Language terminology

Abstract noun - (the opposite of a concrete noun) the name of something
which we experience as an idea, not by seeing, touching etc. doubt;
height; geography.

Active - An active verb form is one like breaks, told, will help (not like is broken, was told, will be helped, which are passive verb forms). The subject of an active verb is usually the person or thing that does the action, or is responsible for what happens.

Adjective - a word like green, hungry, impossible, which is used when we describe people, things, events etc. Adjectives are used in connection with
nouns and pronouns, a green apple; she's hungry.

Adverb - a word like tomorrow, once, badly, there, also, which is used to say, for example, when, where or how something happens.

Adverb particle - a word like up, out, off, used as part of a phrasal verb, clean up, sold out, tell off.

Adverbial - a group of words that does the same job as an adverb.

Affirmative - An affirmative sentence is one that makes a statement - not a negative sentence or a question. Compare I agree (affirmative); I don't
agree (negative).

Agent - In a passive sentence, the agent is the expression that says who (or what) an action is done by. This picture was probably painted by a child.

Article - A, an and the are called 'articles'. Alan is called the 'indefinite article'; the is called the 'definite article'.

Assertive - The words some, somebody etc are used most often in affirmative sentences. In other kinds of sentence, they are often replaced by any, anybody etc. Some, somebody, etc. are called 'assertive forms'; any, anybody, etc are called 'non-assertive forms'. Other non-assertive forms
are yet, ever.

Attributive - Adjectives placed before nouns are in 'attributive position'.
a green shirt; my noisy son. See also predicative.

Auxiliary verb - a verb like be, have, do which is used with another verb to make tenses, passive forms etc. She was writing; Where have you put it?
See also modal auxiliary verb.

Bare infinitive (Base form) - the infinitive without to. Let me go.

Clause - a part of a sentence which contains a subject and a verb, usually
joined to the rest of the sentence by a conjunction. Mary said that she
was tired. The word clause is also sometimes used for structures
containing participles or infinitives (with no subject or conjunction).
Not knowing what to do, I telephoned Robin; I persuaded her to try a new
method.

Cleft sentence - a sentence in which special emphasis is given to one part
(e.g. the subject or the object) by using a structure with /for what.
It was you that caused the accident; What I need is a beer.
Collective noun - a singular word used to refer to a group, family; team. comparative the form of an adjective or adverb made with -er (older, faster), also the structure more + adjective/adverb, used in the same way (more useful; more politely).

Complement (1) - a part of a sentence that gives more information about the subject (after be, seem and some other verbs), or, in some structures,
about the object. You're the right person to help; She looks very kind;
The President appointed Bristow his confidential adviser. (2) structure or
words needed after a noun, adjective, verb or preposition, the intention to
invest; full of water; try phoning; down the street.

Compound - A compound noun, verb, adjective, preposition, etc is one that is made of two or more parts, bus-driver; get on with; one-eyed; in spite of.

Concrete noun (the opposite of an abstract noun) - the name of something which we can experience by seeing, touching etc. cloud; petrol; raspberry.

Conditional - (1) a verb form made by using the modal auxiliary would (also should in the first person). I would run; she would sing; I should think. (2) a clause or sentence containing if (or a word with a similar meaning), and often containing a conditional verb form. If you try you'll understand; I should be surprised if she knew; What would you have done if the train had been late?

Conjunction - a word like and, but, although, because, when, if, which can be used to join clauses together. I rang because I was worried about you.

Continuous - the same as progressive.

Contraction - a short form in which a subject and an auxiliary verb, or a verb and the word not, are joined together into one word. I'm; who'll; can't.

Co-ordinate clause - one of two or more clauses of equal 'value' that make up a sentence. A co-ordinate clause does not function as a subject, object, complement or adverbial in another clause. Shall I come to your place or would you like to come to mine? It's cooler today and there's a bit of a wind. See also subordinate clause.

Copular verb - be, seem, feel and other verbs which link a subject to a
complement which describes it. My mother is in Jersey; He seems
unhappy; This feels soft.

Countable noun - a noun like car, dog, idea, which can have a plural form, and can be used with the indefinite article a/an. See also uncountable noun.

Dangling participle - the same as misrelated participle.

Declarative question - a question which has the same grammatical form as a statement. That's your girl-friend?

Definite article - the.

Degree - saying 'how much' something is true. Adverbs of degree are, for
example, quite, rather, very, too.

Demonstrative - this/these; that/those.

Determiner - one of a group of words that are normally used at the beginning of noun phrases. Determiners include a/an, the, my, this, each, either, several, more, both, all.

Direct object - see object.

Direct speech - speech reported 'directly', in the words used by the original speaker (more or less), without any changes of tense, pronouns etc. She looked me straight in the eye and said, 'This is my money.' See also indirect speech.
Discourse marker - a word or expression which shows the connection
between what is being said and the rest of the 'discourse' (e.g. what came
before or after, or the speaker's attitude to what he/she is saying), on the
other hand; frankly; as a matter of fact.

Duration - the length of time something lasts. The preposition for can be used with an expression of time to indicate duration.

Ellipsis - leaving out words when their meaning can be understood from the context. (It's a) Nice day, isn 't it? It was better than I expected (it would be).

Emphasis - giving special importance to one part of a word or sentence (for example by pronouncing it more loudly; by writing it in capital letters; by using do in an affirmative clause; by using special word order).

emphatic pronoun reflexive pronoun (myself, yourself, himself, etc) used to emphasise a noun or pronoun. I'll tell him myself; I wouldn't sell this to
the King himself. See also reflexive pronouns.

Ending - something added to the end of a word, e.g. -er, -ing, -ed.

First person - see person.

Formal - the style used when talking politely to strangers, on special occasions, in some literary writing, in business letters, etc. For example, commence is a more formal word than start.

Frequency - Adverbs of frequency say how often something happens, often; never; daily; occasionally.

Fronting moving - a part of a clause to the beginning in order to give it special emphasis. Jack I like, but his wife I can't stand.

Future tense - a verb form made with the auxiliary verb shall/will. I shall
arrive; Will it matter?

Future perfect tense - a verb form made with shall/will +have+ past
participle. I will have finished by lunchtime.

Future progressive - a verb form made with shall/will +be+ ... ing. I will be needing the car this evening.

Gender - the use of different grammatical forms to show the difference
between masculine, feminine and neuter, or between human and non-human. he, she, it; who, which.

Genitive - the form of a noun made with 's or s', used to show (for instance) possession. Also called possessive: the earth's gravity; birds' nests.

Gradable - Pretty, hard or cold are gradable adjectives: things can be more or less pretty, hard or cold. Adverbs of degree (like rather, very) can be used with gradable words. Perfect ox dead are not gradable words: we do not usually say that something is more or less perfect, or very dead. Grammar - the rules that say how words are combined, arranged and changed to show different meanings.

Hanging participle - the same as misrelated participle.

Hypothetical - Conditional verbs and structures are often used to talk about hypothetical situations - that is to say, situations which may not happen, or which are not real. What would you do if you had three months free?

Identifying relative clause - a relative clause which identifies the noun it refers to - that is to say, it tells us which person or thing is being talked about. There's the woman who tried to steal your cat. (The relative clause who tried to steal your cat identifies the woman - it tells us which woman is meant.) See also non-identifying relative clause.

Imperative - the form of a verb used to give orders, make suggestions, etc.
Bring me a pen; Have a good holiday.
Indefinite article - a/an.
Indirect object - see object.
Indirect speech - a structure in which we report what somebody said by making it part of our own sentence (so that the tenses, word order, and pronouns and other words may be different from those used by the original speaker). Compare: He said, 'I'm tired' (the original speaker's words are reported in direct speech); He said that he was tired (the original speaker's words are reported in indirect speech).
Infinitive - the 'base' form of a verb (usually with to), used after another verb, after an adjective or noun, or as the subject or object of a sentence. I want to go home; It's easy to sing; I've got a plan to start a business; To err is human, to forgive divine.
Informal - the style used in ordinary conversation, personal letters, etc, when there is no special reason to speak politely or carefully. Get is used mostly in an informal style; start is a more informal word than commence. -ing form - the form of a verb ending in -ing. finding; keeping; running; firing.
Initial - at the beginning. Sometimes is an adverb that can go in initial position in a sentence. Sometimes I wish I had never been born.
Intensifying - making stronger, more emphatic. Very and terribly are intensifying adverbs.
Interrogative - Interrogative words and structures are used for asking
questions. In an interrogative sentence, there is an auxiliary verb before the subject (e.g. Can you swim?). What, who and where are interrogative words.
Intransitive - An intransitive verb is one that cannot have an object or be used in the passive, smile; fall; come; go.
Inversion - a structure in which a verb (or part of a verb) comes before its subject. Here comes John; Under no circumstances are visitors allowed to feed the animals.
Irregular - not following the normal rules. An irregular verb has a past tense and/or past participle that does not end in -ed (e.g. swam, taken); children is an irregular plural.
Main clause, subordinate clause - Some sentences consist of a main clause and one or more subordinate clauses. A subordinate clause acts like a part of the main clause (e.g. like a subject, or an object, or an adverbial). Where she is doesn 't matter. (The subordinate clause Where she is is the subject of the main clause.) I told you that I didn't care. (The subordinate clause that I didn't care is the direct object in the main clause.) Wherever you go, you'll find Coca-cola. (The subordinate clause Wherever you go acts like an adverb in the main clause; compare: You'll find Coca-cola anywhere.)
Main verb - the verb which is used as the basis for the main clause in a sentence. In the sentence Running into the room, she started to cry, started is the main verb.
Manner - an adverb of manner describes how something happens, well; suddenly; fast.
Mid-position - If an adverb is in mid-position in a sentence, it is between the subject and the main verb. I definitely agree with you.
Misrelated participle - a participle which does not have a subject in the sentence. Looking out of the window, the mountains seemed very close. The construction is usually avoided, because of the possibility of misunderstanding.
Modal auxiliary verb - one of the verbs can, could, may, might, must, will, shall, would, should, ought.

Modify - An adjective is said to 'modify' the noun it is used with: it adds to or changes its meaning. An adverb can modify a verb (e.g. run fast), an
adjective (e.g. completely ready) or other words or expressions. In sports
car, the first noun modifies the second.

Negative - a negative sentence is one in which the word not is used with the verb. I don't know.

Nominal relative clause - a relative clause (usually introduced by what) which acts as the subject, object or complement of a sentence. I gave him what he needed.

Non-assertive - see assertive.

Non-identifying relative clause - a relative clause which does not identify the noun it refers to (because we already know which person or thing is meant). There's Hannah Smith, who tried to steal my cat. (The relative clause, who tried to steal my cat, does not identify the person - she is already identified by the name Hannah Smith.) See also identifying
relative clause.

Noun - a word like oil, memory, arm, which can be used with an article. Nouns are most often the names of people or things. Personal names (e.g.
George), and place-names (e.g. Birmingham) are called 'proper nouns';
they are usually used without articles. noun phrase a group of words (e.g. article + adjective + noun) which acts as a subject, object or complement of a clause, the last bus. number the way in which differences between singular and plural are shown grammatically. The differences between house and houses, mouse and mice, this and these are differences of number.

Object - a noun or pronoun that normally comes after the verb, in an active clause. The direct object refers to a person or thing affected by the action of the verb. In the sentence Take the dog for a walk, the dogi s the direct object. The indirect object usually refers to a person who receives the
direct object. In the sentence Ann gave me a watch, the indirect object is
me, and the direct object is a watch.

Participle - see present participle and past participle.

Participle clause - a clause-like structure which contains a participle, not a finite verb form. Discouraged by his failure, he resigned from his job;
Having a couple of hours to spare, I went to see a film.

Passive - a passive verb form is made with be + past participle (e.g. is broken, was told, will be helped. - not breaks, told, will help, which are active verb forms). The subject of a passive verb is usually the person or thing that is affected by the action of the verb. Compare: They sent Lucas to prison for five years (active); Lucas was sent to prison for five years (passive).

Past participle - a verb form like broken, gone, stopped, which can be used to form perfect tenses and passives, or as an adjective. (The meaning is not necessarily past, in spite of the name.)

Past perfect tense - a verb form made with had + past participle. I had
forgotten; The children had arrived; she had been working; It had been
raining. The first two examples are past perfect simple; the last two (with
had been + ... ing) are past perfect progressive.

Past progressive tense - a verb form made with was/were + .. .ing.
I was going; They were stopping.
Past simple tense - see Simple past tense.
Perfect - a verb form made with the auxiliary have + past participle. I have
forgotten; She had failed; having arrived; to have finished.

Perfect conditional - should/would have + past participle. I should/would have agreed; He would have known.

Perfect infinitive - to have+ past participle: to have arrived; to have gone.

Person - the way in which, in grammar, we show the difference between the person speaking (first person), the person spoken to (second person), and the people or things spoken about (third person). The differences
between am, are and is are differences of person.

Personal pronouns - the words I, me, you, he, him etc.

Phrase - two or more words that function together as a group, dead tired; the silly old woman; would have been repaired; in the country.

Phrasal verb - a verb that is made up of two parts: a 'base' verb followed by an adverb particle, fill up; run over; take in.

Plural - grammatical form used to refer to more than one person, thing etc. we; buses; children; are; many; these. See also singular.

Possessive - a form used to show possession and similar ideas. John's; our; mine. possessive pronoun Mine, yours, hers, etc are usually called 'possessive pronouns'. My, your, hereto are often called 'possessive adjectives' (although in fact they are determiners, not adjectives). Postmodifier - a word which comes after the word which it modifies, e.g.
invited in The people invited all came late. See also premodifier.

Predicative - adjectives placed after a verb like be, seem, look are in predicative position. She looks happy; The house is enormous. See also attributive.

Premodifier - a word that comes before the noun it modifies, e.g. invited in an invited audience. See also postmodifier.

Preparatory subject, preparatory object - When the subject of a sentence is an infinitive or a clause, we usually put it towards the end of the sentence and use the pronoun it as a preparatory subject (e.g. It is important to get enough sleep). There can also be used as a kind of preparatory subject (usually in the structure there is); and it can be used as a preparatory object in certain structures (e.g. He made it clear that he disagreed).

Preposition - a word like on, off, of, into, normally followed by a noun or
pronoun.

Prepositional verb - a verb that has two parts: a 'base' verb and a preposition: insist on; care for.

Present participle - the verb-form ending in -ing. She was running; Opening his newspaper, he started to read; I hate the noise of crying babies. (The meaning is not necessarily present, in spite of the name.) Present perfect tense - a verb form made with have/has + past participle. I have forgotten; The children have arrived; I've been working all day; It has been raining. The first two examples are present perfect simple; the last two (with have been + ... ing) are present perfect progressive.

Present progressive tense - a verb form made with am/are/is +... ing.
I'm going; She is staying for two weeks.

Present simple tense - see simple present tense.
Progressive - A verb form made with be+ ... ing (e.g. to be going; we were wondering) is called progressive.
Progressive infinitive - a form like to be going; to be waiting.
Pronoun - a word like it, yourself, their, which is used instead of a more precise noun or noun phrase (like the cat, Peter's self, the family's). The word pronoun can also be used for a determiner when this 'includes' the
meaning of a following noun which has been left out. 'Which bottle would
you like?' I'll take both.' (Both stands for both bottles, and we can say that
it is used as a pronoun.)

Proper noun - a noun (normally with no article) which is the name of a
particular person, place, organization, etc. Andrew; Brazil; Marks and
Spencer.

Quantifier - a word or expression like many, few, little, several, plenty, a lot, which is used in a noun phrase to show how many or how much we are
talking about. Most quantifiers are determiners.

Question tag - an expression like isn't it? or don't you? (consisting of auxiliary verb + pronoun subject) put on to the end of a sentence. It's a nice day, isn't it?

Reflexive pronouns - myself, yourself, himself, etc. I cut myself shaving this morning. See also emphatic pronoun.

Regular - following the normal rules. Hoped is a regular past tense; cats is a regular plural. See also irregular.

Reinforcement tag - a tag which repeats (and so reinforces or strengthens) the meaning of the subject and verb. You're a real idiot, you are.

Relative clause - a clause introduced by a relative pronoun, like who or which. I like people who like me. See also identifying relative clause;
non-identifying relative clause.

Relative pronoun - one of the pronouns who, whom, whose, which and that (and sometimes what, when, where and why). A relative pronoun is used to repeat the meaning of a previous noun; at the same time, it connects a relative clause to the rest of the sentence (so it acts as a conjunction and a pronoun at the same time). Is this the child that was causing all that trouble?

Reply question - a question (similar in structure to a question tag) used to reply to a statement (for instance to express interest). 'I've been invited to spend the weekend in London.'- 'Have you, dear?'

Second person - see person.

Sentence - a group of words that expresses a statement, command, question or exclamation. A sentence consists of one or more clauses, and usually has at least one subject and verb. In writing, it begins with a capital letter and ends with a full stop, question mark or exclamation mark.

's genitive - a form like John's, the earth's, our parents'.

Short answer - an answer consisting of a subject and an auxiliary verb. 'Who's ready for more?'- 'l am.'

Simple past tense - a past verb form made without an auxiliary verb.
I stopped; You heard; We saw.

Simple present tense - a present verb form made without an auxiliary verb. He goes there often; I know; I like chocolate.

Simple tense - a tense that is not progressive. I went; she wants; they have arrived.

Singular - a grammatical form used to talk about one person, thing, etc, or about an 'uncountable' quantity or mass: me; bus; water; is; much; this. See also plural.
Slang - a word, expression or special use of language found mainly in very
informal speech, especially in the usage of particular groups of people.
thick (= 'stupid'); lose one's cool (= 'get upset').

Split infinitive - structure in which an adverb comes between to and the
infinitive verb form (sometimes considered 'incorrect'), to easily understand.

Standard - A standard form of a language, or a standard accent, is one that is usually used by the most educated or influential people in a country, and
is therefore considered more widely acceptable or 'correct' than other
forms, and taught in schools. The standard language is the one normally
used for writing. I'm not is standard English; I ain 't is non-standard, or
sub-standard.

Statement - a sentence which gives information. I'm cold; Philip stayed out all night.

Stress - the way in which one or more parts of a word, phrase or sentence are made to sound more important than the rest (by using a louder voice
and/or higher pitch). In the word particular, the main stress is on the
second syllable. In the sentence 'Where's the'new'secretary? there are three stresses.

Subject-tag - a tag which repeats or identifies the subject. She's an idiot,
that girl.

Subjunctive - a verb form (not very common in British English) used in certain structures. If I were you,...; It's important that he be informed immediately.

Subordinate clause - a clause which functions as part of another clause (e.g. as subject, object or adverbial in the main clause of a sentence). I thought that you understood; What I need is a drink; I'll follow you wherever you go. See also clause, main clause.

Sub-standard - not in the standard language, and considered 'incorrect'.
I ain't ready; She don't agree; He already done it.

Superlative - the form of an adjective or adverb made with the suffix -est (e.g. oldest, fastest); also the structure most+ adjective/adverb, used in the
same way (e.g. most intelligent, most politely).

Tag - a short phrase (e.g. auxiliary verb + pronoun subject) added on to the end of a sentence. She doesn't care, does she? See also question tag,
reinforcement tag, subject tag.

Tense - a verb form which shows the time of an action or event, will go
(future); is sitting (present); saw (past).

Third person - see person.

Transitive - A transitive verb is one that can have an object: eat (a meal); drive (a car); give (a present). See also intransitive.
Uncountable noun - a noun which has no plural form and cannot normally be used with the article a/an. mud; rudeness; furniture.

Verb - a word like ask, wake, play, be, can, which can be used with a subject to form the basis of a clause. Most verbs refer to actions or states. See also auxiliary verb, modal auxiliary verb.

Verb phrase - a verb that has several parts: would have been forgotten. weak form see strong form.