Collins Cobuild English Grammar (3 page)

auxiliary verb
one of the verbs
be
,
have
, and
do
when they are used with a main verb to make verb forms, negatives, questions, and so on. Also called
auxiliary
.
Modals
are also auxiliary verbs.

bare infinitive
another name for
infinitive without to
.

base form
the form of a verb that has no letters added to the end and is not a past form; e.g.
walk
,
go
,
have
,
be
. The base form is the form you look up in a dictionary.

broad negative
one of a small group of adverbs including
barely
and
seldom
which are used to make a statement almost negative; e.g.
I
barely
knew her
.

cardinal number
a number used for counting; e.g.
one
,
seven
,
nineteen
.

classifying adjective
an adjective used to identify something as being of a particular type; e.g.
Indian
,
wooden
,
mental
. They do not have comparatives or superlatives. Compare with
qualitative adjective
.

clause
a group of words containing a verb. See also
main clause
and
subordinate clause
.

clause of manner
a subordinate clause that describes the way in which something is done, usually introduced with
as
or
like
; e.g.
She talks
like her mother used to
.

collective noun
a noun that refers to a group of people or things; e.g.
committee
,
team
.

colour adjective
an adjective referring to a colour; e.g.
red
,
blue
,
scarlet
.

common noun
a noun used to refer to a person, thing, or substance; e.g.
sailor
,
computer
,
glass
. Compare with
proper noun
.

comparative
an adjective or adverb with
-er
on the end or
more
in front of it; e.g.
friendlier
,
more important
,
more carefully
.

complement
a noun phrase or adjective that comes after a linking verb such as
be
, and gives more information about the subject or object of the clause; e.g.
She is
a teacher
,
She is
tired
,
They made her
chairperson
.

complex sentence
a sentence consisting of two or more main clauses linked by a subordinating conjunction; e.g.
We went inside when it started to rain
.

compound
a combination of two or more words functioning as a unit. For example,
self-centred
and
free-style
are compound adjectives,
bus stop
and
state of affairs
are compound nouns, and
dry-clean
and
roller-skate
are compound verbs.

compound sentence
a sentence consisting of two or more main clauses linked by a coordinating conjunction; e.g.
They picked her up and took her into the house
.

concessive clause
a subordinate clause, usually introduced by
although
or
while
, that contrasts with a main clause; e.g.
Although I like her
,
I find her hard to talk to
.

concord
another name for
agreement
.

concrete noun
a noun that refers to something we can touch or see; e.g.
table
,
dress
,
flower
. Compare with
abstract noun
.

conditional clause
a subordinate clause usually starting with
if
. The event described in the main clause depends on the condition described in the subordinate clause; e.g.
If it rains
,
we’ll go to the cinema
…
They would be rich
if they had taken my advice
.

conjunction
a word linking together two clauses, phrases, or words. There are two types of conjunction –
coordinating conjunctions
, which link parts of a sentence of the same grammatical type (
and
,
but
,
or
), and
subordinating conjunctions
, which begin subordinate clauses (
although
,
when
).

continuous
another name for
progressive
.

contraction
a shortened form in which an auxiliary verb and
not
, or a subject and an auxiliary verb, are joined together and function as one word; e.g.
aren’t
,
she’s
.

coordinate clause
a clause that is connected to another clause with a coordinating conjunction such as
and
or
but
; e.g.
He fell
and broke his leg
.

coordinating conjunction
a word such as
and
,
but
, or
or
which joins together two clauses, phrases, or words of the same grammatical type.

copula
a name sometimes used to refer to the verb
be
. In this grammar, the term
linking verb
is used.

countable noun
a noun that can be singular or plural; e.g.
dog/dogs
,
lemon/lemons
,
foot/feet
. Also called
count noun
.

declarative
a clause in the declarative form has the subject followed by the verb. Most statements are made in the declarative form. Also called
indicative
.

defining non-finite clause
a participle clause that is placed after a noun phrase to identify the person or thing you are talking about; e.g.
The girl
wearing the red hat
.

defining relative clause
a relative clause that identifies the person or thing that is being talked about; e.g.
I wrote down everything
that she said
.

definite article
the determiner ‘
the
’.

delexical verb
a verb that has very little meaning in itself and is used with an object that carries the main meaning of the structure.
Give
,
have
, and
take
are commonly used as delexical verbs; e.g.
She
gave
a small cry… I’ve
had
a bath
.

demonstrative
one of the words
this
,
that
,
these
, and
those
used in front of a noun; e.g. …
this
woman…
that
tree
. They are also used as pronouns; e.g.
That
looks nice…
This
is fun
.

dependent clause
another name for
subordinate clause
.

definite determiner
one of a groups of determiners including
the
,
that
and
your
which you use when the person you are speaking to understands which person or thing you are talking about; e.g.
the
old man
,
my
ideas
.

determiner
one of a group of words including
the
,
a
,
some
, and
my
which are used at the beginning of a noun phrase.

direct object
a noun phrase referring to a person or thing affected by an action, in a sentence with an active verb; e.g.
She wrote
her name
….
I shut
the windows
.

direct speech
speech reported in the words actually spoken by someone, without any changes in tense, person, and so on.

ditransitive verb
a verb such as
give
,
take
, or
sell
which can have both an indirect and a direct object; e.g.
She gave me a kiss
.

dynamic verb
a verb such as
run
,
give
or
slice
which describes an action. Compare with
stative verb
.

-ed
adjective
an adjective that ends in
-ed
, and usually has the same form as the
-ed
participle of a verb, or is formed by adding
-ed
to a noun; e.g.
a
worried
look
…
skilled
workers
. Adjectives that do not end in
-ed
but have the same forms as irregular
-ed
participles are also called
-ed
adjectives; e.g. a
broken
bone.

-ed
participle
a verb form such as
walked
or
played
, which is used to make perfect forms and passives, or in some cases an adjective. Irregular participles such as
given
and
broken
are also called
-ed
participles because they behave like regular
-ed
participles. Also called
past participle
.

ellipsis
when you leave out words because they are obvious from the context.

emphasizing adjective
an adjective such as
complete
,
utter
or
total
which stresses how strongly you feel about something; e.g.
I feel a
complete
fool
.

ergative verb
a verb that can be either transitive or intransitive in the same meaning. To use the verb intransitively, you use the object of the transitive verb as the subject of the intransitive verb; e.g.
He had boiled
a kettle… The kettle
had boiled
.

exclamation
a word or sentence spoken suddenly and loudly in order to express surprise, anger, and so on; e.g.
Oh gosh
!

finite
a finite verb is inflected according to person or tense rather than being an infinitive or a participle.

first person
see
person
.

focusing adverb
a sentence adverb that indicates the most relevant thing involved; e.g.
only
,
mainly
,
especially
.

future
the use of
will
or
shall
with the base form of the verb to refer to future events; e.g.
She
will come
tomorrow
.

future progressive
the use of
will be
or
shall be
and an
-ing
participle to refer to future events; e.g.
She
will be going
soon
. Also called
future continuous
.

future perfect
the use of
will have
or
shall have
and an
-ed
participle to refer to future events; e.g. I
shall have finished
tomorrow
.

future perfect progressive
the use of
will
or
shall
with
have been
and an
-ing
participle to refer to future events; e.g.
I
will have been walking
for three hours by then
. Also called
future perfect continuous
.

gender
a grammatical term referring to the difference between masculine and feminine words such as
he
and
she
.