Language Terminology Flashcards
Common noun
all nouns that aren’t proper nouns
Proper noun
specific people and places
Concrete noun
things that exist physically
Abstract noun
things that do not exist physically; feelings, ideas and qualities
Collective noun
groups of people, animals or objects
Pre-modifying adjectives
come before the noun to describe it
Post-modifying adjectives
come after the noun to describe it
Comparative adjectives
compare one noun to another
Superlative adjectives
the adjective is the least or most
Noun phrases
nouns modified by adjectives that could be replaced by a pronoun
Dynamic verb
a verb you can physically see
Stative verb
a verb that is a state not an action
Transitive verb
a type of dynamic verb that requires a noun
Intransitive verb
doesn’t require a noun
Infinitive verb
a verb you can’t tell the tense from
Finite verb
a verb you can tell the tense of
Auxiliary verbs
these help us understand the tense of another verb. There are only three – be, do, have
Modal auxiliary verbs
these tell you the necessity of possibility attached to a verb
Adverbs
modify verbs by telling us the manner, time, place, frequency, degree, quantity or evaluation of a verb
Pronouns
replace the noun in a sentence
Personal pronoun
replaces the subject of object in a sentence
Reflexive pronoun
indicate object of a verb is the same as the subject of the sentence
Indefinite pronoun
do not refer to any specific person or thing
Demonstrative pronoun
they tend to point to something, only if not placed before the noun
Possessive pronoun
show possession, only if not placed before the noun
Interrogative pronoun
used when asking a question
Relative pronoun
act as linking words in a sentence always placed immediately after the noun they refer to
Person
first person involves you personally (I, we, me, us, our, my);
second person is (you, your, yours) only;
third person involves other people (he, she, they, them, their);
Articles
there are only three articles, and they are either definite (the) or indefinite (an or a)
Determiners
they are always before the noun, not after it
Quantifiers
a type of determiner that show quantity
Prepositions
a word that tells you where or when something is in relation to something else
Coordinating conjunctions
join like with like (FANBOYS)
Subordinating conjunctions
join subordinating clauses to main clauses (although, because, if, since, unless, until, while)
Correlative conjunctions
used in pairs to join alternatives or equal elements (either/or, neither/nor, not only/but also)
Syntax
the study of sentences and their structure, and the constructions within sentences
Grammar
general term referring to the set of rules in a given language
Tenses
past, present, future conjugation of verbs
