OXFORD LEARNER''''S GRAMMAR 10 docx

Base form: look play ing-form: looking playing Past tense: l ooked played Past participle: looked played Irregular verbs An irregular verb can also have -s and -ing, hut we do not si

Irregular noun plurals

281 Introduction

Most coumable nouns have a regular plural in - s/-es

hand hands date dales bus -+ buses

For details of spelling and pronunciation, > 276

For the plural of compound nouns, > 131 B

For the use of plural nouns, > L31 C

Some nouns have an irregular plural

maIJ -+ mell life -+ lives slimulus -+ stirnu/i

Irregular plurals ~lfe formed in a numher of different ways, for example by

changing a vowel or consonant sound or by adding ,m unusual ending

282 Vowel and consonant changes

A Vowe l change s

Some plurals arc formed by changing the vowel sound

fOOL -+ [eel goose -+ geese man -+ men mouse mice

tooth -+ [eelh womal1/'woma n l -+ women I' wlnlln l

NOTE

We a l so ll!>e me" and II lO mell In wo rd s like Frcnclmwl1 and spOrrSulOlIJl!lI

B The ending -en

There is an old plural form -en which has survived in these two nouns

duld ItJatldl -+ c hildren I'tStldmnl ox -+ oxen

C Consonant changes

With some nuuns we changefto v and add·s"/·cs

calf -+ ca l ves half -+ halves kmfe -+ knwes

life -+ lives louf -+ loaves shelf -+ s helves

wife -+ wives wolf -+ wolves

leaf -+ leaves thief -+ lhieve s

Some nouns ending in for fe are regular, c.g helief 'i, chief'i, cliff s, s afe s 1\ few C<l1l have either form, e.g scarf -+ scarfs/scarves

283 Nouns which do not c hange in the plural

The last two sOLlnds of paths are otten voiced Other examples arc balh s,

mowhs, ,r/U!-ts, and YOllfhs (;;; young people)

Some plurals in lhs are regular, e.g birlh s , d e aths, months These (Jre

pronounced with 1 0s/

There is alsl) voicing in the la5t syllable of hou s es

house Ihaosl -+ houses /'hauzJzl

E Penny, pence, and pennies

When we arc talking about an amount of money, we use pence as the plural

of penny

Seventy-Jive pence, "lease

Pennies arc individual penny coins

J joulld an old lin with a lot o/pennies in it

F Person, persons, and people

Person has two plurals: per,wns and peopl e

Authorized persons only may enter

nJere were lots of people Oil the SCreets

People is more usual and less formal

A people is a large group slich as a nation

The Celts were a tall, fair-skinned people

One day the peoples of this world will live in peac e

283 Nouns which do not change in the plural

Some nouns have the same form in the singular and the plural

Singular: I heard an aircraft passmg low ollerhead

Plural: J kept hearing aircraft passing low ov e rhead

These nOllns art:! aircrafl, hovercraft, ~fJacecrafl, etc; some animals, c.g sheep,

de e r, and some kinds of fish, e.g co d , salmon

For nouns ending in -s in both singular and plural, e.g one means I vario lls

m ea ns of tran s port , > 147C

Some ll(Jfionaliry words ending in -ese can be Singular or plural, e.g one Chinese I several Chinese

Irregular noun plurals

284 Irregular plural endings

390

There are a number of foreign words which have come into English, mainly from Latin and Greek, arid these have plural endings which are less commOn

in English

-a lal criterion criteria curriculum curricula

medium media phenomenon phenomena -ae li:1 formula ~ formulaslformulae

-is ·es li:zl analysis analyses crlSlS -+ crises hypothesis -+ hypolheses

oasis -+ oases synthesis syntheses -us -i lall cactus -+ cacti nucleus nuclei stimulus stimuli

The plural cactuses is also possible

NOTE

a Not every nOlln ending in on, urn, or us has an irregular ending

electron -+ electrons museum museums bonus bonLUeS

b In informal speech, words wilh the plural ending -a atc sometimes u~ed as if tht!y were singular

r don't believe what the media is telling us

Many people would consider this to be incam oct

c The word dala is the plural of datum, which is little used Data is also often used as

an uncountable noun

Not enough dalu iJ/are available

Users cun control how much data is sent ouer tl,e network

A regular verb can have these

endings: -s, - ing, and - ed

Base form: look play

ing-form: looking playing

Past tense: l ooked played

Past participle: looked played

Irregular verbs

An irregular verb can also have -s and -ing, hut we do not simply add o ed

Base form: stea l find

s-form: ste als finds

ing-form: stea ling finding

Past tense: swle foulld

Past participle: sto l e n found

The past tense and [he past/passive participle are irregular

Past tense: S omeon e stole the card

Past participle: Who ha s s tol e n th e card?

B Look at these examples

Regular verb:

Irregular verb:

I've painted th e wall

I'v e writt e n the re port

I' ve repainted th e wall

I've r ew ri tte n th e report

A verb form such as painted (egular) or written (irregular) is not changed by

a prefix slich as reo, fore - , or m i s-, For example, if tell is irregular, rhen so is

foretell

~ 286 List of irregular verbs

The more common verhs are in bold type

borne I bJ:nl

beaten I'bi:tnl become I bl'um i

begun Ibl'gAnl bent Iben(1

bet Ibetl

bid Ibldl

bidden I'bldnl bound Ibaundl bitten I'bIln I

bled Ibledl

blown Iblaunl broken I'broukanl bred Ibredl

broughtlbrJ:tI ,(I broadcast I'brJ:dka:s built IbIlt!

burnt Ib.:ntl

burned Ib3:ndl burst lha:stl

bust IbAstl

busted l'bAstldl bought/bo:t!

286 List of irregular verbs

quit I~tl quilted I'kwIlldt

~i~edi

\idfudi

~I~'

taiIIl mill nJS!l imuzi

$hone /Sl!n1 '

sljin\ld 1 JaDwll shdt'! JPtI "

slept Islepl l

slid Islldl

slung Is!A1l1 slunk Is!AlIkl slit Ishtl

smell Ismelll

smelled lomeldl sowed lsoodl

spoke Ispaukl

sped Ispedl

speeded I'spi:dldl spell Ispeltl spelled Ispcldl spenl Ispentl spill Ispdtl

spilled Ispddl spun IspAnl spal Isprell

split Isplli l

spoill IspOlltl spoiled Ispodd/ spread Ispredl sprang /sPraJlIl stood Istudl

otole Istaull stuck I stAkI

slung 101"11 I

stank I s""'lIkl strode Istroudl

siruck ISlrllkl

strung /strlllll strove ISlrauvl

swore Iswo:(r)1 swept Iswepll swelled Isweldl

thought 100:tl

thrived 18rarvdl

throve 10rauvl

threw 19ru:1

understand IAnda'strendl understood IA lld a ' s wct l

wore !w J: ( ) 1

wove Iwaovl wept Iweptl wet Iwetl

a Co~l i s regular when it means " esllmalc th e cosl'

We 'ue eosted " ,he project

thrust l erASII

trodden J'trodnl understood I Anda'studl upset I Ap'sell

woken I'waukanl worn Iwo: n ! woven J'wauvnl

wept !wepI! wei !wetl

wetted l'we tHl 1

won IWA n !

wound Iwau nd l

withdrawn !wIO'dro:n! wnmg I rA'fj1

written !'rltnl

b The th i rd person s ingul a r of the S impl e pr ese nt of do i s does / dfl 7./

c Fi l h u s u a ll y n 'g ul a r In Bntain but Irr egu lar in \h~ U~

d Collell IS lI~ed III so m !.! contexts In A m c rl can f ngh !:> h J-Ia uc ga rt e " m ea n s ' h ave bee II lie'

1111: pain's goftell rI IfJt /Uorse

c Th e third person 1:o inglilar of th e s lIllJll e pr ese nt 01 b'l1I S goes I g 3uz /

For gone to a nd lleell 1 0, > 650

g We u se Iwn ged o nl y to talk about han g ing a p erso n

h The th i rd p er s o n s in gu l a r o f th e p resent tens e of halJc i s has /hanl

Lay ( pil s t tense laid) me:1ll1:o ' put so meth mg so m ew h ere'

T}u'Y laid t he plans all Ow dilling - room ruble

Ue ( pa st tcn se lay) mcans 'he hori zo nt a l' or 'be in a certalll place '

1 ' lwy lay in bed half tile mornilJg

/ 11.' Int ! a n ing ' tell an untru th ' i s regu h tr

He lied 10 til e polI ce about Ius mOlJeme lJ lS

I Th e thi r d p e r s on s.ing li lar of th e pn!sc nt t e n se of say S <;{IYS Isp z/

k S II i n ed usually m ea n s ' p olis hl.'d ' We say r ue sl'in d my shoes, hUI 111e sun sho ne

S ped ll s u a y ex pr csses movem e nt

rile drilJCr jllmpl:d i n tile enr and sped off

But we say speedj~ Ill' (= we nt fa Me r )

Ollce 0 11 rIle m()f o ru K ~ y we soo n sl>et.oded IIp

III Alt e rn a ti ve for m 1:o s u c h u s burned l bumr and teamed /h.-a nll :arc both pos s ibl e In Bnu ~ h Engli s h But the Irr eg ular form s s u c h a s I}/Imi and h : oml ar c l ess u s ual in Amcnca

287 SpeGal participle forms

287 Special participle forms

Compare these sentences

Have + participle: A ship had sunk off lhe coast a century before

Participle + noun: We heard stories of sunken ships and hidden treasure

Sink has a past participle s unk, which is used to form perfect tenses (had sunk) It also has a special form sunken that is mostly lJsed before a noun (a sunken ship, a sunken garden) or to talk about a person's appearance

He ht«1 sunken eyes.! His eyes were sunken

Here are some more examples of verbs which have two different participle forms

bless Fortunately the event was blessed with good weather I blest l

When the rain came, it was a blessed relief l'bleSIdl drink The men had drunk too much

There was a drunken argument

learn I've learned something useful from the lecture /I3:mll

The king loved the co mpany of wise and learned men 1'I3:mdl

melt The ice had melted

The molten meUli is poured into a mould

prove The technology has proved to he reliabl e

We are using proven technology I'pr;)uv,ml or !'pru:vanl

Weak forms and short forms

I AM sorry

/\,'\ t ,;: lreml

In writing we use the full form am to represent this pronunciation

In speech we often join I and am together and use the weak form

I'm sorry

'm = I ml

In wriring we can use the short form ' m to represent this pronunciation

Strong Weak Spoken liEm l I m l

pronouns, and prepositions, e.g have , you, of Words with short forms are auxiliary verbs and 1I0t For lists of the forms, > 289-290

A Some grammatical words have weak fmms in unstressed syllables

39H

We 'fIe firzislied for the moment

Here 've = Ivl and for = Ifa(r)/

But when such words are stressed, we use strong forms

Ha ve you finish ed? - Yes, we h ave

Here have:: I hrev / A verb in a short answer is stressed

JI1 this example for is stressed

What are YOIl looking fo r ?

We also use strong forms when speaking slowly, de berately, or

emphatically > 2BB

had Ihadl, ladl, or Idl

has Ihaz/, laz/, or 17.1

have I hav/ , lav/, or Ivl

she I Iii should IIodl or IIdl

sume Isaml or Ism!> ]72D

Ihan 100 n i that IOatl > Note

the 1001 or loil > lSI

them l(Jaml or laml

Ihere 10a(r)1 > 35A Note

That can have a weak form when II is a conjunction or relative pronoun

I know that I 0;)( I u's lrue

As a demonstrative , iI docs nOl have a weak form

I'll e read that I "ret I )Ook

290 Short forms

A We often usc short forms in informal writing, such as in this advertisement

Fit a gas wall heater and you'll stop sh ivering fr ' ll warm up your bathroom

so quickly you won't need a lowel It fits snugly a.nd safeLy on the wall And, because it's gas, it's ew.y to control and very economical

When writing a short form, we miss out part of a word and use an apostrophe instead We say it's instead of it is We do not leave a space before the apostrophe

The short form corresponds to the spoken weak form:' IHZI instead of In Iz/

We use short forms in informal writing and to represent speech - in a filmscript or play, for example Full forms are used in more formal writing

Weak forms and short forms

B

400

We cannul usc i:I short form of a verb when it would be stressed in speech

Is gas easy ro use?""OjcoIJrse it is

But we can usc unstressed /'I't at the end of a sentence

I s gas expensiver-No, it i sn't

These are the main sh rt forms

Short form Long form

aren' t are not she's she is/she has

CfJ ll't cannot s h ouldn't should nol

co ul dn ' t could not that 's that islthat has

daren ' l dare not > 83 th ere'd there had/there would > 35

didn', did n01 th ere'll there will > 35

do esn' t does nO[ th ere's there isllhere has > 35

don ' t do not Illey ' d Ihey had/lhey would

ha s n ' t has not th ey 'r e they are

haven ' t have nol 'hey've they have

h e 'd he had/he would wasn't was not

he'll he will we'd we had/we would

he's he ls/he has we'll we will/we shall

here's here is > 34C we ' re we arc

I'll I will II shall what'll wha! will

isn't is not where's where is/where has

il ' ll it will w h o'd who had/who would

ie 's it is/it has who ' /I who will

l et's letus> IIF w h o's who is/who has

mi g hCIl ' I might not won ' , will not

needn ' t need not you'd you had/you would

sh e'd she had/she would you've you have

s fie ' ll she will

We can also use ri short fOfm with a noun

I f YO ll r balhroom's co ill, a gas h ea t er' lI soo n warm it tip

But this is less common than wih a pronoun

TIP

Do not confuse the short form it's with the possessive it s, > 1 48

It 's now that the tr ee s tarts to los e i ts l e aves

290 Short forms

NOTE

ThelC is a non -s tandard short fonn am',

That ain ' t right, (= That isn ' t right )

Am', can m e an 'am not', ' i s not ' , 'arc not ', 'hn s nOl', or ' hClvc not'

C The form ' s can mean is or has

It's a big house It's got five bedrooms

(::; It is a big house It has got five bedrooms.)

And the form 'd can mean had or would

If you'd thought about it, you'd have realized

There are two different ways we can shorten is not and are not

It is not working = It isn't working lIt's not working,

We are not ready = We aTen't ready.! We're not ready

Both short forms are possible, although it's not and we're not are

more frequent

There are also two possibilities with will, have, has, and had

It will not take long = It won't take long.llt'll not take long

You have not signed it = You haven't signed it.lYou'lle not signed it

Won't, haven ' t, hasn't, and hadn't are more usual than 'll not , 've not, etc NOn !

In Standard Engli s h I am nOl has only one short form: I'm nOl

Glossary

abstract noun An abstract noun refers to an idea or a quality, something that we

cannot see or lOuch, e g science, exci l e mem s t re n th The opposite is a concrete

n oun

action verb a verb thai refers to something happening e.g do , wa l le, eal, sp eak 51A The opposite is a state verb

active An active sentence has a verb like stole or ar e clea ning om eo ne stole ,rty coal

and W e' re cleaning th e windows arc active but My co at was s w l e ll and Th e windo ws are b e ing cleaned are passive 86

active participle (or present participle) the ing·fonn of a verb used after be in the continuous, c.g I wa s working, and in other structures, e.g [ - I e l ay on the bed reading 121

adding relative clause ( or non-defining / non-identifying relative clause ) a r e l a ve clause with commas around it that adds extra information e.g B e rnar d who was

f eeling umv e, ll, left ea.rly, but which does not identify which one is meant 269 adjective An adjective is a word like big, ne w , s p ecit ll, or famo s, often lIsed to describe

something 181 It can come before a noun e.g a nic e day, or after be , e.g Tha t ' s nice 182

adjective phra5e An adjective phrase is eiher an adjective 011 iI'S own, c.g tall , llOpejl J.i ,

or an adjective with an adverb of degree, e.g quit e tall , lIery hop eful

adverb In the sentence Th e t ime pas se d slowly, the word slowly i!\ an adverb Adverbs are words like easily , th e re , some tim es, quit e, and ( msihiy They express ideas such as

how when or where something happens, or h w true something is

adverbial The adverb la r e , the phrase in a huny , and the clause because I WclS co ld all

function a s <ld erbials in these sentences: 111e s h ow s tarfed lale ; We d id ev eryt h ing in

a hurry I put a coolon because I was cold Adverhials express ideas such as whcnhow, r why something happens 189

adverbial clause In the sentence I'll ph.on e Y OIL when I get home, the clause w h e n I get

h ome functio s as an adverbial 237 Compare I'll pl/otle y ou Illt e r

adverb phra5e An adverb phrase is either an adverb on its own, e.g Cll r ef u ll y, of t en or

an adverb which is modified by an adverb of degree e.g very car e fully , mor e oft e n

agent The agent is who or what is doing the action In an a tive sentence it is usually the subject, e.g Tom UlO II th e g am e In a passive sentence there is sometmes an agent in a phrase with by, e.g Th e game was won b y Tom

agreement (or concord) the choice of the correct singular or plural verb form after a

subject, e.g My ear hurlS but My ears hurt

apostrophe In the phrase my fr i e nd 's flat, there is an apostrophe between fr ien d and

-so Fr ie nd's is the possessive form of the noull friend 132 We also use an

apostrophe in a short form e.g I' m , you 're

appo5ition In sentences such as The next da y , Thursday , was f ine and ( b y and M y cousin Maria gave it to me , the 1\\ 1 0 n OU ll phrases are in apposition; they both h vc

the same grammatical function and both mean the flame thing

article N an and til e N o" is the indefinite article, and lh e is the definite uniclc 150 a5pect Aspects are elements in the tense system which can combine with the present

or the past A verb can have continu us aspect (e.g is wal king , was look ing ) perfect

aspect (e.g has w alked , had lo oked) or both (e.g have b e en wail i'l g )

attributive An adjeclive in attributive position is before a noun, e.g a co ld day But in

the sentence Th e da y wa.~ c old the adjecl.ive is in predicative positio

402

Glossary

auxiliary verb The auxiliary verbs are be, have, and do ( ~ 64) and [he modal verbs, also calJed 'modal aux.iliary verbs', such as can., must, and should ( 70), An auxili<.IIY verb

can combine \'1!irh an ordinary verb, e.g Jam uying, we h ave finished, did you

bare infinitive an infinitive without 10, e.g I might go out, rhey made u s wail 110

base form The base form of a verb is the form without an ending We use it in the imperative, e.g Please s t op it, in the present simple, e.g I get off here, or (IS a bare

infinitive, e.g I heard you co m e ill

capital letter A capital Icner is a big letter, e.g A, B, C, used at the beginning of a

sentence or a name

cardinal number a number such as Olle, two, three; compare ordinal number

causative The sentence J had my hair cut shows the causative use of have because it

means ' I caused someone to cut my h ir '

classify When we classify something, we say what kind it is, e.g a l ' I JOrts ca r (a kind of car), a machine thai washes b ttl es (a kmd of mnchine)

classifying relative clause a relative c1:lUse that tells us what kind is meant, e.g

software Ihal prot ects YO llr compuler against viruses 267 8

clause A clause usually has a subject and a verb The sentence We stayed at h ome is a single main clause The sentence We stayed at home because it rained has (wo clauses We s tay ed at home is the main clause, and because it rai"ed is the su bclause A sub-clause with an infinitive or mg-form often hu:-; no subject, e.g I went out to get some fr es h air; J can'l help worrying 227

cleft sentence a structure With it or what used to emphasize part of the sentence, e.g It

collective noun see group no un

colon We can use a colon before an explanation, e.g I came by coach : it ' s much cheaper

comma We use commas in a list, e.g tall, dark and handsome , or to separate off a clause or phrase, e.g The following weekend, something strange happened

comment adverbial an adverbial that makes a commcnt on what we say, e.g

common noun sec proper noun

comparative a form with -er or more used to make a comparison e.g older, more

comparison Comparison involves forms lIsed to compare one thing with another, e.g

older, more u mfu , longest, most easily , as s afe as 203-207

complement A complement is a n un phrase, e.g the boss, or an adjective phrase, e.g

'subject complements'; they follow a linking verb such as be and Lhey relate to thc subject of the sentence (yOIt, hel See aJso object complement

compound a word made up of other words, e.g bookshop (book + shop), good-looking

(good + looking), something (some + thing)

concession A clause of concession (or concessive clause) has a conjunction, e.g

although, despite, or even tllougn A lth oug h it was warm, J was s hi ve ring

concord see agreement

concrete noun A concrete noun refers to something we can see or touch, e.g boule ,

conditional clause a clause expressing a condition, e.g If you need a lift , 1 can give you

conditional form/tense A verb form wilh would such as would go or wo uld lake is sometimes call d a conditional form or conditional tense

Glossary

conditional sentence a sentence wih a condiliorli.lJ clall::'C, usually a c1all!)c with if, e.g

If we're IlIfe, we ' ll be i" trouble 243

conjunction a word stich as and , hw , because, when, or chal, which links two clauses,

c.g I br/i('I I t' {11lI1 ii 's lruC

connective clause a type of relative clause thm says what happens next, e.g 1 bumped

into a young woman, w h o swore a t m e 267E

connector A connector is a word used to link [wo clauses or sentences It can be a

conjunction e.g You're crazy, but I like you , or a linking adverbial, e.g l can' t find the map An j' w ay, } know the way

consonant sec vowel

contex The context of a sentence is the words that come before it or the situation in

which it occurs

continuous (or progressive) a verb form with be and an active participle, e.g Th efi l rn

is sta rtin g now; We've b ee " w ai ti ng fo r you; 1 expect CO b e wo rkin g

continuous infinitive A continuous to-infinitive is to be + jng-form e.g I'm supposed

t o b e reulXi n The infinitive is sometimes without w, e.g 1 s hould be r e l axi n g

contraction sec sh rt form

co*ordinate clause Two clauses linked b y a conjunction such as and bue , or or are

co·ordinate clauses, e.g II was t e n pas t n i n e and I was I ale 227 A

A co-ordin3le clause is nOt part of another clause See also main clause

copular verb see linking verb

countable noun A countable noun can be either Singular or plural and can be used

with alan , e.g a b g, three h ou r , some trees 137 See also uncountable noun dangling participle see 'hanging participle

dash We can use a dash 1 0 separate off part of a sentence e.g / almost decided W quit

-bw ! did,, ' c,

declarative A declarative sentence has the form or a statement, with the subject before

the verb

defining relative clause see identifying relative clause

definite My frie n d Ja c k is a definite person: 1 know exaclly who I mean Someo n e is

indefinite because it doesn't say which person is mennl

degree An adverb of degree is a word like very, quiLC, or hardly 196

demonstrative Th iS, t hat, these, and lhose arc demonstrative determiners or pronouns

~ 165

dependent clause same as sub*c!ause; sec main clause

determiner a word that can come before a noun to form a noun phrase, e.g a photo,

t h e result , myoid friend, th is week

direct object see object

direct speech We use direct speech when we report someone's words by quoting them,

e.g She said, '/ n elle r wa n t to see yo u agai" ' 258 See also indirect speech echo question a question which asks for inrormation to he repeated, e.g She's gone w VladilJOslock l¥he r e h as s h e go n e? '" 21A

echo tag (or reply question) a shon question form expressing Interest, e.g I play chess

Oh, do yo u ? 218

ellipsis leaving out words when the meaning i s clear without them, e.g I haven't seen

th e film, but Kate has, meaning but Kate ha s seen Ihe film

emphasis/emphasiz /emphatic Emphasis is drawing special allenUon to a word or

phrase and making it more important 38 We can use extra stress special word

order or a special structure, e.g Wl1al he did w a S r WI away

emphatic form We use the emphatic form of a verb 1'0 emphasize a posi ive or a

negative e.g } DID remind you We CANT go flack flOW 38C

404

Glossary

emphatic pronoun a pronoun such as mysel for th emselves used to emphasize a n un

phrase c.g The Quee n her s eL v i s i te d { he sce n e " 1 7E

emphatic stress speaking a word w ilh extra force in order to draw attenton to il c.g /

s ai d LJ: · V J ~ I)ot r igl/I 388

empty subject In the sentence It was ra in in g it is an empty su ject In the sentence

Th er e was an a r gume nt th ere is an empty subject It has no re l meaning but we use

it because the sentence needs il subject 3 -36

ending The word d og s has the plural ending O s; the word w a lk ing has the ending

- ng

end position When an adverbial comes at the end of a clause, afer a verb or a verb +

object it is in end posiion e.g H e re p e at ed th e wo rd s slowly " 190F

exception see rule

exclamation a special structure wih how or w h t , e.g Wh a t a waste ! or any sentence

spoken with emphasis and feeling e.g Qui ck! 12

exclamat on mark We write an exclama on mark al the end of an exclamaton, e.g

HaUl awfu l! Lo ok ow!

finite A finite verb is onc that is in the present or past tense, e.g g o es , waited , lvas

c oming , ha ve see n , r o e that has a mo al verb, e.g will b e , can carry II can be the

verb in a simple one-clause sentence, e.g S e goes t o c olle ge, called a finite clause A non-finie verh is an infinitive gerund or J-lilrticiple e.g S h e wants to go [0 co ll ege /

s aw h e r going co c oll e g e; The clauses to go to co ll e g e and going to college are n n

fin e clauses

first conditional see type 1 conditional

first person see person

formal We speak in a more formal style to strangers than we do to our f iends We use formal lan uage to be polite, or on official oc asions A business letter is more formaJ

than a letter 10 a friend / am a fra id J have no i n for m a t o n is more fonnal than Sor ry,

full form see short form

full stop We put a full stop at lhe end of a written sentence

future continuous a verb form wih w ill be + ing-form, e.g / w ill b e lea v ing so o n 60

future perfect a verb form with w ill h ave + past participle, e.g W e w ill h v e saved

en ough mo n ey soo n 61A

future perfect continuous a verb form wih will h ave b ee n + ing-orm, e.g li e will hav e

b ee n work in g h e r e f or t w e n ty ye ar s 6 1 B

future tense The use of w ill + verb in a sentence such as Tomorrow w ill be we I a nd

w i nd y is sometimes call d the future tense

gender Some words show differences between male/masculine female/ eminine, and

no ·personal neuter, e.g h e, she, and it Wa iter is masculine, and wa i r ess is

feminine

generalization The statement CatS are n ice is a genera zato ; it is ab ut all cats and not a specific one

genitive see possessive form

gerund the ing-form of a verb used like a n un e.g Sailing i s fun ; I' ve give n u p

s m okin 111

Glossary

gerund clause a clause \virh a gerund as irs verb, e.g [(willing a business lSl'll ea s y; I like silt in g o ut s ide II- 112

gradable A gradable adjective expresses a quality whic h can exist in differenr degrees

Busy , soft, and dirty are gradab l ~ because something can b e a bit dirty, rat h e r d i ny,

very dirty, and so on An ungradable adjective such as brilliant , impossible or

enormous docs not go with a bit, rath e r , or I/ery II- 186

group noun ( or collective noun) a n oun referring to a group, c.g audience, class, gang,

learn II'- 149

hanging participle (or dangling participle) In the sentence Looking out of the window,

my friend wa s cycling past the verb looking is a hanging participle The understoOd

subject of looking ( myseLf) is not the same as the subject of the main clause ( my

friend) ~ 1228 Note

hyphen In the number twenty - five there is a hyphen between twenty and fil/ e A hyphen joins two words

identifying relative clause (or defining relative clause) a relative clause that says

which one is meant, c.g That 's the man who lives next door , where who lives next door te s us which man is meant II- 267A

idiom/idiomatic An idiom is a group of words which together have a meaning that is different from the meanings of the individual words, e.g come off (::: succeed), !nake

up yoltr mind (::: decide)

imperative the base form of the verb lIsed to give orders, express good wishes, and so

on, e.g Wait th e re Have a good time II- 11

indefinite sec definite

indefinite article the word a or an II- 150

indirect object see object

indirect question H ow much does this COSl? is a direct question In an indirect question

we pur the question in a sub-clause, e.g Could YOII tell me ho w much ' h is costs?" 17

indirect speech (or reported speech) We use indirect speech when we report in our own words what someone said, e.g She told m e s he never want e d t o see m e again ,

rather than quoting the words 'J never wan t to see yo u again.' II- 2588

infinitive The infinitive is the base form of the verb, e.g They l e t u s stu ) 1 the nigll 1 We

often use it with to, e.g They invited u s to s tay the night 97 We often use a infinitive after a verb or adjective e g J hope to ge t a job; It' s good to lalk A ro-

to-infinitive can also express purpose, e.g I came h e re to see you

infinitive clause a clause with an infinitive as its verb, e.g They aske d me to open both

my suitcases; You'U need to wo rk hard 98

informal We use an informal style in everyday conversation and when we e-mail or text a friend Can you do it right away? is more informal [han I would be gratefuL if

you could attend lO the matte r immediately See also formal

ing-form An ing-form is the form of a verb ending in -ing, c.g see ing , making, flying It

can be a gerund, e.g Moving house is quite s re s ~ll1l, or an active participle, e.g I'll be

m Olli n g house 011 lilaC day

intensifier a word that strengthens the meaning of another, e.g so stupid, very cold

~ 196

interrogative An interrogative sentence has the form of a question, e.g Nave you finis hed? Interrogative words are question words, e.g what , how

intonation the rise and fall of the voice in speech

intransitive verb An intransitive verb cannot have an object, e.g Th e parcel ha s

arrived It can have an adverbial after ii, e.g Let's go to the park ; Tile p lice appeared

elJelllu all y

406

Glossary

inversion/invert Inversion means changing the order of twO things To form the question Hmi th e pla ys/arled? from the statement 71 w play h as started, we invert the

subject (t h e play) and the auxiliary verb (has)

inverted commas see quotes

irregular see regular

linking adverbial an adverbial such as a l so, otlierwise, or n evert h eless that relates 10 lhe previoLls clause or sentence, e.g She felt f uri OUS Neve rth e l ess , size managed 'WI 10 show il II> 202

linking verb (or copular verb) a verb such as be , see m , become r look that can have a complement, e.g It was a great part y; Everyt h ing se em s fine

literary A literary style is a formal written style typical of literature It may contain

some unusual or old-fashioned words and structures

main clause A main clause has a suhject and a verb, e.g J phoned yesterday A sentence

has at least ne main clause It can also have more than one, e.g I phoned yesterday,

bur you didn ' l answer A malO clause can also h<lve a sub· clause In the sentence 1

woke up w h en the alarm went off, the main clause is I woke up, and the sub-clause is

w h e n rile a l arm went off In the sentence To be on time, I had t.o get up early, the main clause is J had to gel up early, and to be on lime is a sub·cJause A main clause

can stand on its own, but a sub-clause cannot A sub-clause functi ns as part of the main clause For example, it can be the object of the main claus!;!, e.g I kn ew that YOIl wer e away , or it can be an adverbial, e.g 1 pllOfled you yesterday becaus e 1 wamed a chat II> 227 A-8

main verb The main verb is the verb which follows the subject in a main clause, e.g

lik e classical musi c; H ea ring a knock, he jump e d up ; il ey w ill expect Il S to be on time

The main verb is in the present or past tense or has a modal verb

manner An adverbial f manner says how something happens, e.g H e looked at me

sadly II> 193

mid position An ildverbial is in mid position when it comes in the middle of a sentence, usually after an auxiliary verb, e.g I was just w riting a not e, but before an ordinary verb, e.g I just wrote everyt hin g do wn II> 190C-E

mixed conditional a conditional sentence which is a combination of twO diferent

types, e.g I f YOIl hadn 't lo s t tl w fIIap, we would know wher e we are (ty e 3 condit iOIl

and type 2 main clause) 2 7C

modal verb (or modal auxiliary verb) The modal verbs are c an, could must, need ,

s hould , ought , may, might, will, would, and s hall , e.g I can dri ve; Wes lrould support the ide a A mo al verb always has the same form II> 70

modifier/modify In the phrase a na rro w street, the adjective narrow is a modifier It modifies the nOtln s tr eet It changes our idea of the street by giving more informalion abollt it Other kinds of modifiers are nouns, e.g a gOlf ball, adverbials, c.g 11ley stopped sudd e nl y, and preposido al phrases, e.g a man in uniform

nationality word a word formed frol11 the namc of a country which can bc used as \In adjective, e.g th e Ge rm an economy , or to refer {Q people, e.g the Am e ricans in ou/'

grou p

negative A negative sentence h<lS 11 0t or n' e e.g I'm nol reatfy, or a negative word sllch

neutral A neutral style is neither formal nor informal; it is between the two extremes

nominalization expressing the meaning of a clause in a noun phrase, e.g lltey ar e ent hu sias ti c -+ Iheir e mhu sins m II> 257

nominal relative clause a relative clause beginning with Illhm e.g Thi s i s !Vllat I bou g ht II> 272, or with w ho ever, whatever , etc, e.g J'll eat whatever t h ere is in the fridg e II> 273 and functionmg like a noun phrase

Glossary

non-finite sec finite

non-defining relative clause see adding relative clause

non-identifying relative clause see adding relative clause

noun a word such as desk , apple, or inJormation which can follow the word lfle 130 noun clause A noun clause is a clause that functions like a noun phrase It c;'In be the

subject, e,g, lNhat actually happ e n e d carne as a complete sur pris e, the object e.g We suspecred that it was a tri c , the complement, e.g The problem is we're lo s t , aT the object of a preposition e.g I'm worried about whether I made a good impression

object In the sentence He was wearing a sweater, the noun phrase t he swe at e r is the object or direct object The object usually comes after the verb In the sentence They

ga ve the children presents, lhe noun phrase presents is the direct object, and the

children is the indirect object The lI1dircct object typically refers to the person

receiving something 6A See also prepOSitional object

object complement In {\ sentence such as They voted her th e ir lead e r or The quarr el made Tom miserabl e, the object complement is a noun phrase, e.g their Leader, or

an adjective phrase, e.g mi serable These complements relate to the object of the sentence ( h e r, Tom ) ~ 50

object pronoun I and s he are subject pronouns; m e and her are object pronouns

~ 1758

ordinal number a number sllch as first, secolld, third

ordinary verb (or full verb or lexical verb) a verb such as bring , offer, remember, or

S l ay, any verb which is not an auxiliary verb

pair noun a plural noun which refers to something made of two parts, e.g jean s, scissors, trousers 14 8

participle A participle is a verb form such as turning, turned, or having turned ~ 121

See also active participle, passive partiCiple, past participle, perfect participle participle clause a clause with a participle as its verb, e.g Arriving hom e, I found the front door ope"; We saw a ship launch e d by th e Que e n 1 22

particle (or adverb particle) an adverb which is part of a phrasal verb e.g look up , 1 1",1 down run awa y, '" 217A

passive A passive sentence has a verb form With be and a passive participle, e.g My

co al w as s tolen The windows are being cleaned II>" 86 Compare the a tive sentences

Som eon e sto le my coat and W e're cleaning the wi ndow s

passive gerund a verb form with being + passive participle, e.g I hate being stared at

~ 95

passive infinitive A passive lu-infinilivc is a verb fUIT II with to be + passive participle, e.g Some th ing lIeeds to be don e 95 The infinitive is sometimes without to , c.g

N othing ca n b e done

passive ing-form A passive ing-fonll is a verb form with being + passive participle It

can be a passive gerwld, e.g N o one likes beill g made UJ look foolish 95 It can also

be a continuous passive partiCiple, e.g We watched tile building b irl g knocked down

passive participle A passive participle is a verb form such as deemed or broken, the

same form as the past participle It is used after be in the passive, e.g The room was cleaned, and in other structures e.g I steppe d on a broken b lt/e 121

40a

Glossary

passive to-infinitive a verb form with to be + passive participle, e.g f asked LO be

exc us e d 95

e.g It WlIS raining at th e lime II> 47

past participle A past participle is a verb form such a s arrived or klloum, the same form

as the passive participle It is used after have in the perfect, e.g They hm l e arrived ; How long has he known? 121

past perfect a verb form with had and a past participle, e g J had see n the fi lm bef ore

~ 49

an ing-form, e.g I saw lhal it had been raini"g 50

past simple (or Simple past) the past tense without an auxiliary, e.g TIle lrain slOp ped ;

I wrote a feller 43

perception see verb of perception

perfect a verb form wit.h have + past participle, e,g Tile game IUl S s tarted ; If only / had known ; regret having opened my mouth

the mon ey 111 B

perfect infinitive A perfect to-infinitive is a verb rorm with to ha ve + past participle,

e.g 1 hop e 10 have finished by lhen 978 The infinitive is sometimes without to, e.g

W e might have finish e d b y then

perfect participle a verb rorm with ha vin g + past participle, e.g ,.,aving paid lhe bill,

we l ef l ~ 1218

perfect to-infinitive a verb form with £0 halJ e + past participle, e.g 11 would be good to

have done all tl wse job s by th e week e nd 978

person First person relates to the speaker (/, we) Second person relates to the person

sp ken to (you) Third person relates to other people and things ( he, she , il, they )

personal pronoun words such as I , me , yo u, and s he ~ 175

phrasal verb a verb + adverb combination, e.g J gaL up early Did you lum off til e

h eat ing? ~ 217A

positive (or affirmative) I'm r eady is a positive sentence, and I'm not ready is negative

and their used before a noun, c.g my f lat, li e r nam e ~ 164

apostrophe such as Ad am 's room or a dogs' home, often used to express the idea that

are mine 164

postmodifier a word, phrase, or clause that modifies rhe word it follows, e.g the people

outside, th e s h p Oil lll e c omer, a game you play on th e beach