Grammar Terms

Clause

A group of words having a subject and verb.

Phrase

A group of words having a subject or verb but not both., A group of related words that is used as a single part of speech and that does not contain both a verb and its subject

subject

who or what the sentence is about. The subject must be a noun or pronoun.

to be or state of being verbs

am is, are, was, were, be, being, been

indirect object

A noun or pronoun that answers the question to whom or for whom of the action verb and direct object. It is a complement. In the syntax of the sentence the indirect object will ALWAYS come before the direct object. The indirect object always is a noun or pronoun. You don't have to have an indirect object with a direct object. To find the indirect object, you will indentify an action verb and ask it what, if there is no answer you will ask it whom, the answer will be your direct object. You then ask the action verb and direct object to whom, for whom, and the answer will be the indirect object. Even though the indirect comes before the direct in the syntax of the sentence, you must find the direct object first.

conjunction

A word used to join words or groups of words. Remember: Conjunctions don't have to be in the middle of the sentence, sometimes they are at the beginning.

intransitive verb

A verb (or verb construction) that does not take an object. All linking verbs are intransitive, and if the action verb does not take an object it is also intransitive.

Complement

A word or words that complete the meaning of the verb or subject: direct object, indirect object, objective complement, predicate adjective, predicate nominative

adjective

A word that describes a noun or pronoun. An adjective answers the questions: which one, what kind, how many, and how much. It does not have to be side by side with a noun, it can follow the verb.

interjection

A word that expresses emotion

preposition

A word used to show the relationship of a noun or pronoun to some other word in the sentence. Examples: in, under, near, behind, to, from, over. Remember: the prepositional phrase is, most of the time, moveable, it can't have a subject, verb, or complement in it, and must begin with a preposition and end with a noun or pronoun(called the object of the preposition).

Five indefinite pronouns that can be singular or plural

All, any much none, some---These pronouns can be singular or plural depending on the context of the sentence.

Transitive verb

An action verb that takes an object.

Objective Complement

An adjective or noun that appears with a direct object and describes or renames it. It is a complement. It completes the meaning of the direct object and usually comes directly after the direct object in the syntax of the sentence.

Interrogative pronoun

Begin sentences that ask questions--they are:who, whom, whose, which, and what.

Five plural indefinite pronouns

Both, few, several. many, others---These plural pronouns always take a plural verb

verb

Expresses action or state of being

Four types of Sentences

Imperative-Gives a command. Usually starts with a verb and has an understood You as it's subject. Exclamatory-Shows excitment. Ends with an exclamation mark. Interrogatory-Asks a question. Usually begins with one of the (w) words, when, where, why, who. (it can also begin with other words)Declarative- Makes a statement.

Dependent clause

It has a subject and verb but no complete thought. It is dependent on the complete thought to make if complete.

Independent clause

It has a subject, verb, and complete thought. It is the same as a simple sentence. It can stand along.

An infinitive

It is a verbal. It is a verb proceeded by to and acts like or functions as a noun, adjective, or adverb.

Participle

It is a verbal. It is a verb with either ing or ed added to it, and it acts like or functions as an adjective.

Gerund

It is a verbal. It is a verb with ing added to it, and it acts like or functions as a noun.

adverb

Modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. Adverbs answer the questions:when, where, why, how, and to what degree. Most ly words are adverbs

noun

Person, Place, Thing, or Idea; it can be used as the subject, direct object, objective complement, object of the preposition, and predicate nominative. Test to find a noun: If you can put a, an, or the in front of it, and it make sense, it's a noun(does not work with proper nouns)

pronoun

Takes the place of a noun. This part of speech can function in almost every way a noun does. It can be your subject, direct object, indirect object, object of the preposition, and predicate nominative

direct object

The object that receives the direct action of the verb.It is a complement. It will ALWAYS follow an action verb, never a linking. The direct object must be a noun or pronoun. It will answer the question what or whom of the action verb. Ask what first, if there is no answer, ask whom.

Conjugation

The process of taking a verb through its tenses

Three cases of personal pronouns

The three cases of personal pronouns are: Nominative Case- These personal pronouns can be your subject, predicate nominative, and the subject of a dependent clause. Objective Case-These personal pronouns can be a direct object, indirect object, object of the preposition, or the objective complement. Possessive Case- These personal pronouns show ownership, and can function as adjectives.

Antecedent

The word for which the pronoun stands. Ex: John left his shoes in the car. His is the pronoun, and John is the word to which his refers.

Sentence Patterns

These patterns reflect the syntax of the sentence. They are: SAV, SAVDO, SAVIODO, SAVDOOC,SLVPA, SLVPN

Indefinite pronoun

a pronoun that does not refer to a specific, person, place, thing, or idea; examples: everyone, everything, everybody, anybody, many, most, few, each, some, someone, all, nothing, nobody, and no one. Many of the indefinite pronouns sound plural but they are singular

complex sentence

a sentence with one independent clause and at least one dependent clause

Verbal

a verb form used as a noun, adjective, or adverb. The verbals are: the infinitive, gerund, and participle.

Relative pronoun

a word that begins a subordinate clause and relates it to another idea in the sentence: who, whom, whose, which and that.

compound complex sentence

contains two or more independent clauses and at least one dependent clause.

demonstrative adjective

demonstrative adjectives point out specific nouns. they are: this, that, these, those. example: These curtains are so old.

demonstrative pronoun

pronouns that point out specific things. the demonstrative pronouns are: this, that, these those. example: These are the oldest curtains in the house.

Syntax

the arrangement of words and the order of grammatical elements in a sentence; word order.

compound sentence

two independent clauses combined with a conjunction