Terms

Grammar terms: simple sentence, singular, split infinitive

October 19, 2011

Simple sentence A sentence which contains only one main clause. Examples are: She is coming; The king is dead; My brother wants to buy a new car. Singular The simplest form of an English noun. This is the form which is entered in a dictionary. Examples are: dog, tree, girl, flower etc. A countable noun [...]

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Grammar terms: Sentence Adverb and sequence of tenses

October 19, 2011

Sentence adverb Adverbs usually modify a verb or a verb phrase. A sentence adverb is an adverb which does not merely modify a verb or a verb phrase, but which instead modifies the entire sentence containing it. A sentence adverb usually expresses ideas such as the probability, desirability or other characteristic of the situation described [...]

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Grammatical terms

September 17, 2011

Person The grammatical category which is used to distinguish participants in a conversation. English distinguishes three persons. The first person represents the speaker or speakers. The pronouns are I and we. The second person represents the hearer or hearers. The pronoun is you. The third person represents everything and everybody else. The pronouns are: he, [...]

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Grammar terms beginning with letter L

September 10, 2011

Labile verb A verb which can be either transitive or intransitive. English has many labile verbs. Examples are: sink, smoke, dress, wash, swim, jump etc. Susie smokes expensive cigarettes. (Transitive) Susie smokes. (Intransitive) The explosion sank the ship. (Transitive) The ship sank. (Intransitive) She washed her dress. (Transitive) This dress washes easily. (Intransitive) Lexical item [...]

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