English Language Features

Ellipsis

Missing out words creating incomplete construction

Uncontractible verb

Verb that can’t be shortened

False start

Starting then restarting an utterance to correct it

Adjacency pair

A conversational structure where one speaker's utterance prompts a specific response from another speaker.

Copula verb

Joins subject to the subject compliment (e.g. predicative adjective) which describes the subject

E.g he was happy

Contractible auxiliary

auxiliary- verb comes before main verb to express tense, mood, form negative

Contractible - used in a contraction e.g. we’re coming over

Discourse marker

Words or phrases that organize discourse and guide conversation flow.

Hedge

Word/phrase which softens the force that something is said

Tag question

A declarative or imperative followed by a short interrogative

prosodic features

aspects of speech such as intonation, stress, and rhythm that convey meaning beyond words.

elision

The omission of sounds or syllables in spoken language, often to facilitate smoother or faster speech.

repair

Self correction mid utterance

Dialect

Specific words/grammar uses associated with a speific region

contraction

two words are combined into one by omitting certain sounds or letters, commonly used in informal speech.

phatic language

small talk with purely social function

colloquial language

informal language used in everyday conversation

taboo language

language that is socially prohibited or restricted, often considered offensive or inappropriate in certain contexts.

attributive adjective

Pre-modifies noun/pronoun - before

predicative adjective

post modifies noun/pronoun - after

Superlative adjective

-est suffix

Comparative adjective

-er suffix

demonstrative pronoun

points at something e.g. this, that, those

relative pronoun

linking words come right after the noun they refer to e.g. whom, whose, that

possessive pronoun

take ownership e.g. mine hers his

Personal pronoun

identify speakers

he she you we I

indefinite pronoun

refers to non-specific people or things, e.g. anyone, everyone, something.

interrogative pronoun

used to ask questions, e.g. who, what, which, where

complex sentence

contains main clause & subordinate clause where one part more important than the other

subordinate clause

a clause that cannot stand alone as a complete sentence and depends on the main clause for its meaning.

compound sentence

two main clauses joined together by co-ordinating conjunction - neither more important than the other

minor sentence

lacks either a subject or a verb

simple sentence

one main clause, needs subject & verb

what is the subject

person or thing that performs the action, described by verb

what is the object

the person or thing that receives the action of the verb.

what is the passive voice

subject receives the action of the verb instead of performing it.

What is the active voice

subject performs the action of the verb.

declarative

sentence that makes a statement

interrogative

question

imperitive

command

non-finite verb

has no ownership, don’t show tense, person or number

auxiliary verb

primary (e.g. be have do) or modal (can may might must) auxiliary verbs - helping verbs, go in front of main verbs to express tense, mood, construct negatives or questions

stative verb

describe the state of being or perception rather than what someone/something is doing e.g. it seems

dynamic verb

what is actually happening e.g. kill, jump

perfective verb aspect

to have + past participle (-ed)

present perfective - she has jumped

past perfective - she had jumped

progressive verb aspect

to be + present continuous (ing)

present progressive - she is jumping

past progressive - she was jumping

past progressive verb aspect

she had been jumping

present perfective progressive

she has been jumping

explain the 12 tenses

definite article

determines the object specifically e.g. the

indefinite article

could be one of many, less specific e.g. a

subordinating conjunction

connect subordinating clause to a main clause

coordinating conjunction

words that join together words, phrases, or clauses of equal importance in a sentence

For

And

Nor

But

Or

Yet

So

prepositional noun phrase

preposition e.g. on by to from + noun phrase

compound complex sentence

contains at least two main clauses (joined by a coordinating conjunction) and at least one subordinate clause

relative clause

modifies a noun or noun phrase

e.g. I enjoyed the bread that I baked yesterday

possessive pronoun

show possession e.g. his, hers, theirs

reflexive pronoun

indicate object of verb is the same as it’s subject

personal pronoun

way of identifying speakers, addresses e.g. he, her, I, you

Deictic expression

utterances that cannot be understood unless the context is known e.g. over there, that one

topic shifter

utterance which moves the conversation onto another topic e.g. by the way, so

topic loop

utterance which returns the conversation to an earlier topic e.g. anyway

convergence

language used by a speaker moves closer to that used by another speaker

divergence

language used by a person moves away from that used by another e.g. way of marking social boundaries or patronising/gaining respect

repair

return to a previously stated phrase e.g. he, sorry, she did it

Clause

Must contain subject and verb

independent clause

Clause containing subject and verb that can stand by itself

dependent clause

clause containing subject and verb that is reliant on/attached to another clause

What’s the difference between a clause and a phrase

Clause - must contain subject and verb

Dependent (stand alone) or independent clause (needs other clause)

Phrase - group of words without a subject-verb combination

Verb phrase, prepositional phrase, noun phrase