1 An Introduction to Word classes


Perfective Aspect Progressive Aspect



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- English Grammar You Need to Know
1 5089602869292696115
Perfective Aspect Progressive Aspect
Present Tense
has fallen
is falling
Past Tense
had fallen
was falling While aspect always includes tense, tense can occur without aspect (David falls in love, David fell in love.
4.11 Voice There are two voices in English, the active voice and the passive voice

Active Voice
Passive Voice
[1] Paul congratulated David
[2] David was congratulated by Paul Passive constructions are formed using the PASSIVE AUXILIARY be, and the main verb has an -ed inflection. Inactive constructions, there is no passive auxiliary, though other auxiliaries may occur Pauli isi congratulating David Pauli willi congratulate David Pauli hasi congratulated David All of these examples are active constructions, since they contain no passive auxiliary. Notice that in the first example (Paul is congratulating David), the auxiliary is the progressive auxiliary, not the passive auxiliary. We know this because the main verb congratulate has an -ing inflection, not an -
ed inflection. In the passive construction in [2], we refer to Paul as the AGENT. This is the one who performs the action of congratulating David. Sometimes no agent is specified David was congratulated

We refer to this as an AGENTLESS PASSIVE
5 Adjectives Adjectives can be identified using a number of formal criteria. However, we may begin by saying that they typically describe an attribute of a noun
cold weather
large windows
violent storms Some adjectives can be identified by their endings. Typical adjective endings include

-able/-ible achievable, capable, illegible, remarkable
-al
biographical, functional, internal, logical
-ful
beautiful, careful, grateful, harmful
-ic
cubic, manic, rustic, terrific
-ive
attractive, dismissive, inventive, persuasive
-less
breathless, careless, groundless, restless
-ous
courageous, dangerous, disastrous, fabulous However, a large number of very common adjectives cannot be identified in this way. They do not have typical adjectival form

bad
bright
clever
cold
common
complete
dark
deep
distant
elementary
good
great
honest
hot
main
morose
quiet
real
red
silent
simple
strange
wicked
wide


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difficult
old
young As this list shows, adjectives are formally very diverse. However, they have a number of characteristics which we can use to identify them.
5.1 Characteristics of Adjectives Adjectives can take a modifying word, such as very, extremely, or less, before them
very cold weather
extremely large windows
less violent storms Here, the modifying word locates the adjective on a scale of comparison, at a position higher or lower than the one indicated by the adjective alone. This characteristic is known as GRADABILITY. Most adjectives are gradable, though if the adjective already denotes the highest position on a scale, then it is non-gradable:
my main reason for coming my very main reason for coming the principal role in the play the very principal role in the play
As well as taking modifying words like very and extremely,adjectives also take different forms to indicate their position on a scale of comparison

big
bigger

biggest
The lowest point on the scale is known as the ABSOLUTE form, the middle point is known as the COMPARATIVE form, and the highest point is known as the SUPERLATIVE form. Here are some more examples


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