tennis
tension
tent
terminate
terrace
terrestrial
terrible
terribly
terrify
territory
terror
testament
text
theatre
theme
theology
theory
throne
tiger
timid
timidity
tissue
tobacco
toilet
tolerate
taper
tapisserie
tarif
technique
télégramme
télégraphe
télégraphier
téléphone
tempérament
température
tempête
temple
tenace
tendre
ténébreux
tennis
tension
tente
terminer
terrasse
terrestre
terrible
terriblement
terrifier
territoire
terreur
testament
texte
théâtre
thème
théologie
théorie
trône
tigre
timide
timidité
tissu
tabac
toilette
tolérer
tomb
ton
tone
torment (n.)
torment (v.)
torrent
torture (n.)
torture (v.)
total
totally
touching
tour (n.)
tourist
trace (v.)
tradition
traditional
tragedy
tragic
train (n.)
trait
tranquil
tranquility
transform
transformation
transition
transmit
transparent
transport (n.)
transport (v.)
traverse (v.)
treasure (n.)
tremble
trembling (n.)
tribe
tribunal
tribune
tricolored
triple (adj.)
triumph (n.)
triumph (v.)
tombe
tonne
ton
tourment
tourmenter
torrent
torture
torturer
total
totalement
touchant
tour
touriste
tracer
tradition
traditionnel
tragédie
tragique
train
trait
tranquille
tranquillité
transformer
transformation
transition
transmettre
transparent
transport
transporter
traverser
trésor
trembler
tremblement
tribu
tribunal
tribune
tricolore
triple
triomphe
triompher
triumphant
trot
trouble (n.)
trouble (v.)
troupe
tube
tumult
tunic
tunnel
turn (v.)
type (n.)
tyranny
tyrant
unanimous
uncertain
uncle
uniform (adj.)
union
unite
united
unity
universal
universe
university (adj.)
university (n.)
unjust
unstable
urgent
usage
use (v.)
usual
usury
utility
utilization
utilize
vacant
vacation
vacillate
triomphant
trotter
trouble
troubler
troupe
tube
tunique
tunnel
tourner
type
tyrannie
tyran
unanime
incertain
oncle
uniforme
union
unir
uni
unité
universel
univers
universitaire
université
injuste
instable
urgent
usage
user
usuel
usure
utilité
utilisation
utiliser
vacant
vacances
vaciller
vagabond
vague
vainly
valet
valiant
valise
valley
vanity
vapor
variable
variation
variety
vary
vase
vassal
vast
vegetable (adj.)
vehemence
vehicle
vein
vendor
venerable
venerate
veneration
vengeance
verdure
verify
verse
version
vibrate
vice
victim
victory
vagabond
vague
vainement
valet
vaillant
valise
vallée
vanité
vapeur
variable
variation
variété
varier
vase
vassal
vaste
végétal
véhémence
véhicule
veine
vendeur
vénérable
vénérer
vénération
vengeance
verdure
vérifier
vers
version
vibrer
vice
victime
victoire
vigilance
vigor
vigorous
villa
village
villain
violation
violence
violent
violently
violet
violin
visible
vision
visit (n.)
visit (v.)
visitor
vivacity
vocation
volt
volume
voluntary
vote (n.)
vote (v.)
voyage (n.)
voyager
vulgar
west
zeal
zero
zinc
zone
vigilance
vigeur
vigoureux
villa
village
vilain
violation
violence
violent
violemment
violette
violin
visible
vision
visite
visiter
visiteur
vivacité
vocation
volt
volume
volontaire
vote
voter
voyage
voyageur
vulgaire
ouest
zèle
zéro
zinc
zone
A Glossary of Grammatical Terms
E. F. BLEILER
This section is intended to refresh your memory of grammatical terms or to clear up difficulties you may have had in understanding them. Before you work through the grammar, you should have a reasonably clear idea what the parts of speech and parts of a sentence are. This is not for reasons of pedantry, but simply because it is easier to talk about grammar if we agree upon terms. Grammatical terminology is as necessary to the study of grammar as the names of automobile parts are to garagemen.
This list is not exhaustive, and the definitions do not pretend to be complete, or to settle points of interpretation that grammarians have been disputing for the past several hundred years. It is a working analysis rather than a scholarly investigation. The definitions given, however, represent most typical American usage, and should serve for basic use.
The Parts of Speech
English words can be divided into eight important groups: nouns, adjectives, articles, verbs, adverbs, pronouns, prepositions, and conjunctions. The boundaries between one group of words and another are sometimes vague and ill-felt in English, but a good dictionary, like the Webster Collegiate, can help you make decisions in questionable cases. Always bear in mind, however, that the way a word is used in a sentence may be just as important as the nature of the word itself in deciding what part of speech the word is.
Nouns. Nouns are the words for things of all sorts, whether these things are real objects that you can see, or ideas, or places, or qualities, or groups, or more abstract things. Examples of words that are nouns are cat, vase, door, shrub, wheat, university, mercy, intelligence, ocean, plumber, pleasure, society, army. If you are in doubt whether a given word is a noun, try putting the word “my,” or “this,” or “large” (or some other adjective) in front of it. If it makes sense in the sentence the chances are that the word in question is a noun. [All the words in italics in this paragraph are nouns.]
Adjectives. Adjectives are the words which delimit or give you specific information about the various nouns in a sentence. They tell you size, color, weight, pleasantness, and many other qualities. Such words as big, expensive, terrible, insipid, hot, delightful, ruddy, informative are all clear adjectives. If you are in any doubt whether a certain word is an adjective, add -er to it, or put the word “more” or “too” in front of it. If it makes good sense in the sentence, and does not end in -ly, the chances are that it is an adjective. (Pronoun-adjectives will be described under pronouns.) [The adjectives in the above sentences are in italics.]
Articles. There are only two kinds of articles in English, and they are easy to remember. The definite article is “the” and the indefinite article is “a” or “an.”
Verbs. Verbs are the words that tell what action, or condition, or relationship is going on. Such words as was, is, jumps, achieved, keeps, buys, sells, has finished, run, will have, may, should pay, indicates are all verb forms. Observe that a verb can be composed of more than one word, as will have and should pay, above; these are called compound verbs. As a rough guide for verbs, try adding -ed to the word you are wondering about, or taking off an -ed that is already there. If it makes sense, the chances are that it is a verb. (This does not always work, since the so-called strong or irregular verbs make forms by changing their middle vowels, like spring, sprang, sprung.) [Verbs in this paragraph are in italics.]
Adverbs. An adverb is a word that supplies additional information about a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. It usually indicates time, or manner, or place, or degree. It tells you how, or when, or where, or to what degree things are happening. Such words as now, then, there, not, anywhere, never, somehow, always, very, and most words ending in -ly are ordinarily adverbs. [Italicized words are adverbs.]
Pronouns. Pronouns are related to nouns, and take their place. (Some grammars and dictionaries group pronouns and nouns together as substantives.) They mention persons, or objects of any sort without actually giving their names.
There are several different kinds of pronouns. (i) Personal pronouns: by a grammatical convention I, we, me, mine, us, ours are called first person pronouns, since they refer to the speaker; you and yours are called second person pronouns, since they refer to the person addressed; and he, him, his, she, her, hers, they, them, theirs are called third person pronouns since they refer to the things or persons discussed. (2) Demonstrative pronouns: this, that, these, those. (3) Interrogative, or question, pronouns: who, whom, what, whose, which. (4) Relative pronouns, or pronouns which refer back to something already mentioned: who, whom, that, which. (5) Others: some, any, anyone, no one, other, whichever, none, etc.
Pronouns are difficult for us, since our categories are not as clear as in some other languages, and we use the same words for what foreign-language speakers see as different situations. First, our interrogative and relative pronouns overlap, and must be separated in translation. The easiest way is to observe whether a question is involved in the sentence. Examples: “Which [int.] do you like?” “The inn, which [rel.] was not far from Cadiz, had a restaurant.” “Who [int.] is there?” “I don’t know who [int.] was there.” “The porter who [rel.] took our bags was Number 2132.” This may seem to be a trivial difference to an English speaker, but in some languages it is very important.
Secondly, there is an overlap between pronouns and adjectives. In some cases the word “this,” for example, is a pronoun; in other cases it is an adjective. This also holds true for his, its, her, any, none, other, some, that, these, those, and many other words. Note whether the word in question stands alone or is associated with another word. Examples: “This [pronoun] is mine.” “This [adj.] taxi has no springs.” Watch out for the word “that,” which can be a pronoun or an adjective or a conjunction. And remember that “my,” “your,” “our,” and “their” are always adjectives. [All pronouns in this section are in italics.]
Prepositions. Prepositions are the little words that introduce phrases that tell about condition, time, place, manner, association, degree, and similar topics. Such words as with, in, beside, under, of, to, about, for, and upon are prepositions. In English prepositions and adverbs overlap, but, as you will see by checking in your dictionary, there are usually differences of meaning between the two uses. [Prepositions in this paragraph are designated by italics.]
Conjunctions. Conjunctions are joining-words. They enable you to link words or groups of words into larger units, and to build compound or complex sentences out of simple sentence units. Such words as and, but, although, or, unless, are typical conjunctions. Although most conjunctions are easy enough to identify, the word “that” should be watched closely to see that it is not a pronoun or an adjective. [Conjunctions italicized.]
Words about Verbs
Verbs are responsible for most of the terminology in this short grammar. The basic terms are:
Conjugation. In many languages verbs fall into natural groups, according to the way they make their forms. These groupings are called conjugations, and are an aid to learning grammatical structure. Though it may seem difficult at first to speak of First and Second Conjugations, these are simply short ways of saying that verbs belonging to these classes make their forms according to certain consistent rules, which you can memorize.
Infinitive. This is the basic form which most dictionaries give for verbs in most languages, and in most languages
it serves as the basis for classifying verbs. In English (with a very few exceptions) it has no special form. To find the infinitive for any English verb, just fill in this sentence: “I like to......... (walk, run, jump, swim, carry, disappear, etc.).” The infinitive in English is usually preceded by the word “to.”
Tense. This is simply a formal way of saying “time.” In English we think of time as being broken into three great segments: past, present, and future. Our verbs are assigned forms to indicate this division, and are further subdivided for shades of meaning. We subdivide the present time into the present (I walk) and present progressive (I am walking); the past into the simple past (I walked), progressive past (I was walking), perfect or present perfect (I have walked), past perfect or pluperfect (I had walked); and future into simple future (I shall walk) and future progressive (I shall be walking). These are the most common English tenses.
Present Participles, Progressive Tenses. In English the present participle always ends in -ing. It can be used as a noun or an adjective in some situations, but its chief use is in forming the so-called progressive tenses. These are made by putting appropriate forms of the verb “to be” before a present participle: In “to walk” [an infinitive], for example, the present progressive would be: I am walking, you are walking, he is walking, etc.; past progressive, I was walking, you were walking, and so on. [Present participles are in italics.]
Past Participles, Perfect Tenses. The past participle in English is not formed as regularly as is the present participle. Sometimes it is constructed by adding -ed or -d to the present tense, as walked, jumped, looked, received; but there are many verbs where it is formed less regularly: seen, been, swum, chosen, brought. To find it, simply fill out the sentence “I have .........” putting in the verb form that your ear tells you is right for the particular verb. If you speak grammatically, you will have the past participle.
Past participles are sometimes used as adjectives: “Don’t cry over spilt milk.” Their most important use, however, is to form the system of verb tenses that are called the perfect tenses: present perfect (or perfect), past perfect (or pluperfect), etc. In English the present perfect tense is formed with the present tense of “to have” and the past participle of a verb: I have walked, you have run, he has begun, etc. The past perfect is formed, similarly, with the past tense of “to have” and the past participle: I had walked, you had run, he had begun. Most of the languages you are likely to study have similar systems of perfect tenses, though they may not be formed in exactly the same way as in English. [Past participles in italics.]