Grammar Terminology Flashcards
Morpheme
The smallest grammatical unit.
Free Morpheme
A morpheme which can stand on its own as a word.
e.g but, or
Affix (Bound) Morpheme
A morpheme which cannot stand on its own but combines with other to create words.
Phrase
A group of words centred around a head word.
Head word
The central word in a phrase which gives the phrase its name and may be modified by other words.
e.g. Noun phrase, adjective phrase
Modification
The adding of additional words to provide more detail to a head word in a phrase either before it (pre-modification) or after it. (post-modification).
e.g.
1. The red house is at the end of the street. (adjective pre-modifies noun)
2. The house, which is red, is at the end of the street. (adjective post-modifies noun)
Clause
A group of words centred around a verb, which may be grammatically complete (main clause) or incomplete (subordinate clause).
Active Voice
A clause where the agent (doer) of an action is the subject.
Passive voice
A clause where the patient (the entity affected by an action) is in the subject position, and the agent either follows or is left out.
Tense
How the time of an event is marked - usually by a verb inflection ‘ed’
past, present and future.
Affect
Another way to mark the time of an event, by specifying whether they are ongoing (progressive) or perfective (completed)
