Syntax Vocabulary Module 6

Question 1

Syntax

Answer 1

Defines the set of rules for using words, phrases, clauses, and punctuation, within sentences.

Question 2

Diction

Answer 2

Defines the style of written or spoken language, representing the choices a speaker or writer makes within the rules of grammar and syntax.

Question 3

misplaced modifier

Answer 3

Modifiers change or modify parts of a sentence, when they are misplaced they make a sentence unclear, usually by modifying multiple subjects.

Question 4

Independent Clause

Answer 4

An independent clause is a clause that can stand alone as a full sentence.

Question 5

Dependent Clause

Answer 5

A dependent clause cannot be a full sentence. Dependent clauses need to combine with other dependent clauses or independent clauses to form a full sentence.

Question 6

run-on-sentence

Answer 6

A sentence that should be split into 2 separate sentences to be grammatically correct.

Question 7

sentence fragment

Answer 7

Is a fragment that does qualify as a full sentence, much like a dependent clause.

Question 8

Oxford comma

Answer 8

the comma that precedes the “and ____” portion of a list. Oxford commas are not mandatory, but are generally acceptable in most style guides.

Question 9

subject-verb agreement

Answer 9

matching the tense of subjects and verbs so they are grammatically correct.

Question 10

grammar

Answer 10

refers to the complete system of phonological, morphological, syntactic and semantic information and rules that speakers of a given language possess

Question 11

syntactic argumentation

Answer 11

the different kinds of reasoning that can be used to justify syntactic analyses.

Question 12

constituents/phrases

Answer 12

a component of a sentence that functions as a unit

Question 13

pronominalisation

Answer 13

the substitution of a constituent by a
pronoun (e.g. “they” for “many people”)

Question 14

pro-form

Answer 14

an interchangeable term for the word “pronoun”

Question 15

coordination test

Answer 15

a test that proves certain words are constituents because they can be joined by the coordinating conjunction “and”. this test is to be used when other tests are not applicable.

Question 16

gapping

Answer 16

the process of creating a slot in a sample sentence to use the sentence to enact a test.

Question 17

sentence-fragment test

Answer 17

a test that checks if fragments can be labeled constituents if they are grammatically correct within certain sample sentences.

Question 18

structural ambiguity

Answer 18

when the syntactic structure of a sentence has multiple correct interpretations.

Question 19

head

Answer 19

the most important element of a phrase.

Question 20

noun phrases

Answer 20

phrases headed by a noun or nominal slot.

Question 21

prepositional phrases

Answer 21

a phrase that begins with a preposition in order to modify a noun or subject in the wider sentence.

Question 22

adjective phrase

Answer 22

a phrase that acts as an adjective in a sentence to give more information about a noun.

Question 23

verb phrase

Answer 23

a phrase that contains a verb, auxilary verbs, and any direct or indirect objects, without the subject.

Question 24

adverb phrase

Answer 24

a phrase that functions adverbially to modify other words

Question 25

word-classes, syntactic categories, parts-of-speech, or lexical categories

Answer 25

different structure classes of words that function in different ways (including nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs)

Question 26

determiners

Answer 26

a word that precedes a noun to clarify how many nouns you are referring to.

Question 27

demonstrative pronouns

Answer 27

demonstrative pronouns are a type of pronoun used to represent additional information about the noun it is describing, words include this, that, these, those, etc.

Question 28

possessive nouns

Answer 28

are nouns that show ownership or a direct connection between two words.

Question 29

phrase structure rules

Answer 29

a set of rules that generates proper grammatical structure for sentences.

Question 30

subordinate clauses

Answer 30

A clause that needs to combine with another clause or sentence to be grammatically correct.

Question 31

clause

Answer 31

a syntactic unit that consists of a verb phrase and its subject.

Question 32

predicate

Answer 32

the words in a sentence or clause that describe the action but not the subject

Question 33

ditransitive

Answer 33

a verb that takes a direct object and an indirect object.

Question 34

direct object

Answer 34

a noun phrase denoting a person or thing that is the recipient of the action of a transitive verb

Question 35

indirect object

Answer 35

is the word or phrase that receives a direct object

Question 36

complement

Answer 36

a word, phrase, or clause that is necessary to complete the meaning of a sentence

Question 37

predicative complements

Answer 37

a complement that specifically completes a sentence by elaborating on a noun or pronoun.

Question 38

transitive verbs

Answer 38

a verb that requires a direct object to complete its meaning.

Question 39

intransitive verbs

Answer 39

a verb that can stand alone without a direct object and be grammatically correct.

Question 40

adverbial

Answer 40

a word or phrase functioning as an adverb.