Grammar Flashcards
Noun
A word or group of words that names a person, place, thing, or idea
Common noun
The general, not the particular, name of a person, place, thing (nurse, hospital, syringe)
Proper noun
Th official name of a person, place, or thing (Fred, Paris, Washington University)
They are capitalized
Abstract noun
The name if a quality or a general idea (persistence, democracy)
Collective noun
A noun that represents a group of persons, animals, or things (family, flock, furniture)
Pronoun
Takes the place of a noun, another pronoun, or a group of words acting as a noun
Antecedent
Word or group of words to which a pronoun refers to
(The students wanted their test papers graded and returned to them in a timely manner.
The word students is the antecedent of the pronouns their and them)
Personal pronoun
Refers to a specific person, place, thing, or idea by indicating the person speaking (first person), the person or people spoken to (second person), or any other person, place, thing, or idea being talked about (third person)
Adjective
Word, phrases or clause that modifies a noun (the BIOLOGY book) or pronoun (he is NICE)
Participle
Type of verb form that functions as an adjective, usually ends in -in or -ed. (the absent-minded professor)
Verb
A word or phrase that is used to express an action or state of being
Tense
Verbs express time through a property called this
Present, Past, and Future
Linking verb
They link, or join, the subject of the sentence to a noun, pronoun, or predicate adjective
Adverb
Word, phrase, or clause that modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb
Preposition
Word that shows the relationship of a noun or pronoun to some other word in the sentence
Compound preposition
A preposition that is made up of more than one word
Prepositional phrase
Group of words that begins with a preposition and ends with a noun or pronoun, which is called the object of a preposition
Conjunction
Word that joins words, phrases, or clauses.
Coordinating conjunction
And, but, or, so, nor, for, yet
Correlative conjunction
Work in pairs to join words or phrases (Neither the pharmacist nor her assistance could read the physician’s handwriting)
Subordinating conjunction
Join two clauses or thoughts (WHILE the nurse was away on vacation, the hospital flooded.
)
Interjection
Word or phrase that expresses emotion or exclamation
Clause
Group of works that has a subject and predicate
Independent clause
Expresses a complete thought and can stand alone as a sentence (THE PROFESSOR DISTRIBUTED THE EXAMINATIONS as soon as the students were seated)
Dependent clause
Begins with a subordination conjunction and does not express a complete thought and therefore cannot stand alone as a sentence (AS SOON AS THE STUDENTS WERE SEATED)
Indirect object
The person or thing that is directly affected by the action of the verb. It answers the question what or whom, after a transitive verb (the students watched the professor distribute the examinations.
The professor answers whom the students watched.)