Glossary

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z

A

Adjectivals

give more information about the nouns. They can be single words (also called adjectives), phrases or clauses and act in the following kinds of ways: as determiners, as classifiers, as quantifiers or in a factual or comparative capacity. BACK | INDEX

Adverbials

give more information about verbs, adjectives, other adverbs or even a whole clause or sentence. Put simply, the adverbial indicates How, When, Where, Why (the circumstances surrounding the event). BACK | INDEX

Active voice

In everyday language most sentences or clauses are in the active voice, where the agent (the 'doer' of the action) is the subject.
e.g. The cricketer (S) hit (V) the ball (O) to the boundary (Circs).
The active voice contrasts with the passive voice which is often seen in academic writing. BACK | INDEX

Agents

are the 'doers' of an action. They are usually nouns, noun groups or pronouns and the subject of a sentence, except in sentences in the passive voice. BACK | INDEX

Auxiliary verbs

are helping verbs. They assist verbs to express differences in time, eg. "The boy has been playing football." "The boy had been playing football." Some of the auxiliary verbs are: do, does, did, was, were, will, has, had. NB. To be auxiliary, they must be coupled to another verb, eg. does eat; did eat; was going, will go. BACK | INDEX

C

Circumstances

indicate "when", "where", "how", "with whom" happenings are taking place. They are often called adverbials. BACK | INDEX

Clauses

represent the basic unit of meaning in a text and essentially consist of a Subject and What is said about the subject. If it is a main clause/idea, it can stand alone. However if it is a subordinate clause, that is, a clause that carries a subordinate idea, it begins either with a connective or conjunction, or if it is an adjectival clause, with a relative pronoun (e.g. which or that). A clause must have a main (finite) verb. BACK | INDEX

Comma splice

occurs in run-on sentences where two main clauses are written as one sentence, only separated by a comma. A semi-colon or a conjunction should be used to link the clauses. Alternatively two simple sentences, separated by a full-stop can be written. BACK | INDEX

Complements

give more information about the subject. They normally follow a relating verb group such as: "be", "become", "have". BACK | INDEX

Complex sentences

have at least one subordinate clause which is dependent on the main clause for it to make sense. eg, "After the graduation ball had concluded, the students felt tired and emotional." BACK | INDEX

Compound sentences

are two simple sentences (or clauses) joined together by a co-ordinating conjunction (a linking word). The clauses are independent clauses (also known as main clauses or principal clauses) because they contain ideas which make sense by themselves and are of equal value. BACK | INDEX

Conjunctions

are words which link clauses, words and phrases. See co-ordinating conjunctions conjunctions and Subordinating conjunctions for further information. BACK | INDEX

Connectives

are words which link sentences, rather than conjunctions which link clauses, words and phrases.
Examples of connectors are: however, then BACK | INDEX

Continuous past and present

These tenses are used to show the duration of an action and are formed with the verb 'be' + present participle.
eg. They are sleeping (present continuous)
They were sleeping (past continuous) BACK | INDEX

Co-ordinating conjunctions

link words, phrases and main clauses. And, but and or are three co-ordinating conjunctions BACK | INDEX

D

Dependent clauses

In complex sentences the dependent clause (also known as the subordinate clause) relies on the main clause (independent clause) for its meaning to be clear. Dependent clauses are linked to the main clauses, introduced by subordinating conjunctions. eg, "It started to rain heavily while we waited for the bus. BACK | INDEX

Direct objects

are a noun groups which have the action performed on them or done to them, eg., "The white rabbit saw Alice." BACK | INDEX

F

Figurative(ly)

not factual(ly) BACK | INDEX

Finite verb

is the form of the verb in a particular time frame such as past, present, future. Its spelling alters according to whether its subject is singular or plural, eg. "He (singular) runs into the room"; "They(plural) run into the room". The form of this verb, "run" indicates that the action of running is occurring in the present and not the past. BACK | INDEX

G

Gerunds

See verbal nouns BACK | INDEX

H

Homonyms

are words which sound the same, but which are spelt differently and have different meanings. e.g. "aloud" and "allowed" BACK | INDEX

I

Independent clauses

can stand alone and make sense. They must contain a finite verb. They may also be called a simple sentence, eg. "The dog ran across the road." In complex sentences an independent clause may also be called a main or principal clause, eg, "When the wind blows, the cradle will fall." BACK | INDEX

Indirect objects

are the noun groups that tell us to whom or for whom the action is done, eg, "They read us (i.d.o) a story (d.o)." "Throw him (i.d.o) the ball (d.o)." BACK | INDEX

Infinitives

are the basic form of the verb, often preceded by the preposition "to", eg. "to be", "to love". This form is often called the dictionary form of the verb. BACK | INDEX

L

Literal(ly)

Factual(ly). BACK | INDEX

M

Main clauses

See independent clauses. In complex sentences, independent clauses are often called main or principal clauses. BACK | INDEX

Modal verbs

convey the writer's or speaker's attitude to the action being carried out. In the context in which they are found a sense of duty or certainty.

Modal Verbs: must, ought to, shall, has to,
should, will, can, need to,
could, may, might, would BACK | INDEX

N

Nouns and noun groups

are naming words for people, places, animals, things and ideas. According to the context in which they are used and the manner in which the writer wishes them to be viewed, they can be one or more of the following categories: living/non-living; human/non-human; masculine, feminine, neuter; general/particular, concrete/abstract; objective/subjective; countable/uncountable; common/proper; collective; singular/plural; compound. Noun groups is a term which can be used for single nouns, pronouns (we, he, they and the like) and phrases such as a beautiful smile. BACK | INDEX

O

Objects

See direct objects or indirect objects. BACK | INDEX

P

Passive voice

occurs in a sentence/clause when the doer of the action of the verb (the agent) is not the subject. It is a means for the writer to create an indirect or impersonal way of writing. It also puts the focus in the sentence/clause on the receiver rather than the doer, eg., "The day's mail was delivered by the postman's son." BACK | INDEX

Past participle

is a verb form ending in "-ed", "-en", "d" or "t". It is coupled with parts of the verbs "to be" and "to have" to form a tense, eg., "I was frightened by the stranger." "Have you eaten your breakfast? " The past participle can also convey a sense of description when used in a phrase, "The paper, revised by the editor, was ready for publication." BACK | INDEX

Past perfect

is the tense used when one action precedes another which is also in the past. It is formed with the past tense of the verb 'have' (had) + the past participle

e.g. I had been (past perfect) awake for hours, before he rang (past). BACK | INDEX

Phrases

a group of words without a verb is a phrase.
e.g. up the hill; down the street. These are examples of prepositional phrases. BACK | INDEX

Possessive adjectives

are words which add more information about nouns, but which indicate ownership. They are followed by the nouns they are describing. e.g. her books, your dog, their child. BACK | INDEX

Possessive pronoun

are words which also indicate ownership, but which replace nouns. e.g. Whose house is that?" It's mine/yours/his/hers/its/ours/theirs. NOTE: Unlike nouns (Tom's house) there is no apostrophe to indicate possession with these pronouns. Moreover, because his already has an 's', its spelling does not change whether it is a possessive adjective or a possessive pronoun. e.g. Is it his house? Yes, it is his. BACK | INDEX

Prepositions

are relating words and often indicate position, "up", "on", "in". They relate or connect the word or words that follow them with some other part of the sentence. A group of words (phrase) beginning with a preposition is a prepositional phrase which can be either adverbial or adjectival. Eg., the girl with red hair (adj.); He walked with a limp. (adv.). BACK | INDEX

Present participles

are the '-ing' form of the verb. eg. walking, smiling. This form is used with the verb 'be' to form continuous tenses.
Eg. he was singing (past cont.). I am washing up. (present).

See also: verbal nouns (gerunds) BACK | INDEX

Principal clauses

See independent clauses and/or main clauses. BACK | INDEX

Pronouns

are words which stand in place of nouns, for example, "That's Sam Smith. He is my neighbour whose dog bit the postman yesterday." Both 'he' and 'whose' refer to (replace/stand in place of) Sam Smith. Pronouns are classed as being part of noun groups. BACK | INDEX

R

Relating verbs

are verbs which link two pieces of information, rather than being action words. eg. be, become, have, remain, seem. BACK | INDEX

Relative pronouns

introduce relative (or adjectival clauses) giving more information about the noun group. They include which, who, where, whose, that.
Eg. This is the house that Jack built. BACK | INDEX

Run-on sentences

are two main clauses written together without any linking word, or with just a comma (a comma splice) separating them. They should be linked by a conjunctiion, (e.g. and, or, whereas, if),. or separted by a full stop or a semi-colon. BACK | INDEX

Sentences

a group of words which make sense, ending with a full stop, exclamation mark or question mark. They are the basic unit of written communication and must contain at least one finite verb. A sentence may consist of a single clause (a simple sentence) or there may be two or more clauses (compound or complex sentences). BACK | INDEX

Sentence fragments

are incomplete sentences. They may be phrases (a group of words without a verb), groups of words without a finite verb, or dependent clauses which have not been linked to a main clause. BACK | INDEX

Simple past and present tenses

are tenses which require only one verb. eg. she went (past); she goes (present). Compound tenses need more than one verb, auxiliary + appropriate verb form. eg. she was going (past continuous); she is going (present continuous); she will go (future). BACK | INDEX

Simple sentences

consist of only one clause. They are separated from any other sentences, by a full stop, exclamation mark, question mark, or a semi colon.
eg. Tom, Dick and Harry are going to Fiji next week. BACK | INDEX

Subject

of a clause or sentence is the noun or noun group which is/was/ carrying out the action (shown by the verb).
eg. These students (S) are studying (V) law (O).
The waves (S) pounded (V) the shore (O). BACK | INDEX

Subordinate clauses

See dependent clauses. These clauses must be linked to a main clause to avoid a sentence fragment. BACK | INDEX

Subordinating conjunctions

introduce dependent or subordinate clauses and link these clauses consisting of a subordinate idea to the main clause. Examples of subordinating conjunctions are: while, since ,if, because, as, whereas BACK | INDEX

S V O

stands for Subject Verb Object which is the basic word order in affirmative statements in English. BACK | INDEX

T

Tense

means time and shows the time frame of a happening. It refers to any one of the different forms a verb can take, such as: simple present, simple past, future, indicating the kind of time in which an action takes/took/will take/place, eg. simple present: speaks; simple past: spoke; future, will speak. BACK | INDEX

Text

This is a speciialised grammatical term used to describe any piece of writing (or speaking) which makes sense by itself. A text may be as short at one word like "Exit" (which means the way out) or as long as Tolstoy's War and Peace. BACK | INDEX

Transition signals

Transition signals are words and phrases which link ideas in writing. They show the relationships between clauses, sentences and paragraphs, making it easier for readers to follow the ideas. There are several types of transition signals such as: to indicate cause and effect (because, as a result); to add extra information (and, moreover, furthermore); to contrast information (however, but); to compare information (similarly, also); to indicate sequence of time (firstly, then); to add emphasis (particularly, especially). BACK | INDEX

V

Verbal nouns

look like the '-ing' form of the verb, but they function as nouns and are not to be confused with present participles.

eg. The singing of the birds [S (noun group)] woke [V] them [O] very early [Circs].
BUT
Singing (present participle) loudly, the child ran into the room. BACK | INDEX

Verbs and verb groups

refer to a process in a sentence and is concerned with the following: relating, sensing, acting and saying. A verb indicates the action or state that is occurring. They are often called a 'doing", "having" or "being" words. A well constructed clause or sentence must have one finite verb (finite meaning: "limited" or "restricted" to the tense - past, present or future - that is actually expressed) which is related to the subject of the clause. BACK | INDEX

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