English Grammar Terms
Active Voice
In the active voice, the subject of the verb does the action (eg They killed the President). See also Passive Voice.
Adjective
A word like big, red, easy, French etc. An adjective describes a noun or pronoun.
Adverb
A word like slowly, quietly, well, often etc. An adverb modifies a verb.
Article
The "indefinite" articles are a and an. The "definite article" is the.
Auxiliary Verb
A verb that is used with a main verb. Be, do and have are auxiliary verbs. Can, may, must etc are modal auxiliary verbs.
Clause
A group of words containing a subject and its verb (for example: It was late when he arrived).
Conjunction
A word used to connect words, phrases and clauses (for example: and, but, if).
Infinitive
The basic form of a verb as in to work or work.
Interjection
An exclamation inserted into an utterance without grammatical connection (for example: oh!, ah!, ouch!, well!).
Modal Verb
An auxiliary verb like can, may, must etc that modifies the main verb and expresses possibility, probability etc. It is also called "modal auxiliary verb".
