Glossary of Terms

Examples are in italics.

Examples of the term being defined are both in italics and underlined.

References to important grammatical terms are in bold.

Ungrammatical phrases or sentences are indicated by an X.

Abstract noun: Abstract nouns are nouns that are not normally used in the plural or with a definite article. For example, the abstract noun honesty cannot be easily used in the plural (X Honesties are the best policy.) or with the (X The honesty is the best policy.).

Action verb: All verbs except linking verbs and helping verbs are action verbs. Typically, the subject of an action verb is the doer of the action. For example, in the sentence Roberta sang at the Met, the subject Roberta is the doer of the action of singing.

Active voice: The term active or active voice refers to the vast majority of sentences with action verbs in which the subject is the doer of the action—as opposed to passive voice sentences in which the subject is the recipient of the action. For example, in the active voice sentence Tom saw Jerry, the subject Tom is doing the seeing. In the corresponding passive voice sentence Jerry was seen by Tom, the subject Jerry is not doing the seeing; rather, he is the person (or cat) being seen.

Adjective: Adjectives play two different roles: (1) adjectives modify the nouns that they precede (large trucks; disappointed lovers), and (2) adjectives are used after linking verbs (such as be, seem, and become) to describe the subject. When adjectives are used in the second way, they are also called predicate adjectives. In the following sentence, the predicate adjective blue describes the subject sky: The sky is blue.

Adjective clause: Adjective clauses (also called relative clauses) always modify the nouns they follow. In the sentence The answer that we received was not very satisfactory, the adjective clause that we received modifies the noun answer.

Adjective object complement: Some verbs take an adjective as a second complement following an object—for example, The committee believed Senator Blather capable. The adjective capable is a complement to the object Senator Blather.

Adjective prepositional phrase: Adjective prepositional phrases are prepositional phrases functioning as adjectives to modify nouns. For example, in the sentence The car in the driveway belongs to my aunt, the adjective prepositional phrase in the driveway modifies the noun car.

Adverb: Adverbs can modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs. In the sentence Sally spoke rapidly, the adverb rapidly modifies the verb spoke. In the sentence A rapidly rising tide flooded the path, the adverb rapidly modifies the adjective rising. In the sentence The flood rose pretty rapidly, the adverb pretty modifies the adverb rapidly.

Adverb clause: Adverb clauses modify verbs, giving where, why, or how information. For example, in the sentence I will call you after I get back, the adverb clause after I get back modifies the verb call. The adverb clause tells when the speaker will call.

Adverb of place complement: Adverb of place complements are adverbs or adverb prepositional phrases functioning as verb complements. Adverb of place complements occur in two places: (1) As complements of linking verbs. For example, in the sentence The milk is on the table, the adverb prepositional phrase on the table is an adverb of place complement of the linking verb is. (2) As second complements of certain action verbs. For example, in the sentence Justin put the milk on the table, the adverb prepositional phrase on the table is an adverb of place functioning as the second complement of put.

Adverb prepositional phrase: Adverb prepositional phrases are prepositional phrases functioning as adverbs, typically used to modify verbs. For example, in the sentence We finished the project after the office closed, the prepositional phrase after the office closed modifies the verb finished.

Adverb quantifier: Adverb quantifiers are a small group of adverbs (almost, just, nearly, and only) that can modify noun phrases in addition to verbs. Adverb quantifiers are often misplaced in front of the verb when they actually modify a noun phrase following the verb. For example, in the sentence X Bob nearly ate the whole chicken, nearly actually modifies the noun phrase and should be placed after the verb (Bob ate nearly the whole chicken).

Adverbial: Adverbial is a generic term for any kind of structure (adverb, adverb prepositional phrase, and adverb clause) that functions as an adverb.

Agent: The term agent refers to the doer of the action of a sentence. In an active voice sentence, the subject is the agent. For example, in the sentence John saw Mary, the subject John is an agent. In the corresponding passive voice sentence Mary was seen by John, John is still the agent, but poor John is no longer the subject. John is the object of the preposition by.

Agreement: Agreement refers to certain grammatically connected words. There are two main forms of agreement: (1) Subject-verb agreement, in which verbs must agree with their subjects in number. For example, in the sentence She sells seashells, the verb sells is in its third-person singular form in agreement with its subject she. (2) Pronoun-antecedent agreement, in which pronouns must agree in number and gender with their antecedents. For example, in the sentence Sally saw herself in the mirror, the reflexive pronoun herself is singular and feminine in agreement with its antecedent Sally.

Antecedent: Both third-person pronouns and reflexive pronouns get their meaning from some previously mentioned noun. That previously mentioned noun is the antecedent of the pronoun. For example, in the sentences Ralph got an urgent call. He returned the call immediately, the antecedent of the third-person pronoun he is Ralph. Also see agreement.

Appositive: Appositives are the heads of appositive phrases.

Appositive phrase: Appositive phrases are noun phrases that rename or further identify preceding nouns. For example, in the sentence Dancer, one of Santa’s reindeer, has a weight problem, the noun phrase one of Santa’s reindeer is an appositive phrase identifying who Dancer is. See also essential appositive phrase and nonessential appositive phrase.

Article: Articles are a special set of adjectives that precede descriptive adjectives. There are two types of articles: definite article (the) and indefinite article (a/an).

Base form of a verb: The base form of a verb is the form of a verb that is used as the entry in the dictionary. For example, be and go are the base forms for those verbs. The base form is also the same as the infinitive form, only without the to.

Base-form predicate adjective: Adjectives can occur in one of three forms: a base (or uninflected) form, a comparative form, and a superlative form. For example, the adjective tall has the base form tall, the comparative form taller, and the superlative form tallest. Here is an example of a sentence with a base-form predicate adjective: The answer was clear.

Base verb phrase complement: Some verbs—for example, make—can have a complement that consists of a direct object followed by a verb phrase headed by a base verb (hence the term base verb phrase complement). For example, in the sentence Santa made the reindeer pull the sleigh, there is a two-part complement: the noun phrase the reindeer followed by the verb phrase pull the sleigh. The verb phrase is headed by the base-form verb pull; pull the sleigh is thus a base verb phrase complement.

Brackets: Brackets come in pairs: [ ]. Aside from uses in highly specialized and technical writing, brackets are used solely within a direct quotation to provide something that was not in the original text. For example, this sentence Peter wrote in his diary, “This is my gift, my curse [emphasis added].”uses wording within brackets to indicate we underlined curse, not Peter.

Cardinal number: The cardinal numbers are one, two, three, four, etc. The other kind of numbers (first, second, third, etc.) are called ordinal numbers.

Case: The term case refers to the grammatical role and form of nouns and pronouns. There are three cases: a subject (or nominative) case, an object case, and a possessive (or genitive) case. In older forms of English, nouns (and the adjectives that modified them) and pronouns were overtly marked with distinctive case endings. In modern English, some of the older case system markings are preserved in the personal pronouns. For example, the first-person pronouns are marked for case: I is in the subject, or nominative, case; me is in the object case; my is in the possessive, or genitive, case.

Causative verb: In this book, we have used the term causative verb to refer to a small group of transitive verbs with causative meanings (raise, lay, set) that are historically derived from corresponding intransitive verbs (rise, lie, sit).

Clause: Clauses consist of at least one subject and one tensed, or finite, verb linked together in subject-verb agreement. If a clause can stand alone, it is called an independent clause. If a clause cannot stand alone, it is called a dependent clause.

Colon: Colons (:) have a variety of uses: to introduce a list (like this); to introduce a quote; and to join two clauses when the second clause explains or elaborates on the first—for example, John is not a very good driver: he is always getting tickets.

Comma: Commas (,) have three main functions: to separate coordinate elements, to set off introductory elements, and to set off interrupting elements. See Chapter 11 for a detailed discussion of the various comma uses.

Comma splice: Comma splices are the incorrect use of a comma to join two independent clauses. The following sentence contains a comma splice: X Martha was very upset, she had just received some bad news.

Common noun: Common nouns are nouns used for categories of people, places, and things, as opposed to proper nouns, which refer to specific gindividuals. For example, city is a common noun; Chicago is a proper noun. Common nouns are not capitalized; proper nouns are.

Comparative adjective: Comparative adjectives are the forms of adjectives ending in -er or preceded by more. The underlined adjectives in the following sentences are in the comparative form: Donald was richer than ever. Donald became even more famous.

Complement: Complements are grammatical elements required by a verb or preposition. For example, the verb love requires a noun phrase complement: John loves ice cream. We cannot say just X John loves. When someone loves, they have to love something. In traditional grammar, complements can only be nouns (and noun substitutes, like pronouns, noun clauses, gerunds, and infinitives) and predicate adjectives. In modern grammar, the term complement is broadened to include any grammatical element required by a verb. For example, in the sentence John put the book on the desk, the adverb of place on the desk is considered a complement because the sentence is ungrammatical if it is deleted: X John put the book. When you put something, you have to put it somewhere.

Complement of a preposition: Complements of prepositions are the noun phrases that follow prepositions. Prepositions and their complements make up prepositional phrases. For example, in the sentence Louise saw Thelma at the bookstore, the noun phrase the bookstore is the complement of the preposition at. Together, they form the adverbial prepositional phrase at the bookstore. The complement of a preposition is also called the object of a preposition.

Complete predicate: Complete predicates are everything that is not part of the subject. In other words, the complete predicate is the verb (also called the simple predicate) plus its complements and modifiers, all taken as a unit. For example, in the sentence Prancer saw Rudolph reading a road map behind the barn, the complete predicate is the verb saw, its complements are Rudolph and reading a road map, and the adverbial modifier is behind the barn. In modern grammar, the complete predicate would be called a verb phrase.

Complete subject: Complete subjects are everything in a sentence that is not part of the complete predicate. Complete subjects consist of simple subjects together with all their modifiers. For example, in the sentence The tall young man in the yellow sweater ordering a double latte is my brother, the complete subject is everything before the verb is.

Complex sentence: The term complex sentence does not mean a difficult sentence. Complex sentences contain an independent clause and at least one dependent clause. For example, the sentence I watched a little TV before I went to bed is a complex sentence because it consists of an independent clause (I watched a little TV) and a dependent clause (before I went to bed).

Compound: In grammar terminology, the term compound has two different meanings. Compound can refer to any two grammatical elements of the same type joined by a coordinating conjunction (typically, and). For example, in the sentence Martha and George went shopping, Martha and George are compound nouns as well as compound subjects. In the sentence He turned and ran, turned and ran are compound verbs as well as compound predicates. In the sentence I went up the stairs and through the door, up the stairs and through the door are compound prepositional phrases. The term compound can also refer to certain types of word combinations, such as compound prepositions and compound verbs. Here are some examples of compound prepositions: as soon as, because of, in spite of, and on account of. Here are some examples of compound verbs: grow apart, pass out, shut up, and turn over.

Compound-complex sentence: A compound-complex sentence is a giant combo of a compound sentence and a complex sentence. That is, it contains at least two independent clauses and at least one dependent clause, for example, John got the pizza [independent clause], but Mary brought a salad [independent clause] because she was on a low-carb diet [dependent clause].

Compound sentence: Compound sentences consist of two (or more) independent clauses but no dependent clauses. The following sentence is a compound sentence: This little piggy had roast beef, but this one had none.

Conjunction: Conjunctions are words used to join grammatical elements. There are two types of conjunctions: (1) coordinating conjunctions, words such as and, but, and or that are used to join words, phrases, or clauses as equals, and (2) subordinating conjunctions, words such as when, since, and if that begin dependent adverb clauses.

Conjunctive adverb: Conjunctive adverbs show how the meaning of the second of two independent clauses is related to the meaning of the first. For example, in the sentence We were going to meet this afternoon; however, I had to cancel, the two independent clauses are linked by the conjunctive adverb however. The however signals that the second independent clause is going to contradict in some way the meaning of the first clause.

Coordinate adjective: Coordinate adjectives are two or more adjectives of the same descriptive category used together. Coordinate adjectives must always be separated by commas. For example, in the sentence The tired, defeated day trader slumped before his computer, tired and defeated are coordinate adjectives.

Coordinating conjunction: Coordinating conjunctions join grammatical units of the same type, creating compounds. There are seven coordinating conjunctions. They can be remembered by the acronym FANBOYS:

For

And

Nor

But

Or

Yet

So

Correlative conjunction: Correlative conjunctions are two-part coordinating conjunctions, for example, either . . . or, both . . . and, and neither . . . nor.

Dangling modifier: Dangling modifiers are noun modifiers, usually participial phrases, that do not actually modify the nouns they were meant to modify. For example, in the sentence X Damaged beyond repair, Ruth had to trash her hard drive, the modifier damaged beyond repair actually modifies Ruth, not the intended noun hard drive.

Dashes: A dash is a form of punctuation that essentially is a short, horizontal line. Technically, there are two dashes: the en dash (–) and the longer em dash (—). Most people associate the em dash as being “the dash” while a hyphen takes the places of the en dash. This book uses dash to refer to the em dash alone, unless noted otherwise. A dash has multiple functions, but all deal with setting off a word or group of words that are not grammatically essential to the rest of the sentence. An example is a dash used like a colon to set off an “announcement”: I heard something wonderful about Janet—she and her partner will soon be married.

Declarative sentence: Declarative sentences are statements (as opposed to commands, questions, or exclamations). Declarative sentences are always punctuated with periods. This is a declarative sentence.

Definite article: The term definite article is probably the only term in English grammar that refers to a single word: the. See also indefinite article.

Degree: The term degree refers to the fact that most descriptive adjectives can be used in three different forms: a base form (for example, tall, beautiful), a comparative form (for example, taller, more beautiful), and a superlative form (for example, tallest, most beautiful).

Demonstrative pronoun: The demonstrative pronouns are this, that, these, and those. Demonstrative pronouns are true pronouns that function as subjects and objects. For example, in the sentence That is mine, that is a pronoun functioning as the subject. The same four words can also be used as adjectives. For example, in the sentence That book is mine, that is not a pronoun. It is an adjective modifying the noun book.

Dependent clause: Dependent clauses are clauses that cannot stand alone. They are always attached to independent clauses. For example, in the sentence Dependent clauses are clauses that cannot stand alone, that cannot stand alone is a dependent clause. There are three types of dependent clauses: adjective clauses, adverb clauses, and noun clauses. Dependent clauses are also called subordinate clauses.

Descriptive adjective: Descriptive adjectives are a class of adjectives that have comparative and superlative forms and can be used as predicate adjectives. For example, the adjective angry is a descriptive adjective because it has the comparative form angrier and the superlative form angriest, and it can be used as a predicate adjective: Popeye was very angry. Adjectives that are not members of the class of descriptive adjectives are called determiners.

Determiner: Determiners are adjectives that do not have comparative and superlative forms and cannot be used as predicate adjectives. Some common determiners are articles (the, a/an) and numbers, for example, the book, a book, two books, and the first book.

Direct address: The term direct address refers to including the actual person you are speaking or writing to as a part of the sentence. For example, in the sentence It is my pleasure, ladies and gentlemen, to introduce our next speaker, the words ladies and gentlemen are in direct address. Words in direct address are always set off from the rest of the sentence by commas.

Direct object: Direct objects are noun phrases required as the complements of certain verbs. For example, in the sentence Harry will meet Sally in the park, the noun phrase Sally is the direct object of the verb meet. The verb meet requires a noun phrase direct object. When we meet, we have to meet someone.

Direct quotation: Direct quotations are the actual, exact words that someone used. Direct quotations are always indicated by quotation marks (“”). For example, in the sentence George said, “I cannot tell a lie,” the words enclosed in quotation marks are a direct quote. The opposite of direct quotation is indirect quotation, which is the writer’s paraphrase of someone’s words. Indirect quotation do not use quotation marks.

Eggcorn: This is a recent linguistic term that lacks a widely-accepted formal counterpart. An eggcorn is an expression (usually two or three words) that uses at least one wrong word because it is pronounced like the correct word. Like a homophone, the misused word sounds much like the correct term, but with an eggcorn, the wrong word actually seems to make sense, unlike a homophone mistake. For example, the eggcorn scandally clad often makes sense because if a person were “scantily clad” (the correct wording) in a certain situation, it could create a scandal: X The mayor was scandally clad when he left the party.

Emphatic pronoun: Emphatic pronouns are reflexive pronouns used for emphasis. Emphatic pronouns are not objects and, in fact, play no grammatical role in the sentence. For example, in the sentence I wouldn’t kiss Miss Piggy, myself, myself is an emphatic pronoun. Emphatic pronouns, like interjections, can be deleted from their sentences without damaging the grammar of the sentence. For example, we can delete myself from the example sentence without ill effect: I wouldn’t kiss Miss Piggy. Emphatic pronouns are also called intensive pronouns.

Em dash: The longer version of a dash, usually thought of as being the true dash. See Dashes.

En dash: The shorter version of a dash, usually replaced by a hyphen in most writing. See Dashes.

Essential appositive and appositive phrase: Appositives and appositive phrases rename a preceding noun. If the appositive or appositive phrase serves to uniquely identify the noun, then the appositive or appositive phrase is said to be essential. For example, in the sentence Shakespeare’s play Hamlet is one of his most complex works, Hamlet is an appositive to the noun play. The appositive Hamlet is an essential appositive because if we were to delete it, the reader would have no way of knowing which of Shakespeare’s plays was being described. Essential appositives and appositive phrases are never set off with commas. See also nonessential appositive and appositive phrase.

Exclamatory sentence: Exclamatory sentences are statements punctuated with an exclamation point. For example, the sentence I don’t get it! is an exclamatory sentence.

Existential sentence: Existential sentences point out the existence of something. In English, existential sentences are formed with there plus a linking verb (usually some form of be). For example, the sentence There’s a problem with the car is an existential sentence.

FANBOYS: FANBOYS is a made-up mnemonic word for remembering the seven coordinating conjunctions:

For

And

Nor

But

Or

Yet

So

Faulty parallelism: The term faulty parallelism refers to a series of two or more grammatical elements joined by a coordinating conjunction that should be in the same grammatical form but are not. For example, in the sentence X Senator Blather is pompous and a fool, the adjective pompous is not parallel with the noun phrase a fool. One solution would be to make parallel adjectives: Senator Blather is pompous and foolish.

Finite verb: Finite verb is a term used in modern grammar for the present form or past form verb that enters into subject-verb agreement with the subject. See the synonymous term tensed verb for a more detailed discussion.

First-person pronoun: The first-person pronouns are I (singular subject), me (singular object), we (plural subject), us (plural object), my, mine (singular possessive), and our, ours (plural possessive).

Flag word: The term flag word is used in this book as a collective term for the introductory words that signal the beginning of dependent clauses. The relative pronouns that begin adjective clauses, the subordinating conjunctions that begin adverb clauses, and the wh- words that begin noun clauses are all examples of flag words.

Fragment: Fragments are parts of sentences that have been incorrectly punctuated as though they were complete sentences. Typically, fragments are pieces cut off from preceding sentences. For example, My computer crashed and I lost my project. X Which I have been working on for weeks. Which I have been working on for weeks is a fragment incorrectly detached from the preceding sentence.

Fused participle: The term fused participle is a rather technical term used to describe a special kind of apostrophe error involving gerund phrases. Gerund phrases are reduced sentences used as nouns. If the original subject of the sentence is retained in the gerund phrase, that subject (also known as the subject of the gerund) must be in the possessive form. For example, the sentence X Dancer telling Santa Claus jokes amused all the elves contains a fused participle because Dancer, the subject of the gerund, should be in the possessive form. The sentence should be rewritten as this: Dancer’s telling Santa Claus jokes amused all the elves.

Fused sentence: Fused sentences are two independent clauses incorrectly joined together without any punctuation at all. For example, the following is a fused sentence: X Popeye brought the beer Bluto got the pizza. Popeye brought the beer is one independent clause. Bluto got the pizza is a second independent clause.

Future perfect tense: Future perfect tenses use the helping verbs will have followed by a verb in the past participle form. For example, the sentence Sally will have been with the company for a year now is in the future perfect tense.

Future progressive: Future progressives use the helping verbs will be followed by a verb in the present participle form. For example, the sentence Sally will be working in the accounting department is in the future progressive.

Future tense: Future tenses use the helping verb will followed by a verb in the base form. For example, the sentence Sally will start tomorrow is in the future tense.

Gerund: Gerunds are present participle forms of verbs used as nouns. For example, in the sentence Reading is my favorite activity, reading is a gerund. Gerunds are the heads of gerund phrases.

Gerund phrase: Gerund phrases are gerunds together with their subjects, complements, and modifiers (in any or all combinations). For example, in the sentence His reading of history gave him a good understanding of current events, his reading of history is a gerund phrase.

Head: In modern grammar, heads are the key grammatical elements that determine the nature of their phrases. For example, nouns are the heads of noun phrases. Verbs are the heads of verb phrases. Prepositions are the heads of prepositional phrases.

Helping verb: Helping verbs are verbs used before other verbs to form multiple-verb constructions. The helping verbs are the modals (can, may, must, shall, and will), have, and be. The modals are followed by base forms, for example, Rob can take notes. Have is followed by the past participle to form the various perfect tenses, for example, Rob has recorded the meeting. The helping verb be has two functions. When be is followed by the present participle, it creates the various progressives, for example, Rob is taking notes. When be is followed by a past participle, it creates the passive, for example, Notes were taken by Rob.

Historical present: The term historical present refers to the use of the present tense for stories and other narrations, which are normally presented in the past tense. We often use the historical present for jokes, for example, This guy goes into a bar and sees a polar bear drinking a Cosmopolitan. . . .

Homophone: Homophones are words that have the same (or very similar) pronunciation but usually spelled differently. They are often mistaken for one another, and spelling checkers are unreliable in detecting the error. A common “homophone misspelling” is using here when you meant hear, as in X I cannot here what you are saying. A homophone is sometimes referred to as a homonym, but this latter term lacks widespread agreement in terms of a precise definition.

Hyphens: A hyphen (-) merges individual terms or numbers into one concept. It does so in over a dozen ways, but one of the most common is to create some compound words, such as African-American and six-year-old whiskey.

Imperative sentence: Imperative sentences must have an understood you as the subject. For example, the sentence Close the door has an understood you as its subject. Imperative sentences can be punctuated with either periods or exclamation points: Close the door. Close the door!

Indefinite article: The indefinite articles are a and an. The indefinite article an is used before words beginning with a vowel or vowel sound. For example, we say an honor, not X a honor, because the letter h is not pronounced. The indefinite article a is used before words beginning with a consonant or consonant sound. For example, we say a uniform, not X an uniform, because the word uniform begins with a y sound, not a vowel sound. Also see definite article.

Indefinite pronoun: Indefinite pronouns are pronouns that refer to unspecified persons, things, or groups. For example, in the sentence Many are called, but few are chosen, many and few are indefinite pronouns. Other common indefinite pronouns are all, any, each, every, much, one, and some.

Independent clause: Independent clauses can stand alone as complete sentences. They consist of at least one subject and one tensed, or finite, verb linked together in subject-verb agreement. The opposite of independent clause is dependent clause.

Indirect object: Indirect objects are complements of certain verbs that take not one, but two objects—a direct object and an indirect object. When a verb has two objects, the indirect object always comes before the direct object. For example, in the sentence Donald gave Melania a present, Melania is the indirect object and a present is the direct object. The indirect object can usually be paraphrased with to or for: Donald gave a present to Melania.

Indirect quotation: Indirect quotations are paraphrases of what someone actually said. Indirect quotations are never used with quotation marks. Typically, indirect quotations are introduced with that. For example, in the sentence The reporter said that she would call back tomorrow, the indirect quotation is she would call back tomorrow.

Infinitive: Infinitives consist of to plus the base form of a verb. Here are some examples of infinitives: to act, to be, to run, and to sleep. Infinitives are also the heads of infinitive phrases.

Infinitive phrase: Infinitive phrases are phrases headed by infinitives. Infinitive phrases are used as nouns, adjectives, and adverbs. (1) Nouns: In the sentence George wanted to tell the truth, the infinitive phrase to tell the truth functions as a noun, the object of the verb wanted. (2) Adjectives: In the sentence George is the man to see about a loan, the infinitive phrase to see about a loan functions as a modifier of the noun man. (3) Adverbs: In the sentence You must practice, practice, practice to get to Carnegie Hall, the infinitive phrase to get to Carnegie Hall functions as a modifier of the verb practice.

Intensifier: Intensifiers are a small (but frequently used) group of adverbs that are used to intensify the meaning of verbs. For example, in the sentence Mary Poppins was very upset with the children, very is an intensifier modifying the verb upset.

Intensive pronoun: Intensive pronouns are reflexive pronouns used for emphasis. For a detailed explanation, see emphatic pronoun.

Interjection: Interjections are exclamations inserted into sentences for emphasis. For example, in the sentence Man, it is really hot in here, man is an interjection. Interjections, unlike adverbs, play no grammatical role inside their sentences.

Interrogative pronoun: Interrogative pronouns are a group of special pronouns used for asking questions. For example, the question Where are you going? begins with the interrogative pronoun where. The most important interrogative pronouns are who, whom, what, where, when, why, and how.

Interrogative sentence: Interrogative sentences are questions. Interrogative sentences must always be punctuated with question marks. For example, Where are you going? is an interrogative sentence.

Intransitive verb: Intransitive verbs are action verbs that do not require complements. Intransitive verbs may be followed by any number of optional adverbial modifiers. For example, in the sentence The phone rang in the middle of the night, the verb rang is intransitive because the adverb prepositional phrase in the middle of the night is not a complement required by the verb to make a grammatical sentence. Modern grammar and traditional grammar differ on what constitutes a complement—thereby also differing on what constitutes an intransitive verb. For example, the sentence The train was on Track 5 would be considered in modern grammar to contain a transitive verb because the sentence becomes meaningless if the complement is deleted: X The train was. In traditional grammar, however, prepositional phrases cannot be complements. And thus, by definition, the sentence The train was on Track 5 has to contain an intransitive verb.

Introductory element: Introductory elements are any kind of words or phrases placed in front of the subject noun phrase. Adverbs and adverb prepositional phrases are typical introductory elements. For example, in the sentence In the afternoon, we went for a walk, the adverb prepositional phrase in the afternoon is an introductory element. Introductory elements are normally set off with commas.

Inverted appositive: Inverted appositives are appositives or appositive phrases that have been moved from their normal positions after their antecedents to a position in front of the antecedent. Inverted appositives are most common with subject noun phrases. Here is an example of a sentence containing an appositive phrase in its normal position: Rudolph, the only reindeer with his own press agent, hit the talk shows. In this sentence, the appositive phrase the only reindeer with his own press agent is in its normal position following its antecedent, Rudolph. We can put more emphasis on the appositive by inverting it and putting it in the most prominent part of the sentence—the beginning: The only reindeer with his own press agent, Rudolph hit the talk shows.

Irregular verb: Irregular verbs are verbs with one or more unpredictable forms. In particular, irregular verbs do not use -ed for both their past form and their past participle form. For example, run is irregular because neither its past nor its past participle forms (ran and run, respectively) use -ed. Likewise, hit is irregular because neither its past nor its past participle forms (both hit) use -ed.

Linking verb: Linking verbs are a small (but highly important) group of verbs that can take predicate adjectives as their complements. In the following examples, the linking verbs are underlined and the predicate adjectives are in bold: Fred was frantic; Louise looked lonely; Sam seemed sad. The most common linking verb is be, for example, Al was angry. The other linking verbs are verbs of sense perception (appear, look, smell, taste) or verbs that describe the condition of their subjects, for example, The cook got very angry; They became accountants. Linking verbs are called linking because they “link” their complements back to their subjects. In other words, linking verbs help describe the nature of their subjects. For instance, in all the examples given, the complements describe their subjects. Action verbs do not take predicate adjectives as their complements.

Main clause: See independent clause.

Main verb: Multiple-verb constructions consist of two parts: main verbs and helping verbs. Main verbs are the heads of verbal phrases. Main verbs have complements like direct and indirect objects or predicate adjectives; helping verbs do not. Helping verbs are only followed by other verbs. Helping verbs can be deleted without affecting the basic grammar of their sentences. Main verbs can never be deleted without destroying their sentences. For example, in the sentence I have been working on the year-end report, working is the main verb and have and been are helping verbs. We can rewrite the sentence to eliminate the helping verbs without wrecking the sentence: I worked on the year-end report. However, if we delete the main verb, the sentence either is ungrammatical or becomes a totally different sentence: X I have been on the report. In any string of verbs, the main verb is always the final verb on the right.

Misplaced modifier: Misplaced modifiers are modifiers that have been placed so far away from the words they were meant to modify that they seem to modify the wrong thing. For example, in the sentence I saw my neighbor’s car at the station with a flat tire, the modifier with a flat tire appears to modify the nearest noun, station, making it sound like the station had a flat tire. What the writer meant, of course, was that the neighbor’s car had a flat tire. The problem is solved by moving the modifier next to the word it modifies: I saw my neighbor’s car with a flat tire at the station.

Modal verb: The term modal verb is used in modern grammar to describe an important group of helping verbs: can, may, must, shall, and will. Modal verbs are always followed by a verb in the base form. In the examples that follow, modal verbs are underlined and base form verbs are in bold: You can go; Susan must finish her homework; We will see. For historical reasons, traditional grammar recognized only will, which was considered to be the best English equivalent of the future tense in Latin. In traditional grammar, the other modals remained nameless and unloved.

Nearest noun agreement error: The term nearest noun agreement error is used to describe a particularly common form of subject-verb agreement error in which the verb incorrectly agrees with the nearest noun, rather than with the more remote actual subject. For example, in the sentence X Uncertainty about the terms of the settlements have thrown the case into the courts, the verb have incorrectly agrees with the nearest noun settlements, rather than with the more distant subject uncertainty.

Nonessential appositive and appositive phrase: Appositives and appositive phrases rename a preceding noun. If the appositive or appositive phrase does not serve to uniquely identify the noun, then the appositive or appositive phrase is said to be nonessential. For example, in the sentence Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, one of his most complex works, remains amazingly popular even today, one of his most complex works is a nonessential appositive phrase. Even though the information in the appositive phrase is important to the meaning of the sentence, the appositive phrase does not serve to identify the noun it follows. The fact that Hamlet is a complex play does not serve to further identify what play the sentence is talking about. Hamlet would still be Hamlet even if we did not know anything about how complex it was. Nonessential appositives and appositive phrases are always set off with commas. See also essential appositive and appositive phrase.

Nonrestrictive adjective clause: Adjective clauses modify nouns, but different types of adjective clauses have different relationships with the nouns they modify. Nonrestrictive adjective clauses do not define or significantly alter the identity of the nouns they modify. Instead, nonrestrictive adjective clauses, like appositives, give additional (but nondefining) information about the nouns they modify. For example, in the sentence My father, who was born in Ireland, came to the United States as a child, the adjective clause who was born in Ireland is nonrestrictive because my father would still be my father no matter where he came from. Nonrestrictive adjective clauses are always set off with commas. See also restrictive adjective clause.

Nonrestrictive participial phrase: Participial phrases are participles along with their complements and modifiers. Participial phrases modify nouns, but different types of participial phrases have different relationships with the nouns they modify. Nonrestrictive participial phrases do not define or significantly alter the identity of the nouns they modify. Instead, nonrestrictive participial phrases, like appositives, give additional (but nondefining) information about the nouns they modify. For example, in the sentence My father, being an immigrant, was always very conscious of his accent, the participial phrase being an immigrant is nonrestrictive because my father would still be my father even if he were not an immigrant. Nonrestrictive participial phrases are always set off with commas. See also restrictive participial phrases.

Noun: Nouns are names of people, places, things, and ideas. Most nouns can be used following the article the (the book, the subway, the conclusion) and can be made plural (the books, the subways, the conclusions). Nouns are the heads of noun phrases.

Noun clause: Noun clauses are clauses that function as nouns (or, more accurately, noun phrases). Noun clauses play the noun roles of subject, verb, object, and predicate nominative. For example, in the sentence What you see is what you get, the first noun clause what you see functions as the subject of the sentence. The second noun clause what you get functions as a predicate nominative.

Noun phrase: The term noun phrase is widely used in modern grammar as a collective term for any grammatical structure that plays a noun role. Most noun phrases are headed by nouns (with or without modifiers). For example, in the sentence A tall young woman in a raincoat entered briskly, a tall young woman in a raincoat is a noun phrase playing the role of subject. The noun phrase is headed by the noun woman. Single-word nouns, pronouns, gerunds, infinitive phrases used as nouns, and noun clauses are all included within the umbrella term noun phrase.

Noun phrase object complement: Some verbs take a noun phrase as a second complement following an object, for example, The committee thought Senator Blather a complete idiot. The noun phrase a complete idiot is a noun phrase used as a complement to the object Senator Blather.

Number: The term number is used to describe nouns and pronouns. The noun city is singular; the noun cities is plural. I is a singular pronoun; we is the corresponding plural pronoun. Verbs also have number in the sense that verbs have different forms in agreement with the number of their subjects. For example, in the sentence The city is on the plain, the verb is is singular in agreement with its singular subject city. In the sentence The cities are on the plain, the verb are is plural in agreement with its plural subject cities. See also cardinal number and ordinal number.

Object: Objects are noun phrases (a collective term for nouns, pronouns, and other nounlike structures) that are the complements of action verbs or prepositions. For example, in the sentence Sherlock checked his watch, the noun phrase his watch is the object of the action verb checked. The complements of linking verbs are not objects; they are called predicate nominatives. For example, in the sentence Tarzan became a travel consultant, the noun phrase a travel consultant is a predicate nominative (not an object) because it is the complement of the linking verb became. Prepositional phrases consist of prepositions and their objects (also called complements). In the following examples, prepositions are in bold and their objects are underlined: in the back room, near me, after what you said.

Object complement: Object complements are noun phrases or predicate adjectives that follow objects. Object complements describe or rename objects. For example, in the sentence Sherlock considered Watson a good sport, the noun phrase object complement a good sport describes Watson. In the sentence Jane considered Tarzan handsome, the predicate adjective object complement handsome describes Tarzan.

Ordinal number: Ordinal numbers are first, second, third, etc. One way to remember the term ordinal is that ordinal numbers refer to the “order” of things. The other form of number is cardinal (one, two, three, etc.).

Parallelism: The term parallelism refers to a series of two or more elements of the same grammatical type, usually joined by a coordinating conjunction. For example, in the sentence I love reading good books, going to the ballet, and watching NASCAR on television, there are three parallel gerund phrases serving as parallel objects of the verb love. Also see faulty parallelism.

Parentheses: Parentheses almost always appear in pairs and are usually used to set off an idea that is not absolutely necessary in terms of the grammar or overall meaning of a sentence. The language within parentheses offers additional clarity or something the writer deems interesting. At times, they make a complicated sentence stylistically easier to read by putting part of it “aside” as a parenthetical comment. For example, the sentence The surly host left the party for almost an hour (he was not missed by most of us) uses parentheses simply to add a personal comment.

Participial phrase: Participial phrases are verbal phrases headed by either a present participle or a past participle. Participial phrases are used as adjectives to modify preceding nouns. For example, in the sentence The woman taking notes at the hearing was a reporter, taking notes at the hearing is a present participial phrase modifying woman. In the sentence I just finished a book written by a college classmate, written by a college classmate is a past participial phrase modifying book.

Participle: The term participle is a cover term for two verb forms: the present participle and the past participle.

Parts of speech: The conventional parts of speech are noun, adjective, pronoun, verb, adverb, preposition, and conjunction. Sometimes the interjection is included as the eighth part of speech.

Passive voice: The term passive voice refers to sentences in which the subject is the recipient of the action of the verb, not the doer of the action (also called the agent) as in active voice sentences. For example, in the passive voice sentence Mary was seen by John, the subject Mary is not doing anything. Mary is the recipient of the action of the verb see. The agent John is the one doing the seeing. Passive voice sentences can always be identified by the use of a helping verb (usually, but not always, be) followed by a past participle. In the example, the helping verb was is followed by seen, the past participle form of see.

Past form: Past forms of regular verbs add -d or -ed onto the base form: call, called; walk, walked; bake, baked. Irregular verbs form their past in some other way. Many irregular verbs use vowel changes: run, ran; sing, sang; write, wrote. The most unusual past tense is found in the verb be, which has two past tense forms: was in the singular and were in the plural.

Past participial phrase: Past participial phrases are verbal phrases headed by a verb in the past participle form. Past participial phrases are used as adjectives. For example, in the sentence The books written by American authors are on that shelf, the past participial phrase written by American authors modifies the noun books. Written is the past participle form of the verb write.

Past participle: Past participle verb forms are used in three different constructions: in perfect tenses after the helping verb have (as in Santa has seen the list of bad little boys and girls), in passive voice sentences after the helping verb be (as in The list was seen by Santa), and in past participial phrases (as in The list seen by Santa is the official one).

Past perfect tense: Past perfect tenses consist of the helping verb had (the past form of the verb have—hence, the name past perfect) followed by a verb in the past participle form. For example, the sentence I had taken some pictures before the boat left is in the past perfect tense. The past perfect is normally used to describe a past-time event that took place before a second, more recent past-time event. In this example, the writer took pictures before the boat left.

Past progressive: Past progressives consist of the helping verb was or were followed by a verb in the present participle form. For example, the sentence Rudolph was filing his hooves while Santa gave his usual pre-Christmas pep talk is in the past progressive. The past progressive is used to describe an action that was ongoing (Rudolph’s filing his hooves) at some point of time in the past (during Santa’s pep talk).

Past tense: Past tenses are used to describe actions that took place at or during some past time, for example, John borrowed my car last night.

Perfect tense: The perfect tenses refer to action that takes place over a period of time or is frequently repeated. There are three perfect tenses: present perfect (Winston has been checking his maps), past perfect (Winston had gotten lost once too often), and future perfect (Winston will have finished packing by now). The perfect tenses all use have as a helping verb followed by a verb in the past participle form.

Personal pronoun: There are three sets of personal pronouns:

There is another set of personal pronouns that are used as noun modifiers and thus are more accurately classified as adjectives: my, our, your, his, her, its, and their. For example, in the sentence That is my book, my modifies the noun book and is therefore treated as an adjective.

Phrasal preposition: The term phrasal preposition is another term for compound preposition, for example, as soon as, up to, and in spite of.

Phrasal verb: Phrasal verbs are compound verbs (often with idiomatic meanings) formed from verbs and prepositions. Phrasal verbs can be either transitive or intransitive. Here is an example of an intransitive phrasal verb: Senator Blather finally shut up. The phrasal verb shut up means “stop talking.” Transitive phrasal verbs are subdivided into two groups: separable and inseparable. Here is an example of a separable phrasal verb: John turned down the offer. Turn down means “reject.” What is unique about separable phrasal verbs is that the preposition can (and in certain cases, must) be moved after the object: John turned the offer down. Inseparable phrasal verbs do not allow the preposition to move away from the verb: John depended on his Blackberry. We cannot say X John depended his Blackberry on.

Phrase: In traditional grammar, phrases are groups of words acting as single parts of speech. The classic example of a phrase is the prepositional phrase. For example, in the sentence I found the address on the Web, on the Web is a prepositional phrase acting as an adverb telling where the address was found. In modern grammar, the term phrase is used more broadly. A phrase is a noun, a verb, an adjective, or a preposition head together with the head’s modifiers and complements (if any). By this definition, a phrase can consist of just a single word (as opposed to the traditional definition, which requires a group of words).

Possessive apostrophe: The term possessive apostrophe refers to the use of apostrophes to indicate nouns being used as possessives. For example, in the sentence Mary’s lamb was lost again, the apostrophe tells the reader that the -s ending on Mary is a possessive -s, not a plural -s.

Possessive noun: Possessive nouns have an -’s or -s’ ending, for example, the man’s pencil and the cooks’ paychecks. Possessive nouns function as modifiers and are thus classified as adjectives.

Possessive pronoun: Possessive pronouns have two forms. One form is used as an adjective to modify a following noun. For example, in the sentence I lost my porcupine again, the possessive pronoun my modifies the noun porcupine and is thus classified as an adjective. The other form of possessive pronoun functions as a true pronoun that stands in place of a noun. For example, in the sentence I found mine, mine functions as the object of found and is thus a true pronoun, not an adjective. Here are the forms of the two sets of possessive pronouns:

Adjective: my, your, his, her, its, our, your, their

Pronoun: mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, yours, theirs

Predicate: The term predicate (also called complete predicate) refers to everything in a sentence that is not part of the complete subject. In other words, the predicate is the main verb together with helping verbs, the main verb’s complements, and modifiers (if any).

Predicate adjective: Predicate adjectives are adjectives used after linking verbs as subject complements. For example, in the sentence Phineas was lost, lost is a predicate adjective complement of the linking verb was.

Predicate nominative: Predicate nominatives are noun phrases used after linking verbs as subject complements. For example, in the sentence Popeye was the navigator, navigator is a predicate nominative complement of the linking verb was.

Preposition: Prepositions are “little words” that are used primarily to form prepositional phrases, for example, in the evening, on the deck, by me, and after dinner. Prepositions can also be used to form compound verbs called phrasal verbs. For example, in the sentence Humpty Dumpty passed out, passed out is a phrasal verb consisting of the verb passed plus the preposition out meaning “fainted.”

Prepositional phrase: Prepositional phrases consist of prepositions together with their objects (also called complements), which are typically nouns or pronouns, for example, by noon, under the tree, and near me. Prepositional phrases play two roles: as adjectives or adverbs. Adjective prepositional phrases modify nouns. For example, in the sentence The car in the left lane cut in front of me, the prepositional phrase in the left lane functions as an adjective modifying the noun car. Adverb prepositional phrases modify verbs. For example, in the sentence A car had broken down in the left lane, the prepositional phrase in the left lane functions as an adverb modifying the verb broke down, telling where the car had broken down.

Present participial phrase: Present participial phrases are verbal phrases headed by a verb in the present participle form. Present participial phrases are used as adjectives. For example, in the sentence The children playing in the yard live next door, the present participial phrase playing in the yard modifies the noun children. Playing is the present participle form of the verb play.

Present participle: Present participles are forms made by adding -ing to the base form of verbs, for example, be, being; have, having; go, going; and smile, smiling. Present participles are the only verb forms that are completely regular without a single exception.

Present participle verb phrase complement: Present participle verb phrase complements are complements headed by verbs in the present participle form. For example, in the sentence We heard him mowing the lawn, mowing is a present participle verb that heads the phrase mowing the lawn. The verb hear can take the noun phrase plus present participle verb phrase as one of its complements. That is, when we “hear” we can hear somebody (noun phrase) doing something (present participle verb phrase).

Present perfect tense: The present perfect tense consists of the present tense of the helping verb have (has or have) followed by a verb in the past participle form, for example, Watson has held his current job for many years. The present perfect tense is often used to describe past-time actions that have continued over a period of time.

Present progressive: The present progressive consists of the present tense form of the verb be (am, is, or are) followed by a verb in the present participle form, for example, Santa is checking his list of naughty boys right now. The present progressive is often used to describe actions that are taking place at a present moment of time.

Present tense: Present tense verbs use the present form in agreement with the subject—for example, I am, you are, and she is. We use the present tense for generalizations and statements of fact, for example, Malta is an island in the Mediterranean. The present tense rarely means “present moment.” For example, the sentence about Malta does not mean at this present moment. Malta has always been an island in the Mediterranean, not just at the present moment.

Progressive: Progressive is a collective term for three verb constructions that use the verb be (in some form) as a helping verb followed by a verb in the present participle form. The three constructions are the present progressive (I am working on it), the past progressive (I was working on it), and the future progressive (I will be working on it).

Pronoun: Pronouns are a group of words that can play the role of noun phrases. Some pronouns can replace entire noun phrases. For example, the noun phrases in the sentence The waiters in the restaurant smiled at the cute little boy can be replaced by third-person personal pronouns: They smiled at him. There are no fewer than six types of pronouns. The most important group is the personal pronouns (I, you, he, she, it, and they in their various forms). The other groups are demonstrative, indefinite, interrogative, reflexive, and relative.

Pronoun antecedent: Unlike nouns, pronouns have no independent meaning. To be meaningful, pronouns must refer back to some previously mentioned noun. The nouns that pronouns refer back to are called pronoun antecedents. For example, in the following sentences, My aunts live in Chicago. They are my mother’s sisters, the antecedent of the pronoun they is my aunts. Note that the antecedent does not need to be in the same sentence as the pronoun. Pronouns that do not have proper antecedents are called vague pronouns.

Proper noun: Proper nouns are the names of particular individuals, places, or things, as opposed to common nouns, the names for categories of individuals, places, or things. For example, Fred Flintstone is a proper noun, but caveman is a common noun. Seattle is a proper noun, but city is a common noun. Empire State Building is a proper noun, but tower is a common noun.

Quantifier: Quantifiers are a subclass of determiners. Common quantifiers are few, many, much, several, and some, for example, a few beers, many children, much confusion, several ideas, and some desserts. Note that these same words can also be used alone as pronouns. For example, in the sentence Many are called but few are chosen, many and few are both pronouns. They are not quantifiers because they do not modify nouns.

Quotation: The term quotation can refer to either of two different types of quotation: direct quotation, which uses quotation marks to report verbatim what someone said, or indirect quotation, which is a paraphrase of what the person said. Quotation marks are not used with an indirect quotation.

Reflexive pronoun: Reflexive pronouns always end in -self or -selves. The reflexive pronouns are myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, and themselves. Reflexive pronouns must have an antecedent in the same sentence. For example, in the sentence I found myself making the same mistakes, the antecedent of myself is I. Reflexive pronouns can also be used as emphatic pronouns, which are reflexive pronouns used purely for emphasis. For example, in the sentence I myself made the same mistakes, myself is an emphatic pronoun. Emphatic pronouns can always be deleted without affecting the grammaticality of the sentence, for example, I made the same mistakes (with myself deleted).

Regular verb: Regular verbs are the vast majority of verbs that form their past forms and past participles with -d or -ed, for example, rake, raked, raked; walk, walked, walked.

Relative clause: See adjective clause.

Relative pronoun: Relative pronouns are a special group of pronouns that begin adjective clauses. The relative pronouns are who, whom, whose, which, and that. For example, in the sentence She was in a movie that we saw on TV, that is the relative pronoun beginning the adjective clause that we saw on TV. The adjective clause modifies the noun movie.

Restrictive adjective clause: Adjective clauses modify nouns. Restrictive adjective clauses significantly restrict and redefine the meaning of the nouns they modify. For example, in the sentence We bought the rug that was on sale, the adjective clause that was on sale is a restrictive clause because it singles out one particular rug (the one that was on sale) from all the other rugs (the ones that were not on sale). Restrictive adjective clauses are never set off with commas. The opposite of restrictive adjective clause is nonrestrictive adjective clause.

Restrictive participial phrase: Participial phrases modify nouns. Restrictive participial phrases significantly restrict and redefine the meaning of the nouns they modify. For example, in the sentence The people wearing name tags work for the company, the participial phrase wearing name tags is a restrictive participial phrase because it singles out one particular group of people (the ones with name tags) from all the other people (the ones not wearing name tags). Restrictive participial phrases are never set off with commas. The opposite of restrictive participial phrase is nonrestrictive participial phrase.

Run-on sentence: The term run-on sentence is a collective term for two independent clauses that have been improperly joined together as a single sentence without benefit of adequate punctuation. The two main types of run-on sentences are fused sentences (using no punctuation at all) and comma splices (using commas but no coordinating conjunctions).

Second-person pronoun: Second-person pronouns are the personal pronouns you (singular), yours (singular), you (plural), and yours (plural). The term second person refers to the person or persons being spoken to. The second-person possessive pronoun your (both singular and plural) is used to modify nouns and thus functions as an adjective, not a pronoun, for example, your book.

Semicolon: A semicolon (;) is used in place of a period to join closely related independent clauses, for example, Popeye could always be counted on; he never gave up even when things looked bad.

Sentence: Sentences consist of at least one independent clause (with or without accompanying dependent clauses). Sentences are punctuated with periods, exclamation points, or question marks.

Sentences classified by purpose: Sentences classified by purpose fall into four categories: declarative sentences (statements), imperative sentences (commands), interrogative sentences (questions), and exclamatory sentences (sentences with exclamation points).

Sentences classified by structure: Sentences classified by structure fall into four categories: simple sentences (single independent clause, no dependent clauses), compound sentences (two or more independent clauses), complex sentences (single independent clause and one or more dependent clauses), and compound-complex sentences (at least two independent clauses and at least one dependent clause).

Simple predicate: The term simple predicate is used in traditional grammar for the main verb together with any helping verbs. The term is rarely used anymore.

Simple sentence: Simple sentences are sentences containing only a single independent clause and no dependent clauses. This is a simple sentence.

Simple subject: The term simple subject is used to distinguish the noun in the subject part of the sentence from the noun’s modifiers. For example, in the sentence The young man in the yellow sweater took out his cell phone, man is the simple subject. The entire subject component of the sentence is called the complete subject. In the example, the young man in the yellow sweater is the complete subject. The term simple subject is useful because the simple subject is what the verb actually agrees with. Verbs do not agree with the complete subject, only the simple subject.

Simple tense: In traditional grammar, there are six tenses. The six tenses are broken into two main groups: the three simple tenses and the three perfect tenses. The three simple tenses are the present tense, the past tense, and the future tense.

Slashes: A slash ( / ) is not often used but has several functions, almost all of which help a writer indicate a certain connection between letters, numbers, words, or even lines from a poem or song. One common and useful use is a slash that stands for or, as in this example: Call me if/when the mail arrives.

Squinting modifier: Squinting modifiers are modifiers that can be interpreted as modifying two different things. For example, in the sentence Students who practice writing often will benefit, the reader cannot tell if often modifies practice writing or if often modifies will benefit. Squinting modifiers are corrected by moving the modifiers so that there is no confusion about what they modify. In the example, here are two ways of resolving the confusion: Students who often practice writing will benefit. Students who practice writing will often benefit.

Subject: Subjects are the doers of the action of the sentence (with action verbs) or the topics of the sentence (with linking verbs). Subjects enter into subject-verb agreement with tensed, or finite, verbs.

Subject complement: Subject complement is a collective term for the two types of complements of linking verbs: predicate adjectives and predicate nominatives. Subject complements are so called because predicate adjectives and predicate nominatives always refer back to the subject. For example, in the sentence Gloria is famous, the predicate adjective famous describes the subject Gloria. Likewise, in the sentence Santa is a right jolly old elf, the predicate nominative a right jolly old elf describes the subject Santa.

Subject of the gerund: Gerunds are present participles used as nouns. Gerund phrases are phrases headed by gerunds. Gerund phrases are derived from sentences whose subjects can be retained as subjects of the gerund. Subjects of the gerund must always be in a possessive form. For example, in the sentence Tarzan’s constant yelling drove all the apes crazy, the possessive noun Tarzan’s is the subject of the gerund phrase Tarzan’s constant yelling.

Subject of the infinitive: Infinitive phrases are phrases headed by infinitives. Infinitive phrases are used as nouns, adjectives, or adverbs. Infinitive gphrases are reduced forms of sentences. The subjects of these reduced sentences can be retained as subjects of the infinitive. Subjects of the infinitive are always the object of the preposition for. For example, in the sentence For Martha to deliver the presents in person was a great treat, for Martha is the subject of the infinitive phrase for Martha to deliver the presents in person.

Subject-verb agreement: In all clauses (independent and dependent alike), the form of the first verb (also known as the tensed, or the finite, verb) is dependent on the number of the subject. This dependency is known as subject-verb agreement. Subject-verb agreement is seen most clearly when the first verb is in the present tense. If the subject is singular, then the verb must also be singular; that is, the verb must be in what is called the third-person singular -s form. For example, in the sentence The car needs to be washed, the verb needs is in the third-person singular form in agreement with the singular subject car. If the subject is plural, then the verb must be in its plural form without the -s: The cars need to be washed.

Subordinate clause: See dependent clause.

Subordinating conjunction: Subordinating conjunctions are a group of conjunctions used to begin adverb clauses (a type of subordinate clause—hence the name subordinating conjunction). For example, in the sentence I hung up the phone after I had been on hold for fifteen minutes, after is a subordinating conjunction beginning the subordinate adverb clause after I had been on hold for fifteen minutes.

Superlative adjective: Superlative adjectives are formed either by an -est ending (for example, tallest, quickest) or with most (for example, most beautiful, most interesting).

Tense: The term tense is used in two different (and somewhat contradictory) ways. (1) Tense can mean the “time” in which the action of the verb takes place. In this meaning, there are, of course, three tenses or times: present, past, and future. (2) Tense can also be used as the conventional name for various verb constructions built from different verb forms. In this meaning, there are six tenses (illustrated with the verb go): present tense (go, goes), past tense (went), future tense (will go), present perfect tense (has gone), past perfect tense (had gone), and future perfect tense (will have gone).

Tense shifting: The term tense shifting refers to a change (or shift) from one tense to another (usually from present tense to past tense, or vice versa) within a single passage or even within a single sentence. Tense shifting can be either appropriate or inappropriate. Here is an example of appropriate tense shifting: We ate at an old restaurant that is on the lake. The writer has shifted from past tense (ate) to present tense (is). The tense shifting is appropriate in this case because if the writer had written that the restaurant was on the lake, the past tense was would imply (incorrectly) that the restaurant is no longer there. Here is an example of incorrect tense shifting: X Whenever the weather changes, my joints started to hurt. In this case, the writer incorrectly shifts from present tense to past tense. Because the writer is making “timeless” generalizations, the whole sentence should stay in the present tense: Whenever the weather changes, my joints start to hurt.

Tensed verb: The term tensed verb is used in modern grammar to identify the present form or past form verb that enters into subject-verb agreement with the subject. The tensed verb is always the first verb in any string of verbs. For example, in the sentence George has been working out all summer, has is the one and only tensed verb in the sentence. Even in what traditional grammar would call a future tense sentence, the first verb is still a tensed verb. For example, in the sentence Perry will be late again, will is actually the present tense of a modal verb. If a sentence contains only a single verb, that verb is also a tensed verb because it enters into subject-verb agreement with the subject. The term tensed verb means the same thing as the term finite verb.

That type noun clause: The term that type noun clause refers to a category of noun clauses that begin with that, if, or whether. For example, in the sentence That we will go ahead as planned is not up for debate, that begins the noun clause that we will go ahead as planned. The other category of noun clauses is called the wh- type noun clause.

Third-person pronoun: Third-person pronouns are the personal pronouns he, him, his, she, her, hers, it, its, they, them, and theirs. The third-person pronouns (unlike first- and second-person pronouns) can replace or stand for entire noun phrases. For example, in the sentence All the bears in the forest gathered to watch Goldilocks leave, we can replace the subject noun phrase with they: They gathered to watch Goldilocks leave. When third-person pronouns are used to modify nouns, they are classified as adjectives. For example, in the sentence The students packed their bags, the third-person pronoun their is functioning as an adjective modifying the noun bags.

Third-person singular verb form: The term third-person singular verb form refers to the -s that is added to present forms of the verb when that verb agrees with a third-person pronoun (or a noun phrase that can be replaced by a third-person pronoun—see the definition of third-person pronoun). For example, in the sentence She drives to the city every day, the verb drives is in the third-person singular form to agree with the third-person singular pronoun she. The same holds true for the following sentence: My friend Louise drives to the city every day. Drives is still considered to be in the third-person singular form because drives agrees with the subject noun phrase my friend Louise, which can be replaced by the third-person pronoun she.

Topic of sentence: The term topic is used to describe the nature of the subject in linking verb sentences. For example, in the linking verb sentence The Panama Canal is now too small for many modern ships, the subject the Panama Canal is not the doer of any action as would be the case with most subjects in sentences with action verbs. The linking verb sentence is really about the Panama Canal. In other words, the subject of a linking verb sentence is a topic that the rest of the sentence describes or comments on.

Transitional term: See conjunctive adverb.

Transitive verb: Transitive verbs are action verbs that require objects. For example, in the sentence Thelma met Louise, met is a transitive verb. If we were to delete the object Louise, the sentence would become ungrammatical: X Thelma met. The term transitive is not usually applied to linking verbs.

Vague pronoun: Vague pronouns are pronouns that do not have antecedents to give the pronouns meaning. For example, in the sentence They should do something about airport security, they is a vague pronoun because the reader has no way of knowing what they refers to—airports, Congress, the Department of Homeland Security, or the world in general.

Verb: Verbs express action (Martha sneezed) or describe the subject (Martha was not amused). Only verbs have different forms that express tense. That is, only verbs have present and past forms. For example, the word watch could be either a noun or a verb, but the past tense form watched can only be a verb.

Verb complement: Verb complements are whatever complements are required by the verb to make a complete sentence. For example, in the sentence Mary loves her lambs, the noun phrase her lambs is the noun phrase complement of the verb loves. In traditional grammar, only nouns (and noun substitutes) and predicate adjectives can be complements. In modern grammar, the term verb complement is broadened to include any required grammatical element. For example, in modern grammar, adverbials of place can be complements, as in the sentence The train was at the station. In this sentence, the adverb prepositional phrase at the station is a complement of the verb was because if it were deleted, the sentence would become ungrammatical: X The train was.

Verbal: Verbals are infinitives, present participles, and past participles used as other parts of speech. Infinitives (and infinitive phrases) can be used as nouns (To err is human), adjectives (a day to remember), or adverbs (You must practice to succeed). Present participles (and present participial phrases) can be used as nouns, also called gerunds (Winning is not everything) and adjectives (a light shining in the window). Past participles (and past participial phrases) can be used as adjectives (a book printed in Holland).

Verbal phrase: Verbal phrases are phrases headed by verbals.

Voice: The term voice is used to distinguish passive and active sentences. A passive sentence is said to be in the passive voice. For example, the sentence Mary was seen by John is a passive voice sentence. An active sentence is said to be in the active voice. For example, the sentence John saw Mary is an active voice sentence.

Wh- type noun clause: The term wh- type noun clause is used in modern grammar to identify a category of noun clauses that begin with words such as who, whom, whose, when, where, why, etc. Because nearly all the words that begin this type of noun clause happen to begin with wh-, this category of noun clauses is called the wh- type noun clause. For example, in the sentence What you see is what you get, both the subject and complement are wh- type noun clauses.