Grammar

Question 1

Concrete noun

Answer 1

Things that can be seen, felt, heard, touched, or smelled (water, star, album, television, flower)

Question 2

Abstract noun

Answer 2

Concepts, beliefs, or qualities (freedom, capitalism, courage)

Question 3

Compound nouns

Answer 3

Consist of more than one word, but count as only one (Franklin County Community and Technical College)

Question 4

Count nouns

Answer 4

Persons, places, things that can be counted. One car, two trees

Question 5

Noncount nouns

Answer 5

Can’t be counted and are always singular; unease, happiness

Question 6

Collective nouns

Answer 6

Sometimes counted as one unit (considered singular) and sometimes separately (considered plural). Army, herd, pack, family

Question 7

Complement

Answer 7

Predicate nominative, direct or indirect object of a verb, or object of a proposition

Question 8

Pronoun

Answer 8

Takes the place of a noun

Question 9

Personal pronoun

Answer 9

Represents people or things: I, me, you, he, him, she, her, it, we, us, they, them

Question 10

Possessive pronoun

Answer 10

Show ownership: mine, yours, hers, his, theirs, ours

Question 11

Demonstrative pronoun

Answer 11

Demonstrate or point out someone or something: this, that, these, those

Question 12

Relative pronoun

Answer 12

Relate one part of the sentence to another: who, whom, which, that, whose

Question 13

Reflexive pronoun

Answer 13

(Sometimes called intensive pronoun) reflect back to someone or something else in the sentence: myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves

Question 14

Interrogative pronouns

Answer 14

Ask a question: who, whom, which, whose, what

Question 15

Indefinite pronouns

Answer 15

Contrary to their label, these sometimes refer to a definite/specific person, place, or thing that has already been mentioned in the sentence. Indefinite pronouns include: all, another, any, anybody, anyone, anything, both, each, either, everybody, everyone, everything, few, many, most, much, neither, no one, nobody, none, nothing, one, other, others, several, some, somebody, someone, something (reminder: all, any, more, most, none, some–are sometimes singular and sometimes plural)

Question 16

Adjective

Answer 16

Word that modifies a noun or pronoun (which one? what kind of? how many?)

Question 17

Article

Answer 17

Special category of adjective: a, an, the. The first two are indefinite articles, the last is a definite article.

Question 18

Indefinite article

Answer 18

“A,” “an” (adjectives: articles)

Question 19

Definite article

Answer 19

“The” (adjective: article)

Question 20

Determiners

Answer 20

Adjectives that specify the sense of a noun; the country, those apples, seven pencils

Question 21

Verb

Answer 21

A word that expresses action or being

Question 22

Action verbs

Answer 22

Verbs that express action; they are the most common verbs; they can be divided into two categories–transitive and intransitive

Question 23

Transitive verb

Answer 23

A verb that takes an object. If you can answer “whom?” or “what?” to the verb in the sentence, it’s transitive

Question 24

Being verb

Answer 24

Usually a variation of the verb “be.” Am, is, are, was, were, be, being, been, has been, should have been, may be, might be

Question 25

Linking verb

Answer 25

(Sometimes known as copulative verbs.) These are verbs that can also act as action verbs, depending on context. If you can substitute a form of “be” and the sentence still makes sense, the verb is being used as a linking verb rather than an action verb. Appear, become, feel, grow, look, prove, remain, seem, smell, sound, stay, taste.

Question 26

Helping (auxiliary) verb

Answer 26

Can join the main verb (becoming its helper) to express the tense, mood, and voice of the verb. Common examples: be, do, have, can, may, etc.

Question 27

Principal parts of verbs

Answer 27

The four basic forms that verbs can take: present infinitive, past tense, past participle, present participle.

Question 28

What are the four principal parts of the verb “turn”?

Answer 28

(to) turn, turned, turned, turning (present infinitive; past tense; past participle; present participle)

Question 29

What are the four principal parts of the verb “scratch”?

Answer 29

(to) scratch, scratched, scratched, scratching (present infinitive; past tense; past participle; present participle)

Question 30

What are the four principal parts of the verb “hammer”?

Answer 30

(to) hammer, hammered, hammered, hammering (present infinitive; past tense; past participle; present participle)

Question 31

What are the four principal parts of the verb “bring”?

Answer 31

(to) bring, brought, brought, bringing (present infinitive; past tense; past participle; present participle)

Question 32

What are the four principal parts of the verb “broadcast”

Answer 32

(to) broadcast, broadcast, broadcast, broadcasting (present infinitive; past tense; past participle; present participle)

Question 33

What are the four principal parts of the verb “rise”

Answer 33

(to) rise, rose, risen, rising (present infinitive; past tense; past participle; present participle)

Question 34

Adverb

Answer 34

A word that modifies a verb, adjective, or other adverb. Does it answer the questions: How? When? Where? Why? Under what circumstances? How much? How often? To what extent?

Question 35

Conjunctive adverbs

Answer 35

A special category of adverb. Words that join independent clauses into one sentence. (You’ll also see them in lists of transitional words and phrases.) Some examples: accordingly, also, besides, consequently, finally, furthermore, hence, however, incidentally, indeed, instead, likewise, meanwhile, moreover, nevertheless, next, otherwise, still, therefore, thus

Question 36

Intensifiers (or qualifiers)

Answer 36

Small group of adverbs that increase the intensity of the adjectives and other adverbs they modify. E.g.: very, awfully, extremely, kind of, more, most, pretty (as in pretty happy), quite, rather, really (as in really sad), somewhat, sort of, too

Question 37

Degrees of comparison (using adjectives and adverbs)

Answer 37

Positive degree; comparative degree; superlative degree

Question 38

Positive degree (comparisons w/ adjectives & adverbs)

Answer 38

Simply makes a statement about a person, place, or thing: blue, dirty, happy, tall

Question 39

Comparative degree (comparisons w/ adjectives & adverbs)

Answer 39

Compares two (but only two) people, places, or things: bluer, dirtier, happier, taller

Question 40

Superlative degree (comparisons w/ adjectives & adverbs)

Answer 40

Compares more than two people, places, or things: bluest, dirtiest, happiest, tallest

Question 41

Diagnose the problem in this sentence: “Of my two dogs, the cocker spaniel is the friendliest”

Answer 41

Since the comparison is only between two dogs, we should use the comparative, rather than superlative, degree: “Of my two dogs, the cocker spaniel is the friendlier.”

Question 42

Diagnose the problem in this sentence: “In the long jump, Adele could beat her rival Fern more often than her teammate Sherry.”

Answer 42

The comparison is unclear: can Adele beat Fern more than Sherry can beat Fern? Or can Adele beat Fern more than Adele can beat Sherry?

Question 43

Preposition

Answer 43

A word that links a noun or pronoun to some other words in a sentence. “Jack and Jill went UP the hill.” “Little Jack Horner sat IN a corner.”

Question 44

List of the most common prepositions

Answer 44

About, above, across, after, against, along, among, around, at, before, behind, below, beneath, beside, between, beyond, but, by, concerning, despite, down, during, except, for, from, in, inside, into, like of, off, on, onto, out, outside, over, past, since, through, throughout, to, toward, under, underneath, until, up, upon, with, within, without

Question 45

Conjunction

Answer 45

Joins words in a sentence; provides a junction between words. These are divided into three categories: coordinating conjunctions; correlative conjunctions; subordinating conjunctions.

Question 46

Coordinating conjunction

Answer 46

But, or, yet, so, for, and, nor (BOYSFAN)

Question 47

Correlative conjunction

Answer 47

Cannot stand alone; they most have a “relative” nearby, usually in the same sentence: both/and, either/or, neither/nor, not only/also, not only/but also

Question 48

Subordinating conjunction

Answer 48

Used in the beginning of dependent clauses (words that have a subject and verb but which cannot stand alone as sentences).

Question 49

List of most common subordinating conjunctions

Answer 49

After, although, as if, as in, as long as, as much as, as soon as, assuming that, because, before, even though, how, if, in order that, in that, inasmuch as, now that, once, providing that, since, so long as, so that, than, that, though, unless, until, when, whenever, where, wherever, whether, while, whereas

Question 50

Interjection

Answer 50

A word that can express surprise or some other kind of emotion; or it can be used as a filler. They often stand alone–if it’s part of a sentence, it doesn’t have a grammatical relation to the other words in the sentence. “Hey, what’s going on?” “Well, I don’t know what to say.” “Ouch! Did you step on my toe?”

Question 51

Parallelism

Answer 51

Balance within one or more sentences of similar phrases or clauses that have the same grammatical structure. Often acheived using antithesis, anaphora, asyndeton, climax, epistrohpe, and symploce.

Question 52

Antithesis (as form of parallelism)

Answer 52

A grammatical balancing structure that influences the synthesis of opposites. Sermon on the Mount: “Ye have heard it said . . . But I say unto you . . .” ; “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times . . .”

Question 53

Anaphora

Answer 53

Method for achieving parallelism. “Carrying back.” Emphasizes ideas, adds rhythm, makes it enjoyable to read and easy to remember. Pathos appeal. Dates back at least to psalms: “The voice of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire. The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness . . . The voice of the Lord makes the deer give birth . . .”

Question 54

Asyndeton

Answer 54

Method for achieving parallelism. Greek “unconnected.” Figure of speech in which one or several conjunctions are omitted from a series of related clauses. “I came, I saw, I conquered.” Can speed up the rhythm of a passage and make a single idea more memorable. Contrast with syndeton and polysyndeton.

Question 55

Syndeton

Answer 55

Greek “connected.” Syntactic coordination of the elements of a sentence via a coordinating conjunction. “Green eggs AND ham.” With more than two conjuncts, the conjunction is placed between the last two conjuncts (in a syndetic phrase).

Question 56

Polysyndeton

Answer 56

Greek “many connections.” Stylistic scheme used to achieve: rhythm, pace, emotions like solemnity or even ecstasy or childlike exuberance. Can also create a sense of being overwhelmed, or can overwhelm the audience. Othello: “‘Tis as I should entreat you to wear your gloves, or feed on nourishing dishes, or keep you warm, or sue you to do a peculiar profit to your person.”

Question 57

Climax (or “auxesis”)

Answer 57

Climax = Greek “staircase” or “ladder.” (Auxesis = Gr “growth.”) Figure of speech in which words, phrases, or clauses are arranged in order of increasing importance. It is frequently used in persuasion to create false dilemmas and to focus attention on the positive aspects of the subject at hand. The initial inferior options make the final term seem still better by comparison than it would appear in isolation: “X is good, Y is better, Z is best.” (Can also be used in reverse order (i.e. getting worse).) “It’s a bird . . . it’s a plane . . . it’s Superman!” ; “Faith, hope, and love . . .” ; “I think we’ve reached a point of great decision, not just for our nation, not only for all humanity, but for life upon the earth.”

Question 58

Epistrophe

Answer 58

Gr “return.” Repetition of the same word or words at the end of successive phrases, clauses, or sentences. Also known as epiphora and sometimes antistrophe. It is extremely emphatic–even more so than anaphora–since the repetition occurs on the already emphasized final position of the sentence. “…Government of the people, by the people, for the people…” ; “Where their affections bear rule, their reason is subdued, honesty is subdued, good will is subdued, and all things else that withstand evil for ever are subdued” (Thomas Wilson).

Question 59

Symploce

Answer 59

Gr “interweaving.” Figure of speech in which a word or phrase is used successively at the beginning of two or more clauses or sentences and another word or phrase with a similar wording is used successively at the end of them. The combination of anaphora and epistrophe. “When there is talk of hatred, let us stand up and talk against it. When there is talk of violence, let us stand up and talk against it” (Bill Clinton).

Question 60

Apheresis

Answer 60

Loss of the first syllable or so from the beginning of a word (often the loss of an unstressed vowel), produces an aphetism.

Question 61

Apocope

Answer 61

Loss of one or more sounds from the end of the word (often loss of an unstressed vowel).

Question 62

Syncope

Answer 62

Loss of one or more sounds from the middle of the word (often loss of an unstressed vowel).

Question 63

Epenthesis

Answer 63

Opposite of “syncope.” The addition addition of sounds to a word, especially to the interior of a word. Drawing > drawring

Question 64

Metathesis

Answer 64

Gr “putting in order.” Switching of two or more contiguous sounds/syllables in a word, or words in a sentence. Foliage > foilage ; Cavalry > Calvary ; ask > aks ; comfortable > comfterble ; nuclear > nucular ; asterisk > asterix ; introduce > interduce ; integral > intergal ; prescription > perscription ; hundred > hunderd.

Question 65

Lenition

Answer 65

Latin “weakening,” “softening.” Linguistics; a sound change that alters consonants, making them more sonorous (vowel-like).

Question 66

Debuccalization

Answer 66

From latin “bucca,” meaning “cheek.” A sub-type of lenition. An oral consonant loses its original place of articulation and is moved to the glottis (the opening between the vocal folds). The letter “t” is often debuccalized to a glottal stop in two scenarios: in word-final position before another consonant (“geT ready” ; “noT much” ; “noT good” ; “iT says”) and before a syllabic following “l” “r” “n” or a vowel (Milton, Martin, mountain, fountain, cotton)