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Some basic grammar terms 
Here are a few of the most common grammar terms, in case you didn't study grammar in school, or 
suppressed the grammar you did study. The entry for each term takes the following form: definition of the 
term, additional discussion if needed, and one or more sentences containing underlined examples of the 
term. If you run across a term that isn't defined here or in a reference grammar, look for it in one of the big 
all-English dictionaries. 
adjective: a word that describes (the technical term is "modifies") a noun. In the following sentence, the 
adjectives are underlined:
Nasreddin Hodja
figure in Middle Eastern oral literature. 
doesn't fit into the other seven parts of speech 
rb. The most obvious adverbs are words that describe or modify verbs. In the 
d:
adverb: kind of a "wastebasket" class of words. Anything that
(see below) is called an adve
following sentence, the adverbs are underline
A neighbor respectfully and politely asked the Hodja if he could borrow his donkey. 
article: In English, the words a, an, and the are articles. a and an are indefinite articles; the is a definite 
article. 
be: The verb be (also called a linking verb, or a copula, or "the verb to be") is one of the more interesting-or 
roblematic, depending on how you look at it!-grammatical aspects of English. It is highly irregular, as verbs 
in t
p
he language go. It's the on]y verb that has separate forms like: 
am, is, are, was, were
It plays a part in the progressive tenses, e.g.: 
was talking, am listening, has been writing, etc. 
It is part of the passive voice, e.g.: 
was hidden, be seen
And it serves as a sort of linguistic equal sign in sentences like: 
Hodja stories are a part of Middle Eastern folk literature. 
For all these reasons, be is the focus of a lot of attention. 
clause: a sentence stuck inside another sentence. ooked at from another point of view, a clause is a 
sentence which functions as a noun, an adjective, or
the sentences below, the clauses are underlined and their function is given in parentheses: 
The Hodja said that his donkey wasn't there
L
an adverb. Clauses have subjects and predicates. In 
. (clause functioning as a noun) 
At that moment, the donkey that they were talking about brayed from behind the house. (clause 
functioning as an adjective, i.e., modifying the noun donkey) 
When the neighbor heard the donkey he was puzzled. (clause functioning as an adverb, i.e., modifying 
the other clause in the sentence) 
conjunction: a word that connects phrases, clauses, or sentences. The most used conjunctions are and 
and but. In the sentence below, the conjunctions are underlined: 
"Hodja, you said that your donkey wasn't here, but I just heard it bray." 
direct object: the noun or noun phrase that immediately follows a verb and refers to something the verb has 
acted on. In the sentence below, the direct objects are underlined: 

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The Hodja shook his head and shrugged his shoulders.