Glossary of Verb Grammar Terms

ADVERB a word usually used with verbs, adjectives or other adverbs that gives more information about when, where, how or in what circumstances something happens, for example, quickly, happily, now.

AGREE (to) to change word endings according to whether you are referring to masculine, feminine, singular or plural people or things.

AGREEMENT changing word endings according to whether you are referring to masculine, feminine, singular or plural people or things.

ARTICLE a word like the, a and an, which is used in front of a noun. See also definite article and indefinite article.

AUXILIARY VERB a verb such as be, have and do when it is used with a main verb to form tenses, negatives and questions.

BASE FORM the form of the verb without any endings added to it, for example, walk, have, be, go. Compare with infinitive.

CLAUSE a group of words containing a verb.

CONDITIONAL a verb form used to talk about things that would happen or would be true under certain conditions, for example, I would help you if I could. It is also used to say what you would like or need, for example, Could you give me the bill?

CONJUGATE (to) to give a verb different endings according to whether you are referring to I, you, they and so on, and according to whether you are referring to past, present or future, for example, I have, she had, they will have.

CONJUGATION a group of verbs which have the same endings as each other or change according to the same pattern.

DEFINITE ARTICLE the word the. Compare with indefinite article.

DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUN one of the words this, that, these and those used instead of a noun to point out people or things, for example, That looks fun.

DIRECT OBJECT a noun referring to the person or thing affected by the action described by a verb, for example, She wrote her name.; I shut the window. Compare with indirect object.

DIRECT OBJECT PRONOUN a word such as me, him, us and them which is used instead of a noun to stand in for the person or thing most directly affected by the action described by the verb. Compare with indirect object pronoun.

ENDING a form added to a verb, for example, go > goes, and to adjectives and nouns depending on whether they refer to masculine, feminine, singular or plural things.

FEMININE a form of noun, pronoun or adjective that is used to refer to a living being, thing or idea that is not classed as masculine.

FUTURE a verb tense used to talk about something that will happen or will be true.

IMPERATIVE the form of a verb used when giving orders and instructions, for example, Shut the door!; Sit down!; Don’t go!

IMPERFECT one of the verb tenses used to talk about the past, especially in descriptions, and to say what was happening or used to happen, for example, I used to walk to school; It was sunny at the weekend. Compare with perfect.

IMPERSONAL VERB one which does not refer to a real person or thing and where the subject is represented by it, for example, It’s going to rain; It’s 10 o’clock.

INDEFINITE ARTICLE the words a and an. Compare with definite article.

INDEFINITE PRONOUN a small group of pronouns such as everything, nobody and something, which are used to refer to people or things in a general way, without saying exactly who or what they are.

INDIRECT OBJECT a noun used with verbs that take two objects. For example, in I gave the carrot to the rabbit, the rabbit is the indirect object and carrot is the direct object. Compare with direct object.

INDIRECT OBJECT PRONOUN when a verb has two objects (a direct one and an indirect one), the indirect object pronoun is used instead of a noun to show the person or the thing the action is intended to benefit or harm, for example, me in He gave me a book and Can you get me a towel? Compare with direct object pronoun.

INDIRECT QUESTION used to tell someone else about a question and introduced by a verb such as ask, tell or wonder, for example, He asked me what the time was; I wonder who he is.

INFINITIVE the form of the verb with to in front of it and without any endings added, for example, to walk, to have, to be, to go. Compare with base form.

IRREGULAR VERB a verb whose forms do not follow a general pattern or the normal rules. Compare with regular verb.

MASCULINE a form of noun, pronoun or adjective that is used to refer to a living being, thing or idea that is not classed as feminine.

NEGATIVE a question or statement which contains a word such as not, never or nothing, and is used to say that something is not happening, is not true or is absent, for example, I never eat meat; Don’t you love me?

NOUN a ‘naming’ word for a living being, thing or idea, for example, woman, desk, happiness, Andrew.

NUMBER used to say how many things you are referring to or where something comes in a sequence.

OBJECT a noun or pronoun which refers to a person or thing that is affected by the action described by the verb. Compare with direct object, indirect object and subject.

OBJECT PRONOUN one of the set of pronouns including me, him and them, which are used instead of the noun as the object of a verb or preposition. Compare with subject pronoun.

PART OF SPEECH a word class, for example, noun, verb, adjective, preposition, pronoun.

PASSIVE a form of the verb that is used when the subject of the verb is the person or thing that is affected by the action, for example, we were told.

PAST HISTORIC one of the verb tenses used to talk about the past when referring to completed actions, whether they happened recently or a long time ago and regardless of how long they lasted.

PAST PARTICIPLE a verb form which is used to form perfect and pluperfect tenses and passives, for example, watched, swum. Some past participles are also used as adjectives, for example, a broken watch.

PERFECT one of the verb tenses used to talk about the past, especially about actions that took place and were completed in the past. Compare with imperfect.

PERSON one of three classes: the first person (I, we), the second person (you singular and you plural), and the third person (he, she, it and they).

PERSONAL PRONOUN one of the group of words including I, you and they which are used to refer to yourself, the people you are talking to, or the people or things you are talking about.

PLUPERFECT one of the verb tenses used to describe something that had happened or had been true at a point in the past, for example, I’d forgotten to finish my homework.

PLURAL the form of a word which is used to refer to more than one person or thing. Compare with singular.

PREPOSITION is a word such as at, for, with, into or from, which is usually followed by a noun, pronoun or, in English, a word ending in -ing. Prepositions show how people and things relate to the rest of the sentence, for example, She’s at home; a tool for cutting grass; It’s from David.

PRESENT a verb form used to talk about what is true at the moment, what happens regularly, and what is happening now, for example, I’m a student; I travel to college by train; I’m studying languages.

PRESENT PARTICIPLE a verb form ending in -ing which is used in English to form verb tenses, and which may be used as an adjective or a noun, for example, What are you doing?; the setting sun; Swimming is easy!

PRONOUN a word which you use instead of a noun, when you do not need or want to name someone or something directly, for example, it, you, none.

PROPER NOUN the name of a person, place, organization or thing. Proper nouns are always written with a capital letter, for example, Kevin, Glasgow, Europe, London Eye.

REFLEXIVE PRONOUN a word ending in -self or -selves, such as myself or themselves, which refers back to the subject, for example, He hurt himself.; Take care of yourself.

REFLEXIVE VERB a verb where the subject and object are the same, and where the action ‘reflects back’ on the subject. A reflexive verb is used with a reflexive pronoun such as myself, yourself, herself, for example, I washed myself.; He shaved himself.

REGULAR VERB a verb whose forms follow a general pattern or the normal rules. Compare with irregular verb.

SINGULAR the form of a word which is used to refer to one person or thing. Compare with plural.

STEM the main part of a verb to which endings are added.

SUBJECT the noun in a sentence or phrase that refers to the person or thing that does the action described by the verb or is in the state described by the verb, for example, My cat doesn’t drink milk. Compare with object.

SUBJECT PRONOUN a word such as I, he, she and they which carries out the action described by the verb. Pronouns stand in for nouns when it is clear who is being talked about, for example, My brother isn’t here at the moment. He’ll be back in an hour. Compare with object pronoun.

SUBJUNCTIVE a verb form used in certain circumstances to express some sort of feeling, or to show doubt about whether something will happen or whether something is true. It is only used occasionally in modern English, for example, If I were you, I wouldn’t bother.; So be it.

TENSE the form of a verb which shows whether you are referring to the past, present or future.

VERB a ‘doing’ word which describes what someone or something does, what someone or something is, or what happens to them, for example, be, sing, live.