| am |
a form of the verb "be" that is present tense and used with the pronoun "I." |
| an |
another word for a. It is used before words that start with a, e, i, o, or u, or before words that begin with vowel sounds. |
| auxiliary verb |
a verb used with a main verb to complete the main verb's meaning. Some examples of auxiliary verbs are "have" in "I have escaped" and "should" in "You should go." |
| complex sentence |
a sentence made of a main or independent clause and one or more dependent or subordinate clauses. An example of a complex sentence is, "I went to the theater, which was very crowded with people." |
| grammar |
the rules for forming the words and sentences of a language. Some of these rules have to be learned. Other rules are already in the head of a native speaker. For example, a native English speaker would not say, "I a cat bitten by was," because the grammar does not make sense. When one learns a new language, most of the rules of its grammar have to be learned. [1/2 definitions] |
| I'd |
shortened form of "I would" or "I had." |
| if |
I really wish that. [1/5 definitions] |
| I'll |
shortened form of "I will." |
| I'm |
shortened form of "I am." |
| indirect object |
the part of a sentence that indicates a person or thing that is indirectly affected by the action of the verb. In the sentence, "I made him some tea," "him" is the indirect object. |
| infinitive |
the simple form of a verb that has no subject and does not show past, present or future tense. It is usually formed by the word "to" followed by the base form of a verb. In the sentence, "I want to leave now," "to leave" is an infinitive. |
| intransitive verb |
a verb that is not followed by a direct object. In the sentence, "I ran for an hour," "ran" is an intransitive verb. |
| iodine |
a substance that is one of the chemical elements. Iodine combines easily with other elements. It is found in salt water and seaweed. Iodine is poisonous in its pure crystal form. (symbol: I) [1/2 definitions] |
| I've |
shortened form of "I have." |
| linking verb |
a verb that connects a subject to the words that tell about the subject. In the sentence, "I was very tired," "was" is a linking verb. |
| me |
the form of "I" that is used as the object of a verb or preposition. |
| myself |
used to emphasize "me" or "I." [1/3 definitions] |
| object |
a noun or noun phrase that receives the action of a verb in a sentence. In the sentence, "I forgot my bag," the noun "bag" is the object. [1/7 definitions] |
| one |
the word for the Arabic numeral 1 and by the Roman numeral I. [1/8 definitions] |
| past participle |
a participle that either indicates a completed action or past state, such as "broken" in "I have broken my arm," or serves as an adjective, as "broken" in "a broken toy." |
| person |
one of three groups of personal pronouns that show who the subject of the verb is. The first person, ("I" or "we") is used for the person who speaks or writes. The second person, ("you") is used for the person who reads or listens. The third person ("he," "she," "it," or "they") is used for the person or thing the speaker is talking about. [1/3 definitions] |