Recently Added Articles Page #54

dangling participle

 See dangling modifier....

defining clause

The great grammarian Henry Fowler coined this term to refer to a restrictive clause. A defining clause looks to the noun modified and singles it out among others that could exist in the context. A defining clause points a finger at the noun modified ...

definite article

We have three articles in the English language: a, an, and the. The word the is the definite article. The words a and an are indefinite articles.Grammarians often go on for pages analyzing the differences between a-an and the. Generally, you use the ...

demonstrative pronoun

We have four demonstrative pronouns in the English language: this, that, these, those. The first two are singular, the last two plural. Demonstrative pronouns take the place of a noun, and when you use them, make sure the antecedent is crystal clear....

dependent clause

Clauses come in two varieties: independent and dependent. A dependent clause cannot stand by itself as a sentence. Dependent clauses will act in one of three ways in your sentences: (1) adjectives, (2) adverbs, or (3) nouns. An adjectival clause m...

derivative adjective

A derivative adjective derives from a verb form. You can take certain suffixes (‑ful, ‑ent,‑ant, ‑ive, and others), add them to verbs, and produce derivative adjectives. The word derivative in derivative adjective is, you guessed it, a deriva...

derivative noun

A derivative noun derives from a verb form. You can take certain suffixes (‑tion, ‑sion, ‑ence, ‑ance, and others), add them to verbs, and produce derivative nouns. Examples include conclusion, statement, pertinence, and scores of others.Be c...

direct object

Action verbs come in two varieties: transitive and intransitive. A transitive verb has the intrinsic ability to attach directly to a noun, and that noun is called the direct object. Thus, in the sentence John hit the ball, the word ball is the direct...

elliptical clause

A useful power structure is the elliptical clause, also called a truncated clause. The structure consists of a subordinating conjunction (if, though, although, when, while, and many others) and one of six structures: (1) present participle, (2) pas...

elliptical expression

An elliptical expression is a group of words with certain understood words omitted. Good writers routinely use elliptical expressions. You may punctuate elliptical expressions in two ways: (1) begin the expression with a semicolon, and then insert a...

finite verb

A finite verb is a conjugated verb, which shows tense, person, number, and mood. The opposite of a finite verb is the infinitive, which does not show tense, person, number, or mood. Here's a finite verb: He wrote the best-selling novel. Here's an inf...

fragment

A sentence fragment is a single word or a group of words that does not qualify as a complete grammatical sentence. It might be a dependent clause written as a complete sentence. Or it might simply be a group of words with no verb at all. Many writers...

fused participle

The great grammarian Henry Fowler coined the term fused participle. The structure consists of a noun or pronoun followed by a present participle, that is, an ‑ing verb. The entire unit (noun or pronoun plus ‑ing verb) then enters the sentence and...

future-perfect progressive tense

There are six progressive tenses. Some grammarians refer to the progressive tense as the progressive aspect of a verb. The progressive tense shows an “ongoingness” of the action denoted by the verb.The progressive tense is formed by using the ver...

future-perfect tense

The perfect tenses are formed by using the auxiliary verb to have and adding the past participle of the main verb. Thus, the future perfect is formed by taking the future tense of to have (will have) and adding the past participle of the main verb. T...

future-progressive tense

There are six progressive tenses. Some grammarians refer to the progressive tense as the progressive aspect of a verb. The progressive tense shows an “ongoingness” of the action denoted by the verb.The progressive tense is formed by using the ver...

future tense

The future tense shows actions or states of being that will occur in the future. Please note, however, that we can show futurity in other ways as well. The simple present tense can show futurity: The game begins tonight.We form the future tense by co...

gender

Gender is a grammatical concept, though most people today use gender when they mean sex. In other languages, various endings indicate whether a noun or pronoun is a masculine, feminine, or neuter entity. But in English, gender has pretty much disappe...

gerund

A gerund is a present participle (-ing verb) used as a noun. If the ‑ing verb acts as an adjective, it is not a gerund but a participial adjective. Thus, the expression a winning hand is not a gerund. It is simply a present participle (winning) use...

group noun

 See collective noun....

helping verb

A helping verb is an auxiliary verb.For a brief discussion, see auxiliary verb.For a thorough discussion, consult the section on Verbs in Parts of Speech on Grammar.com. Click here for the beginning of that discussion....

homograph

The following discussion from The Columbia Guide to Standard American English (1993) aptly describes homographs, homonyms, and homophones: Homographs are words spelled alike but with different meanings and usually with different pronunciations (lead,...

homonym

 See homograph....

homophone

 See homograph....

imperative mood

The mood of verbs shows how the speaker regards the utterance. The speaker might regard the utterance as a statement: that's the indicative mood. The speaker might ask a question: that's the interrogative mood. The speaker might issue a command: that...