grammar_glossary_kmgrntgrtkgvldlfakmefkjv2.ppt

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1. Grammar Glossary
A B C D E F G I
J K L M N O P Q R
S T U V W X Y Z
H

2. Grammar Glossary
Abbreviation
Action verb
Active voice
Adjective cla
use
Adjective
Adjective phr
ase
Adverb
Adverb claus
e
Agreement
Adverb phras
e
Ambiguous r
eference
Antecedent
Apostrophe
Appositive ph
rase
Appositive
Article

3. Grammar Glossary
Bad, badly
Base form
Brackets

4. Grammar Glossary
Capitalization
Case of pron
ouns
Clause
Colon
Comma splice
Comma
Compound-co
mplex senten
ceComparison o
f modifiers
Complement
Complex sent
ence
Compound se
ntence
Conjunction
Contraction

5. Grammar Glossary
Dangling mo
difier
Declarative
sentence
Direct objec
t
Double com
parison
Double subje
ct
Double nega
tiveDash

6. Grammar Glossary
Elliptical construc
tion
Essential clause/
essential phrase
Exclamatory sent
ence
End marks

7. Grammar Glossary
Faulty coord
ination
Fused sente
nce

8. Grammar Glossary
General refe
rence
Gerund
Gerund phra
se
Good/well

9. Grammar Glossary
Hyphen

10. Grammar Glossary
Imperative m
ood
Imperative s
entence
Indefinite ref
erence
Independent
clause
Indicative mo
od
Infinitive
Indirect obje
ct
Infinitive phr
ase
Intransitive v
erb
Interjection
Interrogative
sentence
Irregular ver
b
Its, it’s
Italics

11. Grammar Glossary
Lie, lay
Linking verb

12. Grammar Glossary
Misplaced mo
difier
Modifier
Mood

13. Grammar Glossary
Nonessential clause/
nonessential phrase
Noun
Noun clause
Number

14. Grammar Glossary
Objective co
mplement
Object of a p
reposition

15. Grammar Glossary
Parallel struc
ture
Parentheses
Participial ph
rase
Participle
Passive voice
Predicate
Phrase
Predicate adj
ective
Preposition
Predicate no
minative
Prefix
Prepositional
phrase
Pronoun

16. Grammar Glossary
Quotation ma
rks

17. Grammar Glossary
Regular verb
Rise, raise
Run-on sente
nce

18. Grammar Glossary
Semicolon
Sentence
Sentence fra
gment
Simple sente
nce
Sit, set
Subject
Slow, slowly
Subject comp
lement
Suffix
Subjunctive
mood
Subordinate
clause

19. Grammar Glossary
Tense of verb
s
Transitive ve
rb

20. Grammar Glossary
Underlining (
Italics)

21. Grammar Glossary
Verb
Verbal
Verbal phras
e
Verb phrase
Voice

22. Grammar Glossary
Weak referen
ce
Who, whom
Wordiness

23. Grammar Glossary
Abbreviation—An abbreviation is a shortened
form of a word or a phrase.
TX
Mr.
Ave.
Inc.
Examples: (Mister)
(Avenue)
(Incorporated)
(Texas)

24. Grammar Glossary
Action verb—An action verb expresses physical
or mental activity.
Uncle Jim drives a school bus.
Drives is an activity.
verb

25. Grammar Glossary
Active voice—Active voice is the voice a verb is
in when it expresses an action done by its subject.
The dog chased the squirrel across the yard.
The subject, dog, is performing the action of
chasing.
subject verb

26. Grammar Glossary
Adjective—An adjective modifies a noun or a
pronoun.
Do you see that beautiful house over there?Do you see that beautiful house over there?
The adjective that modifies the noun house.
The adjective beautiful also modifies the noun house.

27. Grammar Glossary
Adjective clause—An adjective clause is a
subordinate clause that modifies a noun or a
pronoun.
We saw a car that had aluminum wheels.
The adjective clause that had aluminum wheels
modifies the noun car.

28. Grammar Glossary
Adjective phrase—A prepositional phrase that
modifies a noun or pronoun is called an adjective
phrase.
Dana prefers the backpack with large pockets.
The adjective phrase with large pockets modifies the noun
backpack.

29. Grammar Glossary
Adverb—An adverb modifies a verb, an adjective,
or another adverb.
Mom and Dad often drive us to the lake on
weekends.
The adverb often modifies the verb drive.

30. Grammar Glossary
Adverb clause—An adverb clause is a
subordinate clause that modifies a verb, an
adjective, or an adverb.
Trudy’s grades have improved since she cut
back her TV viewing.
The adverb clause since she cut back her TV viewing
modifies the verb have improved.

31. Grammar Glossary
Adverb phrase—A prepositional phrase that
modifies a verb, an adjective, or an adverb is
called an adverb phrase.
After dark, the carol singers went from house to
house.
The adverb phrase after dark modifies the verb went.

32. Grammar Glossary
Agreement—Agreement is the correspondence,
or match, between grammatical forms.
Grammatical forms agree when they have the
same number and gender.
•of pronouns and antecedents
•of subjects and verb

33. Grammar Glossary
Ambiguous reference —Ambiguous reference
occurs when a pronoun incorrectly refers to either
of two antecedents.
Ambiguous:
Which lives on land—the turtle or the tortoise?
A tortoise is different from a turtle only in that a
tortoise lives on land, not in water.
A tortoise is different from a turtle only in that
it lives on land, not in water.
Clear:

34. Grammar Glossary
Antecedent—An antecedent is the word or words
that a pronoun stands for.
Tim doesn’t know when he will finish the essay.
The pronoun he refers to the proper noun Tim.
pronounantecedent

35. Grammar Glossary
Apostrophe
•contractions
A’s and B’s
someone’s backpack
wouldn’tI’ll
•plurals of letters,
numerals and words
used as words and’s instead of &’s
• possession player’s uniform

36. Grammar Glossary
Appositive—An appositive is a noun or pronoun
placed beside another noun to identify or describe
it.
My friend Desiree recently moved to a new house.
Desiree is an appositive that identifies friend.

37. Grammar Glossary
Appositive phrase—An appositive phrase
consists of an appositive and its modifiers.
I think this coat belongs to Stanley, the gray-haired
man with a mustache.
The gray-haired man with a mustache is an appositive
phrase that describes Stanley.

38. Grammar Glossary
Article—The articles, a, an, and the, are the most
frequently used adjectives.
A sudden gust of wind and loud rumbling in the
distance were the first signs of an impending
storm.

39. Bad is an adjective. In most uses, badly is an
adverb. A word that modifies the subject of a verb
should be in adjective form.
Grammar Glossary
Bad, badly
This chicken soup tastes badly.•nonstandard
•standard This chicken soup tastes bad.

40. Grammar Glossary
Base form—The base form, or infinitive, is one of
the four principal parts of a verb.
We heard Suzi sing the national anthem last night.
base form

41. Grammar Glossary
Brackets
The movie critic wrote, “The leading man’s
performance was a tour de force” [an unusually
skillful performance].

42. Grammar Glossary
Capitalization
Blvd. M.B.A.•of abbreviations and acronyms
•of first words
Dear Dr. Nunez:
•of proper nouns and
proper adjectives
North America
•of titlesUncle CesareConsumers Digest
The cat sat still.
Mexican

43. Grammar Glossary
Case of pronouns—Case is the form a pronoun
takes to show how it is used in a sentence.
She and I are taking karate
lessons.
•nominative
•objective
•possessive
Is Kate going with them to the
movies?
Her speech was interesting.

44. Grammar Glossary
Clause—A clause is a group of words that
contains a subject and a verb and is used as part
of a sentence.
Independent clause
Subordinate clause
She arrives at one o’clock
unless the train is late.
she arrives at one o’clock
subjectverb
unless the train is late
subjectverb
Complete sentence

45. Grammar Glossary
Colon
To assemble the bookcase, you will
need the following tools: a crescent
wrench, a small hammer, and a
Phillips screwdriver.
•before lists
•in conventional
situations
7:30 p.m. Dear Sir:

46. Grammar Glossary
Comma
•in a series
•in compound sentences
•with nonessential phrases and clauses
•with introductory elements
•with interrupters
•in conventional situations

47. Grammar Glossary
Comma splice—A comma splice is a run-on
sentence in which only a comma separates two
complete sentences.
On our first night in New York City, we
went to Times Square, the next day, we
went to Central Park.
Comma
splice
REVISED

48. Grammar Glossary
Comparison of modifiers
•comparison of adjectives and adverbs
•comparing two
•comparing more than two

49. Grammar Glossary
Complement —A complement is a word or word
group that completes the meaning of a verb.
All of Mrs. Lozano’s students admire her.
The complement her tells us whom the students
admire.
verbcomplement

50. Grammar Glossary
Complex sentence —A complex sentence has
one independent clause and at least one
subordinate clause.
Independent
clause
Subordinate clause
My favorite animated film was Cinderella, until I
saw Jungle Book.
My favorite animated film was Cinderella
until I saw Jungle Book

51. Grammar Glossary
Compound-complex sentence —A compound-
complex sentence has two or more independent
clauses and at least one subordinate clause.
Subordinate clause
Independent clause
The sweater that I bought last week was on sale, and it
fits well, too.
The sweater was on sale
that I bought last week
it fits well, tooIndependent clause

52. Grammar Glossary
Compound sentence —A compound sentence
has two or more independent clauses but no
subordinate clauses.
Independent clause
Independent clause
Two of the kittens are gray, but the third kitten is
orange.
two of the kittens are gray
the third kitten is orange

53. Grammar Glossary
Conjunction—A conjunction joins words or
groups of words.
fish or fowl
through the kitchen and up the stairs
Although Boris had a cold, he insisted on performing.

54. Grammar Glossary
Contraction—A contraction is a shortened form
of a word, a numeral, or a group of words.
Apostrophes in contractions indicate where letters
or numerals have been omitted.
(you are)you’re
(of the clock)o’clock
(1914)’14

55. Grammar Glossary
Dangling modifier—A dangling modifier is a
modifying word, phrase, or clause that does not
clearly and sensibly modify a word or word group
in a sentence.
Riding in the convertible, the day was beautiful.
Was the day riding in the convertible? No. This phrase is a
dangling modifier.
Dangling modifier
REVISED

56. Grammar Glossary
Dash
The marine biologist spent several days—ten, I
think—recording the movements of the manatee
and her cub.

57. Grammar Glossary
Declarative sentence—A declarative sentence
makes a statement and is followed by a period.
Edinburgh is the capital of Scotland.
My aunt lives in Missouri.

58. Grammar Glossary
Direct object—A direct object is a word or word
group that receives the action of the verb or shows
the result of the action. A direct object answers
the question Whom? or What? after a transitive
verb.
Rashmi visited them Tuesday afternoon.
Visited whom? Visited them. Them is the direct
object.
direct object

59. Grammar Glossary
Double comparison —A double comparison is the
nonstandard use of two comparative forms (usually
more and –er) or two superlative forms (usually most
and –est) to express comparison. In standard usage,
the single comparative form is correct.
Jill is the most tallest member of our
family.
nonstandard
standard Jill is the tallest member of our family.

60. nonstandard
nonstandard
Grammar Glossary
Double negative—A double negative is the
nonstandard use of two negative words when one
is enough.
Alonzo can’t hardly keep his eyes open.
standard
Alonzo can hardly keep his eyes open.
standard
I haven’t never been on an airplane.
I haven’t ever been on a airplane.
I have never been on a airplane.

61. nonstandard
Grammar Glossary
Double subject—A double subject occurs when
an unnecessary pronoun is used after the subject
of a sentence.
Abner Doubleday, contrary to popular
belief, he did not create the game of
baseball.
standard Abner Doubleday, contrary to popular
belief, did not create the game of
baseball.

62. Grammar Glossary
Elliptical construction—An elliptical
construction is a clause from which words have
been omitted.
Joel is much taller than his brothers.
The words are tall have been omitted from the clause.
[are tall].

63. Grammar Glossary
End marks
•with sentences
•with abbreviations

64. Grammar Glossary
Essential clause/essential phrase —An
essential, or restrictive, clause or phrase is
necessary to the meaning of a sentence and is not
set off by commas.
The woman who manages the volunteers is Mrs.
Anton.
The clause who manages the volunteers is essential to
the meaning of the sentence.

65. Grammar Glossary
Exclamatory sentence —An exclamatory
sentence expresses strong feeling and is followed
by an exclamation point.
What a surprise this is!
I can’t wait to go to the concert!

66. faulty
Grammar Glossary
Faulty coordination—Faulty coordination occurs when
unequal ideas are presented as though they were
coordinate. Usually, the clauses are strung together
with coordinating conjunctions like and or but.
At the age of sixty-five, my grandmother retired from
teaching school, but within a year she grew bored, for
she missed being around her colleagues and interacting
with students, so she decided to become a substitute
teacher, and now she is back in the classroom nearly
every day, and she is enjoying life again.REVISED

67. fused
Grammar Glossary
Fused sentence—A fused sentence is a run-on
sentence in which no punctuation separates
complete sentences.
Our pecan trees produce hundreds of pecans
usually we share with neighbors.
revisedOur pecan trees produce hundred of pecans;
usually we share with neighbors.
Our pecan trees produce hundreds of pecans.
Usually we share with neighbors.

68. General
reference
Grammar Glossary
General reference—A general reference is the
incorrect use of a pronoun to refer to a general
idea rather than to a specific noun.
The team’s star player, Yolanda, has been
sidelined by an injury. That may be the
reason for their low morale.
What does That refer to?
REVISED

69. Grammar Glossary
Gerund—A gerund is a verb form ending in –ing
that is used as a noun.
Swimming is good exercise.
The gerund swimming is the subject of the sentence.

70. Grammar Glossary
Gerund phrase—A gerund phrase consists of a
gerund and any modifiers and complements it has.
On weekends, Alberto enjoys playing soccer with his
friends.
Gerund—playing
Complement of the gerund— soccer with his friends
The gerund phrase is the direct object of the sentence.

71. Grammar Glossary
Good/well
For a beginner, Julian is a good golfer.
For a beginner, Julian plays golf well.
Good is an adjective. Well may be used as an
adjective, meaning “in good health” or “satisfactorily.”
Well may also be used as adverb, meaning “capably.”
Good modifies the noun golfer.
Well modifies the verb plays.
adjective
adverb

72. Grammar Glossary
Hyphen
The Ecology Club at school organ-
ized a recycling campaign.
•to divide
words
•in compound
numbers
•with prefixes
The Ecology Club has ninety-seven
members.
The Ecology Club began a recycling
campaign in mid-September.

73. Grammar Glossary
Imperative mood —The imperative mood is
used to express a direct command or request.
Put that magazine down!
Read what the sign says.

74. Grammar Glossary
Imperative sentence —An imperative sentence
gives a command or makes a request and is
followed by either a period or an exclamation
point.
Please turn the TV off.
Turn that TV off!
request
command

75. indefinite
reference
Grammar Glossary
Indefinite reference—An indefinite reference is
the incorrect use of the pronoun you, it, or they to
refer to no particular person or thing.
revised
They claim that the football team is the best
ever.
Who is they?
The fans claim that the football team is the
best ever.

76. Grammar Glossary
Independent clause —An independent clause
(also called a main clause) expresses a complete
thought and can stand by itself as a sentence.
Dad hired a contractor to build the deck.
subjectverb

77. Grammar Glossary
Indicative mood—The indicative mood is used
to express a fact, an opinion, or a question.
George Washington was the first U.S.
president.
My aunt makes the best apple pie.
Don’t you live next door to the Sandovals?
fact
opinion
question

78. Grammar Glossary
Indirect object—An indirect object is a word or
word group that often comes between a transitive
verb and its direct object and tells to whom or to
what or for whom or for what the action of the
verb is done.
Kathleen gave the dog a rubber toy.
Kathleen gave what? toy—direct object
Kathleen gave a toy to whom? dog—indirect object
verb
direct
object
indirect
object

79. Grammar Glossary
Infinitive—An infinitive is a verb form, usually
preceded by to, that is used as a noun, an
adjective, or an adverb.
We all wanted to swim, so Mom took us to the
pool.

80. Grammar Glossary
Infinitive phrase—An infinitive phrase consists
of an infinitive and its modifiers and
complements.
To become a doctor is his goal.
To become—infinitive
To become a doctor—infinitive phrase
The infinitive phrase acts as the subject of the sentence.

81. Grammar Glossary
Interjection—An interjection expresses emotion
and has no grammatical relation to the rest of
the sentence.
Wow! Look at those fireworks.
Ouch! That cut hurts.

82. Grammar Glossary
Interrogative sentence—An interrogative
sentence asks a question and is followed by a
question mark.
Have you ever seen the Rockies?
When does the movie start?

83. Grammar Glossary
Intransitive verb—An intransitive verb is a
verb that does not take an object.
The wind howls fiercely.
John sat at the desk.

84. Grammar Glossary
Irregular verb—An irregular verb is a verb that
forms its past and past participle in some way
other than by adding –d or –ed to the base form.
Base form Present
participle
Past Past
participle
be [is] being was, were [have] been
choose [is] choosingchose [have] chosen
pay [is] paying paid [have] paid

85. Grammar Glossary
Italics (Underlining)
•for titles
The Great Gatsby [book]
The Water Carrier [long musical
composition]
•for words,
letters, and
symbols used
as such and for
foreign words
Mississippi has four i’s, four s’s, and
two p’s.
A fait accompli is anything that is
done that cannot be undone.

86. Grammar Glossary
Its, it’s
The gerbil is your pet. You need to clean its cage.
the gerbil’s
It’s been a long time since it’s been cleaned.
It has it has
Its is a possessive pronoun. It’s is a contraction
for “it is” or “it has.”

87. Grammar Glossary
Lie, lay
“You look tired, Mom. Perhaps you should lay your
work aside and lie down for a while,” I suggested.
The verb lie means “to rest,” “to recline,” or “to be in a
certain place.” The verb lay means “to put [something]
in place.”
Base form Present
participle
Past Past
participle
lie [is] lying lay [have] lain
lay [is] laying laid [have] laid

88. Grammar Glossary
Linking verb—A linking verb connects the subject
with a word that identifies or describes the
subject.
Sparrows are determined nest builders.
The linking verb are connects sparrows and its description–
determined.

89. misplaced
Grammar Glossary
Misplaced modifier—A misplaced modifier is a
word, phrase, or clause that seems to modify the
wrong word or words in a sentence.
The humpback whales entertained the
passengers aboard the tour boat,
leaping gracefully out of the gentle
ocean waves.
Was the tour boat leaping gracefully? No, the
modifier is misplaced.
REVISED

90. Happy modifies the proper noun
Harriet.
Grammar Glossary
Modifier—A modifier is a word or word group
that makes the meaning of a word or word group
more specific.
Harriet is happy.
The children laughed excitedly. Excitedly modifies
the verb laughed.

91. Grammar Glossary
Mood—Mood is the form a verb takes to indicate
the attitude of the person using the verb.
• imperative mood
• indicative mood
• subjunctive mood

92. nonessential
clause
Grammar Glossary
Nonessential clause/nonessential phrase —A
nonessential, or nonrestrictive, clause or phrase adds
information not necessary to the main idea in the
sentence and is set off by commas.
Diana discussed her trip to Florida,
which took place last month.
nonessential
phrase
The twins, sitting quietly for a
change, posed for the picture.

93. (person)
(place)
(thing)
Grammar Glossary
Noun—A noun names a person, a place, a thing,
or an idea.
Elizabeth Pena
Paris
mountain
knowledge (idea)

94. Grammar Glossary
Noun clause—A noun clause is a subordinate
clause used as a noun.
The main message of Ms. Pinckney’s talk was that we
should always be punctual.
The subordinate clause that we should always be punctual
works as a noun—a predicate nominative.

95. Grammar Glossary
Number—Number is the form a word takes to
indicate whether the word is singular or plural.
Singularchild man leaf town
Plural childrenmen leaves towns

96. Grammar Glossary
Objective complement —An objective
complement is a word or word group that helps
complete the meaning of a transitive verb by
identifying or modifying the direct object.
transitive
verb
direct
object
Sandy called her grandfather a hero.
objective
complement
Sandy called whom? grandfather—direct object
Sandy called her grandfather what exactly? hero—objective
complement

97. Grammar Glossary
Object of a preposition—An object of a
preposition is the noun or pronoun that ends a
prepositional phrase.
She heard a composition on the radio by her
music teacher.
Radio is the object of the prepositional phrase on the radio.
Teacher is the object of the prepositional phrase by her
music teacher.

98. nonparallel
Grammar Glossary
Parallel structure—Parallel structure is the use of
the same grammatical forms or structures to
balance related ideas in a sentence.
parallel
Each day, I reserve time for exercising and
to write in my journal.
Each day, I reserve time for exercising
and for writing in my journal.
Each day, I reserve time to exercise and
to write in my journal.

99. Grammar Glossary
Parentheses
A praying mantis (see illustration C) is the only insect
that can turn its head from side to side.
A praying mantis is the only insect that can turn its
head from side to side. (See illustration C.)

100. Grammar Glossary
Participial phrase—A participial phrase consists
of a participle and any complements and modifiers
it has.
Admired for his courage, my cousin is an impressive
young man.
Admired is the participle.
Admired for his courage is the participial phrase.
The participial phrase acts as an adjective and modifies
cousin.

101. Grammar Glossary
Participle—A participle is a verb form that can be
used as an adjective.
Blushing, Tina accepted the award.
Blushing is used as an adjective to describe Tina.

102. Grammar Glossary
Passive voice—The passive voice is the voice the
verb is in when it expresses an action done to its
subject.
The president was elected with 60 percent of the
vote.
The subject president receives the action of the verb elect.
The sentence does not indicate who did the act of electing.

103. Grammar Glossary
Phrase—A phrase is a group of related words that
does not contain both a verb and its subject and
that is used as a single part of speech.
Our champion swimmer is an appositive phrase.
At the Kansas City meet is a prepositional phrase.
Steve, our champion swimmer, will represent King Junior
High at the Kansas City meet.

104. Grammar Glossary
Predicate—The predicate is the part of a
sentence that says something about the subject.
Will she perform a solo?
Horace may be responsible for that prank.
Subject: she
Predicate: Will perform a solo
Subject: Horace
Predicate: may be responsible for that prank

105. Grammar Glossary
Predicate adjective—A predicate adjective is an
adjective that completes the meaning of a linking
verb and modifies the subject of the verb.
linking
verb
predicate
adjectivesubject
The trees looked red in the evening light.
Red is a predicate adjective that describes the
subject trees.

106. Grammar Glossary
Predicate nominative—A predicate nominative
is a noun or pronoun that completes the meaning
of a linking verb and identifies or refers to the
subject of the verb.
linking
verb
predicate
nominativesubject
My sister will be a lawyer soon.
Lawyer is a predicate nominative that refers to the subject sister.

107. Grammar Glossary
Prefix—A prefix is a word part that is added
before a base word or root.
un
re
self
mid
+fair=unfair
+elect=reelect
+
+
esteem=
=
self-esteem
April mid-April

108. Grammar Glossary
Preposition—A preposition shows the
relationship of a noun or pronoun to some other
word in the sentence.
Berlin, the capital of Germany, is located in the
east.
The prepositions of and in describe Berlin’s relationship to
Germany and its location.

109. Grammar Glossary
Prepositional phrase—A prepositional phrase is
a group of words beginning with a preposition and
ending with its object.
Before work, Dan always feeds the birds.
Before is the preposition, and work is its object.

110. Grammar Glossary
Pronoun—A pronoun is used in place of one or
more nouns or pronouns.
His muscles ached, she was sunburned, and their feet
were sore, but all in all they had had a wonderful day.
All of the guests helped themselves to more of the
spinach salad.

111. Grammar Glossary
Quotation marks
•for direct quotations
•with other marks of punctuation
•for titles

112. Grammar Glossary
Regular verb—A regular verb is a verb that
forms its past and past participle by adding –d or –
ed to its base form.
Base form Present
participle
Past Past participle
ask [is] asking asked [have] asked
attack [is] attacking attacked [have] attacked
drown [is] drowning drowned [have] drowned

113. Grammar Glossary
Rise, raise
The river rose rapidly.
They raised a white flag to signal surrender.
The verb rise means “to move upward” or “to go up.”
Rise does not take an object. The verb raise means “to
lift (something) up.” Raise usually takes an object.
The river moved upward rapidly.
They lifted a white flag up to signal surrender.

114. run-on
Grammar Glossary
Run-on sentence—A run-on sentence is two or
more complete sentences run together as one.
revised
We were looking for the keys he grew a
little impatient.
We were looking for the keys. He grew a
little impatient.

115. Grammar Glossary
Semicolon
•in compound sentences with no conjunction
•in compound sentences with conjunctive
adverbs
•between items in a series when the items
contain commas

116. Grammar Glossary
Sentence—A sentence is a group of words that
contains a subject and a verb and expresses a
complete thought.
subject
Mr. Holland will give his presentation in the
auditorium.
verb

117. Grammar Glossary
Sentence fragment —A sentence fragment is a group
of words that is punctuated as if it were a complete
sentence but that does not contain both a subject and a
verb or that does not express a complete thought.
fragment In 2002, the Winter Olympic Games in Salt
Lake City.
sentence
In 2002, the Winter Olympic Games will be
held in Salt Lake City.

118. Grammar Glossary
Simple sentence—A simple sentence has one
independent clause and no subordinate clauses.
The cheetah is an endangered species.
How many other species are endangered?
subjectverb
subject verb

119. Grammar Glossary
Sit, set
The scientists sat quietly, watching the televised
launch of the space shuttle Atlantis.
On top of the television, the science teacher set
her model of the space shuttle Atlantis.
The verb sit means “to be seated” or “to rest.” Sit
seldom takes an object. The verb set usually means “to
place (something somewhere)” or “to put (something
somewhere).” Set usually takes an object.

120. Grammar Glossary
Slow, slowly
“Slow drivers can be as much of a menace on the
road as fast drivers,” said Erwin.
Dr. Emmet spoke very slowly, with a pronounced
accent.
Slow is used as both an adjective and an adverb.
Slowly is used as an adverb. In most adverb cases, it is
better to use slowly than to use slow.
adjective
adverb

121. Grammar Glossary
Subject—The subject tells whom or what a
sentence is about.
Finally, the train entered the station.
subject

122. Grammar Glossary
Subject complement —A subject complement is a
word or word group that completes the meaning of
a linking verb and identifies or describes the
subject.
Linus was impressive in the play last night.

Impressive describes the subject, Linus.
linking
verb
subject
complementsubject

123. Grammar Glossary
Subjunctive mood —The subjunctive mood is
used to express a suggestion, a necessity, a
condition contrary to fact, or a wish.
Mrs. Chen recommended that Gloria
audition for the leading role.
If I were you, I would have a skilled
mechanic inspect the used car.
suggestion
condition
contrary to
fact

124. Grammar Glossary
Subordinate clause—A subordinate clause (also
called a dependent clause) does not express a
complete thought and cannot stand alone as a
sentence.
Margaret and Melanie are two six-year-old girls who
live in San Marcos, Texas.

125. Grammar Glossary
Suffix—A suffix is a word part that is added
after a base word or root.
safe
busy
swim
knowledge
+ly=safely
+ly=busily
+
+
er=
=
swimmer
able knowledgeable

126. Grammar Glossary
Tense of verbs—The tense of verbs indicates
the time of the action or state of being
expressed by the verb.
•Present
•Past
•Future
•Present perfect
•Past perfect
•Future perfect

127. Grammar Glossary
Transitive verb—A transitive verb is an action
verb that takes an object.
Marcia washed her minivan yesterday.
Washed what? Her minivan.

128. Grammar Glossary
Underlining (Italics)
•for titles
The Great Gatsby [book]
The Water Carrier [long musical
composition]
•for words,
letters, and
symbols used
as such and for
foreign words
Mississippi has four i’s, four s’s, and
two p’s.
A fait accompli is anything that is
done that cannot be undone.

129. Grammar Glossary
Verb—A verb expresses an action or state of
being.
We walked slowly down the steep hill.
The grasshopper is near the fence.
Walked expresses an action.
Is expresses a state of being.

130. Grammar Glossary
Verbal—A verbal is a form of a verb used as a
noun, an adjective, or an adverb. (See also
participle and infinitive.)
The children were amazed by the leaping lemurs.
To leave was hard.
Leaping is the verbal. It is used an adjective to modify
lemurs.
To leave is the verbal. It is used as the subject of the
sentence.

131. Grammar Glossary
Verbal phrase—A verbal phrase consists of a
verbal and any modifiers and complements it has.
(See also participial phrase and infinitive phrase.)
Running fast, the squirrel reached the safety of the
tree.
Running fast is the verbal phrase. Running is the verbal.

132. Grammar Glossary
Verb phrase—A verb phrase consists of a main
verb and at least one helping verb.
Have you seen Rich today?
Have seen is the verb phrase. Have is the helping verb.
Seen is the main verb.
We will go to San Francisco next week.
Will go is the verb phrase. Will is the helping verb. Go is the
main verb.

133. Grammar Glossary
Voice—Voice is the form a transitive verb takes to
indicate whether the subject of the verb performs
or receives the action.
Patricia MacLachlan wrote the book
Sarah, Plain and Tall.
The book Sarah, Plain and Tall was
written by Patricia MacLachlan.
active
voice
passive
voice
The subject performs the action of writing.
The subject receives the action.

134. Grammar Glossary
Weak reference—A weak reference is the
incorrect use of a pronoun to refer to an
antecedent that has not been expressed.
Jane Austen was a prolific writer; many
of them have been made into films.
Jane Austen was a prolific writer; many
of her novels have been made into
films.
weak
revised

135. Grammar Glossary
Who, whom
For two weeks last summer, I visited my pen pal Emile,
who lives in Montreal, Quebec.
My pen pal Emile, whom I have known for five years,
has taught me much about French Canadian traditions.
The pronoun who has different forms in the nominative
and objective cases. Who is the nominative form;
whom is the objective form.

136. Grammar Glossary
Wordiness—Wordiness is the use of more words
than necessary or the use of fancy words where
simple ones will do.
In the event that it rains, we will not cancel the
party that we have planned in celebration of
Cinco de Mayo but instead, as an alternative,
will hold the party indoors, not outdoors.
If it rains, we will hold our Cinco de Mayo party
indoors.
• wordy
• revised

137. The End