Grammar Vocabulary List

 

 

Abstract Noun

Definition: An abstract noun refers to states, events, concepts, feelings, qualities, etc., that have no physical existence.

Examples:

1. Friendship; peace; romance; humor are all abstract nouns that have no physical existence.

An abstract noun can be either a countable noun or uncountable noun. Abstract nouns that refer to events are almost usually countable: a noise; a meeting.

achievement adjustment amazement improvement replacement

action combination imagination production reduction

attractiveness bitterness friendliness tenderness ugliness

More examples:

• She is a high-achieving student.
• Honesty is very important.
• Liberty was a great topic until most nations got independence.
• Peter doesn’t want to have his curiosity.

 

Adjective

Definition: An adjective modifies a noun. It describes the quality, state or action that a noun refers to.

ADJECTIVE RULES:

1. Adjectives can come before nouns: a new house
2. Adjectives can come after verbs such as be, become, seem, look, etc.: that house looks new
3. They can be modified by adverbs: a very expensive house
4. They can be used as complements to a noun: the extras make the house expensive

EXAMPLES:

• an ugly monkey
• a beautiful cloud
• the handsome boy
• the honest girls

 

 

Adverb

Definition: Most adverbs in English are formed by adding -ly to an Adjective. An adverb is a word that modifies the meaning of a Verb; an Adjective; another adverb; a Noun or Noun Phrase; Determiner; a Numeral; a Pronoun; or a Prepositional Phrase and can sometimes be used as a Complement of a Preposition.

ADVERB SPELLING NOTES

1. Adjectives ending -l still take -ly; careful-carefully.
2. Adjectives ending -y change to -ily; lucky-luckily
3. Adjectives ending -ble change to -bly; responsible-responsibly

ADVERB OF MANNER

Adverbs of manner modify a verb to describe the way the action is done.

Example: She did the work carefully.

('Carefully' modifies the verb to describe the way the work was done, as opposed to quickly, carelessly, etc..)

ADVERB OF PLACE or LOCATION

Adverbs of place show where the action is done.

Example: They live locally.

ADVERB OF TIME

Adverbs of time show when an action is done, or the duration or frequency.

Example: He did it yesterday. (When)

They are permanently busy. (Duration)

She never does it. (Frequency)

ADVERB OF DEGREE

Adverbs of degree increase or decrease the effect of the verb.

Example: I completely agree with you. (This increases the effect of the verb, whereas 'partially' would decrease it.)

ADVERBS MODIFYING ADJECTIVES

An adjective can be modified by an adverb, which precedes the adjective, except 'enough' which comes after.

Example: That's really good.

It was a terribly difficult time for all of us.

It wasn't good enough. ('Enough' comes after the adjective.)

ADVERBS MODIFYING ADVERBS

An adverb can modify another. As with adjectives, the adverb precedes the one it is modifying with 'enough' being the exception again.

Example: She did it really well.

He didn't come last night, funnily enough.

ADVERBS MODIFYING NOUNS

Adverbs can modify nouns to indicate time or place.

Example: The concert tomorrow

Example: The room upstairs

ADVERBS MODIFYING NOUN PHRASES

Some adverbs of degree can modify noun phrases.

Example: We had quite a good time.

They're such good friends.

Quite; rather; such; what (What a day!) can be used in this way.

ADVERBS MODIFYING DETERMINERS, NUMERALS & PRONOUNS

Adverbs such as almost; nearly; hardly; about, etc., can be used:

Example: Almost everybody came in the end.

Adjuncts

Definition: An adjunct is part of a Sentence and modifies the Verb to show time, manner, place, frequency and degree.

Certain parts of a sentence may convey information about how, when, or where something happened:

Examples:

• He ate his meal quickly (how)
• David gave blood last week (when)
• Susan went to school in New York (where)

The highlighted constituents here are ADJUNCTS. From a syntactic point of view, Adjuncts are optional elements, since their omission still leaves a complete sentence:

Examples:

• He ate his meal quickly ~He ate his meal
• David gave blood last week ~David gave blood
• Susan went to school in New York ~Susan went to school

 

 

 

Auxiliary verb

Definition: Auxiliary verbs are used together with a main verb to give grammatical information and therefore add extra meaning to a sentence, which is not given by the main verb.

Be, Do and Have are auxiliary verbs, they are irregular verbs and can be used as main verbs.

Modal verbs are also auxiliary verbs, but will be treated separately, these are can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will, and would.


To be: Be is the most common verb in the English language. It can be used as an auxiliary and a main verb. It is used a lot in its other forms.

Present tense form	Past tense form
am/is/are	was/were

Uses:

Am/Is/Are:

Question	Positive Statement	Negative Statement
Singular
Am I?	I am (I'm)	I am not (I'm not)
Are you?	You are (You're)	You are not (You're not/You aren't)
Is he/she/it?	He/she/it is (He's/She's/It's)	He/she/it is not (He/she/it isn't// He/she/it's not)
Plural
Are we?	We are (We're)	We are not (We aren't/We're not)
Are you?	You are (You're)	You are not (You aren't/You're not)
Are they?	They are (They're)	They are not (They aren't/They're not)

Examples:

	Am/Are	Is
Question - ?	"Am I disturbing you?"	"Is this your coat"
Positive Answer - Yes	"Yes you are."	"Yes it is"
Negative Answer - No	"No you're not."	"No it isn't"

Note: The auxiliary verb 'be' can be followed either by the -ed form or by the -ing form.


To do: The verb do is one of the most common verbs in English. It can be used as an auxiliary and a main verb. It is often used in questions.

Uses:

Do / Does

Question	Positive Statement (spoken)	Negative Statement (spoken)
Singular
Do I?	I do	I do not (I don't)
Do you?	You do	You do not (You don't)
Does he/she/it?	He/she/it does	He/she/it does not (He/she/it doesn't)
Plural
Do we?	We do	We do not (We don't)
Do you?	You do	You do not (You don't)
Do they?	They do	They do not (They don't)

Examples:

	Do	Does
Question - ?	"Do you always take the bus to work?"	"Does she ever do her homework on time?"
Positive Answer - Yes	"Yes I do."	"Yes she does."
Negative Answer - No	"No I don't."	"No she doesn't."

Note: The auxiliary verb 'do' is always followed by the base form (infinitive).


To have: Have is one of the most common verbs in the English language. Have is used in a variety of ways.

Uses:

Have/Has

Question	Positive Statement (spoken)	Negative Statement (spoken)
Singular
Have I?	I have (I've)	I have not (I haven't/I've not)
Have you?	You have (You've)	You have not (You haven't/You've not)
Has he/she/it?	He/she/it has (He/she/it 's)	He/she/it has not (He/she/it hasn't)
Plural
Have we?	We have (We've)	We have not (We haven't/We've not)
Have you?	You have (You've)	You have not (You haven't/You've not)
Have they?	They have (They've)	They have not (They haven't/They've not)

Have is often used to indicate possession (I have) or (I have got).

Examples:

	Have	Have got
Question - ?	"Do you have a car?" or "Have you a car?"	"Have you got a car?"
Positive Answer - Yes	"Yes I have a car."	"Yes I've got a car."
Negative Answer - No	"No I don't have a car."	"No I haven't got a car."

Have is also used to indicate necessity (I have to) or (I have got to).

	Have to	Have got to
Question - ?	"Do you have to leave early?"	"Have you got to leave early?"
Positive Answer - Yes	"Yes I have to." or "Yes I do"	"Yes I've got to."
Negative Answer - No	"No I don't have to."	"No I haven't got to."

Have is used to show an action.

Question - ?	"Have you washed your face?"
Positive Answer - Yes	" Yes I have."
Negative Answer - No	" No I haven't."

Note: When showing an action the auxiliary verb 'have' is always followed by the past participle form.

 

Clause

Definition: A clause is a part of a sentence, a string of words which expresses a proposition and typically consists of at least a subject and a verb, and is joined to the rest of the sentence by a conjunction. It is not a complete sentence on its own.

Examples:

• Jhon sings
• Yesterday we played baseball

* The sentence "He retired early because he was sad " contains two clauses, a main clause, consisting of the whole sentence, and a subordinate clause, "because he was sad ".

There are two main types: independent (main clauses), dependent (subordinate clauses)

Independent clauses
An independent clause is a complete sentence; it contains a subject and verb and expresses a complete thought in both context and meaning.

For example:

·  The window opened
Independent clauses can be joined by a co-ordinating conjunction to form complex or compound sentences.

Co-ordinating conjunction
and	or	not
but	for	so
yet

For example:

·  "The door opened" + "The man walked in" = The door opened and the man walked in.

·  "Jim studied in the Sweet Shop" + "his chemistry quiz" = Jim studied in the Sweet Shop for his chemistry quiz

Dependent Clauses
A dependent (subordinate) clause is part of a sentence; it contains a subject and verb but does not express a complete thought. They can make sense on their own, but, they are dependent on the rest of the sentence for context and meaning. They are usually joined to an independent clause to form a complex sentence.
Dependent clauses often begin with a a subordinating conjunction or relative pronoun that makes the clause unable to stand alone.

Subordinating Conjunctions
after	although	as	because
before	even if	even though	if
in order that	once	provided that	rather than
since	so that	than	that
though	unless	until	when
whenever	where	whereas	wherever
whether	while	why

 

Relative Pronouns
that	which	whichever
who	whoever	whom
whose	whosever	whomever

For example

• The door opened because the man pushed it
• I wondered whether the homework was necessary
• They will visit you before they go to the airport

Connecting dependent and independent clauses

• Jim studied in the Sweet Shop for his chemistry quiz, but it was hard to concentrate because of the noise.
• im studied in the Sweet Shop for his chemistry quiz; however, it was hard to concentrate because of the noise.

Common Errors to avoid A comma splice is the use of a comma between two independent clauses. You can usually fix the error by changing the comma to a period and therefore making the two clauses into two separate sentences, by changing the comma to a semicolon, or by making one clause dependent by inserting a dependent marker word in front of it.

Incorrect:

• I like this class, it is very interesting.

Correct:

• I like this class. It is very interesting.
• I like this class; it is very interesting.
• I like this class, and it is very interesting.
• I like this class because it is very interesting.
• Because it is very interesting, I like this class.

 

Common noun

Definition: A common noun is a word that names people, places, things, or ideas. They are not the names of a single person, place or thing. A common noun begins with a lowercase letter unless it is at the beginning of a sentence.

There are two kinds of nouns, common and proper, common noun names general items.

Examples:

• People: man, woman, girl, baby, son, daughter, policeman, teacher
• Animals: cat, dog, fish, ant, snake
• Things: bear, book, boat, table, chair, phone
• Places: bank, school, city, building, shop
• Ideas: love, hate, idea, pride

Example sentences:

• apple: I love a good red apple after dinner.
• dog, yard: The black dog is in my yard.
• book, table: The red book is on the table.
• call: Give me a call when you arrive.

• Noun
• Abstract Noun
  
• Common Noun
• Concrete Noun
• Count Noun
• Proper Noun
• Uncountable Noun

Complex preposition

Definition: Complex (or compound ) prepositions consist of two or more words together having the function of a preposition.

Examples:

According to Apart from By courtesy of By dint of By means of By permission of By reason of By virtue of By way of In consideration of In danger of In face of In favour of In front of

In the interest In front of In the interest In need of In lieu of In quest of In place of In respect of In search of In settlement of In spite of In view of In accordance with With regard to

 

The following examples will help us to understand in a better way this interesting topic.

Example sentences:

• The book is in between War and Peace and The Lord of the Rings.
• The computer is in front of the table.
• According to my mother, my father died in 1988.
• The cat is in front of my mother.
• There are many beautiful countries in America such as Peru and Brazil.
• Thanks to my father, my brother has a new car.

 

Conditionals

Definition: The conditional tense says that an action is reliant on something else. The conditionals are used to talk about real or unreal situations, they are sometimes called if-clauses. Real Conditional describes real-life situations. Unreal Conditional describes unreal, imaginary situations.

For example:
If a certain condition is true, then a particular result happens.

If won the lottery, I would travel around the world.
Condition..................verb in the conditional. There are four basic conditionals that we use in English.

• Zero Conditional
• First Conditional
• Second Conditional
• Third Conditional
  
  * There are some more conditionals formed by mixing some of these four.

Structure of Conditional Sentences
The Zero Conditional is used for actions that are always true when the conditions are satisfied. The structure of the conditionals is straightforward. There are two basic possibilities in terms of order in the sentence:

IF	Condition	Result
If	it rains,	we will get wet

 

Result	IF	Condition
we will get wet	If	it rains,

* Notice that we only use a comma in the first example.

Conditionals: Time and Probability Table

Probability	Conditional	Example	Time
Certain	zero conditional	If you heat water to 100 degrees celsius, it boils	any time
Likely	first conditional	If it rains, I will stay in.	future
Unlikely	second conditional	If I won the lottery, I would retire.	future
Impossible	second conditional	If I had the money, I would lend it to you	present
Impossible	third conditional	If I had seen him, I would have given him the message.	past

Zero Conditional: Certainty
The Zero conditional is used for things that are always true as long as the condition is met.

Formation: if + present simple, + present simple

IF	Condition	Result	Situation
	present simple	present simple
If	you heat water to 100 degrees celsius,	it boils.	fact- universal
	present simple	present simple
If	I drink coffee,	I get a headache.	fact- personal

In these examples, the result will always occur if the condition is met, so the time is not important.

First Conditional: A real possibility in the future
A First Conditional sentence is for future actions dependent on the result of another future action or event, where there is a reasonable possibility of the conditions for the action being satisfied.

Formation: if + present simple, + will

For example: If she gets good grades, she will go to university.

We are talking about the future, but we use a present tense for the condition and will for the result. In this case, the person is sure about going to university. We can use other modal verbs in the result part of the sentence. For example:

IF	Condition	Result	Possibility
If	she gets good grades,	she will go to university.	If the condition is met, then she definitely will go
If	he gets good grades,	he may go to university.	He is not sure about going to university.
If	she gets good grades,	she should go to university.	The speaker is expressing his or her opinion, giving advice.
If	he gets good grades,	he can go to university.	This means that it is possible.
If	she gets good grades,	she could go to university.	This means that it is possible, but not that likely.
If	he gets good grades,	he might go to university.	This means that it is possible, but not that likely.

We can also use different present forms in the condition part of the sentence like: present simple, present progressive, present perfect, etc

Second Conditional: Imaginary Present or Unlikely Future
The Second Conditional can be used used to talk about imaginary present situations, where we are imagining something different from what is really the case. We can also use it to talk about things in the future that are unlikely to happen, as the condition is unlikely to be met. We use the past tense in the condition part and would for the result.

Formation: if + past simple, + would + base form

For Example: If I were you, I'd tell her.

IF	Condition	Time	Result	Possibility
	past simple	present	WOULD + base verb	impossible
If	I had the time,		I would learn Italian.	I don't have the time, so I'm not going to learn Italian.
	past simple	future	WOULD + base verb	unlikely
If	I won the lottery		I would travel around the world.	There's a very small chance of winning the lottery, so the trip is unlikely

We can use other modal verbs in the past tense in the result part of the sentence:

IF	Condition	Result	Certainty
	past simple	WOULD + base verb
If	I had the time,	I would learn Italian.	Although unlikely to happen, the speaker is sure that they would do it given the opportunity.
If	I had more time,	I might learn English.	Although unlikely to happen, it is only a possibility anyway.
If	I had more time,	I should learn some more about IT.	Although unlikely to happen, the speaker is saying that it would be a good idea, but is not committed to it.
If	I had more time	I could learn Hindi.	Although unlikely to happen, it is only a possibility anyway.

Third Conditional: Imaginary Past The third conditional is used when we are talking about the past and imagining something different from what actually happened, that means for imaginary past actions, where the conditions for the action WERE NOT satisfied.

Formation: if + past perfect, + would have + past participle

For example: If I had known, I would have helped. I didn't know and didn't help.

IF	Condition	Result	Certainty
	past perfect	WOULD HAVE+ past participle
If	I had known,	I would have helped.	Although this didn't happen, the speaker is sure about the result.
If	I had known,	I could have helped.	Although this didn't happen, the result is only a possibility.
If	I had known,	I might have helped.	Although this didn't happen, the result is only a possibility.
If	you had known,	you should have helped.	Although this didn't happen, it is only a good suggestion or piece of advice.

Third Second Mixed Conditionals For imaginary present actions or situations that are not possible because the necessary conditions were not met in the past.

Formation: if + past perfect, + would + base form

For example:

• If you had taken the course, you would know about it. (The conditions were not met because the person did not do the course and as a result does not know about it now.)

Second Third Mixed Conditionals To avoid the illogicality of saying 'If I had been you', which means that I was not you on that occasion, but could be in the future, which is, of course, impossible.

Formation: if + past simple, + would have + past participle

For example:

• If I were you, I wouldn't have done that.

When the first part is still true

For example:

• If I could speak English, I wouldn't have needed to get the letter translated. (This means that I couldn't speak English then when I needed the translator and still can't)

 

 

Conjunction

Definition: Conjunctions are the words we use to link or join two or more sentences together or two words within the same sentence. The most common conjunctions in English are: and, but, or, nor, for.

• For example: We eat at home and work in the office (The conjunction "and" joins the sentences: "we eat at home" with "we work in the office").

There are two kinds of conjunctions

• Coordinating.
• Subordinating.

Coordinating Coordinating conjunctions are used when we want to join two sentences that work at the same level of importance in our speech, both actions are equally important. These conjunctions are:

And Now But Still So Only Therefore Moreover Besides Consequently

Nevertheless For However Hence Either...or... Neither... nor... Both... and Not only... but also While Then So then

For expample:

• They went to the beach and had lunch there

In this example we are using the coordinating conjunction "and" to join two different sentences, "They went to the beach" with "(they) had lunch there".

Subordinating Subordinating conjunctions are used to join two sentences when one of them is depending on the first one. The majority of conjunctions are "subordinating conjunctions". They are:

Who Wich That Although, though While Since Until As As if, as though After Before How Once

So that When Lest Why If In order that Unless Whether... or Because of Till Where Whether

A subordinate or dependent clause "depends" on a main or independent clause. It cannot exist alone. For example: "Although I work hard" does not make any sense. But a main or independent clause can exist alone. For example: "I'm still broke."

For expample:

• This is the restaurant that I told you about

In this example, the subordinating conjunction "that" introduces the sentence "I told you about" which is dependent on the first sentence "this is the restaurant".

Position:

• Coordinating conjunctions always come between the words or clauses that they join.
• Subordinating conjunctions usually come at the beginning of the subordinate clause.

Irregular Verb

Definition: A verb in which the past tense is not formed by adding the usual -ed ending for the Past Simple and Past Participle forms. Some irregular verbs (like put) do not change; while others change completely (like buy). Irregular verbs have no rules for conjugation. These can only be learnt in context.

List of irregular verbs:

Base Form	Simple Past Tense	Past Participle
awake	awoke	awoken
be	was, were	been
bear	bore	born
beat	beat	beat
become	became	become
begin	began	begun
bend	bent	bent
beset	beset	beset
bet	bet	bet
bid	bid/bade	bid/bidden
bind	bound	bound
bite	bit	bitten
bleed	bled	bled
blow	blew	blown
break	broke	broken
breed	bred	bred
bring	brought	brought
broadcast	broadcast	broadcast
build	built	built
burn	burned/burnt	burned/burnt
burst	burst	burst
buy	bought	bought
cast	cast	cast
catch	caught	caught
choose	chose	chosen
cling	clung	clung
come	came	come
cost	cost	cost
creep	crept	crept
cut	cut	cut
deal	dealt	dealt
dig	dug	dug
dive	dived/dove	dived
do	did	done
draw	drew	drawn
dream	dreamed/dreamt	dreamed/dreamt
drive	drove	driven
drink	drank	drunk
eat	ate	eaten
fall	fell	fallen
feed	fed	fed
feel	felt	felt
fight	fought	fought
find	found	found
fit	fit	fit
flee	fled	fled
fling	flung	flung
fly	flew	flown
forbid	forbade	forbidden
forget	forgot	forgotten
forego (forgo)	forewent	foregone
forgive	forgave	forgiven
forsake	forsook	forsaken
freeze	froze	frozen
get	got	gotten
give	gave	given
go	went	gone
grind	ground	ground
grow	grew	grown
hang	hung	hung
hear	heard	heard
hide	hid	hidden
hit	hit	hit
hold	held	held
hurt	hurt	hurt
keep	kept	kept
kneel	knelt	knelt
knit	knit	knit
know	knew	know
lay	laid	laid
lead	led	led
leap	leaped/lept	leaped/lept
learn	learned/learnt	learned/learnt
leave	left	left
lend	lent	lent
let	let	let
lie	lay	lain
light	lighted/lit	lighted
lose	lost	lost
make	made	made
mean	meant	meant
meet	met	met
misspell	misspelled/misspelt	misspelled/misspelt
mistake	mistook	mistaken
mow	mowed	mowed/mown
overcome	overcame	overcome
overdo	overdid	overdone
overtake	overtook	overtaken
overthrow	overthrew	overthrown
pay	paid	paid
plead	pled	pled
prove	proved	proved/proven
put	put	put
quit	quit	quit
read	read	read
rid	rid	rid
ride	rode	ridden
ring	rang	rung
rise	rose	risen
run	ran	run
saw	sawed	sawed/sawn
say	said	said
see	saw	seen
seek	sought	sought
sell	sold	sold
send	sent	sent
set	set	set
sew	sewed	sewed/sewn
shake	shook	shaken
shave	shaved	shaved/shaven
shear	shore	shorn
shed	shed	shed
shine	shone	shone
shoe	shoed	shoed/shod
shoot	shot	shot
show	showed	showed/shown
shrink	shrank	shrunk
shut	shut	shut
sing	sang	sung
sink	sank	sunk
sit	sat	sat
sleep	slept	slept
slay	slew	slain
slide	slid	slid
sling	slung	slung
slit	slit	slit
smite	smote	smitten
sow	sowed	sowed/sown
speak	spoke	spoken
speed	sped	sped
spend	spent	spent
spill	spilled/spilt	spilled/spilt
spin	spun	spun
spit	spit/spat	spit
split	split	split
spread	spread	spread
spring	sprang/sprung	sprung
stand	stood	stood
steal	stole	stolen
stick	stuck	stuck
sting	stung	stung
stink	stank	stunk
stride	strod	stridden
strike	struck	struck
string	strung	strung
strive	strove	striven
swear	swore	sworn
sweep	swept	swept
swell	swelled	swelled/swollen
swim	swam	swum
swing	swung	swung
take	took	taken
teach	taught	taught
tear	tore	torn
tell	told	told
think	thought	thought
thrive	thrived/throve	thrived
throw	threw	thrown
thrust	thrust	thrust
tread	trod	trodden
understand	understood	understood
uphold	upheld	upheld
upset	upset	upset
wake	woke	woken
wear	wore	worn
weave	weaved/wove	weaved/woven
wed	wed	wed
weep	wept	wept
wind	wound	wound
win	won	won
withhold	withheld	withheld
withstand	withstood	withstood
wring	wrung	wrung
write	wrote	written

Examples:

• Mary became a star tennis player.
• She gave her old car to her younger brother.
• We have seen the secret maps.
• The author wrote several books and many more short stories.

Noun

Definition: A noun is a word used to refer to people, animals, objects, substances, states, events and feelings. Nouns can be a subject or an object of a verb, can be modified by an adjective and can take an article or determiner.

For example:

• Table
• Pencil
• The dog
• A white house

Nouns also denote abstract and intangible concepts.

For example:

• birth
• happiness
• evolution
• technology, etc.

Noun Plurals
We are going to explain some rules that will help you to form the plural forms of the nouns. The general rule is to add "-s" to the noun in singular.

For exaample:

• Book - Books
• House - Houses
• Chair - Chairs

When the singular noun ends in: -sh, -ch, -s, -ss, -x, -o we form their plural form by adding "-es".

For exaample:

• sandwich - sandwiches
• brush - brushes
• bus - buses
• box - boxes
• potato - potatoes

When the singular noun ends in "y", we change the "y" for "i" and then add "-es" to form the plural form. But do not change the "y" for "ies" to form the plural when the singular noun ends in "y" preceded by a vowel.

For exaample:

• nappy - nappies
• day - days
• toy - toys

However, there are many Irregular Nouns which do not form the plural in this way:

For exaample:

• Woman - Women
• Child - Children
• Sheep - Sheep

Nouns may take an " 's " ("apostrophe s") or "Genitive marker" to indicate possession. If the noun already has an -s ending to mark the plural, then the genitive marker appears only as an apostrophe after the plural form.

For example:

• my girlfriend's brother
• John's house
• The Browns' house
• The boys' pens

The genitive marker should not be confused with the " 's " form of contracted verbs, as in John's a good student = John is a good student.

Noun Gender
Many common nouns, like "engineer" or "teacher", can refer to men or women. Once, many English nouns would change form depending on their gender. For example: A man was called an "author" while a woman was called an "authoress".

For example:

• David Garrick was a very prominent eighteenth-century actor.
• Sarah Siddons was at the height of her career as an actress in the 1780s.
• The manager was trying to write a want ad, but he couldn't decide whether he was advertising for a "waiter" or a "waitress"

Types of Nouns

• Proper nouns are the names of specific things, people, or places, such as Jhon, France. They usually begin with a capital letter.
• Common nouns are general names such as person, mansion, and book. They can be either concrete or abstract.
• Concrete nouns refer to things which you can sense such as clock and telephone.
• Abstract nouns refer to ideas or qualities such as liberty and truth.
• Countable nouns refer to things which can be counted (can be singular or plural)
• Uncountable nouns refer to some groups of countable nouns, substances, feelings and types of activity (can only be singular)

Possessive Adjective

Definition: Possesive adjectives are used to show ownership or possession. The possessive adjectives are:

Subject pronoun	Possessive adjective
I	my
you	your
he	his
she	her
it	its
we	our
they	their

For example:

• That's my folder.
  * " My" is an adjective which shows that I am the owner of the folder.

Notes:
A possessive adjective is similar or identical to a possessive pronoun; however, it is used as an adjective and modifies a noun or a noun phrase.

For example:

• I can't complete my assignment because I don't have the textbook.
  * In this sentence, the possessive adjective "my" modifies the noun "assignment".
• What is your phone number?
  * Here the possessive adjective "your" is used to modify the noun phrase "phone number"
• The cat chased its ball down the stairs and into the backyard.
  * In this sentence, the possessive adjective "its" modifies "ball".

Possessive Pronoun

Definition: We use the Possessive Pronouns when we want to substitute a group of words that are indicating a possession relation.

Subject	Possessive
I	Mine
You	Yours
He	His
She	Hers
It	Its
We	Ours
You	Yours
They	Theirs

For example:

• This is my book.
  * In this example, we can substitute "my book" for the possessive pronoun "mine". => This is mine.
• This is your disk and that's mine.
  * Mine substitutes the word disk and shows that it belongs to me.

A possessive pronoun indicates it is acting as a subject complement or a subject of the sentence.

For example:

• The smallest gift is mine.
  This is yours.
  * Here the possessive pronouns acts as a subject complement.
• His is on the kitchen counter.
  Theirs will be delivered tomorrow.
  Ours is the green one on the corner.
  * Here the possessive pronoun acts as the subject of the sentence.

Note : Possessive pronouns are very similar to possessive adjectives.

For example:

• You can borrow my book as long as you remember that it's not yours.
  => The possessive "my" depends on the noun "book."
  => The possessive "yours" is a pronoun which stands in the place of "your book".
• When you drive to Manitoba, will you take your car or theirs?
  => The possessive "your" depends on the noun "car."
  => The possessive pronoun, "theirs," stands in the place of the noun phrase, "their car."

Possessive Pronoun

Definition: We use the Possessive Pronouns when we want to substitute a group of words that are indicating a possession relation.

Subject	Possessive
I	Mine
You	Yours
He	His
She	Hers
It	Its
We	Ours
You	Yours
They	Theirs

For example:

• This is my book.
  * In this example, we can substitute "my book" for the possessive pronoun "mine". => This is mine.

 

• This is your disk and that's mine.
  * Mine substitutes the word disk and shows that it belongs to me.

A possessive pronoun indicates it is acting as a subject complement or a subject of the sentence.

For example:

• The smallest gift is mine.
  This is yours.
  * Here the possessive pronouns acts as a subject complement.

 

• His is on the kitchen counter.
  Theirs will be delivered tomorrow.
  Ours is the green one on the corner.
  * Here the possessive pronoun acts as the subject of the sentence.

Note : Possessive pronouns are very similar to possessive adjectives.

For example:

• You can borrow my book as long as you remember that it's not yours.
  => The possessive "my" depends on the noun "book."
  => The possessive "yours" is a pronoun which stands in the place of "your book".

 

• When you drive to Manitoba, will you take your car or theirs?
  => The possessive "your" depends on the noun "car."
  => The possessive pronoun, "theirs," stands in the place of the noun phrase, "their car."

Preposition

Definition: Prepositions are a class of words that indicate relationships between nouns, pronouns and other words in a sentence. Most often they come before a noun. They never change their form, regardless of the case, gender etc. of the word they are referring to.

Some common prepositions are:

about above across after against along among around at before behind below beneath beside between beyond but

by despite down during except for from in inside into like near of off on onto out

outside over past since through throughout till to toward under underneath until up upon with within without.

Prepositions typically come before a noun:

For example:

• after class
• at home
• before Tuesday
• in London
• on fire
• with pleasure

A preposition usually indicates the temporal, spatial or logical relationship of its object to the rest of the sentence.

For example:

• The book is on the table.
• The book is beside the table.
• She read the book during class.

In each of the preceding sentences, a preposition locates the noun "book" in space or in time.

Prepositions are classified as simple or compound.

Simple prepositions
Simple prepositions are single word prepositions. These are all showed above.

For example:

• The book is on the table.

Compound prepositions
Compound prepositions are more than one word. in between and because of are prepositions made up of two words - in front of, on behalf of are prepositions made up of three words.

For example:

• The book is in between War and Peace and The Lord of the Rings.
• The book is in front of the clock.

Examples:

• The children climbed the mountain without fear.
• There was rejoicing throughout the land when the government was defeated.
• The spider crawled slowly along the banister.

The following table contains rules for some of the most frequently used prepositions in English:

Prepositions of Time:

English	Usage	Example
on	days of the week	on Monday
in	months / seasons time of day year after a certain period of time (when?)	in August / in winter in the morning in 2006 in an hour
at	for night for weekend a certain point of time (when?)	at night at the weekend at half past nine
since	from a certain point of time (past till now)	since 1980
for	over a certain period of time (past till now)	for 2 years
ago	a certain time in the past	2 years ago
before	earlier than a certain point of time	before 2004
to	telling the time	ten to six (5:50)
past	telling the time	ten past six (6:10)
to / till / until	marking the beginning and end of a period of time	from Monday to/till Friday
till / until	in the sense of how long something is going to last	He is on holiday until Friday.
by	in the sense of at the latest up to a certain time	I will be back by 6 o’clock. By 11 o'clock, I had read five pages.

Prepositions of Place:

English	Usage	Example
in	room, building, street, town, country book, paper etc. car, taxi picture, world	in the kitchen, in London in the book in the car, in a taxi in the picture, in the world
at	meaning next to, by an object for table for events place where you are to do something typical (watch a film, study, work)	at the door, at the station at the table at a concert, at the party at the cinema, at school, at work
on	attached for a place with a river being on a surface for a certain side (left, right) for a floor in a house for public transport for television, radio	the picture on the wall London lies on the Thames. on the table on the left on the first floor on the bus, on a plane on TV, on the radio
by, next to, beside	left or right of somebody or something	Jane is standing by / next to / beside the car.
under	on the ground, lower than (or covered by) something else	the bag is under the table
below	lower than something else but above ground	the fish are below the surface
over	covered by something else meaning more than getting to the other side (also across) overcoming an obstacle	put a jacket over your shirt over 16 years of age walk over the bridge climb over the wall
above	higher than something else, but not directly over it	a path above the lake
across	getting to the other side (also over) getting to the other side	walk across the bridge swim across the lake
through	something with limits on top, bottom and the sides	drive through the tunnel
to	movement to person or building movement to a place or country for bed	go to the cinema go to London / Ireland go to bed
into	enter a room / a building	go into the kitchen / the house
towards	movement in the direction of something (but not directly to it)	go 5 steps towards the house
onto	movement to the top of something	jump onto the table
from	in the sense of where from	a flower from the garden

 

Pronouns

Definition: A pronoun usually refers to something already mentioned in a sentence or piece of text. A pronoun is a word that substitutes a noun or noun phrase used to prevent repetition of the noun to which they refer. One of the most common pronouns is it.

Rule for Pronouns
A pronoun must agree with the noun it refer. Therefore, if the noun is singular, therefore the pronoun must be singular; if the noun is plural, use a plural pronoun; if the noun is feminine, use a feminine pronoun, and so on.

For example:

• The train was late, it had been delayed.
• The trains were late, they had been delayed.

Types of pronouns
English Pronouns are divided into sub-categories. These are Demonstrative, Personal, Reflexive, Possessive, Interrogative, Negative, Reciprocal, Relative and Quantifier

Type	About	Example
Personal Pronoun	Takes the place of a specific or named person or thing.	I, you, he, she, etc..
Reflexive Pronoun	Adds information by pointing back to a noun or another pronoun.	myself, yourself, etc..
Demonstrative Pronoun	Points out a specific person, place, or thing.	this, that, these, those
Relative pronoun	Begins a subordinate clause and relates the clause to a word in the main clause.	who, whose, which, that, etc..
Interrogative Pronoun	Is used to ask a question.	who, what, where, etc..
Possessive Pronoun	Used to substitute a noun and to show possession or ownership.	mine, yours, his, etc..
Negative Pronoun		nothing, no, nobody, etc..
Reciprocal pronoun	Express an interchangeable or mutual action or relationship.	each other, one another
Quantifier		some, any, something, much, etc.

 

Proper Noun

Definition: Proper nouns ( also called proper names) are the words which name specific people, organisations, places, titles, cities, countries, calendar times, etc. They are always written with a capital letter.

For example:

• Janet; Simon; John Wesley; London; The President; Tuesday; Christmas; Thanksgiving; Atlantic Ocean; Spain.

Examples:

• Peter lives in Spain.
• Many people dread Monday mornings.
• Beltane is celebrated on the first of May.
• Abraham appears in the Talmud and in the Koran.

Subject

Definition: The subject of a sentence is the noun, pronoun or noun phrase that precedes and governs the main verb. The subject is the part of the sentence that performs an action or which is associated with the action.

For example:

• He is a really nice guy.
  * "He" is the subject of the sentence, controlling the verb and the complement.
• My dog attacked the burglar.
  * "My dog" is the subject, controlling the verb and the rest of the sentence.
• David plays the piano
  * The subject "David" performs the action of "playing the piano".
• The police interviewed all the witnesses.
  * The subject the police performs the action of interviewing all the witnesses.

To determine the subject of a sentence, first isolate the verb and then make a question by placing "who?" or "what?" before it. Having identified the Subject, we can see that the remainder of the sentence tells us what the Subject does or did. We refer to this string as the "predicate" of the sentence.

For example:

• Who plays the piano?
  => "David" ( = Subject)
  => "plays the piano" ( = predicate) tells us what David does.
• Who interviewed all the witnesses?
  => "The police" (= Subject)
  => "interviewed all the witnesses" ( = predicate) tell us what the police did.

Subjects can either be "simple", "compound" or "complex"

Simple Subject
Composed of a single pronoun, noun or noun phrase.

Complex Subject
A complex subject consists of a noun phrase and any words, phrases, or clauses that modify it.

For example:

• The man who had followed us inside walked over to the telephone.
  => central noun: man
  => complex subject: the man who had followed us inside
• The superior performance of La Traviata pleased the wealthy audience.
  => central noun: performance
  => complex subject: the superior performance of La Traviata

Compound Subject
A compound subject consists of two or more noun phrases (and their modifiers if any) joined together with a coordinating conjunction.

Verbs

Definition: Verbs are a class of words used to show the performance of an action (do, throw, run), existence (be), possession (have), or state (know, love) of a subject. To put it simply a verb shows what something or someone does.

For example:

• Paul rides a bicycle.
  * Here, the verb rides certainly denotes an action which Paul performs - the action of riding a bicycle.
• We buy some books to learn English verbs.
  * In this example, the action word is "to buy". It tells us that the subject "we", that is the person who performs the action of the verb is "buying some books".

The verb tense shows the time of the action or state. Aspect shows whether the action or state is completed or not. Voice is used to show relationships between the action and the people affected by it. Mood shows the attitude of the speaker about the verb, whether it is a declaration or an order. Verbs can be affected by person and number to show agreement with the subject.

Most statements in speech and writing have a main verb. These verbs are expressed in "tenses" which place everything in a point in time.

Verbs are conjugated (inflected) to reflect how they are used. There are two general areas in which conjugation occurs; for person and for tense.

An action verb expresses achievements or something a person does in a concise, persuasive manner. In the job application process, use action verbs in resumes to describe all skills, jobs, or accomplishments.

Check out these resume verbs section in order to make a striking first impression, use action verbs as the first word of each bullet point to emphasize job descriptions in your resume.

Conjugation for tense
Conjugation for tense is carried out on all verbs. All conjugations start with the infinitive form of the verb.
The infinitive is simply the to form of the verb For example, to begin.
The present participle form (the -ing form), is formed by adding ing to the bare infinitive. For example, to begin - beginning.
There are two other forms that the verb can take, depending on the tense type and time, the simple past form and the past participle.

The form of the verb or its tense can tell when events take place.
For example, the verb kiss:

Present Simple kiss/kisses	Past Simple kissed	Future Simple will kiss
Present Perfect has/have kissed	Past Perfect had kissed	Future Perfect will have kissed
Present Continuous (Progressive) is/am/are kissing	Past Continuous (Progressive) was kissing	Future Continuous (Progressive) will be kissing
Present Perfect Continuous (Progressive) has/have been kissing	Past Perfect Continuous (Progressive) had been kissing	Future Perfect Continuous (Progressive) will have been kissing

Conjugation for person
Conjugation for person occurs when the verb changes form, depending on whether it is governed by a first, second, or third person subject. This gives three conjugations for any verb depending on who is acting as the subject of the verb. For example: we have I begin, you begin , and he begins. Note that only the third conjunction really shows a difference.

In English, we distinguish between regular and irregular verbs. Regular verbs are those ones which form their past simple and past participle just by adding "-ed" to the base of the verb. The rest are irregular. In spanish conjugation also we have regular and irregular verbs but the conjugation method it's so different.

Examples:

• Dracula bites his victims on the neck.
• In early October, Giselle will plant twenty tulip bulbs.
• She travels to work by train.
• We walked five miles to a garage.