Grammar Vocabulary

Irregular Verb

does not end with -ed to form the past participle; examples; (is, are, am / was / were) ; (has, have / had / had) ; (do, does / did / done) ; ate, grown, bought, sold, spent, taken, etc.

Intransitive Verb

includes all linking verbs and any action verbs that do not take an object; example: My friends CRIED.

Subject Complement

is a word or group of words that follows a linking verb and renames or describes the subject.

Noun

a word that can serve as the subject or object of a verb

Headword

a word that is qualified by a modifier

Verb

a word that serves as the predicate of a sentence

Subject-Verb Agreement

agreement in number between a subject and a verb. If the subject is singular, the verb is singular. If the subject is plural, the verb is plural. Ex. Harriet runs very fast. Susie and Harriet run very fast. Sing / sing plural/plural

Phrase

an expression whose meanings cannot be inferred from the meanings of the words that make it up

Article

(grammar) a determiner that may indicate the specificity of reference of a noun phrase

Clause

(grammar) an expression including a subject and predicate but not constituting a complete sentence

Negative Sentence

A sentence in which the action (verb) is NOT taking place. NOT= NE(verb)PAS

Adverbial Clause

A subordinate clause that modifies a verb, adj., or adv.-----Tells how, how much, when, where, why, to what extent, or under what conditions. (She practices AS THOUGH HER LIFE DEPENDED ON IT. [how she practices])

Linking Verb

A verb that does not show action but connects the subject with a word in the predicate.

Superlative Degree

The degree of an adjective or an adverb that is used in the comparison of three or more persons or things.

Comparative Degree

The degree of an adjective or an adverb that is used to compare two persons or things.

Subject

The main noun within a sentence, the focus of the sentence.

Form Classes

The parts of speech or categories of words that work the same way in any sentence, such as nouns, verbs, and adjectives

Object Complement

This is an adjective or noun that follows and modifies a direct object.

Inflection

a change in the form of a word (usually by adding a suffix) to indicate a change in its grammatical function

Independent Clause

a clause in a complex sentence that can stand alone as a complete sentence

Main Clause

a clause in a complex sentence that can stand alone as a complete sentence (contains overarching subject if there are more than one clause)

Qualifier

a content word that qualifies the meaning of a noun or verb

Infinitive

a form of a verb that generally appears with the word 'to' and acts as a noun, adjective, or adverb

Preposition

a function word that combines with a noun or pronoun or noun phrase to form a prepositional phrase that can have an adverbial or adjectival relation to some other word

Pronoun

a function word that is used in place of a noun or noun phrase

Prepositional Phrase

a group of words beginning with a preposition and ending with a noun or pronoun

Reflexive Pronoun

a personal pronoun compounded with -self to show the agent's action affects the agent

Noun Phrase

a phrase that can function as the subject or object of a verb

Reciprocal Pronoun

a pronoun or pronominal phrase (as 'each other') that expresses a mutual action or relationship between the individuals indicated in the plural subject

Possessive Case

a pronoun showing ownership

Demonstrative Pronoun

a pronoun that points out an intended referent

Sentence Fragment

a sentence missing a subject or verb or complete thought

Interrogative Sentence

a sentence of inquiry that asks for a reply

Transitive Verb

a verb (or verb construction) that requires an object in order to be grammatical

Past Tense

a verb tense that expresses actions or states in the past

Adverbial

a word or group of words function as an adverb

Adjectival

of or relating to or functioning as an adjective

Determiner

one of a limited class of noun modifiers that determine the referents of noun phrases

Predicate

one of the two main constituents of a sentence

Verb Phrase

one of the two main constituents of a sentence, i.e. the verb and its complements

Indefinite Pronoun

refers to a person, place, thing, or idea that may or may not be specifically named

Personal Pronoun

takes the place of a noun or nouns; they show number and gender; example: singular: I, me, my, mine, you, your, yours, he, him, his, she, her, hers, it, its / plural: we, us, our, ours, you, your, yours, they, them, their, theirs

Objective Case

the category of nouns serving as the direct object of a verb

Plural

the form of a word that is used to denote more than one

Verb Expansion Rule

the formula that describes our system for expanding the verb with auxiliaries to express variations in meaning: T (M) (have + -en) (be + -ing) MV

Indirect Object

the object that is the recipient or beneficiary of the action of the verb

Active Voice

the voice used to indicate that the grammatical subject of the verb is performing the action or causing the happening denoted by the verb

Passive Voice

the voice used to indicate that the grammatical subject of the verb is the recipient (not the source) of the action denoted by the verb

Adjective

the word class that qualifies nouns, or adds description

Adverb

the word class that qualifies verbs or clauses