Usage Flashcards
0
Q
Adjective
A
Part of speech that helps describe a noun or pronoun by giving it a more exact meaning
Big house; many friends; this pencil
1
Q
Active verb
A
Verb whose subject is the doer of the action that the verb is indicating
The batter hit the ball.
2
Q
Adverb
A
Part of speech that helps describe a verb, an adjective, or another adverb by giving it a more exact meaning
Walks slowly; very pretty
3
Q
Agreement
A
This refers to parts of a sentence that are alike in gender, number, and person such as a subject and its verb and a pronoun and its antecedent
I study; he studies; the dog wagged its tail
4
Q
Antecedent
A
Noun that is replaced with a pronoun.
Everyone will please remove his hat.
Walking is what I like to do most.
5
Q
Antonym
A
Word that is opposite in meaning to another word.
Happy, sad
6
Q
Apposition
A
Condition describing two nouns, next to each other in a sentence, that are equivalent in meaning.
My brother, Joe; Mrs Brown, the secretary
7
Q
Auxiliary verb
A
Verb that helps another word show voice or tense.
I would have forgotten; she had left
8
Q
Case
A
Form of a noun or pronoun that shows its relation to the other words in a sentence.
9
Q
Nominative case
A
Nominative case of pronouns has the forms I, you, he, she, it, we, they, who, and is used as the subject of a verb or as a predicate noun.
They go; it is we
10
Q
Possessive case
A
Possessive case shows possession. In nouns, it is formed with the apostrophe: Frank’s.
Possessive pronouns include mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, theirs, whose.
There is no apostrophe in any possessive pronoun.
11
Q
Objective case
A
Objective case of pronouns has the forms me, you, him, her, us, them, whom, and is used as the object of a verb, object of a preposition, subject or object of an infinitive.
They hit him; they gave it to him; I want him to go; I want to hit him
12
Q
Clause
A
Group of words in a sentence that contains a subject and a predicate.
Independent clauses can stand alone: he played well.
Dependent clauses (adverb, adjective, or noun clauses) cannot stand alone: although he was hurt; that I read; that he recovered.
13
Q
Comparison
A
Change of form in adjectives and adverbs to show increase in amount or quality.
Strong, stronger, strongest; good, better, best
14
Q
Comparative
A
Comparative refers to a greater degree in quality or quantity of one item or person with respect to another.
Smarter of the two
15
Q
Superlative
A
Superlative refers to a greater degree in quality or quantity of one item or person with respect to two or more others.
Largest of the three
16
Q
Complex sentence
A
Sentence that has one independent clause and at least one dependent clause.
We are happy that you came.
17
Q
Compound-complex sentence
A
Sentence that has two independent clauses and at least one dependent clause.
Joe sang and Joan played the song that she had been studying.
18
Q
Compound predicate
A
Two or more predicates usually joined by ‘and’ or ‘or’.
He goes to school by day and works by night.
19
Q
Compound sentence
A
Sentence that has two independent clauses.
Joe sang and Joan played the piano.
20
Q
Compound subject
A
Two or more subjects that take the same verb.
Frank and I will come.
21
Q
Conjunction
A
Part of speech that connects words, phrases, or clauses.
Bread and butter; to be or not to be; she came when I left
22
Q
Consonant
A
Letter other than a, e, i, o, u (which are considered vowels) or y (which is considered a semivowel).
23
Q
Dash
A
Punctuation mark that shows a pause or break in a sentence.
He may not come–but why should I worry?
24
Direct object
Noun or pronoun that receives the action of the verb.
Jon struck him; give it to Gerry.
25
Direct quotation
Use of the exact words of the speaker.
The teacher said, "Do your homework."
26
First person
Pronoun and verb forms that refer to the person or persons speaking.
I, we; my, our; me, us; am, are.
27
Future tense
Time of verb that shows a happening yet to take place.
He will retire next year.
28
Gender
Classification of nouns and pronouns into three groups: masculine, feminine, and neuter.
He; she; it
29
Glossary
Listing of difficult or unusual words occurring in a book with their definitions. It is usually found in the back of the book.
30
Homonym
Word with the same sound as another word or words but with a different spelling and meaning.
To, two, too; pear, pair
31
Hyphen
Mark (-) used to form a compound adjective (two-faced), to join certain prefixes to words (ex-president) or to separate words into syllables (En-glish).
32
Idiom
Group of words that, taken together, differs in meaning from the individual words used separately.
Once upon a time
33
Indirect object
Word that shows, without any preposition, to whom or for whom the action in the sentence is taking place.
He gave me a pen.
34
Indirect quotation
Quotation that does not use the exact words of the speaker.
The candidate said [that] he would accept the nomination.
35
Infinitive
Verb form that is usually indicated by 'to' before the verb. Sometimes 'to' is understood.
I want to go home; he made me laugh.
36
Interjection
Independent word that expresses strong feeling.
Ah! Oh! Alas!
37
Interrogative sentence
Sentence that asks a question.
Did he leave?
38
Intransitive verb
Verb that has no object.
He stands; I sit.
39
Modifier
Word or group of words that help describe another word or group of words by giving a more exact meaning.
Adjective, adverb
40
Nominative case
Form of the noun or pronoun that is the subject or predicate noun in a sentence.
She is president.
41
Noun
Part of speech that is the name of a person, place, or thing.
George Washington; New York; toy
42
Number
Change in the form of a noun, pronoun, adjective, or verb to show whether there is one (singular) or more than one (plural).
Man, men; he, they; this, these; is, are
43
Object
Noun or pronoun that names the person or thing acted upon by the verb.
She brought the book; I admire her.
44
Objective case
Form of the noun or pronoun that shows it is the person or thing that receives the action.
I hit him.
45
Object of a preposition
Noun or pronoun that follows a preposition that controls it.
With me; between you and me; among him and them
46
Parallelism (parallel structure)
Two parts of a sentence that are given the same form, and therefore have the same importance, in the sentence.
He eats both meat and vegetables.
Not only the relatives were invited but also the friends.
Beth enjoys jogging, skating, and skiing.
47
Participle
Form of the verb that is used both as an adjective and as part of a verb.
Sleeping child; am going (present participle); have gone (past participle)
48
Part of speech
One of eight categories into which words in a sentence are assigned:
noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition, conjunction, interjection
49
Passive
Form of verb that is used when the subject of the sentence receives the action.
The watch was given to Joe.
The man was laid to rest.
50
Past tense
Time of verb that shows that an action has been completed.
He went; we did go.
51
Person
Form of pronoun or verb that tells whether the person(s) speaking is doing the action (first person); a person being spoken to is doing the action (second person); or the person spoken about is doing the action (third person).
We left for home; you stayed here; they arrived late.
52
Phrase
Group of words without a subject and predicate, usually introduced by a preposition, that has a use in a sentence like that of a noun, adjective, or adverb.
In the park; with the light brown hair; to first base
53
Plural
Form of noun, pronoun, adjective, or verb that indicates that more than one person, place, or thing is being spoken about in the sentence.
Boys; they; these; are
54
Possessive
Form of noun or pronoun that shows ownership.
Girl's pencil; ladies' hats; its paw
55
Predicate
Part of the sentence that tells something about the subject (what the subject does, what is done to the subject, or what is true about the subject).
The boy went home quickly.
This milk tastes sour.
56
Prefix
Addition (usually a single syllable) to the beginning of a word that adds to or changes the meaning of the word.
Impossible; ex-president; review; prefix
57
Preposition
Part of speech that shows the relationship between a noun or pronoun that is its object, and some other word in the sentence.
Mary went to the library.
58
Present perfect tense
Time of verb that shows an action that started in the past and is continuing or has just been completed in the present. It requires the use of an auxiliary verb in the present tense and the past participle.
He has been our friend for years.
59
Present tense
Time of verb that shows an action that is going on now. There are three forms of this tense:
He says; he is saying; he does say.
60
Pronoun
Part of speech that is used in place of a noun. (John came. He was welcome.)
The four main kinds of pronouns are: demonstrative (this, that, these, those); personal (I, you, he, she, it, we, they); possessive (mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, theirs); relative (that, what, who, which).
61
Proper noun
Noun that refers to an individual person, place, or thing.
George Washington; New York City; City Hall
62
Root
Basic part of a word, without prefixes or suffixes, that gives the main meaning of the word.
'Cred'--believe; with prefix 'in' and suffix 'ible'--incredible--unbelievable
63
Run-on (or comma splice) sentence
Two sentences that are made into one by mistake. They are separated either by a comma or by no punctuation at all.
```
Wrong: Kay is class president, she is my friend.
Correct: Kay is class president. She is my friend.
```
64
Sentence
Group of words containing a subject and predicate and expressing an independently complete thought: (e.g.: He came early.)
Three chief kinds of sentences are: declarative (makes a statement), interrogative (asks a question), imperative (gives a command).
65
Sentence fragment
Group of words that may contain a subject and a predicate but that fails to express a complete thought and is, by error, punctuated as if it did.
Wrong: Hoping to hear from you.
Correct: I am hoping to hear from you.
66
Singular
Form of noun, pronoun, adjective, or verb that refers to one person, place, or thing in a sentence.
Boy; he; this; is
67
Subject
Part of the sentence that does the action or is spoken about.
He hit the ball; The watch was given to the man.
68
Suffix
Addition to the ending of a word that adds to or changes its meaning.
Hand-ful; quick-ly; act-or
69
Syllable
Smallest group of sounds, consisting of a vowel sound, and one or more consonant sounds that are pronounced as a unit.
Con-so-nant
70
Synonym
Word that is very similar in meaning to another word.
Happy--glad
71
Tense
Time of an action, indicated by the verb as present, past, future, present perfect. These are the most widely used tenses in English.
72
Usage
Actual use of language by the people at large.
'Good usage' is the actual use of language by educated persons and other persons in positions of importance.
73
Verb
Part of speech that indicates the action carried out by the subject or that tells something about the subject.
He hit the ball; She was in the garden.
74
Vowels
Letters representing the sounds a, e, i, o, u.
The letter y is considered a semivowel, as in 'slowly'.
75
Proper noun
Noun that refers to an individual person, place, or thing.
George Washington; New York City; City Hall
76
Root
Basic part of a word, without prefixes or suffixes, that gives the main meaning of the word.
'Cred'--believe; with prefix 'in' and suffix 'ible'--incredible--unbelievable
77
Run-on (or comma splice) sentence
Two sentences that are made into one by mistake. They are separated either by a comma or by no punctuation at all.
```
Wrong: Kay is class president, she is my friend.
Correct: Kay is class president. She is my friend.
```
78
Sentence
Group of words containing a subject and predicate and expressing an independently complete thought: (e.g.: He came early.)
Three chief kinds of sentences are: declarative (makes a statement), interrogative (asks a question), imperative (gives a command).
79
Sentence fragment
Group of words that may contain a subject and a predicate but that fails to express a complete thought and is, by error, punctuated as if it did.
Wrong: Hoping to hear from you.
Correct: I am hoping to hear from you.
80
Singular
Form of noun, pronoun, adjective, or verb that refers to one person, place, or thing in a sentence.
Boy; he; this; is
81
Subject
Part of the sentence that does the action or is spoken about.
He hit the ball; The watch was given to the man.
82
Suffix
Addition to the ending of a word that adds to or changes its meaning.
Hand-ful; quick-ly; act-or
83
Syllable
Smallest group of sounds, consisting of a vowel sound, and one or more consonant sounds that are pronounced as a unit.
Con-so-nant
84
Synonym
Word that is very similar in meaning to another word.
Happy--glad
85
Tense
Time of an action, indicated by the verb as present, past, future, present perfect. These are the most widely used tenses in English.
86
Usage
Actual use of language by the people at large.
'Good usage' is the actual use of language by educated persons and other persons in positions of importance.
87
Verb
Part of speech that indicates the action carried out by the subject or that tells something about the subject.
He hit the ball; She was in the garden.
88
Vowels
Letters representing the sounds a, e, i, o, u.
The letter y is considered a semivowel, as in 'slowly'.
89
Proper noun
Noun that refers to an individual person, place, or thing.
George Washington; New York City; City Hall
90
Root
Basic part of a word, without prefixes or suffixes, that gives the main meaning of the word.
'Cred'--believe; with prefix 'in' and suffix 'ible'--incredible--unbelievable
91
Run-on (or comma splice) sentence
Two sentences that are made into one by mistake. They are separated either by a comma or by no punctuation at all.
```
Wrong: Kay is class president, she is my friend.
Correct: Kay is class president. She is my friend.
```
92
Sentence
Group of words containing a subject and predicate and expressing an independently complete thought: (e.g.: He came early.)
Three chief kinds of sentences are: declarative (makes a statement), interrogative (asks a question), imperative (gives a command).
93
Sentence fragment
Group of words that may contain a subject and a predicate but that fails to express a complete thought and is, by error, punctuated as if it did.
Wrong: Hoping to hear from you.
Correct: I am hoping to hear from you.
94
Singular
Form of noun, pronoun, adjective, or verb that refers to one person, place, or thing in a sentence.
Boy; he; this; is
95
Subject
Part of the sentence that does the action or is spoken about.
He hit the ball; The watch was given to the man.
96
Suffix
Addition to the ending of a word that adds to or changes its meaning.
Hand-ful; quick-ly; act-or
97
Syllable
Smallest group of sounds, consisting of a vowel sound, and one or more consonant sounds that are pronounced as a unit.
Con-so-nant
98
Synonym
Word that is very similar in meaning to another word.
Happy--glad
99
Tense
Time of an action, indicated by the verb as present, past, future, present perfect. These are the most widely used tenses in English.
100
Usage
Actual use of language by the people at large.
'Good usage' is the actual use of language by educated persons and other persons in positions of importance.
101
Verb
Part of speech that indicates the action carried out by the subject or that tells something about the subject.
He hit the ball; She was in the garden.
102
Vowels
Letters representing the sounds a, e, i, o, u.
The letter y is considered a semivowel, as in 'slowly'.
103
Proper noun
Noun that refers to an individual person, place, or thing.
George Washington; New York City; City Hall
104
Root
Basic part of a word, without prefixes or suffixes, that gives the main meaning of the word.
'Cred'--believe; with prefix 'in' and suffix 'ible'--incredible--unbelievable
105
Run-on (or comma splice) sentence
Two sentences that are made into one by mistake. They are separated either by a comma or by no punctuation at all.
```
Wrong: Kay is class president, she is my friend.
Correct: Kay is class president. She is my friend.
```
106
Sentence
Group of words containing a subject and predicate and expressing an independently complete thought: (e.g.: He came early.)
Three chief kinds of sentences are: declarative (makes a statement), interrogative (asks a question), imperative (gives a command).
107
Sentence fragment
Group of words that may contain a subject and a predicate but that fails to express a complete thought and is, by error, punctuated as if it did.
Wrong: Hoping to hear from you.
Correct: I am hoping to hear from you.
108
Singular
Form of noun, pronoun, adjective, or verb that refers to one person, place, or thing in a sentence.
Boy; he; this; is
109
Subject
Part of the sentence that does the action or is spoken about.
He hit the ball; The watch was given to the man.
110
Suffix
Addition to the ending of a word that adds to or changes its meaning.
Hand-ful; quick-ly; act-or
111
Syllable
Smallest group of sounds, consisting of a vowel sound, and one or more consonant sounds that are pronounced as a unit.
Con-so-nant
112
Synonym
Word that is very similar in meaning to another word.
Happy--glad
113
Tense
Time of an action, indicated by the verb as present, past, future, present perfect. These are the most widely used tenses in English.
114
Usage
Actual use of language by the people at large.
'Good usage' is the actual use of language by educated persons and other persons in positions of importance.
115
Verb
Part of speech that indicates the action carried out by the subject or that tells something about the subject.
He hit the ball; She was in the garden.
116
Vowels
Letters representing the sounds a, e, i, o, u.
The letter y is considered a semivowel, as in 'slowly'.
