Grammatical Terms

Front 1

absolute phrase

Back 1

a phrase that is related to a sentence in meaning although it has no grammatical relationship to the sentence

Front 2

abstract noun

Back 2

a noun that names a quality or mental concept; something intangible that exists only in our minds

Front 3

active voice sentence

Back 3

a sentence where the subject performs the action

Front 4

adjective

Back 4

a word that describes or modifies a noun or pronoun

Front 5

adjective clause

Back 5

a clause that functions as an adjective and usually begins with a relative pronoun that is often omitted

Front 6

antecedent

Back 6

a noun, usually before the pronoun, that the pronoun replaces

Front 7

case

Back 7

groupings of nouns and pronouns that tell how the words in question are related to the other words used with them

Front 8

clause

Back 8

a group of related words containing both a subject and a predicate

Front 9

collective noun

Back 9

a noun that describes a group of people or things that are considered a single unit

Front 10

comma splice

Back 10

an incorrect sentence construction in which two independent clauses are fused together with a comma

Front 11

common noun

Back 11

a noun that does not name a specific person, place, thing, or idea

Front 12

comparative adjective

Back 12

compares two persons, places, things, or ideas

Front 13

complement

Back 13

a word often used to complete the meaning of an intransitive verb without receiving the intransitive verb's action and with copulative (linking) verbs to describe state of being

Front 14

compound sentence

Back 14

a sentence with at least two verbs and two subjects

Front 15

concrete noun

Back 15

a noun that names a member of a class; a group of people, places, or things that is physical, visible, and tangible

Front 16

conjunction

Back 16

a word that connects other words to each other

Front 17

countable noun

Back 17

a noun that can be made plural via changing the ending, ususally by adding "s"

Front 18

declarative statement

Back 18

a sentence that makes a statement

Front 19

demonstrative pronoun

Back 19

a pronoun that points to or identifies a noun without explicitly naming it

Front 20

dependent clause

Back 20

a group of connected words that have both a predicate and a subject but still cannot stand alone

Front 21

direct object

Back 21

a word that receives a direct action from the subject of a sentence

Front 22

elliptical clause

Back 22

an instance in which clause elements are omitted if the context makes clear what is being indicated

Front 23

exclamatory statement

Back 23

a sentence that communicates a strong emotion or surprise

Front 24

first person

Back 24

indicates an "I" or "we" as the subject of the sentence

Front 25

future tense

Back 25

an expression of action that takes place in a time to follow the present

Front 26

idiom

Back 26

an expression that is characteristic of a particular language

Front 27

imperative

Back 27

a verb used as a command

Front 28

indefinite pronoun

Back 28

a pronoun that has an unknown or ambiguous antecedent

Front 29

independent (main) clause

Back 29

a clause that can stand by itself as a simple sentence

Front 30

indicative mood

Back 30

a verb used to state a fact or ask a question

Front 31

indirect object

Back 31

a word that receives the action of the subject of the sentence indirectly

Front 32

infinitive

Back 32

the basic form of the verb, usually preceded by the preposition "to"

Front 33

interjection

Back 33

used to express strong emotion or surprise

Front 34

interrogative pronoun

Back 34

a pronoun that poses as a question

Front 35

interrogative statement

Back 35

a sentence that asks a question

Front 36

intransitive verb

Back 36

a verb that does not take an object

Front 37

misplaced modifier

Back 37

a modifier that is not placed near the word it modifies

Front 38

mood

Back 38

indicates the tone of a verb

Front 39

"nominal" of a sentence

Back 39

a word or group of words that can function as a noun

Front 40

nominative case

Back 40

when a noun or pronoun is the subject of the verb

Front 41

noncountable verb

Back 41

a noun that cannot be made plural via changing the ending, usually by adding "s"

Front 42

noun

Back 42

a person, place, thing, animal, action, or quality

Front 43

noun compound

Back 43

a group of words (usually two) that functions as a single part of speech

Front 44

object of the preposition

Back 44

the noun after the preposition

Front 45

objective case

Back 45

when a noun or pronoun is used as the direct object, indirect object, or object of a preposition

Front 46

participal phrase

Back 46

a phrase that contains a participle and its modifiers, which is used as an adjective to modify a noun or pronoun

Front 47

passive voice sentence

Back 47

a sentence in which the subject receives the action

Front 48

past tense

Back 48

an expression of action that is completed at a definite moment before the present

Front 49

person

Back 49

indicates who is speaking and whether the subject is singular or plural

Front 50

personal pronoun

Back 50

a pronoun that refers to beings and objects; the basic ones are: I, you, he, she, we, they

Front 51

phrase

Back 51

a group of connected words without a subject or predicate

Front 52

positive adjective

Back 52

describes a noun or pronoun on its own terms, without comparing it to anything else

Front 53

possessive case

Back 53

a noun or pronoun used to show ownership

Front 54

predicate

Back 54

the action of the sentence or what is said about the subject

Front 55

preposition

Back 55

a word that demonstrates the relationship between its object and another word in the sentence

Front 56

prepositional phrase

Back 56

a phrase that beings with a preposition and contains a noun and its modifiers

Front 57

present tense

Back 57

an expression of action that goes on in the current time or with regularity

Front 58

pronoun

Back 58

a word that replaces a noun

Front 59

proper noun

Back 59

the official name of a particular person, place, or thing

Front 60

regular verb

Back 60

a verb that forms the past tense by adding "ed" to the basic verb

Front 61

relative pronoun

Back 61

a pronoun that relates to one part of a sentence to a word in another part of the sentence

Front 62

run-on sentence

Back 62

two complete sentences totally fused

Front 63

second person

Back 63

indicates a "you" singular or "you" plural as the subject of the sentence

Front 64

sentence

Back 64

a group of words that contain a subject and predicate and ends with a period, exclaimation point, or question mark

Front 65

sentence fragment

Back 65

part of a sentence; usually missing a predicate or a subject

Front 66

split infinitive

Back 66

an instance in which the words that make up an infinitive are separated by one or more words

Front 67

subject of the sentence

Back 67

the part of a sentence about which something is said

Front 68

subjunctive

Back 68

an uncommon construction used to express with exactitude how a verb usage is to be interpreted

Front 69

superlative

Back 69

compares three or more persons, places, or things

Front 70

third person

Back 70

indicates "he," "she," "it," or they as the subject of the sentence

Front 71

transitive verb

Back 71

a verb that takes an object to complete its meaning

Front 72

verb

Back 72

a word showing action or state of being