Grammar Types

Question 1

Noun

Answer 1

A person, place, or thing

Question 2

Common Noun

Answer 2

A common noun is the word for something (e.g., boy, cat, lake, bridge) - no capital letters

Question 3

Proper Noun

Answer 3

A proper noun is the name given to something to make it more specific (e.g., Johnathan, Ollie, London, Monday) - starts with a capital letter

Question 4

Abstract Noun

Answer 4

An abstract noun is a noun that denotes an intangible concept such as an emotion, a feeling, a quality, states, moments or an idea. In other words, an abstract noun does not denote a physical object

Question 5

Concrete Noun

Answer 5

Something that can be seen, touched, tasted, heard, or smelt. In other words, a concrete noun is something that you can perceive with at least one of your senses

Question 6

Collective Noun

Answer 6

A collective noun is the word used to represent a group of people, animals, or things (Choir, Team, Jury, Shoal, Cabinet)

Question 7

Compound Noun

Answer 7

A compound noun is one comprising at least two words. (Sometimes, they are hyphenated.)

With Spaces: swimming pool, grey matter, fish tank
Without Spaces: shotgun, housework, eyelid
With Hyphens: baby-sitter, laughing-gas, daughter-in-law

Question 8

Non-countable Noun

Answer 8

A noun without a plural form. Non-countable nouns refer to things that cannot be counted. Singular - Lonely

Question 9

Countable Noun

Answer 9

A countable noun is a noun with both a singular and a plural form. (Most nouns are countable nouns for they name anything that can be counted). Plural - affection, unity

Question 10

Gender-specific Noun

Answer 10

Most nouns is neuter. However, if a noun refers to something obviously male or female, then its gender will be masculine or feminine (as determined by the meaning)

Question 11

Noun Clause

Answer 11

A noun clause is a clause that plays the role of a noun.

For example (noun clauses in quotations):
I like "what I see"
I know "that the tide is turning"
I've met "the man who won the lottery"
Lots of noun clauses in English start with that, how, or a "wh"-word (i.e., what, who, which, when, where, why).
I know "that it happened"
I know "how it happened"
I know "why it happened"

Question 12

Phrase

Answer 12

A phrase is a group of words that stand together as a single unit, typically as part of a clause or a sentence.

A phrase does not contain a subject and verb and, consequently, cannot convey a complete thought. A phrase contrasts with a clause. A clause does contain a subject and verb, and it can convey a complete idea

Question 13

Verb

Answer 13

A verb is a “doing” word. A verb can express:
A physical action (e.g., to swim, to write, to climb).
A mental action (e.g., to think, to guess, to consider).
A state of being (e.g., to be, to exist, to appear)

Question 14

Action Verb

Answer 14

An action verb expresses an activity that a person or thing can do.

For example:
Lee eats cake.
(Eating is something Lee can do.)
The bear chased the salmon in the shallow rapids.
(Chasing is something the bear can do.)

Compare those verbs with these:
Lee likes cake.
(To like is not an activity. It’s a state.)
The bear is hungry.
(To be is not an activity. It’s a state.)

Question 15

Stative Verb

Answer 15

A stative verb expresses a state rather than an action. A stative verb typically relates to a state of being, a thought, or an emotion.

For example:
I am at home.
She believes in fairies.
He feels elated

Question 16

Transitive Verb

Answer 16

A transitive verb is one that acts on something (i.e., it has a direct object).

For example:
I saw the dog.
(Here, the direct object is the dog.)
Lee ate the pie.
(Here, the direct object is the pie.)
The postman will give Sarah the letter.
(Here, the direct object is the letter.)

Note: The direct object of a transitive verb can be found by finding the verb and asking “what?” For example, “saw what?” (answer: the dog); “ate what?” (answer: the pie); “will give what?” (answer: the letter)

Question 17

Intransitive Verb

Answer 17

An intransitive verb is one that does not take a direct object. In other words, it is not done to someone or something. It only involves the subject.

Remember, you can find the direct object of a verb by reading the verb and then asking “what?” (or “whom?”). If this question is not appropriate, then you’re probably dealing with an intransitive verb. For example:

He disappeared after the party.

(Q: Disappeared what? That doesn’t make sense. You can’t disappear something. This is an intransitive verb. It can’t take a direct object.)

Question 18

Auxiliary Verbs

Answer 18

An auxiliary verb (or a helping verb as it’s also called) accompanies a main verb to help express its tense, mood, or voice. The most common auxiliary verbs are be, do, and have. You will see these in the following forms:

Be: am, is, are, was, were, being, been
Do: does, do, did
Have: has, have, had, having

Here are some examples of auxiliary verbs expressing tense (main verbs in quotation marks):
I have been “sitting” here since 7 o’clock.
Sarah was “waiting” for the shark to reappear.
John will have “broken” the record by then.

Question 19

Modal Verb

Answer 19

Modal auxiliary verbs are also auxiliary verbs. They are:

Can, could, may, might, must, ought to, shall, should, will, and would. (These never change their forms.) It’s conditional.

Question 20

Phrasal Verb

Answer 20

A phrasal verb is a verb made up of a verb and another word (either a preposition or a particle).

Here are some examples of phrasal verbs:
to catch up
to blow up
to break in
to break down
to cut back

A phrasal verb has a different meaning to the verb used in the phrasal verb. (For example, to catch up does not mean the same as to catch.)

A phrasal verb is also known as multi-word verb or a compound verb.

Question 21

Regular Verbs

Answer 21

A regular verb is one that forms its simple past tense and its past participle by adding -ed or -d to the base form of the verb. (Note: There are spelling rules to consider too.) For example:

Regular Verb Simple Past Tense Past Participle
love loved has loved
hate hated has hated
move moved has moved

Question 22

Irregular Verbs

Answer 22

An irregular verb is one that does not conform to this ruling. For example:

Irregular Verb Simple Past Tense Past Participle
tell told has told
bleed bled has bled

Question 23

Subject of a Verb

Answer 23

The person or thing performing the action of the verb is said to be the subject of the verb or the subject of the sentence.

Tony stole the boat.
(Tony is the subject of the verb to steal.)

The dog is guilty.
(The dog is the subject of the verb to be.)

Question 24

Object of a Verb

Answer 24

Many verbs perform an action on something. This is called the direct object of a verb.

Terry kissed her hand.
(Her hand is the direct object of the verb to kiss.)

Beverly can eat a whole chicken.
(A whole chicken is the direct object of the verb to eat.)

Question 25

Adjective

Answer 25

Adjectives are describing words. Large, grey, and friendly are all examples of adjectives. In the examples below, these adjectives are used to describe an elephant.

Examples:
Large elephant
Grey elephant
Friendly elephant

Modifies Nouns

Question 26

Possessive Adjectives

Answer 26

A possessive adjective modifies a noun or a pronoun to show who (or what) owns something.

For example:

• my
• your
• his
• her
• its
• our
• their
• whose

Question 27

Pronouns

Answer 27

Most of the time, a pronoun is used to replace a noun. The following are all pronouns: he, she, they, none, and which. There are lots more. As you can see, pronouns are usually short words. They are used to make sentences less cumbersome and less repetitive.

Question 28

Personal Pronouns

Answer 28

Personal pronouns represent people or things.

The personal pronouns are:

• I
• you
• he
• she
• it
• we
• they