Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s Dictionary

A combining form is a word which is joined with another word, usually with a hyphen, to form compounds.

CONJ

A conjunction usually links elements of the same grammatical type, such as two words or two clauses.

CONVENTION

A convention is a word or a fixed phrase which is used in conversation, for example when greeting someone, apologizing, or replying.

DET

A determiner is a word that is used at the beginning of a noun group, e.g. a tray, more time, some books, this amount . It can also be used to say who or what something belongs or relates to, e.g. his face, my flat, or to begin a question, e.g. Whose car were they in?

EXCLAM

An exclamation is a word or phrase which is spoken suddenly, loudly, or emphatically in order to express a strong emotion such as shock or anger. Exclamations are often followed by exclamation marks.

FRACTION

A fraction is used in numbers, e.g. three and a half, two and two thirds; before of and a noun group, e.g. half of the money, a third of the biscuits, three eighths of the pie; after in or into , e.g. in half, into thirds . A fraction is also used like a count noun, e.g. two halves, the first quarter of the year .

MODAL

A modal is used before the infinitive form of a verb, e.g. You may go . In questions, it comes before the subject, e.g. Must you speak? In negatives, it comes before the negative word, e.g. They would not like this . It does not inflect, for example, it does not take an -s in the third person singular, e.g. She can swim .

N-COUNT

A count noun has a plural form, usually made by adding -s . When it is singular, it usually has a determiner in front of it, such as the, her, or such .

N-PLURAL

A plural noun is always plural, and is used with plural verbs. If a pronoun is used to stand for the noun, it is a plural pronoun such as they or them , e.g. These clothes are ready to wear . Plural nouns which end in -s usually lose the -s when they come in front of another noun, e.g. trousers, trouser pocket. If they refer to a single object which has two main parts, such as jeans and glasses , the expression a pair of is sometimes used, e.g. a pair of jeans . This is shown as N-PLURAL [oft a pair of N ].

N-PROPER

A proper noun refers to one person, place, thing, or institution, and begins with a capital letter. Many proper nouns are used without a determiner, e.g. … higher education in America … Father Christmas ; some must be used with the .

N-PROPER-PLURAL

A plural proper noun is a proper noun which is always used in the plural with a plural verb.

N-SING

A singular noun is always singular, and needs a determiner.

N-TITLE

A title noun is used to refer to someone who has a particular role or position. Titles come before the name of the person and begin with a capital letter.

N-UNCOUNT

An uncount noun refers to things that are not normally counted or considered to be individual items. Uncount nouns do not have a plural form, and are used with a singular verb. They do not need determiners.

N-VAR

A variable noun typically combines the behaviour of both count and uncount nouns in the same sense. The singular form occurs freely both with and without determiners. Variable nouns also have a plural form, usually made by adding -s . Some variable nouns when used like uncount nouns refer to abstract things like hardship and injustice , and when used like count nouns refer to individual examples or instances of that thing, e.g. He is not afraid to protest against injustice. … It is never too late to correct an injustice . Others refer to objects which can be mentioned either individually or generally, like potato and salad : you can talk about a potato, potatoes , or potato .

NUM

A number is a word such as three and hundred . Numbers such as one, two, three are used like determiners, e.g. three bears; like adjectives, e.g. the four horsemen; like pronouns, e.g. She has three cases and I have two; and like quantifiers, e.g. Six of the boys stayed behind . Numbers such as hundred, thousand, million always follow a determiner or another number, e.g. two hundred people .

ORD