basic grammar vocab Flashcards
what do Adverbs modify?
modify verbs, adjectives, other adverbs, prepositions, whole clauses
Adverb (spelling rules)
Most adverbs are formed by adding -ly to an adjectives or -ally after -ic
e.g. slow~slowly and spasmodic~ spasmodically
If adjectives ends in -le, the -e is replaced with -y
e.g. reliable~reliably
If the adjective already ends in -ll, only add -y e.g. full~fully
most adjectives ending in -y change to -ily
e.g. angry~ angrily
Some adjectives ending in -ly e.g. likely, lovely, ugly, deadly, are usually used as adverbs like this: friendly~ in a friendly way
Others ending in -ly e.g. early, daily, weekly, monthly, can be used as adjectives or adverbs with no change.
There are some words that can be either adjectives or adverbs (e.g. hard, fast, far, near, early, late, direct, straight)
Notice also: good~well
adverb (types and placements)
do not put the adverb between a Verb and its object
Time adverbs normally go right at the beginning or end of the clause
e.g. Tomorrow I’m going there/ I’m going there tomorrow.
Frequency adverbs, e.g. always, never, sometimes, usually go between the subject and verb e.g. I always drink coffee
or between two parts of the verb e.g. She’s never been late.
adverbs of manner can be used in different positions in a clause, although the end position is most typical e.g. He tore the letter up slowly, She quickly left the room
note: Front position gives the adverb more emphasis e.g. Suddenly the door flew open.
Long adverbs and adverbial phrases usually go at the end of the clause
e.g. She read it aloud monotonously.
He crossed the road without looking.
common adverbial phrases
with hindsight/ in retrospect, in the wake of, by no means, by …%, in monthly instalments, without more/further ado, with reference to, at the expanse of
Adverbs and adjectives used adverbally
we live __________ to the hospital.
a) very close b) closely
answer: a) very close
We live very close to the hospital.
very close= near
closely = intimately (e.g. She’s closely related to the archbishop)
Adverbs and adjectives used adverbally
He’ll do the shopping ______.
a) direct b) directly
answer: b) direcly
He’ll do the shopping directly.
directly= immediately or frankly (e.g. The producer spoke honestly and directly) direct= without stopping or making a detour (e.g. We're going direct to Paris.
Adverbs and adjectives used adverbally
You can _____ go in for that competition.
a) easy b) easily
answer: b) easily
You can easily go in for that competition.
easily= with no difficulty easy= in a relaxed way (e.g. Take it easy!)
Adverbs and adjectives used adverbally
Play ____!
a) fair b) fairly
answer: a) fair
Play fair!
fair= according to the rules. fairly= justly , honestly, correctly or quite, not very (e.g. It was fairly good weather, but not as good as last week)
Adverbs and adjectives used adverbally
Chop the onions ____.
a) fine b) finely
answer: finely
Chop the onions finely
fine= well (e.g. She's feeling fine now.) finely= in tiny pieces, in meticulous detail
Adverbs and adjectives used adverbally
“What’s the point?” She asked ______.
a) flat b) flatly
answer: flatly
“What’s the point?” She asked flatly.
flat= completely, outright (e.g.They turned
me down flat.)
lower than the correct musical note
(e.g. She always sings flat)
in an exact or short time (e.g. He
arrived in four minutes flat.
flatly= completely (e.g. He flatly fesused
me to help)
in a dull, lifeless way
phrase vs. clause vs. sentence
phrase: group of words without a subject or a verb
- > “After dinner”, “waiting for the rain to stop”
clause: must contain a verb and a subject
- dependent clause= cannot stand on its own, starts with ‘Although’, ‘since’, ‘if’, ‘when’, ‘because’
- independent clause= simple sentence
- > “She’s hungry”
sentence= must contain at least one main clause.
- “I looked at her and she smiled to me” (two main clauses)
- “She spoke to me” (one clause)
form vs. function
form: what certain linguistic units are
function: what certain linguistic units do
Form:
Word classes: noun, adjective, verb, adverb, determiner, pronoun, conjunction, preposition
Phrases: noun phrase, adjective phrase, adverb phrase, preposition phrase
Clauses: main clause, subordinate clause, relative clause
Function: Subject, Predicator, Object, Adverbial, Complement, Modifier
with what can the different function labels Subject, Object and Adverbial be ‘filled’?
give an example sentence
Subject can be a…
noun e.g. Sylvia loves doughnuts.
pronoun She is tired
noun phrase The washing machine is broken
Object can be a…
noun Eva loves linguistics
pronoun I want it
noun phrase She smashed my new phone
Adverbial can be a…
adverb Suddenly, the elephants continued on their way
adverb phrase Very suddenly, the elephants continued on their way.
preposition phrase In the morning, the elephants continued on their way.
noun phrase The next day, the elephants continued on their way.
subordinate clause When they had eaten, the elephants continued on their way.
Use of indefinite article a/an
- when first describing something, making a general statement about something not known or without any details.
e. g. Suddenly a man appeared outside the window. - to give an example
e.g. A thermometer is used for measuring temperature.
to describe one example of a set of things (That’s a Picasso) - to describe one of a class of things or people
e. g. Paula is an Italian. - to mean one
e. g. Can I have a banana? - to refer to large whole numbers, fractions, weights and distances
e. g. a hundred, a million, a third - with a headache, a cold etc. (note: many illness words use zero article e.g. flu, appendicitis)
cannot be used with uncountables nouns
Use of definite article the
- with things or people already mentioned
e. g. First, I take a test tube. Then into the tube I pour 50cc of water. - When a noun is made definite by details following it.
e. g. That man outside was the man that the police were looking for. - when we definitely know what is being talked about.
e. g. Pass me the salt, please - with nationality adjectives that refer to all the people of that nationality, eg Chinese, Japanese, French, Spanish, British, Swiss.
w. g. The French drink a lot of wine. - with plural nationality nouns in same way, e.g. Russians, Americans, Poles, Greeks, Turks.
e. g. The Russians and the Poles are used to cold weather. - with a singular noun to describe a class of things.
e. g. The car has taken over our cities. - with the names of shops and places with a general reference.
e. g. Anna’s at the cinema/ the supermarket/ in the garden/ in the mountains/ at thr beach etc. - with some familiar objects when we think of them as the only one.
e. g. One moment the Sun was shining in the Sky. - with the names of oceans.
e. g. They crossed the Pacific in a small boat.
zero article
- to describe something general or uncountable.
e. g. Water boils at 100°C - with proper names (note: you can use ‘the’ if they have details following them.)
e. g. Kate lives in Manchester in a little street calles Green Street. - to talk about school subjects, such as geography, history etc.
- to refer to days, months or parts of the day.
- with continents, countries, lakes, mountains etc. When plural, we use the.
- with at home, at school, in hospital, in prison, in bed when we speak in general.
(note: for specific places we use the) - with such… for emphasis with plural or uncountable nouns.
e. g. You are such noisy children!
uncountable noun
(a) few, much, (a) little, Many
- > which with countables and which with uncountables
furniture, luggage, news, information, progress, knowledge, research, advice
Many and (a) few with countables, much and (a) little with uncountables.
prepositon
Definition, types
broad Definition:
words or groups of words, normally used before a noun or pronoun, used to express a relationship between one person/event etc. and another
Temporal relation: at night, on Monday, during the week
Spatial relation: in the water, at the door
Instrumental relation: by hand, with a hammer
causal relation: because of the cold, in account of his illness.
may relate to: origin, purpose, source, agent, possession, topic, abstract
above (all, average, -mentioned, suspicion, freezing(-point), zero
over a cup of tea/coffee etc.
beneath (contempt, marry ~you)
below (sea-level, the belt, freezing(point))
under (age, contract, control, guarantee etc.)
at (all costs, a loose end, a loss, a profit etc.)
by (accident, all means, chance, cheque. day)
between (usually between two people)
among (more than two people or object)
in (advance, all likelihood, any case, bed, cash etc.)
on ( a diet, approval, a visit, behalf of, business etc.)
out of (breath, control, danger, date, doors, focus etc.)
with everything that ‘belongs’ to the word
Personal Pronoun
(subjective pronoun)
I, you, he/she/it, we, they)
Use: replaces a noun phrase within the same clause
reflexive pronoun
myself, yourself, herself, himself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves
Use: replaces a noun or noun phrase with the same reference (Subject and Object the same)
attributive possessive
my, your, his, her, its, our, your, their
precede the object of ownership
predicative possessive
mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, yours, theirs
follows the object of ownership
demonstrative pronoun
This, that, these, those
points out the object referred to by a noun or noun phrase
interrogative pronoun
What, Which, who, whom, whose
used only in questions, replaces a noun/noun phrase expected in the answer
can sometimes take on the suffix -ever or -soever (Whatever, Whatsoever, Whomever)
relative pronound
who, whom, whose, which, that
introduce relative clauses, replaces a preceding noun/noun phrase in a superordinate clause or replacing the clause as a whole, thus linking two clauses syntactically
who: people (sometimes pets)
used to introduce defining and non-defining clauses
e.g. That’s the dog who doesn’t like me (defining) vs. There’s this guy at work, who’s one of…. (non-defining)
note: when used with a preposition, the preposition would be at the end of the sentence. e.g. She’s the one who I can rely on.
whom: formal, in writing, for people when they are the object of the verb
e. g. The response of those managers whom I have consultet (…)
note: when used with a preposition, the preposition would be placed before whom. e.g. There was only one person to whom the old man spoke.
whose: indicate possession, people and things/animals, before nouns instead of the possessive pronoun
e.g. He’s marrying a girl whose family son’t seem to like him.
prepositions immediately before the relative pronoun or at the end of the sentence
e.g. Thomas, in whose house…. vs. Thomas, whose house … lived in, was….
which: animals and things, introduce a relative clause when they refer to a whole sentence/clause, defining and non-defining clauses
e.g. you need to tick the box which says yes
can act as subject and object
e.g. The new sports complex, which will be built (subject of will be built) vs. It was the same picture, which I saw (object of which I saw)
prepositions immediately before the relative pronoun (formal) or at the end of the relative clause (informal)
