Recently Added Articles Page #55

noun modifier

A noun can act as an adjective. When it does, we call it a noun modifier. Indeed, in the expression noun modifier, the word noun acts as a noun modifier. We have hundreds of these expressions in our language. In fact, you can make them up. chair legs...

noun substitute

This is not an official grammatical term. Rather, I made it up to refer to three structures in our language that can step in and perform the roles of the noun: (1) nominal clauses, (2) infinitive phrases, and (3) gerundive phrases. All great write...

nouniness

In his great work, Modern English Usage, Henry Fowler referred to a “nouny abstract style.” I took that adjective nouny and turned it into the noun nouniness.The term nouniness describes the style of many writers who, for some unknown reason, re...

number

The concept of number applies to nouns, verbs, and pronouns. Number distinguishes “oneness” and “more-than-oneness,” that is, it distinguishes the singular from the plural.English verbs do not have a special form to denote plurality. Instead,...

object

The grammatical word object refers to several of the main functions of nouns (and pronouns). A noun can serve as the direct object of a transitive verb, as in John hit the ball. A noun can serve as the object of a preposition, as in Mary went to the ...

object complement

A complement is a word or group of words that completes the action or state of being expressed by the verb. A subject complement typically follows the verb to be or a linking verb (seem, appear, many others).Another kind of complement is the object...

object of a preposition

One of the major roles of the noun or pronoun is the object of the preposition. When a noun or pronoun combines with a preposition, it forms a prepositional phrase, which primarily acts as either an adjective (the book on the table) or an adverb (He ...

objective case

The personal pronouns (and the relative or interrogative pronoun who) exhibit case. The case of a pronoun reveals how the noun it replaces would act in the sentence. We have three cases: (1) subjective or nominative case, (2) objective case, and (3...

parallel construction

When you write a series of elements in a sentence, each element must (1) appear in the same grammatical form and (2) perform the same grammatical function. This is the rule of parallel construction. If any element fails to satisfy either criterion,...

participle

Every main verb has two kinds of participles: a past participle and a present participle.The past participle shows up in verb conjugation in two ways: (1) to form the perfect tenses with the auxiliary verb have (I have decided to retire) and (2) to...

parts of speech

We have eight parts of speech in the English language: (1) nouns, (2) verbs, (3) adjectives, (4) adverbs, (5) pronouns, (6) conjunctions, (7) prepositions, and (8) interjections. Every word you use in speech or writing falls into just one of ...

passive voice

An action verb is either transitive or intransitive. A transitive verb can hook directly to a noun or pronoun (the direct object). An intransitive verb cannot hook directly to a noun or pronoun.Every transitive verb can appear either in the active vo...

past-participial phrase

Regular verbs typically form their past participles by adding ‑ed. Irregular verbs, however, form their past participles in some other way. For example, they change an internal vowel (I drink, I drank, I have drunk), or they add “-en” to form t...

past participle

The past participle shows up in verb conjugation in two ways: (1) to form the perfect tenses with the auxiliary verb have (I have decided to retire) and (2) to form the passive voice with the auxiliary verb to be (The case was decided by the court)...

past-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...

past-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 past perfect is formed by taking the past tense of to have (had) and adding the past participle of the main verb. Thus: When ...

past-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...

past tense

The past tense of a main verb shows what happened or what state of being existed earlier at a definite time. When you use the past tense, the activity or state of being is over, finished, done (I drank the water, He was happy).A regular verb usually ...

perfect tenses

The perfect tenses are under attack by many misinformed, but otherwise well-educated, writers and speakers. The tense does express qualities of verbs that are otherwise incapable of expression and is therefore worth retaining.We have three perfect te...

person

The concept of person applies to pronouns and reflects a universal truth: There are only three types of people on earth. We have the speaker (first person), the listener (second person), and the person being gossiped about (third person).As pronouns ...

personal pronoun

We have seven kinds of pronouns in the English language (personal pronouns, reflexive and intensive pronouns, relative pronouns, interrogative pronouns, demonstrative pronouns, indefinite pronouns, and reciprocal pronouns).The personal pronouns refer...

phrase

A phrase is a multiword group having no conjugated verb in it. We have various kinds of phrases, which perform all sorts of functions in the language. Basically, the phrases can serve as nouns, adjectives, and adverbs. Three very important phrases ar...

plural

Nouns and pronouns are either singular or plural. Nouns typically form their plurals by adding ‑s, (boys), ‑es (torches), or ‑ies (cities). Some plural words, like children and fish, do not use -s. Pronouns have special forms to show plurality ...

positive state

Adjectives and adverbs exhibit a positive state, which simply shows the attribute expressed by the adjective (hot) or adverb (quickly). If the adjective or adverb seeks to show that something has more of the attribute expressed, we use the comparativ...

possessive case

The personal pronouns (and the relative or interrogative pronoun who) exhibit case. The case of a pronoun reveals how the noun it replaces would act in the sentence. We have three cases: (1) subjective or nominative case, (2) objective case, and (3...