# Adjective and Adverb

English distinguishes between **adjectives**, which qualify nouns and pronouns, and **adverbs**, which mainly modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs. Not all languages make this exact distinction; many (including English) have words that can function as either. For example, in English, fast is an adjective in "a fast car" (where it qualifies the noun car) but an adverb in "he drove fast" (where it modifies the verb drove).

# Adjective

An [adjective](/tags/adjective) is word whose main syntactic role is to modify a noun or noun phrase. Its semantic role is to change information given by the noun.

Adjectives are one of the main parts of speech of the English language, although historically they were classed together with [nouns](/tags/noun). Certain words that were traditionally considered to be adjectives, including _the_, _this_, _my_, etc., are today usually classed separately, as [determiners](/tags/determinative).

# Adverb

An [adverb](/tags/adverb) is a word that modifies a [verb](/tags/verb), adjective, determiner, [clause](/tags/clause), [preposition](/tags/preposition), or [sentence](/tags/sentence). Adverbs typically express manner, place, time, frequency, degree, level of certainty, etc., answering questions such as _how?_, _in what way?_, _when?_, _where?_, _and to what extent?_. This function is called the adverbial function, and may be realized by single words (adverbs) or by multi-word expressions (adverbial [phrases](/tags/phrase) and adverbial clauses).

Adverbs are traditionally regarded as one of the parts of speech. However, modern linguists note that the term "adverb" has come to be used as a kind of "catch-all" category, used to classify words with various different types of syntactic behavior, not necessarily having much in common except that they do not fit into any of the other available categories (noun, adjective, preposition, etc.)


Adjective and adverb

# Adjective

An **adjective** is a word that describes or modifies a [noun](/tags/noun) or pronoun, giving more information about its qualities, state, or identity. Adjectives are one of the core parts of speech in English, and you use them constantly — to describe people, objects, feelings, and ideas.

## What adjectives do

Adjectives typically answer questions like *What kind?*, *Which one?*, or *How many?* They can appear in two main positions:

- **Before a noun** (called **attributive position**): *a tall building*, *fresh coffee*, *three students*
- **After a linking verb** (called **predicative position**): *The soup is hot*, *She seems tired*

Some adjectives work in only one position. For example, *main* is almost always attributive (*the main reason*), while *asleep* is almost always predicative (*The baby is asleep*).

## Examples

- ✅ She wore a **red** dress. (*red* modifies *dress*)
- ✅ The exam was **difficult**. (*difficult* follows the linking verb *was*)
- ❌ She wore a **redly** dress. ([Adverbs](/tags/adverb) like *redly* don't modify nouns.)
- ✅ He gave me **useful** advice. (*useful* modifies the uncountable noun *advice*)

## Adjective order

When you stack multiple adjectives before a noun, English follows a conventional order: opinion → size → age → shape → colour → origin → material → purpose. For example, *a lovely small old round brown French wooden serving table* — though in real life you'd rarely pile up that many.

> **Self-check:** If your sentence sounds awkward with two adjectives before a noun, try swapping their order. The version that "sounds right" usually follows the standard sequence.

## Adjectives vs. determiners

Words like *the*, *this*, *my*, and *some* were historically grouped with adjectives, but modern grammar classifies them as [determiners](/tags/determiner). Unlike true adjectives, determiners don't have comparative forms (*bigger* works, but *\*more the* doesn't) and occupy a fixed slot before any adjectives.

## Comparatives and superlatives

Most adjectives have **comparative** and **superlative** forms used to compare things:

- *tall → taller → tallest*
- *expensive → more expensive → most expensive*

To practice these, try [Comparatives and Superlatives](/intro/comparatives-and-superlatives). You can also build a foundation with [Basics. Adjectives and Adverbs.](/intro/basics-a1-adjectives-and-adverbs) and [Basics. Word Order.](/intro/basics-a1-word-order).


Adjective

# Adjunct

In linguistics, an **adjunct** is an optional, or _structurally dispensable_, part of a sentence, clause, or phrase that, if removed or discarded, will not otherwise affect the remainder of the sentence. Example: In the sentence John helped Bill in Central Park, the phrase _in Central Park_ is an adjunct.


Adjunct

# Adverb

An **adverb** is a word that [modifies](/tags/modifier) a [verb](/tags/verb), [adjective](/tags/adjective), [determiner](/tags/determiner), [clause](/tags/clause), preposition, or [sentence](/tags/sentence). Adverbs typically express manner, place, time, frequency, degree, level of certainty, etc., answering questions such as _how?_, _in what way?_, _when?_, _where?_, and _to what extent?_. This function is called the adverbial function, and may be realized by single words (adverbs) or by multi-word expressions (adverbial phrases and adverbial clauses).

Adverbs are traditionally regarded as one of the parts of speech. However, modern linguists note that the term "adverb" has come to be used as a kind of "catch-all" category, used to classify words with various different types of syntactic behavior, not necessarily having much in common except that they do not fit into any of the other available categories (noun, adjective, preposition, etc.)


Adverb

# Apostrophe

The **apostrophe** (**_' or ’_**) character is a punctuation mark, and sometimes a diacritical mark, in languages that use the Latin alphabet and some other alphabets.

In English it is used for several purposes:

-   The marking of the omission of one or more letters (as in the contraction) of _do not_ to _don't_.
-   The marking of possessive case of nouns (as in _the eagle's feathers_, or _in one month's time_).
-   The marking of plurals of individual characters (e.g. _p's and q's_).

The apostrophe looks the same as a [closing single quotation mark](/tags/quotation-mark) in many fonts, although they have different meanings, and Unicode recommends using the quotation mark character to represent most uses of the apostrophe.


Apostrophe

# Argument

In linguistics, an **argument** is an expression that helps complete the meaning of a [predicate](/tags/predicate), the latter referring in this context to a main verb and its auxiliaries. In this regard, the **complement**) is a closely related concept. Most predicates take one, two, or three arguments. A predicate and its arguments form a **predicate-argument structure**. The discussion of predicates and arguments is associated most with (content) verbs and noun phrases (NPs), although other syntactic categories can also be construed as predicates and as arguments. Arguments must be distinguished from [adjuncts](/tags/adjunct). While a predicate needs its arguments to complete its meaning, the adjuncts that appear with a predicate are optional; they are not necessary to complete the meaning of the predicate.


Argument

# Article

**Articles** are a small group of [determinatives](/tags/determinative) that signal whether a noun refers to something specific or something general. English has just three: the **definite article** *the* and the **indefinite articles** *a* and *an*. There's also a meaningful absence — the **zero article** — where no article appears at all. Mastering articles is one of the trickiest parts of English, because the rules involve both grammar and context.

## The Definite Article: *the*

Use **the** when you expect the listener or reader already knows which thing you mean. This could be because it was mentioned before, because the situation makes it obvious, or because there's only one.

- *I bought a jacket. **The** jacket was on sale.*
- *Can you close **the** door?*
- ***The** sun was setting behind the mountains.*

## The Indefinite Articles: *a* and *an*

Use **a** or **an** when introducing something for the first time or referring to any one member of a group. These only work with singular, [countable nouns](/tags/countable-and-uncountable). Use **a** before consonant sounds and **an** before vowel sounds.

- *She adopted **a** dog.*
- *He ate **an** apple.*

The choice between *a* and *an* depends on the **sound** the next word starts with, not its spelling:

- ✅ *an honest mistake* (silent *h* → vowel sound)
- ❌ *a honest mistake*
- ✅ *a university* (starts with a /j/ consonant sound)
- ❌ *an university*

> **Self-check:** Say the next word out loud. If it starts with a vowel *sound*, use *an*. Spelling can mislead you — trust your ear.

## The Zero Article

The **zero article** means no article appears before the noun. This isn't random — it follows clear patterns.

**Generic or indefinite plurals and mass nouns:**

- *Coffee keeps me awake.* (mass noun, general reference)
- *Cars need fuel.* (plural, generic reference)

**Certain institutions when used in their typical function:**

- *She's in **hospital**.* (as a patient — standard in British English)
- *He went to **prison**.* (as an inmate)

When you mean the physical building rather than its function, add **the**:

- ✅ *The plumber went to **the prison** to fix the pipes.*

**Other common zero-article contexts:**

- **Meals:** *Breakfast is ready.*
- **Years:** *She was born in 1995.*
- **Titles as complements:** *They elected her **captain**.*

## Quick Summary

| Article | Use it when… | Example |
|---|---|---|
| **the** | The listener knows which one | *Pass me the salt.* |
| **a / an** | Introducing or generalising (singular, countable) | *I need a pen.* |
| **zero (∅)** | Generic plurals, mass nouns, institutions-as-functions, meals, years | *Life is short.* |

To put these rules into practice, try [Articles Basics](/intro/articles-basics) for core patterns, [Articles: A, An, The & Zero Article](/intro/articles-a-an-the-zero) for broader coverage, or [Articles Advanced](/intro/articles-advanced) for trickier cases.


Article

# Auxiliary Verb

In English grammar, certain verb forms are classified as **auxiliary verbs**. Exact definitions of this term vary; an auxiliary verb is generally conceived as one with little semantic meaning of its own, which modifies the meaning of another verb with which it co-occurs. In English, verbs are often classed as auxiliaries on the basis of certain grammatical properties, particularly as regards their syntax – primarily whether they participate in [subject–auxiliary inversion](/tags/inversion), and can be [negated](/tags/inversion) by the simple addition of _not_ after them.

Certain auxiliaries have contracted forms, such as _-'d_ and _-'ll_ for _had/would_ and _will/shall_. There are also many contractions formed from the negations of auxiliary verbs, ending in _n't_ (a reduced form of _not_). These letter contractions can participate in inversion as a unit (as in Why _haven't you_ done it?, where the uncontracted form would be Why _have you not_ done it?), and thus in a certain sense can be regarded as auxiliary verbs in their own right.

An auxiliary verb is most generally understood as a verb that "helps" another verb by adding grammatical information to it. On this basis, the auxiliary verbs of English may be taken to include:

-   forms of the verb _do_ (do, _does_, _did_), when used with other verbs to enable the formation of questions, negation, emphasis, etc.;
-   forms of the verb _have_, when used to express perfect aspect;
-   forms of the verb _be_, when used to express progressive aspect or [passive voice](/tags/verb-passive-voice);
-   the [modal verbs](/tags/modal-verb), used in a variety of meanings, principally relating to modality.

The following are examples of sentences containing the above types of auxiliary verbs:

-   _Do_ you _want_ tea? – _do_ is an auxiliary accompanying the verb want, used here to form a question.
-   He _had_ _given_ his all. – had is an auxiliary accompanying the [past participle](/tags/participle) given, expressing perfect aspect.
-   We _are_ _singing_. – are is an auxiliary accompanying the [present participle](/tags/participle) singing, expressing progressive aspect.
-   It _was_ _destroyed_. – was is an auxiliary accompanying the past participle destroyed, expressive passive voice.
-   He _can_ _do_ it now. – can is a modal auxiliary accompanying the verb do.

However the above understanding of auxiliary verbs is not always strictly adhered to in the literature, particularly in the case of forms of the verb _be_, which may be called auxiliaries even when they do not accompany another verb.
Other approaches to defining auxiliary verbs are described in the following sections.

There is a group of English verbs which have certain special grammatical (syntactic) properties that distinguish them from other verbs.
This group consists mainly of verbs that are auxiliaries in the above sense – verbs that add grammatical meaning to other verbs – and thus some authors use the term **auxiliary verb**, in relation to English, to denote precisely the verbs in this group.
However, not all enumerations of English auxiliary verbs correspond exactly to the group of verbs having these grammatical properties.
This group of verbs may also be referred to by other names, such as **special verbs**.

The principal distinguishing properties of verbs in this special group are as follows:

-   They can participate in what is called [subject–auxiliary inversion](/tags/inversion), i.e. they can swap places with the subject of the clause, to form questions and for certain other purposes. For example, inversion of subject and verb is possible in the sentence _They can sing_ (becoming Can they sing?); but it is not possible in _They like to sing_ – it is not correct to say _Like they to sing?_ (instead _do-support_ is required: _Do they like to sing?_).
-   They undergo [negation](/tags/negation) by the addition of _not_ after them. For example, one can say They _cannot_ sing, but not _They like not to sing_ (again _do-support_ is required: _They don't like..._).
-   Other distinct features of verbs in this group include their ability to introduce verb phrase ellipsis (_I can sing_ can be shortened to I can in appropriate contexts, whereas _I like to sing_ cannot be shortened to I like), and the positioning of certain [adverbs](/tags/adverb) directly after them (compare _I can often sing_ with _I often like to sing_).

The group of verbs with the above properties consists of:

-   the finite indicative forms of the verb _be_: _am_, _is_, _are_, _was_, _were_;
-   the finite indicative forms of the verb _have_: _have_, _has_, _had_, principally when used to make perfect verb forms;
-   the finite indicative forms of the verb _do_: _do_, _does_, _did_, when used to provide do-support;
-   the principal [modal verbs](/tags/modal-verb) _can_, _could_, _may_, _might_, _must_, _shall_, _should_, _will_, _would_;
-   certain other verbs, sometimes but not always classed as modals: _ought_; _dare_ and _need_ in certain uses; _had_ in _had better_; and sometimes _used_ in _used to_ (see the relevant sections of [modal verbs](/tags/modal-verb) for details).

If membership of this syntactic class is considered to be the defining property for auxiliary verbs, it is therefore the above-listed verbs that will be considered as auxiliaries.

Additionally, non-indicative and non-finite forms of the same verbs (when performing the same functions) are usually described as auxiliaries too, even though all or most of the distinctive syntactical properties do not apply to them specifically.

This concerns _be_ (as infinitive, imperative and subjunctive), _being_ and _been_; and when used in the expression of perfect aspect, _have_, _having_ and _had_.

The chief difference between this syntactic definition of **auxiliary verb** and the functional definition given in the section above is that the syntactic definition includes the verb _be_ even when used simply as a [copular verb](/tags/to-be), in sentences like _I am hungry_ and _It was a cat_, where it does not accompany any other verb.

Sometimes, non-auxiliary uses of _have_ follow auxiliary syntax, as in _Have you any ideas?_ and _I haven't a clue_.

Other lexical verbs do not do this in modern English, although they did so formerly, and such uses as _I know not..._ can be found in archaic English.

Lists or sets of auxiliary verbs in English, as given by various authors, generally consist of most or all of the verbs mentioned in the above sections, though with minor discrepancies.

The main differences between the various proposed sets of auxiliary verbs are noted below.

-   For the reasons mentioned above, forms of the verb _be_ may or may not be regarded as auxiliaries when used as a [copula](/tags/to-be) not accompanying any other verb.
-   The verb _ought_ is sometimes excluded from the class of auxiliaries (specifically the [modal auxiliaries](/tags/modal-verb)) on the grounds that, unlike the principal modals, it requires the [to-infinitive](/tags/infinitive) rather than the bare infinitive.
-   The verbs **dare** and **need** are not always considered auxiliaries (or modals); their auxiliary-like syntactic behavior (and their modal-like invariance) applies only to some instances of these verbs, e.g., dare and need.
-   The verbs _had_ and _used_ in the expressions _had better_ and _used to_ are not always included among the auxiliaries or modals; in the case of used to questions and negations are in any case more frequently formed using do-support than with auxiliary syntax.
-   Other verbs with modal-like or auxiliary-like function may sometimes be classed as auxiliaries even though they do not have auxiliary-like syntactic behavior; this may apply to _have_ in the expression _have to_, meaning _must_.

As mentioned below, the contractions of negated forms of auxiliary verbs (_isn't_, _shouldn't_, etc.) behave in a certain sense as if they were auxiliaries in their own right, in that they can participate as a whole in subject–auxiliary inversion.

# Meaning Contribution

Forms of the verbs _have_ and _be_, used as auxiliaries with a main verb's [past participle](/tags/participle) and [present participle](/tags/participle) respectively, express perfect aspect and progressive aspect. When forms of _be_ are used with the past participle, they express [passive voice](/tags/verb-passive-voice). It is possible to combine any two or all three of these uses: The room _has been being_ cleaned for the past three hours. Here the auxiliaries _has_, _been_ and _being_ (each followed by the appropriate participle type) combine to express perfect and progressive aspect and passive voice.

The auxiliary _do_ (_does_, _did_) does not necessarily make any meaning contribution, although it can be used to add emphasis to a clause. This is called the emphatic mood in English. An example of this use is found in "I _do_ go to work on time every day." Also, _Do_ does help in the formation of questions, negations, etc.

Other auxiliaries – the modal verbs – contribute meaning chiefly in the form of modality, although some of them (particularly _will_ and sometimes _shall_) express future time reference. Their uses are detailed at [modal verbs](/tags/modal-verb) article, and tables summarizing their principal meaning contributions can be found in the articles on [modal verb](/tags/modal-verb) and [auxiliary verb](/tags/auxiliary).


Auxiliary verb

# English Grammar Basics

"English Grammar Basics" tag marks quiz and explainers that intend to provide a solid foundation in English language grammar. This includes all the major concepts and topics in English grammar, including nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, tenses, voice, mood, and sentence structure. The explanations we provide in quiz intro sections are clear and concise, making it easy for learners of all levels to understand. These quizzes are designed to be fun and engaging, helping you to retain the information more effectively. Whether you're a beginner or looking to refresh your knowledge, look for content marked with the "English Grammar Basics" tag for everything you need to master English language grammar.


English Grammar Basics

# A1 | Elementary | Beginners

**CEFR A1** is the first level of the **Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR)**, a widely used standard for measuring language ability. If you're just starting to learn English — or rebuilding from scratch — this is where you begin.

## What can an A1 learner do?

At A1, you can handle the most basic, everyday communication. Specifically, you're expected to:

- **Understand and use familiar everyday expressions** — greetings, simple questions, common signs and instructions.
- **Introduce yourself and others** — say where you live, talk about people you know, describe things you have.
- **Ask and answer simple personal questions** — "What's your name?", "Where are you from?", "Do you have a car?"
- **Have short conversations** — as long as the other person speaks slowly and clearly and is willing to help.

## What grammar does A1 cover?

A1 focuses on the building blocks of English grammar. You'll work with:

- **Basic verb forms** — the [present tense](/tags/present-tenses) of *be*, *have*, and *do*, plus simple regular and irregular verbs
- **Simple sentence structure** — subject + verb + object [word order](/tags/word-order)
- **Common determiners and pronouns** — *a*, *the*, *this*, *my*, *he*, *she*, *it*
- **Basic prepositions** — *in*, *on*, *at*, *to*, *from*
- **Simple questions** — *yes/no* questions and *wh-* questions (*what*, *where*, *who*)
- **Everyday vocabulary and [collocations](/tags/collocations)** — phrases that naturally go together, like *make breakfast* or *do homework*

## How do you know if you're A1?

If you can read a short text like a menu or a bus sign, fill out a simple form with your personal details, and ask someone basic questions in English — you're operating at A1. If most of that still feels challenging, you're in exactly the right place.

> **Self-check:** Try introducing yourself in five sentences — your name, where you're from, what you do, something you like, and one question for the other person. If you can do that (even with mistakes), you're solidly at A1.

## What's next?

Once you're comfortable with A1 basics, you'll move toward [A2](/tags/cefr-a2), where sentences get longer, tenses expand, and you start handling more real-world situations.

To start practising, try these challenges: [Are you A1/Beginner? Test your English CEFR Level!](/intro/test-your-english-level-a1), ["To be" in Present Tense](/intro/basics-a1-to-be-in-present), and [Basics. Word Order.](/intro/basics-a1-word-order).


A1 | Elementary | Beginners

# A2 | Elementary | Pre-intermediate

**CEFR A2** is the second level in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, often called **elementary** or **pre-intermediate**. If you're at this stage, you've moved beyond the basics of [A1](/tags/cefr-a1) and can handle simple, real-life communication — but you're still building the foundations you'll need for [B1](/tags/cefr-b1) and beyond.

## What can an A2 learner do?

At A2, you can:

- **Understand everyday expressions** related to familiar topics — personal details, family, shopping, work, and your local area.
- **Communicate in routine situations** that involve a simple, direct exchange of information (e.g. ordering food, asking for directions, making small talk).
- **Describe your background and immediate environment** in simple terms — where you live, what you do, what you need.
- **Read and understand short, simple texts** like signs, menus, timetables, and brief personal messages.

## Key grammar at A2

At this level, you're expected to be comfortable with several core grammar areas:

- **Past simple and past continuous** — talking about completed actions and actions in progress in the past.
- **Present perfect** — connecting past events to the present (*I've visited London twice*).
- **Basic modal verbs** — expressing ability, permission, necessity, and possibility (*can, must, should, have to*).
- **Common question forms** — both simple and slightly more complex (*How long have you lived here?*).
- **Articles and determiners** — using *a/an/the* correctly, along with words like *some, any, few, little*.
- **Basic conditionals** — first conditional and simple uses of *if* and *wish*.

You're also expanding your vocabulary through **collocations** (natural word pairings like *make a decision* or *take a break*) and learning to use **gerunds and infinitives** with common verbs.

## How A2 differs from A1 and B1

Compared to [A1](/tags/cefr-a1), A2 learners can do more than just produce isolated phrases — you can link simple sentences and participate in short conversations. Compared to [B1](/tags/cefr-b1), you're still relying on familiar contexts and predictable language; handling unexpected topics or expressing opinions in detail comes at the next level.

> **Self-check:** If you can describe your daily routine, talk about past experiences, and handle a basic conversation at a shop or restaurant — but struggle when the topic gets abstract or unfamiliar — you're likely at A2.

## Practice at this level

Try these challenges to test and strengthen your A2 skills: [Is your English level A2/Pre-intermediate? Test your English CEFR Level!](/intro/test-your-english-level-a2), [Basics. Present Perfect.](/intro/basics-a2-present-perfect), and [Basics. Common More Complex Questions.](/intro/basics-a2-common-more-complex-questions).


A2 | Elementary | Pre-intermediate

# B1 | Intermediate

**B1** is the **intermediate level** of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). It marks the point where you move beyond survival English and start expressing yourself with real independence — describing experiences, explaining opinions, and handling everyday situations without a script.

## What a B1 user can do

At this level, you're expected to:

- **Understand the main points** of clear, standard speech and writing on familiar topics — work, school, travel, hobbies.
- **Handle most travel situations** in English-speaking environments.
- **Produce simple connected text** on topics you know or care about.
- **Describe experiences, events, hopes, and plans**, and give brief reasons and explanations for your opinions.
- **Communicate in routine tasks** that require a straightforward exchange of information.

## What B1 grammar looks like

B1 is where grammar starts to get more layered. You're not just forming basic sentences anymore — you're combining ideas, using different tenses with more precision, and starting to handle structures like the [passive voice](/tags/passive-voice), [modal verbs](/tags/modal-verbs) for necessity and possibility, and [gerunds vs. infinitives](/tags/gerund-and-infinitive). You're also expected to build [complex sentences](/tags/complex-sentence) with linking words and dependent clauses.

Typical B1 grammar areas include:

- **Future tenses** — distinguishing *will*, *going to*, and the present continuous for future plans
- **Passive voice** — *The report was written yesterday.*
- **Modal verbs** — *You should apply early. / She might be late.*
- **Used to** — *I used to live in Berlin.*
- **Verb patterns** — knowing whether a verb takes a gerund, an infinitive, or both (*I enjoy reading* vs. *I decided to leave*)

## What B1 doesn't mean

B1 speakers still hesitate, make grammatical errors, and sometimes struggle with less familiar topics. That's normal. The key difference from [A2](/tags/cefr-a2) is that you can keep a conversation going and get your point across even when things aren't perfect. The step up to [B2](/tags/cefr-b2) involves handling more abstract topics, understanding nuance, and producing more complex, accurate language.

> **Self-check:** Can you tell a friend about a recent trip — what happened, what you liked, and what you'd do differently — without switching to your native language? If yes, you're likely operating at B1 or above.

Ready to find out where you stand? Try [Are you B1/Intermediate? Test your English CEFR Level to figure out!](/intro/test-your-english-level-b1), then build your skills with challenges like [Basics. Passive Voice](/intro/basics-b1-b2-passive-voice), [Basics. Modal verbs](/intro/basics-basics-a1-a2-b1-modals-might-can-must-have-to-should), and [Used to](/intro/used-to).


B1 | Intermediate

# B2 | Upper Intermediate

**B2**, or **Upper Intermediate**, is the fourth level on the [CEFR scale](/tags/cefr-level). It marks the point where you move from "getting by" to genuinely comfortable communication — handling complex topics, expressing nuanced opinions, and understanding most of what you read or hear in real-world contexts.

## What a B2 user can do

At this level, you're expected to:

- **Understand complex texts** on both concrete and abstract topics, including technical discussions in your own field.
- **Follow extended speech and lectures**, even when the structure isn't entirely clear, as long as the topic is reasonably familiar.
- **Interact fluently and spontaneously** enough that conversations with native speakers flow naturally — without strain on either side.
- **Produce clear, detailed text** on a wide range of subjects, using connectors and cohesive devices to build well-structured arguments.
- **Explain and defend a viewpoint** on a topical issue, weighing the advantages and disadvantages of different options.
- **Recognize implicit meaning** — reading between the lines in demanding, longer texts.

## What B2 grammar looks like in practice

B2 is where grammar stops being about isolated rules and starts being about **flexibility and precision**. You're expected to control structures like:

- **Advanced conditionals and mixed conditionals** — moving beyond simple if-clauses to express hypothetical and counterfactual meaning.
- **Passive voice** in varied tenses and contexts, not just present and past simple.
- **Reported speech** with correct [sequence of tenses](/tags/sequence-of-tenses), including backshifting and reporting verbs.
- **Participle clauses** and the distinction between [participles and gerunds](/tags/gerund-vs-participle).
- **Comparative and superlative structures** beyond basic *-er/-est*, including double comparatives and qualifying expressions.

Errors still happen at B2, but they rarely cause misunderstanding. The goal is controlled, flexible use of language across social, academic, and professional settings.

## How B2 fits in the CEFR progression

B2 builds directly on the foundations of [B1 (Intermediate)](/tags/cefr-b1) and prepares you for [C1 (Advanced)](/tags/cefr-c1). Many university entrance exams, professional certifications, and immigration requirements target B2 as the minimum standard.

> **Self-check:** If you can read a newspaper editorial, follow most of a TED talk without subtitles, and write a clear essay arguing a position — you're likely operating at B2.

Ready to test yourself? Try [Is your English level B2/Upper Intermediate?](/intro/test-your-english-level-b2) or practise specific B2 grammar with challenges like [Basics. Advanced Conditionals And "wish"](/intro/basics-b1-b2-conditionals-and-wish-advanced), [Basics. Passive Voice](/intro/basics-b1-b2-passive-voice), and [Sequence of Tenses in Indirect Speech](/intro/sequence-of-tenses-in-indirect-speech).


B2 | Upper Intermediate

# C1 | Advanced

**C1** is the fifth of six levels in the **Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR)**, sitting between [B2 (Upper-Intermediate)](/tags/cefr-b2) and [C2 (Proficiency)](/tags/cefr-c2). It's classified as **Advanced** — the stage where you stop translating in your head and start thinking in English.

## What a C1 user can do

At this level, you're expected to handle complex, demanding language across a wide range of situations:

- **Reading** — You can understand long, complex texts, including specialized articles and technical instructions outside your own field. You pick up on implicit meaning, not just what's stated directly.
- **Speaking** — You express yourself fluently and spontaneously with minimal searching for words. You use language flexibly for social, academic, and professional purposes.
- **Writing** — You produce clear, well-structured, detailed text on complex subjects, with controlled use of **organizational patterns**, **connectors**, and **cohesive devices**.
- **Listening** — You follow extended speech even when it isn't clearly structured or when relationships between ideas are only implied.

## What C1 grammar looks like

C1-level grammar goes well beyond accuracy with tenses and articles. You're expected to use advanced structures naturally, including:

- **Inversion** for emphasis (*Rarely have I seen such dedication.*)
- **Mixed and advanced conditionals** (*Had she known, she would never have agreed.*)
- **Subjunctive forms** in formal contexts (*It's essential that he be informed.*)
- **Cleft sentences** for focus (*What concerns me is the timeline.*)
- **Complex noun phrases** and nominalization (*The government's repeated failure to act…*)

The difference between B2 and C1 isn't just knowing these structures exist — it's using them appropriately and with control across different registers.

> **Self-check:** If you can read an opinion piece in *The Guardian* or *The Economist* and follow the argument without a dictionary, and if you can write a structured response disagreeing with it, you're likely operating at C1.

## How C1 fits in the CEFR scale

The CEFR has six levels: [A1](/tags/cefr-a1) → [A2](/tags/cefr-a2) → [B1](/tags/cefr-b1) → [B2](/tags/cefr-b2) → **C1** → [C2](/tags/cefr-c2). C1 is where most universities and professional bodies set their language requirements for non-native speakers.

Ready to test yourself? Try [Pass the Test to Determine Your English CEFR Level](/intro/test-your-english-level) or go straight to [the C1/C2-level test](/intro/test-your-english-level-c1-c2). You can also practice key C1 structures like [Inversion](/intro/inversion) and [Conditional Subjunctive](/intro/conditional-subjunctive).


C1 | Advanced

# C2 | Proficiency

**C2**, also called **Proficiency**, is the highest level on the [CEFR scale](/tags/cefr-level). Reaching this level means you can understand and produce English with near-native command — not just accurately, but with nuance, precision, and ease across virtually any context.

## What C2 looks like in practice

At this level, you are expected to:

- **Understand with ease** virtually everything you hear or read, including abstract, structurally complex, or highly colloquial material.
- **Express yourself spontaneously and precisely**, choosing words that capture finer shades of meaning — even in unfamiliar or high-pressure situations.
- **Produce clear, well-structured text** on complex subjects, with controlled use of organizational patterns, connectors, and cohesive devices.
- **Recognize implicit meaning** in demanding, longer texts — picking up on irony, understatement, and unstated assumptions.
- **Communicate fluently** without noticeable searching for expressions, adapting your register naturally to academic, professional, or informal settings.

## How C2 differs from C1

While a [C1-level](/tags/cefr-c1) user handles complex language competently, a C2 user does so **effortlessly and with subtlety**. The difference often shows up in:

- **Idiomatic range** — C2 users draw on a full repertoire of idiomatic expressions, colloquialisms, and cultural references.
- **Precision under pressure** — they can reformulate, hedge, or sharpen their point in real time without losing fluency.
- **Writing sophistication** — their texts read as polished and naturally organized, not just grammatically correct.

In short, C2 is less about learning new grammar rules and more about mastering the flexible, context-sensitive use of everything you already know.

## Test your level

If you think you're approaching C2, try one of these challenges to check:

- [CEFR C1/Advanced – check if this is your English grammar mastery level](/intro/test-your-english-level-c1-c2)
- [Pass the Test to Determine Your English CEFR Level](/intro/test-your-english-level)


C2 | Proficiency

# CEFR levels

CEFR stands for the [Common European Framework of Reference for Languages](https://www.coe.int/en/web/portfolio/overview-of-cefr-related-scales) and was put together by Council of Europe.
It [describes](https://www.coe.int/en/web/common-european-framework-reference-languages/table-1-cefr-3.3-common-reference-levels-global-scale) [different levels](https://www.coe.int/en/web/common-european-framework-reference-languages/level-descriptions) of mastery of foreign languages.
It is widely used in Europe and other parts of the world as a standard for evaluating language abilities.
The CEFR divides language proficiency into six levels: [A1](/tags/cefr-a1), [A2](/tags/cefr-a2), [B1](/tags/cefr-b1), [B2](/tags/cefr-b2), [C1](/tags/cefr-c1), and [C2](/tags/cefr-c2). Each level corresponds to a set of language abilities, such as the ability to understand and use basic grammar, vocabulary, and idiomatic expressions.


CEFR levels

# Clause and Sentence

A [sentence](/tags/sentence) may consist of single or multiple [clauses](/tags/clause). **Clause and sentence** encompases terms used with both clauses and sentences.


Clause and sentence

# Clause

A **clause** is a grammatical unit built around a [verb](/tags/verb) that typically contains a [subject](/tags/subject) and a [predicate](/tags/predicate). Understanding clauses is essential because they are the core building blocks of every [sentence](/tags/sentence) you read, write, or speak.

## What makes a clause?

At minimum, a clause needs a **verb** (the predicate) and, in most cases, a **subject** — the person or thing the verb says something about. The predicate can also include [objects](/tags/object), complements, and modifiers.

- *She laughed.* — subject (*she*) + verb (*laughed*)
- *The manager approved the budget yesterday.* — subject + verb + object + modifier

Sometimes the subject is left out. This happens regularly in **imperative sentences** and **non-finite clauses**:

- *Sit down.* — no visible subject, but "you" is understood
- *Walking home, I noticed the shop was closed.* — the -ing clause has no stated subject

## Types of clauses

There are two main types:

- **Independent clause** (also called a **main clause**) — can stand on its own as a complete [sentence](/tags/sentence). It contains a [finite verb](/tags/finite-verb).
  - *I missed the bus.*

- **Dependent clause** (also called a **subordinate clause**) — cannot stand alone and needs an independent clause to make sense.
  - *Because I overslept* — incomplete on its own

Combine them and you get a **complex sentence**:

- *I missed the bus **because I overslept**.*

A simple sentence has one [independent clause](/tags/independent-clause). More complex sentences combine independent and [dependent clauses](/tags/dependent-clause) in various ways.

> **Quick check:** If you can remove a group of words from a sentence and it still has a subject + finite verb and makes sense on its own, that group is likely an independent clause.

## Why clauses matter

Recognizing clause boundaries helps you punctuate correctly, avoid run-on sentences, and build more varied, natural-sounding writing. Once you can spot where one clause ends and another begins, sentence structure becomes much easier to manage.

Ready to practice? Try [Complex Sentence](/intro/complex-sentence) for the basics, then move on to [Complex Sentence: Adverbials](/intro/complex-sentence-advanced) or [Participle Clauses: Shortening Sentences with -ing and Having + Past Participle](/intro/participle-clauses-b1) to deepen your skills.


Clause

# Collocations

**Collocations** are combinations of words that frequently occur together in a specific order, creating a natural-sounding expression in a given language. These word pairs or groups are more likely to be used by native speakers than other possible combinations of the same words. A thorough understanding of collocations is crucial for language learners, as it enhances fluency and allows for more natural speech and writing.

There are several types of collocations, including:

1. **Verb + Noun**: In this type of collocation, a verb is paired with a noun to create a specific meaning. Examples include "make a decision," "take a shower," and "perform an operation."
2. **Adjective + Noun**: This collocation type combines an adjective with a noun to describe a particular quality or characteristic. Examples include "strong coffee," "heavy rain," and "bright future."
3. **Noun + Noun**: In this collocation, two nouns are combined to create a compound noun, such as "kitchen table," "traffic jam," and "school bus."
4. **Adverb + Adjective**: This type of collocation pairs an adverb with an adjective to provide more detail or emphasis. Examples include "highly unlikely," "deeply concerned," and "fully aware."
5. **Adverb + Verb**: In this collocation, an adverb is used to modify a verb, such as "strongly believe," "quickly run," and "patiently wait."
6. **Verb + Adverb**: This type of collocation combines a verb with an adverb to describe the manner in which an action is performed. Examples include "speak softly," "work diligently," and "think critically."

Understanding and using collocations effectively can greatly improve a language learner's ability to communicate naturally and accurately. Recognizing these common word combinations is essential for developing fluency and enhancing comprehension in both spoken and written language.


Collocations

# Colon

The colon ( **:** ) is a punctuation mark consisting of two equally sized dots centered on the same vertical line. A colon precedes an explanation or an enumeration, or list. A colon is also used with ratios, titles and subtitles of books, city and publisher in bibliographies, biblical citations between chapter and verse, and for salutations in business letters and other formal letter writing, and often to separate hours and minutes.

## Usage

The most common use of the colon is to inform the reader that what follows the colon proves, explains, defines, describes, or lists elements of what preceded it. In modern English usage, a complete sentence precedes a colon, while a list, description, explanation, or definition follows it. The elements which follow the colon may or may not be a complete sentence: since the colon is preceded by a sentence, it is a complete sentence whether what follows the colon is another sentence or not. While it is acceptable to capitalize the first letter after the colon in American English, it is not the case in British English, except where a proper noun immediately follows a colon.

**Colon used before list**

_Williams was so hungry he ate everything in the house: chips, cold pizza, pretzels and dip, hot dogs, peanut butter, and candy._

**Colon used before a description**

_Jane is so desperate that she'll date anyone, even Tom: he's uglier than a squashed toad on the highway, and that's on his good days._

**Colon before definition**

_For years while I was reading Shakespeare's Othello and criticism on it, I had to constantly look up the word "egregious" since the villain uses that word: outstandingly bad or shocking._

**Colon before explanation**

_I had a rough weekend: I had chest pain and spent all Saturday and Sunday in the emergency room._

Some writers use fragments (incomplete sentences) before a colon for emphasis or stylistic preferences (to show a character's voice in literature), as in this example:

_Dinner: chips and juice. What a well-rounded diet I have._

## Syntactical-Deductive

The colon introduces the logical consequence, or effect, of a fact stated before.

_There was only one possible explanation: the train had never arrived._

## Syntactical-Descriptive

In this sense the colon introduces a description; in particular, it makes explicit the elements of a set.

_I have three sisters: Daphne, Rose, and Suzanne._

Syntactical-descriptive colons may separate the numbers indicating hours, minutes, and seconds in abbreviated measures of time.

_The concert begins at 21:45._  
_The rocket launched at 09:15:05._

British English, however, more frequently uses a point for this purpose:

_The programme will begin at 8.00 pm._  
_You will need to arrive by 14.30._

A colon is also used in the descriptive location of a book verse if the book is divided into verses, such as in the Bible or the Quran:

_"Isaiah 42:8"_  
_"Deuteronomy 32:39"_  
_"Quran 10:5"_

## Appositive

_Luruns could not speak: he was drunk._

An appositive colon also separates the subtitle of a work from its principal title. Dillon has noted the impact of colons on scholarly articles, but the reliability of colons as a predictor of quality or impact has also been challenged. In titles, neither needs to be a complete sentence as titles do not represent expository writing:

_Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi_

## Segmental

Like a dash or quotation mark, a segmental colon introduces speech. The segmental function was once a common means of indicating an unmarked quotation on the same line. The following example is from the grammar book The King's English:

_Benjamin Franklin proclaimed the virtue of frugality: A penny saved is a penny earned._

This form is still used in written dialogues, such as in a play. The colon indicates that the words following an individual's name are spoken by that individual.

_Patient: Doctor, I feel like a pair of curtains._  
_Doctor: Pull yourself together!_

## Use of Capitals

Use of capitalization or lower-case after a colon varies. In British English, the word following the colon is in lower case unless it is normally capitalized for some other reason, as with proper nouns and acronyms. British English also capitalizes a new sentence introduced by colon's segmental use; American English goes further and permits writers to similarly capitalize the first word of any independent clause following a colon. This follows the guidelines of some modern American style guides, including those published by the Associated Press and the Modern Language Association. The Chicago Manual of Style, however, requires capitalization only when the colon introduces a direct quotation, a direct question, or two or more complete sentences.

## Spacing

In print, a thin space was traditionally placed before a colon and a thick space after it. In modern English-language printing, no space is placed before a colon and a single space is placed after it.

One or two spaces may be and have been used after a colon. The older convention (designed to be used by monospaced fonts) was to use two spaces after a colon.


Colon

# Comma

The **comma** is a [punctuation](/tags/punctuation) mark that appears in several variants in different languages. It has the same shape as an [apostrophe](/tags/apostrophe) ( ' ) or single closing quotation mark in many typefaces, but it differs from them in being placed on the baseline of the text. Some typefaces render it as a small line, slightly curved or straight but inclined from the vertical, or with the appearance of a small, filled-in.

The comma is used in many contexts and languages, mainly for separating parts of a [sentence](/tags/sentence) such as [clauses](/tags/clause), and items in lists, particularly when there are three or more items listed. The word _comma_ comes from the Greek, which originally meant a cut-off piece; specifically, in grammar, a short clause.


Comma

# Comparative and Superlative

Some adjectives are **comparable**.
For example, a person may be _polite_, but another person may be _more polite_, and a third person may be the _most polite_ of the three.

The word _more_ here modifies the adjective _polite_ to indicate a **comparison** is being made, and _most_ modifies the adjective to indicate an absolute comparison (a **superlative**).

In English, many adjectives can take the suffixes _-er_ and _-est_ (sometimes requiring additional letters before the suffix; see forms for _far_ below) to indicate the comparative and superlative forms, respectively:

-   _great_, _greater_, _greatest_
-   *deep, *deeper*, *deepest\*

Some adjectives are _irregular_ in this sense:

-   _good_, _better_, _best_
-   _bad_, _worse_, _worst_
-   _many_, _more_, _most_ (sometimes regarded as an [adverb](/tags/adverb) or [determiner](/tags/determiner))
-   _little_, _less_, _least_

Some adjectives can have both _regular_ and _irregular_ variations:

-   _old_, _older_, _oldest_
-   _far_, _farther_, _farthest_

also

-   _old_, _elder_, _eldest_
-   _far_, _further_, _furthest_

Another way to convey comparison is by incorporating the words _more_ and _most_.
There is no simple rule to decide which means is correct for any given adjective, however.

The general tendency is for simpler adjectives, and those from Anglo-Saxon to take the suffixes, while longer adjectives and those from French, Latin, Greek do not—but sometimes sound of the word is the deciding factor.

Many adjectives do not naturally lend themselves to comparison.
For example, some English speakers would argue that it does not make sense to say that one thing is _more ultimate_ than another, or that something is _most ultimate_, since the word _ultimate_ is already absolute in its semantics.
Such adjectives are called **non-comparable** or **absolute**.

Nevertheless, native speakers will frequently play with the raised forms of adjectives of this sort.

Although _pregnant_ is logically non-comparable (either one is pregnant or not), one may hear a sentence like _She looks more and more pregnant each day_.
Likewise _extinct_ and _equal_ appear to be non-comparable, but one might say that a language about which nothing is known is _more extinct_ than a well-documented language with surviving literature but no speakers, while George Orwell wrote _All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others_.

These cases may be viewed as evidence that the base forms of these adjectives are not as absolute in their semantics as is usually thought.
Comparative and superlative forms are also occasionally used for other purposes than comparison.

In English comparatives can be used to suggest that a statement is only tentative or tendential: one might say _John is more the shy-and-retiring type,_ where the comparative _more_ is not really comparing him with other people or with other impressions of him, but rather, could be substituting for _on the whole_.


Comparative and superlative

# Complement

In grammar, a **complement** is a word, phrase or clause that is necessary to complete the meaning of a given expression. Complements are often also [arguments](/tags/argument) (expressions that help complete the meaning of a [predicate](/tags/predicate).

There are indicative as well as non-indicative complements in languages. Non-indicative complements follow the appropriate [complementizers](/tags/complementizer). Indicative complements do not follow complementizers but instead are included with special markers and clauses.

In many non-theoretical grammars, the terms _subject complement_ and _object complement_ are employed to denote the predicative expressions that serve to assign a property to a subject or an object:

-   Ryan is _upset_. – Predicative adjective as subject complement
-   Rachelle is _the boss_. – Predicative nominal as subject complement
-   That made Michael _lazy_. – Predicative adjective as object complement
-   We call Rachelle _the boss_. – Predicative nominal as object complement

**The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language** assigns the term "predicative complement" to both uses and shifts the terminological distinction to the verb:

-   Ed seemed quite competent: — complex-intransitive verb + predicative complement
-   She considered Ed quite competent : — complex-transitive verb + predicative complement

In many modern grammars, the object argument of a verbal predicate is called a complement.
In fact, this use of the term is the one that currently dominates in linguistics.
A main aspect of this understanding of complements is that the subject is usually not a complement of the predicate:

-   He \*wiped **the counter\***. – the counter is the object complement of the verb wiped.
-   She \*scoured **the tub\***. – the tub is the object complement of the verb scoured.
    

Complement

# Complex Sentence

A **complex sentence** has one or more dependent clauses (also called subordinate clauses).
Since a dependent clause cannot stand on its own as a sentence, complex sentences must also have at least one independent clause.
In short, a sentence with one or more dependent clauses and at least one independent clause is a complex sentence.

A sentence with two or more independent clauses plus one or more dependent clauses is called **compound-complex** or **complex-compound**.

In addition to a subject and a verb, dependent clauses contain a [subordinating conjunction](/tags/conjunction) or similar word.
There are a large number of subordinating conjunctions in English.
Some of these give the clause an [adverbial](/tags/adverb) function, specifying time, place, or manner.
Such clauses are called [adverbial](/tags/adverb) [clauses](/tags/clause).

_When I stepped out into the bright sunlight, from the darkness of the movie house, I had only two things on my mind_.
(S. E. Hinton, _The Outsiders_))  
This complex sentence contains an adverbial clause, _When I stepped out into the bright sunlight from the darkness of the movie house_.
The adverbial clause describes when the action of the main clause, _I had only two things on my mind_, took place.
A [relative clause](/tags/relative-clause) is a dependent clause that modifies a [noun](/tags/noun) or noun phrase in the independent clause.
In other words, the relative clause functions similar to an [adjective](/tags/adjective).

-   _Let him who has been deceived complain_. (Miguel de Cervantes, _Don Quixote_)
-   _You, who have never known your family, see them standing around you._ (J.K. Rowling, _Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone_)

A noun clause is a dependent clause that functions like a noun.

In the first example, the [restrictive relative clause](/tags/relative-clause) _who has been deceived_ specifies or defines the meaning of _him_ in the independent clause, _Let him complain_.

In the second example, the non-restrictive relative clause _who have never known your family_ describes _you_ in the independent clause, _You see them standing around you_.

A noun clause may function as the [subject](/tags/subject) of a clause, or as a predicate nominative or an [object](/tags/object).  
_What she had realised was that love was that moment when your heart was about to burst._ (Stieg Larsson, _The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo_)  
In this sentence the independent clause contains two noun clauses.  
The noun clause _What she had realized_ serves as the subject of the verb _was_, and _that love was that moment_ serves as [complement](/tags/complement).
The sentence also contains a relative clause, _when your heart was about to burst_.


Complex sentence

# Compound Sentence

A compound sentence is composed of at least two independent clauses.
It does not require a dependent clause.

The clauses are joined by a **coordinating** conjunction (with or without a comma), a semicolon that functions as a conjunction, a colon instead of a semicolon between two sentences when the second sentence explains or illustrates the first sentence and no coordinating conjunction is being used to connect the sentences, or a conjunctive adverb preceded by a semicolon.

A conjunction can be used to make a compound sentence.
Conjunctions are words such as _for_, _and_, _nor_, _but_, _or_, _yet_, and _so_.

Examples:

-   I started on time, but I arrived late.
-   I will accept your offer or decline it; these are the two options.
-   The law was passed: from April 1, all cars would have to be tested.
-   The war was lost; consequently, the whole country was occupied.

The use of a comma to separate two independent clauses without the addition of an appropriate conjunction is called a comma splice and is generally considered an error (when used in the English language).

Example:

-   The sun was shining, everyone appeared happy.
    

Compound sentence

# Conditional Sentence

As is typical for many languages, full **conditional sentences** in English consist of a condition clause or _protasis_ specifying a condition or hypothesis, and a consequence clause or _apodosis_ specifying what follows from that condition. The condition clause is a [dependent clause](/tags/dependent-clause), most commonly headed by the [conjunction](/tags/conjunction) _if_, while the consequence is contained in the main clause of the sentence. Either clause may appear first.

Different types of conditional sentences (depending largely on whether they refer to a past, present or future time frame) require the use of particular verb forms ([tenses](/tags/verb-tense) and [moods](/tags/verb-mood)) to express the condition and the consequence. In English language teaching the most common patterns are referred to as **first conditional**, **second conditional** and **third conditional**; there is also a **zero conditional** and **mixed conditional**.


Conditional sentence

# Conjunction

In grammar, a conjunction is a part of speech that connects words, phrases, or [clauses](/tags/clause) that are called the conjuncts of the conjoining construction. The term _discourse marker_ is mostly used for conjunctions joining [sentences](/tags/sentence). This definition may overlap with that of other parts of speech, so what constitutes a "conjunction" must be defined for each language. In English a given word may have several senses, being either a [preposition](/tags/preposition) or a conjunction depending on the syntax of the sentence (for example, "after" being a preposition in "he left after the fight" versus it being a conjunction in "he left after they fought"). In general, a conjunction is an invariable grammatical particle and it may or may not stand between the items conjoined.

The definition may also be extended to idiomatic phrases that behave as a unit with the same function, e.g. "as well as", "provided that".

A simple literary example of a conjunction: "the truth of nature, _and_ the power of giving interest". (Samuel Taylor Coleridge's _Biographia Literaria_)

Conjunctions may be placed at the beginning of sentences: "_But_ some superstition about the practice persists".

## Examples

-   "But she must give security that she will not marry without royal consent, if she holds her lands of the Crown, or without the consent of whatever other lord she may hold them of."—Magna Carta (1215), translated into modern English
-   "But we, or our chief justice if we are not in England, are first to be informed."— Magna Carta (1215), translated into modern English
-   "And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor."
-   "But in all such Cases the Votes of both Houses shall be determined by Yeas and Nays, and the Names of the Persons voting for and against the Bill shall be entered on the Journal of each House respectively."—United States Constitution (1787)
-   "And the Congress may by general Laws prescribe the Manner in which such Acts, Records and Proceedings shall be proved, and the Effect thereof."—United States Constitution (1787)
-   "And this power has been exercised when the last act, required from the person possessing the power, has been performed."—United States Supreme Court Judgment (1803)
-   "But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate, we can not consecrate, we can not hallow this ground." Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address (1863)
-   "Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said "the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether."Abraham Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address (1865)
-   "So the inquiries can coexist, though there is much overlap between them."
-   "And it appears that it was this latter factor which underlay the dismissal of the appeal by the majority. But it seems to me that the question of whether it is fair, just and reasonable is better considered against the background of whether a sufficiently proximate relationship exists."
-   "But the earlier decisions in Pratap Narain Singh Deo and Valsala K. were not brought to the notice of the Court in the two later decisions in Mubasir Ahmed and Mohd. Nasir."
-   "And now we have Facebook and Twitter and Wordpress and Tumblr and all those other platforms that take our daily doings and transform them into media."
-   "So any modern editor who is not paranoid is a fool".
-   "And strikes are protected globally, existing in many of the countries with labour laws outside the Wagner Act model."
    

Conjunction

# Coordination

**Coordination** is a complex syntactic structure that links together two or more elements; these elements are called _conjuncts_ or _conjoins_. The presence of **coordination** is often signaled by the appearance of a _coordinator_ (_coordinating conjunction_), e.g. and, or, but (in English). The totality of coordinator(s) and conjuncts forming an instance of coordination is called a coordinate structure. The unique properties of coordinate structures have motivated theoretical syntax to draw a broad distinction between _coordination_ and _subordination_.

## Coordinators

A _coordinator_ or a _coordinating conjunction_, often appears between the conjuncts, usually at least between the penultimate and ultimate conjunct of the coordinate structure. The words _and_ and _or_ are by far the most frequently occurring coordinators in English. Other coordinators occur less often and have unique properties, e.g. _but_, _as well as_, _then_, etc. The coordinator usually serves to link the conjuncts and indicate the presence of a coordinate structure. Depending on the number of coordinators used, coordinate structures can be classified as syndetic, asyndetic, or polysyndetic.

Different types of coordinators are also categorised differently. The table below shows the categories for the coordinators in English:

| Coordinator | Category                 |
| ----------- | ------------------------ |
| _and_       | conjunctive coordination |
| _or_        | disjunctive coordination |
| _but_       | adversative coordination |

## Basic Examples

**Coordination** is a very flexible mechanism of syntax. Any given lexical or phrasal category can be coordinated. In the following examples, the coordinate structure includes all the material that follows the left-most square bracket and precedes the right-most square bracket. The coordinator appears in normal script between the conjuncts.

-   \[Sarah\] and \[Xolani\] went to town. - _N_ + _N_
-   \[The chicken\] and \[the rice\] go well together. - _NP_ + _NP_
-   The president will \[understand\] and \[agree\]. - _V_ + _V_
-   The president will \[understand the criticism\] and \[take action\]. - _VP_ + _VP_
-   Insects were \[in\], \[on\], and \[under\] the bed. - _P_ + _P_ + _P_
-   \[After the announcement\] but \[before the game\], there was a celebration. - _PP_ + _PP_
-   Susan works \[slowly\] and \[carefully\]. - _Adv_ + _Adv_
-   Susan works \[too slowly\] and \[overly carefully\]. - _AdvP_ + _AdvP_
-   We appreciated \[that the president understood the criticism\] and \[that he took action\]. - _Clause_ + _Clause_
    

Coordination

# Count Nouns

In linguistics, a **count noun** (also **countable noun**) is a noun that can be modified by a numeral) and that occurs in both [singular](/tags/grammatical-number) and [plural](/tags/grammatical-number) forms, and that co-occurs with quantificational [determiners](/tags/determiner) like _every_, _each_, _several_, etc. A **mass noun** has none of these properties, because it cannot be modified by a numeral, cannot occur in plural, and cannot co-occur with quantificational determiners.

## Examples

Below are examples of all the properties of count nouns holding for the count noun _chair_, but not for the mass noun _furniture_.

Occurrence in plural/singular.

-   There is _a chair_ in the room.
-   There are _chairs_ in the room.
-   There is _chair_ in the room. (incorrect)
-   There is _a furniture_ in the room. (incorrect)
-   There are _furnitures_ in the room. (incorrect)
-   There is _furniture_ in the room.

Co-occurrence with count determiners

-   _Every chair_ is man made.
-   There are _several chairs_ in the room.
-   _Every furniture_ is man made. (incorrect)
-   There are _several furnitures_ in the room. (incorrect)

Some determiners can be used with both mass and count nouns, including "some", "a lot (of)", "no".

Others cannot: "few" and "many" are used with count items, "little" and "much" with mass.
(On the other hand, "fewer" is reserved for count and "less" for mass, but "more" is the proper comparative for both "many" and "much".)

# Mass Nouns

In linguistics, a mass [noun](/tags/noun), **uncountable noun**, or **non-count noun** is a noun with the syntactic property that any quantity of it is treated as an undifferentiated unit, rather than as something with discrete subsets. **Non-count nouns** are distinguished from count nouns.

In English, mass nouns are characterized by the fact that they cannot be directly modified by _a_ numeral without specifying a unit of measurement, and that they cannot combine with _an_ indefinite article (a or an). Thus, the mass noun "water" is quantified as "20 litres of water" while the count noun "chair" is quantified as "20 chairs". However, both mass and count nouns can be quantified in relative terms without unit specification (e.g., "so much water," "so many chairs").

Some mass nouns can be used in English in the plural to mean "more than one instance (or example) of a certain sort of entity"—for example, _Many cleaning agents today are technically not soaps, but detergents._ In such cases they no longer play the role of mass nouns, but (syntactically) they are treated as count nouns.

Some nouns can be used indifferently as mass or count nouns, e.g., _three cabbages_ or _three heads of cabbage_; _three ropes_ or _three lengths of rope_. Some have different senses as mass and count nouns: _paper_ is a mass noun as a material (_three reams of paper_, _two sheets of paper_), but a count noun as a unit of writing (_the students passed in their papers_).

# Collective Nouns

**Collective nouns** are nouns that – even when they are inflected for the [singular](/tags/grammatical-number) – refer to _groups_ consisting of more than one individual or entity. Examples include _committee_, _government_, and _police_. These nouns may be followed by a singular or a plural verb and referred to by a singular or plural pronoun, the singular being generally preferred when referring to the body as a unit and the plural often being preferred, especially in British English, when emphasizing the individual members. Examples of acceptable and unacceptable use given by Gowers in _Plain Words_ include:

-   _A committee was appointed to consider this subject._ (singular)
-   _The committee were unable to agree._ (plural)
-   _The committee were of one mind when I sat on them._ (unacceptable use of plural)

# Singulars and Plurals

English nouns are inflected for [grammatical number](/tags/grammatical-number), meaning that if they are of the **countable** type, they generally have different forms for [singular](/tags/grammatical-number) and [plural](/tags/grammatical-number). This article discusses the variety of ways in which **plural nouns** are formed from the corresponding singular forms, as well as various issues concerning the usage of singulars and plurals in English. For plurals of pronouns, see [personal pronouns](/tags/pronoun)


Countable and uncountable

# Dash

The **dash** is a punctuation mark that is similar in appearance to the hyphen and minus sign, but differs from these symbols in both length and height. The most common versions of the dash are the en dash (–), longer than a hyphen; the em dash (—), longer than the en dash; and the horizontal bar (―), whose length varies across typefaces.

Historically, the names of en dash and em dash were loosely related to the width of a lower-case _n_ and upper-case _M_, respectively, in commonly used typefaces.

Usage varies both within English and in other languages, but the usual convention in printed English text is as follows:

-   **An em dash or a spaced en dash** can be used to mark a break in a sentence, and a pair can be used to set off parenthetical statements.

_Glitter, felt, yarn, and buttons—his kitchen looked as if a clown had exploded.
A flock of sparrows – some of them juveniles – alighted and sang._

-   **The en dash but not the em dash** indicates spans or differentiation, where it may be considered to replace "and" or "to" (but where the expression is introduced by "from", "to" is normally used, not a dash; similarly, "between X and Y"):

_The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was fought in western Pennsylvania and along the present US–Canada border (Edwards, pp. 81–101)._

-   **The em dash or the horizontal bar, but not the en dash** is used to set off the sources of quotes:

\*Seven social sins: politics without principles, wealth without work, pleasure without conscience, knowledge without character, commerce without morality, science without humanity, and worship without sacrifice.—Mahatma Gandhi

**The horizontal bar (or the em dash, but not the en dash)** introduces quoted text at line start.

# Hyphen

The **hyphen** (‐) is a punctuation mark used to join words, and to separate syllables of a single word. The use of hyphens is called hyphenation. _Non-  
hyphenated_ is an example of a hyphenated word. The hyphen should not be confused with dashes (‒, –, —, ―), which are longer and have different uses, or with the minus sign (−), which is also longer in some contexts.


Dash and hyphen

# Declarative Sentence / Clause

The **declarative sentence** is the most common kind of sentence in language, in most situations, and in a way can be considered the default function of a sentence. What this means essentially is that when a language modifies a sentence in order to form a question or give a command, the base form will always be the declarative. In its most basic sense, a declarative states an idea (either objectively or subjectively on the part of the speaker; and may be either true or false) for the sheer purpose of transferring intel. In writing, a statement will end with a period.

-   Roses are red and violets are blue.
-   She must be out of her mind.
    

Declarative sentence or clause

# Deixis

**Deixis** refers to words and phrases, such as "me" or "here", that cannot be fully understood without additional contextual information—in this case, the identity of the speaker ("me") and the speaker's location ("here"). Words are deictic if their semantic meaning is fixed but their denotational meaning varies depending on time and/or place. Words or phrases that require contextual information to convey any meaning—for example, English pronouns—are deictic. **Deixis** is closely related to **anaphora**, as will be further explained below. Although this article deals primarily with deixis in spoken language, the concept is sometimes applied to written language, gestures, and communication media as well.

## Personal Deixis

_Personal deixis_ (_person deixis_) concerns itself with the grammatical persons involved in an utterance, (1) those directly involved (e.g. the speaker, the addressee), (2) those not directly involved (e.g. overhearers—those who hear the utterance but who are not being directly addressed), and (3) those mentioned in the utterance. In English, the distinctions are generally indicated by pronouns. The following examples show how. (The person deictic terms are in italics.)

-   _I_ am going to the movies.
-   Would _you_ like to have dinner?
-   _They_ tried to hurt me, but she came to the rescue.

In many languages with gendered pronouns, the third-person masculine pronoun has traditionally been used as a default when referring to a person, but the gender of its antecedent is unknown or inapplicable.

For example:

-   To each _his_ own.

In contrast, English used the neuter gender for gender ambiguous cases in the singular (with the use of the plural starting in around the fourteenth century), but many grammarians drew on Latin, to come to a preference for "he" in ambiguous cases in the singular. However it remains common to use the third-person plural even when the antecedent is singular:

-   To each _their_ own.

## Spatial Deixis

_Spatial deixis_ (_place deixis_) concerns itself with the spatial locations relevant to an utterance. Similarly to person deixis, the locations may be either those of the speaker and addressee or those of persons or objects being referred to. The most salient English examples are the adverbs "here" and "there" and the demonstratives "this" and "that"—although those are far from being the only deictic words.

Some examples:

-   I enjoy living in _this_ city.
-   _Here_ is where we will place the statue.
-   She was sitting over _there_.

Unless otherwise specified, _place deictic_ terms are generally understood to be relative to the location of the speaker, as in

-   The shop is _across the street_.

where "_across the street_" is understood to mean "across the street from where I am right now. Although "_here_" and "_there_" are often used to refer to locations near to and far from the speaker, respectively, "_there_" can also refer to the location of the addressee, if they are not in the same location as the speaker. So, although

-   _Here_ is a good spot; it is too sunny over _there_.  
    exemplifies the former usage,

-   How is the weather _there_?  
    is an example of the latter.

Deictic projection: In some contexts, spatial deixis is used metaphorically rather than physically, i.e. the speaker is not speaking as the deictic centre. For example:

-   I am _coming_ home now.  
    The above utterance would generally be considered as the speaker's expression of his/her going home, yet it appears to be perfectly normal for one to project his physical presence to his home rather than away from home. Here is another common example:

-   I am not _here_, please leave a message.  
    Despite its common usage to address people who call with no one answering the phone, the _here_ here is semantically contradictory to one's absence. Nevertheless, this is considered normal for most people as speakers have to project themselves as answering the phone when in fact they are not physically.

Languages usually show at least a two-way referential distinction in their deictic system: proximal, i.e. near or closer to the speaker; and distal, i.e. far from the speaker and/or closer to the addressee. English exemplifies this with such pairs as _this_ and _that_, _here_ and _there_, etc.

## Temporal Deixis

_Temporal deixis_ (_time deixis_) concerns itself with the various times involved in and referred to in an utterance. This includes time adverbs like "_now_", "_then_", "_soon_", and so forth, and also different tenses. A good example is the word _tomorrow_, which denotes the consecutive next day after every day. The "_tomorrow_" of a day last year is a different day from the "_tomorrow_" of a day next week. Time adverbs can be relative to the time when an utterance is made or when the utterance is heard. Although these are frequently the same time, they can differ, as in the case of prerecorded broadcasts or correspondence. For example, if one were to write

-   It is raining _now_, but I hope _when_ you read this it will be sunny.  
    the ET and DT would be different, with the former deictic term concerning ET and the latter the DT.

Tenses are generally separated into absolute (deictic) and relative tenses. So, for example, simple English past tense is absolute, such as in

-   _He_ went.  
    whereas the pluperfect is relative to some other deictically specified time, as in

-   _He_ had gone.

## Discourse Deixis

Discourse deixis, also referred to as text deixis, refers to the use of expressions within an utterance to refer to parts of the discourse that contains the utterance — including the utterance itself. For example, in

-   _This_ is a great story.  
    "this" refers to an upcoming portion of the discourse, and in

-   _That_ was an amazing account.  
    "that" refers to a prior portion of the discourse.

Distinction must be made between discourse **deixis** and **anaphora**, which is when an expression makes reference to the same referent as a prior term, as in

-   Matthew is an incredible athlete; _he_ came in first in the race.  
    Lyons points out that it is possible for an expression to be both deictic and anaphoric at the same time. In his example

-   I was born in London and I have lived _here/there_ all my life.  
    "here" or "there" function anaphorically in their reference to London, and deictically in that the choice between "_here_" or "_there_" indicates whether the speaker is or is not currently in London.

The rule of thumb to distinguish the two phenomena is as follows: when an expression refers to another linguistic expression or a piece of discourse, it is discourse deictic. When that expression refers to the same item as a prior linguistic expression, it is anaphoric.

## Social Deixis

Social deixis concerns the social information that is encoded within various expressions, such as relative social status and familiarity. Two major forms of it are the so-called T–V distinctions and honorifics.

# Anaphora

**Anaphora** is the use of an expression whose interpretation depends upon another expression in context (its antecedent or postcedent). In a narrower sense, anaphora is the use of an expression that depends specifically upon an antecedent expression and thus is contrasted with cataphora, which is the use of an expression that depends upon a postcedent expression. The anaphoric (referring) term is called an anaphor. For example, in the sentence _Sally arrived, but nobody saw her_, the pronoun _her_ is an anaphor, referring back to the antecedent _Sally_. In the sentence _Before her arrival, nobody saw Sally_, the pronoun _her_ refers forward to the postcedent _Sally_, so her is now a cataphor. Both effects together are called either anaphora (broad sense) or less ambiguously, along with self-reference they comprise the category of endophora.

Examples of anaphora (in the narrow sense) and cataphora are given next. Anaphors and cataphors appear in bold, and their antecedents and postcedents are _in italic_:

**Anaphora** (in the narrow sense, species of endophora)

1. Susan dropped _the plate_. _It_ shattered loudly. - The pronoun _it_ is an anaphor; it points to the left toward its antecedent _the_ plate.
2. _The music stopped_, and _that_ upset everyone. - The demonstrative pronoun _that_ is an anaphor; it points to the left toward its antecedent _The music stopped_.
3. Fred was _angry_, and _so_ was I. - The adverb _so_ is an anaphor; it points to the left toward its antecedent _angry_.
4. If Sam _buys a new bike_, I will _do it_ as well. - The verb phrase _do it_ is an anaphor; it points to the left toward its antecedent buys a _new bike_.

**Cataphora** (included in the broad sense of anaphora, species of endophora)

1. Because _he_ was very cold, _David_ put on his coat. - The pronoun _he_ is a cataphor; it points to the right toward its postcedent _David_.
2. _His_ friends have been criticizing _Jim_ for exaggerating. - The possessive adjective _his_ is a cataphor; it points to the right toward its postcedent _Jim_.
3. Although Sam might _do so_, I shall not _buy a new bike_. - The verb phrase _do so_ is a cataphor; it points to the right toward its postcedent _buy a new bike_.
4. In _their_ free time, _the boys_ play video games. - The possessive adjective _their_ is a cataphor; it points to the right toward its postcedent _the boys_.
   

Deixis and anaphora

# Demonstratives

**Demonstratives** are words, such as _this_ and _that_, used to indicate which entities are being referred to and to distinguish those entities from others. They are typically deictic, their meaning depending on a particular frame of its reference. Demonstratives are often used in spatial deixis (using the context of the physical surroundings of the speaker and sometimes the listener), but also in intra-discourse reference - so called "discourse deixis" (including abstract concepts) or anaphora), where the meaning is dependent on something other than the relative physical location of the speaker, for example whether something is currently being said or was said earlier.

Demonstrative constructions include demonstrative [adjectives](/tags/adjective) or demonstrative [determiners](/tags/determiner), which qualify [nouns](/tags/noun) (as in Put _that_ coat on); and demonstrative pronouns, which stand independently (as in _Put that on_). The demonstratives in English are _this_, _that_, _these_, _those_, and the archaic _yon_ and _yonder_, along with _this one_ or _that one_ as substitutes for the [pronoun](/tags/pronoun) use of this or that.


Demonstrative

# Dependent Clause

A **dependent clause** is a clause that provides a [sentence](/tags/sentence) element with additional information, but which cannot stand alone as a sentence. A dependent clause can either modify an adjacent clause or serve as a component of an [independent clause](/tags/independent-clause). Some grammarians use the term **subordinate clause** to refer only to adverbial dependent clauses.

The different types of dependent clauses include content clauses (noun clauses), [relative (adjectival) clauses](/tags/relative-clause), and [adverbial](/tags/adverb) [clauses](/tags/clause).

In Indo-European languages, a dependent clause usually begins with a dependent word.
One kind of dependent word is a [subordinating conjunction](/tags/conjunction).
Subordinating conjunctions are used to begin dependent clauses known as **adverbial clauses**, which serve as [adverbs](/tags/adverb).

In the following examples, the adverbial clauses are bold and the subordinating conjunctions are italicized:

-   **_Wherever_ she goes**, she leaves her luggage (The adverbial clause _wherever she goes_ modifies the [verb](/tags/verb) _leaves_.)
-   Bob enjoyed the movie more **_than_ I did**. (The adverbial clause _than I did_ modifies the adverb _more_.)

A subordinating conjunction can also introduce a [noun](/tags/noun) [clause](/tags/clause):

-   I know **_that_ he likes me**. (The noun clause _that he likes me_ serves as the object of the main-clause verb _know_.)

Another type of dependent word is the [relative pronoun](/tags/pronoun).
Relative pronouns begin dependent clauses known as [relative clauses](/tags/relative-clause); these are adjective clauses, because they modify nouns.
In the following example, the relative clause is bold and the relative pronoun is italicized:

-   The only one of the seven dwarfs **_who_ does not have a beard** is Dopey. (The adjective clause _who does not have a beard_ describes the pronoun _one_.)

A relative adverb plays the part of an adverb in a relative clause, as in

-   That is the reason **_why_ I came**. (The relative clause _why I came_ describes the noun _reason_, and within the relative clause the adverb why modifies the verb came.)
-   That is the place **_where_ he lives**. (The relative clause _where he lives_ describes the noun _place_, and within the relative clause the adverb where modifies the verb lives.)

An interrogative word can serve as an adverb in a noun clause, as in

-   No one understands **_why_ you need experience**. (The noun clause _why you need experience_ functions as the [direct object](/tags/object) of the main-clause verb "understands", and within the noun clause why serves as an adverb modifying need.)
    

Dependent clause

# Determinative

An important role in English grammar is played by determiners – words or phrases that precede a [noun](/tags/noun) or noun [phrase](/tags/phrase) and serve to express its reference in the context. **Determinative** is a lexical category whereas [determiner](/tags/determiner) is a grammatical or syntactic function.
In traditional grammar, **determinatives** form a subclass of [adjectives](/tags/adjective). In the Cambridge Grammar of English Language, determinatives are considered to be a distinct primary lexical category ([part of speech](/tags/parts-of-speech)). Just as the **determiner** function is not always realised by **determinatives**, so many of **determinatives** can have other functions that that of **determiner**. The **determinative** three is **determiner** is _three books_, but modifier in _three books_. Similarly, determinative _much_ is determiner in _much happiness_ but a modifier in _much happier_.


Determinative

# Determiner

A **determiner** is a word or phrase that comes before a [noun](/tags/noun) (or noun phrase) to clarify what that noun refers to — whether it's specific or general, how much of it there is, or who it belongs to. Getting determiners right is essential because English usually requires one to form a complete noun phrase.

## Types of determiners

**Articles** are the most common determiners. English has the **definite article** *the* and the **indefinite article** *a/an*. For a deeper look, see [articles](/tags/article).

- *The dog barked all night.* (specific dog)
- *I adopted a dog last week.* (not yet identified to the listener)

**[Demonstratives](/tags/demonstrative)** — *this, that, these, those* — point to specific items based on proximity or context.

- *These shoes are too tight.*

**[Possessives](/tags/possessive)** show ownership: *my, your, his, her, its, our, their*, plus Saxon genitives like *Maria's* or *the company's*.

- *Her presentation was excellent.*

**[Quantifiers](/tags/quantifier)** indicate amount or number: *some, any, many, much, few, little, several, all, both, enough*, cardinal numbers (*one, two, three…*), and phrases like *a lot of* or *plenty of*.

- ✅ *There are few options left.* (almost none)
- ✅ *There are a few options left.* (some — a small but positive number)

**Distributives and alternatives** — *each, every, either, neither* — refer to individual members of a group.

- *Every student submitted the assignment on time.*

**Interrogative and relative determiners** — *which, what, whose, whatever, whichever* — introduce questions or relative clauses.

- *Which train are you taking?*

## When no determiner is needed

Sometimes a noun phrase is complete without any determiner (often called the **zero determiner** or [zero article](/tags/article)). This is common with plural and uncountable nouns used in a general sense:

- *Coffee keeps me awake.* (coffee in general, not a specific cup)
- *Dogs are loyal animals.*

## Combining determiners

Determiners can sometimes stack in specific patterns:

- *All the chairs were taken.*
- *My many friends helped out.*

The first determiner in such combinations (like *all* or *both*) is sometimes called a **pre-determiner**.

> **Common mistake:** Don't double up where English doesn't allow it. You can say *all my friends* but not ~~*all my the friends*~~.

## Quick reference

| Category | Examples |
|---|---|
| Articles | *a, an, the* |
| Demonstratives | *this, that, these, those* |
| Possessives | *my, your, his, her, its, our, their* |
| Quantifiers | *some, any, much, many, few, all, every* |
| Interrogatives | *which, what, whose* |

Ready to practise? Try [Articles Basics](/intro/articles-basics) for a solid foundation, [Determiners: Some, Any, Few, and Little](/intro/determiners-some-any-few-little) for tricky quantifiers, or [Basics. Determiners and Pronouns.](/intro/basics-a1-determiners-and-pronouns) for an overview of how determiners and [pronouns](/tags/pronoun) work together.


Determiner

# Difficulty: Easy

Easy difficulty. Difficulty levels represent author's opinion about how hard a question or challenge is.


Easy

# Difficulty: Hard

Hard difficulty. Difficulty levels represent author's opinion about how hard a question or challenge is.


Hard

# Difficulty Levels

Subjective difficulty level as specified by author


Difficulty

# Difficulty: Medium

Medium difficulty. Difficulty levels represent author's opinion about how hard a question or challenge is.


Medium

# Directions

Quiz and questions related to giving and receiving directions.


Directions

# Ellipsis

An **ellipsis** is a series of dots (typically three, such as "…") that usually indicates an intentional omission of a word, sentence, or whole section from a text without altering its original meaning.


Ellipsis

# English Grammar

**English grammar** is the way in which meanings are encoded into wordings in the English language. This includes the structure of [words](/tags/morphology), [phrases](/tags/phrase), [clauses](/tags/clause), and [sentences](/tags/sentence), right up to the structure of whole texts.


English grammar

# Exclamation Mark

The **exclamation mark**, also sometimes referred to as the exclamation point in American English, is a punctuation mark usually used after an interjection or exclamation to indicate strong feelings or high volume (shouting), or to show emphasis, and often marks the end of a sentence, for example: _Watch out!_ Similarly, a bare exclamation mark (with nothing before or after) is often used in warning signs.


Exclamation mark

# Exclamative Sentence

An **exclamative or exclamatory sentence** is released because of, and expresses strong emotion. They many times feel like involuntary reactions to a situation, yet they can technically be stifled if need be. And while exclamatives most usually manifest themselves as one or two word interjections, they can also come as major sentences. They are essentially unfiltered vocalizations of our feelings, and a form of self-talk because they are directed either at the speaker themself or at nobody in particular. In punctuation, an exclamative is ended with an exclamation mark.

-   Ouch!
-   I'll never finish this paper in time!
    

Exclamative sentence

# Finite Verbs

The **finite verbs** are in bold in the following sentences, and the **non-finite** verbs are in italic:

-   Verbs **appear** in almost all sentences.
-   This sentence **is** _illustrating_ finite and non-finite verbs.
-   The dog **will** _have_ to _be_ _trained_ well.
-   Tom **promised** to _try_ to _do_ the work.

There can be one finite verb at the root of each clause (unless the finite verbs are coordinated), whereas the number of non-finite verbs can reach up to five or six, or even more, e.g.
Finite verbs can appear in [dependent clauses](/tags/dependent-clause) as well as [independent clauses](/tags/independent-clause):

-   John **said** that he **enjoyed** reading.
-   Something you **make** yourself **seems** better than something you **buy**.

Most types of verbs can appear in finite or non-finite form (and sometimes these forms may be identical): for example, the [English verb](/tags/verb) _go_ has the finite forms go, _goes_, and _went_, and the non-finite forms go, _going_ and _gone_.

The [English modal verbs](/tags/modal-verb) (_can_, _could_, _will_, etc.) are defective and lack non-finite forms.
It might seem that every grammatically complete sentence or [clause](/tags/clause) must contain a finite verb.

A finite verb is generally expected to have a [subject](/tags/subject), as it does in all the examples above, although null-subject languages allow the subject to be omitted.

In English, finite verbs lacking subjects are normal in [imperative](/tags/imperative-mood) sentences:

-   \[You\] **Come** over here!
-   \[You\] **Don't** look at him!

And also occur in some fragmentary utterances:

-   \[It\] **doesn't** matter.
-   \[I\] **don't** want to \[_verb_\].
    

Finite verb

# Simple Future

The term **simple future**, **future simple** or **future indefinite**, as applied to English, generally refers to the combination of the modal auxiliary verb _will_ with the bare infinitive of the main verb.

Sometimes (particularly in more formal or old-fashioned English) _shall_ is preferred to _will_ when the subject is [first person](/tags/person) (_I_ or _we_).

The auxiliary is often contracted to _ 'll_.

This construction can be used to indicate what the speaker views as facts about the future, including confident predictions:

-   The sun _will rise_ tomorrow at 6:14.
-   It _will rain_ later this week.

It may be used to describe future circumstances that are subject to some condition:

-   He _will go_ there if he can.

However English also has other ways of referring to future circumstances.
For planned or scheduled actions the present progressive or simple present may be used.
There is also a _going-to_ future, common in colloquial English, which is often used to express intentions or predictions (_I am going to write a book some day_; _I think that it is going to rain_). Use of the _will/shall_ construction when expressing intention often indicates a spontaneous decision:

-   I know! _I'll use_ this book as a door stop.

Compare _I'm going to use..._, which implies that the intention to do so has existed for some time.

Use of present tense rather than future constructions in condition clauses and certain other [dependent clauses](/tags/dependent-clause) is described below under and.
The modal verbs _will_ and _shall_ also have other uses besides indicating future time reference. For example:

-   I _will pass_ this exam. (often expresses determination in addition to futurity)
-   You _will obey_ me! (insistence)
-   I _will not do_ it! (negative insistence, refusal)
-   At this moment I _will tolerate_ no dissent. (strong volition)
-   He hasn't eaten all day; he _will be_ hungry now. (confident speculation about the present)
-   One of his faults is that he _will make_ trouble unnecessarily. (habit)
-   _Shall_ we _get_ to work? (suggestion)

# Future Progressive

The **future progressive** or **future continuous** combines progressive aspect with future time reference; it is formed with the auxiliary _will_ (or _shall_ in the first person, the bare infinitive _be_, and the present participle of the main verb.

It is used mainly to indicate that an event will be in progress at a particular point in the future:

-   This time tomorrow I _will be taking_ my driving test.
-   I imagine we _will_ already _be eating_ when you arrive.

The usual restrictions apply, on the use both of the future and of the progressive: simple rather than progressive aspect is used with some stative verbs, and present rather than future constructions are used in many dependent clauses.
The same construction may occur when _will_ or _shall_ is given one of its other uses, for example:

-   He _will be sitting_ in his study at this time. (confident speculation about the present)

# Future Perfect

The [_future perfect_](/tags/future-perfect) combines aspect with future time reference.

It consists of the auxiliary _will_ (or sometimes _shall_ in the first person, as above), the bare infinitive _have_, and the past participle of the main verb.

It indicates an action that is to be completed sometime prior to a future time of perspective, or an ongoing action continuing up to a future time of perspective (compare uses of the present perfect above).

-   I _shall have finished_ my essay by Thursday.
-   When I finally search him he _will have disposed_ of the evidence.
-   By next year we _will have lived_ in this house for half a century.

For the use of the present tense rather than future constructions in certain dependent clauses.

The same construction may occur when _will_ or _shall_ is given one of its other meanings; for example:

-   He _will have had_ his tea by now. (confident speculation about the present)
-   You _will have completed_ this task by the time I return, is that understood? (giving instruction)

# Future Perfect Progressive

The _future perfect progressive_ or _future perfect continuous_ combines perfect progressive aspect with future time reference.

It is formed by combining the auxiliary _will_ (or sometimes _shall_, as above), the bare infinitive _have_, the past participle _been_, and the present participle of the main verb.

Uses of the future perfect progressive are analogous to those of the present perfect progressive, except that the point of reference is in the future. For example:

-   He will be very tired because he _will have been working_ all morning.
-   By 6 o'clock we _will have been drinking_ for ten hours.

For the use of present tense in place of future constructions in certain dependent clauses.

The same construction may occur when the auxiliary (usually _will_) has one of its other meanings, particularly expressing a confident assumption about the present:

-   No chance of finding him sober now; he*'ll have been drinking* all day.
    

Future tense

# Gerund

The **gerund** takes the same form (ending in -ing) as the present participle, but is used as a [noun](/tags/noun) (or rather the [verb](/tags/verb) [phrase](/tags/phrase) introduced by the gerund is used as a noun phrase).
Many uses of gerunds are thus similar to noun uses of the infinitive.
Uses of gerunds and gerund phrases are illustrated below:

As subject or predicative expression:

-   _Solving_ problems is satisfying.
-   My favorite activity is _spotting_ butterflies.

As object of certain verbs that admit such constructions:

-   I like _solving_ problems.
-   We tried _restarting_ the computer.

In a passive-type construction after certain verbs, with a gap (zero) in object or complement position, understood to be filled by the subject of the main clause:

-   That floor wants/needs _scrubbing_.
-   It doesn't bear _thinking_ about.

As complement of certain prepositions:

-   No one is better at _solving_ problems.
-   Before _jogging_, she stretches.
-   After _investigating_ the facts, we made a decision.
-   That prevents you from _eating_ too much.

It is considered grammatically correct to express the agent(logical subject) of a gerund using a possessive form (they object to _my_ helping them), although in informal English a simple noun or pronoun is often used instead (they object to _me_ helping them).


Gerund

# Grammatical Case

**Case** is a special grammatical category of a [noun](/tags/noun), [pronoun](/tags/pronoun), [adjective](/tags/adjective), [participle](/tags/participle) or numeral whose value reflects the grammatical function performed by that word in a [phrase](/tags/phrase), [clause](/tags/clause) or [sentence](/tags/sentence). In some languages, nouns, pronouns, adjectives, [determiners](/tags/determiner), participles, prepositions, numerals, articles and their [modifiers](/tags/modifier) take different inflected forms, depending on their case.

English has largely lost its case system although personal pronouns still have three cases, which are simplified forms of the nominative, accusative and genitive cases. They are used with [personal pronouns](/tags/pronoun): subjective case (_I_, _you_, _he_, _she_, _it_, _we_, _they_, _who_, _whoever_), objective case (_me_, _you_, _him_, _her_, _it_, _us_, _them_, _whom_, _whomever_) and possessive case (_my_, _mine_; _your_, _yours_; _his_; _her_, _hers_; _its_; _our_, _ours_; _their_, _theirs_; _whose_; _whosever_ ).Forms such as _I_, _he_ and _we_ are used for the [subject](/tags/subject) ("_I_ kicked the ball"), and forms such as _me_, _him_ and _us_ are used for the [object](/tags/object) ("John kicked _me_").


Grammatical case

# Grammatical Number

The plural form of a noun is usually created by adding the suffix -(e)s. The pronouns have irregular plurals, as in "I" versus "we", because they are ancient and frequently used words going back to when English had a well developed system of declension. English verbs distinguish singular from plural number in the third person present tense ("He goes" versus "They go"). English treats zero with the plural number.


Grammatical number

# Habits and Routines

Quiz and questions containing descriptions of actions or activities that a person regularly performs.
It includes the use of present simple and present continuous tenses to describe actions that are done regularly or currently happening,
as well as the use of time expressions such as "usually", "always", "sometimes", and "never".
This category also includes the use of adverbs of frequency such as "daily", "weekly", and "monthly" to indicate the regularity of an action.

Examples of common phrases used in this category include "I brush my teeth every morning" and "I usually have coffee at 8am." It also includes the use of "used to" and "would" to describe past habits.


Habits and Routines

# Habitual Aspect

The **habitual aspect** is a form of expression connoting repetition or continuous existence of a state of affairs.

Standard English has two habitual aspectual forms in the past tense. One is illustrated by the sentence I _used to_ go there frequently. The _used to_ [infinitive](/tags/infinitive) construction always refers to the habitual aspect when the infinitive is a non-stative verb; in contrast, when _used to_ is used with a stative verb, the aspect can be interpreted as stative (that is, it indicates an ongoing, unchanging state, as in I _used to_ know that), although Bernard Comrie classifies this, too, as habitual. _Used to_ can be used with or without an indicator of temporal location in the past (We _used to_ do that, We _used to_ do that in 1974); but the time indicator cannot be too specific; for example, _We used to do that at 3 pm yesterday_ is not grammatical.

The second way that habituality is expressed in the past is by using the auxiliary verb _would_, as in _Last summer we would go there every day_. This usage requires a lexical indication of when the action occurred; by itself the sentence _We would go there_ does not express habituality, while _We used to go there_ does even though it does not specify when. As with _used to_, _would_ also has other uses in English that do not indicate habituality: in In January 1986 I knew _I would graduate in four months_, it indicates the future viewed from a past perspective; in _I would go if I felt better_, it indicates the conditional mood.

English can also indicate habituality in a time-unspecific way, referring generically to the past, present, and future, by using the auxiliary _will_ as in _He will make that mistake all the time, won't he?_. As with _used to_ and _would_, the auxiliary _will_ has other uses as well: as an indicator of future time (_The sun will rise tomorrow at 6:14_), and as a modal verb indicating volition (_At this moment I will not tolerate dissent_).

Habitual aspect is frequently expressed in unmarked form in English, as in _I walked to work every day for ten years_, _I walk to work every day_, and _I will walk to work every day after I get well_.


Habitual aspect

# Historical Present

In linguistics and rhetoric, the **historical present** or **historic present**, also called **dramatic present** or **narrative present**, is the employment of the [present tense](/tags/present-tense) when narrating past events.

It is used above all in historical chronicles (listing a series of events). It is also used in fiction, for "hot news" (as in headlines), and in everyday conversation. In conversation, it is particularly common with quotative verbs such as say and go, and especially the newer quotative like. It is typically thought to heighten the dramatic force of the narrative by describing events as if they were still unfolding, and/or by foregrounding some events relative to others.

## Example

In an excerpt from Dickens' David Copperfield, the shift from the past tense to the historical present gives a sense of immediacy, as of a recurring vision:

*If the funeral had been yesterday, I could not recollect it better. The very air of the best parlour, when I went in at the door, the bright condition of the fire, the shining of the wine in the decanters, the patterns of the glasses and plates, the faint sweet smell of cake, the odour of Miss Murdstone’s dress, and our black clothes. Mr. Chillip *is** in the room, and **comes\*_ to speak to me._

_"And how is Master David?" he **says**, kindly._

_I **cannot** tell him very well. I **give** him my hand, which he **holds** in his._

_— Charles Dickens, David Copperfield, Chapter IX_


Historical present

# Humor

Humor is subjective, but at least the author tried.


Humor

# Idiom

An **idiom** is a common word or phrase with a culturally understood meaning that differs from what its composite words' denotations would suggest; i.e. the words together have a meaning that is different from the dictionary definitions of the individual words.

By another definition, an idiom is a speech form or an expression of a given language that is peculiar to itself grammatically or cannot be understood from the individual meanings of its elements.

For example, an English speaker would understand the phrase "kick the bucket" to mean "to die" – and also to actually kick a bucket. Furthermore, they would understand when each meaning is being used in context.


Idiom

# IELTS Listening

Candidates listen to four recordings of native English speakers and then write your answers to a series of questions. Assessors will be looking for evidence of candidates' ability to understand the main ideas and detailed factual information, the opinions and attitudes of speakers, the purpose of an utterance and evidence of test takers' ability to follow the development of ideas.


IELTS Listening

# IELTS Reading

The Reading section consists of 40 questions, designed to test a wide range of reading skills. These include reading for gist, reading for main ideas, reading for detail, skimming, understanding logical argument and recognising writers' opinions, attitudes and purpose.


IELTS Reading

# IELTS Speaking

In Speaking part of the exam, candidates talk with the examiner in English. They start with answering questions about familiar topics, then prepare and present a speech according to a task card they receive. The last part is a more abstract discussion on a broader subject related to the topic of the monologue.

Assessment criteria are as follows.

-   Fluency and coherence
-   Lexical resource
-   Grammatical range and accuracy
-   Pronunciation
    

IELTS Speaking

# IELTS Writing

In Writing part of the exam, candidates receive task cards with two tasks and write responses according to them.

Assessment criteria are as follows.

-   Task achievement (for Task 1), task response (for Task 2)
-   Coherence and cohesion
-   Lexical resource
-   Grammatical range and accuracy.
    

IELTS Writing

# International English Language Testing System (IELTS)

It is an international standardised test of English language proficiency for non-native English language speakers. Probably, it is the most popular formal English test in the world.


IELTS

# Imperative Mood

The **imperative mood** is a [grammatical mood](/tags/verb-mood) that forms a command or request.

An example of a [verb](/tags/verb) used in the imperative mood is the English sentence _Please be quiet_. Such imperatives imply a [second-person](/tags/person) subject (_you_), but some other languages also have first- and third-person imperatives, with the meaning of _let's (do something)_ or _let him/her/them (do something)_ (the forms may alternatively be called cohortative and jussive.

Imperative mood can be denoted by the glossing abbreviation. It is one of the irrealis moods.

## Formation

Imperative mood is often expressed using special conjugated verb forms.
Like other [finite verb](/tags/finite-verb) forms, imperatives often inflect for [person](/tags/person) and [number](/tags/grammatical-number).
Second-person imperatives (used for ordering or requesting performance directly from the person being addressed) are most common, but some languages also have imperative forms for the first and third persons (alternatively called cohortative and jussive respectively).

In English, the imperative is formed using the bare [infinitive](/tags/infinitive) form of the verb (see [verbs](/tags/verb) for more details).
This is usually also the same as the second-person present [indicative](/tags/indicative-mood) form, except in the case of the verb _to be_, where the imperative is be while the indicative is _are_.
(The present [subjunctive](/tags/subjunctive-mood) always has the same form as the imperative, although it is [negated](/tags/negation) differently – the imperative is negated using _do not_, as in _Don't touch me!_) The imperative form is understood as being in the second person (the subject [pronoun](/tags/pronoun) _you_ is usually omitted, although it can be included for emphasis), with no explicit indication of singular or plural.

First and third person imperatives are expressed periphrastically, using a construction with the imperative of the verb _let_:

-   _Let us_ (_Let's_) have a drink! (equivalent to a first person plural imperative)
-   Let him/her/them be happy! (equivalent to a third person imperative; constructions with _may_ are also used)

## Usage

Imperatives are used principally for ordering, requesting or advising the listener to do (or not to do) something: _Put down the gun!_; _Pass me the sauce_; _Don't go too near the tiger._
They are also often used for giving instructions as to how to perform a task (_Install the file, then restart your computer_).
They can sometimes be seen on signs giving orders or warnings (_Stop_; _Give way_; _Do not enter_).

The use of the imperative mood may be seen as impolite, inappropriate or even offensive in certain circumstances. In polite speech, orders or requests are often phrased instead as questions or statements, rather than as imperatives:

-   Could you come here for a moment? (more polite than _Come here!_)
-   It would be great if you made us a drink. (for _Make us a drink!_)
-   I have to ask you to stop. (for _Stop!_)

Politeness strategies (for instance, indirect speech acts) can seem more appropriate in order not to threaten a conversational partner in their needs of self-determination and territory: the partner's _negative face_ should not appear threatened.
As well as the replacement of imperatives with other sentence types as discussed above, there also often exist methods of phrasing an imperative in a more polite manner, such as the addition of a word like _please_ or a phrase like _if you could_.
Imperatives are also used for speech acts whose function is essentially not to make an order or request, but to give an invitation, give permission, express a wish, make an apology, etc.:

-   Come to the party tomorrow! (invitation)
-   Eat the apple if you want. (permission)
-   Have a nice trip! (wish)
-   Pardon me. (apology)
-   Visit Estonia and Armenia! (advertisement)

When written, imperative sentences are often, but not always, terminated with an [exclamation mark](/tags/exclamation-mark).
First person plural imperatives (cohortatives) are used mainly for suggesting an action to be performed together by the speaker and the addressee (and possibly other people): _Let's go to Barbados this year_; _Let us pray_.
Third person imperatives (jussives) are used to suggest or order that a third party or parties be permitted or made to do something: _Let them eat cake_; _Let him be executed_.
There is an additional imperative form that is used for general prohibitions, consisting of the word _no_ followed by the [gerund](/tags/gerund) form.
The best known examples are _No Smoking_ and _No Parking_.
This form does not have a positive form; that is, _Parking_ by itself has no meaning unless used as a [noun](/tags/noun) when it tells that parking is permitted.

English usually omits the subject pronoun in imperative sentences:

-   You work hard. (indicative)
-   Work hard! (imperative; subject pronoun _you_ omitted)

However, it is possible to include the _you_ in imperative sentences for emphasis.

English imperatives are negated using _don't_ (as in _Don't work!_) This is a case of _do_-support as found in indicative clauses; however in the imperative it applies even in the case of the verb _be_ (which does not use do-support in the indicative):

-   You _are not_ late. (indicative)
-   _Don't be_ late! (imperative)

It is also possible to use _do_-support in affirmative imperatives, for emphasis or (sometimes) politeness: _Do be quiet!_; _Do help yourself!_.

The subject _you_ may be included for emphasis in negated imperatives as well, following _don't_: _Don't you dare do that again!_


Imperative mood

# Imperative Sentence / Clause

An **imperative sentence** gives anything from a command or order, to a request, direction, or instruction. Imperative sentences are more intentional than exclamatory sentences and do require an audience; as their aim is to get the person(s) being addressed either to do or to not do something. And although this function usually deals with the immediate temporal vicinity, its scope can be extended, i.e. you can order somebody to move out as soon as you find yourself a job. The negative imperative can also be called the prohibitive and the inclusive plural imperative, the hortative. It is debatable whether the imperative is only truly possible in the second person. The vocative case of nouns can be said to indicate the imperative as well since it does not seek information, but rather a reaction from the one being addressed. An imperative can end in either a period or an exclamation point depending on delivery.

-   Look at me.
-   After separating them from the yolks, beat the whites until they are light and fluffy.
    

Imperative sentence or clause

# Independent clause

An **independent clause** (or **main clause**) is a clause that can stand by itself as a [simple sentence](/tags/simple-sentence). An independent [clause](/tags/clause) contains a [subject](/tags/subject) and a [predicate](/tags/predicate) and makes sense with another word(s).

Independent clauses can be joined by using a semicolon or by using a comma followed by a [coordinating conjunction](/tags/conjunction) (_and_, _but_, _for_, or, _nor_, _so_, _yet_)

## Examples

In the following example [sentence](/tags/sentences), independent clauses are in italic, and conjunctions are in bold.
Single independent clauses:

-   _I have enough money to buy an ice cream cone_.
-   _My favourite flavour is chocolate_.

Multiple independent clauses:

-   I have enough money to buy an ice cream cone**;** my favourite flavour is chocolate.
-   I have enough money to buy an ice cream cone, **so** let's go to the shop.
    

Independent clause

# Indicative Mood

The **indicative mood**, or evidential mood, is used for factual statements and positive beliefs. It is the mood of reality. The indicative mood is the most commonly used mood and is found in all languages. Example: _Paul is eating an apple_ or _John eats apples_. All intentions that a particular language does not categorize as another mood are classified as indicative.


Indicative mood

# Indirect Speech

[Verbs](/tags/verb) often undergo [tense](/tags/verb-tense) changes in **indirect speech**.
This commonly occurs in content clauses (typically _that_-clauses and indirect questions, when governed by a predicate of saying (_thinking_, _knowing_, etc.) which is in the past tense or conditional mood.

In this situation the following tense and aspect changes occur relative to the original words.

Changes to past:

-   "I like apples." → He said that he _liked_ apples.
-   "We are riding." → They claimed that they _were riding_.
-   "You have sinned." → I was told that I _had sinned_.

Changes to past perfect (and sometimes past progressive to past perfect progressive):

-   "They finished all the wine earlier." → He thought they _had finished_ all the wine earlier.

This change does not normally apply, however, when the past tense is used to denote an unreal rather than a past circumstance (e.g., expressions of wish, conditional sentences and dependent clauses):

-   "I would do anything you _asked_." → He said he would do anything she _asked_.

Changes to conditional, also referred to as future-in-the-past (i.e. _will/shall_ changes to _would/should_):

-   "The match will end in a draw." → He predicted that the match _would end_ in a draw.

The [modals](/tags/modal-verb) _can_ and _may_ change to their preterite forms _could_ and _might_ :

-   "We may attend." → She told us that they _might_ attend.

Verb forms not covered by any of the above rules (verbs already in the past perfect, or formed with _would_ or other modals not having a preterite equivalent) do not change.
Note that application of the above rules is not compulsory; sometimes the original verb tense is retained, particularly when the statement (with the original tense) remains equally valid at the moment of reporting:

-   "The earth orbits the sun." → Copernicus stated that the earth _orbits_ the sun.

Note also that the above tense changes do not apply when the verb of saying (etc.) is not past or conditional in form; in particular there are no such changes when that verb is in the present perfect: He has said that he _likes_ apples.


Indirect speech

# Infinitive

Regarding English, the term **infinitive** is traditionally applied to the unmarked form of the verb when it forms a non-finite verb, whether or not introduced by the [particle](/tags/particle) _to_.

Hence _sit_ and _to sit_, as used in the following sentences, would each be considered an infinitive:

-   I can _sit_ here all day.
-   I want _to sit_ on the other chair.

The form without _to_ is called the **bare infinitive**; the form introduced by to is called the **full infinitive** or **to-infinitive**.

The other non-finite verb forms in English are the [gerund](/tags/gerund) or present [participle](/tags/participle) (the **-ing form**), and the past participle – these are not considered infinitives.

Moreover, the unmarked form of the verb is not considered an infinitive when it is forms a [finite verb](/tags/finite-verb): like a present [indicative](/tags/indicative-mood) ("I _sit_ every day"), [subjunctive](/tags/subjunctive-mood) ("I suggest that he _sit_"), or [imperative](/tags/imperative-mood) ("_Sit_ down!").
(For some [irregular verbs](/tags/irregular-verb) the form of the infinitive coincides additionally with that of the past tense and/or past participle, like in the case of _put_.)

Certain [auxiliary verbs](/tags/auxiliary) are defective in that they do not have infinitives (or any other non-finite forms).

This applies to the [modal verbs](/tags/modal-verb) (_can_, _must_, etc.), as well as certain related auxiliaries like the _had_ of _had better_ and the _used_ of [_used to_](/tags/habitual).
(Periphrases _can_ be employed instead in some cases, like _(to) be able_ to for _can_, and _(to) have_ to for _must_.) It also applies to the auxiliary _do_, like used in questions, negatives and emphasis like described under do-support.
Infinitives are [negated](/tags/negation) by simply preceding them with _not_.

Of course the verb _do_ when forming a main verb can appear in the infinitive. However, the auxiliary verbs _have_ (used to form the [perfect](/tags/present-tense)) and _be_ (used to form the [passive voice](/tags/verb-passive-voice) and continuous aspect) both commonly appear in the infinitive: "I should _have_ finished by now"; "It's thought _to have_ been a burial site"; "Let him _be_ released"; "I hope _to be_ working tomorrow."

# Perfect Infinitive

There are nonfinite constructions that are marked for perfect, progressive or perfect progressive aspect, using the infinitives, participles or gerunds of the appropriate auxiliaries.
The meanings are as would be expected for the respective aspects: perfect for prior occurrence, progressive for ongoing occurrence at a particular time.
([Passive voice](/tags/verb-passive-voice) can also be marked in nonfinite constructions – with infinitives, gerunds and present participles – in the expected way: _(to) be eaten_, _being eaten_, _having been eaten_, etc.)

Examples of nonfinite constructions marked for the various aspects are given below.

**Bare infinitive**:

-   You should _have left_ earlier. (perfect infinitive; for similar constructions and their meanings see [modal verbs](/tags/modal-verb))
-   She might _be revising_. (progressive; refers to an ongoing action at this moment)
-   He must _have been working_ hard. (perfect progressive; i.e. I assume he has been working hard)

**To-infinitive**:

-   He is said _to have resigned_. (perfect infinitive)
-   I expect _to be sitting_ here this time tomorrow. (progressive)
-   He claims _to have been working_ here for ten weeks. (perfect progressive)

**Present participle**:

-   _Having written_ the letter, she went to bed. (perfect)
-   The man _having left_, we began to talk. (perfect, in a nominative absolute construction)
-   _Having been standing_ for several hours, they were beginning to feel tired. (perfect progressive)

**Past participle**:

-   We have _been waiting_ a long time.
    (progressive, used only as part of a perfect progressive construction)

**Gerund**:

-   My _having caught_ the spider impressed the others. (perfect)
-   We are not proud of _having been drinking_ all night. (perfect progressive)

Other aspectual, temporal and modal information can be marked on nonfinite verbs using periphrastic constructions.
For example, a "future infinitive" can be constructed using forms such as _(to) be going to eat_ or _(to) be about to eat_.


Infinitive

# Intensifier

**Intensifier** is a linguistic term (but not a proper lexical category) for a [modifier](/tags/modifier) that makes no contribution to the propositional meaning of a [clause](/tags/clause) but serves to enhance and give additional emotional context to the word it modifies. Intensifiers are grammatical expletives, specifically [expletive](/tags/intensifier) attributives (or, equivalently, **attributive expletives** or **attributive-only expletives**; they also qualify as **expressive attributives**), because they function as semantically vacuous filler. Characteristically, English draws intensifiers from a class of words called **degree modifiers**, words that [quantify](/tags/quantifier) the idea they modify. More specifically, they derive from a group of words called **adverbs of degree**, also known as **degree adverbs**. However, when used grammatically as intensifiers, these words cease to be degree [adverbs](/tags/adverb), because they no longer quantify the idea they modify; instead, they emphasize it emotionally. By contrast, the words _moderately_, _slightly_, and _barely_ are degree adverbs, but not intensifiers. The other hallmark of prototypical intensifiers is that they are adverbs which lack the primary characteristic of adverbs: the ability to modify verbs. Intensifiers modify exclusively [adjectives](/tags/adjective) and adverbs. However, this rule is insufficient to classify intensifiers, since there exist other words commonly classified as adverbs that never modify verbs but are not intensifiers, e.g. _questionably_.

For these reasons, Huddleston argues that intensifier not be recognized as a primary grammatical or lexical category. Intensifier is a category with grammatical properties, but insufficiently defined unless its functional significance is also described (what Huddleston calls a notional) definition ).

Technically, intensifiers roughly qualify a point on the affective) semantic property, which is gradable. Syntactically, intensifiers pre-modify either adjectives or adverbs. Semantically, they increase the emotional content of an expression. The basic intensifier is _very_. A versatile word, English permits _very_ to modify adjectives and adverbs, but not verbs. Other intensifiers often express the same intention as _very_.

# Expletive Attributive

An **expletive attributive** is an [adjective](/tags/adjective) or [adverb](/tags/adverb) (or adjectival or adverbial phrase) that does not contribute to the meaning) of a sentence, but is used to [intensify](/tags/intensifier) its emotional force. Often such words or phrases are regarded as profanity or "bad language", though there are also inoffensive expletive attributives. The word is derived from the Latin [verb](/tags/verb) _explere_, meaning "to fill", and it was originally introduced into English in the seventeenth century for various kinds of padding.

## Examples

There are a large number of attributive adjectives and adverbs in English that function as expletives, indicating a speaker's anger, irritation, or in some cases strong approval or other emotion, without otherwise modifying the meaning of the phrase in which they occur.

An example of an expletive attributive is the word _bloody_ as used in the following sentences.

-   "You'd better pray for a _bloody_ miracle if you want to avoid bankruptcy."
-   "That was a _bloody_ good meal."
-   "You'd better _bloody_ well make it happen!"

An expletive attributive is an intensifier. Unlike other adjective or adverb usage, _bloody_ or _bloody well_ in these sentences do not modify the meaning of _miracle_, _good meal_, or _make it happen_. The expletive attributives here suggest that the speaker feels strongly about the proposition being expressed.

Other vulgar words may also be used in this way.

-   "The _goddamn_ policeman tailed me all the goddamn way home."
-   "I _fucking_ hope he _fucking_ chokes on his _motherfucking_ peanuts."

_Goddamn_, _fucking_, and _motherfucking_ do not contribute anything to the meaning. Rather, they suggest the strength of feeling of the speaker.

Other words that are never thought of as offensive can be used in similar ways. For example:

-   "I forgot to pay the phone bill twice running, so the _wretched_ line was cut off."

The phone line discussed may (before it was cut off) have been just as good as any other, and therefore would not have been _wretched_ in the literal senses of "extremely shoddy", "devoid of hope" or similar. Rather, wretched serves here as a politer equivalent of expletive _bloody_ and the like.

# Infixation

In English, an expletive attributive can be infixed (inserted within another word, for "un-_bloody_-believable", etc.)


Intensifier

# Interjection

An **interjection** is a word or expression that occurs as an utterance on its own and expresses a spontaneous feeling or reaction. It is a diverse category, encompassing a number of different parts of speech, such as exclamations (_ouchch!_, _wow!_), curses (_damn!_), greetings (_hey_, _bye_), response particles (_okay_, _oh!_, _m-hm_, _huh?_), hesitation markers (_uh_, _er_, _um_) and other words (_stop_, _cool_). Due to its diverse nature, the category of interjections partly overlaps with a few other categories like profanities, discourse markers and fillers.


Interjection

# Interrogative Sentence / Clause

An **interrogative sentence** asks a question and hence ends with a question mark. In speech, it almost universally ends in a rising inflection. Its effort is to try to gather information that is presently unknown to the interrogator, or to seek validation for a preconceived notion held. Beyond seeking confirmation or contradiction, sometimes it is approval or permission that is sought as well, among other reasons one could have for posing a question. The one exception in which it isn't information that is needed, is when the question happens to be rhetorical. While an imperative is a call for action, an interrogative is a call for information.

-   What do you want?
-   Are you feeling well?
    

Interrogative sentence or clause

# Subject–auxiliary Inversion

**Subject–auxiliary inversion** involves placing the subject after a finite auxiliary verb, rather than before it as is the case in typical declarative sentences (the canonical word order of English being subject–verb–object).

Note that forms of the [verb](/tags/verb) _be_ are included regardless of whether or not they function as auxiliaries in the sense of governing another verb form.

A typical example of subject–auxiliary inversion is given below.

-   _Sam has_ read the paper. - Statement
-   _Has Sam_ read the paper? - Yes–no question formed using inversion

Here the subject is _Sam_, and the verb _has_ is an auxiliary.
In the question, these two elements change places (invert).
If the sentence does not have an auxiliary verb, this type of simple inversion is not possible.
Instead, an auxiliary must be introduced into the sentence in order to allow inversion:

-   _Sam_ enjoys the paper. - Statement with the non-auxiliary verb enjoys
-   \*_Enjoys Sam_ the paper? - This is idiomatically incorrect; simple inversion with this type of verb is considered archaic
-   _Does Sam_ enjoy the paper? - The sentence formulated with the auxiliary does now allows inversion. For details of the use of _do_, _did_ and _does_ for this and similar purposes.

For exceptions to the principle that the inverted verb must be an auxiliary, see below.

It is also possible for the subject to invert with a negative contraction (_can't_, _isn't_, etc.).
For example:

-   _He isn't_ nice.
-   _Isn't he_ nice? - The subject _he_ inverts with the negated auxiliary contraction _isn't_.

Compare this with the uncontracted form _Is he not nice?_ and the archaic _Is not he nice?_.

# Subject–verb Inversion in English

**Subject–verb inversion** in English is a type of inversion where the [subject](/tags/subject) and verb (or chain of verbs, verb catena) switch their canonical order of appearance, so that the subject follows the verb(s), e.. _A lamp stood beside the bed_ → _Beside the bed stood a lamp_. Subject–verb inversion is distinct from subject–auxiliary inversion because the verb involved is not an [auxiliary verb](/tags/auxiliary).


Inversion

Irregular verb

# Modal Verb

English has the **modal verbs** _can_, _could_, _may_, _might_, _must_, _shall_, _should_, _will_, _would_, and also (depending on classification adopted) _ought (to)_, _dare_, _need_, _had (better)_, _used (to)_. These do not add _-s_ for the third-person singular, and they do not form [infinitives](/tags/infinitive) or [participles](/tags/participle); the only inflection they undergo is that to a certain extent _could_, _might_, _should_ and _would_ function as preterites (past tenses) of _can_, _may_, _shall_ and _will_ respectively.

A modal verb can serve as the finite verb introducing a verb catena, as in "he _might_ have been injured then". These generally express some form of modality (possibility, obligation, etc.), although _will_ and _would_ (and sometimes _shall_ and _should_) can serve – among their other uses – to express future time reference and conditional [mood](tags/verb-mood).


Modal verb

# Modifier

In grammar, a **modifier** is an optional element in phrase structure or [clause](/tags/clause) structure. A modifier is so called because it is said to _modify_ (change the meaning of) another element in the structure, on which it is dependent. Typically the modifier can be removed without affecting the grammar of the sentence. For example, in the English sentence _This is a **red** ball_, the [adjective](/tags/adjective) red is a modifier, modifying the [noun](/tags/noun) ball. Removal of the modifier would leave _This is a ball_, which is grammatically correct and equivalent in structure to the original sentence.

Other terms used with a similar meaning are _qualifier_ (the word _qualify_ may be used in the same way as _modify_ in this context), _attribute_, and [_adjunct_](/tags/adjunct). These concepts are often distinguished from [complements](/tags/complement) and [arguments](/tags/argument), which may also be considered dependent on another element, but are considered an indispensable part of the structure. For example, in _His face became red_, the word red might be called a complement or argument of became, rather than a modifier or adjunct, since it cannot be omitted from the sentence.

## Types

The two principal types of modifiers are [adjectives](/tags/adjective) (and [adjectival](/tags/adjective) [phrases](/tags/phrase) and [adjectival clauses](/tags/tags/relative-clause)), which modify nouns; and [adverbs](/tags/adverb) (and [adverbial](/tags/adverb) [phrases](/tags/phrase) and [adverbial](/tags/adverb) [clauses](/tags/clause)), which modify other parts of speech, particularly verbs, adjectives and other adverbs, as well as whole phrases or clauses.
(Not all adjectives and adverbs are necessarily modifiers, however; an adjective will normally be considered a modifier when used attributively, but not when used predicatively – compare the examples with the adjective _red_ at the start of this article.)

Another type of modifier in some languages, including English, is the noun adjunct, which is a noun modifying another noun (or occasionally another part of speech).

An example is _land_ in the phrase _land mines_ given above.
Examples of the above types of modifiers, in English, are given below.

-   It was \[a _nice_ house\]. (adjective modifying a noun, in a noun phrase)
-   \[The _swiftly flowing_ waters\] carried it away. (adjectival phrase, in this case a [participial](/tags/participle) [phrase](/tags/phrase), modifying a noun in a noun phrase)
-   She's \[the woman _with the hat_\]. (adjectival phrase, in this case a [prepositional](/tags/preposition) [phrase](/tags/phrase), modifying a noun in a noun phrase)
-   I saw \[the man _whom we met yesterday_\]. (adjectival clause, in this case a [relative clause](/tags/relative-clause), modifying a noun in a noun phrase)
-   His desk was in \[the _faculty_ office\]. (noun adjunct modifying a noun in a noun phrase)
-   \[Put it _gently_ in the drawer\]. (adverb in verb phrase)
-   He was \[_very gentle_\]. (adverb in adjective phrase)
-   She set it down \[_very gently_\]. (adverb in adverb phrase)
-   \[_Even more_\] people were there. (adverb modifying a [determiner](/tags/determiner))
-   It ran \[_right up the tree_\]. (adverb modifying a prepositional phrase)
-   \[_Only the dog_\] was saved. (adverb modifying a noun phrase)In some cases, noun phrases or [quantifiers](/tags/quantifier) can act as modifiers:
-   \[_A few more_\] workers are needed. (quantifier modifying a determiner)
-   She's \[_two inches taller than her sister_\]. (noun phrase modifying an adjective)

## Ambiguous and Dangling Modifiers

Sometimes it is not clear which element of the sentence a modifier is intended to modify. In many cases this is not important, but in some cases it can lead to genuine ambiguity. For example: *He painted her sitting on the step. Here the participial phrase *sitting on the step* may be intended to modify *her* (meaning that the painting's subject was sitting on the step), or it may be intended to modify the verb phrase *painted her* or the whole clause *he painted her\* (or just he), meaning in effect that it was the painter who was sitting on the step.

Sometimes the element which the modifier is intended to modify does not in fact appear in the sentence, or is not in an appropriate position to be associated with that modifier. This is often considered a grammatical or stylistic error. For example: _Walking along the road, a vulture loomed overhead._ Here whoever was "_walking along the road_" is not mentioned in the sentence, so the modifier (walking along the road) has nothing to modify, except _a vulture_, which is clearly not the intention. Such a case is called a "dangling modifier", or more specifically, in the common case where (as here) the modifier is a participial phrase, a "dangling participle".


Modifier

# Morphology

In linguistics, **morphology** is the study of words, how they are formed, and their relationship to other words in the same language. It analyzes the structure of words and parts of words, such as stems, root words, prefixes, and suffixes. Morphology also looks at parts of speech, intonation and stress, and the ways context can change a word's pronunciation and meaning.


Morphology

# Negation

A finite indicative verb (or its clause) is negated by placing the word _not_ after an auxiliary, modal or other "special" verb such as _do_, _can_ or _be_. For example, the clause _I go_ is negated with the appearance of the auxiliary **do**, as _I do not go_. When the **affirmative** already uses auxiliary _verbs_ (_I am going_), no other auxiliary verbs are added to negate the clause (_I am not going_). (Until the period of early Modern English, negation was effected without additional auxiliary verbs: I go not.)

Most combinations of auxiliary verbs etc. with _not_ have contracted forms: _don't_, _can't_, _isn't_, etc. (Also the uncontracted negated form of can is written as a single word _cannot_.) On inversion of subject and verb (such as in questions), the subject may be placed after a contracted negated form: Should he not pay? or Shouldn't he pay?

Other elements, such as noun phrases, adjectives, adverbs, infinitive and participial phrases, etc., can be negated by placing the word _not_ before them: _not the right answer_, _not interesting_, _not to enter_, _not noticing the train_, etc.

When other negating words such as _never_, _nobody_, etc. appear in a sentence, the negating _not_ is omitted (unlike its equivalents in many languages): _I saw nothing_ or _I didn't see anything_, but not (except in non-standard speech) _I didn't see nothing_. Such negating words generally have corresponding negative polarity items (_ever_ for _never_, _anybody_ for _nobody_, etc.) which can appear in a negative context, but are not negative themselves (and can thus be used after a negation without giving rise to double negatives).


Negation

# Noun

A **noun** is a word that functions as the name of some specific thing or set of things, such as living creatures, objects, places, actions, qualities, states of existence, or ideas. However, noun is not a semantic category, so that it cannot be characterized in terms of its meaning. Thus, actions and states of existence can also be expressed by [verbs](/tags/verb), qualities by [adjectives](/tags/adjective), and places by [adverbs](/tags/adverb).

# Pronoun

**Pronouns** are a relatively small, closed class of words that function in the place of [nouns](/tags/noun) or noun [phrases](/tags/phrase). They include personal [pronouns](/tags/pronoun), demonstrative pronouns, relative pronouns, interrogative pronouns, and some others, mainly indefinite pronouns.


Noun and pronoun

# Noun

A **noun** (from Latin _nōmen_, literally meaning "name") is a word that functions as the name of some specific thing or set of things, such as living creatures, objects, places, actions, qualities, states of existence, or ideas. Linguistically, a noun is a member of a large, open part of speech whose members can occur as the main word in the [subject](/tags/subject) of a [clause](/tags/clause), the [object](/tags/object) of a [verb](/tags/verb), or the object of a [preposition](/tags/preposition).

Lexical categories ([parts of speech](/tags/parts-of-speech)) are defined in terms of the ways in which their members combine with other kinds of expressions. In English, nouns are those words which can occur with [articles](/tags/article) and [attributive adjectives](/tags/adjective) and can function as the head of a noun [phrase](/tags/phrase).


Noun

# Object

Traditional grammar defines the **object** in a sentence as the entity that is acted upon by the [subject](/tags/subject). There is thus a primary distinction between subjects and objects that is understood in terms of the action expressed by the verb, e.g. **_Tom_ studies _grammar_**—Tom is the subject and grammar is the object. Traditional theories of sentence structure divide the simple sentence into a [subject](/tags/subject) and a [predicate](/tags/predicate), whereby the object is taken to be part of the predicate. Many modern theories of grammar (e.g. dependency grammars), in contrast, take the object to be a verb argument like the subject, the difference between them being mainly just their prominence; the subject is ranked higher than the object and is thus more prominent.

The main verb in a clause determines whether and what objects are present. [Transitive verbs](/tags/transitive-and-intransitive-verb) require the presence of an object, whereas [intransitive verbs](/tags/transitive-and-intransitive-verbs) block the appearance of an object. The term [_complement_](/tags/complement) overlaps in meaning with _object_: all objects are complements, but not vice versa. The objects that verbs do and do not take is explored in detail in valency theory.

## Types

Various object types are commonly acknowledged: _direct_, _indirect_, and _prepositional_. These object types are illustrated in the following table:

| Type                 | Description                              | Example                    |
| -------------------- | :--------------------------------------- | :------------------------- |
| Direct object        | Entity acted upon                        | Sam fed _the dogs_.        |
| Indirect object      | Entity indirectly affected by the action | She sent _him_ a present.  |
| Prepositional object | Object introduced by a preposition       | She is waiting _for Lucy_. |

The descriptions "entity acted upon" and "entity indirectly affected by the action" are merely loose orientation points. Beyond basic examples such as those provided in the table, these orientation points are not much helpful when the goal is to determine whether a given object should be viewed as direct or indirect. One rule of thumb for English, however, is that an indirect object is not present unless a direct object is also present. A _prepositional object_ is one that is introduced by a [preposition](/tags/preposition). Despite the difficulties with the traditional nomenclature, the terms _direct object_ and _indirect object_ are widespread.

The term _oblique object_ is also employed at times, although what exactly is meant varies from author to author. Some understand it to be an umbrella term denoting all objects (direct, indirect, and prepositional), whereas others use the term to denote just a prepositional object.

## Syntactic Category

While the typical object is a pronoun, noun, or noun phrase, objects can also appear as other syntactic categories, as illustrated in the following table:

| Category                  | Example                                         |
| ------------------------- | :---------------------------------------------- |
| Noun (phrase) or pronoun  | The girl ate _fruit_.                           |
| _that_-clause             | We remembered _that we had to bring something_. |
| Bare clause               | We remembered _we had to bring something_.      |
| _for_-clause              | We were waiting _for him to explain_.           |
| Interrogative clause      | They asked _what had happened_.                 |
| Free relative clause      | I heard _what you heard_.                       |
| Gerund (phrase or clause) | He stopped _asking questions_.                  |
| _to_-infinitive           | Sam attempted _to leave_.                       |
| Cataphoric _it_           | I believe it that she said that.                |

## Identification

A number of criteria can be employed for identifying objects, e.g:
The object follows the subject.
Languages vary significantly with respect to these criteria.
The first criterion identifies objects reliably most of the time in English, e.g.

_Fred gave me a book._

-   a. A book was given (to) me. — Passive sentence identifies _a book_ as an object in the starting sentence.
-   b. I was given a book. — Passive sentence identifies _me_ as an object in the starting sentence.

The second criterion is also a reliable criterion for isolating languages such as English, since the relatively strict word order of English usually positions the object after the verb(s) in declarative sentences.

The third criterion is less applicable to English, though, since English lacks morphological case, exceptions being the personal pronouns (_I/me_, _we/us_, _he/him_, _she/her_, _they/them_).

## Verb Classes

Verbs can be classified according to the number and/or type of objects that they do or do not take. The following table provides an overview of some of the various verb classes:

| Transitive verbs | Number of objects | Examples                                |
| :--------------- | :---------------- | :-------------------------------------- |
| Monotransitive   | One object        | I _fed_ the dog.                        |
| Ditransitive     | Two objects       | You _lent_ me a lawnmower.              |
| Tritransitive    | Three objects     | They _sold_ me bananas for two dollars. |

| Intransitive verbs | Semantic role of subject | Examples                                        |
| :----------------- | :----------------------- | :---------------------------------------------- |
| Unaccusative       | Patient                  | The man _stumbled_ twice, The roof _collapsed_. |
| Unergative         | Agent                    | He _works_ in the morning, They _lie_ often.    |

Ergative and object-deletion verbs can be transitive or intransitive, as indicated in the following table:

| Transitive      | Example                             |
| :-------------- | :---------------------------------- |
| Ergative        | The submarine _sank_ the freighter. |
| Object deletion | We have already _eaten_ dinner.     |

| Intransitive    | Example                  |
| :-------------- | :----------------------- |
| Ergative        | The freighter _sank_.    |
| Object deletion | We have already _eaten_. |

The distinction drawn here between ergative and object-deletion verbs is based on the role of the subject. The object of a transitive ergative verb is the subject of the corresponding intransitive ergative verb. With object-deletion verbs, in contrast, the subject is consistent regardless of whether an object is or is not present.


Object

# Other Good Stuff

This is a catch-all category for everything that doesn't quite fit under the others such as [humor](/tags/humor) or [IELTS](/tags/ielts)-related things.


Other good stuff

# Participle

Participles are [verb](/tags/verb) forms that do double duty — they help build tenses and voices, but they also work as [adjectives](/tags/adjective) and [adverbs](/tags/adverb). Understanding both types of participles is essential for forming correct verb tenses, using the [passive voice](/tags/verb-passive-voice), and writing more sophisticated sentences.

## The Two Participles

English has two participles:

1. **Present participle** — formed by adding **-ing** to the base verb: *doing*, *running*, *sleeping*. It's identical in form to the [gerund](/tags/gerund), but serves a different function (more on that below).
2. **Past participle** — for regular verbs, it's the **-ed** form (*walked*, *boiled*). For [irregular verbs](/tags/irregular-verb), it varies widely: *done*, *written*, *sung*, *gone*.

## How the Present Participle Is Used

- **Progressive tenses:** She is *reading* a book.
- **As an [adjective](/tags/adjective):** The woman *sitting* by the window is my boss.
- **As an [adverb](/tags/adverb):** *Looking* up from his phone, he noticed the bus had arrived.
- **In absolute constructions** (with its own subject): The weather *being* terrible, we cancelled the trip.

Present participles used as adjectives carry an **active meaning** — an *exciting* movie is one that excites you.

## How the Past Participle Is Used

- **Perfect tenses:** They have *finished* the project.
- **[Passive voice](/tags/verb-passive-voice):** The email was *sent* this morning.
- **As an adjective:** The *broken* window needs replacing.
- **Adverbially:** *Exhausted* from the hike, we fell asleep immediately.

Past participles used as adjectives usually carry a **passive meaning** — the *attached* file is one that has been attached. However, past participles of [intransitive verbs](/tags/transitive-and-intransitive-verb) can have active meaning: *fallen* leaves (leaves that have fallen).

## Participle vs. Gerund

Both the present participle and the [gerund](/tags/gerund) end in *-ing*, but they do different jobs. The participle acts as an [adjective](/tags/adjective) or [adverb](/tags/adverb); the gerund acts as a **noun**.

- ✅ *Swimming* in the lake, she felt completely free. (participle — describes *she*)
- ✅ *Swimming* is her favourite hobby. (gerund — subject of the sentence)

The famous example *Flying planes can be dangerous* is ambiguous: *flying* could be a gerund ("the activity of flying planes") or a participle ("planes that fly").

> **Self-check:** If you can replace the *-ing* word with a noun like "it" or "the activity," it's a gerund. If it describes a noun or tells you more about an action, it's a participle.

## Watch Out: Past Tense vs. Past Participle

For regular verbs, the [past tense](/tags/past-tense) and past participle look the same (*walked*, *played*). For many irregular verbs, they differ:

- ✅ I **went** home early. (past tense)
- ✅ I have **gone** home early. (past participle)
- ❌ I should have **went** home early.

If you're unsure, check whether the verb follows a helping word like *have*, *has*, or *had* — if it does, you need the past participle form.

Ready to practise? Try [Gerund vs. Participle: Understanding -ing Word Functions](/intro/gerund-vs-participle), [Participle Clauses: Shortening Sentences with -ing and Having + Past Participle](/intro/participle-clauses-b1), or [Participle vs Gerund](/intro/participle-vs-gerund).


Participle

# Particle

Particle is a somewhat nebulous term for a variety of small words that do not conveniently fit into other [classes of words](/tags/parts-of-speech). The Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language defines a particle as a "word that does not change its form through inflection and does not fit easily into the established system of parts of speech". The term includes the "adverbial particles" like up or out in verbal idioms (phrasal verbs) such as _look up_ or _knock out_; it is also used to include the "infinitival particle" to, the "negative particle" not, the "imperative particles" _do_ and _let_, and sometimes "pragmatic particles" like _oh_ and _well_. Another example is the word _so_ in the adverb _so far_.


Particle

# Parts of Speech

Eight "word classes" or "parts of speech" are commonly distinguished in English: [nouns](/tags/noun), [determiners](/tags/determiner), [pronouns](/tags/pronoun), [verbs](/tags/verb), [adjectives](/tags/adjective), [adverbs](/tags/adverb), [prepositions](/tags/preposition), and [conjunctions](/tags/conjunction). Nouns form the largest word class, and verbs the second-largest. English nouns do not have grammatical gender.


Parts of speech

# Simple Past

The **simple past**, **past simple** or **past indefinite**, sometimes called the preterite, is the basic form of the past tense in Modern English. It is used principally to describe events in the past, although it also has some other uses. Regular English verbs form the simple past in **-ed**; however there are a few hundred [irregular verbs](/tags/irregular-verb) with different forms.

The term "simple" is used to distinguish the syntactical construction whose basic form uses the plain past tense alone, from other past tense constructions which use auxiliaries in combination with participles, such as the **past perfect** and **past progressive**.

## Formation

Regular verbs form the simple past end*-ed*; however there are a few hundred [irregular verbs](/tags/irregular-verb) with different forms.
For details see.

Most verbs have a single form of the simple past, independent of the [person](/tags/person) or [number](/tags/grammatical-number) of the subject (there is no addition of -s for the third person singular as in the [simple present](/tags/present-tense)).

However, the [copula verb](/tags/to-be) _be_ has two past tense forms: _was_ for the first and third persons singular, and _were_ in other instances.

The form _were_ can also be used in place of _was_ in conditional clauses and the like; for information on this, see [subjunctive](/tags/subjunctive-mood).

This is the only case in modern English where a distinction in form is made between the [indicative](/tags/indicative-mood) and subjunctive moods in the past tense.

Questions, other clauses requiring [inversion](/tags/inversion), [negations](/tags/negation) with _not_, and emphatic forms of the simple past use the auxiliary _did_.

A full list of forms is given below, using the (regular) verb _help_ as an example:

-   Basic simple past:
    -   I/you/he/she/it/we/they _helped_
-   Expanded (emphatic) simple past:
    -   I/you/he/she/it/we/they _did help_
-   Question form:
    -   _Did_ I/you/he/she/it/we/they _help_?
-   Negative:
    -   I/you/he/she/it/we/they _did not_ (_didn't_) _help_
-   Negative question:
    -   _Did_ I/you/he/she/it/we/they _not help_? / _Didn't_ I/you/he/she/it/we/they help?

## Usage

The simple past is used for a single event (or sequence of such events) in the past, and also for past habitual action:

-   He _took_ the money and _ran_.
-   I _visited_ them every day for a year.

It can also refer to a past state:

-   I _knew_ how to fight even as a child.

For action that was ongoing at the time referred to, the [past progressive](/tags/past-tense) is generally used instead (e.g. _I was cooking_). The same can apply to states, if temporary (e.g. _the ball was lying on the sidewalk_), but some stative verbs do not generally use the progressive aspect at all, and in these cases the simple past is used even for a temporary state:

-   The dog _was_ in its kennel.

However, with verbs of sensing, it is common in such circumstances to use _could see_ in place of _saw_, _could hear_ in place of _heard_, etc.

-   I _felt_ cold.

If one action interrupts another, then it is usual for the interrupted (ongoing) action to be expressed with the past progressive, and the action that interrupted it to be in the simple past:

-   Your mother _called_ while you _were cooking_.

The simple past is often close in meaning to the [present perfect](/tags/present-tense).

The simple past is used when the event happened at a particular time in the past, or during a period which ended in the past (i.e. a period that does not last up until the present time).

This time frame may be explicitly stated, or implicit in the context (for example the past tense is often used when describing a sequence of past events).

-   I _was_ born in 1980.
-   We _turned_ the oven off two minutes ago.
-   I _came_ home at 6 o'clock.
-   When _did_ they _get_ married?
-   We _wrote_ two letters this morning.
-   She _placed_ the letter on the table, _sighed_, and _left_ the house.Contrast these examples with those given at.

Note also that for past actions that occurred _before_ the relevant past time frame, the [past perfect](/tags/past-tense) is used.

Various compound constructions exist for denoting past habitual action.

The sentence _When I was young, I played football every Saturday_ might alternatively be phrased using [_used to_](/tags/habitual) (... I used to play ...) or using [_would_](/tags/modal-verb) (... I would play...).

The simple past also has some uses in which it does not refer to a past time.

-   If he _walked_ faster, he would get home earlier.
-   I wish I _knew_ what his name _was_.

These are generally in condition clauses and some other [dependent clauses](/tags/dependent-clause) referring to hypothetical circumstances, as well as certain expressions of wish:

-   He _said_ he _wanted_ to go on the slide.

# Past Progressive

The _past progressive_ or _past continuous_ construction combines progressive aspect with past tense, and is formed using the past tense of _be_ (_was_ or _were_) with the present participle of the main verb.

It indicates an action that was ongoing at the past time being considered:

-   At three o'clock yesterday, I _was working_ in the garden.
    For stative verbs that do not use the progressive aspect, the simple past is used instead (At three o'clock yesterday we _were_ in the garden).

The past progressive is often used to denote an action that was interrupted by an event, or for two actions taking place in parallel:

-   While I _was washing_ the dishes, I heard a loud noise.
-   While you _were washing_ the dishes, Sue _was walking_ the dog.(Interrupted actions in the past can also sometimes be denoted using the past perfect progressive.)

The past progressive can also be used to refer to past action that occurred over a range of time and is viewed as an ongoing situation:

-   I _was working_ in the garden all day yesterday.
    That could also be expressed using the simple past, as I worked..., which implies that the action is viewed as a unitary event (although the effective meaning is not very different).

# Past Perfect

The _past perfect_, sometimes called the _pluperfect_, combines past tense with perfect aspect; it is formed by combining _had_ (the past tense of the auxiliary _have_) with the past participle of the main verb.

It is used when referring to an event that took place prior to the time frame being considered.

This time frame may be stated explicitly, as a stated time or the time of another past action:

-   We _had finished_ the job by 2 o'clock.
-   He _had_ already _left_ when we arrived.

The time frame may also be understood implicitly from the previous or later context:

-   I was eating ... I _had invited_ Jim to the meal but he was unable to attend. (i.e. I invited him before I started eating)
-   I _had lost_ my way. (i.e. this happened prior to the time of the past events I am describing or am about to describe)

Compare He _had left_ when we arrived (where his leaving preceded our arrival), with the form with the simple past, _He left when we arrived_ (where his leaving was concurrent with or shortly after our arrival).

Note that unlike the present perfect, the past perfect can readily be used with an adverb specifying a past time frame for the occurrence.

For example, while it is incorrect to say _I have done it last Friday_ (the use of last Friday, specifying the past time, would require the simple past rather than the present perfect), there is no such objection to a sentence like "I had done it the previous Friday".

The past perfect can also be used for states or repeated occurrences pertaining over a period up to a time in the past, particularly in stating "for how long" or since when". However, if the state is temporary and the verb can be used in the progressive aspect, the past perfect progressive would normally be used instead. Some examples with the plain past perfect:

-   I _had lived_ in that house for 10 years.
-   The children _had been_ in their room since lunchtime.

# Past Perfect Progressive

The _past perfect progressive_ or _past perfect continuous_ (also known as the _pluperfect progressive_ or _pluperfect continuous_) combines perfect progressive aspect with past tense.

It is formed by combining _had_ (the past tense of auxiliary _have_), _been_ (the past participle of _be_), and the present participle of the main verb.

Uses of the past perfect progressive are analogous to those of the present perfect progressive, except that the point of reference is in the past.

For example:

-   I was tired because I _had been running_.
-   By yesterday morning they _had_ already _been working_ for twelve hours.
-   Among the witnesses was John Smith, who _had been staying_ at the hotel since July 10.

This form is sometimes used for actions in the past that were interrupted by some event (compare the use of the past progressive as given above).

For example:

-   I _had been working_ on my novel when she entered the room to talk to me.

This implies that I stopped working when she came in (or had already stopped a short time before); the plain past progressive (I was working...) would not necessarily carry this implication.

If the verb in question does not use the progressive aspect, then the plain past perfect is used instead.

The past perfect progressive may also have additional specific uses similar to those of the plain past perfect.


Past tense

# Period

The **full point**, **full stop** (British and broader Commonwealth English) or **period** (North American English) is a punctuation mark. It is used for several purposes, the most frequent of which is to mark the end of a declaratory sentence (as opposed to a question or exclamation); this sentence-terminal use is properly, or the precise meaning of, full stop.

The full stop is also often used alone to indicate omitted characters (or in an ellipsis, "..." to indicate omitted words). It may be placed after an initial letter used to stand for a name, or sometimes after each individual letter in an initialism or acronym, for example, "U.S.A."; however, this style is declining, and many initialisms like UK or NATO have individually become accepted norms. A full stop is also frequently used at the end of word abbreviations – in British usage, primarily truncations like Rev., but not after contractions like Revd; however, in American English it is used in both cases.


Period

# Grammatical Person

**Grammatical person**, in linguistics, is the grammatical distinction between deictic references to participant(s) in an event; typically the distinction is between the speaker (first person), the addressee (second person), and others (third person). Put in simple colloquial English, first person is that which includes the speaker, namely, _I_, _we_, _me_, and _us_, second person is the person or people spoken to, literally, _you_, and third person includes all that is not listed above. Grammatical person typically defines a language's set of [personal pronouns](/tags/pronoun). It also frequently affects [verbs](/tags/verb), and sometimes [nouns](/tags/noun) or possessive relationships.

## English Pronouns in the Nominative Case

| Pronoun  | Person and number                              | Gender    |
| -------- | ---------------------------------------------- | --------- |
| Standard |                                                |           |
| I        | First-person singular                          |           |
| we       | First-person plural                            |           |
| you      | Second-person singular or second-person plural |           |
| he       | Third-person masculine singular                | masculine |
| she      | Third-person feminine singular                 | feminine  |
| it       | Third-person neuter (and inanimate) singular   | neuter    |
| they     | Third-person gender-neutral singular           | common    |
| they     | Third-person plural                            |           |



Person

# Phrasal Verbs

In English, a **phrasal [verb](/tags/verb)** is a phrase such as _turn down_ or _ran into_ which combines two or three words from different grammatical categories: a verb and a [particle](/tags/particle) and/or a [preposition](/tags/preposition) together form a single semantic unit. This semantic unit cannot be understood based upon the meanings of the individual parts, but must be taken as a whole. In other words, the meaning is non-compositional and thus unpredictable. Phrasal verbs that include a preposition are known as **prepositional verbs** and phrasal verbs that include a particle are also known as **particle verbs**. Additional alternative terms for _phrasal verb_ are _compound verb_, _verb-adverb combination_, _verb-particle construction_, _two-part word/verb_, and _three-part word/verb_ (depending on the number of particles), and _multi-word verb_.

## Examples

There are at least three main types of phrasal verb constructions depending on whether the verb combines with a preposition, a particle, or both.
The phrasal verb constructions in the following examples are in bold:

**Verb + preposition (prepositional phrasal verbs)**

When the element is a preposition, it is the head) of a full prepositional phrase and the phrasal verb is thus a _prepositional phrasal verb_. These phrasal verbs can also be thought of as transitive and non-separable; the complement follows the phrasal verb.

-   Who is **looking _after_** the kids? – after is a preposition that introduces the prepositional phrase _after the kids_.
-   They **picked _on_** nobody. – on is a preposition that introduces the prepositional phrase _on nobody_.
-   I **ran _into_** an old friend. – into is a preposition that introduces the prepositional phrase _into an old friend_.
-   She **takes _after_** her mother. – after is a preposition that introduces the prepositional phrase _after her mother_.
-   Sam **passes _for_** a linguist. – for is a preposition that introduces the prepositional phrase _for a linguist_.
-   You should **stand _by_** your friend. – by is a preposition that introduces the prepositional phrase _by your friend._

**Verb + particle (particle phrasal verbs)**

When the element is a particle, it can not (or no longer) be construed as a preposition, but rather is a particle because it does not take a complement. These verbs can be transitive or intransitive. If they are transitive, they are separable.

-   They **brought** that **_up_** twice. – up is a particle, not a preposition.
-   You should **think** it **_over_**. – over is a particle, not a preposition.
-   Why does he always **dress _down_**? – down is a particle, not a preposition.
-   You should not **give _in_** so quickly. – in is a particle, not a preposition.
-   Where do they want to **hang _out_**? – out is a particle, not a preposition.
-   She **handed** it **_in_**. – in is a particle, not a preposition. \*

**Verb + particle + preposition (particle-prepositional phrasal verbs)**

Finally, many phrasal verbs are combined with both a preposition and a particle.

-   Who can **put _up with_** that? – up is a particle and with is a preposition.
-   She is **looking _forward to_** a rest. – forward is a particle and to is a preposition.
-   The other tanks were **bearing _down on_** my panther. – down is a particle and on is a preposition.
-   They were really **teeing _off on_** me. – off is a particle and on is a preposition.
-   We **loaded _up on_** Mountain Dew and Doritos. – up is a particle and on is a preposition
-   Susan has been **sitting _in for_** me. – in is a particle and for is a preposition.The aspect of these types of verbs that unifies them under the single banner _phrasal verb_ is the fact that their meaning cannot be understood based upon the meaning of their parts taken in isolation: the meaning of pick up is distinct from pick; the meaning of hang out is not obviously related to hang.
    

Phrasal verb

# Phrase

In everyday speech, a **phrase** may be any group of words, often carrying a special idiomatic meaning; in this sense it is synonymous with **expression**. In linguistic analysis, a phrase is a group of words (or possibly a single word) that functions as a constituent in the syntax of a [sentence](/tags/sentence), a single unit within a grammatical hierarchy. A phrase typically appears within a [clause](/tags/clause), but it is possible also for a phrase to be a clause or to contain a clause within it.


Phrase

# Possessives

In English, possessive words or phrases exist for nouns and most [pronouns](/tags/pronoun), as well as some [noun](/tags/noun) phrases. These can play the roles of [determiners](/tags/determiners) (also called possessive adjectives when corresponding to a pronoun) or of nouns.

For historical reasons, this case is misleadingly called the possessive (case). It was called the genitive until the 18th century and in fact expresses much more than possession. Most disagreements about the use of possessive forms of nouns and of the [apostrophe](/tags/apostrophe) are due to the erroneous belief that a term should not use an apostrophe if it does not express possession.

In the words of the Merriam-Webster Dictionary of English Usage:

_The argument is a case of fooling oneself with one's own terminology. After the 18th-century grammarians began to refer to the genitive case as the possessive case, grammarians and other commentators got it into their heads that the only use of the case was to show possession. ..._

This dictionary also cites a study in whose samples only 40% of the possessive forms were used to indicate actual possession.

Nouns, noun phrases, and some pronouns generally form a possessive with the suffix -'**s** ([apostrophe](/tags/apostrophe) plus s, but in some cases just by adding an apostrophe to an existing s). [Personal pronouns](/tags/pronoun), however, have irregular possessives, and most of them have different forms for possessive determiners and possessive pronouns, such as _my_ and _mine_ or _your_ and _yours_.

Possessives are one _of_ the means by which genitive constructions are formed in modern English, the other principal one being the use of the [preposition](/tags/preposition) of.


Possessive

# Predicate

There are two competing notions of the **predicate**, generating confusion concerning the use of the term predicate in general. The first concerns traditional grammar, which tends to view a predicate as one of two main parts of a sentence, the other part being the [subject](/tags/subject). The purpose of the predicate is to complete an idea about the subject, such as what it does or what it is like. For instance, in a sentence such as _Frank likes cake_, the subject is Frank and the predicate is likes cake.

The second notion of predicates is derived from work in predicate calculus (predicate logic, first order logic) and is prominent in modern theories of syntax and grammar. The predicate is a semantic unit that takes one or more [arguments](/tags/argument) and relates these arguments to each other. On this approach, the predicate in the example sentence _Frank likes cake_ is the verb likes, and the nouns Frank and cake are its arguments. Both of these predicate constructs are considered in this article.


Predicate

# Preposition

[Prepositions](/tags/preposition) form a closed word class, although there are also certain phrases that serve as prepositions, such as _in front of_.

A single preposition may have a variety of meanings, often including temporal, spatial and abstract.
Many words that are prepositions can also serve as adverbs.
Examples _of_ common English prepositions (including phrasal instances) are of, _in_, _on_, _over_, _under_, _to_, _from_, _with_, _in front of_, _behind_, _opposite_, _by_, _before_, _after_, _during_, _through_, _in spite of_ or _despite_, _between_, _among_, etc.

A preposition is usually used with a noun phrase as its [complement](/tags/complement).

A preposition together with its complement is called a [prepositional phrase](/tags/prepositional-phrase).

Examples are _in England_, _under the table_, _after six pleasant weeks_, _between the land and the sea_.

A prepositional phrase can be used as a complement or post-modifier of a noun in a noun phrase, as in _the man in the car_, _the start of the fight_; as a complement of a verb or adjective, as in _deal with the problem_, _proud of oneself_; or generally as an adverb phrase.

English allows the use of "stranded" prepositions.
This can occur in interrogative and [relative clauses](/tags/relative-clause), where the interrogative or relative pronoun that is the preposition's complement is moved to the start (fronted), leaving the preposition in place.
This kind of structure is avoided in some kinds of formal English.

For example:

-   _What are you talking about?_ (Possible alternative version: _About what are you talking?_)
-   _The song that you were listening to ..._ (more formal: _The song to which you were listening ..._)

Notice that in the second example the relative pronoun _that_ could be omitted.

Stranded prepositions can also arise in [passive voice](/tags/verb-passive-voice) constructions and other uses of passive [past participial phrases](/tags/participle), where the complement in a prepositional phrase can become zero in the same way that a verb's direct object would: _it was looked at_; _I will be operated on_; _get your teeth seen to_.

The same can happen in certain uses of [infinitive](/tags/infinitive) phrases: _he is nice to talk to_; _this is the page to make copies of_.


Preposition

# Simple Present

The **simple present** or **present simple** is a form that combines present tense with "simple" (neither perfect nor progressive) aspect.

In the indicative mood it consists of the base form of the verb, or the **-s form** when the subject is third-person singular (the verb _be_ uses the forms _am_, _is_, _are_). However, with [non-auxiliary](/tags/auxiliary) verbs it also has a periphrastic form consisting of _do_ (or third-person singular _does_) with the bare infinitive of the main verb — this form is used in questions (and other clauses requiring [inversion](/tags/inversion) and [negations](/tags/negation), and sometimes for emphasis.

The principal uses of the simple present are given below.

To refer to an action or event that takes place habitually. Such uses are often accompanied by frequency adverbs and adverbial phrases such as _always_, _often_, _from time to time_ and _never_.  
Examples:

-   I always _take_ a shower.
-   He _writes_ for a living.

This contrasts with the present progressive, which is used for actions taking place at the present moment.

With stative verbs in senses that do not use progressive aspect, to refer to a present or general state, whether temporary, permanent or habitual. (In senses that do use [progressive aspect](/tags/verb-tense-progressive), the present simple is used when the state is permanent or habitual.)

-   You _are_ happy.
-   I _know_ what to do.
-   Denmark _lies_ to the north of Germany.

When quoting someone or something, even if the words were spoken in the (usually very recent) past:

-   The label _says_ "External use only".
-   Mary _says_ she's ready.

To refer to a single completed action, as in recounting the events of a story in the present tense (see [historical present](/tags/historical-present)), and in such contexts as newspaper headlines, where it replaces the present perfect:

-   In Hamlet, Ophelia _drowns_ in a stream.
-   40-year-old _wins_ gold medal.

Sometimes to refer to an arranged future event, usually with a reference to time:

-   We _leave_ for Berlin tomorrow at 1 pm.

In providing a commentary on events as they occur, or in describing some theoretical sequence of events:

-   I _chop_ the chives and _add_ them to the mixture.
-   According to the manager's new idea, I _welcome_ the guests and you _give_ the presentation.

In many [dependent clauses](/tags/dependent-clause) referring to the future, particularly condition clauses, clauses expressing place and time, and many relative clauses (see below):

-   If he _finds_ your sweets, he will eat them.
-   We will report as soon as we _receive_ any information.

In certain situations in a temporal adverbial clause, rather than the present progressive:

-   We can see the light improving _as we speak_.

In colloquial English it is common to use _can see_, _can hear_ for the present tense of see, hear, etc., and _have got_ for the present tense of _have_ (denoting [possession](/tags/possessive).

See _have got_ and _can see_ below.

For the present subjunctive, see [subjunctive](/tags/subjunctive-mood).

For uses of modal verbs (which may be regarded as instances of the simple present) see [modal verbs](/tags/modal-verb).

# Present progressive

The _present progressive_ or _present continuous_ form combines present tense with progressive aspect.
It thus refers to an action or event conceived of as having limited duration, taking place at the present time.
It consists of a form of the simple present of _be_ together with the present participle of the main verb and the ending -ing.

-   We _are cooking_ dinner now.

This often contrasts with the simple present, which expresses repeated or habitual action (We _cook_ dinner every day). However, sometimes the present continuous is used with _always_, generally to express annoyance about a habitual action:

-   You _are always making_ a mess in the study.

Certain stative verbs do not use the progressive aspect, so the present simple is used instead in those cases.
The present progressive can be used to refer to a planned future event:

-   We _are tidying_ the attic tomorrow.

It also appears with future reference in many condition and time clauses and other dependent clauses:

-   If he*'s sleeping* when you arrive, wake him up.
-   I will finish the job while the children _are playing_.

It can also refer to something taking place not necessarily at the time of speaking, but at the time currently under consideration, in the case of a story or narrative being told in the present tense (as mentioned above under present simple):

-   The king and queen _are conversing_ when Hamlet enters.
    For the possibility of a present subjunctive progressive, see [English subjunctive](/tags/subjunctive-mood).

# Present Perfect

The [**present perfect**](/tags/present-tense) (traditionally called simply the perfect) combines present tense with perfect aspect, denoting the present state of an action's being completed, that is, that the action took place before the present time.
(It is thus often close in meaning to the simple past tense, although the two are not usually interchangeable.) It is formed with the present tense of the auxiliary _have_ (namely have or _has_) and the past participle of the main verb.

The choice of present perfect or past tense depends on the frame of reference (period or point in time) in which the event is conceived as occurring.
If the frame of reference extends to the present time, the present perfect is used. For example:

-   I _have written_ a letter this morning. (if it is still the morning)
-   He _has produced_ ten plays. (if he is still alive and professionally active)
-   They _have_ never _traveled_ abroad. (if they are still alive and considered capable of traveling)

If the frame of reference is a time in the past, or a period that ended in the past, the past tense is used instead. For example:

-   _I wrote a letter this morning_ (it is now afternoon);
-   _He produced ten plays_ (he is now dead or his career is considered over, or a particular past time period is being referred to);
-   _They never traveled abroad_ (similarly).

See [Simple past](/tags/past-tense) for more examples.

The simple past is generally used when the occurrence has a specific past time frame – either explicitly stated (*I wrote a book in 1995; *the water boiled a minute ago), or implied by the context (for example, in the narration of a sequence of events).
It is therefore normally incorrect to write a sentence like _I have written a novel yesterday_; the present perfect cannot be used with an expression of past time such as yesterday.

With _already_ or _yet_, traditional usage calls for the present perfect: ''Have you eaten yet?
Yes, I've already eaten.* However, current informal American speech tends to use the simple past: *Did you eat yet?
Yes, I ate already.''

Use of the present perfect often draws attention to the present consequences of the past action or event, as opposed to its actual occurrence.
The sentence _she has come_ probably means she is here now, while the simple past _she came_ does not.
The sentence, "Have you been to the fair?" suggests that the fair is still going on, while the sentence, "Did you go to the fair?" could mean that the fair is over.
(See also _been_ and _gone_ below.) Some more examples:

-   I _have eaten_. (implies that I'm no longer hungry)
-   We _have made_ the dinner. (implies that the dinner is now ready to eat)
-   The weather _has gotten_ cloudier. (implies that it is now more cloudy than previously)

It may also refer to an ongoing state or habitual action, particularly in saying _for how long_, or _since when_, something is the case. For example:

-   I _have lived_ in Paris for five years.
-   He _has held_ the record since he won his Olympic gold.
-   We _have eaten_ breakfast together every morning since our honeymoon.

This implies that I still live in Paris, that he still holds the record and that we still eat together every morning (although the first sentence may also refer to some unspecified past period of five years).

When the circumstance is temporary, the present perfect progressive is often appropriate in such sentences (see below); however, if the verb is one that does not use the progressive aspect, the basic present perfect is used in that case too:

-   Amy _has been_ on the swing for ten minutes.

The present perfect may refer to a habitual circumstance, or a circumstance being part of a theoretical or story narrative being given in the present tense (provided the circumstance is of an event's having taken place previously):

-   Whenever I get home, John _has_ usually already _arrived_.
-   According to the plan, the speeches _have_ already _been given_ when the cake is brought out.

The present perfect may also be used with future reference, instead of the future perfect, in those dependent clauses where future occurrence is denoted by present tense.
For example:

-   When you _have written_ it, show it to me.

# Present Perfect Progressive

The **present perfect progressive** (or **present perfect continuous**) construction combines some of this perfect progressive aspect with present tense.

It is formed with the present tense of _have_ (have or _has_), the past participle of _be_ (_been_), and the present participle of the main verb and the ending "-ing"

This construction is used for ongoing action in the past that continues right up to the present or has recently finished:

-   I _have been writing_ this paper all morning.
-   Why are his eyes red? He _has been crying_.

It is frequently used when stating _for how long_, or _since when_, something is the case:

-   She _has been working_ here since 1997.
-   How long _have_ you _been sitting_ there?
-   They _have been arguing_ about it for two weeks.

In these sentences the actions are still continuing, but it is the past portion of them that is being considered, and so the perfect aspect is used.
(A sentence without perfect aspect, such as _I am sitting here for three hours_, implies an intention to perform the action for that length of time.)

With stative verbs that are not used in the progressive, and for situations that are considered permanent, the present perfect (nonprogressive) is used instead.


Present tense

# Pronoun

**Pronouns** are a relatively small, closed class of words that function in the place of [nouns](/tags/noun) or noun [phrases](/tags/phrase). They include personal pronouns, demonstrative pronouns, relative pronouns, interrogative pronouns, and some others, mainly indefinite pronouns.

## Personal

The personal pronouns of modern standard English, and the corresponding possessive forms, are as follows:

|                     | Nominative                | Oblique                    | Reflexive                                  | Possessive determiner        | Possessive pronoun             |
| ------------------- | ------------------------- | -------------------------- | ------------------------------------------ | ---------------------------- | ------------------------------ |
| 1st pers. sing.     | _I_                       | _me_                       | _myself_                                   | _my_                         | _mine_                         |
| 2nd pers. sing./pl. | _you_                     | _you_                      | _yourself/yourselves_                      | _your_                       | _yours_                        |
| 3rd pers. sing.     | _she_, _he_, _they_, _it_ | _her_, _him_, _them_, _it_ | _herself_, _himself_, _themself_, _itself_ | _her_, _his_, _their_, _its_ | _hers_, _his_, _theirs_, _its_ |
| 1st pers. pl.       | _we_                      | _us_                       | _ourselves_                                | _our_                        | _ours_                         |
| 3rd pers. pl.       | _they_                    | _them_                     | _themselves_                               | _their_                      | _theirs_                       |

The second-person forms such as _you_ are used with both singular and plural reference. _You_ can also be used as an indefinite pronoun, referring to a person in general compared to the more formal alternative, _one_) (reflexive _oneself_, possessive _one's_).

The third-person singular forms are differentiated according to the sex of the referent. For example, _she_ is used to refer to a female person, sometimes a female animal, and sometimes an object to which female characteristics are attributed, such as a ship or a country. A male person, and sometimes a male animal, is referred to using _he_. In other cases _it_ can be used. The word _it_ can also be used as a dummy subject, in sentences like _It is going to be sunny this afternoon_.

The third-person plural forms such as _they_ are sometimes used with singular reference, as a gender-neutral pronoun, as in _each employee should ensure they tidy their desk_. Despite its long history, this usage is sometimes considered ungrammatical.

The possessive determiners such as _my_ are used as determiners together with nouns, as in _my old man_, _some of his friends_. The second possessive forms like _mine_ are used when they do not qualify a noun: as pronouns, as in _mine is bigger than yours_, and as predicates, as in _this one is mine_. Note also the construction _a friend of mine_ (meaning "someone who is my friend").

## Demonstrative and Interrogative

The demonstrative pronouns of English are _this_ (plural _these_), and _that_ (plural _those_), as in _these are good, I like that_. Note that all four words can also be used as determiners (followed by a noun), as in _those cars_. They can also form the alternative pronominal expressions _this/that one_, _these/those ones_.

The interrogative pronouns are _who_, _what_, and _which_ (all of them can take the suffix -ever for emphasis). The pronoun _who_ refers to a person or people; it has an oblique form _whom_ (though in informal contexts this is usually replaced by who), and a possessive form (pronoun or determiner) _whose_. The pronoun _what_ refers to things or abstracts. The word _which_ is used to ask about alternatives from _what_ is seen as a closed set: which (of the books) do you like best? (It can also be an interrogative determiner: which book?; this can form the alternative pronominal expressions _which one_ and _which ones_.) _Which_, _who_, and what can be either singular or plural, although who and what often take a singular verb regardless of any supposed number.

All the interrogative pronouns can also be used as relative pronouns; see below for more details.

## Relative

The main relative pronouns in English are _who_ (with its derived forms _whom_ and _whose_), _which_, and _that_.

The relative pronoun _which_ refers to things rather than persons, as in _the shirt, which used to be red, is faded_. For persons, _who_ is used (_the man who saw me was tall_). The oblique case form of who is _whom_, as in _the man whom I saw was tall_, although in informal registers who is commonly used in place of whom.

The possessive form of _who_ is _whose_ (the man whose car is missing ...); however the use of whose is not restricted to persons (one can say _an idea whose time has come_).

The word _that_ as a relative pronoun is normally found only in restrictive relative clauses (unlike _which_ and _who_, which can be used in both restrictive and unrestrictive clauses). It can refer to either persons or things, and cannot follow a preposition. For example, one can say _the song that_ \[or _which_\] _I listened to yesterday_, but _the song to which_ \[not _to that_\] _I listened yesterday_. The relative pronoun _that_ is usually pronounced with a reduced vowel, and hence differently from the demonstrative that. If _that_ is not the subject of the relative clause, it can be omitted (_the song I listened to yesterday_).

The word _what_ can be used to form a free relative clause – one that has no antecedent and that serves as a complete noun phrase in itself, as in _I like what he likes_. The words _whatever_ and _whichever_ can be used similarly, in the role of either pronouns (_whatever he likes_) or determiners (_whatever book he likes_). When referring to persons, who(ever) (and whom(ever)) can be used in a similar way (but not as determiners).

## "There"

The word _there_ is used as a pronoun in some sentences, playing the role of a dummy subject, normally of an [intransitive verb](/tags/transitive-and-intransitive-verb). The "logical subject" of the verb then appears as a [complement](/tags/complement) after the verb.

This use of _there_ occurs most commonly with forms of the verb _be_ in existential clauses, to refer to the presence or existence of something. For example: _There is a heaven_; _There are two cups on the table_; _There have been a lot of problems lately_. It can also be used with other verbs: _There exist two major variants_; _There occurred a very strange incident_.

The dummy subject takes the [number](/tags/grammatical-number) (singular or plural) of the logical subject (complement), hence it takes a plural verb if the complement is plural. In informal English, however, the contraction _there's_ is often used for both singular and plural.

The dummy subject can undergo [inversion](/tags/inversion), Is there a test today? and Never has there been a man such as this. It can also appear without a corresponding logical subject, in short sentences and question tags: ''There wasn't a discussion, was there? There was.''

The word _there_ in such sentences has sometimes been analyzed as an [adverb](/tags/adverb), or as a dummy [predicate](/tags/predicate), rather than as a pronoun. However, its identification as a pronoun is most consistent with its behavior in inverted sentences and question tags as described above.

Because the word _there_ can also be a deictic adverb (meaning "at/to that place"), a sentence like _There is a river_ could have either of two meanings: "a river exists" (with there as a pronoun), and "a river is in that place" (with there as an adverb).

## Other

Other pronouns in English are often identical in form to [determiners](/tags/determiner) (especially [quantifiers](/tags/quantifier)), such as _many_, _a little_, etc. Sometimes, the pronoun form is different, as with _none_ (corresponding to the determiner _no_), _nothing_, _everyone_, _somebody_, etc. Many examples are listed as indefinite pronouns. Another indefinite (or impersonal) pronoun is _one_) (with its reflexive form _oneself_ and possessive _one's_), which is a more formal alternative to generic _you_.


Pronoun

# Punctuation

**Punctuation** in the English language helps the reader to understand a sentence through visual means other than just the letters of the alphabet. English punctuation has always had two complementary aspects: on the one hand, phonological punctuation linked to how the sentence can be read aloud, particularly to pausing; and on the other hand, grammatical punctuation linked to the structure of the sentence. In popular discussion of language, incorrect punctuation is often seen as an indication of lack of education and of a decline of standards.


Punctuation

# Quantifier

**Quantifiers** indicate quantity. Some examples of quantifiers include: _all_, _some_, _many_, _few_, and _no_. Quantifiers are also dependent of a [noun](/tags/noun). It is important to acknowledge that quantifiers only indicate a vague quantity of objects, not a specific number, such as _twelve_, _dozen_, _first_, _single_, or _once_, which would be considered numerals.


Quantifier

# Question Mark

The **question mark** **?** is a punctuation mark that indicates an [interrogative](/tags/interrogative-sentence) [clause](/tags/clause) or [phrase](/tags/phrase). The question mark is not used for [indirect questions](/tags/indirect-speech).


Question mark

# Questions

Like many other Western European languages, English historically allowed **questions** to be formed by [inverting](/tags/inversion) the positions of verb and subject. Modern English permits this only in the case of a small class of verbs ("special verbs"), consisting of auxiliaries as well as forms of the copula _be_. To form a question from a sentence which does not have such an auxiliary or copula present, the auxiliary verb _do_ (_does_, _did_) needs to be inserted, along with inversion of the word order, to form a question. For example:

-   She can dance. → Can she dance? (inversion of subject _she_ and auxiliary _can_)
-   I am sitting here. → Am I sitting here? (inversion of subject _I_ and copula _am_)
-   The milk goes in the fridge. → Does the milk go in the fridge? (no special verb present; _do_-support required)

The above concerns yes-no questions, but inversion also takes place in the same way after other questions, formed with interrogative words such as where, what, how, etc. An exception applies when the interrogative word is the subject or part of the subject, in which case there is no inversion. For example:

-   I go. → Where do I go? (_wh_-question formed using inversion, with _do_-support required in this case)
-   He goes. → Who goes? (no inversion, because the question word _who_ is the subject)

Note that inversion does not apply in indirect questions: _I wonder where he is_ (not *... *where is he*). Indirect yes-no questions can be expressed using *if* or *whether* as the interrogative word: *Ask them whether/if they saw him\*.

[Negative](/tags/negation) questions are formed similarly; however if the verb undergoing inversion has a contraction with _not_, then it is possible to invert the subject with this contraction as a whole. For example:

-   John is going. (affirmative)
-   John is not going. / John isn't going. (negative, with and without contraction)
-   Isn't John going? / Is John not going? (negative question, with and without contraction respectively)

Tag questions are formed with a special verb and pronoun subject: _isn't it?_; _were there?_; _am I not?_


Questions

# Quotation Mark

In English writing, quotation marks or **inverted commas**, also known informally as **quotes**, **talking marks**, **speech marks**, **quote marks**, **quotemarks** or **speechmarks**, are [punctuation marks](/tags/punctuation) placed on either side of a word or phrase in order to identify it as a quotation, direct speech or a literal title or name. They are also used to indicate that the meaning of the word or phrase they surround should be taken to be different from (or, at least, a modification of) that typically associated with it (e.g. in the sentence _the elite, composed by people of mixed ancestry, embraced their "whiteness"_ – the quotation marks modify the word whiteness to pertain to European culture rather than the colour white); in this way, they are often used to express irony. They also sometimes appear to be used as a means of adding emphasis, although this usage is usually considered incorrect.

Quotation marks are written as a pair of opening and closing marks in either of two styles: single (‘...’) or double (“...”). Opening and closing quotation marks may be identical in form (called neutral, vertical, straight, typewriter, or "dumb" quotation marks), or may be distinctly left-handed and right-handed (typographic or, colloquially, curly quotation marks). Typographic quotation marks are usually used in manuscript and typeset text. Because typewriter and computer keyboards lack keys to directly enter typographic quotation marks, much typed writing has neutral quotation marks. The "smart quotes" feature in some computer software can convert neutral quotation marks to typographic ones, but sometimes imperfectly.

The closing single quotation mark is identical or similar in form to the [apostrophe](/tags/apostrophe) and similar to the prime) symbol. However, these three characters have quite different purposes. The double quotation mark is similar to – and often used to represent – the ditto mark and the double prime symbol.


Quotation mark

# Relative Clause

A **relative clause** is a kind of subordinate clause that contains the element whose interpretation is provided by an antecedent on which the subordinate clause is grammatically dependent; that is, there is an anaphoric relation between the relativized element in the relative clause and antecedent on which it depends.

Typically, a relative clause modifies a [noun](/tags/noun) or noun [phrase](/tags/phrase), and uses some grammatical device to indicate that one of the arguments within the relative clause has the same referent as that noun or noun phrase. For example, in the sentence \*I met a man **who wasn't there\***, the subordinate clause who wasn't there is a relative clause, since it modifies the noun man, and uses the pronoun who to indicate that the same "man" is referred to within the subordinate clause (in this case, as its [subject](/tags/subject)).

In many European languages, relative clauses are introduced by a special class of [pronouns](/tags/pronoun) called relative pronouns, such as _who_ in the example just given.

# Restrictive and Non-restrictive

Bound relative clauses may or may not be restrictive.
Whereas a **non-restrictive** or **non-defining** relative clause merely provides supplementary information, a restrictive or defining relative clause modifies the meaning of its head word (restricts its possible referent).

For example:

-   \*The man **_who lives in this house_** has not been seen for days*. This (*who lives in this house\*) is a restrictive relative clause, modifying the meaning of man, and essential to the sentence (if the clause were omitted, it would no longer be known which man is being referred to). If the bold part is deleted the remaining part does not provide the sense.
-   _The mayor, **who lives in this house**, has not been seen for days_. This is a non-restrictive relative clause, since it provides supplementary information about the mayor, but is not essential to the sentence – if the clause were omitted, it would still be known which mayor is meant. If the bold part is deleted the remaining part provides the sense. In speaking it is natural to make slight pauses around non-restrictive clauses, and in English this is shown in writing by [commas](/tags/comma) (as in the examples).

Another difference in English is _that_ only restrictive relative clauses may be introduced with that or use the "zero" relative pronoun.
In colloquial speech, a non-restrictive relative clause may have a whole sentence as its antecedent rather than a specific noun phrase; for example:

-   \*The cat was allowed on the bed, **which annoyed the dog\***.

Here, the context of the sentence (presumably) indicates that _which_ refers not to the bed or the cat but to the entire proposition expressed in the main clause, namely the circumstance that the cat was allowed on the bed.
Such constructions are discouraged in formal usage and in texts written for nonnative speakers because of the potential for ambiguity in parsing; a construction more accepted in formal usage would be _The cat's being \[or having been\] allowed on the bed annoyed the dog_.

# Finite and Non-Finite

Relative clauses may be either finite clauses (as in the examples above) or non-finite clauses. An example of a non-finite relative clause in English is the infinitive clause _on whom to rely_, in the sentence "She is the person _on whom to rely_".

# Relative Clauses in English

In English, a relative clause follows the noun it modifies.
It is generally indicated by a relative pronoun at the start of the clause, although sometimes simply by word order.
If the relative pronoun is the object of the verb in the relative clause, it comes at the beginning of the clause even though it would come at the end of an independent clause ("He is the man **whom** I saw", not "He is the man I saw whom").
The choice of relative pronoun can be affected by whether the clause modifies a human or non-human noun, by whether the clause is restrictive or not, and by the role (subject, direct object, or the like) of the relative pronoun in the relative clause.

-   For a human antecedent, "_who_", "_whom_", or "_that_" is usually used ("He is the person who saw me", "He is the person whom I saw", "He is the person that I saw"). For a non-human antecedent, only "that" or "which" is used.
-   For a non-human antecedent in a non-restrictive clause, only "_which_" is used ("The tree, which fell, is over there"); while either "_which_" or "_that_" may be used in a restrictive clause ("The tree which fell is over there", "The tree that fell is over there")—but some styles and prescriptive grammars require the use of "_that_" in the restrictive context.
-   Of the relative pronoun pair "_who_" and "_whom_", the _subjective_ case form ("_who_") is used if it is the subject of the relative clause ("He is the policeman who saw me"); and, in formal usage, the _objective_ case form ("_whom_") if it is the object of the verb or preposition in the relative clause ("He is the policeman whom I saw", "He is the policeman whom I talked to", "He is the policeman to whom I talked"); but in informal usage "_whom_" is often replaced by "_who_".

In English, non-restrictive relative clauses are set off with commas, but restrictive ones are not:

-   "I met a man and a woman yesterday. The woman, _who had a thick French accent_, was very pretty." (non-restrictive—does not narrow down who is being talked about)
-   "I met two women yesterday, one with a thick French accent and one with a mild Italian one. The woman _who had the thick French accent_ was very pretty." (restrictive—adds information about who is being referred to)The status of "that" as a relative pronoun is not universally agreed.
    

Relative clause

# Semicolon

The **semicolon** or **semi-colon** (;) is a punctuation mark that separates major sentence elements. A semicolon can be used between two closely related independent clauses, provided they are not already joined by a coordinating conjunction. Semicolons can also be used in place of commas to separate the items in a list, particularly when the elements of that list contain commas.

Although terminal marks (i.e. [full stops](/tags/period), [exclamation marks](/tags/exclamation-mark), and [question marks](/tags/question-mark)) mark the end of a sentence, the [comma](/tags/comma), **semicolon** and [colon](/tags/colon) are normally sentence-internal, making them secondary boundary marks. The semicolon falls between terminal marks and the comma; its strength is equal to that of the colon.

# Constraints

1. When a semicolon marks the left boundary of a constituent (e.g., the beginning of a clause or a phrase), the right boundary is marked by punctuation of equal or greater strength.
2. When two or more semicolons are used within a single construction, all constituents are at the same level, unlike commas, which can separate, for example, subordinate clauses from main clauses.

## Usage

Semicolons are followed by a lower case letter, unless that letter would ordinarily be capitalized mid-sentence (e.g., the word "I", acronyms/initialisms, or proper nouns). Modern style guides recommend no space before them and one space after. They also typically recommend placing semicolons outside ending quotation marks, although this was not always the case. For example, the first edition of the Chicago Manual of Style (1906) recommended placing the semicolon inside ending quotation marks.

Applications of the semicolon in English include:

-   Between items in a series or listing containing internal punctuation, especially parenthetic commas, where the semicolons function as serial commas:
    -   The people present were Jamie, a man from New Zealand; John, the milkman's son; and George, a gaunt kind of man with no friends.
    -   Several fast food restaurants can be found within the following cities: London, England; Paris, France; Dublin, Ireland; Madrid, Spain. Here are three examples of familiar sequences: one, two, and three; a, b, and c; first, second, and third.
    -   (Fig. 8; see also plates in Harley 1941, 1950; Schwab 1947).
-   Between closely related [independent clauses](/tags/independent-clause) not conjoined with a coordinating [conjunction](/tags/conjunction), when the two clauses are balanced, opposed or contradictory:
    -   My wife would like tea; I would prefer coffee.
    -   I went to the basketball court; I was told it was closed for cleaning.
    -   I told Kate she's running for the hills; I wonder if she knew I was joking.  
        Either clause may include commas; this is especially common when parallel wording is omitted from the second:
    -   Ted has two dogs; Sam, one.
-   When a comma replaces a period (full stop) in a quotation, or when a quotation otherwise links two independent sentences:
    -   "I have no use for this," he said; "you are welcome to it."
    -   "Is this your book?" she asked; "I found it on the floor."
        

Semicolon

# Sentence and Structures

This is our umbrella term used to reference concepts related to words' groupings i.e., [sentenes](/tags/sentence), [clauses](/tags/clause), and [phrases](/tags/phrase), and the relations between the words inside such groupings.


Sentence and structures

Pass the Test to Determine Your English CEFR Level

Help Marcus finish his diary entry about an extremely awkward dinner date.

For our first date, we [go|*went*|going](?) to a very fancy and expensive Italian restaurant. I [order|ordering|*ordered*](?) the spaghetti, which was a huge mistake. Halfway through the meal, I [getted|*got*|getting](?) bright red tomato sauce all over my expensive white shirt. She [laugh|*laughed*|laughing](?) at me for five minutes straight, and I just wanted to disappear under the table.

---

**went**

> "Went" is the irregular past tense of "go," used here to describe a completed action in the past.

**ordered**

> "Order" is a regular verb. We add "-ed" to describe what happened in the past.

**got**

> "Got" is the irregular past simple form of "get." 

**laughed**

> "Laugh" is a regular verb, so it takes the "-ed" ending in the past tense.

