Glosario de términos

Adjective:

A word belonging to one of the major form classes in any of numerous languages and typically
serving as a modifier of a noun to denote a quality of the thing named, to indicate its quantity or
extent, or to specify a thing as distinct from something else. They may name qualities of all kinds:
huge, red, angry, tremendous, unique, rare, etc.

An adjective usually comes right before a noun: "a red dress," "fifteen people." When an adjective
follows a linking verb such as be or seem, it is called a predicate adjective: "That building is huge,"
"The workers seem happy." Most adjectives can be used as predicate adjectives, although some
are always used before a noun. Similarly, a few adjectives can only be used as predicate adjectives
and are never used before a noun.

Some adjectives describe qualities that can exist in different amounts or degrees. To do this, the
adjective will either change in form (usually by adding -er or -est) or will be used with words like
more, most, very, slightly, etc.: "the older girls," "the longest day of the year," "a very strong
feeling," "more expensive than that one." Other adjectives describe qualities that do not vary
—"nuclear energy," "a medical doctor"—and do not change form.

Adverb:

A word belonging to one of the major form classes in any of numerous languages, typically serving
as a modifier of a verb, an adjective, another adverb, a preposition, a phrase, a clause, or a
sentence, expressing some relation of manner or quality, place, time, degree, number, cause,
opposition, affirmation, or denial, and in English also serving to connect and to express comment
on clause content.

An adverb answers the question when?, where?, how?, how much?, how long?, or how often?:

The elections are coming soon.

They only shopped locally.

They are happily married.

The roads are very steep.

He stopped by briefly to say hello.

My daughter calls me regularly.

Most adverbs are formed by adding -ly to an adjective. If the adjective already ends in -y, the -y
usually changes to -i.

bold / boldly

solid / solidly
interesting / interestingly

heavy / heavily

unnecessary / unnecessarily

Conjuctions:

Conjunctions are words that join together other words or groups of words.

A coordinating conjunction connects words, phrases, and clauses of equal importance. The main
coordinating conjunctions are and, or, and but.

They bought apples, pears, and oranges.

You can wait either on the steps or in the car.

The paintings are pleasant but bland.

A subordinating conjunction introduces a subordinate clause (a clause that does not form a simple
sentence by itself) and joins it to a main clause (a clause that can be used as a simple sentence by
itself).

She waited until they were seated.

It had been quiet since the children left.

Determiner:

A determiner is a word that introduces a noun. It always comes before a noun, not after, and it
also comes before any other adjectives used to describe the noun.

Determiners are required before a singular noun but are optional when it comes to introducing
plural nouns. For example, consider the placement and usage of the common determiner the in
the sentences below:

The bunny went home.

I ate the chocolate cookie for dessert.

Metal cans are recyclable.

The metal cans are recyclable.

In every example, the determiner is placed before the noun or noun phrase, regardless of whether
the noun in the subject or predicate. In the first example, it comes directly before the noun, but in
the second example, it comes before the adjective ("chocolate") that describes the noun
("cookie").

Modal:

We use modals to show if we believe something is certain, possible or impossible:

My keys must be in the car.

It might rain tomorrow.

That can't be Peter's coat. It's too small.

We also use them to do things like talk about ability, ask permission, and make requests and
offers:

I can't swim.

May I ask a question?

Could I have some tea, please?

Would you like some help?

Noun:

Any member of a class of words that typically can be combined with determiners to serve as the
subject of a verb, can be interpreted as singular or plural, can be replaced with a pronoun, and
refer to an entity, quality, state, action, or concept.

There are common nouns and proper nouns. A common noun refers to a person, place, or thing
but is not the name of a particular person, place, or thing. Examples are animal, sunlight, and
happiness. A proper noun is the name of a particular person, place, or thing; it usually begins with
a capital letter: Abraham Lincoln, Argentina, and World War I are all proper nouns.

Particle:

A particle is a word that does not change its form through inflection and does not easily fit into the
established system of parts of speech. Many particles are closely linked to verbs to form multi-
word verbs, such as "go away." Other particles include "to" used with an infinitive and not a
negative particle.

Particles are short words that with just one or two exceptions are all prepositions unaccompanied
by any complement of their own. Some of the most common prepositions belonging to the
particle category: along, away, back, by, down, forward, in, off, on, out, over, round, under, up.

Preposition:

A function word that typically combines with a noun phrase to form a phrase which usually
expresses a modification or predication.

A preposition is a word—and almost always a very small, very common word—that shows
direction (to in "a letter to you"), location (at in "at the door"), or time (by in "by noon"), or that
introduces an object (of in "a basket of apples"). Prepositions are typically followed by an object,
which can be a noun (noon), a noun phrase (the door), or a pronoun (you).

Qualifier:

A qualifier is a word or phrase that changed how absolute, certain or generalized a statement is.
Qualifiers include:
Qualifiers of quantity: some, most, all, none, etc.

Qualifiers of time: occasionally, sometimes, now and again, usually, always, never, etc.

Qualifiers of certainty: I guess, I think, I know, I am absolutely certain, etc.

Qualifiers of possibility: Could, may, likely, possible, probable, etc.

Qualifiers of necessity: Must, should, ought, required, have to, etc.

Qualifiers of relative quality: best, worst, finest, sharpest, heaviest, etc.

Question Words:

Question words, often called wh- words, are function words that can be used to ask open
questions. Some words, such as who, which or where, can also be used to introduce relative
clauses.

What, where, when, how, which, who, whom, why, whose, are examples of this kind of words.

Verb:

A word that characteristically is the grammatical center of a predicate and expresses an act,
occurrence, or mode of being, that in various languages is inflected for agreement with the
subject, for tense, for voice, for mood, or for aspect, and that typically has rather full descriptive
meaning and characterizing quality but is sometimes nearly devoid of these especially when used
as an auxiliary or linking verb.

Verbs are words that show an action (sing), occurrence (develop), or state of being (exist). Almost
every sentence requires a verb. The basic form of a verb is known as its infinitive. The forms call,
love, break, and go are all infinitives.

Almost all verbs have two other important forms called participles. Participles are forms that are
used to create several verb tenses (forms that are used to show when an action happened); they
can also be used as adjectives. The present participle always ends in -ing: calling, loving, breaking,
going. (There is also a kind of noun, called a gerund, that is identical in form to the present
participle form of a verb.) The past participle usually ends in -ed, but many past participles have
irregular endings: called, loved, broken, gone.