Grammatical Terms Flashcards
Agreement
In grammar, agreement is the correspondence of a verb with its subject in person and number, and of a pronoun with its antecedent in person, number, and gender.
Another term for grammatical agreement is concord.
Auxiliary Verb
An auxiliary verb combines with another verb to help form the tense, mood, voice, or condition of the verb it combines with.
The verbs to have, to be, to do, will, shall, would, should, can, may, might, and could are the common auxiliary verbs in English.
Auxiliary verbs are sometimes called helping verbs.
In the last sentence, are is the auxiliary verb in the passive verb phrase are called.
Comparative
Adjectives and adverbs ending in -er or modified by the word “more” compare two items. This is known as the comparative degree.
Compound Noun
Compound nouns can be written three ways:
A single word: Haircut, Dropcloth
Two words: Rain forest, Ice cream
Hyphenated: Self-esteem, Brother-in-law
Conditional
In English grammar, a conditional sentence is a type of sentence that expresses one situation (the condition, antecedent, or protasis in a dependent clause) as a condition for the occurrence of another situation (the result, consequent, or apodosis in the main clause). Put simply, the basic structure underlying most conditional sentences can be expressed as, “If this, then that.” Also called a conditional construction or a conditional. In the field of logic, a conditional sentence is sometimes referred to as an implication.
A conditional sentence contains a conditional clause, which is a type of adverbial clause usually (but not always) introduced by the subordinating conjunction if, as in, “If I pass this course, I will graduate on time.” The main clause in a conditional sentence often includes the modal will, would, can, or could.
A subjunctive conditional is a conditional sentence in the subjunctive mood, such as, “If he were to show up here right now, I’d tell him the truth.”
Continuous
Both tenses have a continuous form. These continuous tenses are formed with the verb be and the –ing form of the verb:
We use continuous aspect:
for something happening before and after a given time.
He’s getting on the train. [before and after the moment of speaking]
It was quarter past ten. We were watching the news on television.
for something continuing before and after another action:
Mother will be cooking the dinner when we get home.
We were waiting for the bus when it started to rain.
for something continuing for some time:
Everybody will be waiting for us.
They had been working hard all day.
for something happening again and again:
They’ve been doing that every day this week.
The children were always shouting.
He will be practising the piano every night.
for something temporary:
We are renting an apartment until our house is ready..
He was working in a garage during the vacation.
for something new:
We have moved from Birmingham. We’re living in Manchester now.
He had left university and was working in his father’s business.
to describe something changing or developing:
Everything has been getting more difficult.
He was growing more bad-tempered every day.
Contraction
A contraction is a word shortened by leaving out some letters. The missing letters are indicated by an apostrophe.
Examples: don’t for do not
o’clock for of the clock
Count Noun
A count noun is a noun that refers to an object or idea that can form a plural or occur in a noun phrase with an indefinite article or with numerals. Contrast with mass noun (or noncount noun).
Most common nouns in English are countable–that is, they have both singular and plural forms.
Many nouns have both countable and non-countable uses, such as the countable “dozen eggs” and the non-countable “egg on his face.”
Demonstrative Pronoun
A demonstrative is a pronoun or adjective which points out which item is being referred to.
In English there are only four demonstratives: this, that, these, and those.
A demonstrative pronoun is a demonstrative used in the place of a noun.
A demonstrative adjective is a demonstrative used to modify a noun.
Demonstrative pronoun: May I see that?
Demonstrative adjective: May I see that book?
Determiner
In the midst of all the nouns, pronouns, adjectives and articles a student is expected to learn, the determiner is often left by the wayside, untaught or taught incorrectly. The determiner is an important noun modifier which provides introduces and provides context to a noun, often in terms of quantity and possession. Determiners in English precede a noun or noun phrase and include articles, demonstratives, quantifiers and possessives.
Determiners in English
There are many different determiners in the English language.
Articles
Articles are among the most common of the determiners. A, an, and the all express the definiteness and specificity of a noun.
For example, “the” is a definite article, meaning the person using the word is referring to a specific one. On the other hand, “a” or “an” are indefinite articles.
The dog is barking too loudly.
A student returned the book.
Demonstratives
Demonstratives, such as this, that, these and those, require a frame of reference in which an individual can point out the entities referred to by a speaker or a writer.
Do you want this piece of chicken?
I don’t want to go to that movie.
Quantifiers
Quantifiers, such as all, few, and many, point out how much or how little of something is being indicated.
He took all the books.
Few of the children wanted to go to the zoo.
Possessives
When referring to an entity that belongs to another, you can use possessives. My, your, their, and its are a few examples.
Is this your car? The dog growled and showed its teeth. There are many other types of determiners. For instance, cardinal numbers, the numbers that are written out in English, are also included in the class of determiners. Determiners are generally split into two groups—definite determiners and indefinite determiners.
Function of a Determiners
A determiner can take on a number of different meanings and roles in a sentence. The determiner is used in every case to clarify the noun.
They may be used to demonstrate or define something or someone.
Quantifiers state how many of a thing, in number or expression. A determiner is used to show that the noun indicated is a specific one (that one), not an unspecific one (any).
They may also state the differences between nouns.
While determiners may have a number of other functions, most of them are related to these two key areas. The list of determiners only numbers about 50 words, and all of these words are commonly used by most individuals. Determiners are not difficult to get the grasp of when contrasted with adjectives, and do not take too long for native English speakers to grasp. After all, how many times have you had trouble deciding whether to say “the” or “a”?
Determining Determiners
How should you choose which determiner to use? For those who were raised speaking the English language, determining the determiner to use is second-nature, since determiners are so often used in front of nouns.
Like the basic parts of speech, determiners are so ingrained into the English language that using them is simple. The same goes for most Indo-European languages (for instance, Romance languages such as Spanish and the Germanic languages such as German).
However, the languages of other countries may not use determiners, or may have sets of rules very different than the English language does. For these individuals, learning how and where to use determiners can be rather difficult.
Determiners and Adjectives
Until recently, English teaching in schools did not take determiners into account. Many determiners were simply lumped into the category of “adjectives,” which works for some but certainly not for all.
Adjectives have primarily three functions: they modify noun phrases, or complement the object or subject of a sentence.
The function of a determiner is to express proximity, relationship, quantity, and definiteness.
Determiners are not gradable as are adjectives. For example, a person may be angry, angrier, or the angriest. A person can not be “her-est” or “the-est.”
Determiners are usually necessary (or obligatory) in a sentence, whereas adjectives are not.
Adjectives, unlike determiners, cannot have corresponding pronouns.
Adjectives and determiners are distinct from one another and cannot simply be lumped into the same category.
Direct Object
A direct object is a noun or pronoun that receives the ACTION of a verb or shows the RESULT of the action. It answers the question “What?” or “Whom?” after an action verb. An action verb with a direct object is called a transitive verb. The direct objects on this page are capitalized.
Notice each QUESTION being answered: “Receives WHAT?” “The action”; “Shows WHAT?” “The question”; etc.
Future Tense/Aspect
In English grammar, the future is a verb tense (or form–see the notes by Pinker and Rissanen below) indicating action that has not yet begun.
There is no separate inflection (or ending) for the future in English. The simple future is usually expressed by placing the auxiliary will or shall in front of the base form of a verb (“I will leave tonight”). Other ways to express the future include (but are not limited to) the use of:
a present form of be plus going to: “We are going to leave.”
the present progressive: “They are leaving tomorrow.”
the simple present: “The children leave on Wednesday.”
Gerund
A Gerund is a verb when it acts as a noun; gerunds can act as the subject or object of a main verb.
E.G.: Studying is good for you
Formation: Base Form + ING
Ex: I enjoy eating
“Enjoy” requires a gerund: He enjoys swimming, eating, and sleeping. Some verbs require only a gerund.
Infinitive
Infinitives are the “to” form of a verb (although sometimes “to” isn’t used.)
Ex: I want TO READ
“Want” requires an infinitive: She wants to work, play, and watch movies.
Some verbs only take an infinitive.
Intransitive Verb
An intransitive verb is an action verb (that is, it is neither a linking verb nor an auxiliary verb) which does not have a direct object.
The action is still being done, but it is not being done to anything or anyone else.
Most verbs can be both intransitive and transitive depending on the sentence. The verb to go, however, is always intransitive.
In most dictionaries the abbreviation v.i. means “verb, intransitive.”
Transitive: He runs a large corporation.
(The verb runs has a direct object, corporation.)
Intransitive: He runs around the block daily.
(There is no direct object.)
