Concepts and terminology for describing language: GRAMMAR Flashcards
Active voice
In an active sentence, the subject of the verb usually does or causes the action,
e.g. The car hit the tree.
Adjective
Adjective
An adjective describes or gives more information about a noun or pronoun,
e.g. a cold day.
Adjectives types:
- possessive adjective
- Demonstrative adjective
- -ing/-ed adjective
4.Comparative adjective - superlative adjective.
Adverb
An adverb describes or gives more information about
-how,
-when
-where
-or to what degree
-etc
something is done,
e.g. he worked quickly and well.
Apostrophe
’
A punctuation mark (’). The ’ is added to a singular noun before an s to show that something belongs to someone,
e.g. John’s house.
Article
An article can be:
definite (the),
indefinite (a/an)
or zero (-),
e.g. I was at (-) home in the sitting room when I heard a noise.
Aspect
A way of looking at verb forms not purely in relation to time. Aspect relates to the type of event,
e.g.
whether it is long or short, whether it is complete or not, whether it is repetitive or not, whether it is connected to the time of speaking or
not.
There are two aspects in English, 1. the continuous/progressive
2. the perfect.
The continuous aspect, for
example, suggests that something is happening temporarily.
‘At’ symbol @
A punctuation mark (@) used instead of ‘at’ in email addresses, e.g. john@yahoo.com
Auxiliary verb
An auxiliary verb is a verb used with other verbs to make questions, negatives, tenses, etc
e.g. be, do, have.
Base form of a verb
The base form of a verb is the infinitive form of a verb without ‘to’,
e.g. go.
Base form of a verb
The base form of a verb is the infinitive form of a verb without ‘to’,
e.g. go.
Capital letter
A letter of the form and size used at the beginning of a sentence or a name,
e.g. They went to Spain last year.
Clause
It generally consists of a subject and a finite verb relating to the subject and any other elements,
e.g. object.
A clause can be a full sentence or a part of a sentence.
-Main clause
When the teacher arrived, the learners stopped talking.
-Subordinate clause
When the teacher arrived, the learners stopped talking.
-Relative clause
The learners who were sitting near the front stood up.
Collective noun
A collective noun is a noun that refers to a group of people or things,
e.g.
the police,
the government.
Comma
A punctuation mark (,) used to separate items in a list or to show where there is a pause in a sentence,
e.g.
*-I bought some apples, oranges, bananas and lemons. *
*-When I went to the market, *I met my friend.
Comparative adjective
A comparative adjective compares two things,
e.g.
He is taller than she is.
Complex sentence
A sentence containing a main clause and one or more subordinate clauses.
Compound noun
A compound noun is a combination of two or more words, which are used as a single word, e.g. a flower shop,
a headache.
Conditional (forms)
A verb form that refers to a possible or imagined situation. Grammar books often mention four kinds of conditionals:
-First conditional – refers to present or future possible or likely situations, e.g. I will come if I can.
-Second conditional – refers to present or future situations which the speaker thinks are impossible or
unlikely, e.g. I would go if they asked me.
-Third conditional – refers to past situations that cannot be changed, e.g. I would have seen her if I had
arrived earlier (but I didn’t so I couldn’t).
-Mixed conditional – is used when the speaker wants to refer to different time frames in one sentence,
e.g. If I’d arrived on time, I wouldn’t have to wait now. If I’d arrived refers to the past and I wouldn’t have to
wait refers to the present.
First conditional
– refers to present or future possible or likely situations, e.g. I will come if I can.
Second conditional
– refers to present or future situations which the speaker thinks are impossible or
unlikely, e.g. I would go if they asked me.
Third conditional
– refers to past situations that cannot be changed, e.g. I would have seen her if I had
arrived earlier (but I didn’t so I couldn’t).
Mixed conditional
It is used when the speaker wants to refer to different time frames in one sentence,
e.g.
If I’d arrived on time, I wouldn’t have to wait now.
If I’d arrived refers to the past and I wouldn’t have to wait refers to the present.
Conjunction / connector
A conjunction (or connector) is used to connect words, phrases, clauses or sentences, e.g. I like tea but I don’t like
coffee because it’s too strong for me.
Countable noun
A countable noun has a singular and plural form, e.g. book books.