Language terms used in English, Study notes of English

Download Language terms used in English and more Study notes English in PDF only on Docsity! 13. Language terms Term Meaning Example Adjectives Numerical Adjectives are words that describe or modify another person or thing in the sentence. one, two, second, single Demonstrative this, that, such Relative which, whatever Adverbs Adverbs of manner Adverbs are words that modify quietly, carefully, politely, softly, quickly Adverbs of time yesterday, tomorrow, last year, last week, the other day, next month, previous day, following day Adverbs of frequency always, usually, often, sometimes, never Adverbs of probability certainly, definitely, maybe, perhaps, possibly Adverbs of duration still, yet, any more Adverbs of degree completely, strongly, totally, quite, rather Adverbial phrases in the garden, on the table Clauses Main clause (independent) A group of words that contains a subject and a predicate. Lohan kicked the ball. (Subject + verb) Dependent clause (subordinate) When Lohan kicked the ball . . . Adverbial clause – Time, Reason and Place He sent a telegram as soon as he could. Time (When?) I stood where she could clearly see me. Place (Where?) His policy failed because he underestimated his opponents. Reason (Why?) Adjectival clause The boy who has a dirty smudge on his face is a rugby player. Noun clause What the headmaster knew about technology could be written on a stamp. Conditional clause (if) First conditional to express a real possibility If I find her address, I will send her an invitation. Second conditional to express something that is unlikely or improbable If I found her address, I would send her an invitation. Third conditional to express something that is impossible to fulfill (too late) If I had found her address, I would have sent her an invitation. Concord Subject – verb concord Another term for grammatical agreement between two words in a sentence. He has just arrived./They have just arrived; I was going./They were going. Conjunctions Chronological/sequential order The part of speech (or word class) that serves to connect words, phrases, clauses, or sentences. first, second, third, before, after, when, later, until, at last, next, recently, previously, afterwards Explanation/cause and effect hence, consequently, because, for this reason, since, as a result of, is due to, therefore, thus, consequently, hence, it follows that, if … then Procedure first, second, third Compare/contrast similar, different, smaller than, bigger than, however, but Order of importance always, finally Spatial order above, below, left, right, etc. Generalisations generally, in conclusion Determiners Indefinite article A word or a group of words that introduces a noun. Determiners include articles, demonstratives, quantifiers, and possessive determiners. a book, an apple Definite article the book, the furniture, the apples Demonstratives this, that, those, these (e.g. That book is mine.) Figurative language Figurative language is language that uses words or expressions with a meaning that is different from the literal interpretation. Synonyms, antonyms, paronyms, polysemes, homonyms, homophones, alliteration (consonance and assonance), one word for a phrase Idiomatic expressions/idioms/proverbs/riddles Borrowed, inherited, new words (neologism), and etymology (origin of words) Ambiguity, cliché, redundance, tautology, Gerund phrase Eating ice cream on a windy day can be a messy experience if you have long hair. Adverb phrase I shall be going to town tomorrow. (Where) Prepositional phrase I shall be going to town. Prepositions Simple preposition (one word preposition) A word that shows the relationship between a noun or pronoun and other words in a sentence. to, in, on, at, with, etc Compound preposition (two words preposition), e.g. according to, Adjectives + preposition afraid of, ashamed of, bored with, impatient with, rude to Noun + preposition invitation to, approach to Complex preposition, (three and more words preposition) as far as, by means of, in addition to, in front of, etc Preposition of time She came on Monday Preposition of place I live on 780 Giyani Street; The dog is in the garden Preposition of movement He ran to, through, across, along, down, over, round Preposition of mathematics Divided by – Ten divided by two is five; Ten minus eight is two; etc. Pronouns Personal pronouns as subject A word that takes the place of a noun, noun phrase, or noun clause I, you, he, she, it, we, they (e.g. She is reading the book.) Personal pronouns as direct or indirect object me, you, him, her, it, us, them (e.g. She gave it to me.) Reflexive pronouns myself, yourself, himself, herself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves (e.g. He washed himself with soap.) Relative pronouns which, who, that, whose, where (e.g. The man who is standing by the window is my teacher.) Interrogative pronouns who, what, which, whose, whom (e.g. Whose book is this?) Demonstrative pronouns this, these, that, those, e.g. I don’t like that one. Indefinite pronouns anyone, anywhere, everyone, anybody, something, someone, somewhere Punctuation Set of marks used to regulate texts and clarify their meanings, principally by separating or linking words, phrases and clauses. Full stop, exclamation mark, question mark, comma, colon, semi-colon, apostrophe, quotation marks, parentheses, ellipses, hyphen Reported speech The report of one speaker or writer on the words said, written, or thought by someone else. Sentences Simple A sentence with only one independent clause (also known as a main clause). He played rugby for the school. Compound A sentence that contains at least two independent clauses. Compound sentences can be formed in three ways: (1) using coordinating conjunctions (and, but, for, nor, or, so, yet); (2) using the semicolon, either with or without conjunctive adverbs; (3) on occasion, using the colon. He plays rugby for the school and she went shopping. Complex A sentence that contains an independent clause and at least one dependent clause. When he was playing rugby for the school, he broke his leg. Verbs Main, transitive, intransitive, finite, non-finite, copulative, regular, irregular, phrasal, stative, verbal extensions (derivatives), The part of speech that describes an action or occurrence or indicates a state of being. There are two main classes of verbs: (1) the large open class of lexical verbs (also known as main verbs or full verbs--that is, verbs that aren't dependent on other verbs); and (2) the small closed class of auxiliary verbs (also called helping verbs). The two subtypes of auxiliaries are the primary auxiliaries (be, have, and do), which can also act as lexical verbs, and the modal auxiliaries (can, could, may, might, must, ought, shall, should, will and would). Verb tenses Simple present tense (1) In traditional grammar, a word group that includes a main verb and its auxiliaries. (2) In generative grammar, a predicate: that is, a lexical verb and all the words governed I play tennis every week./Snakes are reptiles Present progressive (or continuous) tense She is watching television at the moment. Present perfect tense I have lived in Durban all my life. Present perfect progressive (or continuous) He has been studying hard the whole week. tense by that verb except a subject. Simple past tense He woke up early and got out of bed. Past progressive (or continuous) tense The children were sleeping when the fire broke out. Past perfect He went home because he had forgotten his keys. Past perfect progressive (or continuous) I had been waiting for two hours by the time he finally arrived. Simple present tense used to talk about the future Tomorrow is a holiday. Future progressive (or continuous) I will be working the whole of next week. Future perfect By next week I will have finished the job. Future perfect progressive (or continuous) Next year I will have been teaching at this school for twenty years.