Parts of Speech and Grammar

Participial Phrase

A group of words containing a participle and any complements or modifiers it may have (e.g., Traveling along its course, the airplane passed over the Bering Strait OR Found beneath layers of sediment, the ancient pottery was well preserved).

Clause

A group of words that contains a subject and predicate. An independent clause can stand as a sentence. A dependent, or subordinate, clause must be attached to an independent clause to form a sentence.

Dangling Modifier

A modifier that is not clearly attached to the word or phrase it is supposed to be modifying (e.g., To learn how to drive, the summer was spent behind the wheel at the training course).

Misplaced Modifier

A modifier that is separated from the word it is modifying (e.g., We were surprised to see a deer driving down the gravel road).

Irregular Plural Noun

A noun whose plural form is indicated in some way other than by adding —s, —es, or —ies (e.g., children, sheep, halves).

Nonrestrictive Element

A phrase or clause that is not grammatically essential to the sentence and that adds information about a noun or pronoun preceding it. This information is not essential to the meaning of the sentence; however, it may alter the meaning of the sentence (e.g., Our first idea, to visit the museum in the morning and the zoo in the afternoon, did not go over well with the rest of the group).

Subjective Case Pronoun

A pronoun that follows a verb to be and refers to the subject of the clause is in the subjective or nominative case (e.g., Was that she at the door OR It was I who reported the crime). Subjective Case Pronouns are I, you, he, she, it, we, they, who, whoever.

Objective Case Pronoun

A pronoun that is the object of a verb is in the objective case (e.g., Once students sat in their seats, the instructor gave them the class syllabus OR I don't know whom you hired to fix the sink, but it is still not working). A pronoun that is the object of a preposition is in the objective case (e.g., Our friends threw a nice party for John and me OR There were a few issues between Jane and him). Objective Case Pronouns are me, you, him, her, it, us, them, whom, whomever.

Subjective (Nominative) Case

A pronoun that is the subject of a verb is in the subjective or nominative case (e.g., When reporters hear about a good story, they waste little time looking for answers OR Have you heard who is attending the ball?).

Vague Pronoun

A pronoun whose antecedent is not clear or is ambiguous (e.g., My favorite musical group will be playing a concert this Saturday, which makes me very happy).

Pronoun Number

A pronoun will be either singular or plural in order to agree with its antecedent; if the antecedent is singular, then the pronoun referring to the antecedent must be singular as well.

Verb Mood

A property of a verb that indicates the manner of an action; there are three moods: indicative, imperative, and subjunctive.

Verb Voice

A property of a verb that indicates whether the subject is the doer of the action or is receiving the action. There are two voices: active and passive.

Dash

A punctuation mark (—) used to set off nonrestrictive/parenthetical elements that require special emphasis; it is also used to indicate a sudden break in a sentence.

Conditional

A quality of a verb in the subjunctive mood used to express a condition that is hypothetical, highly doubtful, or contrary to fact. A conditional is a complex sentence consisting of an independent clause and a dependent clause that might begin with if, as if, or as though.

Interrogative

A sentence in the indicative mood that asks a question.

Simple Sentence

A sentence that consists of one independent clause and no subordinate clauses (e.g., The cat climbed up the tree).

Modal Auxiliary

A verb that is used with the base form of a verb to express permission, possibility, or intention (e.g., should, could, can, may, might OR We should invite everyone to the meeting).

Irregular Verb

A verb whose past tense and past participle forms do not follow the same rule as regular verbs, which are formed by adding —ed, and usually, but not always,involve a vowel change (e.g., swim, swam, swum; drink, drank, drunk).

Verb

A word or phrase that expresses action or a state of being.

Subordinating Conjunction

A word that begins a dependent adverb clause and connects the dependent adverb clause to the main clause of a sentence (e.g., when, before, after, because, since OR Betty must attend tonight's performance because she is a featured soloist).

Coordinating Conjunction

A word that connects words, phrases, or clauses of equal grammatical structure (e.g., for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so OR Mark asked us to call him but he did not leave his number).

Adverb

A word that modifies or describes a verb, adverb, or adjective.

Noun

A word that names a person, place, thing, or idea.

Relative Pronoun

A word that refers to a noun or pronoun and introduces an adjective clause (e.g., who, whom, whose, which, that OR My briefcase, which contains all of my important documents, is still lost).

Pronoun

A word that takes the place of a noun or pronoun (e.g., I, he, she, it, you, they).

Intensive Pronoun

A —self form pronoun that accompanies and emphasizes its antecedent in a sentence (e.g., I will talk to him myself OR The actor himself wrote the screenplay). Intensive Pronouns are myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, themselves.

Adjective

Adjective A word or phrase that modifies or describes a noun or pronoun.

Subordinating conjunctions

(after, because, although) emphasize the importance of one grammatical structure over the other.

Coordinating conjunctions

(and, but, so, for, nor, or, yet) connect two equal grammatical structures.

Conjunction

A connecting word.

Adverb Clause

A dependent clause that functions as an adverb in a sentence.

Adjective Clause

A dependent clause that modifies a noun or pronoun and is often introduced by a relative pronoun (that, which, who, whom).

Verbal

A form of a verb used as an adjective, adverb, or noun; there are three verbals: infinitives, gerunds, and participles.

Inappropriate Shift in Verb Tense

A grammatical error that occurs when the writer unnecessarily switches from

Subject-Verb Agreement

A grammatical rule in which the subject of a sentence must agree with its verb in both number and tense.

Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement

A grammatical rule stating that a pronoun must agree with its antecedent in number and person.

Sentence

A grammatical unit, composed of a subject and a predicate, that expresses a complete thought.

Past Participle

One of the principal parts of a verb; it has both regular and irregular forms. It is used to form the perfect tenses of verbs (e.g., has shown, had sung). It also can function as a participle to modify a noun or pronoun (e.g., the broken wheel, the tired dog).

Subject

One of two parts of a sentence; it is the part about which something is being said. It is sometimes used to refer to the simple subject, which is the main word in the subject that names the person, place, or thing being spoken about in the sentence.

Future Perfect

Future Perfect

Correlative Conjunction

Words that are used in pairs to connect parallel elements (e.g., not only . . . But also, either . . . or, neither . . . nor, both . . . and OR Not only the windows but also the doors need maintenance before winter).

Relative Adverb

An adverb that begins an adjective clause (e.g., where, when, why OR I clearly remember the place where we first met).

Usage

Choosing and using the correct word in written text. Common errors in usage are found in comparisons (older/oldest), verbs (lie/lay), and expressions (fewer/less).

Pronoun Person

Pronouns take one of three forms: first, second, or third person. First-person pronouns indicate the speaker (e.g., I, me, we, us, our, ours, my, mine). Second-person pronouns indicate the person or thing being spoken to (e.g., you, your, yours). Third-person pronouns indicate the person or thing being spoken about (e.g., she, he, it, they, her, him, their, hers, his, its, theirs).

Simple Past Tense

Simple Past Tense The simple past tense is indicated by the past form of the verb. It shows acts, states, or conditions that happened or existed at some point in the past (e.g., The weather was nice yesterday OR The ship sailed across the sea).

Imperative Mood

The form a verb takes in sentences that express a command, request, or permission; known as the understood you, the subject of a sentence in the imperative mood is usually omitted (e.g., Read the report).

Indicative Mood

The form a verb takes in sentences that make a statement or ask a question.

Active Voice

When the subject of the sentence is the doer of the action in the sentence (e.g., The man kicked the can).

Passive Voice

When the subject of the sentence receives the action of the verb (e.g., The man was struck by lightning).

Superlative Adjective

The form an adjective takes when comparing at least three different things. The superlative form is usually indicated by adding the suffix —est to an adjective of one or two syllables (e.g., the closest store, the smallest block). An adjective with three or more syllables will form the superlative by using most or least (e.g., the most exciting moment, the least admirable trait).

Superlative Adverb

The form an adverb takes when comparing at least three different things. One-syllable adverbs form the superlative by taking the suffix —est (e.g., The students who work the hardest will earn better grades). An adverb with two or more syllables usually forms the superlative with most or least (e.g., the most properly arranged items OR the student who participated the least willingly).

Comparative Adjective

The form that an adjective takes when comparing a quality shared by two different things. The comparative form is usually indicated by adding the suffix different things. The comparative form is usually indicated by adding the suffix —er at the end of the adjective (e.g., a faster car, a colder day). An adjective with three or more syllables indicates the comparative form by using more or less instead of adding the suffix at the end (e.g., a more constructive meeting, a less interesting story).

Comparative Adverb

The form that an adverb takes when comparing an act or manner of two different things. One-syllable adverbs not ending in —ly form the comparative by taking the suffix —er (e.g., A falcon can fly faster than a robin OR The snow will be here sooner than you think). An adverb with three or more syllables usually forms the comparative or less (e.g., The spring report was more thoroughly completed than the fallwith more or less (e.g., The spring report was more thoroughly completed than the fall report OR The new data was recorded less accurately than the previous data).

Pronoun Case

The function of a pronoun within a sentence. Pronouns change case to serve as subjects (subjective case), to serve as objects (objective case), and to form possessives (possessive case).

Future Perfect Tense

The future perfect tense is formed by adding will have to the past participle of the verb. It indicates an act, condition, or state that is expected to be finished before another future point in time (e.g., By the time the school year ends, I will have read more than twenty books).

Antecedent

The noun to which a pronoun refers.

Past Perfect Tense

The past perfect tense is formed by adding had to the past participle form of the verb. It indicates an act, condition, or state that occurred prior to another past time or action (e.g., By the time we prepared to climb the mountain, it had already begun to snow).

Subjunctive Mood

The property of a verb that expresses an action or state not as a reality but as something that could happen or be imagined. The subjunctive mood is used to express a necessity, demand, or wish. It can also express an action or state that is conditional, hypothetical, or contrary to fact.

Progressive

The quality of a future perfect tense that indicates a continuous or progressive act or condition that is occurring before another future action or condition. It is formed by adding will have been to the present participle form of the verb (e.g., In October I will have been coming to this restaurant every Sunday for two years).

Future Progressive

The quality of a future tense that indicates an act or condition that will be continuous or progressive at some point in the future. It is formed by adding will be to the present participle form of the verb (e.g., The staff will be working all day tomorrow).

Progressive

The quality of a past perfect tense that indicates an act or condition that began and continued at a point in time prior to another past action. It is formed by adding had been to the present participle of the verb (e.g., I had been working on my writing before the phone rang).

Past Progressive

The quality of a past-tense verb that indicates an act or condition that is continuous or progressive in the past. It is formed by adding was or were to the present participle form of the verb (e.g., It was raining last night OR The clouds were drifting across the sky).

Simple Future Tense

The simple future tense is formed by adding will to the base form of the verb. It refers to an expected act, condition, or state (e.g., The artist will paint the scene). The simple future tense is also formed by adding shall to the base form of the verb (e.g., We shall finish the yard work tomorrow). The simple future tense may also be indicated by adding is going or are going to an infinitive (e.g., The committee is going to discuss the issue at tonight's meeting).

Simple Present Tense

The simple present tense is formed by using the base form of the verb. It shows acts, conditions, or states that occur in the present (e.g., The light is bright OR Amber volunteers in her community). The simple present tense can also express an action that is habitual or a general truth (e.g., Our teacher gives good advice OR Some birds migrate south for the winter).

Grammar

The system of rules that provides definition and structure to a given language.

Verb Tense

The tense of the verb shows the time of an act, state, or condition. The six tenses are present, past, future, present perfect, past perfect, and future perfect.

Infinitive

The word to plus the base form of a verb; can function as a verbal, modifying nouns, pronouns, adjectives, or adverbs.

Sentence Structure

The words, phrases, and clauses that make up a sentence, and the order in which they appear.

Run-On Sentence

Two or more complete sentences without correct punctuation or conjunctions.

Coordinate Adjectives

Two or more successive words in a sentence that modify or describe the same noun (e.g., It was a boring, uneventful meeting).

Participles

Verbals that function as adjectives; they are formed by the present participle or past participle of the verb (e.g., a swinging gate, a known quantity).