Home of English Grammar

Free Guide (Updated for 2023)

  • Home
  • Download Lessons
  • Grammar Rules
  • Online Exercises
  • Online Tools
    • Grammar Checker
    • Word Counter
  • Guides
  • Contact
You are here: Home / Terms / Grammar terms beginning with letter L

Grammar terms beginning with letter L

September 10, 2011 - pdf

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

The form of a word which is listed in a dictionary. For example, book is a lexical item, while books isn’t. In the same way, take is a lexical item, but its grammatical forms takes, taking, taken and took aren’t lexical items.

Lexical verb

Any verb which is not an auxiliary verb. Examples are: write, sing, dance, work, break, explain, smile, die etc.

Lexicon
The set of words in a language. To refer to the words known by a person, we use the word vocabulary.

Light verb
A verb which has no meaning of its own. A light verb helps to convert another word into a verbal form. The English verbs which can be used as light verbs include do, make, have, give and take.

  • Make a mistake
  • Do a dance
  • Have a shower
  • Give a cry
  • Take a sip

Linking verb

A special verb which serves to connect two parts of a sentence. A linking verb expresses either that the two parts denote the same thing or that the first part has the property denoted by the second. An example of a linking verb is be.
The sentence James is my brother asserts that James and my brother are the same person.

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • WhatsApp
1,279,426 
647,105 

Check Your Grammar

GrammarCheck.net - Try online
Hint → Bookmark GrammarCheck for future use.

Latest Exercises

  • Phrasal Verbs Exercise September 28, 2023
  • Gap Filling Vocabulary Exercise September 28, 2023
  • Correct or Incorrect September 26, 2023
  • No, None. Not September 22, 2023
  • Definite Article vs. No Article September 21, 2023
  • Irregular Plurals September 20, 2023
  • Color Idioms September 19, 2023
  • Animal Idioms September 18, 2023
  • Less vs. Fewer September 17, 2023

Topics

  • Adjectives
  • Adverbs
  • Business Writing
  • Commas
  • Conjunctions
  • Creative Writing
  • Difference
  • Essay Writing
  • Exercises
  • Learning
  • Lessons
  • Nouns
  • Prepositions
  • Pronouns
  • Proofreading
  • Punctuation
  • Quiz
  • Spelling
  • Style Guide
  • Teaching
  • Terms
  • Verbs
  • Words
  • Writing

Quiz

  • Can you correct these 14 basic grammar mistakes?
  • What kind of writer are you?

Copyright © 2023 · EnglishGrammar.org
Disclaimer · Privacy Policy · Sitemap