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Important Grammar Terms

[/column] [/container]Here are the basic grammar terms and phrases in English. Just so you know, it’s not so important that you remember all of the grammar terms here. I mean, nobody is going to stop you on the street and ask you, “Hey! Do you know what a conjunction is?” That’s crazy, right? It is more important to know how to use words like and, but, or, etc. That said, here are the most important ones:

Verb
A verb is a word that indicates an action or a state.

  • Some examples of verbs that indicate actions are go, eat, take, and do.
    • Let’s go to the beach.
    • I eat toast every morning.
    • Take a pen and some paper.
  • Some examples of verbs that indicate states are be, see, feel, and recognize.
    • I am happy to see you.
    • I feel I think I’ll take a nap.
    • I didn’t recognize you with your new hair style.

Noun
A noun is a word that indicates a person, place, or thing.

  • Countable nouns are words that represent things that you can count using numbers.
    • Countable nouns can be singular, which means the word represents one single thing, like pen, desk, car, and dog.
      • I have a pen.
      • His car is blue.
      • What kind of dog is this?
    • Countable nouns can be plural, which means the word represents more than one thing, like pens, desks, cars, and dogs.
      • I usually buy pens online.
      • How many desks do we need?
      • Dogs are so cute!
    • Uncountable nouns are words that represent abstract ideas and things you can’t count using numbers, like love, information, water, and air.
      • Love is a wonderful thing in life.
      • Can you give me some information?
      • I drink a lot of water every day.

Adjective

An adjective is a word that describes a noun and indicates the characteristics of that noun.

  • Adjectives include objective words like colors, sizes, and shapes. Some examples of these adjectives are blue, big, and round.
    • It’s a blue sofa.
    • I have a big coffee mug.
    • The round table is best for the meeting.
  • Adjectives also include subjunctive words like appearance, thought, or feeling. Some examples of these adjectives are beautiful, kind, and exciting.
    • She’s a beautiful
    • A kind man helped me cross the road.
    • That was a very exciting concert last night.

 Adverb

An adverb is a word that modifies a verb, an adjective, and another adverb. Many adverbs are formed from adjectives and their spelling ends in LY.

  • Adverbs that modify verbs indicate how the action happens.
    • Jack walks slowly, but he talks quickly.
    • I will seriously consider your request.
    • She spoke kindly to the children.
  • Adverbs that modify adjectives indicate the degree of that adjective.
    • It’s very cold outside.
    • She is amazingly
    • It was a blazingly hot summer day.
  • Adverbs that modify other adverbs indicate the degree of that adverb.
    • I ran this race more quickly than I did the last race.
    • She held the pencil quite delicately when she drew the picture.
    • I very quietly told her that I had to leave.

 Preposition

A preposition is a word that comes before a noun and indicates direction, location, time, etc.

  • Let’s go to the park tomorrow.
  • The pen is on the table.
  • I woke up at 5am this morning.

Prepositional Phrase

A prepositional phrase contains a preposition followed by a determiner and a noun.

  • Please put the paper in this box.
  • Joe lives down the street from the bookshop.
  • If we stand under that tree, we can escape from the rain.

Gerund

A gerund is an ing verb that is used as or functions as a noun. A gerund can be the subject or the object of a verb.

  • Listening to jazz helps me relax.
  • I really like cooking.
  • Do you prefer skiing or snowboarding?

Infinitive

An infinitive is to plus a verb. Like a gerund, an infinitive can be the subject or the object of a verb.

  • To listen to jazz is to experience the soul of music.
  • I really like to cook.
  • If you have a chance to see Jack, ask him to call

Conjunction

A conjunction is a word that is used to combine two sentences into one sentence. Some examples of conjunctions are and, or, and but.

  • We went to the mall and I bought a new suit.
  • You can have a room with dinner or you can reserve a room with dinner and breakfast.
  • Henry works on the weekends, but he never works overtime.

 Determiner

A determiner is a word that comes before a noun and identifies which noun we are talking about. Some examples of determiners are a/an, the, my, his, etc.

  • Today I saw a dog and a cat.
  • The dog was brown and the cat was tiger striped.
  • Has anyone seen my pen?

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