Grammar Devices and Logical Fallacies

These flashcards cover key grammar devices and logical fallacies as discussed in the lecture notes.

absolute phrase

A noun or pronoun followed by a participle and any modifiers of the noun or pronoun.

active voice

When the subject of the sentence does the action, e.g., 'The early bird catches the worm.'

passive voice

When the subject receives the action, e.g., 'The early worm is caught by the early bird.'

adjectival

A word that appears in a position that can be occupied by an adjective.

adjectival clause

A dependent clause that is related to another clause by a relative pronoun or adverb.

adverbial clause

A subordinate clause introduced by a subordinating conjunction that modifies the verb of the main clause.

antecedent

An expression (word or phrase) that another expression refers to.

appositive

A noun or pronoun that renames another noun or pronoun.

direct object

The noun phrase following a verb that refers to the thing affected by the action.

elliptical structure

One with a missing element, e.g., 'John ate but I didn’t [eat].'

independent clause

A clause that can stand alone as a sentence.

compound sentence

A sentence consisting of two independent clauses, usually joined by a comma and a coordinating conjunction.

coordinating conjunction

A word used to join elements of equal grammatical rank.

correlative conjunction

A pair of conjunctions connecting grammatically equal elements.

infinitive

The form of a verb that follows 'to,' e.g., 'to go.'

intransitive verb

A verb that does not have a direct object.

linking verb

A verb that links the subject of a sentence to a subject complement.

modifier

A word, phrase, or clause that describes or qualifies the meaning of another word.

possessive pronouns

Pronouns used to indicate ownership.

sentence

A word group consisting of at least one independent clause.

simple sentence

A sentence consisting of one independent clause.

subordinate clause

A clause that cannot stand alone as a sentence.

logical fallacy

An error in reasoning that leads to a faulty conclusion.

begging the question

A fallacy where the conclusion is assumed in the premise.

non-sequitur

A fallacy that draws a conclusion that does not follow from the premises.

appeal to ignorance

A fallacy that argues that a lack of evidence is itself evidence.

appeal to authority

A fallacy that cites an authority as evidence in an unrelated field.

ad hominem

A fallacy that attacks the person instead of addressing the argument.

straw man

A fallacy that misrepresents an opponent’s argument to make it easier to attack.

hasty generalization

A fallacy that draws a broad conclusion from insufficient evidence.

slippery slope

A fallacy that argues a small action will lead to dire consequences.

red herring

A fallacy that introduces irrelevant information to distract from the main issue.

personification

Attributing human characteristics to non-human entities.

simile

A comparison between two different things using 'like' or 'as.'

metaphor

A direct comparison between two different things without using 'like' or 'as.'