GCSE English Technical Terms: Grammar

Question 1

What is a noun?

Answer 1

A person (or animal), place or a thing.

Question 2

Name 3 types of nouns and explain what they refer to.

Answer 2

Proper nouns are the names of particular people, places or things (eg. Elizabeth, Paris, Eiffel Tower)

Common nouns name kinds of things (eg. banana, dog, table)

Collective nouns name groups of things (eg. family army, herd)

Question 3

What is a pronoun?

Answer 3

A pronoun does the job of a noun so you don’t have to keep repeating things over and over again. (I, me, my, mine, myself, he, they, their, it………)

Question 4

What are verbs?

Answer 4

Doing and being words.
He plays football.
She is the goalkeeper.

Question 5

First person is written from the point of view of….

Answer 5

I or we

Question 6

Second person is written from the point of view of….

Answer 6

you

Question 7

Third person is written from the point of view of….

Answer 7

he, she, they

Question 8

What does the tense of the verb tell you?

Answer 8

When (past, present or future)

Question 9

“has been playing” is an example of what?

“has” and “been” are what?

Answer 9

A verb phrase.

Helping verbs

Question 10

What is an active verb?

Answer 10

Active verbs make it clear who’s doing the action. The sentence is about the person or thing doing the action. The verb goes with the noun or pronoun doing the action.

Eg. Lisa opened the parcel.
Lisa is doing the action and the parcel is the thing that the action was done to.

Question 11

What is a passive verb?

Answer 11

Passive verbs say what’s happening but they don’t always say who or what is doing the action. The sentence is about the person or thing that the action happens to.

Eg. The parcel was opened.
(The parcel is the thing the action was done to but it doesn’t tell you who opened the parcel.)

Or

Eg. The parcel was opened by Lisa.
(The word by goes in front of the person or thing that did the action)

Eg. It is agreed that fighting is wrong.
(Doesn’t say who agreed)

Question 12

imperative

Answer 12

An imperative sentence is a sentence that issues a command.

Three things are common to all imperative sentences. First, they all command someone to do something. Second, they all use an unstated “you” as their subject. Third, they all start with a verb or the word “please” followed by a verb.

Question 13

rhetorical question

Answer 13

Rhetorical questions are questions that you aren’t meant to give an answer to. The answer is so obvious it doesn’t need to be said.

Eg. Who would have thought the train would be late?

Question 14

adjective

Answer 14

describing words
Adjectives describe nouns and tell you more about them.

Eg. The caterpillar wore baggy pink socks.

Question 15

adverbs

Answer 15

Adverbs describe verbs and often end in ‘-ly’. They say how something was done.
Eg. Martin strolled home slowly. (‘Slowly’ describes the verb.)

Adverbs can also describe adjectives.
Eg. He was very old. (‘Very’ describes the adjective ‘old’.)

Careful, some adjectives also end in ‘ly’ like ‘lovely’ and ‘friendly.’

Question 16

What two things do prepositions tell you?

Answer 16

Where and When

Prepositions say where things are. They are words or phrases like ‘under’, ‘in front of’, ‘between’ and ‘with’. They tell you the relation between nouns or pronouns.
Eg. Bob got into the car.

Prepositions also can tell you about when things are.
after, before, until
Eg. He span around until he fell over.

Question 17

Name two things every sentence must include.

Answer 17

a verb and a subject

Eg. Mike ran. (this is a complete sentence with a subject and a verb)

Question 18

What is the subject of a sentence?

Answer 18

The person or thing the sentence is about.

Question 19

clause

Answer 19

A clause is a bit of a sentence with a subject and a verb but it isn’t necessarily a sentence because it doesn’t have to start with a capitol or end with a full stop.
Eg. Lisa looked out the window because she heard noises.
(This sentence has two clauses.)

Question 20

compound sentence

Answer 20

Compound sentences are made up of two equally important clauses joined together with a conjunction (a joining word like ‘and’, ‘but’, or ‘so’.) each clause would make sense on its own as a complete sentence.

Eg. He sat down by the lake and everyone heard him singing.

Question 21

complex sentence

Answer 21

Complex sentences are made up of an important clause and one or more less important clauses.

Eg. I’ll go on a strict diet when I finish my Easter eggs.

‘I’ll go on a strict diet” is the main clause.

Question 22

Does a main clause make sense on its own?

Answer 22

yes
Eg. He cycled very quickly after he saw the ice cream van.
‘He cycled quickly’ makes sense on its own.

Question 23

Does a dependent clause make sense on its own?

What is another name for a dependent clause?

Answer 23

no / subordinate clause
Eg. He cycled very quickly after he saw the ice cream van.
‘after he saw the ice cream van’ doesn’t makes sense on its own.

Question 24

connectives

Answer 24

Join clauses together in a sentence.
They can be one word (so, because, and, but…) or short phrases (“in other words’, ‘just after that’)
Eg. Ken was hungry so he ate a banana.

They can also link sentences together, especially in arguments or discussion articles.
Eg. The plans to build a garden will bring more tourists to the town. ‘On the other hand’, it may be several months before it is completed. ‘Furthermore’, it will be expensive for the taxpayers.

Question 25

What types of words can be connectives?

Answer 25

Connectives can be conjunctions, adverbs or preposition phrases.
Conjunctions: because, and, but, therefore, also
Adverbs or Adverb phrases: finally, suddenly, surely, at last, without stopping, as soon as possible
Preposition phrases: in other words, on the other hand

Eg. The fuse was lit. Suddenly, Dana had second thoughts. (adverb)
Wally wasn’t sure where he was. In other words, he was lost.