New American Connection Book Grammar
Content
The rule of changing pronouns 4
The rule lf changing the tense: 5
In the following cause the reporting speech will be in the future tense. 9
Transitive and in transitive verb- 11
Basic rules of changing active voice into passive voice- 12
Usage of Passive voice in tenses 12
The usages of the past prefect tense: 14
The present perfect continues tense- 15
The past perfect continuous tense- 17
Usage of past perfect continuous tense: 18
There are five kinds of conditional sentence / if sentence: 19
Direct and indirect speech
1: direct speech:
In direct speech we convey the message of speaker in his own actual words with out any change to an others person.
2: indirect speech:
In indirect speech/narration, we convey the message of speaker in our words to other person.
Direct speech |
Indirect speech |
He says “ I shall go with You”. |
He says that he will go with you. |
She says, ”I could not work “. |
She says that she could not work. |
Ali says, “I am sick”. |
Ali says that he is sick. |
She will say, “I am your cousin” |
She will say that she is my cousin. |
Note: this “,” sing is called comma and these (‘‘/” “) are called inverted comma.
Note: the part of a sentence which is between inverted comma is called reported speech and the part of sentence which is not between inverted comma is called reporting speech.
He says to me ” I am sick”
Reporting speech reported speech
Assad says to Him “I am working hard”
Reporting speech reported speech
She says to me. “I am cheating him”
Reporting speech reported speech
Rule of basic changes:
If we change direct speech into indirect speech we act upon the following basic change:
1: remover comma and inverted comma.
2: put”that” between reporting and reported speech.
3: change the capital letter of reported speech into small letter.
4: change the verb and Helping verb of the reported speech according change of pronoun.
Direct speech |
Indirect speech |
She says, “I am brave “. |
She says that she is brave. |
He says, “I am working hard “. |
He says that he is working hard. |
He says, “I am joking”. |
He says that he is joking. |
He says, “he is good person”. |
He says that he is a good person. |
The rule of changing pronouns
If we change direct speech into indirect speech the pronoun will change in the following rule way.
1: the first person of reported speech change according to the subject of reporting speech
2: the second person of reported speech change according to the object of reporting speech.
3: the third person of reported speech doesn’t change.
Direct speech |
Indirect speech |
She says “I can work”. |
She says that she can work. |
He says, “my brother studies in Hewad. |
He says that his brother studies in Hewad. |
They say,” we will defeat them”. |
They say that they will defeat them. |
You say, “my father is a teacher”. |
You say that Your father is a teacher. |
I say, “I have finished my work”. |
I say that I have finished my work. |
He says to her, “I am Your father”. |
He says to her the he is her father. |
They say to us, “we are your friends”. |
They say to us that they are our friend. |
She says to him,”you cannot do work”. |
She says to him that he cannot do work |
We say to them, “your brother is naughty”. |
We say to them that their brother is naughty. |
They say to me, “you are not teaching us”. |
They say to me that I am not teaching them. |
Note: when there is second person in the reported speech and there is not object in reporting speech, the second person of reported speech will change according to situation to first person, second person or third person.
Ex:
He said “you are wasting my time (direct speech)
He said that I was wasting his time.
He said that you were wasting his time.
He said that he was wasting his time.
Note 2:
If there is first person plural in reported speech and the subject of reporting speech is 3rd person singular the first person plural of reported speech will change into third person plural.
Ex:
He says, “We are working hard”. Direct
He says that they are working hard indirect.
The rule lf changing the tense:
If we change direct speech into indirect speech we will change into following ways.
1: if the reporting speech is in the present or the future, the reported speech doesn’t change, it can be in the present, past or future tenses.
If the reporting speech is in the pass the reported speech will change into following tense.
1: the present tense into past.
2: the present continuous change into past continuous tense.
3: the present prefect tense change into past prefect tense.
4: the present prefect continuous tense change into the past prefect continuous tense.
5: past tense change into the past prefect tense.
6: the past continuous tens change into the past prefect continuous 7; tense, the past perfect and the past prefect continuous tenses don’t change.
8: In all future tenses,” shall” changes into should and “will” change into would.
Direct speech |
Indirect speech |
He says “don’t work with them” |
He says that he does not work with them |
She will say, “I have waited for them” |
She will say that she has waited for them. |
You said, “I play very well”. |
You said that you played very well. |
They said, “we are playing with out teacher”, |
They said that they were playing with their teacher. |
She said, “my sister has gone to Kabul” |
She said that her sister had gone to Kabul. |
Nadir said, “I have been playing since morning”. |
Nadir said that he had been playing since morning. |
He said, “I was working with my brother”. |
He said that he had been working with his brother. |
You said, “ I went to bazaar with my father. |
You said that you had gone to bazaar with your father. |
She said, “I had already cleaned the room”. |
She said that she had already cleaned the room. |
They said, “ we had been working for two hours”, |
They said that they had been working for two hours |
He said, “my mother will go with me to Kabul”, |
He said his mother would go with him to Kabul |
I said, “they will not come again”. |
I said that they would not come again. |
She said, “I will be sleeping”. |
She said that she would be sleeping |
He said, “I would have been reading for two hours”. |
He said that he would have been reading for two hours. |
Qari said, “god is kind and merciful”. |
Qari said that God is kind and merciful. |
Practice:
Change the following direct sentence into indirect
She said, “I go to school every day”, he says, “ I work hard”, they said, “we are playing football”, they will say “we are playing”, he said, “ I have bought a car”, she said, “ I wend to college “ you said, “we were helping them”, you say “ we were helping them”, the said “we defeated them when he came”. She said to him “you will not pass” the said to me “ you will be the chief quest” she said to him, “ you father will be sleeping” he said to him, “ you will have eaten the food before I come” she said to me , we have ,already defeated them”, they said to me, “you deceived تیرایستل us, he said to her, “you were not working hared that is why you failed”, you said to me “ I will buy you a car’. You said to him, “ I am joking with you” she said to us “ you teased my friend”, they said to us, “ we have sent you a card”. He said me I have finished my work”.
Note: because of some reasons “would” is used more than should even in the place of should “would” is preferred.
Reasons:
1: now days “will is preferred instead of “shall “with first person,
2: because of changing of first person into third of second person
Direct speech |
Indirect speech |
I said, “ I will do this work”. |
I said that I would do this work |
He said, “I shall work here”. |
He said that he would work her”. |
You said, “I shall type this letter”. |
You said that you would type that letter. |
Note: when there are two sentences combined with the help of a conjunction and both sentences have go different tense.
If change such kind of sentences from direct into indirect, we change the tenses or both sentences according to rule
Ex:
He said, “They have already slept when I reached there”.
He said that they had already slept when he had reached there.
She said, “He will have finished his work before we reached there”.
She said that he would have finished his work before they reached there.
Note: in the following cases the reporting speech will be in the present tense.
1: when the conversation is continued
ex: he says “I don like them”
he says that he does not like them.
2: when some one is talking by phone and whatever he is listening to he is reporting to another person .
ex:
he says “I will come tomorrow”
He says that he will come the next day.
3: if a person reports a statement time and again.
Ex:
He always says “ I will not leave him”
He says that he will not live him.
4: if some one is reading a letter for illiterate person.
Ex:
He has written in the letter “I will sent two thousand for her”
He writes that he has sent two thousand for her.
5: if some read the instructions of an institution or a department etc and reports it to anther person.
Ex
It says that students can not take part in politics.
6: for conveying message to another person.
Ex:
Father says that you should do that work first.
In the following cause the reporting speech will be in the
future tense.
1: when some one predicts some thing about some one (it means when some one says some thing about some one that he/she will say like this)
ex:
he will say “ I don have money”
he will say that he doesn’t have money.
She will say “ I don’t like this place”
She will say that she don’t like that place.
They will say “ we are working”
They will say that they are working.
Note: if shall is being used as a suggestion or an offer to do some thing for some one “ shall” will change into “should”
Ex:
Direct: he said “ shall I close the door? “
Indirect: He asked if /whether he should close the door.
The rule of changing “here and now words”
If we change direct into indirect the following words are changed into the following ways.
1. “this” change in to ................................. that/the
2. “these” change into................................. those
3. “now” …………………………then/right away
4. “tomorrow”............................................. the next day/ the following day/the coming day.
5. the day after tomorrow”......................... in two days time
6. “yesterday: .............................................. the previous day/ the last day/ the day before.
7. the day before yesterday.......................... To days before.
8. to day ...................................................... that day.
9. to right .................................................... that right
· last night ................................................. that night
· here ......................................................... there
· hither ...................................................... thither
· come........................................................ go
· go ............................................................ come
· ago........................................................... before
· sir and madam ........................................ respectfully good/morning/after noon/evening/......................................... greeted
· good night /good bye/ fare well don’t change
· hello , hallo نمانحل, yes no alright are removed
· next (Sunday, months year etc) ……..the previous ( Sunday, months and etc)
Passive voice
When doer of work is the subject of the sentence that is called active voice.
When the affected person or thing is the subject of the sentence that sentence is called passive voice.
Ex:
He is seeking them active |
هغه په دوی پسی پلتنه کوی |
They are being sought by him passive |
په دوی پسی د هغه په زریعه پلتنه کیزی |
She is praising you active |
او شما را ستایش می کند |
You are being praised by her |
شما توسط او ستایش می شوید |
Before starting passive voice you need to know some verb’s rules:
Transitive verb can change from active voice into passive voice because it has object.
Like
He is eating an apple, active = an apple is being eaten by him. Passive
Intransitive verb: intransitive verb don’t change from active voice into passive voice in literary English because it doesn’t have object.
He is dying active = no passive
She is sleeping active = no passive
He is running active = no passive
But intransitive verb can be change from active voice into passive voice in colloquial English
Active |
Passive |
She is sleeping |
The action of sleeping is being done by her. |
He is running |
The action of running is being done by him. |
They are coming. |
The action of coming is being done by them |
She is smiling |
The action of smiling is being done by her. |
Transitive and in transitive verb: T AND IN some time change and some time don’t change to passive voice:
Active |
Passive |
She is sweeping |
No passive |
She is sweeping the room |
The room is being swept by her. |
Basic rules of changing active voice into
passive voice
1. Subject is change into object.
2. Object is change into subject.
3. The first and the second form of the verb is change into the third form of the verb.
4. After third from of the word “by” is coming.
5. I is changed into “me”
6. he is changed into “him”
7. she is changed into “her”
8. they is change into “them”
9. we is changed into “ us”
10. You and it are not changed.
Usage of Passive voice in tenses
The present indefinite tense
To change the present indefinite tense from active voice into passive voice “ am is are “are used as helping verb.
Active |
Passive |
He teaches her S v o |
She is taught by her. S h.v v prep o |
She helps me S v o |
I am helped by her. S h.v v perp o |
They invite us |
We are invited by them. |
Different between active and passive
Active |
Passive |
V = 1v |
V = 3v |
h.v = do, does |
h.v = is am are |
Simple, negative, interrogative, and nag & int. sentence
Active |
Passive |
They console him |
He is consoled by them |
Do they console him? |
Is he consoled by them? |
They don’t console him. |
He is not consoled by them. |
Do the no console him? |
Is he not consoled by them? |
Don’t they console him? |
Isn’t he consoled by them? |
Practice:
Change the following active sentences to Passive sentence:
1: they repeat the exercise, 2: we play chess, 3: they forget us, 4: she teaches English, 5: he writes a story, 6: you save him, 7: I console them, 8: she sews a dress, 9: he pinches him, 10: bungles his car.
The past prefect tens
It describes and action completed in the past before a certain moment
POSITIVE SENTENCE
H.V = had
S+(H.V)+3V +O .
NEGATIVE
S+ H.V+3V+O+.
AFFIRMATIVE
(H.V)+ S +3V +O +.
Ex:
They had eaten the food دوی دودی خوړلی وه
She had gone to aHerat.
We had not gone to Herat.
Had you gone to Herat?
Had they not gone to Herat
The usages of the past prefect tense:
The past prefect tense performs the same function in the past as the present prefect tense does in the present.
Present |
Past |
I haven’t seen him for long time |
I hadn’t seen him for long time. |
We haven’t heard any thing from him. |
We hadn’t heard any thing form him. |
They haven’t bought the house. |
The had not bought the house. |
2: the present prefect tense express that an action completed in the past before an other action.
We had eaten food when they came.
The junior doctor had operated the patient when the senior doctor came.
The robber had robed the bank when the police came.
He had killed him when the nation arm arrived.
Note: the words ( when, before, because ) can work as a conjunction between the pas prefect and the past indefinite tense.
Ex:
Robber had robed the bank before police came.
They disconnected his line because he had not deposited the bill.
The present perfect continues tense
It denotes an action that started in the past and s still continuing
Usage of the present perfect continues tense
1:
the present perfect continues tense is used for the action which begins in the past and continue up to the time speaking in the present:
Note: we usually mention the point and the period of time with the help lf ’since’ and ’for’
EX:
T has been raining since morning.
They have been playing for two hours.
2:
the present prefect continues tense is used for the action which have been happening in the past and their signs of happing are presents in the presents at the time lf speaking :
EX:
Someone has been wearing my shoes.
Somebody has been using my shaving cream.
Somebody has been smoking my cigarettes.
3:
the present perfect continues tense is used for the actions which are changing or developing or increasing continuously
ex
The price of petrol has been increasing
Their problems have been increasing.
POSITIVE SENTENCE
H.V = have been/has been
S+(H.V)+V-ING +O +SINCE/FOR + TIME +E.P.O
NEGATIVE
S+ HAVE/HAS +NOT +BEEN +V-ING +O- +SINCE/FOR + TIME +E.P.O
AFFIRMATIVE
(H.V)+ S +V-ING +O +SINCE/FOR + TIME- +E.P.O
EX:
The have been playing since morning.
She has been sleeping since yesterday
They have not been playing since morning
She has not been sleeping since yesterday
Have they been playing since morning?
Has she been sleeping since morning?
The past perfect continuous tense
It denotes an action that started at a particular time in the past and was still in progress.
Note:
We can mention the period of time or the point of time of an action with help of “since and “fore”
POSITIVE SENTENCE
H.V = had been
S+ (H.V) +V-ING +O +SINCE/FOR + TIME +E.P.O
NEGATIVE
S+ HAVE/HAS +NOT +BEEN +V-ING +O +SINCE/FOR + TIME +E.P.O
AFFIRMATIVE
(H.V)+ S +V-ING +O +SINCE/FOR + TIME +E.P.O
EX:
They had been playing since morning.
She had been sleeping since yesterday
They had not been playing since morning
She had not been sleeping since yesterday
Had they been playing since morning?
Had she been sleeping since morning?
Question: what is the different between the past continuous and past perfect continuous tense?
Answer: the first difference: we usually mention the period of time or the point of time in past perfect continuous tense with the help of since or for we can mention only common time or with out period of time or point of an action in past continues tens.
Ex:
Past continues tense |
Past perfect continues tense |
They were fighting (yesterday) |
They had been fighting since yesterday |
I was waiting for you |
I had been waiting for you for two hours. |
Usage of past perfect continuous tense:
1: the past perfect progressive is used for the action which was in progress since a specified point of or period of time in the past.
Ex:
We had been playing since morning.
They had been fighting for two hours.
2: the past perfect continuous tense is used for the actions which had been happening in the past.
Ex
I locked my shoes because some one has been using them.
I left keeping my cigarettes on the table because some had been stealing them.
3:
The past
The past perfect continuous tense for the action with stress/emphasis which was in progress before an others action or an other time in the past.
We had been going to their house until their father’s death.
He had been teaching us until we became teacher.
The had been waiting for him at four o’clock when he came at 7 o’clock.
Conditional sentences
Definition: there are two parts in conditional sentence, one is called if clause or conditional clause and the second is called main clause or result clause, in if clause/conditional clause we say a condition and the main/result clause we say the result of the said condition.
Ex:
If clause |
Main clause |
If Hassina works hard |
She will pass the exam. |
If they had played well. |
They would have won the match |
There are five kinds of conditional
sentence / if sentence:
1: type 1/ fist conditional/ the will condition.
2: type 2:/ second conditional/ the would conditional
3: type 3: third conditional. / The would have condition.
4: mixed conditional sentence.
5: zero conditional.
Type 1/ first conditional
1 : in type 1: we predict about the result of the action.
2: In type 1: we say such kind of conditions, which are probable, possible and expressed to happen and if the condition is fulfilled, the result will be expected to happen.
3: the tense if the if clause is present not future but the meaning is some time in the present and sometime in the future.
Formula:
If clause main clause
If + S + present indefinite tense +,+S+ future indefinite tense
Note: change are possible both in if and main clause
Here we predict about the result of a condition, we say that if this condition happens like this the result of it will be like this.
Ex:
If S. Mohammad runs fast, he will win the race.
If Najeeb works hard, he will pass the exam.
Used to
Used+1V:
Used+V1 is used for those past habits which we don’t used now
Note:
Pronunciation-’d’ of used to is silent it is pronounce “use to”
Affirmative formula
S + used to + 1V + o +.
Negative formula
s + didn’t + use to + 1V + o +.
Interrogative formula
Did + s + use to + 1V +o +?
Ex:
I used to play football.
I did not use to play football.
Or
I used not to play football
Did I use to play football?
Or
Used i to play football?
What did you used to play?
Where did you used to read?
How did you used to go to the school?
Used to + be
Used to is used for past condition or state of a person, a thing or a place.
Ghazni used to be a peaceful
Improved transition: تيريدنه،اوشتنه، ارونه
The charactersحيثيت او مقام ، كيفيت يا بنه in Book A face a moral dilemmaد اسي يو حالت چه يو سري مجبوروي ، مشكل انتخاب, a contestedمجادله كول ، مسابقه كول .
Examples of Transitions:
Illustration n, حركندونه، توضيح شرح
Thus, for example, for instance, namelyيعني ، په نامه, to illustrate, in other words, in particular, specifically, such as.
Contrastد پرتله كيدو له مخي د توپيرحركنديدل
On the contrary,په ضد يا خلاف contrarily, notwithstanding,سرله دي ، سربيره بردي but, howeverپه هر حال، خوبيا هم ، سرله دي, nevertheless,سره له دي in spite ofپه ضد , in contrast, yet, on one hand, on the other hand, rather, or, norاو نه هم , converselyپه مخالف دول, at the same time, while this may be true.
Addition
And, in addition to, furthermoreعلاوه پردي, moreoverبرسيره پردي ،بله داچي , besides, than, too, also, both-and, another, equally important, first, second, etc., again, further, last, finally, not only-but also, as well as, in the second place, next, likewiseهمدادول, similarly, in fact, as a result, consequentlyپه نتيجه كشي , in the same way, for example, for instance, however, thus, therefore, otherwise.
Time
After, afterward, before, then, once, next, last, at last, at length, first, second, etc., at first, formerly, rarely, usually, another, finally, soon, meanwhile, at the same time, for a minute, hour, day, etc., during the morning, day, week, etc., most important, later, ordinarily, to begin with, afterwards, generally, in order to, subsequently, previously, in the meantime, immediately, eventually, concurrentlyهمزمان، په يووخت كشي پيشدل , simultaneously.جوخت، همزمان، غبرگ
Space
At the left, at the right, in the center, on the side, along the edge, on top, below, beneath, under, around, above, over, straight ahead, at the top, at the bottom, surrounding, opposite, at the rear, at the front, in front of, beside, behind, next to, nearby, in the distance, beyond, in the forefront, in the foreground, within sight, out of sight, across, under, nearer, djacent, in the background.
Concessionاميتاز ، تيريدنه
Although, at any rate, at least, still, thought, even though, granted that, while it may be true, in spite of, of course.
Similarity or Comparison
Similarly, likewise, in like fashion, in like manner, analogous to
Emphasis
Above all, indeed, truly, of course, certainly, surely, in fact, really, in truth, again, besides, also, furthermore, in addition.
Details
Specifically, especially, in particular, to explain, to list, to enumerate,شميرل، گنل in detail, namelyيعني ، , including.
Examples
For example, for instance, to illustrate, thus, in other words, as an illustration, in particular.
Consequenceپايله ، نتجه ، or Result
So that, with the result that, thus, consequently, hence, accordingly, for this reason, therefore, so, because, since, due to, as a result, in other words, then.
Summary
Therefore, finally, consequently, منتج thus, in short, in conclusion, in brief, as a result, accordingly
Suggestion
For this purpose, to this end, with this in mind, with this purpose in mind, therefore:
Glossary of English Grammar Terms
This glossary of English grammar terms relates to the English language. Some terms here may have additional or extended meanings when applied to other languages. For example, "case" in some languages applies to pronouns and nouns. In English, nouns do not have case and therefore no reference to nouns is made in its definition here.
Term |
Definition |
one of two voices in
English; a direct form of expression where the subject performs or
"acts" the verb; see also passive
voice |
|
part of speech that typically describes or
"modifies" a noun |
|
adjective clause |
seldom-used term for relative clause |
Adjunct مل: فرعي،
مرستيال، ضميمه،
( ګر ) معترضه
فقره، هغه
كلمه يا فقره
چې په مبتدا
او خبر كې
زياتوالى
راولي ( منطق )
عرض: مل، صفت،
الحاقي برخه. |
Word or phrase that adds information to a sentence and
that can be removed from the sentence without making the sentence
ungrammatical |
word that modifies a verb, an adjective or another adverb |
|
adverbial clause |
dependent clause that acts like an adverb and
indicates such things as time, place or reason |
statement that expresses (or
claims to express) a truth or "yes" meaning; opposite of negative |
|
language unit (morpheme)
that occurs before or after (or sometimes within) the root or stem of a word |
|
logical (in a grammatical sense) links between words based
on tense,
case or number |
|
antecedent |
word, phrase or clause that is
replaced by a pronoun (or other substitute) when mentioned subsequently (in
the same sentence or later) |
appositive |
noun phrase that re-identifies or describes its
neighboring noun |
determiner that introduces a noun phrase as definite (the) or indefinite (a/an) |
|
feature of some verb forms that relates to duration or completion of time; verbs can have no aspect (simple), or can have continuous or progressive aspect (expressing duration), or have perfect or perfective aspect (expressing completion) |
|
auxiliary
verb |
verb used with the main
verb to help indicate something such as tense or voice |
unmarked form of the verb (no indication of tense, mood,
person, or aspect) without the particle "to"; typically used after
modal auxiliary verbs; see also infinitive |
|
basic form of a verb before conjugation into tenses etc |
|
form of a pronoun based on its relationship to other words
in the sentence; case can be subjective,
objective
or possessive |
|
causative verb |
verb that causes things to happen such as
"make", "get" and "have"; the subject does not
perform the action but is indirectly responsible for it |
group of words containing a subject and its verb |
|
comparative, |
form of an adjective or adverb made with "-er" or "more" that is used to show
differences or similarities between two things (not three or more things) |
part of a sentence that completes
or adds meaning to the predicate |
|
noun that is made up of more than one word; can be one
word, or hyphenated, or separated by a space |
|
compound sentence |
sentence with at least two independent
clauses; usually joined by a conjunction |
concord |
another term for agreement |
structure in English where one action depends on another
("if-then" or "then-if" structure); most common are 1st,
2nd,
and 3rd conditionals |
|
to show the different forms of a verb according to voice, mood, tense, number
and person;
conjugation is quite simple in English compared to many other languages |
|
word that joins or connects two
parts of a sentence |
|
word that has meaning in a sentence, such as a verb or
noun (as opposed to a structure
word, such as pronoun or auxiliary verb); content words are stressed in
speech |
|
continuous |
verb form (specifically an aspect)
indicating actions that are in progress or continuing over a given time
period (can be past, present or future); formed with "BE" +
"VERB-ing" |
shortening of two (or more) words into one |
|
thing that you can count, such as apple, pen, tree (see uncountable
noun) |
|
illogical structure that occurs
in a sentence when a writer intends to modify one thing but the reader
attaches it to another |
|
declarative sentence |
sentence type typically used to make a statement (as
opposed to a question or command) |
defining relative
clause |
relative
clause that contains information required for the understanding of the
sentence; not set off with commas; see also non-defining
clause |
demonstrative
pronoun |
pronoun or determiner
that indicates closeness to (this/these) or distance from (that/those) the
speaker |
part of a sentence that contains a
subject and a verb but does not form a complete thought and cannot stand on
its own; see also independent
clause |
|
word such as an article
or a possessive
adjective or other adjective that typically comes at the beginning of
noun phrases |
|
saying what someone said by using
their exact words; see also indirect
speech |
|
noun phrase in a sentence that
directly receives the action of the verb; see also indirect
object |
|
question that is not in normal question form with a
question mark; it occurs within another statement or question and generally
follows statement structure |
|
verb form that has a specific tense, number and person |
|
"if-then" conditional
structure used for future actions or events that are seen as realistic
possibilities |
|
fragment |
incomplete piece of a sentence
used alone as a complete sentence; a fragment does not contain a complete
thought; fragments are common in normal speech but unusual (inappropriate) in
formal writing |
function |
purpose or "job" of a
word form or element in a sentence |
future
continuous |
tense* used to describe things
that will happen in the future at a particular time; formed with WILL + BE +
VERB-ing |
tense* used to express the past in the future; formed with
WILL HAVE + VERB-ed |
|
tense* used to show that something will be ongoing until a
certain time in the future; formed with WILL HAVE BEEN + VERB-ing |
|
tense* used to describe something that hasn't happened yet
such as a prediction or a sudden decision; formed with WILL + BASE VERB |
|
genitive case |
case expressing relationship between nouns (possession,
origin, composition etc) |
noun form of a verb, formed with VERB-ing |
|
adjective that can vary in intensity or grade when paired
with a grading
adverb ; see also non-gradable
adjective |
|
adverb that can modify the intensity or grade of a gradable
adjective |
|
hanging participle |
another term for dangling participle |
helping verb |
another term for auxiliary verb |
form of verb used when giving a
command; formed with BASE VERB only |
|
pronoun does not refer to any specific person, thing
or amount. It is vague and "not definite". |
|
group of words that expresses a
complete thought and can stand alone as a sentence; see also dependent
clause |
|
noun phrase representing the person or thing indirectly
affected by the action of the verb; see also direct
object |
|
indirect question |
another term for embedded question |
saying what someone said without using their exact words;
see direct
speech |
|
base form of a verb preceded by "to"**; see
also bare
infinitive |
|
inflection |
change in word form to indicate grammatical meaning |
common word that expresses
emotion but has no grammatical value; can often be used alone and is often
followed by an exclamation mark |
|
(formal) sentence type (typically
inverted) normally used when asking a question |
|
pronoun that asks a question. |
|
verb that does not take a direct
object; see also transitive
verb |
|
inversion |
any reversal of the normal word
order, especially placing the auxiliary verb before the subject; used in
a variety of ways, as in question formation, conditional clauses and
agreement or disagreement |
verb that has a different ending for past tense and past
participle forms than the regular "-ed";
see also regular
verb |
|
lexicon, lexis |
all of the words and word forms in a language with meaning or function |
lexical verb |
another term for main verb |
verbs that connect the subject to more information (but do not indicate action), such as "be" or "seem" |
|
main clause |
another term for independent clause |
main
verb |
any verb in a sentence that is not an auxiliary
verb; a main verb has meaning on its own |
modal verb |
auxiliary
verb such as can, could, must, should etc; paired with the bare
infinitive of a verb |
modifier |
word or phrase that modifies and limits the meaning of
another word |
sentence type that indicates the speaker's view towards the degree of reality of what is being said, for example subjunctive, indicative, imperative |
|
unit of language with meaning; differs from
"word" because some cannot stand alone |
|
verb that consists of a basic verb + another word or words
(preposition and/or adverb) |
|
form which changes a "yes" meaning to a
"no" meaning; opposite of affirmative |
|
nominative case |
another term for subjective case |
non-defining
relative clause |
relative
clause that adds information but is not completely necessary; set off
from the sentence with a comma or commas; see defining
relative clause |
adjective that has a fixed quality or intensity and cannot
be paired with a grading
adverb; see also gradable
adjective |
|
non-restrictive relative clause |
another term for non-defining relative clause |
part of speech that names a person, place, thing,
quality, quantity or concept; see also proper
noun and compound
noun |
|
noun clause |
clause
that takes the place of a noun and cannot stand on its own; often introduced
with words such as "that, who or whoever" |
any word or group of words based on a noun or pronoun that
can function in a sentence as a subject, object or prepositional object; can
be one word or many words; can be very simple or very complex |
|
change of word form indicating one person or thing (singular)
or more than one person or thing (plural)
|
|
thing or person affected by the verb; see also direct
object and indirect
object |
|
case form
of a pronoun indicating an object |
|
one of the classes into which words are divided according
to their function in a sentence |
|
verb form that can be used as an adjective or a noun; see past participle, present participle |
|
one of two voices in
English; an indirect form of expression in which the subject receives the
action; see also active
voice |
|
past tense |
tense used to talk about an action, event or situation
that occurred and was completed in the past |
tense often used to describe an interrupted action in the
past; formed with WAS/WERE + VERB-ing |
|
tense that refers to the past in the past; formed with HAD
+ VERB-ed |
|
tense that refers to action that happened in the past and
continued to a certain point in the past; formed with HAD BEEN + VERB-ing |
|
verb form (V3) - usually
made by adding "-ed" to the base verb -
typically used in perfect and passive tenses, and sometimes as an adjective |
|
verb form (specifically an aspect); formed with HAVE/HAS + VERB-ed (present perfect) or HAD + VERB-ed (past perfect) |
|
grammatical category that identifies people in a conversation; there are three persons: 1st person (pronouns I/me, we/us) is the speaker(s), 2nd person (pronoun you) is the listener(s), 3rd person (pronouns he/him, she/her, it, they/them) is everybody or everything else |
|
pronoun
that indicates person |
|
multi-word verb formed with a verb + adverb |
|
phrase |
two or more words that have a single function and form part of a sentence; phrases can be noun, adjective, adverb, verb or prepositional |
of a noun or form indicating more than one person or
thing; plural nouns are usually formed by adding "-s"; see also singular,
number
|
|
position |
grammatically correct placement of a word form in a phrase
or sentence in relation to other word forms |
positive |
basic state of an adjective or adverb when it shows
quality but not comparative
or superlative |
adjective (also called "determiner") based on a
pronoun: my, your, his, her, its, our, their |
|
case form
of a pronoun indicating ownership or possession |
|
pronoun
that indicates ownership or possession |
|
one of the two main parts (subject
and predicate) of a sentence;
the predicate is the part that is not the subject |
|
affix
that occurs before the root or stem of a word |
|
part
of speech that typically comes before a noun phrase and shows some type
of relationship between that noun phrase and another element (including
relationships of time, location, purpose etc) |
|
multi-word
verb that is formed with verb + preposition |
|
-ing form of a verb (except when
it is a gerund
or verbal noun) |
|
present simple (also called "simple present") |
tense usually used to describe states and actions that are
general, habitual or (with the verb "to be") true right now; formed
with the basic verb (+ s for 3rd person singular) |
present continuous (also called "present progressive") |
tense used to describe action that is in process now, or a
plan for the future; formed with BE + VERB-ing |
tense that connects the past and
the present, typically used to express experience, change or a continuing
situation; formed with HAVE + VERB-ed |
|
tense used to describe an action that has recently stopped
or an action continuing up to now; formed with HAVE + BEEN + VERB-ing |
|
progressive |
another term for continuous |
word that replaces a noun or noun phrase; there are
several types including personal
pronouns, relative
pronouns and indefinite
pronouns |
|
noun that is capitalized at all times and is the name of a
person, place or thing |
|
standard marks such as commas, periods
and question marks within a sentence |
|
quantifier |
determiner
or pronoun
that indicates quantity |
final part of a tag
question; mini-question at end of a tag question |
|
question word |
another term for WH-word |
pronoun
that indicates that two or more subjects are acting mutually; there are two
in English - each other, one another |
|
reduced relative clause |
construction similar to a relative
clause, but containing a participle
instead of a finite
verb; this construction is possible only under certain circumstances |
pronoun
ending in -self or -selves, used when the subject and object are the same, or
when the subject needs emphasis |
|
verb that has "-ed" as
the ending for past tense and past participle forms; see also irregular
verb |
|
adverb that introduces a relative clause; there are four in English: where, when, wherever, whenever; see also relative pronoun |
|
dependent
clause that usually starts with a relative
pronoun such as who or which, or relative
adverb such as where |
|
pronoun that starts a relative clause; there are five in English: who, whom, whose, which, that; see also relative adverb |
|
reported speech |
another term for indirect speech |
restrictive relative clause |
another term for defining relative clause |
"if-then" conditional
structure used to talk about an unlikely possibility in the future |
|
largest grammatical unit; a sentence must always include a
subject
(except for imperatives)
and predicate;
a written sentence starts with a capital letter and ends with a full
stop/period (.), question mark (?) or exclamation mark (!); a sentence
contains a complete thought such as a statement, question, request or command |
|
series |
list of items in a sentence |
of a noun or form indicating exactly one person or thing;
singular nouns are usually the simplest form of the noun (as found in a
dictionary); see also plural,
number
|
|
split infinitive |
situation where a word or phrase comes between the
particle "to" and the verb in an infinitive; considered poor
construction by some |
Standard English (S.E.) |
"normal" spelling, pronunciation and grammar that is used by educated native speakers of English |
word that has no real meaning in a sentence, such as a pronoun
or auxiliary verb (as opposed to a content
word, such as verb or noun); structure words are not normally stressed in
speech |
|
one of the two main parts (subject and predicate)
of a sentence;
the subject is the part that is not the predicate; typically, the subject is
the first noun phrase in a sentence
and is what the rest of the sentence "is about" |
|
subjective case |
case form of a pronoun indicating a subject |
fairly rare verb form typically used to talk about events
that are not certain to happen, usually something that someone wants, hopes
or imagines will happen; formed with BARE INFINITIVE (except past of
"be") |
|
subordinate clause |
another term for dependent clause |
affix
that occurs after the root or stem of a word |
|
superlative, superlative adjective |
adjective or adverb that describes the extreme degree of
something |
subject-verb-object; a common word order
where the subject is followed by the verb and then the object |
|
syntax |
sentence structure; the rules about sentence structure |
special construction with
statement that ends in a mini-question; the whole sentence is a tag question;
the mini-question is a question
tag; usually used to obtain confirmation |
|
form of a verb that shows us when the action or state happens (past, present or future). Note that the name of a tense is not always a guide to when the action happens. The "present continuous tense", for example, can be used to talk about the present or the future. |
|
"if-then" conditional
structure used to talk about a possible event in the past that did not happen
(and is therefore now impossible) |
|
action verb that has a direct object (receiver of the
action); see also intransitive
verb |
|
uncountable
nouns |
thing that you cannot count, such as substances or
concepts; see also countable
nouns |
usage |
way in which words and constructions are normally used in any particular language |
referring to Verb 1, Verb 2, Verb 3 - being the base, past
and past participle that students typically learn for irregular verbs |
|
word that describes the subject's
action or state and that we can change or conjugate
based on tense
and person
|
|
form of a verb that shows the relation of the subject to the action; there are two voices in English: active, passive |
|
question using a WH-word and expecting an answer that is
not "yes" or "no"; WH-questions are "open"
questions; see also yes-no
question |
|
word that asks a WH-question; there are 7 WH-words: who, what, where, when, which, why, how |
|
order or sequence in which words occur within a sentence; basic word order for English is subject-verb-object or SVO |
|
question to which the answer is
yes or no; yes-no questions are "closed" questions; see also WH-question |
|
"if-then" conditional
structure used when the result of the condition is always true (based on
fact) |
* note that technically English does not have a real future
tense
** some authorities consider the base form of the verb without "to