GLOSSARY

• Adjective An adjective gives a description of a noun.

It’s a tall tree. He’s an old man. My neighbors are nice.
• Adverb An adverb describes the action of a sentence or an adjective or another adverb.
She speaks English fluently. I drive carefully.
She speaks English extremely well. She is very intelligent.
• Adverb of Frequency An adverb of frequency tells how often an action happens.
I never drink coffee. They usually take the bus.
• Affirmative Affirmative means “yes.”
They live in Miami.
• Apostrophe ’ We use the apostrophe for possession and contractions.
My sister’s friend is beautiful. (possession)
Today isn’t Sunday. (contraction)
• Article An article comes before a noun. It tells if the noun is definite or indefinite. The definite article is
the. The indefinite articles are a and an.
I have a cat. I ate an apple. The teacher came late.
• Auxiliary Verb An auxiliary verb is used in forming tense, mood, or aspect of the verb that follows it.
Some verbs have two parts: an auxiliary verb and a main verb.
You didn't eat lunch. He can’t study. We will return.
• Base Form The base form of the verb has no tense. It has no ending (-s or -ed): be, go, eat, take, write.
I didn’t go. We don’t know you. He can’t drive.
• Capital Letter A B C D E F G . . .
• Clause A clause is a group of words that has a subject and a verb. Some sentences have only one clause.
She speaks Spanish.
Some sentences have a main clause and a dependent clause.
MAIN CLAUSE (reason clause)
DEPENDENT CLAUSE

She found a good job because she has computer skills.

MAIN CLAUSE (time clause)
DEPENDENT CLAUSE

She’ll turn off the light before she goes to bed.

MAIN CLAUSE DEPENDENT CLAUSE(if clause)
I’ll take you to the doctor if you don’t have your car on Saturday.
• Colon :
• Comma ,
• Comparative The comparative form of an adjective or adverb is used to compare two things.
My house is bigger than your house.
Her husband drives faster than she does.
My children speak English more fluently than I do.

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 • Consonant The following letters are consonants: b, c, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, q, r, s, t, v, w, x, y, z.
NOTE: Y is sometimes considered a vowel, as in the world syllable.
• Contraction A contraction is two words joined with an apostrophe.
He’s my brother. You’re late. They won’t talk to me.
(He’s = he is) (You’re = you are) (won’t = will not)
• Count Noun Count nouns are nouns that we can count. They have a singular and a plural form.
1 pen–3 pens 1 table–4 tables
• Dependent Clause See Clause.
• Direct Object A direct object is a noun (phrase) or pronoun that receives the action of the verb.
We saw the movie. You have a nice car. I love you.
• Exclamation Mark !
• Frequency Word Frequency words (always, usually, generally, often, sometimes, rarely, seldom, hardly ever,
never.) tell how often an action happens.
I never drink coffee. We always do our homework.
• Hyphen -
• Imperative An imperative sentence gives a command or instructions. An imperative sentence omits the
subject pronoun you.
Come here. Don’t be late. Please help me.
• Infinitive An infinitive is to + the base form.
I want to leave. You need to be here on time.
• Linking Verb A linking verb is a verb that links the subject to the noun, adjective, or adverb after it.
Linking verbs include be, seem, feel, smell, sound, look, appear, and taste.
She is a doctor. She looks tired. You are late.
• Main Clause See Clause.
• Modal The modal verbs are can, could, shall, should, will, would, may, might, and must.
They should leave. I must go.
• Negative Negative means “no.”
• Nonaction Verb A nonaction verb has no action. We do not use a continuous tense (be + verb -ing) with
a nonaction verb. The nonaction verbs are: believe, cost, care, have, hear, know, like, love, matter, mean,
need, own, prefer, remember, see, seem, think, understand, want, and sense-perception verbs.
She has a laptop. We love our mother. You look great.
• Noncount Noun A noncount noun is a noun that we don’t count. It has no plural form.
She drank some water. He prepared some rice.
Do you need any money? We had a lot of homework.
• Noun A noun is a person, a place, or a thing. Nouns can be either count or noncount.
My brother lives in California. My sisters live in New York.
I get advice from them. I drink coffee every day.
• Noun Modifier A noun modifier makes a noun more specific.
fire department Independence Day can opener

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 • Noun Phrase A noun phrase is a group of words that form the subject or object of
a sentence.
A very nice woman helped me. I bought a big box of cereal.
• Object The object of a sentence follows the verb. It receives the action of the verb.
He bought a car. I saw a movie. I met your brother.
• Object Pronoun We use object pronouns (me, you, him, her, it, us, them) after a verb
or preposition.
He likes her. I saw the movie. Let’s talk about it.
• Parentheses ( )
• Paragraph A paragraph is a group of sentences about one topic.
• Past Participle The past participle of a verb is the third form of the verb.
You have written a good essay. I was told about the concert.
• Period .
• Phrasal Modal Phrasal modals, such as ought to, be able to, are made up of two or
more words.
You ought to study more. We have to take a test.
• Phrase A group of words that go together.
Last month my sister came to visit. There is a strange car in front of my house.
• Plural Plural means “more than one.” A plural noun usually ends with -s.
She has beautiful eyes. My feet are big.
• Possessive Form Possessive forms show ownership or relationship.
Mary’s coat is in the closet. My brother lives in Miami.
• Preposition A preposition is a short connecting word. Some common prepositions are: about, above,
across, after, around, as, at, away, back, before, behind, below, by, down, for, from, in, into, like, of, off, on,
out, over, to, under, up, and with.
The book is on the table. She studies with her friends.
• Present Participle The present participle of a verb is the base form + -ing.
She is sleeping. They were laughing.
• Pronoun A pronoun takes the place of a noun.
I have a new car. I bought it last week.
John likes Mary, but she doesn’t like him.
• Punctuation The use of specific marks, such as commas and periods, to make ideas within writing clear.
• Question Mark ?
• Quotation Marks “ ”
• Regular Verb A regular verb forms the simple past with -ed.
He worked yesterday. I laughed at the joke.
• -s Form A present tense verb that ends in -s or -es.
He lives in New York. She watches TV a lot.

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 • Sense-Perception Verb A sense-perception verb has no action. It describes a sense.
The common sense-perception verbs are: look, feel, taste, sound, and smell.
She feels fine. The coffee smells fresh. The milk tastes sour.
• Sentence A sentence is a group of words that contains a subject and a verb and gives a complete
thought.
SENTENCE: She came home.
NOT A SENTENCE: When she came home
• Singular Singular means “one.”
She ate a sandwich. I have one television.
• Subject The subject of the sentence tells who or what the sentence is about.
My sister got married last April. The wedding was beautiful.
• Subject Pronoun We use a subject pronoun (I, you, he, she, it, we, you, they) before a verb.
They speak Japanese. We speak Spanish.
• Superlative The superlative form of an adjective or adverb shows the number one item in a group of
three or more.
January is the coldest month of the year.
My brother speaks English the best in my family.
• Syllable A syllable is a part of a word. Each syllable has only one vowel sound. (Some words have only
one syllable.)
change (one syllable) after (af·ter = two syllables)
possible (pos-si-ble = three syllables) responsible (re·spon·si·ble = four syllables)
• Tag Question A tag question is a short question at the end of a sentence. It is used in conversation.
You speak Spanish, don’t you? He’s not happy, is he?
• Tense Tense shows when the action of the sentence happened. Verbs have different tenses.
SIMPLE PRESENT: She usually works hard.
PRESENT CONTINUOUS: She is working now.
SIMPLE PAST: She worked yesterday.
FUTURE: She will work tomorrow.
• Verb A verb is the action of the sentence.
He runs fast. I speak English.
• Vowel The following letters are vowels: a, e, i, o, u.
NOTE: Y is sometimes considered a vowel, as in the world syllable.

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