English Grammar
100 flashcards by MentisLibrary
The rules people actually get wrong, from comma splices and dangling modifiers to who versus whom, each with the mistake, the fix and a memory aid. Includes the famous rules that turn out to be myths.
- Noun
- A word that names a person, place, thing, quality or idea.
- Pronoun
- A word that stands in for a noun so you do not have to repeat it.
- Verb
- A word that expresses an action or a state of being.
- Adjective
- A word that describes a noun or pronoun.
- Adverb
- A word that modifies a verb, an adjective or another adverb.
- Preposition
- A word that shows the relationship between a noun and the rest of the sentence.
- Conjunction
- A word that joins words, phrases or clauses.
- Determiner
- A word that comes before a noun and specifies which one or how many.
- Interjection
- A standalone word or sound that expresses emotion.
- Gerund
- The -ing form of a verb used as a noun.
- Participle
- A verb form used as an adjective, or as part of a compound tense.
- Infinitive
- The base form of a verb, usually preceded by to.
- Simple present
- Used for habits, general truths and scheduled events.
- Present continuous
- Used for what is happening right now or around now.
- Simple past
- Used for a finished action at a definite time in the past.
- Past continuous
- Used for an action in progress when something else happened.
- Present perfect
- Links a past action to the present, with no definite past time given.
- Present perfect continuous
- Emphasizes how long an action has been going on and that it may still be going.
- Past perfect
- Marks the earlier of two past events.
- Future with will
- Used for predictions, promises and decisions made at the moment of speaking.
- Future with going to
- Used for plans already made and for predictions with present evidence.
- Future perfect
- Marks an action that will be finished before a point in the future.
- Conditional with would
- Used for hypothetical results and polite requests.
- Subjunctive mood
- A verb form used for wishes, demands and situations contrary to fact.
- Active voice
- The subject performs the action.
- Passive voice
- The subject receives the action, and the doer may be left out.
- Independent clause
- A group of words with a subject and a verb that can stand alone as a sentence.
- Dependent clause
- A clause with a subject and a verb that cannot stand alone.
- Relative clause
- A clause that describes a noun, introduced by who, whom, whose, which or that.
- That versus which
- Use that for a clause the sentence needs; use which, with commas, for extra information.