action verb: a verb that animates a sentence, either physically or mentally.
active voice: see voice.
additive phrase: an expression typically set off with commas, that while it seems to be part of the subject is not, and therefore does not change the number of the verb.
adjective: a word that modifies a noun, pronoun.
adverb: a word that modifies a noun, pronoun, or another adverb.
adverbial clause: subordinate clauses that begin with subordinate conjunctions; they function as adverbs within the sentence and cannot stand alone as sentences.
agreement: see pronoun agreement or subject-predicate agreement.
antecedent: the noun or group of words acting as a noun to which the pronoun refers.
appositive: a word or group of words that restates or identifies the noun or pronoun it is next to.
audience: refers to the reader at the other end of your writing; you should consider your audience's position and experiences when deciding on the appropriate language, style, and tone for your essay.
case: refers to the way a noun or pronoun is used in a phrase, clause, or sentence; case can be subjective, objective, or possessive.
clause: a group of related words, but unlike a phrase, a clause has a subject and predicate.
cliché: trite, overused expressions, many of which rely on figurative language and should be avoided in writing.
collective noun: a word that stands for a group of things is called a collective noun.
colon: used primarily when introducing a list, introducing a quotation or formal statement, or introducing a restatement or explanation.
comma: the most frequently used internal punctuation in sentences; commas are used after introductory clauses and phrases, with restrictive and nonrestrictive elements, with appositives, between items in a series, between modifiers in a series, to join independent clauses, and to set off interrupting elements.
comma splice: see run-on sentence.
comparative degree: used with adjectives and adverbs to compare two people, things, or actions.
complement (predicate nominative or predicate adjective): an element in a predicate that identifies or describes the subject; a complement can be either a noun (called a predicate noun or predicate nominative), or an adjective (called a predicate adjective).
complete predicate: the verb or verb phrase and the words that modify or complete it.
complete subject: the noun or pronoun and the words that modify or complete it.
complex sentence: contains one independent clause and one or more subordinate clauses.
compound adjectives: adjectives that are hyphenated when they appear before a noun.
compound adverbs: while most compound adverbs are written as two words, those beginning with over or under are spelled as one word.
compound-complex sentence: joins two or more independent clauses with one or more subordinate clauses.
compound preposition: prepositions made up of more than one word.
compound sentence: has two or more independent clauses, joined by coordinating conjunctions, and no subordinate clauses.
compound subjects: refers to more than one actor in a sentence.
compound word: combination of two words can create a spelling problem; a dictionary is your best guide to correct spelling.
conclusions: the final paragraph or paragraphs of an essay, and should give a reader a sense of completion.
conjunction: words that join or link elements.
conjunctive (sentence) adverbs: words that look like coordinating conjunctions but are actually adverbs.
coordinating conjunction: (and, but, for, nor, or, so, and yet) join words, phrases, or clauses that are grammatically equal in rank.
correlative conjunction: conjunctions that come in matched pairs, like not only/but also.
dangling modifiers: are similar to misplaced modifiers except that the modifier is not just separated from the word it modifies; it is missing the word it modifies.
dash: a punctuation device used to interrupt a sentence, or introduce a restatement or explanation.
demonstrative pronoun: (this, that, these, those) single out what you are talking about.
direct object: a noun that receives the action of the sentence but that is not the subject.
draft: a written version of an essay; most writers create multiple drafts in the process of writing.
ellipsis: indicates an omission from a quotation.
elliptical clause: a clause in which a word or words have been omitted.
euphemism: a mild or roundabout word or phrase used in place of one considered painful or offensive.
exclamation point: follow interjections and other expressions of strong feeling; they may also lend force to a command.
faddish words: terms that appear suddenly and become very popular in language; some last, some fade, and some disappear altogether.
faulty parallelism: a failure to create grammatically parallel structures when appropriate, is referred to as faulty parallelism.
figurative idiom: expressions so common that they have become clichés.
future perfect: a verb tense that indicates action in a future time in relation to another time farther in the future; it is formed with will have and the past participle of the verb.
future tense: a verb tense that indicates the action has yet to take place
gerund: a noun created from the -ing form of a verb; gerunds act as subjects and objects in sentences.
gerund phrase: phrases that begin with the -ing form of a verb and have objects and modifiers; a gerund phrase always acts as a noun in a sentence, not as an adjective.
idiom: an accepted phrase or expression that doesn't follow the usual patterns of language, or has a meaning other than the literal.
imperative: refers to the mood of the verb used in requests and commands.
indefinite pronouns: (all, any, he, she, it, and so on) stand in for nouns but do not specify the persons or things to which they refer.
independent clause: a clause that contains a subject and a predicate, expresses a complete thought, and can stand alone as a sentence.
indicative: refers to a mood of the verb that is used in most statements and questions.
indirect object: tells to or for whom an action is done, although the words to and for are not used; it is used with a transitive verb and precedes the direct object.
indirect question: a question that is being reported rather than asked and ends with a period rather than a question mark.
infinitive: the base form of a verb with to, and that usually functions as a noun, although it can be an adjective or adverb.
infinitive phrase: a phrase containing an infinitive and its objects and modifiers; infinitive phrases usually function as nouns, although they can be used as adjectives and adverbs.
intensifiers: words intended to add force to what you say.
interjection: words that express a burst of emotion but are not grammatically related to other elements in a sentence.
interrogative pronoun: (who, whom, whose, which, what) introduce questions.
intransitive verb: verbs that do not take an object.
introduction: beginnings of essays that establish the purpose and tone; introductions should attract the reader's attention and guide the reader naturally into the rest of the paper.
irregular verb: verbs that form the past tense and past participle in a variety of ways, but not by adding -d or -ed as regular verbs do.
jargon: the specialized language of a field or profession.
linking verb: verbs that do not convey action but help complete statements about the subject by describing or identifying it.
misplaced modifier: modifiers that do not clearly relate to the word they are modifying.
modifier: describes or limits another word or group of words.
mood: refers to the manner or attitude of the speaker which the verb intends to convey; verbs have three moods: indicative, imperative, or subjunctive.
noun: a word that names a person, place, or thing, and can be either concrete or abstract.
noun clause: a clause that serves as a noun in a sentence.
number: refers to whether a noun or verb is singular or plural.
object of the preposition: a noun or pronoun that follows a preposition and completes the prepositional phrase.
objective case: when a noun or pronoun is the object of a verb, it is in the objective case.
outline: establishes an overall pattern of organization for an essay; they may be formal or informal but are essential to good writing.
paragraph: develops one idea with a series of logically connected sentences and may vary in length.
paragraph coherence: the smooth logical flow of a paragraph.
paragraph unity: a paragraph that focuses on one idea and one idea only.
parallelism: refers to matching grammatical structures; elements in a sentence that have the same function or express similar ideas should be grammatically parallel, or grammatically matched.
paraphrase: involves borrowing an idea that you rephrase in your own words.
parentheses: punctuation devices used to set off incidental information.
participle: a verb that ends in -ing (present participle) or -ed, -d, -t, -en, -n (past participle).
participial phrase: begins with a past or present participle and is followed by its object and modifiers; participial phrases are used as adjectives.
parts of speech: there: are eight parts of speech: noun, verb, pronoun, adjective, adverb, preposition, conjunction, and interjection.
passive voice: see voice.
past perfect: a verb tense indicating action in past times in relation to another past time; it is formed with had and the past participle of the verb.
past tense: a verb tense indicating that an action is finished or complete.
period: punctuation device used with statements, requests, mild exclamations, courtesy questions, and abbreviations.
person: refers to the person (or thing) that is a subject or object; person can be either first (I, me, my, mine), second (you, your), or third (he, she, him, her, it, they).
personal pronoun: (I, me, he, she, it, and so on) stand in for one or more persons or things and differ in form depending upon their case.
phrase: a group of related words that have no subject-predicate combination and cannot stand alone as a sentence.
plagiarism: the use of another writer's words or ideas without acknowledging that person's contribution.
possessive case: the case of a noun or pronoun used to show ownership.
predicate: part of a sentence that tells what the subject does or is, or what is done to the subject.
preposition: shows the relationship between a noun or pronoun and another noun or pronoun.
prepositional idiom: an expression that depends on the choice of a particular preposition.
prepositional phrase: a: phrase that begins with a preposition and includes a noun or pronoun that is the object of the preposition.
present perfect: a verb tense that indicates action in past time in relation to present time; it is formed with has or have and the past participle of the verb.
present tense: a verb tense that indicates the action is occurring now.
pronoun: a word that stands in for a noun.
pronoun agreement: a pronoun must agree with its antecedent in number (singular or plural) and gender (masculine or feminine).
pronoun case: refers to the way a pronoun is used in a sentence (see subjective, objective or possessive case).
proper noun: names a specific person or place, or a particular event or group and is always capitalized.
punctuation: helps a reader make sense of what you write; punctuation devices include periods, question marks, exclamation points, commas, semicolons, colons, dashes, parentheses, and brackets.
question mark: used to end questions.
quotation marks: used to indicate to the reader that the words or sentences within the quotation marks are borrowed from another writer.
redundancy: the unnecessary repetition of words, phrases, or ideas in writing.
reflexive (intensive) pronoun: combines a personal pronoun with -self or -selves in order to reflect nouns or pronouns, or to provide emphasis.
relative clause: a clause that begins with a relative pronoun and functions as an adjective.
relative pronoun: (who, whom, which, that) introduce clauses that describe nouns or pronouns.
run-on sentence: or comma splice is an error in which two independent clauses are joined without the proper punctuation.
semicolon: punctuation device used to join independent clauses between items in a series.
sentence: a group of words containing a subject and a predicate and expressing a complete thought.
sentence fragment: a group of words that is missing a subject, a predicate, or does not express a complete thought.
simple predicate: a verb or verb phrase.
simple sentence: has one independent clause and no subordinate clauses.
simple subject: a noun or pronoun.
slang: conversational or informal language, which should generally be avoided in formal writing.
split infinitives: breaking up an infinitive with one or more adverbs.
subject: part of a sentence that tells what or whom the sentence is about.
subjective (nominative) case: when a noun or pronoun is the subject of a verb.
subject-predicate agreement: a predicate must agree in person and in number with its subject, regardless of other elements in a sentence.
subordinate (dependant) clause: a clause that does not express a complete thought and is not a sentence; it depends upon something else to express a complete thought.
subjunctive: refers to the mood of the verb used in sentences that are contrary-to-fact or hypothetical.
subordinating conjunctions: join subordinate clauses to independent clauses.
superlative degree: used with adjectives and adverbs to compare more than two things, people, or actions.
tense: refers to the time in which the action, or state of being of the verb, is taking place.
topic: the general idea or area of an essay; provides the subject of the essay.
transitive verbs: a verb that takes a direct object; that is, the verb transmits action to an object.
thesis: a sentence or group of sentences that make an assertion about the topic; it is usually found in the introduction and may be directly stated or implied.
verbal: words derived from verbs but that function differently from a verb (see infinitives, participles, and gerunds).
verb: conveys the action performed by a subject, expresses the state of that subject, or links the subject to a complement.
verb agreement: see agreement.
voice: refers to the form of a verb indicating whether the subject performs the action (active voice) or receives the action (passive voice).
wordy expression: expressions that say the same thing twice or avoid getting directly to the point.
