The Grammaring Guide to English Grammar with Exercises

Glossary

A | B | C | D | E | F | H | I | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | Y

A

action

A general term to express that somebody or something is doing something.

adjective

A part of speech that modifies, qualifies or restricts a noun or a pronoun. (

It's a

nice

house. The apples are

ripe

. He's very

talented

.

)

adverb

A part of speech that modifies a verb, adjective, adverb or conjunction. (

I could

hardly

say a word. That car is

incredibly

expensive.

)

affirmative sentence

A declarative sentence that indicates "yes"; also called a positive sentence. (

Adam plays squash a lot.

)

agent

The doer of an action; the person or thing that is doing something. The agent is not necessarily the subject of the sentence. (

Jim

called you this morning. Hamlet was written by

Shakespeare

.

)

article

Any of the words

a, an

and

the

, used to limit or give definiteness to a noun.

A

and

an

are indefinite articles, while

the

is a definite article. (

A

man was standing on

the

platform.

)

aspect

A verbal category that relates an action to the passage of time. It can express duration (continuous (or progressive) aspect) or completion (perfect aspect).

auxiliary verb

A helping verb used with main verbs that expresses mood, voice or tense. (

I

can't

swim. When

were

you born? They

are

working on it now.

Have

they left?

)

B

bare infinitive

The infinitive without

to

. It can be simple (

write

), continuous (

be writing

), perfect (

have written

) or perfect continuous (

have been writing

). The term "bare infinitive" is often used to refer to the simple bare infinitive (

write

), which is identical to the base form of the verb.

base form

The form of a verb to which inflections are added, e.g.

go, meet

and

want

. Inflected forms of these verbs include, e.g.

goes, meeting

and

wanted.

The base form is the one listed in dictionaries.

C

clause

A group of related words with a subject and a verb. Sometimes the subject may not be mentioned explicitly in the clause itself but found in a nearby clause. (

While walking through the park

, Tom lost his keys.)

complement

A word or phrase that comes after the verb and is required to make the sentence complete. (

The weather was

beautiful

. Carol is

a teacher

.

)

complete period of time

A period of time that has finished and does not include the time of speaking. (

Lena didn't go skiing

last year

.

)

completion

A concept related to the perfect aspect that expresses that an action has finished. (

He

has finished

university.

)

conjunction

A part of speech that connects words, clauses or sentences. (

The room was dark

and

cold.

Although

everyone heard the news, no one seemed to care.

)

context

The situation within which something exists or happens or an utterance is made.

continuous aspect

The aspect that expresses duration, formed with

be

+ verb-

ing

. (

What

are

you

doing

?

)

D

declarative sentence

The sentence type used to make statements. A declarative sentence may be affirmative or negative. (

Adam plays squash a lot. Tim has no friends.

)

definite

Pertaining to a specific person, thing, idea or time. (

I know

the guy you are talking about

.

)

direct object

The directly affected object of the verb. (

Let's have

a coffee

. She told me

her name

.

)

ditransitive verb

A verb that has two objects: a direct object and an indirect object. (

She

told

me her name.

)

duration

A concept related to the continuous aspect that expresses that an action is in progress. (

What

are

you

doing

?

)

E

emphasis

Special importance or attention given to something. (

We

do want

to help you.

)

event

A general term to express that somebody or something is doing something or that something is happening. (

The lights turned red.

)

expression

A word or group of words used in a specific situation. (

Good morning, at six

and

on the sofa

)

F

focus

The main or central point of attention or interest; what is emphasised. (

It was

János Irinyi

who invented the non-explosive match in 1836.

)

formal

Not part of colloquial or everyday speech; official. (

I shall be with you shortly.

)

H

hypothetical

Unreal, imagined.

I

imperative sentence

The sentence type used to express suggestions, directions or orders. (

Take a seat, please.

)

incomplete period of time

A period of time that includes the time of speaking. (

I have known him

for two years

.

)

indefinite

Not pertaining to a specific person, thing, idea or time. (

Somebody

left you

a message

this morning.

)

indirect object

To or for whom the action of the verb is being done; the receiver of the action. (

She told

me

her name.

)

inflection

A change in or addition to the form of a word that shows a change in the way it is used in sentences. (

He like

s

what you cook

ed

.

)

informal

Part of colloquial or everyday speech. (

I'll be with you in a sec.

)

instrument

Something that the doer uses in performing the action. (

She covered the child with

a blanket

.

)

interrogative sentence

The sentence type used to express a direct question. (

What are you doing?

)

intransitive verb

A verb that does not take a direct object. (

How long have you been

living

here?

)

inversion

A construction in which a verb or an auxiliary precedes the subject. (

Here

comes the bus

. You don't work here,

do you

?

)

M

main clause

A clause that could be a sentence in itself. (

I wouldn't go there

if I were you. When I called her,

she was studying

.)

main verb

A verb that can express an action or a state in itself; also called a lexical verb. (

Adam

plays

squash a lot. This watch

belonged

to my grandfather.

)

N

negative sentence

A declarative sentence that indicates "no". (

Tim has no friends.

)

noun

A part of speech that names a person, place or thing. (

The

koala

is a

marsupial

.

)

O

object

A person or thing that is affected by the action of a verb or is involved in the result of an action. (

Can you help

me

?

)

P

particle

A word that is joined to the verb in a phrasal verb. (

He is looking

after

his ageing parents.

)

perfect aspect

The aspect that expresses completion, formed with

have

+ past participle. (

He

has finished

university.

)

period of time

The length of time between two points of time. (

He works

from 8 to 4

. We've been staying here

for two weeks

.

)

point in time

A specific moment in time. (

She came home

at six

. I was born

in 1980

.

)

progress

An action is said to be in progress when it is happening. (

When I called her, she

was studying

.

)

pronoun

A part of speech that refers to or stands instead of a noun. (

Who do

you

think I

am

?

)

punctuation

The use of special marks to structure and organise written language: full stop (

.

), comma (

,

), question mark (

?

), exclamation mark (

!

), apostrophe (

'

), quote (

"

), colon (

:

), semi-colon (

;

), hyphen (

-

), dash (

–

), parentheses (

( )

) and brackets (

[ ]

).

Q

question word

A word that introduces a

wh

-question. (

What

are you doing?

How

old are you?

)

R

reference point

A point in time in relation to which an action takes place. (

When I called her

, she was studying.

They had all arrived by

10 o'clock

.

)

S

state

A condition that exists at a specific time. (

I was sick. He doesn't have your address.

)

structure

The way in which the parts of a sentence, clause or expression are arranged. (

make + object + bare infinitive

in the sentence

The teacher

made me rewrite

the composition.

)

subject

The person or thing that performs the action of a verb or that is described by a verb. (

You

look pretty.

The house

was destroyed by fire.

)

subordinate clause

A clause that cannot be a sentence in itself and is linked to a main clause. (

I wouldn't go there

if I were you

.

When I called her

, she was studying.

)

T

tense

A grammatical category that is marked by verb inflection. Tenses are used in order to express when an event or action is happening in time or when a state exists.

time

A concept related to our perception of reality; that part of existence which is measured in seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks etc.

time marker

A verb or auxiliary that marks the reference point of a non-finite form. (

The telephone

is

known to have been invented by Bell. He

denied

being in love with the suspect. They

must

have missed their flight.

)

time of speaking

A point in time at which an utterance is made.

TO-infinitive

The infinitive with

to

. It can be simple (

to write

), continuous (

to be writing

), perfect (

to have written

) or perfect continuous (

to have been writing

).

transitive verb

A verb that takes a direct object. (

I

know

him quite well.

)

U

unreal tense

A verb form that expresses a hypothetical situation. (

I wish you

were

here.

)

utterance

Something that somebody says in a specific context.

V

verb

A part of speech that expresses an action or a state. (

What kind of music do you

like

?

)

voice

The form of the transitive verb (active or passive) that shows the relation of the subject of the sentence to the action of the verb. In an active sentence, the subject is the agent or doer of the action. (

My mom

made the cake.

) With the passive voice, the subject is the recipient of the action. (

The cake

was made by my mom.

)

W

wh-question

A question that starts with a question word. (

What are you doing? How old are you?

)

Y

yes/no question

A question without a question word; one to which the answer is "yes" or "no". (

Are you old enough to enter?

)