Conventions of Written English Flashcards
abbreviation
A shortened form of an expression, usually followed by a period. Dr. is a standard abbre- viation for Doctor; MA is a standard abbreviation for Massachusetts.
acronym (ak-ruh-nim)
A word formed by combin- ing the beginning letters of a name or phrase, as in WASP for white Anglo-Saxon Protestant, or by com- bining the initial syllables of a series of words, as in radar, which stands for radio detecting and ranging.✥ Acronyms are often less clumsy than the complete expressions they represent and are easier to write and remember.
Active Voice
One of the two “voices” of verbs (see also passive voice). When the verb of a sentence is in the active voice, the subject is doing the acting, as in the sentence “Kevin hit the ball.” Kevin (the subject of the sentence) acts in relation to the ball.
A.D.
An abbreviation used with a date, indicating how many years have passed since the birth of Jesus. The abbreviation may appear before the date (a.d. 1988), or it may appear after the date (1988 a.d.). It stands for anno Domini, a Latin phrase meaning “in the year of our Lord.” (Compare b.c.)
Adjective
A part of speech that describes a noun or pronoun. Adjectives are usually placed just before the words they qualify: shy child, blue notebook, rotten apple, four horses, another table.
Adverb
A part of speech that modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. Adverbs usually answer such questions as “How?” “Where?” “When?” or “To what degree?” The following italicized words are ad- verbs: “He ran WELL”; “She ran VERY well”; “The mayor is HIGHLY capable.”✥ Adverbs are often formed by adding -ly to an ad- jective, as in TRUELY or DEEPLY.
agreement
A requirement for parts of a sentence
in standard written English; the parts must agree, for
example, in number and person.
The subject and verb of a clause or simple sentence
must agree in person, as in “He is a boy.” The
subject, he, and the verb, is, are both in the third person.
The subject and verb also must agree in number,
as in “We are girls.” The subject, we, and the verb, are,
are both plural.Nouns and pronouns must also agree in number,
person, and gender as in “Every boy must mind his
manners.” The noun boy and the pronoun his are both
singular, both in the third person, and both masculine.
aka (ay-kay-ay)
An abbreviation meaning “also
known as.” It is primarily used by law enforcement
officials to specify an alias: “John Smith, aka Jonathan
Jones.”
✥ The abbreviation, which also appears as AKA and
a.k.a., is often used figuratively and facetiously: “my
cousin, aka the worst gossip in the neighborhood.”
allegory (al-uh-gawr-ee)
A story that has a deeper
or more general meaning in addition to its surface
meaning. Allegories are composed of several symbols
or metaphors. For example, in The Pilgrim’s Progress,
by John Bunyan, the character named Christian
struggles to escape from a bog or swamp. The
story of his difficulty is a symbol of the difficulty of
leading a good life in the “bog” of this world. The
“bog” is a metaphor or symbol of life’s hardships and
distractions. Similarly, when Christian loses a heavy
pack that he has been carrying on his back, this symbolizes
his freedom from the weight of sin that he has
been carrying.
alliteration (uh-lit-uh-ray-shuhn)
The repetition
of the beginning sounds of words, as in “Peter Piper
picked a peck of pickled peppers,” “long-lived,” “short
shrift,” and “the fickle finger of fate.”
allusion
An indirect reference to some piece of
knowledge not actually mentioned. Allusions usually
come from a body of information that the author presumes
the reader will know. For example, an author
who writes, “She was another Helen,” is alluding to the
proverbial beauty of Helen of Troy.
ampersand (am-puhr-sand)
A symbol for and (&),
as in Dun & Bradstreet.
analogy (uh-nal-uh-jee)
A comparison of two
different things that are alike in some way (see metaphor
and simile). An analogy attributed to Samuel
Johnson is: “Dictionaries are like watches; the worst is
better than none, and the best cannot be expected to go
quite true.”
antonyms (an-tuh-nimz)
Two words with opposite
meanings. Cold and hot are antonyms; so are small and
large. (Compare synonyms.)
aphorism (af-uh-riz-uhm)
A concise and often
witty statement of wisdom or opinion, such as “Children
should be seen and not heard,” or “People who
live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.”
