preposition a word usually placed in front of a noun or pronoun to show
the relation between it and another noun or pronoun, e.g. the cat sat on the
mat; I’ve shown them to him; the door’s opposite the bus stop, you just go
through it.
pronoun a word that stands for (‘pro’) a noun:
demonstrative pronouns stand for particular people or things that are
‘pointed to’, e.g. this/that [i.e. ‘this one/that one’] is a dandelion; these/those
are filthy;
interrogative pronouns stand for people or things about which a question
is being asked, e.g. what are you doing? which of them did best? who won?
who(m) did you vote for?;
personal pronouns usually stand for people, e.g. she lost her mobile; they
are happy; we phoned them; you gave us a fright;
possessive pronouns stand for things mentioned as belonging to someone,
e.g. this tuna sandwich is mine [i.e. ‘my one’]; those are yours/hers/theirs, etc.;
reciprocal pronouns stand for two or more people or things which
reciprocate an action, e.g. they like each other/one another; we all gave each
other/one another birthday presents;
reflexive pronouns stand for people or things that are both the subject
and the object of the verb, e.g. you’re wearing yourselves out; the
dog’ll scratch itself; the computer switched itself off; she bought herself
something nice;
relative pronouns usually stand for people or things already mentioned,
e.g. the idiot who conceded the penalty; the DVDs which/that were on the
table; the one politician whom everyone trusts.subject the noun or pronoun that performs the action of the verb, e.g. Mick
sang solo; the grass is green; you have grown; they say it will be easy; the
allegation was denied; he was tripped over.
tense the form of a verb that corresponds to a particular segment of time,
e.g. I eat [present]; I shall eat [future]; I have eaten [present perfect]; I ate
[simple past]; I was eating [past progressive]; I had eaten [past perfect].
Active
Jim clapped Tony [object] on the
back.
She alone dismissed the idea
[object].
They sell wild mushrooms [object]
here.Passive
Tony [subject] was clapped on the back
by Jim.
The idea [subject] was dismissed by her
alone.
Wild mushrooms [subject] are sold here
(by them).Glossary 189