performer the person or thing that is responsible for the action expressed by the verb; e.g. Mark phoned … Our dinner was eaten by the dog.
person a term used to refer to the three classes of people who are involved in something that is said. They are the first person (the person speaking or writing), the second person (the person being addressed), and the third person (the people or things that are being talked about).
personal pronoun one of a group of pronouns including I, you, and me which are used to refer back to the people or things you are talking about.
phrasal verb a combination of a verb and an adverb and/or a preposition, which have a single meaning; e.g. back down, hand over, look after, look forward to.
phrase a set of words that is smaller than a clause, and that is based around a particular word class: for example, a verb phrase is based around a main verb, and can also contain auxiliary verbs. See also noun phrase, verb phrase and prepositional phrase. Phrase is also sometimes used to refer to any group of words.
plural the form used to refer to more than one person or thing; e.g. dogs, women.
plural noun a noun that is only used in the plural form; e.g. trousers, scissors, vermin.
possessive a structure used to show possession; e.g. your, Jerry’s, mine.
possessive determiner a determiner such as my, your, and their. Also called possessive adjective.
possessive pronoun one of the words mine, yours, hers, his, ours, and theirs.
postdeterminer a small group of adjectives used after a determiner and in front of other adjectives; e.g. certain, remaining.
predeterminer a word that comes in front of a determiner; e.g. all the boys… double the trouble… such a mess.
predicative used for describing the position of adjectives when they are used after a linking verb such as ‘be’. Compare with attributive.
preposition a word such as by, with or from, which is usually followed by a noun phrase or an -ing form.
prepositional phrase a structure consisting of a preposition and its object; e.g. on the table, by the sea.
present participle another name for -ing participle.
present progressive the use of the present simple of ‘be’ with an -ing participle to refer to present events; e.g. Things are improving. Also called present continuous.
present perfect the use of the present simple of have with an -ed participle to refer to past events that exist in the present; e.g. She has loved him for ten years.
present perfect progressive the use of have been and has been with an -ing participle to refer to past events that exist in the present; e.g. We have been sitting here for hours. Also called present perfect continuous.
present simple the use of the base form or the s form of a verb, usually to refer to present events; e.g. I like bananas… My sister hates them.
present tense a tense used to describe events taking place in the present, or situations that exist in the present.
progressive a verb form that contains a form of the verb ‘be’ and an -ing participle; e.g. She was laughing… They had been playing badminton. Also called continuous.
pronoun a word used instead of a noun, when you do not want to name someone or something directly; e.g. it, you, none.
proper noun a noun that refers to a particular person, place, or institution; e.g. Nigel, Edinburgh, Christmas. Compare with common noun.
purpose clause a subordinate clause, usually introduced by in order to, or so that; e.g. I came here in order to ask you out to dinner.
qualifier any word, phrase, or clause that comes after a noun phrase, and gives extra information to expand its meaning; e.g. …a book with a blue cover… the shop on the corner.
qualitative adjective an adjective that is used to indicate a quality, and is gradable; e.g. funny, intelligent, small. Compare with classifying adjective.
quantity expression a phrase ending in of that allows you to refer to a quantity of something without being precise about the exact amount; e.g. some of, a lot of, a little bit of.
question a structure that typically has the verb in front of the subject and that is used to ask someone about something; e.g. Have you any money? Also called interrogative.
question tag a structure consisting of an auxiliary verb followed by a pronoun, which is used at the end of a statement in order to form a question.
reason clause a subordinate clause, usually introduced by because, since, or as; e.g. Since you’re here, we’ll start.
reciprocal pronoun the pronouns each other and one another, used to show that two or more people do or feel the same thing; e.g. They loved each other.
reciprocal verb a verb that describes an action that involves people affecting each other in the same way with the same action; e.g. They met in the street… He met her yesterday.
reflexive pronoun a pronoun ending in -self, such as myself or themselves, which is used as the object of a verb when the person affected by an action is the same as the person doing it.