two voices in English a direct form of expression where the su!ect performs or "acts" the ver! seealso passive voiceeg# "$any people eat rice"

adective part of speech that typically descri!es or "modifies" a nouneg# "It was a big dog."

adective clause seldom%used term for   relative clause

adunct word or phrase that adds information to a sentence and that can !e removed from the sentence without ma&ithe sentence ungrammaticaleg# I met 'ohn at school.

adver! word that modifies a ver!, an adective or another adver!eg# (uic&ly, really, very

adver!ial clause dependent clause that acts li&e an adver! and indicates such things as time, place or reasoneg# Although we are getting older , we grow more !eautiful each day.

affirmative statement that expresses )or claims to express* a truth or "yes" meaning opposite of negativeeg# The sun is hot.

affix language unit )morpheme* that occurs !efore or after )or sometimes within* the root or stem of a wordeg# un- in unhappy )prefix*, -ness in happiness )suffix*

agreement)also &nown as"concord"*

logical )in a grammatical sense* lin&s !etween words !ased on tense,case or  num!er eg# this phone, these phones

antecedent word, phrase or clause that is replaced !y a pronoun )or other su!stitute* when mentioned su!se(uently )in tsame sentence or later*eg# "Emily is nice !ecause she !rings me flowers."

7/21/2019 Glossary of English Grammar Terms Relates to the English Language

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/glossary-of-english-grammar-terms-relates-to-the-english-language 2/14

Grammar Terms Glossary

Term Definition

appositive noun phrase that re%identifies or descri!es its neigh!ouring nouneg# "+anada, a multicultural country, is recognied !y its maple leaf flag."

article determiner  that introduces a noun phrase as definite )the* or indefinite )a-an*

aspect feature of some ver! forms that relates to duration or completion of time ver!s can have no aspect )simple*, can have continuous or progressive aspect )expressing duration*, or have perfect or perfective aspect)expressing completion*

auxiliary ver!

)also called "helpingver!"*

ver! used with the main ver! to help indicate something such as tense or voice

eg# I do not li&e you. She has finished. e can swim.

!are infinitive unmar&ed form of the ver! )no indication of tense, mood, person, or aspect* without the particle "to" typicallyused after modal auxiliary ver!s see also infinitiveeg# "e should come", "I can swim"

!ase form !asic form of a ver! !efore conugation into tenses etceg# be, speak

case form of a pronoun !ased on its relationship to other words in the sentence case can!e su!ective, o!ective or possessiveeg# "I love this dog", "This dog loves me", "This is my dog"

causative ver! ver! that causes things to happen such as "ma&e", "get" and "have" the su!ect does not perform the action is indirectly responsi!le for iteg# "She made me go to school", "I had my nails painted"

clause group of words containing a su!ect and its ver!eg# "It was late when he arrived"

comparative,comparative adective

form of an adective or adver! made with "%er" or "more" that is used to show differences or similarities !etwetwo things )not three or more things*eg# colder , more quickly

7/21/2019 Glossary of English Grammar Terms Relates to the English Language

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/glossary-of-english-grammar-terms-relates-to-the-english-language 3/14

Grammar Terms Glossary

Term Definition

complement part of a sentence that completes or adds meaning to the predicateeg# $ary did not say where she was going.

compound noun noun that is made up of more than one word can !e one word, or hyphenated, or separated !y a spaceeg# tooth!rush, mother%in%law, +hristmas /ay

compound sentence sentence with at least two independent clauses usually oined !y a conunctioneg# "0ou can have something healthy !ut you can1t have more un& food."

concord another term for   agreement

conditional structure in English where one action depends on another )"if%then" or "then%if" structure* most commonare 2st, 3nd, and 4rd conditionalseg# "If I win I will !e happy", "I would !e happy if I won"

conugate to show the different forms of a ver! according to voice, mood, tense,num!er  and person conugation is (uitesimple in English compared to many other languageseg# I wal&, you wal&, he-she-it wal&s, we wal&, they wal& I wal&ed, you wal&ed, he-she-it wal&ed, we wal&ed, wal&ed

conunction word that oins or connects two parts of a sentenceeg# 5am li&es tea and coffee. 6nthony went swimming although it was raining.

content word word that has meaning in a sentence, such as a ver! or noun )as opposed to a structure word, such as pronoor auxiliary ver!* content words are stressed in speecheg# "+ould you BI!" my "#A$$E$ !ecause I1ve #E%T them at &'(E"

continuous

)also called"progressive"*

ver! form )specifically an aspect* indicating actions that are in progress or continuing over a given time perio

)can !e past, present or future* formed with "7E" 8 "9E57%ing"eg# "They are watching T9."

contraction shortening of two )or more* words into oneeg# isn)t )is not*, we)d)ve )we would have*

counta!le noun thing that you can count, such as apple, pen, tree )see uncounta!le noun*eg# one apple, three pens, ten trees

dangling participle illogical structure that occurs in a sentence when a writer intends to modify one thing !ut the reader attachesanother eg# "unning to the bus, the flowers were !looming." )In the example sentence it seems that the flowers we

7/21/2019 Glossary of English Grammar Terms Relates to the English Language

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/glossary-of-english-grammar-terms-relates-to-the-english-language 4/14

Grammar Terms Glossary

Term Definition

running.*

declarative sentence sentence type typically used to ma&e a statement )as opposed to a (uestion or command*

eg# "Tara wor&s hard", "It wasn1t funny"

defining relative clause)also called "restrictiverelative clause"*

relative clause that contains information re(uired for the understanding of the sentence not set off with commsee alsonon%defining clause eg# "The !oy who was wearing a blue shirt was the winner"

demonstrativepronoundemonstrativeadective

pronoun or determiner  that indicates closeness to )this-these* or distance from )that-those* the spea&er eg# "This is a nice car", "+an you see those cars:"

dependent clause part of a sentence that contains a su!ect and a ver! !ut does not form a complete thought and cannot standits own see alsoindependent clauseeg# ";hen the water came out of the tap..."

determiner  word such as an article or a possessive adective or other adective that typically comes at the !eginning of nphraseseg# "It was an excellent film", "/o you li&e my new shirt:", "<et1s !uysome eggs"

direct speech saying what someone said !y using their exact words see alsoindirect speech eg# "<ucy said# 1I am tired.1"

direct o!ect noun phrase in a sentence that directly receives the action of the ver! see also indirect o!ect eg# "'oey !ought the car ", "I li&e it", "+an you see the man wearing a pink shirt and waving a gun in theair :"

em!edded (uestion (uestion that is not in normal (uestion form with a (uestion mar& it occurs within another statement or (uestand generally follows statement structureeg# "I don1t &now where he went," "+an you tell me where it is!efore you go:", "They haven1t decided whetthey should come"

finite ver! ver! form that has a specific tense, num!er and personeg# I work, he works, we learned, they ran

first conditional "if%then" conditional structure used for future actions or events that are seen as realistic possi!ilitieseg# "If we win the lottery we will !uy a car"

fragment incomplete piece of a sentence used alone as a complete sentence a fragment does not contain a completethought fragments are common in normal speech !ut unusual )inappropriate* in formal writingeg# ";hen1s her !irthday: % In December ", ";ill they come: %*robably not"

function purpose or "o!" of a word form or element in a sentenceeg# The function of a su!ect is to perform the action. =ne function of an adective is to describe a noun. Tfunction of a noun is toname things.

future continuous)also called "futureprogressive"*

tense> used to descri!e things that will happen in the future at a particular time formed with ;I<< 8 7E 8 9Eingeg# "I will be graduating in Septem!er."

future perfect tense> used to express the past in the future formed with ;I<< 69E 8 9E57%edeg# "I will have graduated !y then"

7/21/2019 Glossary of English Grammar Terms Relates to the English Language

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/glossary-of-english-grammar-terms-relates-to-the-english-language 5/14

Grammar Terms Glossary

Term Definition

future perfectcontinuous

tense> used to show that something will !e ongoing until a certain time in the future formed with ;I<< 69E7EE? 8 9E57%ingeg# ";e will have been living there for three months !y the time the !a!y is !orn"

future simple tense> used to descri!e something that hasn1t happened yet such as a prediction or a sudden decision formewith ;I<< 8 76SE 9E57eg# "e will be late", "I will answer  the phone"

genitive case case expressing relationship !etween nouns )possession, origin, composition etc*eg# "+ohn)s dog", "door of the car ", "children)s songs", "pile of sand"

gerund noun form of a ver!, formed with 9E57%ingeg# ",alking is great exercise"

grada!le adective adective that can vary in intensity or grade when paired with agrading adver!  see also non%grada!le adecteg# (uite hot, very tall

grading adver! adver! that can modify the intensity or grade of a grada!le adectiveeg# quite hot, very tall

hanging participle another term for   dangling participle

helping ver! another term for   auxiliary ver!

imperative form of ver! used when giving a command formed with 76SE 9E57 onlyeg# "Brush your teeth@"

indefinite pronoun pronoun does not refer to any specific person, thing or amount. It is vague and "not definite".eg# anything, each, many, somebody

independent clause)also called "mainclause"*

group of words that expresses a complete thought and can stand alone as a sentence see also dependentclauseeg# "Tara is eating curry", "Tara likes oranges and +oe likes apples."

indirect o!ect noun phrase representing the person or thing indirectly affected !y the action of the ver! see also direct o!eeg# "She showed me her !oo& collection", "'oey !ought his wife a new car"

indirect (uestion another term for   em!edded (uestion

indirect speech)also called "reported

speech"*

saying what someone said without using their exact words see direct speecheg# "<ucy said that she was tired"

infinitive !ase form of a ver! preceded !y "to">> see also !are infinitiveeg# "0ou need to study harder", "To be, or not to be# that is the (uestion"

inflection change in word form to indicate grammatical meaningeg# dog, dogs )two inflections* take, takes, took, taking, taken)five inflections*

interection common word that expresses emotion !ut has no grammatical value can often !e used alone and is oftenfollowed !y an exclamation mar&eg# "i@", "er", "=uch@", "/ammit@"

7/21/2019 Glossary of English Grammar Terms Relates to the English Language

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/glossary-of-english-grammar-terms-relates-to-the-english-language 6/14

Grammar Terms Glossary

Term Definition

interrogative )formal* sentence type )typically inverted* normally used when as&ing a (uestioneg# "6re you eating:", ";hat are you eating:"

interrogative pronoun pronoun that as&s a (uestion.eg# who, whom, which

intransitive ver! ver! that does not ta&e a direct o!ect see also transitive ver!e.g. "e is working hard", ";here do you live:"

inversion any reversal of the normal word order , especially placing the auxiliary ver! !efore the su!ect used in a varieof ways, as in (uestion formation, conditional clauses and agreement or disagreementeg# ";here are your &eys:","ad we watched the weather report, we wouldn1t have gone to the !each", "So dhe", "?either did she"

irregular ver!see irregular ver!s list

ver! that has a different ending for past tense and past participle forms than the regular "%ed" see also regulaver! eg# !uy, bought, bought do, did, done

lexicon, lexis all of the words and word forms in a language with meaning or function

lexical ver! another term for   main ver!

lin&ing ver! ver!s that connect the su!ect to more information )!ut do not indicate action*, such as "!e" or "seem"

main clause another term for   independent clause

main ver!)also called "lexicalver!"*

any ver! in a sentence that is not an auxiliary ver! a main ver! has meaning on its owneg# "/oes 'ohn like $ary:", "I will have arrived !y Apm"

modal ver!)also called "modal"*

auxiliary ver! such as can, could, must, should etc paired with the !are infinitive of a ver!eg# "I should go for a og"

modifier word or phrase that modifies and limits the meaning of another wordeg# the house BC the white house, the house over there, the housewe sold last year 

mood sentence type that indicates the spea&er1s view towards the degree of reality of what is !eing said, for exampsu!unctive, indicative, imperative

morpheme unit of language with meaning differs from "word" !ecause some cannot stand alonee.g. un%, predict and %able in unpredicta!le

multi%word ver! ver! that consists of a !asic ver! 8 another word or words )preposition and-or adver!*eg# get up )phrasal ver!*, believe in )prepositional ver!*, get on with)phrasal%prepositional ver!*

negative form which changes a "yes" meaning to a "no" meaning opposite of  affirmativeeg# "She will not come", "I have never  seen her"

nominative case another term for   su!ective case

non%defining relativeclause)also called "non%

relative clause that adds information !ut is not completely necessary set off from the sentence with a commacommas see defining relative clause eg# "The !oy, who had a chocolate bar in his hand, was still hungry"

7/21/2019 Glossary of English Grammar Terms Relates to the English Language

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/glossary-of-english-grammar-terms-relates-to-the-english-language 7/14

Grammar Terms Glossary

Term Definition

restrictive relativeclause"*

non%grada!le adective adective that has a fixed (uality or intensity and cannot !e paired with a grading adver! see also grada!leadective eg# freeing, !oiling, dead

non%restrictive relativeclause

another term for  non%defining relative clause

noun part of speech that names a person, place, thing, (uality, (uantity or concept see also propernoun and compound nouneg# "The man is waiting", "I was !orn in #ondon", "Is that your car :", "/o you li&e music:"

noun clause clause that ta&es the place of a noun and cannot stand on its own often introduced with words such as "that,who or whoever"eg# ",hat the president said was surprising"

noun phrase )?D* any word or group of words !ased on a noun or pronoun that can function in a sentence as a su!ect, o!ect prepositional o!ect can !e one word or many words can !e very simple or very complexeg# "$he is nice", ";hen is the meeting:", "The car over there beside the lampost is mine"

num!er change of word form indicating one person or thing )singular * or more than one person or thing )plural*eg# one dog-three dogs, she-they

o!ect thing or person affected !y the ver! see also direct o!ect andindirect o!ect eg# "The !oy &ic&ed the ball", ";e chose the house with the red door "

o!ective case case form of a pronoun indicating an o!ect

eg# "'ohn married her ", "I gave it to him"

part of speech one of the classes into which words are divided according to their function in a sentenceeg# ver!, noun, adective

participle ver! form that can !e used as an adective or a noun see past participle, present participle

passive voice one of two voices in English an indirect form of expression in which the su!ect receives the action seealso active voiceeg# "5ice is eaten !y many people"

past tense)also called "simple

past"*

tense used to tal& a!out an action, event or situation that occurred and was completed in the pasteg# "I lived in Daris for 2 years", "0esterday we saw a sna&e"

past continuous tense often used to descri!e an interrupted action in the past formed with ;6S-;E5E 8 9E57%ingeg# "I was reading when you called"

past perfect tense that refers to the past in the past formed with 6/ 8 9E57%edeg# ";e had stopped the car"

past perfectcontinuous

tense that refers to action that happened in the past and continued to a certain point in the past formed with6/ 7EE? 8 9E57%ingeg# "I had been waiting for three hours when he arrived"

7/21/2019 Glossary of English Grammar Terms Relates to the English Language

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/glossary-of-english-grammar-terms-relates-to-the-english-language 8/14

Grammar Terms Glossary

Term Definition

past participle ver! form )94* % usually made !y adding "%ed" to the !ase ver! % typically used in perfect and passive tenses,and sometimes as an adectiveeg# "I have finished", "It was seen !y many people", "boiled eggs"

perfect ver! form )specifically an aspect* formed with 69E-6S 8 9E57%ed )present perfect* or 6/ 8 9E57%ed)past perfect*

person grammatical category that identifies people in a conversation there are three persons# 2st person )pronounsI-me, we-us* is the spea&er)s*, 3nd person )pronoun you* is the listener)s*, 4rd person )pronouns he-him,she-her, it, they-them* is every!ody or everything else

personal pronoun pronoun that indicates personeg# "&e li&es my dogs", "They li&e him"

phrasal ver! multi%word ver! formed with a ver! 8 adver!eg# break up, turn off  )see phrasal ver!s list*?7# many people and !oo&s call all multi%word ver!s "phrasal ver!s" )see multi%word ver!s*

phrase two or more words that have a single function and form part of a sentence phrases can !e noun, adective,adver!, ver! or prepositional

plural of a noun or form indicating more than one person or thing plural nouns are usually formed !y adding "%s" sealso singular , num!er  eg# bananas, spoons, trees

position grammatically correct placement of a word form in a phrase or sentence in relation to other word formseg# "The correct position for an article is at the !eginning of the noun phrase that it descri!es"

positive !asic state of an adective or adver! when it shows (uality !ut notcomparative or  superlative

eg# nice, kind, quickly

possessive adective adective )also called "determiner"* !ased on a pronoun# my, your, his, her, its, our, their eg# "I lost my &eys", "She li&es your  car"

possessive case case form of a pronoun indicating ownership or possessioneg# "(ine are !lue", "This car is hers"

possessive pronoun pronoun that indicates ownership or possessioneg# ";here is mine:", "These are yours"

predicate one of the two main parts )su!ect and predicate* of a sentence the predicate is the part that is not the su!eeg# "$y !rother is a doctor ", ",ho did you call:", "The woman wearing a !lue dress helped me"

prefix affix that occurs !efore the root or stem of a wordeg# impossi!le, reload

preposition part of speech that typically comes !efore a noun phrase and shows some type of relationship !etween thatnoun phrase and another element )including relationships of time, location, purpose etc*eg# ";e sleep at night", "I live in <ondon", "This is for  digging"

prepositional ver! multi%word ver! that is formed with ver! 8 prepositioneg# believe in, look after 

present participle %ing form of a ver! )except when it is a gerund or ver!al noun*

7/21/2019 Glossary of English Grammar Terms Relates to the English Language

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/glossary-of-english-grammar-terms-relates-to-the-english-language 9/14

Grammar Terms Glossary

Term Definition

eg# ";e were eating", "The man shouting at the !ac& is rude", "I saw Tara playing tennis"

present simple )also

called "simplepresent"*

tense usually used to descri!e states and actions that are general, ha!itual or )with the ver! "to !e"* true righ

now formed with the !asic ver! )8 s for 4rd person singular*eg# "+anada sounds !eautiful", "She walks to school", "I am very happy"

presentcontinuous)also called"present progressive"*

tense used to descri!e action that is in process now, or a plan for the future formed with 7E 8 9E57%ingeg# ";e are watching T9", "I am moving to +anada next month"

present perfect tense that connects the past and the present, typically used to express experience, change or a continuingsituation formed with 69E 8 9E57%edeg# "I have worked there", "'ohn has broken his leg", "ow longhave you been in +anada:"

present perfectcontinuous

tense used to descri!e an action that has recently stopped or an action continuing up to now formed with 68 7EE? 8 9E57%ingeg# "I1m tired !ecause I)ve been running", "e has been living in +anada for two years"

progressive another term for   continuous

pronoun word that replaces a noun or noun phrase there are several types including personal pronouns, relativepronouns and indefinite pronounseg# you, he, him who, which somebody, anything

proper noun noun that is capitalied at all times and is the name of a person, place or thingeg# $hakespeare, Tokyo, English.lubcom

punctuation standard mar&s such as commas, periods and (uestion mar&s within a sentenceeg# / 0 1 - 2 3

(uantifier  determiner  or pronoun that indicates (uantityeg# some, many, all

(uestion tag final part of a tag (uestion mini%(uestion at end of a tag (uestioneg# "Snow isn1t !lac&, is it:"

(uestion word another term for   ;%word

reciprocal pronoun pronoun that indicates that two or more su!ects are acting mutually there are two in English % each other, onanother eg# "'ohn and $ary were shouting at each other ", "The students accused one another  of cheating"

reduced relativeclause)also called "participialrelative clause"*

construction similar to a relative clause, !ut containing a participleinstead of a finite ver! this construction ispossi!le only under certain circumstanceseg# "The woman sitting on the bench is my sister", "The peoplearrested by the police have !een released

reflexive pronoun pronoun ending in %self or %selves, used when the su!ect and o!ect are the same, or when the su!ect needemphasiseg# "She drove herself ", "I1ll phone her myself "

regular ver!see regular ver!s list

ver! that has "%ed" as the ending for past tense and past participle forms see also irregular ver!eg# wor&, wor&ed, wor&ed

7/21/2019 Glossary of English Grammar Terms Relates to the English Language

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/glossary-of-english-grammar-terms-relates-to-the-english-language 10/14

Grammar Terms Glossary

Term Definition

relative adver! adver! that introduces a relative clause there are four in English#where, when, wherever , whenever  seealso relative pronoun

relative clause dependent clause that usually starts with a relative pronoun such as who or which, or  relative adver! such aswhereeg# "The person who finishes first can leave early" )defining*, "Texas,where my brother lives, is !ig" )non%defining*

relative pronoun pronoun that starts a relative clause there are five in English# who,whom, whose, which, that see also relaadver!

reported speech another term for   indirect speech

restrictive relativeclause

another term for  defining relative clause

second conditional "if%then" conditional structure used to tal& a!out an unli&ely possi!ility in the futureeg# "If we won the lottery we would !uy a car"

sentence largest grammatical unit a sentence must always include a su!ect)except for imperatives* and predicate awritten sentence starts with a capital letter and ends with a full stop-period ).*, (uestion mar& ):* or exclamatimar& )@* a sentence contains a complete thought such as a statement, (uestion, re(uest or commandeg# "Stop@", "/o you li&e coffee:", "I wor&."

series list of items in a sentenceeg# "The children ate popsicles/ popcorn and chips"

singular of a noun or form indicating exactly one person or thing singular nouns are usually the simplest form of the n)as found in a dictionary* see also plural, num!er  

eg# banana, spoon, tree

split infinitive situation where a word or phrase comes !etween the particle "to" and the ver! in an infinitive considered poconstruction !y someeg# "e promised to never lie again"

Standard English)S.E.*

"normal" spelling, pronunciation and grammar that is used !y educated native spea&ers of English

structure word word that has no real meaning in a sentence, such as a pronoun or auxiliary ver! )as opposed to a content wsuch as ver! or noun* structure words are not normally stressed in speecheg# ".ould you 75I?G my G<6SSES because I)ve <EFT them at=$E"

su!ect one of the two main parts )su!ect and predicate* of a sentence the su!ect is the part that is not the predicattypically, the su!ect is the first noun phrase in a sentence and is what the rest of the sentence "is a!out"eg# "The rain water  was dirty", "(ary is !eautiful", ",ho saw you:"

su!ective casealso called"nominative"

case form of a pronoun indicating a su!ecteg# /id she tell you a!out her:

su!unctive fairly rare ver! form typically used to tal& a!out events that are not certain to happen, usually something thatsomeone wants, hopes or imagines will happen formed with 765E I?FI?ITI9E )except past of "!e"*eg# "The Dresident re(uests that 'ohn attend the meeting"

7/21/2019 Glossary of English Grammar Terms Relates to the English Language

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/glossary-of-english-grammar-terms-relates-to-the-english-language 11/14

Grammar Terms Glossary

Term Definition

su!ordinate clause another term for  dependent clause

suffix affix that occurs after the root or stem of a word

eg# happiness, (uic&ly

superlative,superlativeadective

adective or adver! that descri!es the extreme degree of somethingeg# happiest, most quickly

S9= su!ect%ver!%o!ect a common word order  where the su!ect is followed !y the ver! and then the o!ecteg# "The man crossed the street"

syntax sentence structure the rules a!out sentence structure

tag (uestion special construction with statement that ends in a mini%(uestion the whole sentence is a tag (uestion the m(uestion is a (uestion tag usually used to o!tain confirmationeg# "The Earth is round, isn1t it:", "0ou don1t eat meat, do you:"

tense form of a ver! that shows us when the action or state happens )past, present or future*. ?ote that the name otense is not always a guide to when the action happens. The "present continuous tense", for example, can !eused to tal& a!out the present or the future.

third conditional "if%then" conditional structure used to tal& a!out a possi!le event in the past that did not happen )and is therenow impossi!le*eg# "If we had won the lottery we would have !ought a car"

transitive ver! action ver! that has a direct o!ect )receiver of the action* see alsointransitive ver!eg# "The &ids always eat a snac& while they watch T9"

uncounta!le nouns

)also called "massnouns" or "non%count"*

thing that you cannot count, such as su!stances or concepts see alsocounta!le nouns 

eg# water , furniture, music

usage way in which words and constructions are normally used in any particular language

92, 93, 94 referring to 9er! 2, 9er! 3, 9er! 4 % !eing the !ase, past and past participle that students typically learn forirregular ver!seg# spea&, spo&e, spo&en

ver! word that descri!es the su!ect1s action or state and that we can change or  conugate !asedon tense and person eg# )to* wor&, )to* love, )to* !egin

voice form of a ver! that shows the relation of the su!ect to the action there are two voices in English# active, pas

;%(uestion (uestion using a ;%word and expecting an answer that is not "yes" or "no" ;%(uestions are "open"(uestions see also yes%no (uestion eg# ;here are you going:

;%word)also called "(uestionword"*

word that as&s a ;%(uestion there are ;%words# who, what, where, when, which, why, how

word order order or se(uence in which words occur within a sentence !asic word order for English is su!ect%ver!%o!ecor  S9=

7/21/2019 Glossary of English Grammar Terms Relates to the English Language

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/glossary-of-english-grammar-terms-relates-to-the-english-language 12/14

Grammar Terms Glossary

Term Definition

yes%no (uestion (uestion to which the answer is yes or no yes%no (uestions are "closed" (uestions see also ;%(uestioneg# "/o you li&e coffee:"

ero conditional "if%then" conditional structure used when the result of the condition is always true )!ased on fact*eg# "If you dial =, the operator comes on"

> note that technically English does not have a real future tense>> some authorities consider the !ase form of the ver! without "to" to !e the true infinitive

7/21/2019 Glossary of English Grammar Terms Relates to the English Language

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/glossary-of-english-grammar-terms-relates-to-the-english-language 13/14

Grammar 9oca!ulary

active voice

In the active voice, the su!ect of the ver! does the action )eg They killed the President *. See also Dassive 9oice.

ad4ective

 6 word li&e big, red, easy, French etc. 6n adective descri!es a noun or pronoun.

adverb 6 word li&e slowly, quietly, well, often etc. 6n adver! modifies a ver!.

article

The "indefinite" articles are a and an. The "definite article" is the.

au5iliary verb

 6 ver! that is used with a main ver!. Be, do and have are auxiliary ver!s. Can, may , must etc are modal auxiliary ver!s.

clause

 6 group of words containing a su!ect and its ver! )for example# It was late when he arrived *.

con4unction 6 word used to connect words, phrases and clauses )for example# and , but , if *.

infinitive

The !asic form of a ver! as in to wor& or work .

inter4ection

 6n exclamation inserted into an utterance without grammatical connection )for example#oh! , ah! , ouch! , well! *.

modal verb

 6n auxiliary ver! li&e can, may , must  etc that modifies the main ver! and expresses possi!ility, pro!a!ility etc. It is also called "modal

auxiliary ver!".

noun

 6 word li&e table, dog , teacher , America etc. 6 noun is the name of an o!ect, concept, person or place. 6 "concrete noun" is something yo

can see or touch li&e a erson or car . 6n "a!stract noun" is something that you cannot see or touch li&e a decision or hainess. 6

"counta!le noun" is something that you can count )for example# bottle,song , dollar *. 6n "uncounta!le noun" is something that you cannot

count )for example#water , music , money *.

ob4ect

In the active voice, a noun or its e(uivalent that receives the action of the ver!. In the passive voice, a noun or its e(uivalent that does the

action of the ver!.

participle

The ing  and ed  forms of ver!s. The ing  form is called the "present participle". The ed form is called the "past participle" )for irregular

ver!s, this is column 4*.

part of speech

=ne of the eight classes of word in English % noun, ver!, adective, adver!, pronoun, preposition, conunction and interection.

passive voice

In the passive voice, the su!ect receives the action of the ver! )eg The President was killed *. See also 6ctive 9oice.

phrase

 6 group of words not containing a su!ect and its ver! )eg on the table, the girl in a red dress*.

7/21/2019 Glossary of English Grammar Terms Relates to the English Language

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/glossary-of-english-grammar-terms-relates-to-the-english-language 14/14

Grammar 9oca!ulary

predicate

Each sentence contains )or implies* two parts# a su!ect and a predicate. The predicate is what is said a!out the su!ect.

preposition

 6 word li&e at , to, in, over  etc. Drepositions usually come !efore a noun and give information a!out things li&e time, place and direction.

pronoun 6 word li&e " , me, you, he, him, it  etc. 6 pronoun replaces a noun.

sentence

 6 group of words that express a thought. 6 sentence conveys a statement, (uestion, exclamation or command. 6 sentence contains or

implies a su!ect and a predicate. In simple terms, a sentence must contain a ver! and )usually* a su!ect. 6 sentence starts with a capita

letter and ends with a full stop ).*, (uestion mar& ):* or exclamation mar& )@*.

sub4ect

Every sentence contains )or implies* two parts# a su!ect and a predicate. The su!ect is the main noun )or e(uivalent* in a sentence a!ou

which something is said.

tenseThe form of a ver! that shows us when the action or state happens )past, present or future*. ?ote that the name of a tense is not always a

guide to when the action happens. The "present continuous tense", for example, can !e used to tal& a!out the present or the future.

verb

 6 word li&e #to$ work , #to$ love, #to$ begin. 6 ver! descri!es an action or state.