Grammatical Terms

Linguistics is the study of the nature, structure, and variation of language. Essentially, grammar is a field of linguistics concerned with analysis of communication in words.

Here is an introductory glossary of common grammatical terms.

If you have questions, corrections, comments, or additions, please contact the editor.

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Absolute - An absolute expression is one that is grammatically independent of the rest of the sentence. Typically, it consists of a noun (or pronoun) followed by a participle. This construction is often called the nominative absolute.

Active voice - a verb voice, in which the subject performs the action of the verb

Adjective - An adjective is a word used to modify (i.e., describe or limit) a noun (or pronoun).

e.g., Descriptive adjectives:  delightful prose, red pony

e.g., Limiting adjectives:  (possessive) - our university; (demonstrative) - these students; (interrogative) - whose book? (relative) - the professor whose husband won the award; (numerical) - sixteen As; (article) - a program

Adjective clause - A subordinate clause used as an adjective.

e.g., The programmer who is thorough will succeed.

Adverb - a word (one of the eight parts of speech) used to modify (i.e., describe or limit) a verb, an adjective, or another adverb.

An adverb indicates time (e.g., now, then, today), place (e.g., here, there, inside), manner (e.g., animatedly, clearly, slowly), or degree (e.g., extremely, somewhat, only).

e.g., Stand here. (Here modifies the verb stand.)

Adverbial Clause - A subordinate clause used as an adverb.

Antecedent - A word or group of words to which a pronoun refers.

Appositive - A substantive set beside another substantive and denoting the same person or thing.

Rama, my horse, is out standing in his usual field, the front pasture.

Rama is in apposition with my horse, and usual field is in apposition with front pasture.

Article - Articles are classed as adjectives. The definite article is the. The indefinite articles are a and an.

Auxiliary - a verb that helps to form other verbs. May, can, be, have, shall, must, will, and do are common auxiliaries.

e.g., You must go.

Case - the position or change in the form of a substantive to show its use in a sentence. The three cases used in English are the nominative, the possessive, and the objective.

Clause - a group of words that contains a verb and its subject and is used as a part of a sentence. A clause may be main (independent, principal) or subordinate (dependent).

Colloquial - appropriate to spoken or informal rather than to written or formal language. e,g., He wasn't fazed by the amount of work the course required.

Comparison - The change in the form of an adjective or adverb to indicate degrees of superiority in quality, quantity, or manner. The three degrees are positive, comparative, and superlative.

e.g., good (positive); better (comparative); best (superlative)
e.g., quickly, more quickly, most quickly

Complement - Some verbs require a third element, in addition to their subjects, to form complete expressions. The three main types of complements are direct objects, indirect objects, and subjective complements.

e.g., The student bought the book.

Student is the subject, bought is the verb, and book is the direct object.

e.g., The professor told me the story.

Professor is the subject, told is the verb. The indirect object is me, the one for whom the action was performed.

e.g., Sally is a science major now.

major = predicate substantive

e.g., That looks good to me.

good = predicate adjective

Conjugation - the inflectional forms of the verbs indicating tense, voice, mood, number, and person.

Conjunction - A word (one of the eight parts of speech) that connects words, phrases, or clauses. There are two kinds, coordinating conjunctions and subordinating conjunctions. Coordinating conjunctions connect words, phrases, and clauses of equal rank:  and, or, but, for, either/or, neither/nor. Subordinating conjunctions connect subordinate clauses with main clauses:  if, although, since, in order that, as, because, unless, after, before, until, when, whenever, while, wherever, etc.

Conjunctive adverb - an adverb that connects main clauses and thus forms compound sentences:  however, therefore, nevertheless, then, too, also, further, moreover, indeed, still, thus, otherwise, consequently, accordingly, etc.

Construction (syntax) - the grammatical functions and arrangement of words, phrases, or clauses in a sentence

Coordinate - of equal rank, as two nouns, two main clauses, or two subordinate clauses

Copula - a (linking) verb, such as a form of be or seem, that identifies the predicate of a sentence with the subject. (In Logic, copula is defined as the word or set of words that serves as a link between the subject and predicate of a proposition.)

Declension - a system of noun and adjective endings. A given noun belongs to one of the five declensions. An adjective may be of the first/second declsion category, or of the third declension. the declension is recognized from the genitive singular ending.

-ae= 1st declension
-i (long) = 2nd 
-is = 3rd
-us (long u)=4th
-ei(long i)-5th

Demonstrative pronoun - a pronoun that points out, e.g., This is good.

Ellipsis (Elliptical expression) - an expression grammatcially incomplete but clear because omitted words can be readily supplied.

Expletive - noun, an exclamation or oath; a word (noun or adjective) or phrase that does not contribute any meaning to the sentence. Sometimes, expletives are "bad language," but they can also be simply linguistic padding.

Finite verb - a verb or verb form that makes a complete assertion and may thus serve as a predicate. e.g., The sun rose.

Gerund - a verbal noun ending in ing (distinguished from the present participle).

Idiom - an expression sanctioned by use that is peculiar to a language.

Infinitive - a verbal regularly preceded by to and used as a noun, an adjective, or an adverb. After certain verbs the to is often omitted:  He helped (to) make the test.

Inflection - a change in the form of a word to show a change in meaning or in relationship to some other word or group of words. The inflection of nouns and pronouns is called declension:  man, man's men, men's; I, my, me, etc. The inflection of verbs is called conjugation:  that of adjectives and adverbs is called comparison.

Interjection - a word (one of the eight parts of speech) expressing emotion and having no grammatical relation with other words in the sentence. Wow! That test was hard.

Linking verb - (copula) - a verb such as a form of be or seem, that identifies the predicate of a sentence with the subject.

Modify - to describe or qualify the meaning of a word or group of words.

Mood (Mode) - the form of a verb used to indicate the manner in which the action is conceived. English has indicative, imperative, and subjunctive moods.

Nonrestrictive modifier (nonessential modifier) - A phrase or clause which could be omitted without changing the essential meaning of the sentence.

Noun - one of eight parts of speech, the name of a person, place, or thing.

Noun clause - a subordinate clause that is used as a noun

Object - a noun or pronoun (or a phrase or clause used as a noun) that receives the action of a transitive verb or completes the meaning of a preposition.

Participle - a verbal adjective

Parts of speech - The eight classes into which words are grouped according to their uses in a sentence:  verb, noun, pronoun, adjetive, adverb, conjunction, preposition, and interjection.

Passive voice - The form of the verb shows that the subject is receiving the action of the sentence.

Person - changes in the form of verbs and pronouns to indicate whether a person is speaking (first person), is spoken to (second person), or is spoken about (third person).

Preposition - a word used to show the relation of a noun (or pronoun) to some other word in a sentence. e.g., about, above, across, after, against, along, amid, among, around, at, before, behind, below, beneath, beside, besides, between, beyond, by, down, except, for, from, in, into, of, off on, until, unto, up, upon, with, within, without

Pronoun - A word, one of the eight parts of speech, used instead of a noun.

personal pronouns:  I, you, he, she, it
interrogative pronouns:  who, which, that
relative pronouns:  who, which, that
demonstrative pronouns:  this, that, these, those
indefinite pronouns:  each, either, any, anyone, some, someone, one, no one, few, all, everyone, etc.
reciprocal pronouns:  each other, one another
reflexive pronouns:  myself, yourself, herself, etc.
intensive pronouns: myself, yourself, himself, etc. e.g., I myself will speak to him.

Restrictive modifier - an essential modifier, i.e., a phrase or clause which cannot be omitted without changing the essential meaning of the sentence.

Sentence - a group of words contining a verb (predicate) and its subject, and expressing a complete thought. Sentences are classified structurally as simple, compound, complex, or compound-complex.

Semantics - refers to aspects of meaning

Syntax - refers to aspects of sentence (or another sign system's) structure

Verb - a word (one of the eight parts of speech) or word group used to assert action, being, or state of being.

Transitive verb - a verb requiring a direct object to complete its meaning.

e.g., Sarah sold her book. Sarah has sold her book.

Instransitive verb - a verb that does not require a direct object to complete its meaning.

e.g., Josh ate in the student union. Josh has been eating in the student union.

Voice - distinction in the form of the verb to indicate whether the subject of the sentence acts (active voice) or is acted upon (passive voice)

Weak verb (Regular verb) - any verb that forms its principal parts by adding ed, d, or t to the infinitive; e.g., love, loved, loved; sweep, swept, swept.

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