| Grammar term | Definition / model | Example | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Adjective | Describes nouns or gerunds | A red book; an innovative project | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Adverb | Adds information as to how something is done | The student read quickly | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Articles | There are only three in English: a, an, the. There are particular rules about using these and you will find these rules in a grammar book. | A shot in the dark.
An empty house. The highway code. |
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| Clause | Part of sentence containing a verb. If the verb and the words relating to it can stand alone, then they comprise the main clause. If the words cannot stand alone, then the verb and the words that go with it form a subordinate clause. | Cats eat mice (main clause) which are vermin (subordinate clause).
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| Conditional | Used to explain a future possible situation; note the comma after the condition. | If I had the time (condition), I would go out (consequence). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Conjunction | Word that joins two clauses in a sentence where the ideas are connected or equally balanced. | The book was on loan and the student had to reserve it. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Demonstrative | There are four in English: this, these, that, those | This house supports the abolition of smoking in public. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Direct object | The noun or pronoun that is affected by the verb. | Foxes kill sheep. Foxes eat them. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Future tense | Explaining things that have not yet happened. There are two forms: will/shall, going to. | I shall work until I am 65. They will come early. He is going to work harder. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gerund | The gerund acts as a noun and is formed with the part of the verb called the present participle…-ing. | Speaking is easier than writing for most people. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Indirect object | The person or thing that benefits from the action of a verb. | Tutors give (to) students written work. They give (to) them essays. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Infinitive | Sometimes called the simple or root form of the verb. This form is usually listed in dictionaries, but without ‘to’. | To work. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Noun | Term used to refer to things or people. There are different types: e.g abstract (non-visible), concrete (visible) and proper nouns (names of people, places, organisations, rivers, mountain ranges). | Abstract noun: thought.
Concrete nouns: chair, table. Proper nouns: Caesar, Rome, the Post Office, the Rhine, the Andes (always begin with capitals). |
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| Passive voice | Used to describe things objectively, that is, placing the emphasis of the sentence on the action rather than the actor. Although some electronic grammar checkers imply that the passive is wrong, it is perfectly correct. Often used in academic writing. | Essays are written (action) by students (actor). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Past participle | This is usually formed by adding –ed to the verb stem. However, in English there are many irregular verbs (see ‘tense’, below). You will find lists of these verbs in many dictionaries. | Worked. However, there are many irregular verbs: e.g. bent, drunk, eaten, seen, thought, understood. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Present participle | This is formed by adding –ing to the simple verb form. It is used to form continuous verb tenses. | The sun is setting. We were watching the yatchts. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Phrasal verb | These are two – or three-word verbs made up of a verb plus a particle (similar to a preposition). These verbs are generally regarded as being less formal in tone than single-word verbs. | Set down (deposit).
Pick up (collect). Write down (note). Look out for (observe). |
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| Possessive | Word indicating ownership: my, mine, your, yours, his, her, its, our, ours, their, theirs. | My house and his are worth the same.
Mine is larger but his has more land. |
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| Preposition | Word used as a link relating verbs to nouns, pronouns and noun phrases. Sometimes these are followed by an article, sometimes not: at, by, in, for, from, of, on, over, through, under, with. | Put money in the bank for a rainy day or save it for summer holidays in the sun. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Pronoun | Word used instead of nouns: I, me, you, he, him, she, her, it, we, us, they, them. Also words such as: each, everyone. | I have given it to him. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Relative pronoun | Words that link adjective (describing) clauses to the noun about which they give more information: that, which, who, whose, whom. | This is the house that Jack built.
Jack, who owns it, lives there. Jack, whose wife sings, is a baker. Jack, to whom we sold the flour, used it to bake a loaf. |
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| Sentence | A grouping of words, one of which must be a verb, that can stand together independently and make sense. | The people elect their leaders in a democracy. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Subject | The person or thing that performs the action in a sentence | Caesar invaded Britain.
Caterpillars eat leaves. |
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| Tense | In English, to show past, present and future tense shifts, the verb changes. This often involves adding a word to show this. Some verbs behave irregularly from the standard rules. Here are three basic tenses: more can be found in a grammar book or language learner’s dictionary. |
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| Verb | The action or ‘doing’ word in a sentence. It changes form to indicate shifts in time. | I work, I am working, I will work, I worked, I was working, I have worked, I had worked. |
(McMillan and Weyers, 2007)
