say a word. That car is
incredibly
expensive.
)
affirmative sentence
A declarative sentence that indicates "yes"; also called a positive sentence. (
Adam plays squash a lot.
)
agent
The doer of an action; the person or thing that is doing something. The agent is not necessarily the subject of the sentence. (
Jim
called you this morning. Hamlet was written by
Shakespeare
.
)
article
Any of the words
a, an
and
the
, used to limit or give definiteness to a noun.
A
and
an
are indefinite articles, while
the
is a definite article. (
A
man was standing on
the
platform.
)
aspect
A verbal category that relates an action to the passage of time. It can express duration (continuous (or progressive) aspect) or completion (perfect aspect).
auxiliary verb
A helping verb used with main verbs that expresses mood, voice or tense. (
I
can't
swim. When
were
you born? They
are
working on it now.
Have
they left?
)
B
bare infinitive
The infinitive without
to
. It can be simple (
write
), continuous (
be writing
), perfect (
have written
) or perfect continuous (
have been writing
). The term "bare infinitive" is often used to refer to the simple bare infinitive (
write
), which is identical to the base form of the verb.
base form
The form of a verb to which inflections are added, e.g.
go, meet
and
want
. Inflected forms of these verbs include, e.g.
goes, meeting
and
wanted.
The base form is the one listed in dictionaries.
C
clause
A group of related words with a subject and a verb. Sometimes the subject may not be mentioned explicitly in the clause itself but found in a nearby clause. (
While walking through the park
, Tom lost his keys.)
complement
A word or phrase that comes after the verb and is required to make the sentence complete. (
The weather was
beautiful
. Carol is
a teacher
.
)
complete period of time
A period of time that has finished and does not include the time of speaking. (
Lena didn't go skiing
last year
.
)
completion
A concept related to the perfect aspect that expresses that an action has finished. (
He
has finished
university.
)
conjunction
A part of speech that connects words, clauses or sentences. (
The room was dark
and
cold.
Although
everyone heard the news, no one seemed to care.
)
context
The situation within which something exists or happens or an utterance is made.
continuous aspect
The aspect that expresses duration, formed with
be
+ verb-
ing
. (
What
are
you
doing
?
)
D
declarative sentence
The sentence type used to make statements. A declarative sentence may be affirmative or negative. (
Adam plays squash a lot. Tim has no friends.
)
definite
Pertaining to a specific person, thing, idea or time. (
I know
the guy you are talking about
.
)
direct object
The directly affected object of the verb. (
Let's have
a coffee
. She told me
her name
.
)
ditransitive verb
A verb that has two objects: a direct object and an indirect object. (
She
told
me her name.
)
duration
A concept related to the continuous aspect that expresses that an action is in progress. (
What
are
you
doing
?
)
E
emphasis
Special importance or attention given to something. (
We
do want
to help you.
)
event
A general term to express that somebody or something is doing something or that something is happening. (
The lights turned red.
)
expression
A word or group of words used in a specific situation. (
Good morning, at six
and
on the sofa
)
F
focus
The main or central point of attention or interest; what is emphasised. (
It was
János Irinyi
who invented the non-explosive match in 1836.
)
formal
Not part of colloquial or everyday speech; official. (
I shall be with you shortly.
)
H
hypothetical
Unreal, imagined.
I
imperative sentence
The sentence type used to express suggestions, directions or orders. (