Glossary 189 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  fi lthy; 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; re fl exive 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  o ff ; 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 Passive Jim  clapped  Tony [object] on the back. She alone  dismissed  the idea [object]. They  sell  wild mushrooms [object] here. 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).