Page 276 - Advanced English Grammar in Use

Glossary

inversion passive
Changing the usual word order so In a passive clause or passive
that the verb comes before the sentence, the grammatical subject is
subject (e.g. Up went the balloon). the person or thing that experiences
the effect of the action given in the
linking verb
verb (e.g. The book was written by
A verb (e.g. be, become, appear) that
Geoff.). Compare ACTIVE.
connects a SUBJECT with its
COMPLEMENT. performative verb
A verb which states the action that is
modal verbs
performed when a speaker uses the
A group of verbs (can, could, dare, verb (e.g. I promise I'll do it
may, might, must, need, ought to, tomorrow; I apologise).
shall, should, will, would, used to)
that give information about such possessive
things as possibility, necessity, and The possessive form of a noun ends
obligation. in either -'s (e.g. Mark's car) or -s'
(e.g. the girls' changing room).
noun
A word that refers to a person, place, preposition
thing, quality, etc. A proper noun is A word such as in, on, by that comes
the name of a particular person, before a noun, pronoun, noun phrase
place or thing (e.g. John Todd, or -ing form (e.g. in March, above
Berlin, Sydney Opera House). my uncle's head, by investing).
noun phrase prepositional phrase
A group of words where the main A group of words that consists of a
word is a noun (e.g. I've been talking preposition and its prepositional
to the woman across the road; We object (a noun, pronoun, noun
spoke to several small children). phrase or -ing form) (e.g. behind our
house, across it).
object
The person or thing affected by the pronoun
action of the verb or that is involved A word that is used instead of a noun
in the result of the action (e.g. I put or noun phrase. Pronouns include
the book back on the shelf). personal pronouns (e.g. I, she, me),
Compare SUBJECT. reflexive pronouns (e.g. myself,
herself), and RELATIVE PRONOUNS
participle
(e.g. who, which).
The present participle is the '-ing'
form of a verb (e.g. walking, singing, quantifier
eating) used, for example, in A word or phrase that goes before a
continuous tenses. The past participle noun or noun phrase to talk about
is the '-ed' form of a verb (e.g. the quantity of something (e.g. a little
walked, sung, eaten) used, for water, many of the women in the
example, in perfect tenses. A room).
participle adjective is one formed
relative clause
from the present or past participle of
a verb (e.g. the candidates applying, A kind of SUBORDINATE CLAUSE that
a broken plate). describes a noun that comes before it
in a MAIN CLAUSE. A defining relative

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