oxford_guide_to_english_grammar

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 I got 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, he jumped up. Your friend 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 was just 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