Grammar

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1. noun a word that names a person, a place,

a thing, or an idea.
2. common noun a general name e.g. man, religion, document
3. proper noun names someone or something
particular e.g. Andrew Jackson, Buddhism,
the Declaration of Independence
4. concrete noun names an object that occupies
space or that can be recognized by the senses e.g. wall juice sun
5. abstract noun an idea, a quality, or
a characteristic e.g. liberty, freshness, dedication
6. singular nouns name one person, place, thing,
or idea.
7. plural nouns name more than one.
8. collective noun names a group e.g. league, tribe, class
9. possessive form indicates possession, ownership, or the relationship between two nouns e.g. a mouse's tail, the mice's tails, James's
of a noun car
10. pronouns take the place of nouns, words acting as nouns, or other pronouns.
11. Personal refer to specific people or things, e.g. She sold them to us.
pronouns
12. possessive personal pronouns that indicate possession or ownership and they take the place of the possessive forms of
pronouns nouns, e.g. My worry is yours, too.
13. reflexive refer to nouns or other pronouns and indicate that the same persons or things are involved, e.g. They gave
pronouns themselves a treat.
14. intensive add emphasis to other nouns or pronouns. The leg itself was broken.
pronouns
15. indefinite refer to persons, places, or things in a more general way than nouns do, e.g. Each of the major harbors along the
pronouns Atlantic seaboard has a unique character.
16. demonstrative (this, that, these, and those) point out specific persons, places, things, or ideas.
pronouns
17. interrogative (who, whom, whose,
pronouns which, and what) form questions.
18. relative begin subject-verb groups
pronouns called subordinate clauses. Relative pronouns include who, whom, whose, which, that, what, whoever, whomever,
whichever, and whatever.
19. verb a word that expresses action or a state of being.
20. action verb tells what someone or something does, e.g. The dog caught the ball in its teeth.
How she yearned to own such an animal.
21. transitive verb is an action verb that is followed by a word or words (known as the direct object) that answer the questions
what? or whom? E.g. The cat trailed us home. (Us is the direct
object.)
22. intransitive verb is an action verb that is not followed by a word that answers the questions what? or whom? The cat trailed
behind us. (Behind us tells where.)
23. linking links, or joins, the subject of
verb a sentence (often a noun or pronoun) with a word or expression that identifies or describes the subject.

The most common linking verb is be in all its forms, including am, is, are, was, were, will be, has been, and was
being.

Other verbs that can function as linking verbs are look, grow, feel, remain, appear, seem, sound, become, taste, stay,
and smell. Mnemonic (acrostic): BF BLASTS GR(A)SS

These verbs can also be used as action verbs. To determine whether a verb is used as an
action or a linking verb, substitute seem for
the verb. If seem can be substituted, the verb is probably a linking verb.

LINKING: The crowd stayed calm.

(Seemed makes sense.)
ACTION: The crowd stayed on the street.
(Seemed cannot be substituted.)
24. adjective is a word that modifies a noun or pronoun by limiting its meaning.

old horse, leisurely stroll,

second class, tragic play,
federal law, some money,
this aim, those coats,
few quarrels

Possessive pronouns and nouns are considered adjectives because they modify nouns.

our teacher, their music

Kim's bike

Most adjectives have different forms to indicate

their degree of comparison.
Positive = good, comparative = better, superlative = best

Articles are the adjectives a, an, and the. A and an are called indefinite articles. The is called a definite article.
25. proper formed from proper nouns and begin with capital letters.
adjectives
African continent, Canadian border, Finnish winters, Japanese cars
26. adverb is a word that modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb by making its meaning more specific.

Saul carefully arranged the flowers.

(modifies verb arranged)
Midori was very careful. (modifies adjective
careful)
Pavlik left quite hastily. (modifies adverb
hastily)

Adverbs tell when, where, how, and to what degree or to what extent.

They see her often. (when) Rob is asleep downstairs. (where)

Rita drove carefully. (how)
Anu hardly visits anymore. (to what degree)
27. negative include the word not, the contraction -n't, or other negative words.
adverbs The lawn is scarcely green.
28. preposition is a word that shows the relationship of a noun or pronoun to some other word in a sentence.

The child ran across the hall. (Across shows the relationship between ran and the hall.)
He was interrupted during his speech.
(During expresses the time relationship between two events.)
The extra room is for guests. (For relates the noun room to the noun guests.)
29. compound made up of more than one word. They were late because of the weather.
preposition
30. object of the phrases that begin with preposition and end with a
preposition noun or a pronoun

He passed the ball over the defenders.

(Defenders is the object of over.)
31. conjunction a word that joins single words
or groups of words.
32. coordinating for, and, nor, but, or yet, so (FANBOYS)
conjunctions She hoped to go, but she could not.
33. correlative work in pairs, join words or groups of words that have equal grammatical weight in a sentence.
conjunctions Neither she nor he went.
34. subordinating
conjunctions

join two clauses, or ideas, in such a way as to make one grammatically dependent upon the other. The clause that
the subordinating conjunction introduces cannot stand by itself as a complete sentence.
She did not go because she did not have
time.
35. conjunctive
adverbs

used to clarify the relationship between clauses of equal grammatical importance.

She had very little time; therefore, she did

not go.
36. interjection

a word or phrase that expresses emotion or exclamation. An interjection has no grammatical connection to other
words.

Oh, she wanted to go.

37. subject and a the two basic parts of every sentence
predicate
38. simple subject the principal noun or pronoun that tells what a sentence is about.

Snow will continue.

39. simple the verb or verb phrase that tells about the subject.
predicate
Snow will continue.
40. complete formed by adding modifiers to the simple subject,
subject
41. complete formed by adding modifiers or complements to the simple predicate.
predicate
42. compound consists of two or more simple subjects that are
subject joined by a conjunction and have the same verb.
43. compound contains two or more verbs or verb phrases that are joined by a conjunction and have the same subject.
predicate
44. complement a word or group of words that completes the meaning of a verb. The four kinds of complements are direct objects,
indirect objects, object complements, and subject complements.
45. direct object answers the questions what? or whom? after an action verb.

America's farmers produce abundant crops.

(produce what?)
Agricultural scientists help farmers by
applying new techniques to crop production.
(help whom?)
46. indirect object answers the questions to whom? for whom? to what? or for what? after an action verb.

The music gives me inspiration. (This music

gives inspiration to whom?)
Joel's aunt bought him the guitar. (Joel's
aunt bought the guitar for whom?)
They gave his performance their undivided
attention. (They gave their undivided attention
to what?)
47. object answers the question
complement what? after a direct object. The object complement completes the meaning of the direct object by identifying or
describing it. An object complement may be an adjective, a noun, or a pronoun. North America's location in the
midlatitudes makes American farmers successful. (adjective)

Soil and climate make the American farmer a top producer. (noun)

Above all, the hard work of many farmers makes the credit theirs. (pronoun)
48. subject follows a subject and a linking verb (like seemed) and identifies or describes the subject.
complement
49. predicate a noun or pronoun that follows a linking verb and points back to the subject to identify it further.
nominative A computer is a machine.
50. predicate follows a linking verb and points back to the subject and further describes it.
adjective
This computer is slow.
51. prepositional a group of words that begins with a preposition and usually ends with a noun or pronoun, called the object of the
phrase preposition. A preposition may have more than one object. A prepositional phrase normally acts as an adjective or an
adverb. When it acts as an adjective, a prepositional phrase modifies a noun or a pronoun. When it acts as an adverb,
a prepositional phrase modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb.

She is a candidate for mayor. (adjective

phrase modifying the noun candidate)

Which of these do you prefer? (adjective

phrase modifying the pronoun which)

Keith jumped into the swimming pool.

(adverb phrase modifying the verb jumped)

She is upset about the automobile accident.

(adverb phrase modifying the adjective
upset)

The concert started soon after sunset.

(adverb phrase modifying the adverb soon)
52. appositive a noun or pronoun that is placed next to another noun or pronoun to identify or give additional information about it.

Our dog Sniffles will be twelve years old.

(The appositive Sniffles identifies the noun
dog.)
53. appositive an appositive plus any words that modify the appositive.
phrase
The loon, a diving bird that eats fish, has
a cry that sounds like a wail, a yodel, or a
laugh. (The appositive phrase a diving bird
that eats fish gives more information about
the noun loon.
54. participle a verb form that can function as
an adjective. Present participles end in -ing. Past
participles often end in -ed.

John watched the exciting game.

Lisa is a celebrated violinist.

55. participial phrase contains a participle plus any complements
and modifiers and acts as an adjective

The man teaching the class is a substitute

teacher.
56. gerund a verb form that ends in -ing and is
used in the same way a noun is used.

Diving can be dangerous. (as subject)

Massimo enjoyed walking. (as direct

object)

He was known for his singing. (as object of

a preposition)

The chores, cleaning and polishing, were

yet to be done. (as appositives)
57. gerund phrase a gerund plus any complements and modifiers.

Framing exotic artwork is the shop's specialty.

58. infinitive a verb form that is usually preceded
by the word to and is used as a noun, an
adjective, or an adverb.

To plan is a must. (infinitive as subject)

She wants to swim. (infinitive as direct
object)
His plan was to speak. (infinitive as
predicate nominative)
The teacher gave permission to leave.
(infinitive as adjective)
The racer was too weary to sprint.
(infinitive as adverb)
59. infinitive phrase contains an infinitive plus any complements and modifiers.

The family wants to spend a week at the

beach.
60. infinitive clause When an infinitive has its own subject.

The officer asked Mike to come forward.

Note that the subject of the infinitive phrase

comes between the main verb and the infinitive.
61. absolute consists of a noun or a pronoun that is modified by a participle or a participial phrase. An absolute phrase has no
phrase grammatical relation to the rest of the sentence.

Its antlers caught in the tree, the stag

was unable to free itself.

The game forfeited, the players grabbed

their bags and headed for home.

The participle being is understood rather than

stated in some absolute phrases.
We hurried home, the hour [being] late.
62. clause a group of words that has a subject and a predicate and that is used as a part of a sentence.
63. main clause has a subject and a predicate and can stand alone as a sentence.

Bruno dances every weekend.

64. subordinate has a subject and a
clause predicate, but it cannot stand alone as a sentence.
A subordinate clause needs a main clause
to complete its meaning.
He enjoys most types of dance *because he
likes movement and music.*
65. simple ...
sentence
66. aspect A category or form which expresses the way in which time is denoted by a verb.

There are three aspects in English, the progressive or continuous aspect (expressing duration, typically using the
auxiliary verb be with a form in -ing, as in I was reading a book), the perfect or perfective (expressing completed
action, typically using the auxiliary verb have with a past participle, as in I have read the book), and unmarked aspect
(as in he reads books)
67. Tense- commonly abbreviated tam and also called tense-modality-aspect or tma, is the grammatical system of a language
aspect- that covers the expression of tense (location in time), aspect (fabric of time - a single block of time, continuous flow of
mood time, or repetitive occurrence), and mood or modality (degree of necessity, obligation, probability, ability).[1] In some
languages, evidentiality (whether evidence exists for the statement, and if so what kind) and mirativity (surprise) may
also be included.
68. auxiliary a verb used in forming the tenses, moods, and voices of other verbs. The primary auxiliary verbs in English are be, do,
verb and have ; the modal auxiliaries are can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will, and would.
69. modal verb an auxiliary verb that expresses necessity or possibility. English modal verbs include must, shall, will, should, would,
can, could, may, and might.
70. moods The indicative mood
The imperative mood
The interrogative mood
The conditional mood
The subjunctive mood