Collins Cobuild English Grammar (4 page)

generic pronoun
one of a group of pronouns including
you
and
they
which are used to refer to people in general.

gerund
another name for
-ing
noun
.

gradable
a gradable adjective can be used with a word such as
very
to say that the person or thing referred to has more or less of a quality; e.g.
very boring
,
less helpful
.

idiom
a group of two or more words with a meaning that cannot be understood by taking the meaning of each individual word; e.g.
to kick the bucket
,
to run wild
.

if
-clause
a
conditional clause
; or a clause used to report a
yes/no
-question.

imperative
a clause in the imperative has the base form of the verb without a subject, e.g.
Come
here
…
Take
two tablets every four hours
…
Enjoy
yourself
.

impersonal
it
it
is an impersonal subject when it is used to introduce a fact, or when it is used in a split sentence; e.g.
It’s
raining
…
It
was you who asked
.

indefinite article
the determiners
a
and
an
.

indefinite determiner
one of a group of determiners including
a
,
many
and
several
which you use to refer to someone or something of a particular type, without saying which person or thing you mean; e.g.
an
old man
,
several
suggestions
.

indefinite place adverb
one of a group of adverbs including
anywhere
and
somewhere
which are used to indicate position or location in a general or vague way.

indefinite pronoun
one of a group of pronouns including
someone
and
anything
which are used to refer to a person or thing in a general way.

indicative
another name for
declarative
.

indirect object
a second object used with a transitive verb to indicate who or what benefits from an action, or gets something as a result of it; e.g.
She gave
me
a rose
.

indirect question
another name for
reported question
.

indirect speech
another name for
reported speech
.

infinitive
the base form of a verb. It is often used with
to
in front of it; e.g.
(to) take
,
(to) see
,
(to) bring
.

infinitive without to
the infinitive form without
to
in front of it, used with modals and certain other verbs; e.g.
You must
go
…
Let me
think
.

inflection
the variation in the form of a word to show differences in tense, number, case, and degree.

-ing
adjective
an adjective that has the same form as the
-ing
participle of a verb; e.g. … a
smiling
face
…
a
winning
streak
.

-ing
participle
a verb form ending in
-ing
that is used to make verb forms, and as an adjective. Also called the
present participle
.

-ing
noun
a noun that has the same form as the
-ing
participle of a verb; e.g.
Swimming
is good for you
.

interjection
another name for
exclamation
.

interrogative adverb
one of the adverbs
how
,
when
,
where
, and
why
when they are used to ask questions.

interrogative
a clause in the interrogative form has part or all of the verb phrase in front of the subject. Most questions are asked in the interrogative form.

interrogative pronoun
one of the pronouns
who
,
whose
,
whom
,
what
, and
which
when they are used to ask questions.

intransitive verb
a verb that is used to talk about an action or event that only involves the subject and so does not have an object; e.g.
She arrived… I was yawning
.

inversion
changing the word order in a sentence, especially changing the order of the subject and the verb.

irregular
not following the normal rules for inflection. An irregular verb has a past form and/or
-ed
participle that is formed in a different way from the regular ending.

lexical verb
another name for
main verb
.

linking verb
a verb that links the subject and complement of a clause; e.g.
be
,
become
,
seem
,
appear
. Also sometimes called
copula
.

main clause
a clause that is not dependent on, or is not part of, another clause.

main verb
any verb that is not an auxiliary verb. Also called
lexical verb
.

mass noun
(in this grammar) a noun that is usually an uncountable noun, but that can be used as a countable noun when it refers to quantities or types of something; e.g. …
two
sugars
…
cough
medicines
.

measurement noun
a noun that refers to a unit of size, volume, weight, speed, temperature, etc.; e.g.
mile
,
litre
,
degree
.

modal
an auxiliary verb that is used with a main verb to indicate a particular attitude, such as possibility, obligation, prediction, or deduction; e.g.
can
,
could
,
may
,
might
. Also called
modal auxiliary
or
modal verb
.

modifier
a word or group of words that come in front of a noun; e.g. …
a
beautiful
sunny
day
… …
a
psychology
conference
.

negative
used for describing a sentence that uses a word like
not
,
never
, or
no
one
to indicate the absence or opposite of something, or to say that something is not the case; e.g.
I
don’t
know you… I’ll
never
forget
. The opposite is
affirmative
.

negative word
a word such as
never
and
not
which expresses a negative meaning.

nominal relative clause
a subordinate clause that functions as a noun and often begins with
what
or
whatever
; e.g.
What he said
was true
.

nominal
that-
clause
a subordinate clause that functions as a noun and begins with
that
; e.g.
He showed
that it was true
.

non-defining relative clause
a relative clause that gives more information about someone or something, but that is not needed to identify them; e.g.
That’s Mary
,
who was at university with me
. Compare with
defining relative clause
.

non-finite
the non-finite forms of a verb are the infinitive and participle forms; e.g.
to take
,
taking
,
taken
.

noun
a word that refers to people, things, and abstract ideas such as feelings and qualities; e.g.
woman
,
Harry
,
guilt
.

noun phrase
a group of words that acts as the subject, complement, or object of a clause, or as the object of a preposition.

noun modifier
a noun used in front of another noun, as if it were an adjective; e.g. …
a
car
door… a
steel
works
.

number
the way in which differences between singular and plural are shown; e.g.
flower/ flowers
,
that/those
. See also
cardinal number
and
ordinal number
.

object
a noun phrase that refers to a person or thing, other than the subject, which is involved in or affected by the action of a verb. See also
direct object
and
indirect object
. Prepositions are also followed by objects.

object complement
a word that is used to describe the object of a clause and that occurs with verbs such as
make
and
find
; e.g.
It made me
tired
…
I found her
asleep
.

ordinal number
a number that is used to indicate where something comes in an order or sequence; e.g.
first
,
fifth
,
tenth
,
hundredth
.

participle
a verb form used for making different tenses. See
-ed
participle
and
-ing
participle
for more details.

partitive
a word that gives information about the amount of a particular thing; e.g.
pint
,
loaf
,
portion
.

passive
verb forms such as
was given
,
were taken
,
had been made
, where the subject is the person or thing that is affected by the action. Compare with
active
.

past form
the form of a verb, often ending in
-ed
, that is used for the past simple.

past participle
another name for
-ed
participle
.

past perfect
the use of
had
with an
-ed
participle to refer to past events; e.g.
She
had finished
.

past perfect progressive
the use of
had been
with an
-ing
participle to refer to past events; e.g. He
had been waiting
for hours
. Also called
past perfect continuous
.

past progressive
the use of
was
or
were
with an
-ing
participle, usually to refer to past events; e.g. They
were worrying
about it yesterday
. Also called
past continuous
.

past simple
the use of the past form of a verb to refer to past events; e.g.
They
waited
…
It
fell
over
.

past tense
a tense used to describe actions or events that took place in the past. See
tense
for more details.

perfect form
a verb form with
have
and an
-ed
participle; e.g.
I
have met
him… We
had won
.

performative verb
a verb that states explicitly what action the speaker is performing when he or she uses it; e.g.
apologize
,
resign
,
christen
.