Grammar

Sentence Prerequisite

A main subject and main verb alongside the beginning of the sentence starting with a capital letter and a punctuation mark indicating the end of the sentence.

Cohesion

Cohesion is the lexical linking within a text or sentence that holds a text together and gives it meaning. It is related to the broader concept of coherence.

Cohesion Linguistic Mechanism 2

Ellipsis: A: Who wrote the letter? B: Joanne (The response Joanne elliptically signals that Joanne wrote the letter.)

Verb Tense 12

Future Perfect Progressive: This tense describes an action that has been in progress for a duration of time before another event or time in the future. I will have been... I will have been running... I will have been eating... He will have been smiling

Verb Tense 6

Future Perfect: Indicates that by the time of a specified future event, the verb's action will have been completed. It is formed by adding the past participle of the verb to the words will have. I will have been...I will have run I will have eaten..... He will have smiled....

Cohesion Linguistic Mechanism 5

Lexical cohesion: (here through synonymy): He was grateful for the money he had been given. He slipped the coins into his pocket and hurried down the street. (Coins refer back to money.)

Prescriptive Grammar Rules

Make a value judgment about the correctness of an utterance i.e. they set out what we should or shouldn't say. How to write and/or speak "well" according to what has been established. "You have to say this because...." "You cannot say it this way because...."

Modular

Modal verbs are used in a variety of ways to enable the speaker to express feelings about, for example, the probability of an event, or the ability of a person to carry out a certain action or the level of an obligation - but not the actuality of it happening. Other uses of modals are to express one's attitude, politeness, or advice; modals are also used for making requests or giving permission. The verbs in this category, although there are conflicting views on this, are can, could, will, would, shall, should, may, might, must, have to, ought to and used to.

Verb Tense 11

Present Perfect Progressive: This tense is used to describe the duration of an action that began in the past and continues into the present. I have been...I have been running I have been eating... He has been smiling...

Verb Tense 5

Present Perfect: Indicates that the verb's action began in the past and continued up until the time the sentence was written. It is formed by adding the word have. I have been...I have run... I have eaten...He has smiled

Cohesion Linguistic Mechanism 3

Substitution: I plan to enter college next year. If I do, . . . (do substitutes for enter college)

Phrase 1

A phrase is a word or small group of words that forms a meaningful unit within a sentence. Two important types are the noun phrase and the verb phrase.

Clause

A phrase that can stand on its own with a subject and verb (although it might not be complete). "The clause is kind of a mini-sentence: a set of words which makes a sense unit, but may not be concluded by a full stop. A sentence may consist of two or more clauses, e.g. She left (1) because it was late (2) and she was tired (3); this sentence contains three clauses. A clause is a group of related words containing a subject and a verb."

Descriptive Grammar Rules

Accept the patterns a speaker actually uses and try to account for them. Descriptive rules allow for different varieties of a language; they don't ignore a construction simply because some prescriptive grammarian doesn't like it. For example, a proponent of prescriptive rules would say the following sentence is incorrect; a proponent of descriptive rules would say it's fine: Who do you want to speak to? (Ending a sentence with a preposition). "This is how we say it."

Parts of Speech 3

Adjectives: These describe nouns and pronouns ('I own a red car'); adjectives can also be complements (coming after a being verb, as in 'He is tall'). When two nouns are placed together, the first one functions as an adjective, as in 'hair care products' or 'learner groups'. In such cases, the noun that functions as the adjective can never be rendered in plural form (e.g., as in 'learners groups'.)

Parts of Speech 4

Adverbs: Adverbs have several elements. They are often used as adverbials, providing information about, for example, time, manner and place: Time: soon, already, still Manner: easily, fast slowly Place: here, away, somewhere They can also be used as modifiers (any word that affects the meaning of other words. They can modify verbs: He speaks fast. They can modify adjectives and thus form adjective phrases: You are terribly wrong. That was very easy. They can modify other adverbs to make adverb phrases: He speaks quite fast. Adverbs can also function as transition phrases (Consequently, he had to move to London). We all learned that adverbs end in -ly, but also remember those other non adverb-like endings such as '-wise', as in 'clockwise'. Also, all words that end in '-ly' are not adverbs. Take the words 'lovely' and 'weekly': these are adjectives since the root word form, 'love' and 'week', are nouns; adding -ly makes them adjectives.

Aspect

Aspect refers to how an event or action is to be viewed with respect to time, rather than to its actual location in time. We can illustrate this using the following examples: 1. David fell in love on his eighteenth birthday. 2. David has fallen in love. 3. David is falling in love. In 1, the verb fell tells us that David fell in love in the past, and specifically on his eighteenth birthday. In 2 also, the action took place in the past, but it is implied that it took place quite recently. Furthermore, it is implied that it is still relevant at the time of speaking - David has fallen in love, and that's why he's behaving strangely. It is worth noting that we cannot say David has fallen in love on his eighteenth birthday. In 3, the action of falling in love is still in progress -David is falling in love at the time of speaking.

Cohesion Linguistic Mechanism 4

Conjunction: Peter needed some money. He, therefore, decided to get a job. (therefore makes explicit the causal relationship between the first and second sentences).

Parts of Speech 5

Conjunctions: Conjunctions ('but', 'and', 'yet', 'or',' so') join words, phrases, and clauses. Such conjunctions are referred to as coordinating conjunctions, and are frequently used to join two independent clauses. For example: I studied hard for the test, but still failed. Another category is the subordinating conjunction; subordinating conjunctions are used to connect dependent clauses to independent clauses (or other dependent clauses). For example: I passed the test even though I didn't study.

Parts of Speech 6

Determiners: These are words that 'determine' the nouns that follow them. For example, articles are determiners (The cat is drinking the milk). In this case, 'the' as a determiner tells us that the cat is specific, defined. Possessive adjectives (not to be confused with possessive pronouns), such as 'my', 'your, 'his' are also determiners. Essentially, anything that serves to quantify a noun is a determiner.

Unreal Conditional Form

For present and future time the condition is not, or probably will not be, true. We use a simple or continuous verb formation. If Maria was coming, you could tell her the news. (But she isn't coming; you can't tell her.) I would have more money if I didn't smoke. (But I smoke; I have less money.) I'd phone him if only I could find his number. (But I can't find it; I can't phone him.) If I found a lot of money in the road, I'd give it to the police. (I don't expect to find any; I'm imagining.) Note this construction: Would you mind if I left early? Would + mind + unreal condition is a polite way to ask for permission. For Past Time (the condition was not true), we use a perfect verb formation in the condition: If Maria had come, you could have told her the news. (But she didn't come; you couldn't tell her.) I'd have phoned him if only I could have found his number. (But I couldn't find it; I didn't phone.) If I had found that money, I would have given it to the police. (I didn't find it; I'm just imagining.) I'm sure Maria would've come if John hadn't forgotten to tell her. (But John forgot; she didn't come.) Note: Conditions can go before the basic sentence, If it's fine, I'll go to the beach, or after it, I'll go to the beach if it's fine. If we put the condition before the basic sentence, we use a comma.

Passive Voice

If the subject is the victim or the receiver of the action, the verb is said to be in the passive voice: Britain was invaded by the Vikings.

Active Voice

If the subject of a sentence is the doer of the action, the verb is said to be in the active voice: The Vikings invaded Britain.

Verb Phrase

In grammar, a verb phrase is a verb of more than one word. It includes one or more helping (or auxiliary) verbs and one main verb: can see (helping verb can + main verb see) would have sent (helping verbs would + have + main verb send) may have been planning (helping verbs may + have + be + main verb plan) The main verb expresses the chief idea in the verb phrase. The other verbs are there only to help it. The main verb is always the last verb in the phrase. Often its form changes, as in the last two examples, in which send becomes sent and plan becomes planning.

Morpheme

The morpheme is a part of a word which can be perceived as a distinct component. Within the word passed, for example, are the two morphemes pass, and -ed. A word may consist of a single morpheme (e.g. book).

Parts of Speech 1

Nouns: Nouns function as a subject ('The baby is crying'); object ('Tim threw the ball'); or complement of a verb ('Steve is a fireman'); nouns also come after prepositions in a prepositional phrase ('on the table'). Nouns can further be categorised as common ('city'; 'man') and proper ('London'; 'Abraham Lincoln'); proper nouns name a specific person, place, event, or thing. Nouns can also be classified as countable ('cat'; 'city'); countable nouns take a plural form ('cats'; 'cities'). Uncountable nouns, which are abstract or collective, do not take a plural form ('happiness'; 'information'; 'vocabulary'; 'furniture').

Verb Tense 10

Past Perfect Progressive: This tense is used to emphasise the duration of an action that was completed before another action or event in the past I had been...I had been running... I had been eating... He had been smiling...

Verb Tense 4

Past Perfect: Shows that the verb's action was completed at some time before another past event. It consists of the word had plus the past participle of the verb. I had been...I had run... I had eaten...He had smiled

Parts of Speech 7

Prepositions: These are typically paired with nouns to form prepositional phrases. For example: The book is on the table. Prepositions give students lots of problems, particularly when they are linked to more than one preposition, as in 'out of' and 'in spite of.'

Parts of Speech 8

Pronouns: Pronouns replace nouns or noun phrases and, similar to nouns, function as subject, object, object of a preposition, or complement. Pronouns have different categories: a) subject pronouns ('I', 'he', 'we') b) object pronouns ('me', 'him', 'us') c) demonstrative pronouns ('this', 'that', 'these', 'those') d) possessive pronouns ('his', 'hers', 'ours', 'theirs') e) reflexive pronouns: ('myself', 'yourself', 'himself', 'ourselves').

Reference to Other Times

Reference to other times - the future, for instance - can be made in a number of ways, by using the modal auxiliary will, or the semi-auxiliary be going to: David will walk to school tomorrow. David is going to walk to school tomorrow.

Cohesion Linguistic Mechanism 1

Reference: The boy wanted a sports bike. One day he .. . (he refers back to the boy)

Mood in Verbs

Refers attitudes that a writer or speaker has to what is being written or spoken. The indicative mood, which describes most sentences on this page, is used to make a statement or ask a question.

Register

Register denotes the choice of language, whether that be formal or informal, we make to match a given situation.

Descriptive Grammar

Seeks to describe how language is actually used in the real world. Descriptive rules describe the way grammar is actually used. Descriptive grammar is a reaction to the way people speak and is accepting of alternative, less nit-picking forms. Descriptive rules also tend to change since language itself is always undergoing change.

Prescriptive Grammar

Sets out rules which should be followed if you wish to write 'correct' or 'good' English. Sometimes, these 'rules' are based on proper observation of the way in which 'educated' speakers actually use the language. At other times they are based on prejudice, or on what the speaker was taught at school, many years ago. The traditional, or prescriptive, approach to grammar is probably familiar to most of us. It is the grammar that is often taught in school. Prescriptive grammar 'rules' are the 'right' rules, according to some 'experts', e.g. Never start a sentence with 'And'.

Verb Tense 9

Simple Future Progressive: This tense is used to describe an event or action that will occur over a period of time at a specific point in the future. I will be...I will be running... I will be eating... He will be smiling...

Verb Tense 3

Simple Future: Portrays an action or state of being that will occur sometime after the sentence is written. It is often formed with the word will I will be...I will run... I will eat...He will smile

Verb Tense 7

Simple Past Progressive: The past progressive is used to talk about an activity that was in progress at a specific point of time in the past. The emphasis is on the duration of the activity in the past. I was being...I was running... I was eating...He was smiling

Verb Tense 1

Simple Past: Portrays an action or state of being that took place before the time when the sentence is written. I was...I ran...I ate...He smiled

Verb Tense 8

Simple Present Progressive: The present progressive can also be used to describe an action that is occurring in the present, but is temporary. I am being...I am running... I am eating...He is smiling

Verb Tense 2

Simple Present: Used to describe an action or state of being that occurs at the time the sentence is written. I am...I run...I eat...He smiles

Tense

Tense refers to the absolute location of an event or action in time, either the present or the past. It is marked by an inflection of the verb: David walks to school. (present tense) David walked to school. (past tense)

Parts of Speech: Minor/Closed Word Class

The 4 minor word classes — conjunctions, determiners, prepositions and pronouns are also called 'closed' classes as no new words are being added to this group. They are sometimes referred to as structure words because their function is to contribute to the structure of phrases, clauses and sentences, rather than to add to the meaning content.

Parts of Speech: Major/Open Word Class

The major 4 word classes —nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs— are termed "major" because they carry most of the content or meaning of a sentence. They are also called 'open' because they are still being added to as new words are coined. For example, recent new words added in 2013 include clunker (noun), coprime (adjective) and defriend (verb). We had to look up 'coprime'.

Noun Phrase

The noun phrase can be a word or group of words based on a noun or pronoun that can function in a sentence as a subject, object or prepositional object; it can be very simple or very complex. A noun phrase is built around a single noun or pronoun, for example: A vase of roses stood on the table.

Subject

The person, place, or thing that is doing or being in the sentence. The subjects can usually be identified due to the verb(s). E.g. The computers in the Learning Centre must be replaced, the verb is must be replaced. What must be replaced? The computers. So the subject is computers.

Phrase 2

The phrase is a shorter unit within the clause, of one or more words, but fulfils the same sort of function as a single word. A verb phrase, for example, functions the same way as a single word verb (e.g. was going); a noun phrase like a one-word noun or pronoun (e.g. a long table).

Theme

The theme provides the point of departure of the message, that is, the part of the sentence where the emphasis of the message is placed. The central idea of a piece of work is the theme.

Predicate

This is the completer of a sentence. The subject names the 'do-er' or 'be-er' of the sentence; the predicate does the rest of the work. A simple predicate consists of only a verb, verb string, or compound verb: The glacier melted. The glacier has been melting. The glacier melted, broke apart, and slipped into the sea.

Imperative Mood

Used when we're feeling sort of bossy and want to give a directive, strong suggestion, or order: Get your homework done before you watch television tonight. Please include cash payment with your order form. Notice there is no subject in these sentences. The pronoun you (singular or plural, depending on context) is the 'understood subject' in imperative sentences. Virtually all imperative sentences, then, have an understood second person (singular or plural) subject. The sole exception is the first person construction, which includes an objective form as subject: Let's (or Let us) work on these things together.

Parts of Speech 2

Verbs: Verbs are categorised as 'action' verbs (e.g., 'read'; 'study') or being (or 'linking') verbs, which also encompass 'feeling' (e.g., 'be'; 'feel'). Verbs are conjugated (e.g., 'I eat'; 'He eats'); they can be transitive that is, taking a direct object ('He throws the ball); or they can be intransitive, where there is never an object ('I live in Edinburgh'). Depending on the context, some verbs can be both.

Real Conditional Form

We do not know if the condition is, will be or was true. Here are some examples: If it rains tomorrow, I'll stay in. If Lisa is coming to the party, you can tell her the news. I'm sure she'll come if John has remembered to tell her. Note: We cannot use will for future time in a condition: We say If it rains tomorrow Not If it will rain We say If she's coming Not If she will be coming We sometimes use unless (if . . . not) at the beginning of a condition: Unless it rains tomorrow, I'll go to the beach. Unless she's in England, I'm sure she'll come. I'm sure she'll come unless John has forgotten to tell her about it.

Conditional Forms

When something is conditional, that means it is dependent on something else that is only imagined in order to occur. They usually begin with "if" and conditional forms can be categorized as real and unreal.

Simple Subject

he subject of a sentence stripped of modifiers. The simple subject of the following sentence is issue: The really important issue of the conference, stripped of all other considerations, is the morality of the nation. Sometimes, though, a simple subject can be more than one word, even an entire clause. In the following sentence — What he had already forgotten about computer repair could fill whole volume, The simple subject is not computer repair, nor is it what he had forgotten, nor is it he. Ask what it is that could fill whole volumes. Your answer should be that the entire underlined clause is the simple subject.