A Brief Grammar Review Flashcards
Gerund
A verb acting as a noun clause (usually the “-ing” form of the verb)
Ex: “Eating worms is bad for your health.”
Auxiliary
“helping verb” (often a form of “be,” “have,” or “do”)
Ex: “I am working on it.”
Imperative
Verb used for issuing commands
Ex: “Do it now!”
Indicative
Plain old verb in present tense
Ex: “John plays with the ball.”
Infinitive
An unconjugated verb with “to” in front of it
Ex: “To be, or not to be.”
Participle
The “-ed” form of a verb
Ex: “John has played with the ball many times.”
Predicate
Further information about the subject (a verb and its cohorts)
Ex: “This test is really bogus.”
Subjunctive
Verb used to express conditional or counterfactual statements
Ex: “If I were a rich man…”
Subordinate Conjunction
A word that introduces a subordinate clause
Ex: “Since you’re awake, I’ll just turn on the TV.”
Substantive
A group of words acting as a noun
Ex: “Playing the banjo is extremely annoying.”
Vocative
Expression of direct address
“Sit, Ubu, sit!”
Transitive Verb
transitive verb is incomplete without a direct object, as in the following examples:
INCOMPLETE
The shelf holds.
COMPLETE
The shelf holds three books and a vase of flowers.
Intransitive Verb
An intransitive verb, on the other hand, cannot take a direct object:
Ex. This plant has thrived on the south windowsill.
The compound verb “has thrived” is intransitive and takes no direct object in this sentence.
