Grammar

noun

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

common noun

A noun that refers to a general category of people, places, things, or ideas, rather than a specific name.

proper noun

the official name of a specific person, place, or organization, always capitalized.

abstract noun

A type of noun that denotes an idea, quality, or state rather than a concrete object.

collective noun

A noun that refers to a group of individuals or things considered as a single unit, such as "team" or "flock."

pronoun

A word used in place of a noun, often to avoid repetition, such as "he," "she," or "they."

antecedent

The noun or pronoun that a pronoun refers back to in a sentence.

personal pronoun

A pronoun that is used to refer to specific persons or things, often indicating ownership or relationships, such as "I," "you," "he," "she," "we," and "they."

possessive pronoun

A pronoun that shows ownership, such as "mine," "yours," "his," "hers," and "theirs." (does not contain an apostrophe)

adjective

A word that describes or modifies a noun, providing more information about its qualities or characteristics.

participle

A form of a verb that can function as an adjective, typically ending in -ing or -ed, used to indicate tense or aspects of a verb.

adjective location

precede the noun or noun phrase that they modify

verb

A word that describes an action, occurrence, or state of being, serving as the main component of a predicate.

linking verbs

A type of verb that links or joins the subject of a sentence to a noun, pronoun, or predicate adjective. Do NOT show action. Most common are forms of the verb to be: am, is, are, was, were. Sometimes relate to the five senses. Sometimes reflect a state of being: appear, seem, become, grow, turn, prove, and remain

subjunctive mood

used when referring to hypothetical situations or when expressing a wish or demand. Examples

It is important that Vanessa send (not sends) her resume immediately

I wish I were (not was) that smart

If I were (not was) you, I’d leave now

adverb

A word that modifies a verb, adjective, or other adverb, often indicating manner, place, time, frequency, or degree.

preposition

A word that shows the relationship between a noun or pronoun and other words in a sentence, often indicating direction, location, or time, such as in, on, or at.

prepositional phrase

a group of words that includes a preposition and a noun or pronoun, providing additional details about location, time, or direction.

compound preposition

A preposition that consists of two or more words, such as "in front of" or "according to."

object of the preposition

The noun or pronoun that follows a preposition in a sentence, completing its meaning.

conjunction

A word that connects phrases, clauses, or words, such as "and," "but," or "or."

coordinating conjunction

A type of conjunction that connects words, phrases, or clauses of equal importance, such as "for," "and," "nor," "but," "or," "yet," and "so."

correlative conjunction

A pair of conjunctions that work together to connect equal elements in a sentence, such as "either…or," "neither…nor," and "both…and." (always stay in the same pair, do NOT mix)

subordinating conjunctions

join two clauses or thoughts

interjection

a word or phrase that expressed emotion or exclamation. It does not have gramatical connection to the other words in the sentence (ex. Yikes, that test was hard)

clause

a group of words that has a subject and predicate

independent (main) clause

expresses a compete thought and can stand alone as a sentence. Used to write simple compound sentences

dependent (subordinate) clause

begins with a subordinating conjunction and does NOT express a complete thought and therefore cannot stand alone as a sentence. Added to an independent clause to form complex or compound-complex sentences

direct object

the person or thing that is directly affected by the action of the verb. It answers the question of what or whom after a transition verb.

Example: The students watched the professor distribute the exam

The professor answers whom the students watched

transitive verb

a verb that acts on a direct object

Ex: My car needs gas

intransitive verb

does not act on a direct object

Ex: My car died

indirect object

the person or thing that is indirectly affected by the action of the verb. Can only exist if there is a direct object. Answers the question of whom, for whom, to what, or for what after an action verb

Example: The professor gave his class the test results

between the verb (gave) and the direct object (test results)

phrase

a group of two or more words that act as a single part of speech in a sentence. Can be used as a noun, an adjective, or an adverb. Lacks a subject and predicate.