English Grammar Mastery: Nouns, Adjectives, and Syntax

Common Abstract Nouns and Their Formations

• Sad → Sadness
• Happy → Happiness
• Amused (divertido) → Amusement (diversión)
• Scared → Fear
• Ashamed → Shame
• Afraid → Fear
• Believe → Belief
• Dead → Death
• Hate → Hatred
• Lose → Loss
• Poor → Poverty
• Fuerza → Might, Force, Strength, or Power

Nouns for Life Stages and Relationships

• Adult → Adulthood
• Child → Childhood
• Neighbour → Neighbourhood
• Friend → Friendship
• Partner → Partnership
• Member → Membership
• Relation → Relationship

Other Common Abstract Formations

• Bored → Boredom
• Free → Freedom
• Wise → Wisdom
• Ill → Illness
• Kind → Kindness
• Celebrate → Celebration
• Compete → Competition
• Imagine → Imagination

Descriptive Adjectives for Literature and Media

• Depressing: deprimente
• Entertaining: entretenido
• Fast-moving: movimiento rápido
• Gripping: fascinante o apasionante
• Haunting: inolvidable, obsesionante, agobiante, o persistente
• Heavy-going: pesado
• Implausible: poco convincente
• Intriguing: intrigante
• Moving: emotivo
• Thought-provoking: que hace pensar

Key Linguistic Terminology

• An Idiom (noun): A group of words whose meaning is different from the meanings of the individual words.
• Collocation (noun): A frequent combination of words in a language. Often, they are the only possible combination to express a concept.
• Register (noun): The style of written or spoken language that is appropriate to the situation (formal, informal, or neutral).
• A Phrasal Verb (noun): A verb combined with an adverb or preposition, or sometimes both, to create a new meaning.
• Slang (noun): Very informal words and expressions that are more common in spoken language, especially used by a particular group of people.
• Colloquial (adj.): Words and phrases used in conversation or writing to friends but not in formal speech or writing.
• Synonym (noun): A word or expression that has the same or nearly the same meaning as another.
• Metaphor (noun): A word or phrase not used literally, but used to describe something in a more graphic way to make the description more powerful.

Verb Patterns: Infinitives and Gerunds

Infinitive with "to"

Used with: recommend, advise, wait, persuade, agree, refuse, promise, offer, teach, plan. Also used after adjectives, for purpose, and with "wh-" words.

Infinitive without "to" (or with Object + To)

Used with: let, ask, convince, encourage, invite, persuade, advise, remind, warn, tell.

Gerunds (-ing)

Used with: keep, mind, admit, apologize, accuse, blame, deny, tolerate, practice, despise. Used after prepositions, or as a subject or an object.

Verbs Using Both

Remember, forget, try, regret, and help.

Advanced Grammar Structures

Pronouns

you, one, we, they (their), yourself, myself, themselves, ourselves, by myself, one another, each other.

Inversion for Emphasis

not only… but, not until, never have I heard, no sooner had.

Speculation and Deduction

must be, can be, may, might, could be, should, he’s bound to, likely to, probably, and definitely.

Distancing Techniques

• Seem/Appear: It seems/appears, there seems to be/appears to be.
• Passive Reporting: It is said, it has been announced, is expected to resign, are understood to have been living.
• Adverbs and Modals: apparently, according to, may, might.

Essential Sentence Connectors

however, in spite of, nevertheless, somehow, to sum up, despite, although, even though, on one hand, on the other hand, because, since, because of, in order to, consequently, as a result, for example.