Grammatical/Structure/Syntax

What is a Clause?

group of words which contains a subject and a predicate. may either be a sentence (independent) or a sentence-like construction within another sentence (dependent/subordinate) standing on own is a "root", "matrix" or "main clause"

What is morphemic knowledge?

knowledge of morphemes, morphemic processes and the different forms and combinations of morphemes (for example, the word 'unfriendly' is formed from the stem 'friend', the adjective-forming suffix '-ly' and the negative prefix 'un-')

What is the Subject?

part of sentence/clause, commonly indicating a) what it is about, or b) who/what performs the action - the agent

Adverbs are

part of speech (or word class) that is primarily used to modify a verb, adjective, or other adverb. Adverbs can also modify prepositional phrases, subordinate clauses, and complete sentences.

Metalanguage

vocabulary used to discuss language conventions and use ( for example, language used to talk about grammatical terms such as 'sentence', 'clause', 'conjunction')

Relative Pronouns are

which, that, who, whom, and whose. Who and whom refer only to people. Which refers to things, qualities, and ideas--never to people. That and whose refer to people, things, qualities, and ideas.

Difference between Declarative and Interrogative sentence?

In a declarative sentence, the subject usually appears before the verb ("Gus never smiles"). In an interrogative sentence, the subject usually follows the first part of a verb ("Does Gus ever smile?").

Affixes are

A prefix, suffix, or infix: a word element (or morpheme) that can be attached to a base or root to form a new word.

Interrupting Phrase

A word group (a statement, question, or exclamation) that interrupts the flow of a sentence and is usually set off by commas, dashes, or parentheses. e.g. She keeps trying--what else is there to do?--and Stimpson goes back on

Define "noun phrase"

A word group with a noun or pronoun as its head.

What is a Complement?

A word or word group that completes the predicate in a sentence. The two kinds of complements are subject complements (which follow the verb be and other linking verbs) and object complements (which follow a direct object). If it identifies the subject, the complement is a noun or pronoun; if it describes the subject, the complement is an adjective.

Difference between Regular and Irregular Verb

Regular : A verb that forms its past tense and past participle by adding -d or -ed (or in some cases -t) to the base form. Irregular: Verbs in English are irregular if they don't have a conventional -ed ending (like asked or ended) in the past tense and/or past participle forms.

Verb

The part of speech (or word class) that describes an action or occurrence or indicates a state of being. Verbs and verb phrases usually function as predicates. They can display differences in tense, mood, aspect, number, person, and voice.

What is an embedded clause?

a clause inside a root/matrix clause - clause within clause e.g [Peter said [that Danny danced]] [Bill wants [Susan to leave]]. A sentence can . . . be expanded by embedding. e.g My brother opened the window. The maid had closed it. [ My brother opened the window the maid had closed. ]

Interjections are

short utterance that usually expresses emotion and is capable of standing alone. "Oh!", "Wow!", "MMM!"

2 types of "Voices"

Active - a type of sentence or clause in which the subject performs or causes the action expressed by the verb. Passive - a type of sentence or clause in which the subject receives the action of the verb. Example: "A good time was had by all."

Difference between direct and indirect object?

Direct - identifies what or who receives the action of a transitive verb. Indirect - A noun or pronoun that indicates to whom or for whom the action of a verb in a sentence is performed.

What is a Predicate?

In both grammar and logic, the predicate serves to make an assertion or denial about the subject of the sentence

3 Types of Mood

In grammar, the quality of a verb that conveys the writer's attitude toward a subject. There are three major moods in English: (1) the indicative mood is used to make factual statements or pose questions, (2) the imperative mood to express a request or command, and (3) the (rarely used) subjunctive mood to show a wish, doubt, or anything else contrary to fact.

What is a Preposition?

A preposition links nouns, pronouns and phrases to other words in a sentence. The word or phrase that the preposition introduces is called the object of the preposition. A preposition usually indicates the temporal, spatial or logical relationship of its object to the rest of the sentence

Intensifiers are

A word that emphasizes another word or phrase. Also known as a booster. "I am SO angry" "This is SLIGHTLY ok" "I am TOTALLY correct" "She is VERY sensitive"

3 Types of Cases

Possessive : showing ownership, measurement, or source Objective: The objective (or accusative) forms of English pronouns are me, us, you, him, her, it, them, whom and whomever. (Note that you and it have the same forms in the subjective case.) The objective case is also known as the accusative case. "I will not hide the teacher's Prozac." "The winner's edge is all in the attitude, not aptitude." "To know her was to love her." "Please don't eat me. I have a wife and kids. Eat them." Subjective: subjective (or nominative) forms of English pronouns are I, you, he, she, it, we, they, who and whoever. (Note that you and it have the same forms in the objective case.) The subjective case is also known as the nominative case. "We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty." "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?"

Definition of Sentence, and Sentence Patterns

The largest independent unit of grammar: it begins with a capital letter and ends with a period, question mark, or exclamation point. NOTE: Because nouns can fill so many positions in a sentence, it's easier to analyze sentence patterns if you find the verbs and find the connectors Pattern 1: Simple Sentence One independent clause (SV.) "I refuse." Pattern 2: Compound Sentence Two or more independent clauses. They can be arranged in these ways: (SV, and SV.) or (SV; however, SV.) Pattern 3: Complex Sentence One independent clause PLUS one or more dependent clauses. They can be arranged in these ways: (SV because SV.) or (Because SV, SV.) or (S, because SV, V.) Pattern 4: Compound-Complex Sentence Two or more independent clauses PLUS one or more dependent clauses. They can be arranged in these ways: (SV, and SV because SV.) or (Because SV, SV, but SV.)

Adjectives are

The part of speech (or word class) that modifies a noun or a pronoun. can be Comparative (more or less, greater or lesser.), Superlative (most/least)

Conjunctions are

The part of speech (or word class) that serves to connect words, phrases, clauses, or sentences. The common conjunctions--and, but, for, or, nor, yet, and so--join the elements of a coordinate structure. coordinating conjunction when you want to give equal emphasis to two main clauses Subordination, however, emphasizes the idea in the main clause more than the one in the subordinate clause.

What is recursion?

The repeated sequential use of a particular type of linguistic element or grammatical structure; more simply as the ability to place one component inside another component of the same kind.

What is a Modal?

an area of meaning having to do with possibility, probability, obligation and permission. e.g can, could, may, might, must, ought, shall, should, will, and would. Other verbs--including need, had better and invariant be--may also function as modals (or semi-modals). In the following examples, the modal meanings are expressed by the auxiliary verbs 'must' and 'may': 'Sue may have written the note' (possibility) 'Sue must have written the note' (probability) 'You must postpone the meeting' (obligation) 'You may postpone the meeting' (permission) Modality can also be expressed by several different kinds of words: adverbs (for example, 'possibly', 'necessarily', 'certainly', 'perhaps') adjectives (for example, 'possible', 'probable', 'likely', 'necessary') nouns (for example, 'possibility', 'necessity', 'obligation') modal verbs (for example, 'permit', 'oblige')

"Compound" can applied to

subjects and verbs: they can double up in the same clause. These are called "compound" subjects or verbs because there are two or more of them in the same clause.