English Language- Grammar

Simple Aspect

Doesn't show if the verb is complete or habitual, it has no primary auxilary verb.
Eg. I waterski
i showjump
he fences

Perfect Aspect

Shows the action is completed. Have + past participle.
Eg. I HAVE waterskiED (PRESENT)
I HAD showjumpED (PAST)
I WILL HAVE fencED (FUTURE)

Progressive Aspect

Shows the action is ongoing/habitual. Be + Present Participle.
Eg. I AM waterskiING (PRESENT)
I WAS showjumpING (PAST)
He WILL BE fencing (FUTURE)

Perfect Progressive Aspect

Shows the END of an ongoing action. HAVE + been + Present Participle.
I HAVE BEEN waterskiing (PRESENT)
I HAD BEEN showjumping (PAST)
He WILL HAVE BEEN fencing (FUTURE)

Phrase

Group of words which functions as a unit and which can usually be replaced by one word. Eg. The large window/broke/because of the wind

Noun phrase

A unit of language where the main word (headword) is a noun; usually these are replaced by pronoun eg. The young man, the small cat, lovely little boy

Adjectival phrase

A phrase that has an adjective as it's main word (either attributive or predicative) eg. Extremely (degree adv) beautiful (attr/pre adj)

Adverbial phrase

A phrase that has an adverb as it's headword (main) eg. Very (degree adv) quickly (manner adv)

Verb phrase

A unit of language which has a verb as the main word eg. I walked, I am walking, I may walk.

Modal auxiliary verb phrases (MAV)

Shows possibility/certainty eg. Might, could, should, may, can, will, would, ought to, must. For example, I will frolick.

Primary auxiliary verb phrase (PAV)

Shows aspect and tense. Eg. They had already seen it

PAV- aspect

Continuous/complete action

PAV- tense

When (past/present)

Past participle form of verb phrases

-ed (I walkED)

Present participle form of verb phrases

-ing (I am singING)

Head word

the main word in a phrase

Adverbial

A word or group of words working as an adverb, usually giving information about time, place or manner.

Fronted adverbial

Where the adverbial occurs at the beginning of the sentence. E.g. In 1977,...

prepositional phrase

A group of words that begins with a preposition and ends with a noun or pronoun. E.g. under the sofa...

Deontic modality

Modal verbs which indicate necessity, obligation or permission e.g. might, could

Epistemic modality

Constructions that express degrees of possibility, probability or certainty

Boulomaic modality

Expressions that highlight aspects of desire

Main/Independent Clause

A clause which makes sense by itself
Eg. I frolicked through Tesco

Subordinate/Dependent Clause

A clause which doesn't make sense by itself
Eg. Because (subordinating conjunction) i frolicked through Tesco

Relative Clause

A type of subordinate clause which gives more information about the noun- it is embedded.
Eg. Grace, who frolicked through Tesco, was a carefree soul

double negative

a question or statement that contains two negatives, which can muddy the meaning of the question

tautology

unnecessary repetition

conditional clause

used to show that the SECOND condition is CAUSED BY the FIRST condition happens

Coordination

Grammatical equivalence between parts of a sentence, often through a coordinating conjunction such as and, or but.

Subordination

The dependence of one syntactical element on another in a sentence.

Morphology

The study of how words are formed

Morpheme

Smallest bit of a word

Free/Root morpheme

A section of a word that makes sense by itself

Bound morpheme

A section of a word that doesn't make sense by itself

Affix

The overarching term for prefix, suffix and infix

Prefix

A morpheme placed before a word

Suffix

A morpheme placed after a word

Infix

A morpheme placed inside a word

Inflectional function

An affix which changes the grammar, for example plural/verb tense

Derivational function

An affix which changes the meaning, for example usual - unusual

simple sentence

A sentence consisting of one independent clause and no dependent clause
Eg. The friends went to the coffee shop

Compound sentence

Two main clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction
Eg. I take Biology AND it's my favourite subject

Complex sentence

A main clause and a subordinate clause joined together
Eg. I take English BECAUSE i want to write books
OR because I want to be a pilot, I take physics

Compound complex sentence

Two main clauses and a subordinate clause
E.g. Although I like to go camping, I haven't had the time
to go lately, and I haven't found anyone to go with.

Orthographic sentence

A sentence with no verb

declarative sentence

a sentence that makes a statement

Exclamative sentence

makes a statement (just like a declarative sentence), but it also conveys excitement or emotion; ends with an exclamation mark (!)

imperative sentence

gives a command

Interrogative sentence

A sentence that asks a question

conditional sentence

A sentence that expresses wishes or conditions contrary to fact.

Voice

A writers distinctive use of language

Subject

who or what the sentence is about

object of a sentence

not the subject and has the verb performed on it

Active voice

The subject of the sentence performs the action

Passive voice

The subject of the sentence receives the action.

Vocative

direct address

Antecedent

The word, phrase, or clause referred to by a pronoun.

Front focus (fronting)

the situation in which information is presented at the beginning of a sentence rather than later on in the sentence in order to give it greater prominence.

End focus (suspension)

A change in the structure of the sentence to place emphasis on a closing sentence element

Fronted adverbial

Where the adverbial occurs at the beginning of the sentence

Syntactical parallelism

When sentences/clauses close together follow similar patterns of construction such as: 'it was the best of times, it was the worst of times'

Normal syntax

subject-verb-object

inverted syntax

reversing the normal word order of a sentence, so object-verb-subject

Infinitive

The base form of the verb, to + _____
Eg. To girlboss

Split infinitive

Add a word between 'to' and verb
Eg. To confidently girlboss

Imperative

A command
Eg. To sit down

Reflexive verb

A verb you do to yourself
Eg. I taught myself (myself is a reflexive pronoun)

Transitive verb

A verb acting on an object
Eg. They laughed at the helicopter

Intransitive verb

A verb not acting on an object
Eg. They laughed

phrasal verb

A verb made up of a main verb and a preposition, adverb, or both.
E.g. I asked you to drop by after seven.
(The phrasal verb "drop by" means "visit")

Regular verb

a verb that forms the past tense by adding "ed" to the basic verb

irregular verb

A verb in which the past tense is not formed by adding the usual -ed ending.