Intermediate English Grammar in Context

50 vocabulary flashcards covering key English grammar terms and concepts from the Michael Vince Intermediate Grammar text.

Present Simple

A verb tense used for facts, routines, habits, and film plots.

Present Continuous

A verb tense used for actions happening at the moment of speaking or changing situations.

State Verbs

Verbs describing feelings or opinions (like 'know' or 'believe') that are not usually used in continuous forms.

Past Simple

Used to talk about finished events in the past at a definite time.

Past Continuous

Used for continuing unfinished actions in the past or background description.

Used to

Used for describing habits and states in the past that are different now.

Present Perfect Simple

Used to describe past events without a definite time or experiences in one's life.

Present Perfect Continuous

Used for recent continuing activities that explain a present situation.

Past Perfect Simple

Used to describe a past event that happened before another event in the past.

Future: Will

Used for predictions, promises, warnings, and instant decisions.

Future: Going to

Used for personal plans, intentions, or predictions based on current evidence.

Future Continuous

Formed with 'will be + -ing' to describe activities in progress at a specific future time.

Future Perfect

Formed with 'will have + past participle' to look back from a future point to an earlier event.

Inversion

The movement of a verb or auxiliary to the front of a noun/pronoun to form a question.

Embedded Question

A question contained within another statement or question, using statement word order.

Tag Question

A small question added to the end of a statement to check information.

Bare Infinitive

The base form of a verb used without 'to', often following verbs like 'make' or 'let'.

Gerund

The -ing form of a verb when it is used as a noun.

Reported Speech

Turning direct speech into a summary where verb tenses usually move back into the past.

Zero Conditional

Used for scientific facts or things that are always true (If + present, present).

First Conditional

Used for real or possible future situations (If + present, will).

Second Conditional

Used for unreal or imaginary situations in the present or future (If + past, would).

Third Conditional

Used for impossible conditions in the past (If + past perfect, would have + past participle).

Passive Voice

Formed with 'be + past participle' to focus on the object of an action.

Causative Have

Used when someone performs a service for us (e.g., 'having my hair cut').

Transitive Verb

A verb that requires an object to complete its meaning.

Modals of Ability

Auxiliary verbs like 'can', 'could', and 'be able to' used to express skill.

Modals of Obligation

Words like 'must', 'have to', and 'should' used to express necessity.

Modals of Possibility

Words like 'may', 'might', and 'could' used to express uncertainty.

Uncountable Nouns

Nouns that cannot be counted and usually do not have a plural form (e.g., water, advice).

Compound Noun

A noun made up of two or more words, where the first noun acts as an adjective.

Indefinite Article

The words 'a' or 'an' used for non-specific things or first mentions.

Definite Article

The word 'the' used for specific things or things already mentioned.

Zero Article

The absence of an article, used for general concepts or plural/uncountable generalizations.

Partitive

A phrase used to make an uncountable noun countable (e.g., 'a slice of bread').

Gradable Adjectives

Adjectives that can be measured in degrees and used with 'very' or 'extremely'.

Non-gradable Adjectives

Adjectives describing absolute qualities (e.g., 'impossible', 'freezing') used with 'absolutely'.

Adverbs of Manner

Words that describe how an action is performed, usually ending in -ly.

Adverbs of Frequency

Words like 'always', 'often', and 'never' that describe how often something happens.

Comparative Adjectives

Adjective forms (ending in -er or using 'more') used to compare two things.

Superlative Adjectives

Adjective forms (ending in -est or using 'most') used to compare one thing to a group.

Prepositions of Place

Words like 'in', 'at', and 'on' used to describe position.

Prepositions of Time

Words like 'at', 'in', 'on', 'since', and 'for' used to describe when something happens.

Phrasal Verb

A combination of a verb and a particle (adverb or preposition) with a unique meaning.

Splittable Phrasal Verb

A two-part verb where the object can go between the verb and the particle.

Connectors

Words like 'however', 'although', and 'because' used to link ideas in sentences.

Defining Relative Clause

A clause providing essential information that identifies exactly which thing/person is being discussed.

Non-defining Relative Clause

A clause providing extra, non-essential information separated by commas.

Purpose Infinitive

Using 'to + verb' to explain why someone performs an action.

Relative Pronouns

Words like 'who', 'which', 'that', and 'whose' used to introduce relative clauses.