Appendix:Glossary of grammar

This is a glossary of grammar.

A

 * aspect : Grammatical quality of a verb which determines the relationship of the speaker to the internal temporal flow of the event the verb describes; whether the speaker views the event from outside as a whole, or from within as it is unfolding.


 * auxiliary verb : A verb that accompanies the main verb in a clause in order to make distinctions in tense, mood, voice or aspect.

C

 * causative : An expression of an agent causing or forcing a patient to perform an action (or to be in a certain condition).


 * clause : A word or group of words ordinarily consisting of a subject and a predicate; in some languages and types of clauses, the subject may not appear explicitly; one clause may be coordinated with or embedded in another within a single sentence.
 * complement : A word or group of words that completes a grammatical construction in the predicate and that describes or is identified with the subject or object.
 * complement : Any word or group of words used to complete a grammatical construction, typically in the predicate, including adverbials, infinitives, and sometimes objects.


 * copula : A word used to link the subject of a sentence with a predicate (usually a subject complement or an adverbial); it serves to unite (or associate) the subject with the predicate. (e.g. be).

D

 * dangling modifier : A word or clause that modifies another word or clause ambiguously, possibly causing confusion with regard to the speaker's intended meaning.

F

 * frequentative : Serving to express the frequent repetition of an action.

I

 * iterative : Expressive of an action that is repeated with frequency.

M

 * modifier : A word, phrase, or clause that limits or qualifies the sense of another word or phrase.
 * mood : A verb form that depends on how its containing clause relates to the speaker’s or writer’s wish, intent, or assertion about reality.

O

 * object : The noun phrase which is an internal complement of a verb phrase or a prepositional phrase. In a verb phrase with a transitive action verb, it is typically the receiver of the action.

P

 * phrasal verb : A phrase consisting of a verb and either or both a preposition or adverb, that has idiomatic meaning.


 * preposition : A member of a closed class of non-inflecting words typically employed to connect a noun or a pronoun, in an adjectival or adverbial sense, with some other word; a particle used with a noun or pronoun (in English always in the objective case) to make a phrase limiting some other word; — so called because it is usually placed before the word with which it is phrased; as, a bridge of iron; he comes from town; it is good for food; he escaped by running. Prepositions are a heterogeneous class of words in some languages, with fuzzy boundaries that tend to overlap with other categories (like adverbs, adjectives, and conjunctions).


 * prepositional phrase : A phrase that has both a preposition and its object or complement; may be used as an adjunct or a modifier.

Q

 * qualifier : A word or phrase, such as an adjective or adverb, that describes or characterizes another word or phrase, such as a noun or verb; a modifier; that adds or subtracts attributes to another.

S

 * subject : In a clause: the word or word group (usually a noun phrase) that is dealt with. In active clauses with verbs denoting an action, the subject and the actor are usually the same.