List of English Irregular Verbs

Base Form
Past Simple
Past Participle
3rd Person Singular
Present Participle / Gerund
Abide
Abode/Abided
Abode/Abided/Abidden
Abides
Abiding
Alight
Alit/Alighted
Alit/Alighted
Alights
Alighting
Arise
Arose
Arisen
Arises
Arising
Awake
Awoke
Awoken
Awakes
Awaking
Be
Was/Were
Been
Is
Being
Bear
Bore
Born/Borne
Bears
Bearing
Beat
Beat
Beaten
Beats
Beating
Become
Became
Become
Becomes
Becoming
Begin
Began
Begun
Begins
Beginning
Behold
Beheld
Beheld
Beholds
Beholding
Bend
Bent
Bent
Bends
Bending
Bet
Bet
Bet
Bets
Betting
Bid
Bade
Bidden
Bids
Bidding
Bid
Bid
Bid
Bids
Bidding
Bind
Bound
Bound
Binds
Binding
Bite
Bit
Bitten
Bites
Biting
Bleed
Bled
Bled
Bleeds
Bleeding
Blow
Blew
Blown
Blows
Blowing
Break
Broke
Broken
Breaks
Breaking
Breed
Bred
Bred
Breeds
Breeding
Bring
Brought
Brought
Brings
Bringing
Broadcast
Broadcast/Broadcasted
Broadcast/Broadcasted
Broadcasts
Broadcasting
Build
Built
Built
Builds
Building
Burn
Burnt/Burned
Burnt/Burned
Burns
Burning
Burst
Burst
Burst
Bursts
Bursting
Bust
Bust
Bust
Busts
Busting
Buy
Bought
Bought
Buys
Buying
Cast
Cast
Cast
Casts
Casting
Catch
Caught
Caught
Catches
Catching
Choose
Chose
Chosen
Chooses
Choosing
Clap
Clapped/Clapt
Clapped/Clapt
Claps
Clapping
Cling
Clung
Clung
Clings
Clinging
Clothe
Clad/Clothed
Clad/Clothed
Clothes
Clothing
Come
Came
Come
Comes
Coming
Cost
Cost
Cost
Costs
Costing
Creep
Crept
Crept
Creeps
Creeping
Cut
Cut
Cut
Cuts
Cutting
Dare
Dared/Durst
Dared
Dares
Daring
Deal
Dealt
Dealt
Deals
Dealing
Dig
Dug
Dug
Digs
Digging
Dive
Dived/Dove
Dived
Dives
Diving
Do
Did
Done
Does
Doing
Draw
Drew
Drawn
Draws
Drawing
Dream
Dreamt/Dreamed
Dreamt/Dreamed
Dreams
Dreaming
Drink
Drank
Drunk
Drinks
Drinking
Drive
Drove
Driven
Drives
Driving
Dwell
Dwelt
Dwelt
Dwells
Dwelling
Eat
Ate
Eaten
Eats
Eating
Fall
Fell
Fallen
Falls
Falling
Feed
Fed
Fed
Feeds
Feeding
Feel
Felt
Felt
Feels
Feeling
Fight
Fought
Fought
Fights
Fighting
Find
Found
Found
Finds
Finding
Fit
Fit/Fitted
Fit/Fitted
Fits
Fitting
Flee
Fled
Fled
Flees
Fleeing
Fling
Flung
Flung
Flings
Flinging
Fly
Flew
Flown
Flies
Flying
Forbid
Forbade/Forbad
Forbidden
Forbids
Forbidding
Forecast
Forecast/Forecasted
Forecast/Forecasted
Forecasts
Forecasting
Foresee
Foresaw
Foreseen
Foresees
Foreseeing
Foretell
Foretold
Foretold
Foretells
Foretelling
Forget
Forgot
Forgotten
Forgets
Foregetting
Forgive
Forgave
Forgiven
Forgives
Forgiving
Forsake
Forsook
Forsaken
Forsakes
Forsaking
Freeze
Froze
Frozen
Freezes
Freezing
Frostbite
Frostbit
Frostbitten
Frostbites
Frostbiting
Get
Got
Got/Gotten
Gets
Getting
Give
Gave
Given
Gives
Giving
Go
Went
Gone/Been
Goes
Going
Grind
Ground
Ground
Grinds
Grinding
Grow
Grew
Grown
Grows
Growing
Handwrite
Handwrote
Handwritten
Handwrites
Handwriting
Hang
Hung/Hanged
Hung/Hanged
Hangs
Hanging
Have
Had
Had
Has
Having
Hear
Heard
Heard
Hears
Hearing
Hide
Hid
Hidden
Hides
Hiding
Hit
Hit
Hit
Hits
Hitting
Hold
Held
Held
Holds
Holding
Hurt
Hurt
Hurt
Hurts
Hurting
Inlay
Inlaid
Inlaid
Inlays
Inlaying
Input
Input/Inputted
Input/Inputted
Inputs
Inputting
Interlay
Interlaid
Interlaid
Interlays
Interlaying
Keep
Kept
Kept
Keeps
Keeping
Kneel
Knelt/Kneeled
Knelt/Kneeled
Kneels
Kneeling
Knit
Knit/Knitted
Knit/Knitted
Knits
Knitting
Know
Knew
Known
Knows
Knowing
Lay
Laid
Laid
Lays
laying
Lead
Led
Led
Leads
Leading
Lean
Leant/Leaned
Leant/Leaned
Leans
Leaning
Leap
Leapt/Leaped
Leapt/Leaped
Leaps
Leaping
Learn
Learnt/Learned
Learnt/Learned
Learns
Learning
Leave
Left
Left
Leaves
Leaving
Lend
Lent
Lent
Lends
Lending
Let
Let
Let
Lets
Letting
Lie
Lay
Lain
Lies
Lying
Light
Lit
Lit
Lights
Lighting
Lose
Lost
Lost
Loses
Losing
Make
Made
Made
Makes
Making
Mean
Meant
Meant
Means
Meaning
Meet
Met
Met
Meets
Meeting
Melt
Melted
Molten/Melted
Melts
Melting
Mislead
Misled
Misled
Misleads
Misleading
Mistake
Mistook
Mistaken
Mistakes
Mistaking
Misunderstand
Misunderstood
Misunderstood
Misunderstands
Misunderstanding
Miswed
Miswed/Miswedded
Miswed/Miswedded
Misweds
Miswedding
Mow
Mowed
Mown
Mows
Mowing
Overdraw
Overdrew
Overdrawn
Overdraws
Overdrawing
Overhear
Overheard
Overheard
Overhears
Overhearing
Overtake
Overtook
Overtaken
Overtakes
Overtaking
Pay
Paid
Paid
Pays
Paying
Preset
Preset
Preset
Presets
Presetting
Prove
Proved
Proven/Proved
Proves
Proving
Put
Put
Put
Puts
Putting
Quit
Quit
Quit
Quits
Quitting
Re-prove
Re-proved
Re-proven/Re-proved
Re-proves
Re-proving
Read
Read
Read
Reads
Reading
Rid
Rid/Ridded
Rid/Ridded
Rids
Ridding
Ride
Rode
Ridden
Rides
Riding
Ring
Rang
Rung
Rings
Ringing
Rise
Rose
Risen
Rises
Rising
Rive
Rived
Riven/Rived
Rives
Riving
Run
Ran
Run
Runs
Running
Saw
Sawed
Sawn/Sawed
Saws
Sawing
Say
Said
Said
Says
Saying
See
Saw
Seen
Sees
Seeing
Seek
Sought
Sought
Seeks
Seeking
Sell
Sold
Sold
Sells
Selling
Send
Sent
Sent
Sends
Sending
Set
Set
Set
Sets
Setting
Sew
Sewed
Sewn/Sewed
Sews
Sewing
Shake
Shook
Shaken
Shakes
Shaking
Shave
Shaved
Shaven/Shaved
Shaves
Shaving
Shear
Shore/Sheared
Shorn/Sheared
Shears
Shearing
Shed
Shed
Shed
Sheds
Shedding
Shine
Shone
Shone
Shines
Shining
Shoe
Shod
Shod
Shoes
Shoeing
Shoot
Shot
Shot
Shoots
Shooting
Show
Showed
Shown
Shows
Showing
Shrink
Shrank
Shrunk
Shrinks
Shrinking
Shut
Shut
Shut
Shuts
Shutting
Sing
Sang
Sung
Sings
Singing
Sink
Sank
Sunk
Sinks
Sinking
Sit
Sat
Sat
Sits
Sitting
Slay
Slew
Slain
Slays
Slaying
Sleep
Slept
Slept
Sleeps
Sleeping
Slide
Slid
Slid/Slidden
Slides
Sliding
Sling
Slung
Slung
Slings
Slinging
Slink
Slunk
Slunk
Slinks
Slinking
Slit
Slit
Slit
Slits
Slitting
Smell
Smelt/Smelled
Smelt/Smelled
Smells
Smelling
Sneak
Sneaked/Snuck
Sneaked/Snuck
Sneaks
Sneaking
Soothsay
Soothsaid
Soothsaid
Soothsays
Soothsaying
Sow
Sowed
Sown
Sows
Sowing
Speak
Spoke
Spoken
Speaks
Speaking
Speed
Sped/Speeded
Sped/Speeded
Speeds
Speeding
Spell
Spelt/Spelled
Spelt/Spelled
Spells
Spelling
Spend
Spent
Spent
Spends
Spending
Spill
Spilt/Spilled
Spilt/Spilled
Spills
Spilling
Spin
Span/Spun
Spun
Spins
Spinning
Spit
Spat/Spit
Spat/Spit
Spits
Spitting
Split
Split
Split
Splits
Splitting
Spoil
Spoilt/Spoiled
Spoilt/Spoiled
Spoils
Spoiling
Spread
Spread
Spread
Spreads
Spreading
Spring
Sprang
Sprung
Springs
Springing
Stand
Stood
Stood
Stands
Standing
Steal
Stole
Stolen
Steals
Stealing
Stick
Stuck
Stuck
Sticks
Sticking
Sting
Stung
Stung
Stings
Stinging
Stink
Stank
Stunk
Stinks
Stinking
Stride
Strode/Strided
Stridden
Strides
Striding
Strike
Struck
Struck/Stricken
Strikes
Striking
String
Strung
Strung
Strings
Stringing
Strip
Stript/Stripped
Stript/Stripped
Strips
Stripping
Strive
Strove
Striven
Strives
Striving
Sublet
Sublet
Sublet
Sublets
Subletting
Sunburn
Sunburned/Sunburnt
Sunburned/Sunburnt
Sunburns
Sunburning
Swear
Swore
Sworn
Swears
Swearing
Sweat
Sweat/Sweated
Sweat/Sweated
Sweats
Sweating
Sweep
Swept/Sweeped
Swept/Sweeped
Sweeps
Sweeping
Swell
Swelled
Swollen
Swells
Swelling
Swim
Swam
Swum
Swims
Swimming
Swing
Swung
Swung
Swings
Swinging
Take
Took
Taken
Takes
Taking
Teach
Taught
Taught
Teaches
Teaching
Tear
Tore
Torn
Tears
Tearing
Tell
Told
Told
Tells
Telling
Think
Thought
Thought
Thinks
Thinking
Thrive
Throve/Thrived
Thriven/Thrived
Thrives
Thriving
Throw
Threw
Thrown
Throws
Throwing
Thrust
Thrust
Thrust
Thrusts
Thrusting
Tread
Trod
Trodden
Treads
Treading
Undergo
Underwent
Undergone
Undergoes
Undergoing
Understand
Understood
Understood
Understands
Understanding
Undertake
Undertook
Undertaken
Undertakes
Undertaking
Upset
Upset
Upset
Upsets
Upsetting
Vex
Vext/Vexed
Vext/Vexed
Vexes
Vexing
Wake
Woke
Woken
Wakes
Waking
Wear
Wore
Worn
Wears
Wearing
Weave
Wove
Woven
Weaves
Weaving
Wed
Wed/Wedded
Wed/Wedded
Weds
Wedding
Weep
Wept
Wept
Weeps
Weeping
Wend
Wended/Went
Wended/Went
Wends
Wending
Wet
Wet/Wetted
Wet/Wetted
Wets
Wetting
Win
Won
Won
Wins
Winning
Wind
Wound
Wound
Winds
Winding
Withdraw
Withdrew
Withdrawn
Withdraws
Withdrawing
Withhold
Withheld
Withheld
Withholds
Withholding
Withstand
Withstood
Withstood
Withstands
Withstanding
Wring
Wrung
Wrung
Wrings
Wringing
Write
Wrote
Written
Writes
Writing
Zinc
Zinced/Zincked
Zinced/Zincked
Zincs
Zincking

Word classes and phrase classes

Seven major word classes are described here. These are: noun, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition, conjunction, and determiner. The first six are traditionally referred to as "parts of speech." There are minor word classes, such as interjections, but these do not fit into the clause and sentence structure of English.

Open and closed classes

Open word classes allow new members; closed word classes seldom do.Nouns such as "celebutante", (a celebrity who frequents the fashion circles)" and "mentee," (a person advised by a mentor) and adverbs such as "24/7" ("I am working on it 24/7") are relatively new words; nouns and adverbs are therefore open classes.[1] However, invented pronouns, such as the "Spivak pronouns", as a gender-neutral singular replacement for the "his or her" (as in: "The student should bring eir books.") have gained only niche acceptance during their existence; pronouns, in consequence, form a closed class.
Word classes and grammatical forms

A word can sometimes belong to several word classes. The class version of a word is called a "lexeme". For example, the word "run" is usually a verb, but it can also be a noun ("It is a ten mile run to Tipperary."); these are two different lexemes.[2] Further, the same lexeme may be inflected to express different grammatical categories: for example, as a verb lexeme, "run" has several forms such as "runs," "ran," and "running."[ Words in one class can sometimes be derived from those in another and new words be created. The noun "aerobics," for example, has recently given rise to the adjective "aerobicized" ("the aerobicized bodies of Beverly Hills celebutantes."

Phrase classes

Words combine to form phrases which themselves can take on the attributes of a word class. These classes are called phrase classes.[2] The phrase: "The ancient pulse of germ and birth" functions as a noun in the sentence: "The ancient pulse of germ and birth was shrunken hard and dry." (Thomas Hardy, The Darkling Thrush) It is therefore a noun phrase. Other phrase classes are: verb phrases, adjective phrases, adverb phrases, prepositional phrases, and determiner phrases.

Word classes and phrase classes

Seven major word classes are described here. These are: noun, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition, conjunction, and determiner. The first six are traditionally referred to as "parts of speech." There are minor word classes, such as interjections, but these do not fit into the clause and sentence structure of English.

Open and closed classes

Open word classes allow new members; closed word classes seldom do.Nouns such as "celebutante", (a celebrity who frequents the fashion circles)" and "mentee," (a person advised by a mentor) and adverbs such as "24/7" ("I am working on it 24/7") are relatively new words; nouns and adverbs are therefore open classes.[1] However, invented pronouns, such as the "Spivak pronouns", as a gender-neutral singular replacement for the "his or her" (as in: "The student should bring eir books.") have gained only niche acceptance during their existence; pronouns, in consequence, form a closed class.
Word classes and grammatical forms

A word can sometimes belong to several word classes. The class version of a word is called a "lexeme". For example, the word "run" is usually a verb, but it can also be a noun ("It is a ten mile run to Tipperary."); these are two different lexemes.[2] Further, the same lexeme may be inflected to express different grammatical categories: for example, as a verb lexeme, "run" has several forms such as "runs," "ran," and "running."[ Words in one class can sometimes be derived from those in another and new words be created. The noun "aerobics," for example, has recently given rise to the adjective "aerobicized" ("the aerobicized bodies of Beverly Hills celebutantes."

Phrase classes

Words combine to form phrases which themselves can take on the attributes of a word class. These classes are called phrase classes.[2] The phrase: "The ancient pulse of germ and birth" functions as a noun in the sentence: "The ancient pulse of germ and birth was shrunken hard and dry." (Thomas Hardy, The Darkling Thrush) It is therefore a noun phrase. Other phrase classes are: verb phrases, adjective phrases, adverb phrases, prepositional phrases, and determiner phrases.

GERUND AND INFINITIVES

Gerunds and Infinitives

1. A gerund is a noun made from a verb by adding "-ing." The gerund form of the verb "read" is "reading." You can use a gerund as the subject, the complement, or the object of a sentence.

Examples:

* Reading helps you learn English. subject of sentence
* Her favorite hobby is reading. complement of sentence
* I enjoy reading. object of sentence

Gerunds can be made negative by adding "not."

Examples:

* He enjoys not working.
* The best thing for your health is not smoking.

2. Infinitives are the "to" form of the verb. The infinitive form of "learn" is "to learn." You can also use an infinitive as the subject, the complement, or the object of a sentence.

Examples:

* To learn is important. subject of sentence
* The most important thing is to learn. complement of sentence
* He wants to learn. object of sentence

Infinitives can be made negative by adding "not."

Examples:

* I decided not to go.
* The most important thing is not to give up.

3. Both gerunds and infinitives can be used as the subject or the complement of a sentence. However, as subjects or complements, gerunds usually sound more like normal, spoken English, whereas infinitives sound more abstract. In the following sentences, gerunds sound more natural and would be more common in everyday English. Infinitives emphasize the possibility or potential for something and sound more philosophical. If this sounds confusing, just remember that 90% of the time, you will use a gerund as the subject or complement of a sentence.

Examples:

* Learning is important. normal subject
* To learn is important. abstract subject - less common
* The most important thing is learning. normal complement
* The most important thing is to learn. abstract complement - less common

4. As the object of a sentence, it is more difficult to choose between a gerund or an infinitive. In such situations, gerunds and infinitives are not normally interchangeable. Usually, the main verb in the sentence determines whether you use a gerund or an infinitive.

Examples:

* He enjoys swimming. "Enjoy" requires a gerund.
* He wants to swim. "Want" requires an infinitive.

5. Some verbs are followed by gerunds as objects. List of Verbs Followed by Gerunds

Examples:

* She suggested going to a movie.
* Mary keeps talking about her problems.

6. Some verbs are followed by infinitives. List of Verbs Followed by Infinitives

Examples:

* She wants to go to a movie.
* Mary needs to talk about her problems.

Parts of Speech

A part of speech explains how a word is used. In traditional English grammar, there are eight parts of speech. Knowing about each part of speech will help you use words correctly when speaking and writing. Your communication skills will be enhanced.
Here are the eight parts of speech and their most common meanings:
Noun: A noun is a word that names a person, place, or thing.
Examples:

(person) - Michael Jordan was a great basketball player.
(place) - I left my notebook at school.
(thing) - I enjoy reading a good book.

A noun that names only one person, place, or thing is a singular noun. A noun that names more than one person, place, or thing is a plural noun. For example, automobile is a singular noun, while automobiles is a plural noun.
Pronoun: A pronoun is a word that is used in place of a noun. Pronouns act just like nouns.
Examples:

Bob gave me the best puppy in the litter.
Now that cute puppy is mine.

Adjective: An adjective is a word that describes a noun. It can tell what kind or how many.
Examples:

(what kind) That was a wonderful movie.
(how many) Only several people attended the town meeting.

Verb: A verb is a word that shows action. A present tense verb shows action that is happening now. A past tense verb shows action that has already happened. A future tense verb shows action that will happen.
Examples:

(present tense) Please move the chair away from the wall.
(past tense) I walked home from school yesterday.
(future tense) We are going on vacation in the middle of July.

Adverb: An adverb is a word that describes a verb. It can tell how or when.
Examples:

(how) I try to eat my food slowly.
(when) I like Jamie because he never lies.

Conjunction: A conjunction is a word that connects words in a sentence.
Examples:

Susan and Anna are very close friends.
I will go to the park if you come too.

Preposition: A preposition is a word that links and relates a noun or pronoun to another word in a sentence.
Examples:

I haven't gone to the gym since Tuesday.
Tom said that he was against Bill's idea.

Interjection: An interjection is a word that expresses emotion. It is usually an exclamation that is followed by an exclamation point (!). Sometimes, an interjection is followed by a comma (,).
Examples:

Wow! That movie was scary.
Oops, I didn't mean to do that.

Knowing these eight parts of speech will improve your writing and speaking.

Verbs

Verbs form the second largest word class after nouns. According to Carter and McCarthy, verbs denote "actions, events, processes, and states."[16] Consequently, "smile," "stab," "climb," "confront," "liquefy," "wake," "reflect" are all verbs. Some examples of verb endings, which while not dead giveaways, are often associated, include: "-ate" ("formulate"), "-iate" ("inebriate"), "-ify" ("electrify"), and "-ise" ("realise").[16] There are exceptions, of course: "chocolate" is a noun, "immediate" is an adjective, "prize" can be a noun, and "maize" is a noun. Prefixes can also be used to create new verbs. Examples are: "un-" ("unmask"), "out-" ("outlast"), "over-" ("overtake"), and "under-" ("undervalue").[16] Just as nouns can be formed from verbs by conversion, the reverse is also possible:[16]

* "so are the sons of men snared in an evil time"[17]
* "[a national convention] nosed parliament in the very seat of its authority"[18]

Verbs can also be formed from adjectives:[16]

* "To dry the old oak's sap, and cherish springs."
* "Time's glory is to calm contending kings"

Regular and irregular verbs

A verb is said to be regular if its base form does not change when inflections are added to create new forms. An example is: base form: climb; present form: climb; -s form: climbs; -ing form: climbing; past form: climbed; -ed participle: climbed. Irregular verbs are ones in which the base form changes; the endings corresponding to each form are not always unique. Examples:

* base form: catch; present form: catch; -s form: catches; -ing form: catching; past form: caught; -ed participle: caught.
* base form: choose; present form: choose; -s form: chooses; -ing form: choosing; past form: chose; -ed participle: chosen.

The verb "be" is the only verb in English which has distinct inflectional forms for each of the categories of grammatical forms: base form: be; present form: am, are; -s form: is; -ing form: being; past form: was, were; -ed participle: been.

Type and characteristics

Verbs come in three grammatical types: lexical, auxiliary, and modal. Lexical verbs form an open class which includes most verbs (state, action, processes, and events). For example, "dive," "soar," "swoon," "revive," "breathe," "choke," "lament," "celebrate," "consider," "ignore" are all lexical verbs. Auxiliary verbs form a closed class consisting of only three members: be, do, and have.[21] Although auxiliary verbs are lexical verbs as well, their main function is to add information to other lexical verbs. This information indicates (a) aspect (progressive, perfect), (b) passive voice, and (c) clause type (interrogative, negative).In the following examples, the auxiliary is in boldface and the lexical verb is italicized.

1. aspect (progressive): "'She is breathing Granny; we've got to make her keep it up, that's all—just keep her breathing."
2. aspect (perfect): "'Yes, I want a coach,' said Maurice, and bade the coachman draw up to the stone where the poor man who had swooned was sitting."
3. passive voice: "When she was admitted into the house Beautiful, care was taken to inquire into the religious knowledge of her children."
4. clause type (interrogative): (Old joke) Boy: "Excuse me sir, How do I get to Carnegie Hall?" Man on street: "Practice, Practice, Practice."
5. clause type (negative): Wasn't she monstrously surprised?"

Modal verbs also form a closed class which consists of the core modals ("can," "could," "shall," "should," "will," "would," "may," "might," "must"), semi-modals ("dare," "need," "ought to," "used to"), and modal expressions ("be able to," "have to").Modals add information to lexical verbs about degrees of certainty and necessity. Examples:

* less certain: "Before the snow could melt for good, an ice storm covered the lowcountry and we learned the deeper treachery of ice."
* more certain: "Eat your eggs in Lent and the snow will melt. That's what I say to our people when they get noisy over their cups at San Gallo ..."
* expressing necessity: "But I should think there must be some stream somewhere about. The snow must melt; besides, these great herds of deer must drink somewhere."

Modal verbs do not inflect for person, number or tense. Examples:

* person: "I/you/she might consider it."
* number: "I/We/She/They might consider it"
* tense: "They might have considered/be considering/have been considering it."

Verbs too have features that aid in their recognition:

1. they follow the (grammatical) subject noun phrase (in italics): "The real raw-knuckle boys who know what fighting means enter the arena without fanfare."
2. they agree with the subject noun phrase in number: "The real raw-knuckle boy/boys who knows/know what fighting means enters/enter the arena without fanfare."
3. they agree with the subject noun phrase in person: "I/He, the real raw-knuckle boy who knows what fighting means, enter/enters the arena without fanfare", and
4. with the exception of modal verbs, they can express tense:"The boys ... had been entering the arena without fanfare."Verb phrases
[edit] Forms

Verb phrases are formed entirely of verbs. The verbs can be lexical, auxiliary, and modal. The head is the first verb in the verb phrase. Example:

* "I didn't notice Rowen around tonight," remarked Don, as they began to prepare for bed. "Might have been sulking in his tent," grinned Terry." Here, the verb phrase "might have been sulking" has the form "modal-auxiliary-auxiliary-lexical."

In a verb phrase, the modal comes first, then the auxiliary or several auxiliaries, and finally the lexical (main) verb. When a verb phrase has a combination of modal and auxiliaries, it is constituted usually in the following order: modal verb >> perfect have >> progressive be >> passive be >> Lexical verb. Examples:

* "He might have been being used by the CIA as part of their debriefing procedure, but he might just as easily have been part of the Russians' plans to use Oswald in America." Here, the verb phrase is: might (modal) have (perfect) been (progressive) being (passive) used (lexical).
* The modal expression "be able to" is an exception: "It is best to know that she has (perfect) been (progressive) able to (modal expression) balance (lexical verb) these qualities and quantities with a grace which has not fallen short of greatness ...."

Tense

Verb phrases can vary with tense, in which case they are called "tensed verb phrases." Example:

* "They have accomplished a lot this year, but they accomplished even more last year."

There are many non-tensed forms as well:

1. base form of a lexical verb used as an imperative.Example: "Halt!"
2. base form of the lexical verb occurring as a subjunctive. Example: "'If he is a spy,' said Gorgik, 'I would rather he not know who I am."
3. the infinitive with "to." Examples:
1. "Did you see her, chief—did you get a glimpse of her pleasant countenance, or come close enough to her ear, to sing in it the song she loves to hear?'"
2. "She got so she could tell big stories herself from listening to the rest. Because she loved to hear it, and the men loved to hear themselves, they would 'woof' and 'boogerboo' around the games to the limit."
4. the "-ing" form, shared between the gerund and present participle. Examples:
1. "Biological diversity is plummeting, mainly due to habitat degradation and loss, pollution, overexploitation, competition from alien species, disease, and changing climates."
2. "Then it was swooping downward, and in the next second, a huge metal magpie, with wings outstretched in full flight, was plummeting toward them."
5. the "-ed" participle.[33] Examples:
1. "I also know that the painter has dined twice with the Prince Regent."
2. "Which in all probability means that you had dined together," replied Monte Cristo, laughing, "I am glad to see you are more sober than he was."

The time frame of a non-tensed verb phrase is determined by examining that of the main clause verb.Examples:

* "From the very beginning, Coltrane was an indefatigable worker at his saxophone spending hours upon hours practicing every day."
* "By assuming a good position and by practicing every day he will in time acquire a feeling and an appearance of ease before people."

In the first case, the time frame (past) of "practicing" is determined by "was" in the main clause; in the second, the time frame (present and future) of "practicing" is determined by "will in time," also in the main clause.
Aspect

Verb phrases can also express two aspects: progressive and perfect. Aspect provides additional information on the speaker's perception of time.

Progressive aspect

The progressive aspect consists of the auxiliary be form and the -ing form of the lexical verb. Examples:

* "Landlord, chambermaid, waiter rush to the door; but just as some distinguished guests are arriving, the curtains close, and the invisible theatrical manager cries out, 'Second syllable!' "
* "She made her curtsy, and was departing when the wretched young captain sprang up, looked at her, and sank back on the sofa with another wild laugh."

Properties:

* Progressive aspect may be found in verb phrases containing modals.
o "Restless, exciting and witty, he cannot resist a fantastic theory ..., so that one might be meeting Synge, Fielding, and Aldous Huxley, and on the same page."
* Non-tensed -ing forms, however, do not have the progressive aspect.
o "By working every day, he had learned the peculiarities, the weaknesses and strengths, of opposing batters ..." It cannot be changed to "By being working every day, ...."
* Progressive aspect can be combined with "to"-infinitive forms in a verb phrase.
o "He loved to sit by the open window when the wind was east, and seemed to be dreaming of faraway scenes."

Perfect

The perfect aspect is created by the auxiliary "have" and the "-ed" participle form of the lexical verb. It refers to a time period that includes the present moment. Contrast "The flowers didn't bloom this summer" with "The flowers haven't bloomed this summer." The latter sentence suggests that the summer is not over yet.

Properties:

* The perfect can pair with modal verbs.
o "You might (modal) have invited (perfect) the Hatter to the tea-party."
* The perfect can be combined with the -ing and the to-infinitive forms.
o "Having turned the TV on, he now mindlessly flicked through the channels."
o "To have run the marathon, she would have needed to be in good shape."

Finally, the two aspects, progressive and perfect, can be combined in a verb phrase: "They've been laughing so hard that their sides hurt."

Voice

The passive voice, which provides information about the roles of different participants in an event, is formed with the auxiliary "be" and the "-ed" participle form of the lexical verb. Examples:

* (Sentence) "The older critics slammed the play with vituperation inexplicable unless one attributes it to homophobia."
* (passive voice) "Ever notice how she was (past of "be") slammed (-ed participle) by the critics until the actors started doing it themselves?"

Properties:

* Modal verbs can occur in passive voice.
o "And if they couldn't get a handle on it soon, cities and towns all up and down the Eastern Seaboard could (modal) be slammed (passive) by the biggest storm of the year ...."
* Passive voice can be combined with non-tensed verbs such as "-ing" form and the "to-" infinitive.
o "There he was—getting slammed by the critics—and still taking the high road."
o "We were about to be slammed by an 80-foot breaking wave."
* Passive voice can combine with both the progressive and the perfect aspects.
o (passive, progressive): "The wind had picked up. The boat was being slammed by the swells, and floundering."
o (passive, perfect): "Although, alas, it's not such an exclusive club. I've sent them to everyone who has been slammed by that dreadful woman."[56]

Mood

A verb phrase can also express mood, which refers to the "factual or non-factual status of events."[49] There are three moods in English: indicative, imperative, and subjunctive.

Indicative mood

The indicative is the most common mood in English. It is a factual mood, and most constructions involving the various choices of person, tense, number, aspect, modality are in the indicative mood. Examples:

* "She will have a hangover tomorrow morning."
* "The Prime Minister and his cabinet were discussing the matter on that fateful day in 1939."

Imperative mood

The imperative mood is a non-factual mood and is employed for issuing directives:

* "Keep your eyes on the prize, hold on"
* "'Your father's urn is on the backseat. Just leave the keys in the cup holder."

Subjunctive mood

The subjunctive mood is also a non-factual mood which refers to demands, desires, etc. It uses the base form of the verb without inflections.[It is rare in English and is used after only a handful of words such as "demand," "request," "suggest," "ask," "plead," "pray," "insist," and so forth. Examples:

* "I demanded that Sheriff Jeanfreau stay. I even wanted worthless and annoying Ugly Henderson to stay."[59]
* "'I suggest that you not exercise your temper overmuch,' Mayne said, and the French tinge in his voice sounded truly dangerous now."

Properties:

* Subjunctives can be used after conditional subordinators.
o "I accepted on the condition that I not be given a starring role."
* Subjunctives can also be used after expressions of necessity.
o "Two nuns are asked to paint a room in the convent, and the last instruction of Mother Superior is that they not get even a drop of paint on their habits."
* The subjunctive form of the verb "be" can occur as the base form "be".
o "Whenever a prisoner alleges physical abuse, it is imperative that the prisoner be seen by an officer at the earliest possible opportunity."
* In its "were" form the subjunctive is used to express a hypothetical situation.[49]
o "'Lin said, turning toward Pei, "I'm afraid she's excited at seeing me home again." Pei smiled. "I would be too, if I were she."

Adjectives

According to Carter and McCarthy, "Adjectives describe properties, qualities, and states attributed to a noun or a pronoun." As was the case with nouns and verbs, the class of adjectives cannot be identified by the forms of its constituents.However, adjectives are commonly formed by adding the some suffixes to nouns.Examples: "-al" ("habitual," "multidimensional," "visceral"), "-ful" ("blissful," "pitiful," "woeful"), "-ic" ("atomic," "gigantic," "pedantic"), "-ish" ("impish," "peckish," "youngish"), "-ous" ("fabulous," "hazardous"). As with nouns and verbs, there are exceptions: "homosexual" can be a noun, "earful" is a noun, "anesthetic" can be a noun, "brandish" is a verb. Adjectives can also be formed from other adjectives through the addition of a suffix or more commonly a prefix: weakish, implacable, disloyal, irredeemable, unforeseen. A number of adjectives are formed by adding "a" as a prefix to a verb: "adrift," "astride," "awry."

Gradability

Adjectives come in two varieties: gradable and non-gradable. In a gradable adjective, the properties or qualities associated with it, exist along a scale. In the case of the adjective "hot," for example, we can speak of: not at all hot, ever so slightly hot, only just hot, quite hot, very hot, extremely hot, dangerously hot, and so forth. Consequently, "hot" is a gradable adjective. Gradable adjectives usually have antonyms: hot/cold, hard/soft, smart/dumb, light/heavy.Some adjectives do not have room for qualification or modification. These are the non-gradable adjectives, such as: pregnant, married, incarcerated, condemned, adolescent (as adjective), dead, and so forth.

In figurative or literary language, a non-gradable adjective can sometimes be treated as gradable, especially in order to emphasize some aspect:

* "When a man's verses cannot be understood, nor a man's good wit seconded with a forward child, understanding, it strikes a man more dead than a great reckoning in a little room."

A non-gradable adjective might have another connotation in which it is gradable. For example, "dead" when applied to sounds can mean dull, or not vibrant. In this meaning, it has been used as a gradable adjective:

* "... the bell seemed to sound more dead than it did when just before it sounded in open air."

Gradable adjectives can occur in comparative and superlative forms. For many common adjectives, these are formed by adding "-er" and "-est" to the base form:[66] cold, colder, coldest; hot, hotter, hottest; dry, drier, driest, and so forth; however, for other adjectives, "more" and "most" are needed to provide the necessary qualification: more apparent, most apparent; more iconic, most iconic; more hazardous, most hazardous. Some gradable adjectives change forms atypically:[66] good, better, best; bad, worse, worst; little, less, least; some/many, more, most.
[edit] Adjective phrases

Forms

An adjective phrase may consist of just one adjective, or a single adjective which has been modified or complemented.

Adjectives are usually modified by adverb phrases (adverb in boldface; adjective in italics):

* "... placing himself in a dignified and truly imposing attitude, began to draw from his mouth yard after yard of red tape ..."
* "Families did certainly come, beguiled by representations of impossibly cheap provisions, though the place was in reality very expensive, for every tradesman was a monopolist at heart."
* "... of anger frequent but generally silent, ..."
An adjective phrase can also consist of an adjective followed by a complement, usually a prepositional phrase, or by a "that" clause. Different adjectives require different patterns of complementation (adjective in italics; complement in bold face):

* "... during that brief time I was proud of myself, and I grew to love the heave and roll of the Ghost ..."
* "... her bosom angry at his intrusion, ..."
* "Dr. Drew is especially keen on good congregational singing."

Examples of "that" clause in the adjective phrase (adjective in italics; clause in boldface):

* "Was sure that the shrill voice was that of a man—a Frenchman."
* "The longest day that ever was; so she raves, restless and impatient."

An adjective phrase can combine pre-modification by an adverb phrase and post-modification by a complement, as in (adjective in italics; adverb phrase and complement in boldface):

* "Few people were ever more proud of civic honours than the Thane of Fife."

Attributive and predicative

An adjective phrase is attributive when it modifies a noun or a pronoun (adjective phrase in boldface; noun in italics):

* "Truly selfish genes do arise, in the sense that they reproduce themselves at a cost to the other genes in the genome."
* "Luisa Rosado: a woman proud of being a midwife"

An adjective phrase is predicative when it occurs in the predicate of a sentence (adjective phrase in boldface):

* "No, no, I didn't really think so," returned Dora; "but I am a little tired, and it made me silly for a moment ..."
* "She was ill at ease, and looked more than usually stern and forbidding as she entered the Hales' little drawing room."
Adverbs

Adverbs typically modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs. They perform a wide range of functions and are especially important for indicating "time, manner, place, degree, and frequency of an event, action, or process." Adjectives and adverbs are often derived from the same word, the majority being formed by adding the "-ly" ending to the corresponding adjective form. Recall the adjectives, "habitual", "pitiful", "impish", We can use them to form the adverbs:

* "habitually": "... shining out of the New England reserve with which Holgrave habitually masked whatever lay near his heart."
* "pitifully": "The lamb tottered along far behind, near exhaustion, bleating pitifully."
* "impishly": "Well," and he grinned impishly, "it was one doggone good party while it lasted!"

Some suffixes that are commonly found in adverbs are "-ward(s)" and "-wise":

* "homeward": "The plougman homeward plods his weary way."
* "downward": "In tumbling turning, clustering loops, straight downward falling, ..."
* "lengthwise": "2 to 3 medium carrots, peeled, halved lengthwise, and cut into 1-inch pieces."

Some adverbs have the same form as the adjectives:

* "outside":
o Adverb: "'You'd best begin, or you'll be sorry—it's raining outside."
o Adjective: "It would be possible to winter the colonies in the barn if each colony is provided with a separate outside entrance; ..."
* "straight"
o Adverb: "Five cigars, very dry, smoked straight except where wrapper loosened, as it did in two cases."
o Adjective: "Numbering among the ranks of the "young and evil" in this text are ... straight women who fall in love with gay men, ..."

Some adverbs are not related to adjectives:

* "quite": "Mr. Bingley was obliged to be in town the following day, and ... Mrs. Bennet was quite disconcerted."
* "too": "... like a child that, having devoured its plumcake too hastily, sits sucking its fingers, ...."
* "so": "... oh! ... would she heave one little sigh to see a bright young life so rudely blighted, ...?"

Some adverbs inflect for comparative and superlative forms:

* "soon"
o "O error, soon conceived, Thou never comest unto a happy birth, ..."
o "Nerissa: 'superfluity comes sooner by white hairs, but competency lives longer."
o "'Least said, soonest mended!' "[99]
* "well"
o "Valrosa well deserved its name, for in that climate of perpetual summer roses blossomed everywhere."
o "'I'm afraid your appearance in the Phycological Quarterly was better deserved,' said Mrs. Arkwright, without removing her eyes from the microscope ..."
o "Who among the typical Victorians best deserved his hate?"

Adverb placement

Adverbs are most usually placed at the end of a phrase. Time adverbs (yesterday, soon, habitually) are the most flexible exception. "Connecting Adverbs", such as next, then, however, may also be placed at the beginning of a clause. Other exceptions include "focusing adverbs", which can occupy a middle position for emphasis. "

Adverb phrases

Forms

An adverb phrase is a phrase that collectively acts as an adverb within a sentence; in other words, it modifies a verb (or verb phrase), an adjective (or adjective phrase), or another adverb.[104] The head of an adverb phrase (roman boldface), which is an adverb, may be modified by another adverb (italics boldface) or followed by a complement (italics boldface):

* "Yet all too suddenly Rosy popped back into the conversation, ...."
* "Oddly enough, that very shudder did the business."[106]
* "The Stoics said, perhaps shockingly for us, that a father ceases to be a father when his child dies."

An adverb phrase can be part of the complement of the verb "be." It then usually indicates location (adverbe phrase in boldface; form of "be" in italics):

* "'... it is underneath the pink slip that I wore on Wednesday with my Mechlin.'"
* "... north-by-northeast was Rich Mountain, ..."

Adverb phrases are frequently modifiers of verbs:

* "They plow through a heavy fog, and Enrique sleeps soundly—too soundly."
* "Sleepily, very sleepily, you stagger to your feet and collapse into the nearest chair."

Adverb phrases are also frequently modifiers of adjectives and other adverbs (modifier in boldface; modified in italics):

* (adjectives) "Then to the swish of waters as the sailors sluice the decks all around and under you, you fall into a really deep sleep."
* (adverbs) "'My grandma's kinda deaf and she sleeps like really heavily."

Adverb phrases can also be modifiers of noun phrases (or pronoun phrases) and prepositional phrases (adverb phrases in boldface; modified phrases in italics):

* (noun phrase): "She stayed out in the middle of the wild sea, and told them that was quite the loveliest place, you could see for many miles all round you, ...."
* (pronoun phrase): "... the typical structure of glioma is that of spherical and cylindrical lobules, almost each and everyone of which has a centrally located blood vessel."
* (prepositional phrase): "About halfway through the movie, I decided to ..."

Adverb phrases also modify determiners (modifier in boldface; modified in italics):

* "The devil knows best what he said, but at least she became his tool and was in the habit of seeing him nearly every evening."
* "Nearly if not quite all civilized peoples and ourselves above almost all others, are heavily burdened with the interest upon their public debt."

Functions

According to Carter and McCarthy, "As well as giving information on the time, place, manner and degree of an action, event, or process, adverb phrases can also have a commenting function, indicating the attitude and point of view of the speaker or writer towards a whole sentence or utterance." Examples:

* "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn."
* "Astonishingly, she'd shelled every nut, leaving me only the inner skin to remove."

Adverb phrases also indicate the relation between two clauses in a sentence.Such adverbs are usually called "linking adverbs." Example:

* "... they concluded from the similarities of their bodies, that mine must contain at least 1724 of theirs, and consequently would require as much food as was necessary to support that number of Lilliputians."

Prepositions

Prepositions relate two events in time or two people or things in space. They form a closed class. They also represent abstract relations between two entities:Examples:

1. ("after":) "We came home from Mr. Boythorn's after six pleasant weeks."
2. ("after":) "'That was done with a bamboo,' said the boy, after one glance."
3. ("to":) "I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life, ..."
4. ("between" and "through":) "Between two golden tufts of summer grass, I see the world through hot air as through glass, ..."
5. ("during":) "During these years at Florence, Leonardo's history is the history of his art; he himself is lost in the bright cloud of it."
6. ("of":) "When to the sessions of sweet silent thought I summon up remembrances of things past."

Prepositions are accompanied by prepositional complements; these are usually noun phrases.In the above examples, the prepositional complements are:

1. preposition: "after"; prepositional complement: "six pleasant weeks"
2. preposition: "after"; prepositional complement: "one glance"
3. preposition: "to"; prepositional complement: "the seas"; preposition: "to"; prepositional complement: "the vagrant gypsy life";
4. preposition: "Between"; prepositional complement: "two golden tufts of summer grass,"; preposition: "through"; prepositional complement: "hot air"; preposition: "as through"; prepositional complement: "glass."
5. preposition: "during"; prepositional complement: "these years at Florence."
6. preposition: "of"; prepositional complement: "sweet silent thought"; preposition: "of"; prepositional complement: "things past."

Prepositional phrases

A prepositional phrase is formed when a preposition combines with its complement. In the above examples, the prepositional phrases are:

1. prepositional phrase: "after six pleasant weeks"
2. prepositional phrase: "after one glance"
3. prepositional phrases: "to the seas" and "to the vagrant gypsy life"
4. prepositional phrases: "Between two golden tufts of summer grass," "through hot air" and "as through glass."
5. prepositional phrase: "During these years at Florence."
6. prepositional phrases "of sweet silent thought" and "of things past."

Conjunctions

According to Carter and McCarthy, "Conjunctions express a variety of logical relations between phrases, clauses and sentences." There are two kinds of conjunctions: coordinating conjunctions and subordinating conjunctions.

Coordinating

Coordinating conjunctions link "elements of equal grammatical status." The elements in questions may vary from a prefix to an entire sentence. Examples:

* (prefixes): "The doctor must provide facilities for pre- and post test counselling and have his own strict procedures for the storing of that confidential information."[131]
* (words): "'No, I'll never love anybody but you, Tom, and I'll never marry anybody but you--and you ain't to ever marry anybody but me, either."
* (phrases): "Can storied urn or animated bust back to its mansion call the fleeting breath?"
* (subordinate clauses): "Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show.
* (independent clauses): "Well, I think you're here, plain enough, but I think you're a tangle-headed old fool, Jim."
* (sentences): "He said we were neither of us much to look at and we were as sour as we looked. But I don't feel as sour as I used to before I knew robin and Dickon."

A correlative conjunction is a pair of constituent elements, each of which is associated with the grammatical unit to be coordinated. The common correlatives in English are:

* "either ... or":
o "The clergyman stayed to exchange a few sentences, either of admonition or reproof, with his haughty parishioner ...."
o "...; for I could not divest myself of a misgiving that something might happen to London in the meanwhile, and that, when I got there, it would be either greatly deteriorated or clean gone."
* "neither ... nor":
o "Buck made no effort. He lay quietly where he had fallen. The lash bit into him again and again, but he neither whined nor struggled."
o "For I have neither wit, nor words, nor worth, action, nor utterance, nor the power of speech, to stir men's blood: I only speak right on; ..."
* "both ... and"
o "There was no mistaking her sincerity—it breathed in every tone of her voice. Both Marilla and Mrs. Lynde recognized its unmistakable ring."
o "There messages have both ethical and pragmatic overtones, urging women to recognize that even if they do suffer from physical and social disadvantages, their lives are far from being determined by their biology."
* "Not only ... but also"
o "The director of A Doll's House, the brilliant Zhang Min, ..., was impressed with Lin not only professionally but also personally."
o "... she attempted to persuade her husband to give up his affair. Not only did he refuse, but he also told her he loved them both ...."

Subordinating conjunctions

Subordinating conjunction relate only clauses to one another. They make the clause associated with them into a subordinate clause. Some common subordinating conjunctions in English are: (of time) after, before, since, until, when, while; (cause and effect): because, since, now that, as, in order that, so; (opposition): although, though, even though, whereas, while; (condition): if, unless, only if, whether or not, whether or no, even if, in case (that), and so forth. Examples:

* (time: "before"): "Perhaps Homo erectus had already died out before Homo sapiens arrived.
* (cause and effect: "in order that"): "In order that feelings, representations, ideas and the like should attain a certain degree of memorability, it is important that they should not remain isolated ..."
* (opposition: "although"): "Ultimately there were seven more sessions, in which, although she remained talkative, she increasingly clearly conveyed a sense that she did not wish to come any more."
* (condition: "even if"): "Even if Sethe could deal with the return of the spirit, Stamp didn't believe her daughter could."

Sentence and clause patterns

Identified in English by a capitalized initial letter in its first word and by a period (or full stop) at the end of its last word, the sentence is the largest constituent of grammar.[150] A text that contains more than one sentence is no longer in the realm of grammar, but rather of discourse, as are all conversations, howsoever brief. Sentences themselves consist of clauses which are the principal constituents of grammar. A clause consists of a subject, which is usually a noun phrase, and a predicate which is usually a verb phrase with an accompanying grammatical unit in the form of an object or complement.
Verb complementation
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Clause types

Independent

An independent clause is characterized by having a subject and predicate without any words or phrases that link the function of that clause to another clause, causing the first clause to become dependent upon the other clause for its greater meaning. The independent clause includes relatively simplistic sentences:

* "My mother baked a cake."
* "The dog was brown."

However, it also includes seemingly ornate sentences that contain many prepositional phrases:

* "Considering the alternative, the certain demise of our dear friend is quite comforting."
* "Altruism in its purest sense can claim no interest in or motive for or boon from the benefit of another."

Dependent

A dependent clause is characterized by having a subject and predicate with a word or phrase that links the function of that clause to another clause, causing the first clause to become dependent upon the other clause for its greater meaning. The key here is the addition of some word or phrase that causes the entire clause to function in a broader sense, such as cause or background.

* "Because it was my birthday, my mother baked a cake."
* "Although its bloodline consisted of two Dalmatians, the dog was brown."

Noun phrases

Noun phrases are phrases that function grammatically as nouns within sentences. In addition, nouns serve as "heads," or main words of noun phrases. Examples (the heads are in boldface):

1. "The burnt-out ends of smoky days."
2. "The real raw-knuckle boys who know what fighting means, ..."
3. "The idle spear and shield ..."

The head can have modifiers, a complement, or both. Modifiers can occur before the head ("The real raw-knuckle boys ...," or "The burnt-out ends ..." and they are then called pre-modifiers; or, they can occur after the head ("who know what fighting means ...") and are called post-modifiers. Example: "The rough, seamy-faced, raw-boned College Servitor ..." The pre-modifying phrase, for example, is composed of determiners ("The"), adjectives ("rough," "seamy-faced," ...) and other nouns ("College").

Complements occur after the head as well; however, they are essential for completing the meaning of the noun phrase in a way that post-modifiers are not. Examples (complements are italicized; heads are in boldface):

1. "The burnt-out ends of smoky days."
2. "The suggestion that Mr. Touchett should invite me appeared to have come from Miss Stackpole."
3. "The ancient pulse of germ and birth was shrunken hard and dry."

Within a sentence, a noun phrase can be a part of the grammatical subject, the object, or the complement. Examples (the noun phrase is italicized, and the head boldfaced):

1. grammatical subject: "Some mute inglorious Milton here may rest."
2. object: "Dr. Pavlov ... delivered many long propaganda harangues ...")
3. complement: "'All they see is some frumpy, wrinkled-up person passing by in a carriage waving at a crowd."

Nouns and determiners

Nouns form the largest word class. According to Carter and McCarthy, they denote "classes and categories of things in the world, including people, animals, inanimate things, places, events, qualities and states." Consequently, the words "Mandela," "jaguar," "mansion," "volcano," "Timbuktoo," "blockade," "mercy," and "liquid" are all nouns. Nouns are not commonly identified by their form; however, some common suffixes such as "-age" ("shrinkage"), "-hood" ("sisterhood"), "-ism" ("journalism"), "-ist" ("lyricist"), "-ment" ("adornment"), "-ship" ("companionship"), "-tude" ("latitude"), and so forth, are usually identifiers of nouns. There are exceptions, of course: "assuage" and "disparage" are verbs; "augment" is a verb, "lament" and "worship" can be verbs. Nouns can also be created by conversion of verbs or adjectives. Examples include the nouns in: "a boring talk," "a five-week run," "the long caress," "the utter disdain," and so forth.

Number, gender, type, and syntactic features.

Nouns have singular and plural forms.[ Many plural forms have -s or -es endings (dog/dogs, referee/referees, bush/bushes), but by no means all (woman/women, axis/axes, medium/media). Unlike some other languages, in English, nouns do not have grammatical gender. However, many nouns can refer to masculine or feminine animate objects (mother/father, tiger/tigress, alumnus/alumna, male/female). Nouns can be classified semantically, i.e. by their meanings: common nouns ("sugar," "maple," "syrup," "wood"), proper nouns ("Cyrus," "China"), concrete nouns ("book," "laptop"), and abstract nouns ("heat," "prejudice"). Alternatively, they can be distinguished grammatically: count nouns ("clock," "city," "colour") and non-count nouns ("milk," "decor," "foliage").Nouns have several syntactic features that can aid in their identification.Nouns (example: common noun "cat") may be

1. modified by adjectives ("the beautiful Angora cat"),
2. preceded by determiners ("the beautiful Angora cat"), or
3. pre-modified by other nouns ("the beautiful Angora cat").

Word classes and phrase classes

Seven major word classes are described here. These are: noun, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition, conjunction, and determiner. The first six are traditionally referred to as "parts of speech." There are minor word classes, such as interjections, but these do not fit into the clause and sentence structure of English.

Open and closed classes

Open word classes allow new members; closed word classes seldom do.Nouns such as "celebutante", (a celebrity who frequents the fashion circles)" and "mentee," (a person advised by a mentor) and adverbs such as "24/7" ("I am working on it 24/7") are relatively new words; nouns and adverbs are therefore open classes.[1] However, invented pronouns, such as the "Spivak pronouns", as a gender-neutral singular replacement for the "his or her" (as in: "The student should bring eir books.") have gained only niche acceptance during their existence; pronouns, in consequence, form a closed class.
Word classes and grammatical forms

A word can sometimes belong to several word classes. The class version of a word is called a "lexeme". For example, the word "run" is usually a verb, but it can also be a noun ("It is a ten mile run to Tipperary."); these are two different lexemes.[2] Further, the same lexeme may be inflected to express different grammatical categories: for example, as a verb lexeme, "run" has several forms such as "runs," "ran," and "running."[ Words in one class can sometimes be derived from those in another and new words be created. The noun "aerobics," for example, has recently given rise to the adjective "aerobicized" ("the aerobicized bodies of Beverly Hills celebutantes."

Phrase classes

Words combine to form phrases which themselves can take on the attributes of a word class. These classes are called phrase classes.[2] The phrase: "The ancient pulse of germ and birth" functions as a noun in the sentence: "The ancient pulse of germ and birth was shrunken hard and dry." (Thomas Hardy, The Darkling Thrush) It is therefore a noun phrase. Other phrase classes are: verb phrases, adjective phrases, adverb phrases, prepositional phrases, and determiner phrases.

English grammar is the body of rules describing the properties of the English language. A language is such that its elements must be combined according to certain patterns. This article is concerned with (and restricted to) morphology, the building blocks of language; and syntax, the construction of meaningful phrases, clauses and sentences with the use of morphemes and words.
The grammar of any language is commonly approached in two different ways: descriptive, usually based on a systematic analysis of a large text corpus and describing grammatical structures thereupon; and prescriptive, which attempts to use the identified rules of a given language as a tool to govern the linguistic behaviour of speakers (see Descriptive linguistics and Linguistic prescription). Prescriptive grammar further concerns itself with several open disputes in English grammar, often representing changes in usage over time. This article predominantly concerns itself with descriptive grammar.
There are historical, social and regional variations of English. For example, British English and American English have several lexical differences; however, the grammatical differences are not equally conspicuous, and will be mentioned only when appropriate. Further, the many dialects of English have divergences from the grammar described here; they are only cursorily mentioned. This article describes a generalized present-day Standard English, the form of speech found in types of public discourse including broadcasting, education, entertainment, government, and news reporting. Standard English includes both formal and informal speech.

Every single word can be categorized into one of eight word groups, or parts of speech.

All eight are listed below, along with a very short definition of each.
Click on each of them to get a more in-depth explanation of what each one does.

1. Nouns

Words that name people, places, things, or ideas
There are many different types of nouns for you to learn about. A few of them include: proper nouns, common nouns, collective nouns, compound nouns, and many more!

2. Pronouns

Words that take the place of nouns
Just like nouns, there are many different types of pronouns. Here are a few of them: reflexive pronouns, indefinite pronouns, possessive pronouns, and relative pronouns.

3. Verbs

Words that show action or a state of being.
Linking verbs and helping verbs are describe on the page above. Modals are described here


See a list of verbs.

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4. Adjectives

Words that describe or modify nouns or pronouns.


See a list of adjectives.

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5. Adverbs

Words that describe or modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs


See a list of adverbs.

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6. Prepositions

Words that show the relationship between a noun or a pronoun and some other word in the rest of the sentence.

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7. Conjunctions

Words that join two or more words, phrases, or clauses


See a list of conjunctions.

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8. Interjections

Interjections are words that show excitement or emotion. They are not grammatically related to the rest of the sentence.

List of Interjections

This list of interjections should help you understand interjections a little better.
Quick Refresher: Interjections are words that show emotion. They are not grammatically related to the rest of the sentence.Without further ado, here is the list of interjections:
A: aha, ahem, ahh, ahoy, alas, arg, aw
B: bam, bingo, blah, boo, bravo, brrr

C: cheers, congratulations
D: dang, drat, darn, duh
E: eek, eh, encore, eureka
F: fiddlesticks
G: gadzooks, gee, gee whiz, golly, goodbye, goodness, good grief, gosh
H: ha-ha, hallelujah, hello, hey, hmm, holy buckets, holy cow,

holy smokes, hot dog, huh?, humph, hurray
O: oh, oh dear, oh my, oh well, ooops, ouch, ow
P: phew, phooey, pooh, pow
R: rats
S: shh, shoo
T: thanks, there, tut-tut
U: uh-huh, uh-oh, ugh
W: wahoo, well, whoa, whoops, wow
Y: yeah, yes, yikes, yippee, yo, yuck

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Diagram Interjections!

Diagramming sentences is a visual way to show how the words in a sentence are related to each other.
The fun thing about interjections is that they are actually not grammatically related to the rest of the sentence, and diagrams of interjections make that easy to see.
To diagram an interjection, you simply float it on a line hovering above the rest of the sentence.
Interjections sit on a line above the subject of the sentence, and they are not joined to any other part of the sentence.
That's a pretty good way of showing that they aren't related to any of the other words, isn't it?
Here is an example for you to check out:

So, What Is an Interjection?

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know

What is an interjection?


An interjection is a word that shows emotion. It is not grammatically related to the rest of the sentence.
Interjections are usually one to two words that come at the beginning of a sentence. They can show happiness (Yippee!), sadness (Aww!), anger(Grrr!), surprise (Holy cow!), or any other emotion.





It is not grammatically related to the rest of the sentence.
What the heck does that mean, anyway? Well, it means that unlike all of the other parts of speech, the interjection does not interact with any other words in the sentence. It does not modify anything, it does not get modified by anything. It does not play the role of subject or verb.Punctuating Interjections

Interjections are punctuated with an exclamation mark or a comma.
Use an exclamation mark if the emotion is very strong.


Wow! I won the lottery!
Use a comma if the emotion is not as strong.


Wow, I have a peanut-butter and jelly sandwich for lunch.

Beware!

Don't get fooled into thinking that all introductory words followed by an exclamation point or a comma are interjections - they're not!
Hmmm... what is an interjection? Do you remember?
It is a word that shows emotion. So, if the word in question does not showemotion, it is probably not an interjection.
Let's take a look:


Maria! Come and see the lion!
Names like this one are not interjections. They are nouns because they name people. When you say someone's name while you talk to him, it is calleddirect address.
Names also don't fit our definition of an interjection because they do not show emotion. The tone of voice that you say them in may show emotion, but the name itself does not.


Stop! The lion will eat you!
The word stop is not an interjection. It is a verb because it shows action.
Although the sentence as a whole does convey a sense of urgency (Who wants to get eaten by a lion?), the word stop is not showing emotion, it is telling you what to do.

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Diagram Interjections!

Diagramming sentences is a visual way to show how the words in a sentence are related to each other.
It will be easy to see that they are not grammatically related to the rest of the sentence, and it will help you to get an even better understanding of the question, "What is an interjection?"
To diagram an interjection, you simply float it on a line hovering above the rest of the sentence.
Interjections sit on a line above the subject of the sentence, and they are not joined to any other part of the sentence.
That's a pretty good way of showing that they aren't related to any of the other words, isn't it?
Here is an example for you to check out:

List of Conjunctions

Use this list of conjunctions to help you understand conjunctions a bit better.
Quick Refresher: Conjunctions are words that join two or more words, phrases, or clauses.

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Coordinating Conjunctions

There are only seven of these.
Learn to diagram coordinating conjunctions.


Example: cookies and milk
Here they are:


for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so
You can remember them using the acronym FANBOYS.

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Subordinating Conjunctions

There are many subordinating conjunctions. This list does not include all of them.
Learn to diagram subordinating conjunctions.


Example: I will eat broccoli after I eat this cookie.
A: after, although, as, as if, as long as, as much as, as soon as, as though
B: because, before, by the time
E: even if, even though
I: if, in order that, in case
L: lest
O: once, only if
P: provided that
S: since, so that
T: than, that, though, till
U: unless, until
W: when, whenever, where, wherever, while

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Correlative Conjunctions

These are always used in pairs.


Example: This cookie contains neither chocolate nor nuts.

both... and
either... or
neither... nor
not only... but also
whether... or

So, What Is a Conjunction?

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know

What is a conjunction?
A conjunction is a word that joins two or more words, phrases, orclauses.
Think of them as glue words. They glue words, phrases, or clauses together.
For example, if you would like to have your friend bring music and snacks to your party, it's pretty hard to do it without a conjunction.
You could say:


"Bring music. Bring snacks."
But it's more efficient to say:


"Bring music and snacks."
And it's more polite to say: 


"Please bring music and snacks."
See how the conjunction and glues the words music and snacks together?

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Words, Phrases, and Clauses

Okay, read this question and then try to answer it with your eyes closed: What is a conjunction?
How did you do? Did you remember that they join words, phrases, and clauses?
Words: silver and gold
Phrases: over the river and through the woods
Clauses: Marianne planted a flower, and she watched it grow.
In all of the above examples, we used the conjunction and which is one of the most common conjunctions.
But, of course, there are many more conjunctions out there. While all conjunctions perform the same basic function (gluing things together), there are three types of conjunctions: coordinating, subordinating, andcorrelative. To see a list of these conjunctions.






What is a conjunction? It is a gluing word.

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Coordinating Conjunctions

These are the most common, and there are only seven of them (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so). Some people remember these with the acronym FANBOYS. They glue together sentence elements that are equal.
Such as...
Two words: pie or cake
Two phrases: in the car or on the bike
Two independent clauses: You must study, or you won't learn grammar.

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Subordinating Conjunctions

These conjunctions glue subordinate clauses to independent clauses.
A subordinate clause is a clause that cannot stand alone. (Remember that a clause is a group of words with a subject and a verb.) It is always introduced by a subordinating conjunction.
Subordinate Clause Examples:

unless you are allergic
whenever I see your cat
since you are coming
These are not complete sentences. They all have subjects (you, I, you) and verbs (are, see, are coming), but since they cannot stand alone, they are subordinate clauses.
An independent clause is also a group of words with a subject and a verb. But, unlike a subordinate clause, an independent clause can stand alone.
Independent Clause Examples:

I will bring my cat.
I sneeze.
I won't bring my cat.
These are all complete sentences. They all have subjects (I), verbs (will bring, sneeze, won't bring), and they can stand alone.
Subordinating conjunctions let us join subordinate clauses with independent clauses:
Examples:

I will bring my cat unless you are allergic.
Whenever I see your cat, I sneeze.
Since you are coming, I won't bring my cat.

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Correlative Conjunctions

Correlative conjunctions are always used in pairs. (either... or, both... and).
Example:

Both David and I are allergic to cats.

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List of Prepositions

This list of prepositions will help you understand what a preposition is.
Be sure to listen to the preposition song!
Quick refresher: Prepositions are words that show the relationship between a noun or a pronoun and some other word or element in the rest of the sentence.

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Preposition List

* Notice that this list of prepositions contains one word, two word, and three word prepositions. Sometimes, words act together to form one preposition.

A

aboard, about, above, across, after, against, ahead of, along, amid,

amidst, among, around, as, as far as, as of, aside from, at, athwart, atop

B

barring, because of, before, behind, below, beneath, beside, besides,

between, beyond, but, by, by means of

C

circa, concerning

D

despite, down, during

E

except, except for, excluding

F

far from, following, for, from

I

in, in accordance with, in addition to, in case of, in front of, in lieu of,

in place of, in spite of, including, inside, instead of, into

L

like

M

minus

N

near, next to

O

of, off, on, on account of, on behalf of, on top of, onto, opposite, out,

out of, outside, over

P

past, plus, prior to

R

regarding, regardless of

S

save, since

T

than, through, till, to, toward, towards

U

under, underneath, unlike, until, up, upon

V

versus, via

W

with, with regard to, within, without

What Is a Preposition, Anyway?

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know

What is a preposition?
Sometimes it helps to start with examples and pictures.
Think of a preposition as any word that describes the relationship between a caterpillar and an apple. In the picture below, all of the prepositions are underlined.

What is a preposition?
It is any word that describes the relationship between a caterpillar and an apple.

Now it's definition time. Brace yourself. The following definition will sound complicated, but with the help of some examples and a little more of an explanation, you will know exactly what these little babies are.
Prepositions are words that show the relationship between a noun or apronoun and some other word or element in the rest of the sentence.
Now you know exactly what a preposition is, right? Okay, maybe that is a little much to wrap your head around. Let's break that down with a fewexample sentences.



She swam across the lake.

Across connects the noun lake with the verb swam. It tells us where sheswam. Do you see how the preposition tells us the relationship between lakeand swam?
Here's another example.



The cupcake with sprinkles is mine.

In this example, the preposition with is showing the relationship between the noun sprinkles and the noun cupcake. It tells us which cupcake she is referring to.
(It's okay to end a sentence with a preposition. )

Is this still confusing? Are you still asking yourself, "So... what is a preposition?"

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Prepositional Phrases

One more ultra-important thing about prepositions is that they are alwaysfound in prepositional phrases.
A phrase is a group of words that lacks either a subject or a verb and functions as a single part of speech.
A prepositional phrase consists of a preposition plus a noun or pronoun, which is called the object of the preposition. The object of the preposition is the first noun or pronoun following the preposition.
In our lovely apple example above, apple is the object of all of the prepositions. It is the first noun listed after each preposition.
Just like cheese and a tortilla are the minimum ingredients for a quesadilla, a preposition and an object of the preposition are the minimum ingredientsfor a prepositional phrase.
And, just like we can jazz up a quesadilla with chicken, salsa, or sour cream, we can jazz up prepositional phrases with adjectives and adverbs.
The following examples of prepositional phrases include only the necessary ingredients- a preposition and an object of the preposition:



around town
near water
with food
for her

These examples of prepositional phrases include not only the basics (apreposition and an object of the preposition), but also one or moreadjectives or adverbs.

above such foolishnessafter this insanely wild, and crazy party
up the very steep mountain


For more information on prepositional phrases, see the prepositional phrasespage.

Note: When words from the preposition list are not used in prepositional phrases, they are NOT prepositions.
I bet you can tell me why, right? Because prepositions are ALWAYS in prepositional phrases.
Look at the word down in the following examples. Can you tell why one is a preposition and one is not?



A. The cat ran down the tree.
B. Put the gun down!
Will the real preposition please stand up?
I hope you guessed the preposition is in sentence A.
In sentence A, the preposition down is in the prepositional phrase down the tree.
In sentence B, down is not in a prepositional phrase, therefore, it is not a preposition. (In case you're wondering, it is an adverb, but don't worry about that yet.)

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Prepositional Phrases Act As
Adjectives or Adverbs

Remember the answer to the question, "What is a preposition?" It is a word that shows the relationship between a noun or a pronoun and some other word or element in the rest of the sentence.
That means that each prepositional phrase is describing another word or group of words in the sentence. If the preposition is describing a noun orpronoun in the sentence, it is acting like an adjective.
For example: The table with the broken leg is downstairs.
Since the prepositional phrase with the broken leg is describing table (a noun), then this prepositional phrase is acting like an adjective.If the prepositional phrase is describing a verb, adverb, or an adjective in the sentence, then it is acting like an adverb.
For example: She swam across the lake.
Since the prepositional phrase in the basement is describing where the tablefell (a verb), this prepositional phrase is acting like an adverb.

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A Few Examples

Seeing examples of prepositions can help you understand them. For a list of prepositions as well as a catchy little tune to help you remember some of them, click here to go to the list of prepositions page.

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Start Basic Sentence Diagramming!

Do you know your stuff? Diagramming is the easy way to remember the answer to the question, "What is a preposition?"

Your site gives English learners and teachers a great idea for learning English. Grammar is important to language learning, and your diagramming method makes language learning simpler and easier. -Ji, Middle School Teacher, China