389 Grammar Terms and Examples

anaphora

"-repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive phrases clauses or sentences. ""We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France"

dependent clause

A clause in a complex sentence that cannot stand alone as a complete sentence and that functions within the sentence as a noun or adjective or adverb.

independent clause

Expresses a complete thought and can stand alone as a sentence. Has both a subject and a verb. Ex. I am studying grammar.

accusative case

For the direct object of a sentence: The accusative indicates who or what is being "verbed". This is a Latin term.

acute accent

In pronunciation, a diacritical mark (') indicatng that the letter or syllable is stressed or given a rising inflection. Ex. flambe'.

dative case

In some Indo-European languages, the case that indicates the indirect object of a verb.

adjunct

In some grammatical systems, an adverb that adds detail to the action denoted by the verb, specifying such ideas as time, place, manner, and extent.

anastrophe

Inversion of the natural or usual word order

adverbial clause

These dependent clauses tell how, when, where, and to what extent an action is performed These clauses also modify: 1) verbs 2) adjectives 3) other adverbs. An adverbial clause can modify a verb, an adverb or an adjective in the independent clause.

ablative case

[by/with/from...the large gate] the case that modifies/limits the noun by means, agent, accompaniment, manner, place, or time

comparative clause

a clause containing a comparative conjunction

copulative conjunction

a conjunction that denotes an addition, a cause, a consequence, or a supposition

cedilla

a diacritical mark (,) placed below the letter c to indicate that it is pronounced as an s. Ex. façade.

apposition

a grammar construction in which a noun (or noun phrase) is placed with another as an explanation or modification. Ex. Margaret, his mother...

case

a grammatical category for the inflection of nouns and pronouns to indicate their function in a sentence; a noun or pronoun's change in form as a result of its change in function.

adverbial objective

a noun in an adverbial position after a verbal. Ex. He works nights.

attributive adjective

an attributive adjective directly precedes the noun it modifies.

adversative

expressing contrast, antithesis, or opposition. Ex. Although we were late for the wedding, we had to stop for gas. (The adversative although shows that the dependent clause it introduces was a hindrance to the action in the independent clause.)

indefinite article

gramm. the word a or an used in English to refer to a person or thing that is not identified or specified

clausal

of, relating to, or consisting of a clause.

anadiplosis

repetition of the last word of one clause at the beginning of the following clause. "The crime was common, common be the pain."

apodosis

the main clause of an "if...then" conditional sentence, stating what should (or will) follow if the condition stated in the protasis is met. Ex. If you want to have a picnic, we'll have to go to the market.

agreement

the matching of words or word classes in terms of number, gender, and person.

definite article

the, signals a noun phrase is definite. Refers to something in the immediate context or it might refer back to an earlier noun.

qualitative adjective

Describes qualities of a noun. Ex. green grass.

demonstrative adjective

Singles out a specific noun. Ex. This jewel. That book.

nominative case

The case for a subject of a sentence.

common case

The case of a noun that retains the same form whether it functions as a subj, direct obj., indirect obj., esp., the uninflected form of a noun or pronoun, as distinct from its genitive or possessive form. In English, all nouns have the common case.

genitive case

The case used to show a thing's source. Ex. The car's exhaust.

actor

The doer of an action.

interrogative adjective

The interrogative pronoun what, which, or whose when used as a determiner to pose a question or to identify a particular noun or noun phrase. Interrogative adjective are coupled with a noun or noun phrase. An adjective that is used in front of the noun it modifies to ask the question what which, or whose. Ex. What color are the tomatoes?

Apostrophe

The mark which indicates (1) the omission of one or more letters (2) the possessive case, or (3) the plural of a letter or abbreviation.

objective case

The noun and pronoun case denoting either (1) the person or thing acted on by a verb in the active voice <the computer contains the file> or (2) the person or thing related to another element by a connective, such as a preposition <Slip the disk under the door>

possessive case

The noun and pronoun case denoting possession or ownership.

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. Ex. Joe kicked the ball.

chiasmus

A statement consisting of two parallel parts in which the second part is structurally reversed ("Susan walked in, and out rushed Mary.")

attribute

A word or phrase that functions adjectivally. An adjective.

verb

A word that expresses action, a state of being or feeling, or a relation between two things

adjective

A word that modifies a noun or pronoun. An adjective is usually placed before the noun it modifies. Ex. A blue lamp.

adverb

A word that modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. Ex. She wrote quickly. Ex. A very kind gesture. Ex. She said quite thoughtfully.

absolute (noun)

A word that ordinarily functions as a sentence in itself, or as the nucleus of a sentence, but not as a component within a clause. Examples: <ouch>, <hello>, <yes>

archaism

A word, expression, spelling, or phrase that is out of date in the common speech of an era, but still deliberately used by a writer, poet, or playwright for artistic purposes

uncomparable adjective

Ad adj. that defines a state or condition that cannot be intensified or diminished because it is absolute. Ex. unique, unanimous.

coordinate adjective

Adjectives that appear in a sentence with another one to modify the same noun (bright, sunny day)

attributive adjective

Adjectives that precede the noun they qualify or modify such as "The blue ball."

conjunctive adverb

Adverbs that signal a transition between complete ideas. They usually show comparison, contrast, cause-effect, sequence, or other relationships and usually occur between independent clauses or complete sentences. Use the mnemonic "FANS ITCH IN BOAT" to remember these: Furthermore, Accordingly, Nevertheless, Subsequently, Indeed, Therefore, Consequently, Hence, Incidentally, Next, Besides, Otherwise, Also, Thus. (Note: When a conjunctive adverb connects two independent clauses in one sentence, it is preceded by a semicolon and followed by a comma. If a conjunctive adverb is used in any other way in a sentence, it is contained by commas.) Not to be confused with coordinating conjunctions. Ex. I don't know when the concert is supposed to begin. "When" qualifies the verb phrase "is supposed to begin."

structural ambiguity

Ambiguity that results from different possible analyses of grammatical structure. Ex. She can't bear children.

modification ambiguity

Ambiguity that results when a modifier can be interpreted as describing more than one part of a sentence. Ex. We looked at the huge president's portrait.

aposiopesis

An abrupt breaking off in the middle of a sentence without the completion of the idea, often under the stress of emotion.

quantitative adjective

An adj. that defines the quantity or order or a noun. Ex. First Amendment.

relative adjective

An adj. that has the form of a relative pronoun but that qualifies a noun and introduces a relative clause; specif., an adjective introducing an adjectival clause or a noun clause <without checking who was at the door>, <He knew which way to go.>

compound adjective

An adjective made up of two or more conjoined words. Ex. bedridden, hardscrabble

possessive adjective

An adjective that denotes ownership or possession and modifies a noun or noun phrase. Possessive adjectives cannot stand alone. Ex. It's my car. Ex.

predicate adjective

An adjective that follows a linking verb and describes the subject of a sentence. Not followed by noun; includes forms of taste, look, feel, smell, appear, seem, and being; example: I look TIRED, but I feel FINE. Ex. Vanya seems happy.

irregular adjective

An adjective that has comparative and superlative forms that are not formed by the normal rules. Ex. good, better, best, bad, worse, worst.

proper adjective

An adjective that is derived from a proper noun and begins with a capital letter. Ex. American history.

definitive adjective

An adjective that limits a noun by specifying "which one" or "how many". Limits or defines; telling which one? or how many?

consequential adverb

An adverb denoting inference, conclusion, or result.

numeric adverb

An adverb indicating number or position. Ex. He played first.

flat adverb

An adverb that has the same form as its corresponding adjective. Ex. hard, fast,

locative adverb

An adverb that indicates place or direction.

sentence adverb

An adverb that modifies an entire independent clause, often connecting a sentence with the preceding one. Ex. Fortunately, Ex. Moreover.

grammatical ambiguity

An ambiguity that results when a noun or noun phrase can be interpreted as having more than one grammatical role. Ex. The lamb is ready to eat.

lexical ambiguity

An ambiguity that results when a word has more than one plausible meaning in a sentence.

grouping ambiguity

An ambiguity that results when adjacent words can be grouped in different ways to impart different meanings. Ex. We decided on the airplane.

indefinite adjective

An indefinite pronoun used attributively for an indefinite number or quality of persons or things. Ex. many years, another day, any college.

elliptical clause

An instance in which clause elements are omitted if the context makes clear what is being indicated. ex. Jessica had three dollars; Janie, one.

oblique case

Any case of a noun or pronoun other than the common case or the nominative case.

zero article

Refers to noun phrases that contain no articles, definite or indefinite. English, like many other languages, does not require an article in plural noun phrases with a generic reference, reference to a general class of things. Ex. The salespeople refolded shirts that shoppers had tried on.

appellative

Relating to/denoting the giving of a name (appelleo). A common noun, such as "doctor," "mother," or "sir," used as a vocative.

antanaclasis

Repetition of a word in two different senses. "Your argument is sound, nothing but sound."

additive conjunction

A conjunction that joins two coordinate phrases or clauses. ; esp., one that states an additional fact related to the first clause. Ex. She is an excellent swimmer; moreover, she knows CPR.

Anacoluthon

A construction in which grammatical cohesion is lacking in a sentence, characterized by a change from one grammatical form to another. Ex. He was warned that he had to shape up or what could he expect to happen?

nominal clause

A dependent clause that functions as a noun or noun phrase normally functions.

adjectival clause

A dependent clause used as an adjective within a sentence. Also known as an adjectival clause or a relative clause. Ex. She was delighted with the letter that informed her of her admission to college. Ex. The evening when we arrived was eerily foggy.

circumflex

A diacritical mark (^) used over a vowel in french to show that a following s was elided.

grave accent

A diacritical mark (`) used in spelling words of some languages, as in French père 'father,' and to indicate secondary stress, as in óperàte

accent

A diacritical mark (commonly ') used in writing to show how a syllable should be stressed in pronunciation. (emphasize; stress)

aspect

A feature of a verb marked by an auxiliary form , changes in an internal vowel, or the addition or subtraction of an affix to express the duration and type of activity that a verb denotes.

absolute form

A form of possessive pronoun that stands alone without a noun Ex. Mine is on the right. Ex. The book is hers.

antecedent

A noun or noun phrase to which a personal pronoun, a relative pronoun, or a pointing word refers. The antecedent must agree in number with the referring word. In "Although Alan left on time, he arrived late," Alan is the antecedent with which the pronoun he agrees.

appositive

A phrase set off from the rest of the sentence with commas and further explains a specific noun - example: Teresa, my sister, lives in Texas. (my sister).

phrasal adjective

A phrase that functions as a unit to modify a noun. With rare exceptions, phrasal adjective are hyphenated. Ex. high-school cheerleader, the no-service-can-be-declined policy.

pronomial adjective

A pronoun--other than a personal pronoun, who, or none--that modifies a noun <my> <your> <his><her>. For example, in "his choice', the pronoun his functions as an adjective and identifies who has the choice.

relative clause

A relative clause is introduced by a *relative pronoun*, which agrees with its antecedent in *gender* and *number*, but varies in *case* depending upon its use in its own clause. Modifies a noun/antecedent. Introduced by a relative pronoun such as which, who, whose or that.

reduced relative clause

A relative clause that has lost either a relative pronoun plus a be verb or an object relative pronoun .For example, 'The defendant that was examined by the lawyer ...', and the reduced form would simply be the same but with 'that was' eliminated.

clause

A sentence part that contains a subject and a verb. While a clause has two essential elements (subject and predicate), a phrase consists of a group of two or more words not containing both of those elements.

embedded clause

A sentence that changes into a relative clause when combined with another sentence.

simple adverb

A single word adverb that qualifies a single part of speech. Ex. hardly visible.

coordinate clauses

Clauses of equal rank. One of two or more clauses in a sentence that are of equal importance and usually joined by and, or, or but.

nonrestrictive relative clause

Contains information that is not essential to the meaning of a sentence. Begins with "which," "who," or whose." Ex. My aunt, who published a book recently, will be lecturing tonight.

descriptive adjective

Modify nouns or pronouns by describing their characteristics or qualities. Ex, positive outlook. Ex. hard soil.

abstract noun

Names an idea, a feeling, a quality, or a characteristic.

absolute construction

Not grammatically connected to the rest of the sentence; A phrase grammatically independent of the rest of the sentence. Ex. {To be honest}, I didn't like the cake much.

adverbial

Of, relating to, or functioning as an adverb.

adjectival

Of, relating to, or having the import of an adjective.

affix

One or more letter s or syllables attached to the beginning or end of a word, or inserted within a word, to modify the word's meaning.

objective case

Pronouns used as a direct or indirect object, or as the object of a preposition are in the objective case (Me, you, him/her/it, us, you, them)

distributive adjective

Qualifies a noun as one in a group, e.g. Every pupil, each child, neither player.

cataphora

Reference to something that comes later in a sentence or in a text.