Grammar Terms Packet Hannah Harris, [email protected] Jacob Kluch, [email protected]
1. Action verb: a verb that describes a physical or mental action; Ex: He threw the ball.
2. Adjective: part of speech that describes a noun; Ex: She is wearing a purple dress.
3. Adjuncts: part of a sentence that modifies the verb to show time, manner, place, frequency, and degree: Ex: It is nearly done.
4. Adverbs: formed by adding –ly to an adjective; modifies the meaning of a verb; Ex: He runs quickly during track practice.
5. Agreement: when the words, sentences, and grammar in a sentence are in alignment with each other; Ex: There is only one car available.
6. Appositive: a noun (or noun phrase) placed next to another that gives extra information or explanation; Ex: The dog, a West Highland White, started barking.
7. Articles: a, an, and the; “The” is the definite article, while “a” and “an” are indefinite articles. Ex: The student picked up a textbook.
8. Auxiliary verb: verbs that work together and form verb phrases; also known as helping verbs; Ex: The robbers were feeling nervous, so they stayed in their hideout.
9. Clauses: part of a sentence that usually contains a subject and a verb. It is usually connected to the other part of the sentence by a conjunction. It is not a complete sentence on its own. Ex: Before they agreed to purchase the house, they drove around the neighborhood to see if they liked the area.
10. Colon: introduces a list of items; introduces a long or formal quotation; Ex: The team dreamed of the best way to end the season: practicing hard every day, giving each other encouragement, playing hard during every game, and winning the state title.
11. Commas: Use commas to separate independent clauses when they are joined by any of these seven coordinating conjunctions: and, but, for, or, nor, so, yet. Use commas after introductory clauses, phrases, or words that come before the main clause. Use a pair of commas in the middle of a sentence to set off clauses, phrases, and words that are not essential to the meaning of the sentence. Ex: He did not study, so he thought the test was hard. 12. Complex sentence: a sentence with one independent clause and at least one dependent clause. Ex: I ate the meal that you cooked.
13. Compound sentence: composed of at least two independent clauses and does not require a dependent clause. The clauses are joined by a conjunction. Ex: My friend invited me to a party, but my parents didn’t let me go.
14. Conjunction: a word like and, but, when, or, etc., which connects words, phrases or clauses; Ex: The concert got off to a rough start because the musicians were nervous, but after intermission the performers played much better.
15. Declarative sentence: a sentence that makes a statement and ends in a period; Ex: My birthday is in December.
16. Dependent clauses: cannot stand alone and need another clause to complete their meaning; After their club meeting, the girls walked home together.
17. Direct object: the direct object of a verb is affected by the action of a verb; Ex: She closed the door.
18. Ellipses: a series of marks that usually indicate an intentional omission of a word or sentence or whole section from the original text being quoted; Ex: “What should I do this weekend...,” he wondered.
19. Etymology: the history of a word
20. Exclamatory: using, containing, or expressing an exclamation; Ex: Have fun storming the castle!
21. First person: This is I when used to talk about yourself. I is always singular. This is we when used to talk about a group in which I is a member. We is plural. Ex: When I go on road trips, I like to keep my car’s tank of gas full.
22. Fragments: Fragments are incomplete sentences. Usually, fragments are pieces of sentences that have become disconnected from the main clause. Ex: Purdue offers many majors in engineering. Such as electrical, chemical, and industrial engineering.
23. Future Tense: verbs expressing an action that has not happened yet; Ex: Tomorrow I will walk to the park.
24. Gerund: a verb when it acts as a noun; gerunds can act as the subject or object of a main verb. Ex: Studying is good for you.
25. Idiom: an expression that is particular to a specific language; Ex: He is pushing up daisies. 26. Imperative sentence: a sentence that gives advice or instructions or that expresses a request or a command; Ex: Turn in your papers as soon as you get in to class.
27. Indefinite articles: the words “a” and “an”; Ex: Please pick up a piece of paper.
28. Independent clauses: act as complete sentences; Ex: Jim studied for his chemistry quiz.
29. Indirect object: the object of a verb that is not directly affected by the action, but can either receive the direct object or have the action done for them. Ex: She sent James the letter.
30. Infinitive phrases: usually occurs with “to” (to go, to come, to wear, etc.); it is a verb that shows no person, tense, or aspect. Ex: I had to go.
31. Interjections: a word or short phrase used in speech to gain attention, to exclaim, protest, or command. They can be used to show emotion such as surprise or shock. They are often found at the beginning of a sentence, especially in speech, and are commonly followed by an exclamation mark or a comma. Ex: Wait! What’s going on here?
32. Intransitive verb: an action verb without a direct object; Ex: The guards stood at the front door of the bank.
33. Italics: sets off words when referred to as words and foreign words or phrases not common in English. Ex: "What does the word persona mean?"
34. Jargon: the language used by people who work in a particular area or who have a common interest. All have specialized terms and expressions that they use, many of which may not be comprehensible to the outsider. Ex: I need an O.R. (operating room), stat!
35. Linking verb: a verb that links the subject of a sentence to a word in the predicate. Some linking verbs are forms of be, such as am, is, was, and were. Others, such as appear, become, feel, look, remain, sound, and taste, express conditions. Ex: Donna is a shopaholic.
36. Morpheme: unit of language with meaning; differs from a word because one cannot stand alone; Ex: Breaking a mirror is considered unlucky.
37. Noun: A word that names a person, place, thing, or idea. Ex: The robber was put in jail.
38. Object Complement: follows and modifies or refers to a direct object; Ex: The school voted Elizabeth Class President. 39. Palindrome: a word that reads the same back or forward; Ex: He was able to finish the dangerous race without damaging his racecar.
40. Passive voice: the subject receives the action; only transitive verbs can be used in the passive voice. What would be the direct object of the verb in the active voice becomes the subject of the verb in the passive voice; Ex: The mailman was bitten by the dog.
41. Past simple tense: used for past actions that happened at a specific time, which can be given by a time phrase (yesterday, last year, etc.); Ex: I liked the movie we saw last night.
42. Person: 1st, 2nd, and 3rd; Ex: I like ice cream. You like ice cream. He likes ice cream.
43. Predicate: a simple sentence can be divided into two parts: the subject and the predicate, which is the verb and any complement of the verb, and can include the object. Ex: She wrote a book.
44. Preposition: a word that links a noun, pronoun, or gerund to other words. They can have a variety of meanings. They show direction! Ex: He’s going to the shop.
45. Prepositional phrases: the combination of a preposition and its complement. Ex: She left early in order to get to the bank.
46. Present simple tense: depict actions that are repeated or habitual, states something. Ex: I get up at 9:00 A.M.
47. Run-on sentences: a sentence in which two or more independent clauses (complete sentences) are joined without appropriate punctuation or conjunction; Ex: The next chapter has a lot of difficult information in it, you should start studying right away.
48. Second person: This is you. Second person is used when referring to the addressee. The addressee may be singular or plural, depending on how many individuals are being addressed. Ex: When are you coming home?
49. Semicolons: use a semicolon in place of a period to separate two sentences where the conjunction has been left out; Ex: The sun is high; put on some sun block.
50. Sentence: a group of words that tells a complete thought, typically containing a subject and predicate; Ex: Hopefully there won’t be a lot of homework in this class. 51. Simple Predicate: Tells what the subject is doing or what happened to the subject. Ex: Emily eats a snack after school.
52. Simple sentence: contains one subject and one main verb; it contains one independent clause. Ex: I like coffee.
53. Simple Subject: tells who or what is performing the action in the sentence; Ex: James threw the ball.
54. Split-infinitive: when a word or phrase comes between the particle "to" and the verb in an infinitive; “to boldly go where no man has gone before.”
55. Subject/verb agreement: When the subject of a sentence is composed of two or more nouns or pronouns, use a plural verb. Ex: She and her friends are at the fair. The book is in the drawer.
56. Tense: used to show the relation between the action or state described by the verb and the time, which is reflected in the form of the verb. There are two basic tenses in English: the present and past tense.
57. Third person: This is he, she, it, and they. Third person is used when referring to any person, place, or thing other than the speaker and the addressee. Ex: He decided to go for a run on the beach.
58. Transitive verb: an action verb that appears with a direct object (a person or thing that receives the action of the verb) is called a transitive verb; Ex: He slammed the book down on the table.
59. Verb: a word used to express action, a condition, or a state of being; Ex: He plays basketball.
60. Whom v. Who: Use the he/him method to decide which word is correct. He = who. Him = whom. Ex: Who/Whom wrote the letter? He wrote the letter. Therefore, who is correct. Ex: For who/whom should I vote? Should I vote for him? Therefore, whom is correct. Tip: Whom follows a preposition. Literary Terms Packet
61. Adage: a wise saying; proverb
62. Alliteration: the repetition of initial sounds in neighboring words
63. Allusion: a brief reference to a person, event, or place, real or fictitious, or to a work of art
64. Anecdote: a little story, often amusing, inserted in an essay or speech to help reinforce the thesis
65. Archetype: a universal symbol, story pattern, theme, or character that appears often in literature, film, and art and is easily recognizable
66. Aside: an actor's speech, directed to the audience, not to be heard by others in the story
67. Caesura: a natural pause or break
68. Characterization: the method used by a writer to develop a character
69. Chronology: placing events in a story by order of how they happened
70. Cliché: an overused expression that has lost its freshness, force, and appeal; Ex: The phrase "happy as a lark"
71. Climax: the turning point in a literary work
72. Colloquialism: a word or phrase used in everyday plan relaxed speech placed in formal writing
73. Conflict: the struggle found in fiction
74. Connotation: an implied meaning of a word
75. Denotation: the literal meaning of a word, the dictionary meaning
76. Diction: an author's word choice
77. Digression: moving away from the main plot of theme by preventing additional information that may or may not be relevant 78. Dramatic monologue: speech that expresses a character’s feelings and gives the audience insight into the character’s feelings
79. Epilogue: a short poem or speech spoken directly to the audience following the conclusion of a play
80. Euphemism: the substitution of an agreeable or less offensive expression
81. Fable: fictional story with animals (myths)
82. Falling action: the series of events that take place after the climax
83. Farce: type of exaggerated comedy that features an absurd plot, ridiculous situations, and humorous dialogue
84. Fiction: prose narrative bases on imagination, usually the novel or the short story
85. Figurative language: symbolic language that literary devices use to create special effects or feelings; this symbolic language makes comparisons, exaggerates and means different things based on its context
86. Flashback: an action that interrupts to show an event that happened at an earlier time
87. Foil: a character who serves as a contrast to another perhaps more primary character, so as to point out specific traits of the primary character
88. Foot: The basic metrical unit that generates a line of verse. (It is not a meter)
89. Foreshadowing: method used to build suspense by providing hits for what is to come
90. Hyperbole: exaggeration or overstatement
91. Imagery: evokes one or all of the five senses
92. Internal Rhyme: rhyme within a line
93. Irony: the discrepancy between what is said and what is meant
94. Metaphor: a figure of speech that exaggerates or overstates for dramatic effect
95. Mood: emotional attitude the author takes toward her subject
96. Motif: a recurrent thematic element in an artistic or literary work. A dominant theme or central idea
97. Narrative Hook: the opening of the story that grabs the reader’s attention 98. Onomatopoeia: a word that imitates the sound it represents
99. Oxymoron: a figure of speech that combines contradictory terms
100. Parable: a brief story meant to teach a lesson
101. Personification: giving human qualities to animals or objects in a direct and detailed way
102. Prologue: an introduction or preface, especially a poem recited to introduce a play
103. Protagonist: the hero or central character of a literary work
104. Pseudonym: False name, alias used by a writer
105. Pun: words that mean more than two things
106. Repetition: the recurrence of words, phrases, or lines
107. Rhetorical question: a question to which no answer is expected because the answer is obvious
108. Rhyme: the similarity between the syllable sounds at the end of two or more lines
109. Satire: a literary term used to ridicule or make fun of human voice or weakness, often with the intent of correcting, or changing the subject of the satiric attack
110. Setting: the time and place in literature
111. Simile: the comparison of two unlike things using like or as
112. Sonnet: form of poetry that has 14 lines and follows a strict rhyme scheme and specific structure
113. Stanza: unified group of lines in poetry
114. Symbol: a person, place, or object that has a concrete meaning in itself and also stands for something beyond itself, such as an idea or feeling
115. Symbolism: device in literature where an object represents an idea
116. Syntax: the way in which linguistic elements are put together to form phrases or clauses
117. Theme: the general idea or insight about life that a writer wishes to express; all elements of literary terms contribute to theme 118. Tone: the attitude a writer takes towards a subject or character: serious, humorous, sarcastic, ironic, satirical, tongue-in-cheek, solemn, objective
119. Transcript: a written record or words originally spoken aloud
120. Understatement: statement that lessens or minimizes the importance of what is meant