grammar Flashcards
What is a noun?
Name, a thing, person, idea (WHO? WHAT?)
What are the 3 main noun types?
- concrete
- Abstract
- proper
What is a concrete noun?
Things and people that exist
Eg. Students, cup, cat
What is an abstract noun?
Ideas, thoughts, concepts, activities, processes, time
Eg. Accident, love, week
What is a proper noun?
Have a capital letter (SPECIFIC people, places, occasion, time)
Eg. Paris, Christmas
What is a collective noun?
Refers to groups of people, animals or objects
(NOT PLURAL)
the noun is the NAME OF THE GROUP
eg. POD of dolphins, LITTER of puppies.
What is a number noun?
Plural nouns
regular= ending in -s (e.g. books, bottles)
Irregular= follow alternative patterns (e.g. sheep, teeth, men, women)
What are possessive nouns?
Noun that has a possessive ending (an apostrophe followed by an ‘s’) to show something ‘belongs to’ the noun.
Eg. Sally’s bag, men’s magazines
What are vocatives?
Words or phrases used to ADDRESS people but not describe them.
Eg. Doctor, darling, ladies & gentleman
What are some grammatical clues in a sentence that can tell us if a word is a noun?
- it comes with a word like ‘a’ ‘the’
- it acts like the most important word in the (noun) phrase (eg. The really big HOUSE on the hill)
- it acts as a suffix to express plural as In ‘dog’ - ‘dogs’
- it can add a suffix to express possession as In ‘the CHILDREN’S toys
What is an adjective?
Describes nouns (what is something/somebody like)
What are the 4 types of adjectives?
- Qualitative
- evaluative
- superlative
- Comparative
What are pre modifiers?
Words that are used before a noun to add detail or clarify some aspect of it (eg. SHOPPING centre)
What is an intensifier?
A word that makes the adjective more intense. Eg. The REALLY nice car, the VERY cute baby.
What is an evaluative adjective?
Describing a noun through judgment (e.g. INTERESTING book, NICE weather)
What is a comparative adjective?
Compare nouns (-er OR more)
E.g. smallEST , MOST dedicated.
how is an adjective phrase made?
It is made up of two or more words that modify a noun or pronoun, but it does not contain a subject and verb
what is an qualitative adjective?
describing a noun in terms of a fact, physical qualities like colour or shape (e.g. GREEN carpet, PREGNANT woman)
what is an evaluative adjective?
EVALUATIVE. describing a noun through judgement (e.g. INTERESTING book, NICE weather)
what is a comparative adjective?
compare nouns (-er OR more; e.g. smallER, MORE dedicated)
what is a superlative adjective?
indicates the most or least of something (e.g. -est or most; smallEST, MOST dedicated)
what are the 3 labels you give to each personal pronoun?
- 1st person (refers to the speaker – I, me, we)
- 2nd person (refers to the other person in the conversation – you)
- 3rd person (those being talked about who are NOT part of the conversation – he, she they, them, it)
what is the difference between singular and plural pronouns?
Singular pronouns replace singular nouns, which are those that name one person, place, thing, or idea. Plural pronouns replace plural nouns — those that name more than one person, place, thing, or idea.
whats a noun phrase?
a group of words built around a noun
whats a head word?
the main noun in the phrase
what is a qualifier?
an additional word or phrase that adds some further detail to the noun
what is a post modifier?
a word that comes after the head noun to add detail or clarify some apect of it.
where would you find a subject pronoun and an object pronoun in a sentence?
what is a pronoun?
substitutes for a noun
what is a determiner?
adds detail or clarity to a noun (e.g. in, on, my, some)
what is a preposition?
provides connections between words often showing a sense of place or time
what are the 3 types of determiners
- articles; show that something is definite (the) or indefinite (a/an)
- possessives; show ownership (my, your, her)
- quantifiers; show either specific (one, two) or non-specific (some, any, a few) quantities of a noun.
what is a subject pronoun?
can be used at the beginning of a sentence in the SUBJECT POSITION e.g. I, you, he, they
what is an object pronoun?
can be used after the verb in the OBJECT POSITION e.g. me, us, them
what is a reflexive pronoun?
ends in -SELF -SELVES e.g. myself, himself, ourself
what is a demonstrative pronoun?
points to specific things e.g. this/that, those/these..
e.g. THIS is an apple - demonstrative pronoun
“THIS apple is nice” noun phrase + determiner
what effect does the 2nd person personal pronoun ‘you’ create?
used to create SYNTHETIC PERSONALISATION; making the audience feel like the text is addressed directly towards them.
what effect does the 1st person plural pronouns ‘we/us’ create?
express INCLUSIVITY and can create an interactive tone
what are examples of relative pronouns?
who, whose, whom, which, that
what is an interrogative pronoun?
QUESTION WORDS (usually at starts of sentences) who? whose? whom? which? what?
What is an infinitive verb?
They have the word ‘to’ preceding the verb.
Give an Example of the infinitive verb for the verb ‘eat’
To eat
What are main verbs and what tense can they be?
Express an action/feeling/state of being. Can be present or past tense.
Why might a present tense main verb add the suffix ‘s’?
Depending on the subject of the sentence (“I walk” “he/she/it)
Name 3 infinitive verb forms of the primary auxiliary verbs
To be/ to have/ to do
What are the present and past tenses of the auxiliary verbs?
- To be (auxiliary), is/ am/ are (present), was/ were (past tense)
- To have (auxiliary), has/have (present), had (past)
- To do (auxiliary), do/ does (present), did (past tense)
In what two ways do auxiliary verbs grammatically behave in a sentence?
- Act as the main verb in the sentence- PRESENT PAST TENSE VERBS
- helping verbs & help other verbs to become specific tenses
What are the 10 modal verbs? (Contracted/negative variant)
- Can (cannot)
- Could
- Shall
- Should
- Will
- Would
- May
- Might
- Ought
- Must
What are some examples of some types of expression that modal verbs help convey?
- help us understand how the main verb is being expressed
- help express obligation, possibility, advice, disapproval, ability, necessity.
What tense can the modal verbs ‘shall’ ‘will’ help make?
Future sense
When is a verb known as a participle?
If it needs to an auxiliary verb to help make a tense.
How might you recognise a past participle?
ALWAYS end in -ed
(-ing is present tense)
How might you recognise a past participle from a regular verb?
Past participles for regular verbs end in -Ed
What is a verb phrase?
Made up of more than one verb
E.g. modal + participle
Auxiliary + participle
What is a present tense continuous verb phrase?
TO BE.
Express what is happening now.
Is/ am/ are (verb always ends in -ing)
E.g. I AM WRITING a letter.
Am- auxiliary verb (present)
Writing- main verb (present participle)
what is a past tense continuous verb phrase?
TO BE.
express actions that happened in the past but lasted for a while.
was/were (verb always ending in -ing)
e.g. they WERE WALKING for 3 hours yesterday.
were- auxiliary verb (past)
walking- main verb (present participle)
what is a present tense perfect verb phrase?
TO HAVE (past participles)
express actions that have just finished (recent past)
have/has
e.g. he HAS just COMPLETED his exams.
has/have- auxiliary verb (present)
completed- main verb (past participle)
what is a past tense perfect verb phrase?
TO HAVE (past participles)
express actions that happened before another past action (distant past)
Had
e.g. I HAD SEEN her before she saw me.
had- auxiliary verb (past)
seen- main verb (past participle)
what is a future tense verb phrase?
express actions that will occur in the future.
e.g. I WILL GO to spain for my holidays
will- modal auxiliary verb
go- main verb (base form)
What are the 3 types of adverbs
- manner
- time
- frequency
3 types of adverbs
Manner, frequency, time
What is a participle
Present: ending -ing
Past: ending -ed
What makes the perfect tense?
Form of auxiliary ‘to have’ (has, have, had) + past participle (usually -Ed but not for irregular verbs)
What makes the continuous tense?
Form of the auxiliary ‘to be’ (is, am, are, was, were) + past participle (-ing) = continuous tense
What makes a prepositional phrase?
Noun phrase with a preposition on the front
When labelling a sentences verbs, what are some verbs that do NOT count?
- infinitive verb (to see)
- present participle (-ing) without an aux verb
What must a Clause have in it?
A VERB
verbs that don’t count= -ing (present participle) WITHOUT an auxiliary in front and infinitive verbs.
Main clause
- 1 verb
- can stand on its own and make sense
- e.g. the snow was falling
Coordinating clause
- 1 verb
- starts with a coordinating conjunction (and/but/or)
- e.g. and he ran away
Subordinate clause
- 1 verb
- subordinating conjunction (who, which, that, when, because, although, if, ect…
- is a subordinate conjunction is any conjunction that doesn’t have and/but/or
- e.g. because she was on holiday
NOTE: the subordinating conjunction ‘THAT’ can be hidden e.g. ‘I know (that) he lied
What are sentences defined by?
- The number of VERBS they have.
- The types of CONJUNCTIONS they contain.
Conjunctions
the words (‘glue’) that link clauses together in sentences.
Clause
are the building blocks of English sentences. A clause is a part of the sentence that contains a verb.
A sentence
a set of words that is complete in itself and consists. of one or more clauses. It starts with a capital letter and ends with a punctuation mark. A sentence must have at least 1 verb in it.
What is a complex compound comparative sentence?
The clauses have the order of main clause, subordinating clause then a coordinating clause.
What is a compound complex declarative sentence?
The clauses have the order of main clause, coordinating, subordinating
Simple sentence
- 1 verb & 1 main clause
- e.g ‘the weather is terrible’
- simple sentences can be long
Complex sentence
- 2 or more verbs (2 or more clauses)
- has atleast 1 subordinate clause
Main clause + clause that doesn’t make sense in its own (subordinate clause)
Subordinate clause
A sentence that doesn’t make sense in its own (goes with a main clause)
A subordinating conjunction
Any conjunction that doesn’t have and/but/or
Compound sentence
- 2 or more verbs (2 or more clauses)
- ONLY coordinating clauses (and/but/or)
What subordinating conjunction can be hidden (the only one)
THAT
e.g. the travel agent thinks
(THAT) we should go on a safari.
Relative subordinate clause
- gives more information about a noun in the sentence (relates back)
- starts with WHO, WHICH, THAT (‘that’ can be replaced by who/which)
- older texts can include ‘whom’
- e.g. “The student (who/that) i talked to was helpful.
Adverbial subordinate clause
- answers the question WHEN? WHERE? HOW? WHY?
- performs the role of adverb (time, place, manner)
- when, because, although, if, while, where, after, as, so, until. ECT….
- e.g. “although it was raining”
Noun subordinate clause
- used in the object position in a sentence; answers the question WHAT?
- starts with WHAT, THAT (‘that’ cannot be replaced by ‘who’ or ‘which’
- e.g. they believe (that) he is right
- usually used after the the following verbs: knew, say/said, think/thought, believed/believe, feel/felt ect…
what is a past perfect verb + examples
made from the verb had and the past participle of a verb- had asked, had called ect…
what makes a word a particaple?
if it is derived from a verb and functions as an adjective or helps form verb tenses
the perfect tense
form of aux. verb ‘to have’ + -ed past participle
continuous tense
form of aux. verb ‘to be’ (is/am/are/was/were) + -ing present participle
passive verb
form of aux. verb ‘to be’ (is/am/are/was/were) + -ed past participle
minor sentence
a sentence with no verb or subject
what is an auxillary verb
- a verb that supports the main verb
- we were running
What is the difference between a clause and a phrase
A phrase doesn’t have a verb in it
what are the things to IGNORE when analysing clause and sentence types
-
present participles- without any accompanying auxillary
e.g ‘are swimming’ NOT ‘swimming along’ -
infinitive verbs- without accompanying auxillary or other verbs…
e.g. ‘to help her friend, she showed her how to complete the hw’
