304 GlossaryPassive clause. Prototypically, a clause with auxiliary be followed by a past
participle followed optionally by by + NP, and having an active counterpart:
The record was broken by Lance (compare active Lance broke the record).
Past participial. A clause with a past participle as head verb: a letter written by my
aunt; Elvis has left the building.
Past participle. Verb form used in the perfect (She has gone) and passive (It was
cancelled).
Past tense. Tense primarily indicating past time: wrote (preterite); have written
(perfect).
Perfect (tense). A past tense formed by means of the auxiliary have, normally fol
lowed by a past participle: She has gone home; They may have seen you.
Perfective interpretation. An interpretation of a clause describing a situation
considered as a whole without reference to its temporal structure: Kim wrote a
letter.
Person. The grammatical system classifying primarily a subset of pronouns (and
then derivatively NPs) in terms of the roles of speaker and addressee. 1st per
son I and we normally indicate reference to (a group containing) the speaker;
2nd person you normally indicates reference to (a group containing) the
addressee but not the speaker. 3rd person is the default category with no indica
tion of reference to either.
Personal pronoun. The subclass of pronoun to which the system of person
applies: I and we are 1st person, you is 2nd person, he, she, it, etc. are 3rd
person.
Personal vs non-personal. A gender system applying primarily to interrogative
and relative pronouns, contrasting e.g. personal who (for persons and sometimes
certain animals) vs non-personal what. Who is that? asks about a person; What is
that? asks about something else.
Plain case. A non-genitive case that is neither accusative nor nominative: you, cat,
cats, etc.
Plain form. Verb-form identical with the lexical base that is not a present tense;
used in imperatives (Stop), subjunctives (It's vital that he stop), and infinitivals
(I tried to stop; Yo u must stop).
Plain present. Present tense form of the verb identical with its lexical base and nor
mally used with subjects that are either plural or 1 st or 2nd person: [ like it; you
do too.
Polarity. The system contrasting positive and negative: I'm ready has positive
polarity, while I'm not ready has negative polarity.
Positive clause. Non-negative clause: She is here (contrasts with negative She isn 't
here).
Predicand. What a predicative complement or adjunct relates to (usually an NP):
Sue seems capable; [ consider Sue capable (Sue is the one who is thought
capable).
Predicate. The head of a clause, a function filled by a verb phrase: We washed
the car.