| A noun is the name of something (such as a person, animal, place, thing, feeling or action) |
aunt possum valley sadness running |
| Common nouns define a type of thing (concrete or abstract) |
affection child hill kindness lollies
The kite was stuck in the tree.
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| Proper nouns name a specific example of a thing (eg specific person, place or organisation) |
Ada Lovelace Plato Canberra Australian Government
Julius Caesar went to Gaul.
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| Collective nouns name groups of people or animals |
flock of birds mob of sheep finance committee |
| Count nouns are items that can be individually counted and made into a plural |
boy/boys book/books idea/ideas tree/trees |
| Mass nouns refer to abstract concepts or things that cannot be individually counted and made into a plural |
clothing education mud peace reliance rice |
| A verb is an action, process or state of being. Every English sentence and clause has a verb |
hop work change expect is become
Amy kicks the ball.
She improved.
He is 15 years old.
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| Lexical verbs are verbs that express an action, emotion or process, and can stand alone (ie as the ‘main’ verb of a clause; see Clauses and sentences) |
Huan runs.
Bob walked fast.
I hate sushi.
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| Auxiliary verbs (eg be, have) create verb phrases with different tenses (past/present) and aspects (completed or continuous action) |
Hassan has worked hard.
Edwina was working hard.
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| Modal verbs (eg can, may, will) add speaker attitudes or speaker intentions to verb phrases |
I may tell him.
Bill will play tennis tomorrow.
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| An infinitive (eg to be, to run, to talk) is the base form of a verb. It is usually preceded by to, except after modal verbs |
He wanted to be a pilot.
Dogs can walk on the footpath.
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| An adjective describes or modifies a noun, providing extra information (see Commas and adjectives for how to punctuate a string of adjectives) |
beautiful blue clever delicious heavy lukewarm round tiny wondrous
an orange book a smooth rock
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| Evaluative adjectives give a judgment |
silly splendid unmanageable |
| Descriptive adjectives provide descriptive information |
blue large joyful |
| Categorial adjectives define and specify |
Greek wooden antique |
| An adverb details or modifies a verb, adjective or another adverb. Adverbs are often formed by adding ly to adjectives, but not all adverbs end in ly |
beautifully cleverly [manner]
regrettably sadly [stance or attitude]
very extremely [intensity]
underneath upstairs [place]
soon later [time]
He ran swiftly.
She is lonely.
I walked downstairs.
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| Sentence adverbs modify a whole sentence or clause |
Luckily, everyone will arrive at the same time.
They kindly agreed to participate.
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| Linking adverbs connect a sentence or clause with the one before it |
It was very hot. We therefore went for a swim. |
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A preposition introduces a noun, noun phrase or pronoun in a prepositional phrase (see Prepositional phrases)
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at before for in off on over with
I went to bed under the stairs.
We talked to him.
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| Simple prepositions are single words |
in of from for by after towards under |
| Complex prepositions consist of 2 or 3 words |
due to in terms of with respect to |
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A conjunction connects phrases or clauses in a sentence
(see Clause connections for more information on different types of conjunctions and how to use them)
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I ran to the door and opened it.
He wanted to go but he wasn’t allowed.
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| Coordinators combine 2 or more clauses that are of equal importance |
and but or
I ran, and we caught the bus.
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| Subordinators link dependent clauses to the main clause or a previous subclause (see Clause structure) |
We ran because it was the last bus that would get us home tonight.
It was the first book that was printed in English.
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| A pronoun stands for a previously mentioned noun or noun phrase |
it I me we us they she he [personal]
who which whom that [relative]
some any [indefinite]
this that [demonstrative]
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| A determiner introduces a noun or noun phrase to show its scope |
a fact an important fact your free trip that original law some minor changes
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| Articles show whether the noun is definite (referring to a specific thing) or indefinite (referring to any of the things) |
the a an
The kangaroo was limping. [definite]
A kangaroo and an echidna went past. [indefinite]
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| Possessives show who the noun belongs to |
my your our his her its their
her house their results your books
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| Demonstratives point out whether a singular or plural instance of the noun is being talked about (see This and that) |
this that these those
those red balloons this lonely land
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| Quantifiers and numbers show how many of the noun are involved |
every some 3 fifth
all people 40 thieves
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