A-Z Grammar Terms

Gap: A missing word or phrase in a sentence.

Example: She wants __ go home. (Missing "to")

Gender: A way of classifying nouns as masculine, feminine, or neutral.

Example: Actor (male), Actress (female), Table (neutral)

Generic: A word or sentence that refers to things in general.

Example: Dogs are loyal animals.

Genitive: A form showing possession, often using 's or of.

Example: John’s book / The pages of the book

Genitive pronouns (see possessive pronouns): Pronouns that show ownership.

Example: mine, yours, his, hers, theirs

Gerund: A verb ending in -ing that acts like a noun.

Example: Swimming is fun.

Gerund-participle, gerund-participial clause: A clause using a verb in -ing form.

Example: Running fast, he won the race.

Get-passive (see passive): A passive sentence using "get" instead of "be".

Example: He got hurt in the game.

Given and new information: "Given" is already known; "new" is new to the listener.

Example: The sun is bright today. (Sun = given, bright = new)

Gradable adjectives: Adjectives that can have different degrees (more, less).

Example: small → smaller → smallest

Gradable word: A word that can be used with "very" or "more".

Example: very hot, more interesting

Grammatical concord (see notional concord): When subjects and verbs match in number and form.

Example: He is (not "He are").

Grammatical words (see function words, compare lexical words): Words used for grammar, not meaning.

Example: the, in, and, of

Group genitive (see genitive): A possessive form with multiple words.

Example: My brother and sister’s house (belongs to both).

Head: The main word in a phrase.

Example: Big house (house is the head)

Historic present: Using the present tense to talk about past events for storytelling.

Example: So yesterday, I go to the mall, and guess what happens?

Hypothetical: Talking about something imagined or unreal.

Example: If I were rich, I would travel.

Hypothetical past: Talking about an unreal past situation.

Example: If she had studied, she would have passed.

If-clause (see conditional clause): A clause that starts with "if" to show a condition.

Example: If it rains, we will stay inside.

Imperative: A command or request.

Example: Close the door.

Imperfective (see perfective): An action that is incomplete or ongoing.

Example: She was reading when I arrived.

Impersonal: A sentence without a clear subject.

Example: It is raining.

Inclusive we: "We" that includes the listener.

Example: We (you and I) are going to the party.

Indefinite article: The words a or an, used for general nouns.

Example: A cat is on the roof.

Indefinite pronoun, indefinite determiner: Words that refer to people or things without being specific.

Example: Someone is calling. / I have some water.

Independent and dependent clauses:

Independent clause: Can stand alone.

Example: She loves music.

Dependent clause: Needs another clause.

Example: Because she loves music...

Indicative mood (see mood): The normal form of verbs for statements and facts.

Example: She likes coffee.

Indirect object: The person or thing receiving something.

Example: She gave me a gift.

Indirect speech (see reported speech): Telling what someone said without direct quotes.

Example: He said he was tired.

Infinitival clause (see infinitive, infinitive clause): A clause using an infinitive verb.

Example: I want to study English.

Infinitive: The base form of a verb, often with "to".

Example: to eat, to sleep

Infinitive clause (see infinitive, non-finite clause, to-infinitive): A clause with an infinitive.

Example: I told her to wait.

Inflection (or inflexion): Changing a word’s form to show tense, number, or comparison.

Example: walk → walked (past tense), big → bigger (comparative)

Inflectional morphology (see morphology): The study of how words change form without changing meaning.

Example: cat → cats (plural), run → running (continuous tense)

Informal (see formal and informal): A relaxed way of speaking or writing.

Example: Gonna (instead of "going to")

Information (packaging) (see given and new information): The way we organize information in a sentence.

-ing clause: A clause that starts with an -ing verb.

Example: Singing loudly, she walked home.

-ing form: The form of a verb ending in -ing.

Example: dancing, eating, running

Instrument adverb/adverbial (see adjunct; adverbial): An adverb that shows how something is done.

Example: He fixed it with a hammer.

Integrated relative clause (see restrictive relative clause): A clause that gives necessary information about a noun.

Example: The boy who won the race is my friend.

Intensification: Making something stronger or more extreme.

Example: Very good, extremely cold

Intensifier: A word that makes an adjective or adverb stronger.

Example: Really fast, so happy, too hot

Interjection: A short word or phrase that shows emotion.

Example: Wow! Oops! Oh no!

Interrogative: A word or sentence used to ask a question.

Example: Who is that?

Interrogative clause (see clause): A sentence that asks a question.

Example: Where did you go?

Intransitive (see transitive verb): A verb that does not take an object.

Intransitive verb: A verb that does not need a direct object.

Example: She sleeps early.

Introductory it, introductory there: Using "it" or "there" at the beginning of a sentence.

Example: It is important to study.
Example: There is a book on the table.

Inversion: Changing word order, often in questions or for emphasis.

Example: Never have I seen such beauty!

Irrealis: A verb form that shows something unreal or hypothetical.

Example: If I were a bird, I would fly.

Irregular plurals: Nouns that do not follow the regular plural rule (-s or -es).

Example: child → children, mouse → mice

Irregular verbs: Verbs that do not follow the regular past tense rule (-ed).

Example: go → went, eat → ate