Grammar

• Nouns


  • Count
  • Non-Count
• Count nouns


  Nouns that can be counted, can take an article (a, an, the)
• Count nouns


  • Gas (?), chair, table, bat, ball
• Non-count nouns


  Nouns that cannot be counted
• Non-count nouns


  • Hair, water
• Abstract nouns and proper nouns are always non-countable nouns, but common nouns and concrete nouns can be both count and non-count nouns
• Noun Phrase


  Nouns can modify nouns, as soon as we modify a noun it becomes a noun phrase
• Adverbs


  They have a variety of functions: modify verb processes, modify adjectives/adverbs, modify whole sentences
• Adverbs also form comparative and superlative forms through the addition of 'more' / 'most'
• Adjectival Phrase


  Phrases that modify nouns
• Adverbial Phrase


  Phrases that modify verb phrases
• Verb Forms


  • Base form
  • Infinitive
  • Past tense
  • Past participle
  • Present participle
• Transitive Verb


  Must have a direct object, the action falls upon something/someone
• Transitive Verbs


  • I painted the car
  • She is reading the newspaper
• Intransitive Verb


  Do not act upon anything
• Intransitive Verbs


  • She smiled
  • I wake up at 6 AM
• Auxiliary Verbs


  Helping verbs that extend the main verb by showing time, tense, and possibility
• Auxiliary Verbs


  • Be verbs, have, do
• Modal Verbs


  Auxiliary verbs that indicate possibility, potentiality, ability, permission, expectation, and obligation
• Modal Verbs


  • Can, could, must, may, might, ought to, shall, should, will, would
• Verb Phrase


  Larger structures built around a main verb
• Verb Phrases


  • Prime Minister takes big lead
  • Internet scam nets millions
  • Cement tipped into lake by vandals
  • GCSE coursework to become history
  • Banks have not signed required customer code
• Phrase


  Larger structure formed by words
• Types of phrases


  • Noun phrases
  • Verb phrases
• Noun phrase


  • Made up of a noun (head word) and a determiner (the/a/that)
  • Can have pre and post modifiers adding detail to the noun
  • Can have qualifiers giving further detail about a different aspect
• Verb phrase


  • Built around a head word, the main verb
  • Can include auxiliary verbs
  • Primary auxiliary verbs: show tense (be, do, have)
  • Secondary auxiliary verbs: show degree of commitment towards an event or person (may, could, must)
• Clause


  Larger structure formed by phrases, centered around a verb phrase
• Constituent elements of a clause

  • Subject (noun phrase)
  • Object (noun phrase)
  • Complement (noun phrase)
  • Adverbial (adverb or prepositional phrase)
• Coordinating clause


  • Joined by cooperating conjunctions like and, but, or
  • Independent and can stand on their own
• Subordinating clause


  • Includes a main clause and other clauses that are dependent on the main clause to make sense
  • Can't stand alone
• Active voice


  • Subject of the sentence carries out the verb (most common construction)
  • Gives prominence to the subject
• Passive voice


  • Uses verb phrase to be + participle
  • Subject is affected by the object of the sentence
  • Possible to omit the agent
• Omission


  Key word left out, usually a verb in headlines
• Types of sentences


  • Minor
  • Simple
  • Complex
  • Compound
• Sentence types by function

  • Declarative
  • Imperative
  • Interrogative
  • Exclamatory