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.)
Indirect object
The person or thing that is indirectly affected by the action of the verb. It answers the question to whom, for whom, to what, or for what after an action verb. (The professor gave his class the test results.
His class is the indirect object. It comes between the verb (gave) and the direct object (test results) and that answers the question to whom
Phrase
Group of two or more words that acts as a single part of speech a sentence. A phrase be used as a noun, an adjective, or an adverb. A phrase lacks a subject and predicate.
Predicate
The part of the sentence that tells what the subject does or what is done to the subject.
Predicate adjective
Follows a linking verb and helps to explain the subject
Predicate nominative
A noun or pronoun that follows a linking verb and helps to explain or rename the subject
Sentence
A group of words that expresses a complete thought
Declarative
Makes a statement
Interrogative
Asks a question
Imperative
Makes a command or request
Exclamatory
Makes an exclamation
Subject
Word, phrase, or cause that names whom or what the sentence
is about
Compound sentence
Sentence that has two or more independent clauses
Run-on sentence
Occurs when two or more complete sentences are written as though they were one sentence
Pronoun case
Refersto the form of a noun or pronoun that indicates its relation to the other words in a sentence
Possessive forms
My, mine, his, her, hers, our, ours, your, yours, their, theirs, its
Sentence fragments
Incomplete sentences
Misplaced modifiers
Words or groups of words that are not located properly in relation to the words they modify
Clichés
Expressions or ideas that have lost their originality of impact over time because of excessive use
Euphemism
Mild, indirect, or vague term that has been substituted for one that is considered harsh blunt, or offensive
Sexist language
Refers to spoken or written styles that unnecessarily identify gender
Textspeak
Language that is often used in text messages, emails, and other forms of electronic communication, it consists of abbreviations, slang, emoticons, and acronyms.
Amount
Referring to things in bulk
Number
Referring to individual, countable units
Bring
Conveys action toward the speaker - to carry from a distant place to a near place
Take
Conveys action away from the speaker - to carry from a near place to a distant place
Can/could
Imply ability or power
May/might
Imply permission
Father
Measurable distant
Further
Refers to a figurative distance
Fewer
Numbers - things that canbe counted or numbered- and is used with plural nouns
i. e.
That is
e.g.
For example
Learn
To receive or acquire knowledge
Teach
To give or impart knowledge
Lie
To recline or rest
Which
Used to introducenonessential clauses
That
Introduce essential clauses
Who/ whom
Serve as interrogative pronouns and relative pronouns
Interrogative pronoun
Used to form questions
Relative pronoun
One that relates groups of words to nouns or other pronouns
