Oxford_Guide_to_English_Grammar

40 AMERICAN ENGLISH PAGE 396

2 In case and lest

The British use in case meaning 'because something might happen', • 259(7). Americans use so or lest. Lestis formal.

3 Immediately

Americans do not use immediately as a conjunction.

GB/US: As soon as I saw him, I recognized him.

GB only: Immediately I saw him, I recognized him.

308 American spelling

Some words end in our in Britain but in or in America: color, labor, neighbor.

Some words end in tre in Britain but in ter in America: center, liter.

Some verbs can end either with ize or with ise in Britain but only with ize in America: apologize, organize, realize.

In Britain there is doubling of l in an unstressed syllable; • 293(3) Note. In some American words there is no doubling: marvelous, signaled, councilor.

Here are some words with different spellings.

PAGE 397

Glossary

abstract noun See concrete noun.

action verb a verb that refers to something happening or changing, e.g. do, walk, buy, speak • 62

active See passive.

active participle the ing-form of a verb used after be in the continuous (I was watching) and in other patterns • 134

adding relative clause a clause with commas around it that adds extra information, e.g. Bernard, who wasfeeling unwell, left early. • 274

adjective a word like big, new, special, famous • 197

adjective phrase An adjective phrase is either an adjective on its own, e.g. sweet, tall, hopeful, or an adjective with an adverb of degree, e.g. very sweet, a lot taller, quite hopeful.

adverb In the sentence The time passed slowly, the word slowly is an adverb. Adverbs are words like easily, there, sometimes, quite, possibly. They express ideas such as how, when or where something happens, or how true something is.

adverb phrase An adverb phrase is either an adverb on its own, e.g. carefully, often, probably, or an adverb which is modified by an adverb of degree, e.g. very carefully, more often, quite probably.

adverbial The adverb late, the phrase in a hurry and the clause because I was cold all function as adverbials in these sentences: The show started late. We did everything in a hurry. I put a coat on because I was cold.

adverbial clause In the sentence I'll ringyou when I get home, the clause when I get home functions as an adverbial. Compare I'll ringyou later. • 248

agent The agent is the person, animal or thing doing the action. In an active sentence it is the subject: Max told me the news. In a passive sentence there is sometimes an agent after by: I was told the news by Max.

agreement the choice of the correct verb form after a subject: My ear torts but My ears hurt. •150

apostrophe In the phrase Karen'sfriend there is an apostrophe between Karen and s.

apposition In the sentence The Chairman, Mr Byers, was absent, the two noun phrases are in apposition. • 14

article A/an is the indefinite article, and the is the definite article.

aspect A verb can have continuous aspect (is walking, was looking) or perfect aspect (has walked, had looked), or both (have been waiting).

attributive the position of an adjective before a noun, e.g. a cold day

auxiliary verb a verb such as be, have, do, will, can which we use with an ordinary verb • 60 (2)

bare infinitive an infinitive without to, e.g. come, drive •115

base form the form of a verb without an ending, e.g. come, call, decide

classifying relative clause a relative clause that tells us what kind is meant, e.g. a computer that will correct my spelling • 272 (3b)

clause The sentence We stayed at home is a single clause. The sentence We stayed at home because it rained has two clauses. We stayed at home is the main clause,

GLOSSARY PAGE 398

and because it rained is the sub clause. A clause always has a verb (stayed, rained). The verb can be finite or non-finite. In the sentence We all wanted to go out, there is a finite clause with wanted and a non-finite clause with to go. See finite.

comment adverb e.g. luckily, incredibly • 215

comparative Comparative forms are older, morefamous, more efficiently etc.

• 217

complement a noun phrase or adjective phrase that comes after a linking verb such as be: You're the boss, Al looked unhappy, • 9. These complements relate to the subject; they are subject complements. See also object complement.

compound a word made up of other words, e.g. something (some + thing), wristwatch (wrist + watch)

concrete noun A concrete noun is a noun referring to something that we can see or touch, e.g. man, bottle, grass, shop. An abstract noun refers to an idea, quality or action, something we cannot see or touch, e.g. science, excitement, stupidity, routine.

conditional clause a clause expressing a condition, e.g. If you need a ticket, I'll get you one. • 255

conjunction A conjunction is a word like and, but, because, when, that, which links two clauses.

consonant See vowel.

continuous a verb form with be and an active participle, e.g. Thefilm is starting now. • 61(4)

continuous infinitive e.g. to be doing, to be working co-ordinate clause a clause linked to another by and, but or or

countable noun a noun that can be either singular or plural, e.g. bag(s), road(s), hour(s) • 144

definite article the word the

degree An adverb of degree is a word like very, rather, quite. • 212 demonstrative This, that, these and those are demonstrative determiners or

pronouns. • 175

determiner a word that can come before a noun to form a noun phrase, e.g. a, the, this, my • 143(2a)

direct object See indirect object. direct speech See indirect speech.

echo question a form which requests the repetition of information, e.g. She's gone to Siberia. ~ Where has she gone? • 35(1)

echo tag a short question form expressing interest, e.g. I play chess. ~ Oh, do you?

• 35(2)

emphasis/emphatic/emphasize making a word or phrase more important, drawing special attention to a word or phrase

emphatic pronoun a pronoun such as myselfor themselves, emphasizing a noun phrase, e.g. The Queen herselfvisited the scene. •186

empty subject In the sentence It was raining, it is an empty subject. It has no meaning, but we use it because we need a subject.

empty verb In expressions like have a wash, give a laugh, have and give are empty verbs. It is the nouns wash and laugh which express the action. • 87

end position at the end of a sentence

exclamation a special pattern with how or what, e.g. What a time you've been! or any sentence spoken with emphasis and feeling, e.g. Quick!

finite A finite verb is one like goes, waited, was causing, have seen, will be, can carry. It either has a tense (present or past) or a modal verb. It can be the verb in a simple one-clause sentence. A non-finite verb is an infinitive, gerund or participle, e.g. to go, waiting. A clause is a finite clause (she goes to college) or a non-finite clause (going to college), depending on whether the verb is finite or not. • 59

focus adverbial e.g. only, even, especially • 213

formal We speak in a more formal style to strangers than we do to our friends. We use formal language to be polite, or on official occasions. A business letter is more formal than a letter to a friend. I am afraid I have no information is more formal than Sorry, I don't know.

frequency An adverbial of frequency tells us how often, e.g. always, twice a week

• 211

front position at the beginning of a sentence full form See short form.

future continuous a form with will + be + active participle: I will be playinggolf all afternoon. • 75

future perfect a form with will + have + past participle: We will have saved enough money soon. • 79

gender The words waiter (male/masculine) and waitress (female/feminine) are different in gender.

gerund the ing-form of a verb used like a noun, e.g. Sailing isfun. I've given up smoking.

gerund clause a clause with a gerund as its verb, e.g. Running a business isn't easy. I like sitting outside.

group noun (or collective noun) a noun referring to a group, e.g. team, gang, class, audience • 156

identifying relative clause (or defining relative clause) a relative clause that tells us which one is meant, e.g. the man who lives next door • 272(3a)

idiom/idiomatic a group of words with a meaning which is different from the meanings of the individual words, e.g. come off(- succeed), make up your mind (= decide)

imperative the base form of the verb used to give orders, express good wishes etc:

Wait there. Have a good time. • 19 indefinite article a or an

indirect object In the sentence They gave the children presents, the noun phrase presents is the direct object, and the noun phrase the children is the indirect object. The indirect object often expresses the person receiving something. • 10

indirect question How much is this picture? is a direct question. In an indirect question, we put the question in a sub clause: Could you tell me how much this picture is?

indirect speech Direct speech is reporting someone's words by repeating them: 'I know the answer,' Karen said. Indirect speech is giving the meaning in our own words: Karen said she knew the answer. • 263

infinitive The infinitive is the base form of the verb, e.g. They let us stay the night.

We often use it with to, e.g. They invited us to stay the night. • 115

infinitive clause a clause with an infinitive as its verb, e.g. He decided to open the box. You'll need to work hard.

informal We use an informal style in everyday conversation and when we write to a friend. See also formal.

GLOSSARY PAGE 400

ing-form the form of a verb with ing added, e.g. making, flying, used as gerund or active participle.

intonation the rise and fall of the voice • 54

intransitive verb a verb that cannot take an object, although it may have a prepositional phrase after it, e.g. Something happened. You must listen to me.

• 8

invert/inversion Inversion means changing the order. In the question Has the play started? there is inversion of subject and auxiliary verb (The play has started.).

irregular See regular.

linking adverb e.g. also, however, finally • 216

linking verb a verb like be, seem, become, look, feel that can take a complement

• 9

literary A literary style is a formal style typical of literature, of writing.

main clause A sentence has one or more main clauses, e.g. It rained or It rained and Igot wet. A main clause can have a sub clause, e.g. I woke up when the alarm went off. Here I woke up is the main clause, and when the alarm went off is a sub clause. A main clause can stand on its own, but a sub clause is part of the main clause. •239(2)

main verb the finite verb in a main clause, e.g. I like classical music. Hearing a knock, hejumped up. Yourfriend will expect us to be ready.

manner An adverbial of manner tells us how something happens, e.g. sadly, in a hurry. • 209

mid position in the middle of the sentence, after an auxiliary verb but before an ordinary verb, e.g. I wasjust writing a note. For details • 208(4).

modal (auxiliary) verb The modal verbs are will, would, shall, should, can, could, may, might, must, need, ought to, dare.

modifier/modify In the phrase a narrow street, the adjective narrow is a modifier. It modifies the noun street. It changes our idea of the street by giving more information about it. Other kinds of words can modify: I've got a tennis ball. We stopped suddenly.

nationality word e.g. English, French, Japanese, Mexican • 288

negative A negative sentence has n't or not or a negative word such as never, nothing. • 17

nominalization expressing the meaning of a clause (e.g. They are enthusiastic) in a noun phrase (Their enthusiasm is obvious.) • 149

non-finite See finite.

noun a word like desk, team, apple, information •141

noun clause In the sentence I knew that England had won, the noun clause that England had won functions as the object. Compare I knew the result. • 260 noun phrase a noun or pronoun on its own, e.g. butter, Helen, you, or a group of

words that can function as a subject, object or complement, e.g. a shop, my bag, a lot of spare time • 143

object In the sentence He was wearing a sweater, the noun phrase a sweater is the object. The object usually comes after the verb. See also indirect object, prepositional object.

object complement a complement that relates to the object of the sentence, e.g.

The quarrel made Al unhappy. They voted her their leader. • 11 ordinary verb a verb such as write, stay, invite, sell, not an auxiliary verb

PAGE 401 GLOSSARY

pair noun a plural noun like jeans, pyjamas, glasses • 155 participle See active participle, past participle, passive participle.

participle clause a clause with a participle as its verb, e.g. Arriving home, Ifound a parcel on the doorstep. We saw a ship launched by the Queen.

passive The sentence Someone stole my coat is active, but My coat was stolen is passive. A passive verb has be and a passive participle: was stolen. • 103

passive gerund e.g. No one likes being made to lookfoolish. passive infinitive e.g. to be done, to be expected

passive participle the form of a verb used after be in the passive, e.g. The room was cleaned, and used before a noun, e.g. We don't eatfrozen food.

past continuous a form with the past of be and an active participle: It was raining at the time. • 66

past participle the form of a verb used after have in the perfect, e.g. They have arrived. How long has he known?

past perfect a form with had and a past participle, e.g. / had answered the letter the week before. • 68

past perfect continuous a form with had been and an active participle: I saw that it had been raining. • 68

past simple the past tense without an auxiliary, e.g. it stopped, they left • 65 perfect a verb form with have and a past participle, e.g. Thefilm has started.

• 61(3)

perfect gerund e.g. He denied having taken the money. perfect infinitive e.g. to have done, to have waited

performative verb, one which expresses the action it performs. Others are promise, apologize, suggest, refuse. • 16(3)

person First person relates to the speaker (7, we). Second person relates to the person spoken to (you). Third person relates to other people and things (he, she, it, they).

personal pronoun e.g. /, you, he, we • 184

phrasal verb a verb + adverb combination, e.g. get up, look out, turn off phrase a word or group of words that is part of a clause, e.g. yourfriend (a noun

phrase), was asking (a verb phrase) • 4

plural A plural form means more than one. Tree is singular; trees is plural. positive I'm ready is positive; I'm not ready is negative.

possessive a form expressing the idea of something belonging to someone, or a similar relationship, e.g. my chair, theirs, whose sister, Diana'sjob

possessive determiner my, your, his, our etc • 174 possessive pronoun mine, yours, his, ours etc • 174

predicative the position of an adjective after a linking verb such as be, e.g. The day wascold.

prefix Minibus has the prefix mini. Unhappy has the prefix un. • 284 preposition a word like on, by, to, with • 223

prepositional object In the sentence We sat on the floor, the noun phrase the floor is a prepositional object, the object of the preposition on.

prepositional phrase a preposition + noun phrase, e.g. on my way, in the garden, to you, or a preposition + adverb, e.g. before then.

prepositional verb a verb + preposition combination, e.g. look at, payfor, believe in

present continuous a form with the present of be and an active participle, e.g. we are waiting • 64

arrived, we have begun • 65

present perfect continuous a form with the present of have + been + active participle: she has been working all day • 67

present simple the present tense without an auxiliary, e.g. we know, she travels

• 64

pronoun A pronoun is a word that functions like a noun phrase, e.g. you, he, ourselves, someone. • 183

quantifier a word saying how many or how much, e.g. all, some, half, a lot of, enough

question a sentence which asks for information • 21

question phrase a phrase with what or how, e.g. what time, how long • 28 question tag a short question added to the end of a statement, e.g. That was nice,

wasn't it? • 34

question word These words can be used as question words: who, whom, what, which, whose, where, when, why, how. • 27

reflexive pronoun a pronoun such as myself or themselves referring to the subject, e.g. David blamed himselffor the accident. • 186

regular A regular form is the same as most others; it follows the normal pattern. The verb call has a regular past tense called. But the verb sing has an irregular past tense sang.

relative adverb where, when and why in a relative clause, e.g. the hotel where we stayed • 279

relative clause a clause that modifies a noun, e.g. the woman who called yesterday, the car you were driving, people going homefrom work • 271

relative pronoun a word like who, which, that in a relative clause, e.g. the person who started the argument

s-form the form of a verb with s or es added, e.g. The weather looks good. sentence A sentence can be a statement, question, imperative or exclamation;

• 15. It consists of one or more clauses. A written sentence begins with a capital letter and ends with a full stop (.) or question mark (?) or exclamation mark (!).

sequence of tenses the use of the same tense in the main clause and sub clause, e.g. I'm going to Greece because I like it there. (both present), I realized I had given the wrong answer. (both past)

short answer a subject + auxiliary used to answer a question, e.g. Who's winning? ~ You are. • 29(4) See also yes/no short answer.

short form Some words can be written in a full form or a short form, e.g. have or 've. In the short form we use an apostrophe in place of part of the word. • 55(2)

sibilant the sounds and

simple tenses the present simple or past simple tense without an auxiliary, e.g. it opens, it opened

singular A singular form refers to one thing only. Car is singular; cars is plural. state verb a verb that refers to something staying the same, not an action, e.g. be,

belong, remain, know • 62

statement a sentence which gives information, not a question or request • 16 stress speaking a word or syllable with more force and so making it sound more

important

strong form See weak form.

PAGE 403 GLOSSARY

sub clause See main clause.

subject In the sentence The ship sails in an hour, the noun phrase the ship is the subject. In a statement the subject comes before the verb.

subject complement See complement.

subjunctive The subjunctive is the base form of a verb. We can use it in rather formal English in some contexts, e.g. I propose that the money be made available.

• 242

suffix The adverb calmly has a suffix ly. The noun movement has a suffix ment.

• 285

superlative Superlative forms are oldest, mostfamous, most sharply etc. • 217 syllable The word important has three syllables: important.

tag See question tag.

tag question a sentence with a question tag, e.g. We've got time, haven't we? tense a form of the verb which shows whether we are talking about the present

(I refuse, he knows, we are) or the past (I refused, he knew, we were) •61(1) to-infinitive a verb form like to go, to answer, to sleep • 115

to-infinitive clause See infinitive clause.

transitive verb a verb that takes an object, e.g. We enjoyed the meal. The postman brings the letters. • 8

truth adverb e.g. definitely, possibly, maybe • 214

uncountable noun a noun that cannot have a/an in front of it and has no plural form, e.g. gold, petrol, music, • 144. An uncountable noun takes a singular verb.

verb In the sentence The parcel arrived yesterday, the word arrived is a verb. Verbs are words like play, walk, look, have, discover.

verb of perception e.g. see, hear, feel, smell

verb of reporting a verb used to report what someone says or thinks, e.g. say, tell, answer, promise, think • 265

verb phrase a verb or a group ofwords that functions as a verb, e.g. opens, went, is coming, had waited, can swim, must have seen • 57

viewpoint adverbial e.g. economically, weather-wise • 213(3)

voiced/voiceless These consonant sounds are voiceless:

. These consonant sounds are voiced:

. All vowel sounds are voiced.

vowel The letters a, e, i, o and u are vowels. The other letters, e.g. b, c, d,f, are consonants.

weak form Some words can be spoken in a strong form or a weak form. For example, the word can has a strong form and a weak form .•55(1)

wh-question a question that begins with a question word, e.g. who, what, where

• 24

word class a type of word such as a noun, adjective or preposition • 3

yes/no question a question that can be answered yes or no, e.g. Are you ready?~ Yes, I am. Did anyone call? ~ No. • 24

yes/no short answer an answer such as Yes, it is. or No, they didn't. • 29(2)