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Glossary of Grammatical Terms

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  Ed Good  —  Grammar Tips
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Here’s the Glossary of Grammatical Terms. Click any word for a complete definition along with examples.

acronym, initialism action verb active voice adjective
adjectival clause adjectival phrase adverb adverbial clause
adverbial phrase antecedent (pronouns) appositive (noun appositive) article (a, an, the)
auxiliary verb case (case of pronouns) clause collective noun
comparative state(adjectives, adverbs) complement complement verb (verb + preposition) (e.g., drop out) complex sentence
compound adjective (phrasal adjective) (hyphenation) compound predicate (two or more verbs) compound sentence compound verb
conjugation (of verbs) conjunction conjunctive adverb (however and others) consonant
contraction coordinate adjective coordinating conjunction (and, or, but, and others) copulative verb (verb to be and others)
correlative conjunction dangling modifier dangling participle defining clause
definite article (the word the) demonstrative pronoun dependent clause derivative adjective
derivative noun direct object elliptical clause elliptical expression
finite verb fragment (sentence fragment) fused participle future-perfect progressive tense
future-perfect tense future-progressive tense future tense gender
gerund (-ing verbs) group noun helping verb (auxiliary verb) homograph
homonym homophone imperative mood (of verbs) imperfect tense, progressive tense
indefinite article (a and an) indefinite pronoun independent clause indicative mood (of verbs)
indirect object infinitive phrase infinitive verb initialism, acronym
intensive pronoun interjection interrogative mood (of verbs) interrogative pronoun
intransitive verb irregular verb linking verb main clause
main verb modal auxiliary verb modifier mood (of verbs)
no-action verb nominal clause nondefining clause (which clause) nonparallel construction
nonrestrictive clause (which clause) noun noun absolute noun adverb
noun appositive noun chain noun clause noun modifier
noun substitute nouniness number (singular, plural) object (of verbs, of preposition)
object complement object of a preposition objective case (case of pronouns) parallel construction
participle parts of speech passive voice past-participial phrase
past participle past-perfect progressive   tense past-perfect tense past-progressive tense
past tense perfect tenses person personal pronoun
phrase plural positive state (adjectives, adverbs) possessive case (case of pronouns)
possessives predicate predicate adjective predicate nominative
predicate noun preposition prepositional phrase present-participial phrase
present participle (-ing verbs) present-perfect progressive tense present-perfect tense present-progressive tense
present tense primary auxiliary verb principal parts (of verbs) progressive tense
pronoun proper noun reciprocal pronoun reflexive pronoun
regular verb relative pronoun (that, which, who, whomwhose) restrictive clause (that clause) run-on sentence
-self words (myself, herself, etc.) sentence sentence adverb (the word hopefully) serial-comma rule (red, white, and blue)
singular split infinitive subject subjective case (case of pronouns)
subjunctive mood (of verbs) subordinate clause subordination subordinating conjunction
superlative state (adjectives and adverbs) switcheroo noun (I coined this term.) tense (of verbs) transitive verb
truncated clause verb verb “to be” verbal object
verbal phrase vowel

 

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