GRAMMAR

Grammar is a branch of linguistics that deals with the arrangement

(syntax) and form and structure (morphology) of words. Every word in the
English language can be classified by its use and position. The following
glossary lists the classification, punctuation marks and some of the
terminology used for the analysis of a language.
adjective. A word that qualifies a noun. Adjectives are descriptive
(the big book), quantative (many pages), interrogative (which page),
demonstrative (those books) or indicate possession (my book).
adverb. A word that describes how, where or when an action (verb) is
performed. It usually has the suffix -ly: they moved quickly.
antonyms. Opposites: fast is an antonym of slow.
apostrophe. Punctuation mark indicating possession (Bob's car) or
representing letters that have been removed (wouldn't, isn't).
article. A noun identifier. 'A' or 'the' being the indefinite and definite
article.
capital letters. Used at the beginning of a sentence, quotes, proper
nouns and titles of people and organisations.
case. The relationship between nouns and the rest of the sentence. The
cases used in English are: subjective, objective, possessive and indirective.
clause. A group of words containing a subject and verb, forming part of
a sentence.
colon. Punctuation mark introducing a list, quotation or summary.
comma. Punctuation mark which makes a slight break in a sentence.
Commas also divide a series of nouns, adjectives or phrases and isolate
names and speech from the rest of the sentence.
conjugation. The recitation of the various forms of a verb.
conjunction. Words such as and, but and or that join phrases together.
They may be replaced by a semicolon.
exclamation mark. Punctuation mark indicating emotion. It follows
genuine exclamations not ordinary statements.
full stop (period). Punctuation mark which indicates: 1. The end of a
complete sentence. 2. An abbreviation when the last letter is different from
that at the end of the complete word (adj. for adjective).
hyphen. Punctuation mark that joins compound words (lay-by, free-
range) or marks a word that has been split at the end of a line.
impersonal. Referring to the third person he, she or it.
inflection. The modification of a word resulting from a change
in tense, person or number. Inflection need not change the spelling of the
word.
interjection. Word or phrase expressing sudden emotion.
inverted comma. Punctuation mark enclosing direct quotations (speech).
There is normally a comma before and after the quote. Single quotation
marks indicate a title or quote within speech.
noun. The name of a person, thing or quality. Types of noun include:
common or concrete nouns (man, cat), proper nouns (London, John Bull),
abstract nouns (love, hate) and collective nouns (flock, group).
object. A noun or pronoun that is the recipient of a verb: I love you.
paragraph. A group of related sentences.
parenthesis (brackets). Punctuation mark isolating part of
a sentence which could be omitted. The punctuation of the rest of
sentance should run as if the brackets were not there.
person. The categorisation of a word depending on its use in the first (I),
second (you) or third (he) person.
phrase. A group of words that contains a subject or verb but not both. A
phrase need not make sense on its own but form part of a clause.
preposition. A word that links a noun with the rest of the sentence.
Prepositions usually indicate location (in, on, with) or time (before, during,
at).
pronoun. A word used in place of a noun. There are two types: personal
pronouns (I, you, it) and possessive pronouns (mine, yours, theirs).
question mark. Punctuation mark which follows direct questions but not
reported ones.
semicolon. Punctuation mark providing a stronger break than a comma or
replacing aconjunction.
sentence. A group of words containing a verb that makes complete sense.
subject. A noun or pronoun which governs a verb (ie its inflection): I love
you.
syllable. A group of letters that usually contains a vowel and can be
pronounced independently from the complete word.
tense. Inflections in a verb to indicate when the action took place.
Click here for verb tenses.
verb. A word describing an action or state: what a person or thing does or
experiences. Click here for verb forms.

VERB FORMS AND TENSES

finite. A verb that is inflected by the subject.
future. Tense that refers to an action which has not yet begun.
(I will walk, I shallwalk).
infinite. A verb that is not inflected and does not have an overt subject.
The infinitive is usually preceded with to as in 'they began to play'.
imperfect. Tense that refers to an action or state which is continuous or
repetitious: I amwalking, he talks, they sleep.
intransitive. A verb that does not require a direct object. This includes
verbs such as think or sleep as in: she slept on the bed.
modal. Verbs describing mood: might, ought, should, would.
past. Tense that refers to an action which has already begun or is
complete: I walked. They swam.
perfect. Tense that refers to an action or state which is complete: The
moon has risen(past perfect), I will have walked (future perfect).
present. Tense that refers to actions occurring at the moment: I walk.
He drives.
reflexive. Verb form where the subject refers back to itself: I wash
myself. He spoke to himself.
regular. Verbs where the tenses follow the regular pattern of: walk,
walked, walking.
transitive. A verb that requires a direct object. For example: He woke
her. I love him.

THE ZODIAC
The zodiac is derived from the Greek 'zodiakos kyklos' or circle of animals
devised in Mesopotamia in about 3000BC.
Aquarius 20 Jan - 18 Feb Water carrier
Pisces 19 Feb - 20 Mar Fish
Aries 21 Mar - 19 Apr Ram
Taurus 20 Apr - 20 May Bull
Gemini 21 May - 21 Jun Twins
Cancer 22 Jun - 22 Jul Crab
Leo 23 Jul - 22 Aug Lion
Virgo 23 Aug - 22 Sep Virgin
Libra 23 Sep - 23 Oct Scales
Scorpio 24 Oct - 23 Nov Scorpion
Sagittarius 22 Nov - 21 Dec Archer
Capricorn 22 Dec - 19 Jan Goat