Glossary of grammatical terms

Glossary of grammatical terms

 

abstract noun a noun used to describe a quality, idea, or experience rather than something physical or concrete; e.g. joy, size, language. Compare with concrete noun.

 

active used for describing verb phrases such as gives, and has made, where the subject is the person or thing doing the action or responsible for the action. Compare with passive.

 

adjectival clause another name for relative clause.

 

adjective a word used to tell you more about a thing, such as its appearance, colour, size, or other qualities; e.g. …a pretty blue dress.

 

adverb a word that gives more information about when, how, where, or in what circumstances something happens; e.g. quickly, now. There are several different kinds of adverb; adverbs of degree, manner, place, time, duration, and frequency. There are also focusing adverbs.

 

adverbial a word or combination of words added to a clause to give more information about time, place, or manner. See also sentence adverbial and sentence connector.

 

adverb of degree an adverb indicating the amount or extent of a feeling or quality; e.g. extremely.

 

adverb/adverbial of duration an adverb or adverbial indicating how long something lasts; e.g. briefly, for a long time.

 

adverb/adverbial of frequency an adverb or adverbial indicating how often something happens; e.g. often, once a week.

 

adverb of manner an adverb indicating the way in which something happens or is done; e.g. carefully.

 

adverb of place an adverb that gives more information about position or direction; e.g. Move closer.

 

adverb particle an adverb used as part of a phrasal verb; e.g. hide out, sit up, turn round.

affirmative not containing a negative word. Also called positive.

 

agent another name for performer.

 

agreement the relationship between a subject and its verb, or between a number or determiner and its noun; e.g. I look/she looks… one bell/three bells. Also called concord.

 

apostrophe s an ending (’s) added to a noun to mark possession; e.g. … Harriet’s daughter… the professor’s husband… the Managing Director’s secretary.

 

article see definite article, indefinite article.

 

aspect the use of verb forms to show whether an action is continuing, repeated, or finished.

 

attributive used for describing the position of adjectives when they are used in front of a noun. Compare with predicative.

 

auxiliary verb one of the verbs be, have, and do when they are used with a main verb to make verb forms, negatives, questions, and so on. Also called auxiliary. Modals are also auxiliary verbs.

 

bare infinitive another name for infinitive without to.

 

base form the form of a verb that has no letters added to the end and is not a past form; e.g. walk, go, have, be. The base form is the form you look up in a dictionary.

 

broad negative one of a small group of adverbs including barely and seldom which are used to make a statement almost negative; e.g. I barely knew her.

 

cardinal number a number used for counting; e.g. one, seven, nineteen. classifying adjective an adjective used to identify something as being of

 

a particular type; e.g. Indian, wooden, mental. They do not have comparatives or superlatives. Compare with qualitative adjective.

 

clause a group of words containing a verb. See also main clause and subordinate clause.

 

clause of manner a subordinate clause that describes the way in which something is done, usually introduced with as or like; e.g. She talks like her mother used to.

 

collective noun a noun that refers to a group of people or things; e.g.

committee, team.

 

colour adjective an adjective referring to a colour; e.g. red, blue, scarlet.

 

common noun a noun used to refer to a person, thing, or substance; e.g. sailor, computer, glass. Compare with proper noun.

 

comparative an adjective or adverb with -er on the end or more in front of it; e.g. friendlier, more important, more carefully.

 

complement a noun phrase or adjective that comes after a linking verb such as be, and gives more information about the subject or object of the clause; e.g. She is a teacher, She is tired, They made her chairperson. complex sentence a sentence consisting of two or more main clauses linked by a subordinating conjunction; e.g. We went inside when it started to rain.

 

compound a combination of two or more words functioning as a unit. For example, self-centred and free-style are compound adjectives, bus stop and state of affairs are compound nouns, and dry-clean and roller-skate are compound verbs.

 

compound sentence a sentence consisting of two or more main clauses linked by a coordinating conjunction; e.g. They picked her up and took her into the house.

 

concessive clause a subordinate clause, usually introduced by although or while, that contrasts with a main clause; e.g. Although I like her, I find her hard to talk to.

 

concord another name for agreement.

 

concrete noun a noun that refers to something we can touch or see; e.g.

 

table, dress, flower. Compare with abstract noun.

 

conditional clause a subordinate clause usually starting with if. The event described in the main clause depends on the condition described in the subordinate clause; e.g. If it rains, we’ll go to the cinema… They would be rich if they had taken my advice.

 

conjunction a word linking together two clauses, phrases, or words. There are two types of conjunction – coordinating conjunctions, which link parts of a sentence of the same grammatical type (and, but, or), and subordinating conjunctions, which begin subordinate clauses (although, when).

continuous another name for progressive.

 

contraction a shortened form in which an auxiliary verb and not, or a subject and an auxiliary verb, are joined together and function as one word; e.g. aren’t, she’s.

 

coordinate clause a clause that is connected to another clause with a coordinating conjunction such as and or but; e.g. He fell and broke his leg.

 

coordinating conjunction a word such as and, but, or or which joins together two clauses, phrases, or words of the same grammatical type.

 

copula a name sometimes used to refer to the verb be. In this grammar, the term linking verb is used.

 

countable noun a noun that can be singular or plural; e.g. dog/dogs, lemon/lemons, foot/feet. Also called count noun.

 

declarative a clause in the declarative form has the subject followed by the verb. Most statements are made in the declarative form. Also called indicative.

 

defining non-finite clause a participle clause that is placed after a noun phrase to identify the person or thing you are talking about; e.g. The girl wearing the red hat.

 

defining relative clause a relative clause that identifies the person or thing that is being talked about; e.g. I wrote down everything that she said.

 

definite article the determiner ‘the’.

 

delexical verb a verb that has very little meaning in itself and is used with an object that carries the main meaning of the structure. Give, have, and take are commonly used as delexical verbs; e.g. She gave a small cry… I’ve had a bath.

 

demonstrative one of the words this, that, these, and those used in front of a noun; e.g. … this woman… that tree. They are also used as pronouns; e.g. That looks nice… This is fun.

 

dependent clause another name for subordinate clause.

 

definite determiner one of a groups of determiners including the, that and your which you use when the person you are speaking to

 

understands which person or thing you are talking about; e.g. the old man, my ideas.

 

determiner one of a group of words including the, a, some, and my which are used at the beginning of a noun phrase.

 

direct object a noun phrase referring to a person or thing affected by an action, in a sentence with an active verb; e.g. She wrote her name…. I shut the windows.

 

direct speech speech reported in the words actually spoken by someone, without any changes in tense, person, and so on.

 

ditransitive verb a verb such as give, take, or sell which can have both an indirect and a direct object; e.g. She gave me a kiss.

 

dynamic verb a verb such as run, give or slice which describes an action.

 

Compare with stative verb.

 

-ed adjective an adjective that ends in -ed, and usually has the same form as the -ed participle of a verb, or is formed by adding -ed to a noun; e.g. a worried look… skilled workers. Adjectives that do not end in -ed but have the same forms as irregular -ed participles are also called -ed adjectives; e.g. a broken bone.

 

-ed participle a verb form such as walked or played, which is used to make perfect forms and passives, or in some cases an adjective. Irregular participles such as given and broken are also called -ed participles because they behave like regular -ed participles. Also called past participle.

 

ellipsis when you leave out words because they are obvious from the context.

 

emphasizing adjective an adjective such as complete, utter or total which stresses how strongly you feel about something; e.g. I feel a complete fool.

 

ergative verb a verb that can be either transitive or intransitive in the same meaning. To use the verb intransitively, you use the object of the transitive verb as the subject of the intransitive verb; e.g. He had boiled a kettle… The kettle had boiled.

 

exclamation a word or sentence spoken suddenly and loudly in order to express surprise, anger, and so on; e.g. Oh gosh!

finite a finite verb is inflected according to person or tense rather than being an infinitive or a participle.

 

first person see person.

 

focusing adverb a sentence adverb that indicates the most relevant thing involved; e.g. only, mainly, especially.

 

future the use of will or shall with the base form of the verb to refer to future events; e.g. She will come tomorrow.

 

future progressive the use of will be or shall be and an -ing participle to refer to future events; e.g. She will be going soon. Also called future continuous.

 

future perfect the use of will have or shall have and an -ed participle to refer to future events; e.g. I shall have finished tomorrow.

 

future perfect progressive the use of will or shall with have been and an -ing participle to refer to future events; e.g. I will have been walking for three hours by then. Also called future perfect continuous.

 

gender a grammatical term referring to the difference between masculine and feminine words such as he and she.

 

generic pronoun one of a group of pronouns including you and they which are used to refer to people in general.

 

gerund another name for -ing noun.

 

gradable a gradable adjective can be used with a word such as very to say that the person or thing referred to has more or less of a quality; e.g. very boring, less helpful.

 

idiom a group of two or more words with a meaning that cannot be understood by taking the meaning of each individual word; e.g. to kick the bucket, to run wild.

 

if-clause a conditional clause; or a clause used to report a yes/no-question.

 

imperative a clause in the imperative has the base form of the verb without a subject, e.g. Come here… Take two tablets every four hours… Enjoy yourself.

 

impersonal it it is an impersonal subject when it is used to introduce a fact, or when it is used in a split sentence; e.g. It’s raining… It was you who asked.

 

indefinite article the determiners a and an.

 

indefinite determiner one of a group of determiners including a, many and several which you use to refer to someone or something of a particular type, without saying which person or thing you mean; e.g. an old man, several suggestions.

 

indefinite place adverb one of a group of adverbs including anywhere and somewhere which are used to indicate position or location in a general or vague way.

 

indefinite pronoun one of a group of pronouns including someone and anything which are used to refer to a person or thing in a general way.

 

indicative another name for declarative.

 

indirect object a second object used with a transitive verb to indicate who or what benefits from an action, or gets something as a result of it; e.g. She gave me a rose.

 

indirect question another name for reported question.

 

indirect speech another name for reported speech.

 

infinitive the base form of a verb. It is often used with to in front of it; e.g. (to) take, (to) see, (to) bring.

 

infinitive without to the infinitive form without to in front of it, used with modals and certain other verbs; e.g. You must go… Let me think. inflection the variation in the form of a word to show differences in

 

tense, number, case, and degree.

 

-ing adjective an adjective that has the same form as the -ing participle of a verb; e.g. … a smiling face… a winning streak.

 

-ing participle a verb form ending in -ing that is used to make verb forms, and as an adjective. Also called the present participle.

 

-ing noun a noun that has the same form as the -ing participle of a verb; e.g. Swimming is good for you.

 

interjection another name for exclamation.

 

interrogative adverb one of the adverbs how, when, where, and why when they are used to ask questions.

interrogative a clause in the interrogative form has part or all of the verb phrase in front of the subject. Most questions are asked in the interrogative form.

 

interrogative pronoun one of the pronouns who, whose, whom, what, and which when they are used to ask questions.

 

intransitive verb a verb that is used to talk about an action or event that only involves the subject and so does not have an object; e.g. She arrived… I was yawning.

 

inversion changing the word order in a sentence, especially changing the order of the subject and the verb.

 

irregular not following the normal rules for inflection. An irregular verb has a past form and/or -ed participle that is formed in a different way from the regular ending.

 

lexical verb another name for main verb.

 

linking verb a verb that links the subject and complement of a clause; e.g. be, become, seem, appear. Also sometimes called copula.

 

main clause a clause that is not dependent on, or is not part of, another clause.

 

main verb any verb that is not an auxiliary verb. Also called lexical verb.

 

mass noun (in this grammar) a noun that is usually an uncountable noun, but that can be used as a countable noun when it refers to quantities or types of something; e.g. … two sugars… cough medicines.

 

measurement noun a noun that refers to a unit of size, volume, weight, speed, temperature, etc.; e.g. mile, litre, degree.

 

modal an auxiliary verb that is used with a main verb to indicate a particular attitude, such as possibility, obligation, prediction, or deduction; e.g. can, could, may, might. Also called modal auxiliary or modal verb.

 

modifier a word or group of words that come in front of a noun; e.g. …a beautiful sunny day… …a psychology conference.

 

negative used for describing a sentence that uses a word like not, never, or no one to indicate the absence or opposite of something, or to say

 

that something is not the case; e.g. I don’t know you… I’ll never forget.

 

The opposite is affirmative.

 

negative word a word such as never and not which expresses a negative meaning.

 

nominal relative clause a subordinate clause that functions as a noun and often begins with what or whatever; e.g. What he said was true. nominal that-clause a subordinate clause that functions as a noun and

begins with that; e.g. He showed that it was true. non-defining relative clause a relative clause that gives more

 

information about someone or something, but that is not needed to identify them; e.g. That’s Mary, who was at university with me. Compare with defining relative clause.

 

non-finite the non-finite forms of a verb are the infinitive and participle forms; e.g. to take, taking, taken.

 

noun a word that refers to people, things, and abstract ideas such as feelings and qualities; e.g. woman, Harry, guilt.

 

noun phrase a group of words that acts as the subject, complement, or object of a clause, or as the object of a preposition.

 

noun modifier a noun used in front of another noun, as if it were an adjective; e.g. …a car door… a steel works.

 

number the way in which differences between singular and plural are shown; e.g. flower/ flowers, that/those. See also cardinal number and ordinal number.

 

object a noun phrase that refers to a person or thing, other than the subject, which is involved in or affected by the action of a verb. See also direct object and indirect object. Prepositions are also followed by objects.

 

object complement a word that is used to describe the object of a clause and that occurs with verbs such as make and find; e.g. It made me tired… I found her asleep.

 

ordinal number a number that is used to indicate where something comes in an order or sequence; e.g. first, fifth, tenth, hundredth.

 

participle a verb form used for making different tenses. See -ed

participle and -ing participle for more details.

 

partitive a word that gives information about the amount of a particular thing; e.g. pint, loaf, portion.

 

passive verb forms such as was given, were taken, had been made, where the subject is the person or thing that is affected by the action. Compare with active.

 

past form the form of a verb, often ending in -ed, that is used for the past simple.

 

past participle another name for -ed participle.

 

past perfect the use of had with an -ed participle to refer to past events; e.g. She had finished.

 

past perfect progressive the use of had been with an -ing participle to refer to past events; e.g. He had been waiting for hours. Also called past perfect continuous.

 

past progressive the use of was or were with an -ing participle, usually to refer to past events; e.g. They were worrying about it yesterday. Also called past continuous.

 

past simple the use of the past form of a verb to refer to past events; e.g.

 

They waited… It fell over.

 

past tense a tense used to describe actions or events that took place in the past. See tense for more details.

 

perfect form a verb form with have and an -ed participle; e.g. I have met him… We had won.

 

performative verb a verb that states explicitly what action the speaker is performing when he or she uses it; e.g. apologize, resign, christen.

 

performer the person or thing that is responsible for the action expressed by the verb; e.g. Mark phoned … Our dinner was eaten by the dog.

 

person a term used to refer to the three classes of people who are involved in something that is said. They are the first person (the person speaking or writing), the second person (the person being addressed), and the third person (the people or things that are being talked about).

personal pronoun one of a group of pronouns including I, you, and me which are used to refer back to the people or things you are talking about.

 

phrasal verb a combination of a verb and an adverb and/or a preposition, which have a single meaning; e.g. back down, hand over, look after, look forward to.

 

phrase a set of words that is smaller than a clause, and that is based around a particular word class: for example, a verb phrase is based around a main verb, and can also contain auxiliary verbs. See also noun phrase, verb phrase and prepositional phrase. Phrase is also sometimes used to refer to any group of words.

 

plural the form used to refer to more than one person or thing; e.g. dogs, women.

 

plural noun a noun that is only used in the plural form; e.g. trousers, scissors, vermin.

 

possessive a structure used to show possession; e.g. your, Jerry’s, mine.

 

possessive determiner a determiner such as my, your, and their. Also called possessive adjective.

 

possessive pronoun one of the words mine, yours, hers, his, ours, and theirs.

 

postdeterminer a small group of adjectives used after a determiner and in front of other adjectives; e.g. certain, remaining.

 

predeterminer a word that comes in front of a determiner; e.g. all the boys… double the trouble… such a mess.

 

predicative used for describing the position of adjectives when they are used after a linking verb such as ‘be’. Compare with attributive.

 

preposition a word such as by, with or from, which is usually followed by a noun phrase or an -ing form.

 

prepositional phrase a structure consisting of a preposition and its object; e.g. on the table, by the sea.

 

present participle another name for -ing participle.

 

present progressive the use of the present simple of ‘be’ with an -ing participle to refer to present events; e.g. Things are improving. Also

called present continuous.

 

present perfect the use of the present simple of have with an -ed participle to refer to past events that exist in the present; e.g. She has loved him for ten years.

 

present perfect progressive the use of have been and has been with an - ing participle to refer to past events that exist in the present; e.g. We have been sitting here for hours. Also called present perfect continuous.

 

present simple the use of the base form or the s form of a verb, usually to refer to present events; e.g. I like bananas… My sister hates them.

 

present tense a tense used to describe events taking place in the present, or situations that exist in the present.

 

progressive a verb form that contains a form of the verb ‘be’ and an -ing participle; e.g. She was laughing… They had been playing badminton. Also called continuous.

 

pronoun a word used instead of a noun, when you do not want to name someone or something directly; e.g. it, you, none.

 

proper noun a noun that refers to a particular person, place, or institution; e.g. Nigel, Edinburgh, Christmas. Compare with common noun.

 

purpose clause a subordinate clause, usually introduced by in order to, or so that; e.g. I came here in order to ask you out to dinner.

 

qualifier any word, phrase, or clause that comes after a noun phrase, and gives extra information to expand its meaning; e.g. …a book with a blue cover… the shop on the corner.

 

qualitative adjective an adjective that is used to indicate a quality, and is gradable; e.g. funny, intelligent, small. Compare with classifying adjective.

 

quantity expression a phrase ending in of that allows you to refer to a quantity of something without being precise about the exact amount; e.g. some of, a lot of, a little bit of.

 

question a structure that typically has the verb in front of the subject and that is used to ask someone about something; e.g. Have you any money? Also called interrogative.

question tag a structure consisting of an auxiliary verb followed by a pronoun, which is used at the end of a statement in order to form a question.

 

reason clause a subordinate clause, usually introduced by because, since, or as; e.g. Since you’re here, we’ll start.

 

reciprocal pronoun the pronouns each other and one another, used to show that two or more people do or feel the same thing; e.g. They loved each other.

 

reciprocal verb a verb that describes an action that involves people affecting each other in the same way with the same action; e.g. They met in the street… He met her yesterday.

 

reflexive pronoun a pronoun ending in -self, such as myself or themselves, which is used as the object of a verb when the person affected by an action is the same as the person doing it.

 

reflexive verb a verb that is typically used with a reflexive pronoun; e.g.

 

enjoy yourself; pride yourself on.

 

relative clause a subordinate clause that gives more information about someone or something mentioned in the main clause. See also defining relative clause and non-defining relative clause.

 

relative pronoun a wh-word such as who or which, used to introduce a relative clause; e.g. …the girl who was carrying the bag.

 

reported clause the part of a reporting structure that describes what someone has said; e.g. She said that I couldn’t see her.

 

reported question a question that is reported using a reporting structure rather than the exact words used by the speaker. Also called indirect question.

 

reported speech speech that is reported using a reporting structure rather than the exact words used by the speaker. Also called indirect speech.

 

reporting clause a clause that contains a reporting verb, which is used to introduce what someone has said; e.g. They asked if I could come.

 

reporting verb a verb that describes what people say or think; e.g.

 

suggest, say, wonder.

reporting structure a structure that reports what someone has said by using a reported clause rather than repeating their exact words; e.g. She told me she’d be late.

 

result clause a subordinate clause introduced by so that which gives the result of something; e.g. The house was severely damaged, so that it is now uninhabitable.

 

rhetorical question a question that you use in order to make a comment rather than to obtain information; e.g. Oh, isn’t it silly?

 

second person see person.

 

semi-modal the verbs dare, need, and used to which behave rather like modals.

 

sentence a group of words that express a statement, question, or command. A sentence usually has a verb and a subject, and may consist of one clause, or two or more clauses. A sentence in writing has a capital letter at the beginning and a full-stop, question mark, or exclamation mark at the end.

 

sentence adverbial an adverbial that applies to the whole clause, rather than to part of it; e.g. We possibly have to wait and see. See also sentence connector.

 

sentence connector a sentence adverbial used to introduce a comment or reinforce what is said; e.g. moreover, besides.

 

s form the base form of a verb with s on the end, used in the present simple.

 

simple sentence a sentence that contains only one clause.

 

singular the form used to refer to or talk about one person or thing; e.g.

 

dog, woman. Compare with plural.

 

singular noun a noun typically used in the singular form; e.g. sun, business.

 

split infinitive the placing of a word between to and the base form of a verb; e.g. …to boldly go where no man has gone before.

 

split sentence a sentence in which emphasis is given to either the subject or the object by using a structure beginning with it, what, or all; e.g. It’s a hammer we need… What we need is a hammer.

stative verb a verb that describes a state; e.g. be, live, know. Compare with dynamic verb.

 

subject a noun phrase that usually comes before a verb, and agrees with the verb in person and number. In active sentences, the subject usually refers to the person or thing who does the action expressed by the verb; e.g. We were going shopping.

 

subjunctive a verb form that is used in some languages to express attitudes such as wishing, hoping, and doubting. The subjunctive is not very common in English, and is used mainly in conditional clauses such as If I were you….

 

submodifying adverb an adverb that is used in front of an adjective or another adverb in order to strengthen or weaken its meaning; e.g. …very interesting… quite quickly.

 

subordinate clause a clause that begins with a subordinating conjunction such as because or while and which must be used with a main clause.

 

subordinating conjunction a conjunction that begins a subordinate clause.

 

substitution the special use of pronouns and other words to replace part or all of a clause; e.g. ‘Are you going to the party?’ – ‘I hope so’.

 

superlative an adjective or adverb with -est on the end or most in front of it; e.g. thinnest, quickest, most wisely.

 

tense the verb form that shows whether you are referring to the past or the present.

 

that-clause a clause starting with ‘that’ which is used mainly when reporting what someone has said; e.g. She said that she’d wash up for me. That can be omitted when the clause is used after a reporting verb.

third person see person.

 

time adverbial an adverbial that gives more information about when something happens; e.g. I saw her yesterday.

 

time clause a subordinate clause that indicates the time of an event; e.g.

 

I’ll phone you when I get back.

 

title a word used before a person’s name to show their position or status;

e.g. Mrs, Lord, Queen.

 

to-infinitive the base form of a verb preceded by to; e.g. to go, to have, to jump.

 

transitive verb a verb used to talk about an action or event that involves more than one person or thing, and so is followed by an object; e.g. She’s wasting her money.

 

uncountable noun a noun that refers to a general kind of thing rather than to an individual item, and so has only one form; e.g. money, furniture, intelligence. Also called uncount noun.

 

verb a word used with a subject to say what someone or something does, or what happens to them; e.g. sing, spill, die.

 

verb phrase a main verb, or a main verb preceded by one or more auxiliary verbs, which combines with a subject to say what someone or something does, or what happens to them; e.g. I’ll show them… She’ s been sick.

 

vocative a word used when speaking to someone, just as if it were their name; e.g. darling, madam.

 

wh-clause a clause starting with a wh-word.

 

whether-clause a clause used to report a yes/no-question; e.g. I asked her whether she’d seen him.

 

wh-question a question that expects an answer giving a particular person, place, thing, amount, and so on, rather than just yes or no.

 

wh-word one of a group of words starting with wh-, such as what, when or who, which are used in wh-questions. How is also called a wh-word because it behaves like the other wh-words.

 

yes/no-question a question that can be answered simply with either yes or no; e.g. Would you like some more tea?