Concepts and terminology for describing language: GRAMMAR

Question 1

Active voice

Answer 1

In an active sentence, the subject of the verb usually does or causes the action,

e.g. The car hit the tree.

Question 2

Adjective

Answer 2

Adjective
An adjective describes or gives more information about a noun or pronoun,
e.g. a cold day.

Adjectives types:

1. possessive adjective
2. Demonstrative adjective
3. -ing/-ed adjective
   4.Comparative adjective
4. superlative adjective.

Question 3

Adverb

Answer 3

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.

Question 4

Apostrophe

’

Answer 4

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.

Question 5

Article

Answer 5

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.

Question 6

Aspect

Answer 6

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.

Question 7

‘At’ symbol @

Answer 7

A punctuation mark (@) used instead of ‘at’ in email addresses, e.g. john@yahoo.com

Question 8

Auxiliary verb

Answer 8

An auxiliary verb is a verb used with other verbs to make questions, negatives, tenses, etc

e.g. be, do, have.

Question 9

Base form of a verb

Answer 9

The base form of a verb is the infinitive form of a verb without ‘to’,

e.g. go.

Question 10

Base form of a verb

Answer 10

The base form of a verb is the infinitive form of a verb without ‘to’,

e.g. go.

Question 11

Capital letter

Answer 11

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.

Question 12

Clause

Answer 12

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.

Question 13

Collective noun

Answer 13

A collective noun is a noun that refers to a group of people or things,

e.g.
the police,
the government.

Question 14

Comma

Answer 14

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.

Question 15

Comparative adjective

Answer 15

A comparative adjective compares two things,

e.g.
He is taller than she is.

Question 16

Complex sentence

Answer 16

A sentence containing a main clause and one or more subordinate clauses.

Question 17

Compound noun

Answer 17

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.

Question 18

Conditional (forms)

Answer 18

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.

Question 19

First conditional

Answer 19

– refers to present or future possible or likely situations, e.g. I will come if I can.

Question 20

Second conditional

Answer 20

– refers to present or future situations which the speaker thinks are impossible or
unlikely, e.g. I would go if they asked me.

Question 21

Third conditional

Answer 21

– 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).

Question 22

Mixed conditional

Answer 22

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.

Question 23

Conjunction / connector

Answer 23

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.

Question 24

Countable noun

Answer 24

A countable noun has a singular and plural form, e.g. book books.

Question 25

Demonstrative adjective

Answer 25

A demonstrative adjective shows whether something is near or far from the speaker,

e.g. this (near), that (far).

Question 26

Demonstrative pronoun

Answer 26

A demonstrative pronoun is a word which refers to a noun (phrase) and shows whether it is near or far from
the speaker,

e.g. this, that, these, those.

Question 27

Dependent preposition

Answer 27

A dependent preposition is a word that is always used with a particular noun, verb or adjective before another word,
e.g. interested in, depend on, bored with.

Question 28

Determiner

Answer 28

A determiner is used to make clear which noun is referred to, or to give information about quantity, and includes
words such as the, a, this, that, my, some, e.g. That car is mine.

Question 29

Direct speech, question

Answer 29

The actual words someone says, e.g. He said, ‘My name is Ron.’
, ‘What do you mean, Sue?’, asked Peter.
See indirect speech, question and reported speech, statement, question.

Question 30

Exclamation mark

Answer 30

A punctuation mark (!) written after an exclamation, e.g. Be careful!

Question 31

Exponent

Answer 31

An example of a grammar point, function or lexical set.

Question 32

Full stop

Answer 32

A punctuation mark (.) used at the end of a sentence, e.g. I like chocolate.

Question 33

Future with going to

Answer 33

I’m going to visit my aunt on Sunday. It’s going to rain.

Question 34

Future with present continuous

Answer 34

He is meeting John for dinner at eight tomorrow.

Question 35

Future with present simple

Answer 35

The plane leaves at 9.00 next Saturday.

Question 36

Future with will or shall

Answer 36

I’ll help with the cleaning. It will be lovely and sunny tomorrow.

Question 37

Future with will or shall

Answer 37

I’ll help with the cleaning. It will be lovely and sunny tomorrow.

Question 38

Gerund, -ing form

Answer 38

A form of a verb functioning as a noun, which ends in -ing, e.g. I hate shopping.

Question 39

(Grammatical) structure, form

Answer 39

A grammatical structure is a grammatical language pattern, e.g. present perfect simple, and the parts which combine
to make it, e.g. have + past participle.

Question 40

Imperative

Answer 40

The form of a verb that gives an order or instruction, e.g. Turn to page 10.

Question 41

Indirect speech, question

Answer 41

The words someone uses when they are telling someone what somebody else said or asked,

e.g. He told me his name was Ron. Peter asked Sue what she meant.

An indirect question can also be used when someone wants to ask something in a more polite way, e.g. ‘I was wondering if you could help me.’ (indirect question) instead of ‘Could you help me?’ (direct question).

Question 42

Infinitive

Answer 42

The infinitive form is the base form of a verb with ‘to’. It is used after another verb, after an adjective or noun or as
the subject or object of a sentence,

e.g. ‘I want to study.’, ‘It’s difficult to understand.’

Question 43

Infinitive of purpose

Answer 43

This is used to express why something is done, e.g. I went to the lesson to learn English.

Question 44

-ing/-ed adjective

Answer 44

An -ing/-ed adjective describes things or feelings. An -ing adjective describes things or people, e.g. The book is very
interesting. An -ed adjective describes feelings, e.g. I am very interested in the book.

Question 45

Intensifier

Answer 45

A word used to make the meaning of another word stronger, e.g. He’s much taller than his brother. I’m very tired.

Question 46

Interrogative

Answer 46

A question form.

Question 47

Intransitive

Answer 47

Is used to describe a verb which does not take a direct object, e.g. She never cried.

Question 48

Irregular verb

Answer 48

An irregular verb does not follow the same pattern as regular verbs. Each irregular verb has its own way of forming
the past simple and past participle, e.g. go went (past simple) gone (past participle).

Question 49

Modal verb

Answer 49

A modal verb is a verb used with other verbs to show ideas such as ability or obligation or possibility. They include
can, must, will, should, e.g. I *can *speak French, but I *should *study even harder.

Question 50

Noun

Answer 50

A person, place or thing, e.g. elephant, girl, grass, school.

See collective noun, compound noun, countable noun,
plural noun, proper noun, singular noun, uncountable noun.

Question 51

Object

Answer 51

This is a noun or phrase that describes the thing or person that is affected by the action of a verb,

e.g. I saw Mary in
the classroom.

-A direct object is the main object of a transitive verb.

-An indirect object is an object affected by a verb but not directly acted on,

e.g. He gave the book to me. In this sentence, the book is the direct object and me is an indirect object.

Question 52

Direct object

Answer 52

A direct object is the main object of a transitive verb.

Question 53

Indirect object

Answer 53

An indirect object is an object affected by a verb but not directly acted on,

e.g. He gave the book to me.

In this sentence, the book is the direct object and me is an indirect object.

Question 54

Object pronoun

Answer 54

An object pronoun is a word which replaces an object noun or an object noun phrase,

e.g. him, her.

Question 55

Participle (past and present)

Answer 55

-ed and –ing forms of the verb, they are often used to make tenses or adjectives,

e.g.

• an interesting film
  (present participle);
• I haven’t seen him today. (past participle)

Question 56

Particle

Answer 56

A small grammatical word, often an adverb or preposition which does not change its form when used in a sentence,

e.g.

look after

after is a particle.

Question 57

Passive voice, progressive

Answer 57

In a passive sentence, something is done to or happens to the subject of the verb,

e.g. The tree was hit by the car.

Question 58

Past continuous, progressive

Answer 58

I was watching TV all evening.

Question 59

Past perfect continuous, progressive

Answer 59

I had been studying for three hours so I felt tired.

Question 60

Past perfect simple

Answer 60

After I had phoned Mary, I went out.

Question 61

Past simple

Answer 61

I went on holiday to France last year.

Question 62

Person

Answer 62

-First person – the person speaking, e.g. I, we.

-Second person – the person spoken to, e.g. you.

-Third person – the person spoken about, e.g. he, she, they.

Question 63

Personal pronoun

Answer 63

Personal pronouns are words, which are used instead of the name of that person, e.g. I (subject pronoun), me (object
pronoun).

Question 64

Phonology noun, phonological adjective

Answer 64

The study of sounds in a language or languages.

Question 65

Phrase

Answer 65

A group of words often without a finite verb that do not form a sentence, e.g. the green car, on Friday morning are
phrases. Also a group of words that together have a particular meaning.

Question 66

Plural noun

Answer 66

A plural noun is more than one person, place or thing and can be regular or irregular, e.g. boys, women.

Question 67

Possessive adjective

Answer 67

A possessive adjective shows who something belongs to, e.g. my, our.

Question 68

Possessive adjective

Answer 68

A possessive adjective shows who something belongs to, e.g. my, our.

Question 69

Possessive pronoun

Answer 69

A possessive pronoun is used to replace a noun and shows something belongs to someone, e.g. the house is mine.

Question 70

Possessive ‘s’ and whose

Answer 70

Ways of showing or asking who something belongs to, e.g. ‘Whose book is it?’ ‘It’s Sue’s’ .

Question 71

Preposition

Answer 71

A word used before a noun, pronoun or gerund to connect it to another word, e.g. He was in the garden

Question 72

Present continuous, progressive

Answer 72

I am working in London now.

Question 73

He is meeting John for dinner at eight tomorrow.

Answer 73

Present continuous, progressive for future

Question 74

Present perfect continuous, progressive

Answer 74

I have been studying for three years.

Question 75

I have known him for a long time.

Answer 75

Present perfect simple

Question 76

A word that replaces or refers to a noun or noun phrase just mentioned.

Answer 76

Pronoun

See

-demonstrative pronoun, -object pronoun,
- personal pronoun,
-possessive pronoun,
-reflexive pronoun,
- relative pronoun.

Question 77

It is the name of a person or place, e.g. Robert, London.

Answer 77

Proper noun

Question 78

The symbols or marks used to organise writing into clauses, phrases and sentences to make the meaning clear,

e.g.
-full stop (.),
-capital letter (A),
-apostrophe (‘),
-comma (,),
-question mark (?),
-exclamation mark (!),
- ‘at’ symbol (@)
-speech marks (“ ”).

Answer 78

Punctuation

Question 79

Quantifier

Answer 79

A word or phrase such as:
-much,
-few
-a lot of

which is used with a noun to show an amount,

e.g.

• I don’t have much time
  -I have a lot of books.

Question 80

Question mark

Answer 80

A punctuation mark (?) used in writing after a question,

e.g. How are you?

Question 81

Question tag

Answer 81

A phrase such as:

• isn’t it?
• doesn’t he?

that is added to the end of a sentence to make it a question, or to check that someone agrees with the statement just made,

e.g. It’s very cold, isn’t it ?

Question 82

Reflexive pronoun

Answer 82

A reflexive pronoun is used when the object of a sentence refers to the same person or thing as the subject of the sentence,

e.g. He cut himself.

Question 83

Regular verb

Answer 83

A regular verb changes its forms by adding -ed in the past simple and past participle,

e.g. walk —> Walked

Question 84

Relative pronoun

Answer 84

A relative pronoun introduces a relative clause,

e.g. the book *which * I’m reading is interesting.

Question 85

Reported speech, statement, question

Answer 85

When someone’s words are reported by another person,

e.g. She said she was sorry.

See indirect speech, question.

Question 85

Reporting verb

Answer 85

A verb such as:

tell,
advise,
suggest

used in indirect, reported speech to report what someone has said,

e.g. Jane advised John to study harder.

Question 86

Singular noun

Answer 86

A singular noun is one person, place or thing, e.g. boy, park, bicycle.

Question 87

Speech marks Punctuation mark (“ ”)

Answer 87

They are written before and after a word or a sentence to show that it is what someone said, e.g. John said “Hello, Sarah”.

Question 88

Subject

Answer 88

This is the noun or phrase that goes before the verb to show who is doing the action in an active sentence,

e.g.* John *plays tennis every Saturday,

or who the action is done to in a passive sentence,

e.g. the food was cooked yesterday. See object.

Question 89

Subject-verb agreement

Answer 89

When the form of the verb matches the person doing the action of the verb,

e.g. I walk, he walks.

If a learner writes I walks , then it is wrong because there is no subject-verb agreement.

Question 90

Superlative adjective

Answer 90

A superlative adjective compares more than two things, e.g. He is the tallest boy in the class.

Question 91

Tense

Answer 91

A form of the verb that shows whether something happens in the past, present or future.

See

-future with going to,
-future with present continuous,
-future with present simple,
-past continuous/progressive,
-past perfect continuous/progressive,
-past perfect simple,
-past simple,
-present continuous/progressive,
-present perfect continuous/progressive,
-present perfect simple.

Question 92

Time expression

Answer 92

A word or phrase that indicates time, such as after, last weekend, e.g. I will meet you after the lesson

Question 93

Transitive

Answer 93

Is used to describe a verb which takes a direct object, e.g. She wrote a letter.

Question 94

Uncountable noun

Answer 94

An uncountable noun does not have a plural form, e.g. information.

Question 95

An uncountable noun

Answer 95

does not have a plural form, e.g. information.

Question 96

Used to

Answer 96

A structure that shows something happened in the past but does not happen now, e.g. I used to live in London, but now I live in Paris.

Question 97

Verb

Answer 97

A word used to show an action, state, event or process, e.g. I like cheese; He speaks Italian.
See
-auxiliary verb,
-base form of a verb,
- infinitive,
-irregular verb,
- modal verb,
-regular verb.

Question 98

Wh- word

Answer 98

Wh- words introduce wh- questions and indirect questions. Wh- words include who, whom, what, which, whose, why, where, when.

Question 99

Verb pattern

Answer 99

The form of the words following the verb, e.g. He advised me to get there early. (advise + object pronoun + to + base form).

Question 100

Wh- question

Answer 100

Wh- questions start with a wh- word. Wh- questions expect information in reply; not just yes or no, e.g. Where do you live? I live in France.