Following is a list of terms frequently used in language classes. When an abbreviation is commonly used either as a marking symbol in compositions or as a label in examples, the abbreviation precedes the term.

[A-C]    [D-L]     [M-P]    [Q-S]    [T-Z]  

absolute constructions: a reduced adverb or adjective clause which includes its own subject.  The subject of the absolute construction differs from the subject of the main clause in the case of the adverb clause or from its antecedent in the case of the adjective clause. Like participial phrases resulting from sentence reductions, absolutes can indicate time and/or cause. To indicate same-time activity, the present participle is used in the absolute construction, just as it is in a participial phrase. However, the only way to indicate time sequence in an absolute construction is to employ the perfect participle, since clause markers indicating time sequence aren't permitted. Passive forms are possible.  The children playing quietly for once, their mother was able to read a chapter or two in her new library book. (reduced adverb clause--cause/same time)  The children having gone to bed, their parents relaxed by listening to music. (reduced adverb clause--time sequence)  His father having been admitted to the hospital, Bob was unable to concentrate in class. (reduced passive adverb clause--cause and/or cause + time sequence)  The young men, all of them prospective SDSU football players, enjoyed themselves at the party given by the Alumni Association. (reduced adjective clause--same time) The trees in the forest, all of them having caught fire as a result of a carelessly tossed away cigarette butt, were completely burned.  (reduced adjective clause--time sequence)

conjunction: a connecting word. See coordinating conjunctions and subordinating conjunctions.  Click here for a list.

conjunctive adverb: words like however, moreover, and nevertheless which commonly serve as transitions between clauses and sentences. They can appear at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end of a clause, but they are always in the second of two related independent clauses. In a compound sentence the clause containing a conjunctive adverb is preceded by a semicolon or by a comma and a coordinating conjunction, never by a comma alone.  Words of this sort are sometimes called coordinating adverbs. The children hate to pick up their toys before bed; they must do so, nevertheless.  The men's choir concert was last night.  However, Mary was too busy to go.  Click here for a list.

contraction: the combining of two words, usually a pronoun and a verb, into one by the use of an apostrophe: it's = it is, don't = do not, he's = he is or he has  Contractions are considered conversational, so they are not normally employed in academic writing.

coordinating conjunctions: connecting words like and, or, and but that are used to join words and ideas of equal importance.  Click here for a list.

(coord) coordination: combining ideas so that they have equal importance. Coordinating conjunctions are often employed in the process.

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(dep) dependent clause: a group of words containing a subject and verb that cannot stand alone as a sentence.  Such a clause usually begins with a subordinating conjunction (sometimes called a clause marker). See subordinate clause.

(DO) direct object: a word or group of words that receives the action of a verb. It is usually a thing, but it can be a person. It can be identified in a sentence by asking a question beginning with "what" after the verb. Bill hit the ball. (What did Bill hit?  The ball. Ball is the direct object of hit.) Maria saw Sue.  (What--or who--did Maria see?  Sue is the direct object of saw.)

elliptical clause: a construction in which some words are omitted but are still understood. Such a construction is correct as long as it is clear what the missing word or words are. Elliptical clauses are especially common in comparative sentence patterns: Few children are as intelligent and handsome as one's own (are).  Bill can never find a better car than (he can) at Einspar's.  The words in parentheses are the ones that are usually omitted.

exclamation: a type of sentence or expression ending in an exclamation mark that indicates strong emotion about the topic: What a beautiful day it is out! How happy Zara was! Oh no! How horrible!

expletive: the words there and it used as place-holders in the subject position at the beginning of sentences in which the true subject follows the verb.  There is a bird on the roof. (A bird is on the roof.) It is surprising how fast birds can fly.  (How fast birds can fly  is surprising.)

gerund: the ing-form (present participle) of a verb used as a noun. If the objects, complements, and/or modifiers of the gerund are included, it is called a gerund phrase. Walking downtown from campus takes a long time.  Teachers forbid talking between students while a lecture is in progress.

(Indep) independent clause: a clause that can stand alone as a sentence. It is sometimes called a main clause.  The two cats like to sleep on top of the refrigerator.

(IO) indirect object: the noun or pronoun (usually a person) to or for whom an action is done. It can be identified in a sentence by asking a question beginning "to whom or for whom" about an action.  Mary bought her mother a present. (Who did Mary buy a present for? Her mother. Her mother is the indirect object.) Sam bought his car four new tires. (For whom--or what--did Sam buy four new tires?  His car.   His car is the indirect object in this sentence.)  Sometimes the indirect object is a prepositional phrase beginning with to or for.  Annie wrote down a Swedish recipe for her friend.  The friend gave to everyone who asked what Annie had located for her.

indirect quotation: See reported speech.

infinitive: to + simple verb, used as a unit as a noun substitute or as an adjective or adverb modifier: to sing. (Past, passive, and continuous forms exist, but they aren't used as commonly: to have jumped, to have been owned, to have been talking)

ing-form: the form of a verb ending in -ing. Others names for this term are present participle, participle, and gerund.

intransitive verb: a verb that does not have a direct object. Ghada often walks to the mall with her friends. (See direct object and transitive verb.)

main clause: See independent clause.

modifier: a word, phrase, or clause that describes or qualifies another word. See adjective and adverb.

noun: a word naming a person, place, or thing. If the noun is capitalized (like Mr. Jones or Puerto Rico) to show it is the name of a particular person or thing, it called a proper noun. If it is not capitalized (like man, country, or dog), it is called a common noun.  Two types of nouns exist: countable nouns and uncountable nouns (also called noncountable nouns). Countable nouns have singular and plural forms and usually require a or an before them in the singular, while uncountable nouns normally have only a single form.  a book or books, a child or children, a hypothesis or hypotheses vs. tennis, water, sand, pork, or knowledge.  For more information, see "Countable vs. Noncountable Nouns"  in ESL Helps.

parallelism: The most basic definition of parallelism is the putting of similar ideas into similar structures and positions in sentences to make it easier to follow the writer's train of thought.  In other words, a writer normally pairs nouns with nouns, phrases with phrase, or clauses with clauses.  Betty likes to cook, clean, and decorate her house.  Joe often goes to the International Coffee with Su, Tagir, and Roberto.  Jared always eats low-fat sandwiches, but his brother snarfs down pizzas. Parallelism, however, often goes beyond emphasizing the forms of words to emphasizing the sounds of the words themselves. At times the stress on sound and rhythm is so great that the effect is almost like poetry.  In "The Gettysburg Address" Lincoln uses the words "[. . .] that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth."

participle, past: a verb form ending in -d or -ed when the verb is regular. It usually functions as part of a main verb, but it can also be employed as an adjective. When it is used as an adjective, it indicates an action that is already completed as opposed to one still in process. (See present participle.) boiled water vs. boiling water (Boiled water may be either hot or cold, but boiling water is at 212 degrees Fahrenheit.)

participle, present: the ing-form of a verb. It can serve as part of a continuous tense verb, as a noun, or as an adjective. When it is used as an adjective, the terms participle and participial use are often employed, and the emphasis is usually on an action in process (a talking dog) or on the effect of one person or situation on another (an exciting football game).  (See past participle.) When a present participle is used as a noun substitute, it is called a gerund.  Speaking in front of a large group frightens me.

phrase: a group of words used as a unit which lacks a subject and/or a verb. A noun phrase is a noun and all its modifiers.  The tallest player on the basketball team is a Dinka from Sudan.  A gerund phrase is a present participle used as a noun and any subjects, objects, or complements that it might have. Knowing the answer doesn't mean that solving a problem is easy.  A participial phrase is a present or past participle plus any subjects, objects, complements, and modifiers. A student living with a lot of other students may not get a lot of sleep.  The child frightened by the dog couldn't stop screaming.  A prepositional phrase is a preposition with its object and any modifiers. The football player kicked by the opposing linebacker limped off the field.  A verb phrase is a main verb and all auxiliary verbs.  Governor Rounds has been working on increasing research in the state of South Dakota.

(P) predicate or complete predicate: a verb or verb phrase and any objects, complements, and modifiers that go along with it. Our team was upset about losing the championship game. A simple predicate is the verb or verb phrase without objects, modifiers, or complements. The opposing team was overjoyed.

predicate adjective: an adjective following a linking verb that describes the subject. It is one type of complement. Marian was happy about the results.

predicate noun: a noun following a linking verb that renames the subject.  It is one type of complement.  Andrea was the hero of the game.

(prep) preposition: a word placed before a noun or noun substitute that shows the relationship of the noun to another word in the sentence. Unlike a clause marker, a preposition is never followed by a pattern containing a subject and a main verb.  Because a few words like before and after can be employed as either a preposition or a clause marker, it is necessary to examine the structure that follows such a word in order to correctly classify it (after dinner vs. after we eat dinner).  A prepositional phrase is often used as an adjective or an adverb. Soha is sitting in the corner next to her brother.

(pron) pronoun: a single word that can substitute for a noun. Each one should refer to an antecedent. The personal pronouns are I, you, he, she, it, we, and they. The forms can shift from the subject forms given here to object forms, possessive forms, and reflexive forms.  Click here for a list.

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question word or phrase: the word or words used to begin an information question that tell what kind of information is desired. How long are you going to be gone, and who is going with you?  What flavor ice cream does Bill want?

question, information: a type of question in which part of the information is missing, and a question word or a question phrase substitutes for it: Who was the woman I saw you with last night?  My ex-girlfriend.  What make car are you going to buy?  A Ford or a Honda.

question, tag: a type of question having the structure of a statement followed by a "tag" which is answered by yes or no. It can be used to ask for information or just to keep the conversation going, depending on whether the intonation rises or falls at the end of the sentence: It was someone you didn't know well, wasn't it?  The ball didn't cross the twenty-fifth yard line, did it?

question, yes/no: a type of question whose answer is typically "yes" or "no": Was it Mrs. Jones?  Does Tabitha know the answer?  Has Jean arrived yet?

reported speech: a type of writing in which what was originally a direct quotation is imbedded within another sentence as a noun clause object.  Megan told Chad that the TV was on the fritz.  (Originally: Megan said, "Chad, the TV is on the Fritz.")  Chad asked if she had called the repair shop.  (Originally: Chad asked, "Have you called the repair shop?")  Megan asked him what time he wanted the repairman to come.  (Originally:  Megan asked him, "What time do you want the repairman to come?")

s-form of the verb: the third person singular form of the present tense of a verb: It goes.  He walks.  She talks.

sentence: a group of words consisting of at least one independent clause. It can be a statement, a question, or an exclamation.

simple form (of noun or verb): the form of the word found in the dictionary, without any endings indicating number or tense:  be, go, defend, hallucinate

(Simple) simple sentence: a sentence containing one independent clause and no dependent clauses.  The movie depicts the life of a college student with a secret identity.

statement: the type of sentence ending in a period.  Andy enjoys going to the movies.

(S) subject: a word or words that name who the sentence is about. The subject may or may not be the doer of an action, and while it is usually located before the verb, it may be after it. The simple subject is a noun or noun substitute without any modifiers, but the complete subject includes modifiers as well. In the following sentence the complete subject is underlined: The two boys on the high school football team weren't happy about losing the game. A (cdS) compound subject exists when a sentence has two or more subjects for the same verb joined by a coordinating conjunction: A boy and a girl were walking toward me. A delayed subject (also called a displaced subject) is an infinitive or noun-clause subject that has been moved to a position following the verb and its location filled by the expletive it in order to make the sentence less formal and more conversational.  It is invigorating to roll in the snow. vs. To roll in the snow is invigorating. It is well known that Jack cheats. vs. That Jack cheats is well known.

subordinate clause: a clause that cannot stand alone as a sentence. Such a clause usually begins with a clause marker (= subordinating conjunction). It is sometimes called a dependent clause. 

subordinating conjunction: a word introducing a dependent or subordinate clause that indicates the relationship of the clause to something else in the sentence and indicates that the idea in the sentence is less important than the idea in the clause or clauses it is attached to. It is sometimes called a clause marker. Click here for a list.

(subord) subordination: a method of combining ideas through the use of modifiers, phrases, and dependent clauses so that one or more ideas are made less important than other ideas.  As long as Joe has the money, buying a laptop with a large hard drive seems a good idea. He'll buy one as soon as he checks out the different brands.

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transitive verb: a verb which has a direct object. Bill made the winning goal in yesterday's soccer game. See direct object and intransitive verb.

(V) verb: a word that usually expresses an action, although it can express a mental state, a perception, or a condition or can link a subject to a predicate. Susan can run fast. She is speedy, and she knows how to win. When a sentence has two or more verbs for the same subject or subjects, it is called a (cdV) compound verb. Susan is the fastest woman on our track team and is expected to compete in the next Olympics.

verb, linking; a verb that connects a subject with a complement (either a predicate adjective or a predicate noun). Common linking verbs are appear, be, grow, look, remain, seem, smell, sound, stay, and taste.  Some of these can also be used as transitive verbs, so be sure to note the sentence patterns in which they are used when identifying their function.  Kadia appeared happy until her son grew tired of sitting still. vs. Lin grew peppers and carrots in her garden. (Grew is a linking verb in the first sentence, but it is a transitive verb in the second because it has two direct objects: peppers and carrots.)

verb + preposition: a verb that is customarily followed by the same preposition, or if more than one preposition can be used, the definition does not change: listen to, look at, depend on or depend upon.

verb, two-word: a verb followed by one or more prepositions that changes its definition whenever the preposition or prepositions change: turn on, turn off, turn up, turn down, turn in, turn into, turn out

verbal: a gerund, participle, or infinitive not used as part of the main verb.  A verbal can function as a noun, adjective, or adverb and can have its own subject, object, and/or complement, just as a main verb can.  Note that the person doing the action indicated by a gerund is a possessive if the gerund phrase is the subject of the sentence.  A prepositional phrase beginning with for indicates who does the action indicated by an infinitive employed as the subject or delayed subject of a sentence.  Bill's walking downtown caused us to have to wait for him.  For Kevin to have to cook dinner every night was inconvenient.  It was annoying for him to have to wait for his roommate to get home.

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