Grammar: word classes, clauses and tenses

📌 Key points

1. Nouns name things (dog, Erbil, happiness). Pronouns replace nouns (he, it, they).
2. Verbs are doing or being words (run, is). Adverbs tell how, when or where (quickly, yesterday, outside).
3. Adjectives describe nouns (tall, green). Prepositions show position or time (under, after).
4. Conjunctions join words and clauses: and, but, so, because, when, although.
5. A clause has a subject and a verb. A main clause makes sense alone; a subordinate clause does not.
6. A relative clause adds information using who, which, that or whose: The girl who won is my cousin.
7. Tenses show time: I walk (present), I walked (past), I will walk (future), I was walking (past progressive), I have walked (present perfect).
8. Active: the subject does the action (The cat chased the mouse). Passive: the subject receives it (The mouse was chased by the cat).
9. Keep the tense consistent in a piece of writing unless the time really changes.

📖 Key words

Noun

A word that names a person, place, thing or idea.

Verb

A doing or being word.

Adjective

A word that describes a noun.

Adverb

A word that tells how, when, where or how often.

Conjunction

A word that joins words or clauses, e.g. and, because.

Main clause

A clause that makes sense on its own.

Subordinate clause

A clause that adds information but does not make sense on its own.

Passive voice

A sentence where the subject has the action done to it.