Basic Concepts of English Grammar (1)

Active
In an active clause or active sentence,
the grammatical subject is the person
or thing that performs the action
given in the verb (e.g. Geoff wrote
the book). Compare PASSIVE.

Adjective
A word that describes a noun (e.g. an
interesting book) or a pronoun (e.g. a
big one). Gradable adjectives can be
used to say that a person or thing has
more or less of this quality (e.g. She's
very happy), while ungradable
adjectives can't (e.g. It's impossible.
We can't say '...very impossible').
Classifying adjectives say that
something is of a particular type (e.g.
atomic, initial). Emphasising
adjectives stress how strongly we feel
about something (e.g. utter nonsense).

Adjective phrase
A group of words where the main
word is an adjective (e.g. It's
extremely important; It wasn't strong
enough).

Adverb
A word that describes or gives more
information (when, how, where, etc.)
about a verb (e.g. He ran quickly),
adjective (e.g. an extremely expensive
car), another adverb (e.g. She's doing
very well), or phrase (e.g. They live
just across the road.). Types of
adverb include: adverbs of manner
which we use to say how something
is done (e.g. slowly, violently);
connecting adverbs (e.g.
consequently, similarly); time
adverbs (e.g. tomorrow, already);
place adverbs (e.g. upstairs, outside);
comment adverbs (e.g. apparently,
personally) which we use to make a
comment on what we are saying;
viewpoint adverbs (e.g. financially,
politically) which we use to make
clear from what point of view we
 are speaking; adverbs of indefinite
frequency (e.g. always, never);
degree adverbs (e.g. completely,
quite) which give information about
the extent or degree of something;
focus adverbs (e.g. just, even) which
we use to focus on a particular word
or phrase.

Adverbial clause
A type of SUBORDINATE CLAUSE that
says when, how, where, etc.
something happens (e.g. Before I
went to school this morning, I did
my homework).

Adverbial phrase
A group of words that says when,
how, where, etc. something happens
(e.g. with a great deal of noise, about
a week ago).

Affirmative sentence
A statement (i.e. not a question) that
is positive, not negative.

Agent
The person or thing that performs
the action described in a verb.
Usually it is the subject in an active
clause and comes after 'by...' in a
passive clause.

Auxiliary verbs
The verbs be, have and do when they
are used with a main verb to form
questions, negatives, tenses, passive
forms, etc. MODAL VERBS are also
auxiliary verbs.

Clause
A group of words that contains a
verb. A clause may be a complete
sentence or a part of a sentence. A
main clause can exist as a separate
sentence, while a subordinate clause
cannot (e.g. If I see Tony at work
(= subordinate clause), I'll invite him
over this evening (= main clause)).
Types of clause include: since-clause
(e.g. I haven't seen him since we left
school); that-clause (e.g. She said that
she was thirsty); wh-clause (e.g. I
asked Sandra where she was going);
it-clause (e.g. It's not surprising that
you're feeling cold); what-clause (e.g.
What I want to do is buy a better
computer); if-clause (e.g. If you leave
now, you'll be home by 10.00);
whether-clause (e.g. You have to take
the exam whether you want to or
not); -ing clause (e.g. Feeling hungry,
I went into the kitchen); past
participle (-ed) clause (e.g. Built
during the 1950s, the building is now
in need of repair); being past
participle (-ed) clause (e.g. Being
unemployed, Tom had a lot of time
on his hands); having past participle
(-ed) clause (e.g. Having seen the
doctor, I went straight home).