## [grammar terms](/writing-tips-plus/grammar-terms) ## Avertissement Ce contenu est offert en anglais seulement. Here is a list of grammar terms and their definitions. ## adjective Identifies, describes, limits or qualifies a noun or pronoun. For example, *awesome*, *best*, *both*, *happy*, *our*, *this*, *three*, *whose* and *yellow* are adjectives. ## adverb Identifies, describes, limits or qualifies a verb, an adjective, another adverb or a group of words. For example, *almost*, *also*, *eloquently*, *not*, *often*, *rapidly*, *really*, *someday*, *thus* and *very* are adverbs. ## adverbial phrase Two or more words that function as an adverb. For example, *across the pond* is the adverbial phrase in the sentence *The beaver swam across the pond*. ## antecedent Is a noun, noun phrase or pronoun referred to by a pronoun. The antecedent usually comes before the pronoun replacing it. For example, *Lexus* is the antecedent of *one* in the sentence *I wanted a Lexus for my birthday, but did not get one.* ## case Indicates how a noun or pronoun functions in a sentence. Personal pronouns have three cases: subject (for a subject or subject complement), object (for the object of a verb or preposition) and possessive. For example, for the pronoun *he*, *he* is the subject case, *him* is the object case, and *his* is the possessive case. Nouns and indefinite pronouns generally have two cases: the common case for both subject and object (e.g. *writer, someone*) and the possessive (e.g. *writer’s, someone’s*). ## clause Consists of a group of related words containing a subject and a predicate. For example, there are two clauses in the sentence *Although we looked for errors, we found none.* Note that *Although we looked for errors* is a dependent clause (i.e. it cannot stand alone) and *we found none* is an independent clause (i.e. it can stand alone). ## collective noun Represents a group of people, animals or objects. Collective nouns are singular in form and take a singular verb when they refer to the group as a single unit. Common collective nouns include *audience*, *government*, *herd* and *public*. ## compound adjective Identifies, describes, limits or qualifies a noun or pronoun. Contains more than one word (e.g. *bone-chilling*). ## compound noun Combines two or more words that are then used as a single concept. - **hyphenated compound** connects the words with a hyphen (e.g. *free-for-all*). - **open compound** remains as separate words (e.g. *decision making*). - **solid compound** fuses the words together (e.g. *housekeeper*). ## compound subject Consists of two or more parts joined by a conjunction (e.g. *Jack and Jill*, *either you or I*). If its parts are joined with *and*, the compound subject is usually plural, except when the parts form a single unit (e.g. *drinking and driving*) or refer to the same person or thing (e.g. *senior writer and editor*). If a compound subject contains *or* or *nor*, the verb agrees with the part nearest the verb. ## conjunction Links words, phrases or clauses. - **coordinating conjunction** connects elements of equal rank such as two nouns (e.g. *bread and butter*), two adjectives (e.g. *short and sweet*), two clauses (e.g. *the party was over, so they went home*). *And*, *but*, *or*, *nor*, *for*, *so* and *yet* are the coordinating conjunctions. - **correlative conjunction** consists of two elements that work together (e.g. *either…or*, *neither…nor*, *not only…but also*). - **subordinating conjunction** begins a dependent (or subordinate) clause and joins it to an independent (or main) clause (e.g. *John woke the children after he ate breakfast*). *After*, *although*, *because*, *if*, *when* and *while* are a few examples of the many subordinating conjunctions. ## conjunctive adverb Joins two clauses together. Some of the most common conjunctive adverbs include *consequently*, *furthermore*, *hence*, *however*, *nevertheless*, *nonetheless* and *therefore*. Conjunctive adverbs are not strong enough to join two independent clauses without the aid of a semicolon. ## definite article Precedes a noun and restricts its meaning by referring to a specific thing (e.g. *the server crashed*) or person (e.g. *the minister spoke briefly*). The word *the* is the only definite article in the English language. ## direct object Receives the action of a transitive verb. The direct object answers the question *what?* or *whom?* after the verb. For example, the noun *report* is the direct object in the sentence *I handed in my monthly report*. It answers the question *I handed in what?* ## ellipsis (plural: ellipses) - The omission of a word or words needed to grammatically complete a phrase, clause or expression. - Set of three dots \[…\] indicating an omission. ## elliptical clause Is a grammatically incomplete clause because some key words have been omitted, usually to avoid repetition. Generally, the meaning can easily be understood from the context. For example, after reading that *Jean has five dollars; Mary, three*, most people will understand that Mary has three dollars, even though the words *has* and *dollars* have been omitted from the elliptical clause. When an ellipsis is marked by a comma within the second clause, the clauses must be separated by a semicolon, as in the example given. ## gender Refers to the classification of nouns and pronouns as masculine (e.g. *man*, *he*), feminine (e.g. *woman*, *she*) and neuter (e.g. *laptop*, *it*). ## gerund Is a verb form ending in *-ing* that acts as a noun. For example, the gerund *smoking* acts as a noun in the sentence *Smoking can be hazardous to your health.* ## indefinite article Precedes a noun (either a thing or a person) whose specific identity is unknown to the reader (e.g. *a pilot project*, *an auditor*). The words *a* and *an* are the only two indefinite articles in the English language. ## indirect object Names the person or thing affected by the verb. The indirect object answers the question *to whom?*, *for whom?*, *to what?* or *for what?* For example, the noun *Liette* is the indirect object in the sentence *Don gave Liette a set of fishing lures.* It answers the question *To whom did Don give a set of fishing lures?* ## infinitive The unconjugated, uninflected base or stem form of a verb, often preceded by *to*. For example, *to consider*, *to extinguish*, *to be* and *to drink* are infinitives. ## interjection Expresses surprise or sudden, strong emotion. Some commonly used interjections are *darn*; *hey, you*; *oops*; *rats*; *uh-uh*; and *wow*. The interjection, which is generally followed by an exclamation or a question mark, is often placed at the beginning or the end of a sentence. ## intransitive verb Does not require a direct object to complete its meaning. Examples of intransitive verbs include *growl* (e.g. *The bear is growling*), *crash* (e.g. *My computer crashed*) and *ring* (e.g. *The bell rang*). ## linking verb Does not express an action. A linking verb connects the subject to its subject complement. The verbs *be* (e.g. *My team leader is efficient*), *become* (e.g. *Julia became a doctor*) and *seem* (e.g. *The customer seems satisfied*) are all examples of linking verbs. Verbs of sensing (*look*, *feel*, *smell*, *sound*, *taste*) can also be used as linking verbs: e.g. *This stew smells good*. ## noun Designates an idea (*immortality*), a person (*astronaut*, *Gretzky*), a place (*penalty* *box*), a thing (*canoe*), an entity (*Group of Seven*), a quality (*determination*) or a point in time (*tomorrow*). ## noun phrase Consists of a noun or pronoun and all of its modifiers, including articles, adjectives and other nouns (e.g. *a shiny new Lexus*, *a glass of chocolate milk, the emergency room*). ## number Refers to the form of a noun, pronoun, demonstrative adjective or verb indicating whether it is singular (e.g. *book*, *it*, *this*, *is*) or plural (e.g. *books*, *they*, *these*, *are*). ## participle Is a verb form that works with a helping (auxiliary) verb to create compound verb tenses or stands alone as an adjective. - **past participle** often ends in *-ed* (e.g. *produced*), but may be formed irregularly (e.g. *eaten*). - **present participle** ends in *-ing* (e.g. *reading*). ## person Refers to the form of a verb or pronoun indicating whether the subject is speaking (first person—*I am*, *we are*), spoken to (second person—*you are*) or spoken about (third person—*he*, *she*, or *it is;* *they are*). ## phrase Consists of a group of related words that does not have a subject, a predicate or both. Different types of phrases (e.g. noun phrase, verb phrase, prepositional phrase) frequently function as single parts of speech (e.g. noun, verb, adverb). In the sentence *They were arguing in a heated manner*, the prepositional phrase *in a heated manner* acts as an adverb modifying the verb phrase *were arguing*. ## predicate Makes a statement about the subject. The predicate consists of the verb and its objects, complements and modifiers. For example, *handed in my application for the job* is the predicate of the sentence *I handed in my application for the job.* ## preposition Precedes a noun or pronoun to form a phrase that identifies, describes, limits or qualifies a part of a sentence. Common prepositions include *about*, *before*, *except*, *for*, *into*, *near*, *of*, *to*, *underneath* and *via*. A preposition may follow a verb to form a phrasal verb: e.g. *make use of (something)*, *run into (someone)*. ## prepositional phrase Begins with a preposition; may include articles, adjectives or adverbs; and ends with a noun or pronoun (or a word or word group acting as a noun). Here are some examples: *for Sue*, *between us*, *in a surprisingly short time, without looking, by whatever means are available*. ## pronoun Generally acts as a substitute for a noun. The words *I*, *you*, *it*, *me*, *them*, *mine*, *yours*, *herself*, *ourselves*, *someone*, *anything*, *few*, *each other*, *who* and *which* are all examples of pronouns. ## relative pronoun Relates a clause to its antecedent. For example, in the sentence *The book that won the award is non-fiction*, the relative pronoun *that* introduces the relative clause *that won the award* and relates it to its antecedent *the book*. *That*, *which*, *who* and *whoever* are all relative pronouns. ## subject Names what or whom a sentence is about. A subject is always a noun (or noun phrase), a pronoun, or a word or word group acting as a noun (such as a gerund or a noun clause). For example, the pronoun *I* is the subject of the sentence *I handed in my application for the job.* The noun clause *Whatever you want to do* is the subject of the sentence *Whatever you want to do is fine with me*. ## subject complement Follows a linking verb (e.g. *be*, *become*, *seem*) and completes the meaning of the subject by renaming it (e.g. *supervisor* in *Janet is my supervisor*) or describing it (e.g. *tired* in *Jack seems tired*). A subject complement may be a noun, a pronoun or an adjective. ## transitive verb Requires a direct object to complete its meaning. Some transitive verbs may also take an indirect object. The verbs *find* (e.g. *You found your keys*), *glue* (e.g. *He glued the parts together*), and *put* (e.g. *I put the file on the desk*) are all examples of transitive verbs. ## verb Expresses an action (*break*, *call*, *tremble*, *skate*), an occurrence (*happen*, *occur*) or a state of being (*appear*, *become*, *seem*). Auxiliary (or helping) verbs are placed in front of a main verb to form a verb phrase. They have several functions; for example, they may help to create a different tense (e.g. *will* and *be* in the verb phrase *will be going*) or add an idea (e.g. the idea of obligation expressed by *must* in the verb phrase *must go*). ## verb phrase Consists of a verb and its auxiliaries. A verb phrase may also act as a predicate. For example, *can swim* is a verb phrase made up of the verb *swim* and its auxiliary *can*. This verb phrase also functions as the predicate in the sentence *Rajiv can swim*. ## Avis de droit d’auteur pour l’outil Writing Tips Plus © Sa Majesté le Roi du chef du Canada, représenté par le ou la ministre des Services publics et de l’Approvisionnement Un outil créé et mis en ligne par le Bureau de la traduction, Services publics et Approvisionnement Canada ## Rechercher par thèmes connexes Vous voulez en apprendre davantage sur un thème abordé dans cette page? Cliquez sur un lien ci-dessous pour voir toutes les pages du Portail linguistique du Canada portant sur le thème choisi. 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