A-Z Grammar Terms

Declarative clause: A sentence that makes a statement.

Example: She likes chocolate.

Defining relative clause: A clause that gives essential information about a noun.

Example: The man who lives next door is a doctor.

Definite article: The word "the", used to refer to a specific noun.

Example: The sun is shining.

Degree adverb/adverbial: An adverb that shows intensity or extent.

Example: She is very happy.

Deictic (Deixis): A word whose meaning depends on the situation.

Example: this, that, here, now

Demonstrative: Words that point to things.

Example: this, that, these, those

Dependent: A word or phrase that needs another part of the sentence.

Example: Although she was tired... (needs another clause to complete the meaning).

Dependent clause: A clause that cannot stand alone.

Example: Because she was late...

Derivational morphology: See morphology (concerns how words change form).

Determiner (Determinative): A word that comes before a noun to show quantity, possession, or definiteness.

Example: the, some, my, two

Direct object: The noun that receives the action of the verb.

Example: She bought a book.

Direct question: A question in its normal form.

Example: What is your name?

Direct speech: The exact words someone says, shown with quotation marks.

Example: She said, "I am happy."

Discontinuous construction: A sentence structure where related words are separated.

Example: The book was on the table, surprisingly, not lost.

Disjunct: See sentence adverbial (an adverb that shows the speaker's attitude).

Ditransitive verb: A verb that takes two objects.

Example: She gave me a gift.

Double negative: Using two negatives in a sentence (often incorrect in standard English).

Example: I don't know nothing (should be "I don't know anything").

Dummy, dummy word: A word that has no real meaning but fills a grammar role.

Example: It is raining.

Dummy operator: See auxiliary verb.

Dummy subject: A subject that doesn't refer to anything specific.

Example: There is a problem.

Duration adverb/adverbial: An adverb that shows how long something happens.

Example: She stayed for two hours.

Echo question: A question that repeats part of a statement for confirmation or surprise.

Example: "She won the lottery!" → "She won what?"

-ed clause (past participle construction): A clause with a past participle.

Example: Tired of waiting, he left.

-ed form, -ed participle: The past form of regular verbs.

Example: walk → walked; bake → baked

Ellipsis: Leaving out words when the meaning is clear.

Example: "Want some?" (instead of "Do you want some?")

Embedding (or nesting): Placing one clause inside another.

Example: I know that she is coming.

Emphasis: Making something stronger or more important.

Example: I do like ice cream!

End focus: Putting important information at the end of a sentence.

Example: She opened the door slowly and carefully.

End weight: Keeping the sentence balanced by placing longer parts at the end.

Example: "It surprised me that she arrived so late."

Exclamation: A sentence showing strong emotion.

Example: Wow! That’s amazing!

Exclamative clause: A sentence starting with what or how that shows surprise.

Example: What a beautiful dress!

Exclamatory question: A question that expresses surprise.

Example: Isn’t this exciting?!

Exclusive we: "We" that does not include the listener.

Example: We (my friends and I) are going out, but you are not invited.

Existential construction: A sentence with "there" to say something exists.

Example: There is a book on the table.

Existential there: The word "there" used to show existence.

Example: There are many stars in the sky.

Extraposition, extraposed: Moving a long subject to the end for clarity.

Example: It is important to study every day.

Feminine: The gender form used for women or female animals.

Example: actress, lioness, queen

Finite clause: A clause with a verb that shows tense.

Example: She likes ice cream.

Finite verb: A verb that changes with tense or subject.

Example: She runs. / She ran.

First conditional: A sentence about a real or possible future situation.

Example: If it rains, we will stay inside.

First person: The "I" or "we" form of speaking.

First person pronoun: Words that refer to the speaker.

Example: I, me, we, us

Foreign plural: A plural form borrowed from another language.

Example: cactus → cacti, child → children

Formal and informal: Different levels of language use.

Example (Formal): "May I assist you?"
Example (Informal): "Need help?"

Formulaic: Fixed expressions used in communication.

Example: "Nice to meet you." / "See you later."

Frequency adverb/adverbial: An adverb that shows how often something happens.

Example: always, sometimes, never

Front position: Putting a word or phrase at the start of a sentence.

Example: Suddenly, she ran away.

Function words (grammatical words): Words that help build sentences but don’t have full meaning.

Example: and, the, in, of, is

Functional: Related to the role a word plays in a sentence.

Fused relative construction: A relative clause where the pronoun and noun are combined.

Example: I’ll take whatever you give me.

Future constructions: Different ways to talk about the future.

Example: I will go to school. / I am going to visit my grandma.

Future perfect: A verb form that shows something will be finished in the future.

Example: By tomorrow, I will have finished my homework.