Grammar Definitions
(St. John`s School Elora, 1974-75, Jim Chalmers)
1. Noun - is a naming word of a person, place or thing
(a) common - name of a thing (man, house, door)
(b) proper - name of person, place or specific title (John, Duke of York)
2. Pronoun - is a word which takes the place of a noun which is not as specific (he, some, she, us, it, etc.)
3. Verb - is a word which expresses what a noun is doing or joins a completing part of the sentence(is, came, runs)
4. Adverb - is a word which describes a verb, adverb, or adjective. Many adverbs end in `ly`. All adverbs answer the questions of when, where, why, how and how many
5. Adjective - is a word which describes a noun or pronoun (old man)
6. Preposition - is a word which introduces a prepositionl phrase (in the house)
7. Prepositional Phrase - is a group of words which begins with preposition and must include at least one noun or pronoun. Prepositional phrases are modifiers as they do the work of adjectives and adverbs (near the barn)
8. Verb Phrase - is when the verb is made up of more than one word. The main verb is called the principal verb and the helper is called the auxilliary verb. (were playing, playing = principal verb, were = auxilliary)
9. Main Subject - is the main idea od the sentence and its form is always a noun or a pronoun (The man came here.)
10. Main Predicate - is the main verb in the sentence and tells us what the Min Subject is doing (The man came here.)
11. Main Object - is a completing part in some sentences when the erb or main Predicate shows action. It always answers the questions what, who or whom after the Main Predicate. (He threw the ball.)
12. Subjective Completion - is a completing part in some sentences when the verb or Main Predicate shows no action. It either means the same as or describes the Main Subject.
i) The day if cold.
ii) He is my brother.
13. Kinds of Verbs
i) Transitive - shows action and requires a Main Object to complete the sentence. (He threw the ball.)
ii) Intransitive - shows action but is complete without a Min Object. (He came here.)
iii) Copula - shows no action andd requires a completing part which either means the same as the Main Subject or describes it. (The day was cold.)
14. Principal Clause - is the term which means the Main Subject, main Predicate and, if necessary, the Msin Object or Subjective Completion
PC = M.S. + M.P. + possibly M.O. or S.C.
15. Kinds of Sentences
a) Assertive - is a statement sentence which states an ordinary fact (The army marched to battle.)
b) Interrogative - is a sentence which asks a question and always ends with a question mark. (Where did the army march?)
c) Imperative - is a sentence which gives a command. Often the Main Subject is not stated, therefore `you` is assumed or understood to be the Main Subject. (March to battle.)
d) Exclamatory - is a sentence which expresses strong feelings. It ends ith an exclamation mark. (What a battle!)
16. Sentence Order - is the placement or location of the Main Subject
a) Natural - located t the beginning of the sentence (The man in the car came here.)
b) Inverted - located at the end of the sentence and always after the Main Predicate (Here, in the car came the man.)
c) Split - located between the beginning and end of the sentence (In the car, the man came here.)
17. Compound - is when any word, groups of words or sentences are joined together, usually with the word `and.` These joining words are called Co-ordinate Conjunctions.
18. Articles - There are only three articles: a, an and the. Articles are a kind of adjective.
i) Definite Article - The
ii) Indefinite Article - A, An
19. Phrases within phrases - is when a prepositional phrase depends upon a word or words within the complete group of words of the Main Phrase
ex. in the middle (of the night)
20. Kinds of Objects
a) Direct - any sentence which has only oe object - it is always direct and it receives the direct action of the Main Predicate
b) Indirect - in some sentences there are two objects. One is direct and the other is indirect, which indirectly receives the action of the Main Predicate.
(He gave me the ball.)
ball = direct object
me = indirect object
21. Kinds of Subjective Completions
a) Predicate Noun - This is when the Subjective Completion means the same as the Main Subject. (He is my brother.)
b) Predicate Adjective - This is when the Subjective Completion describes the Main Subject. (He is tall.)
22. Kinds of Pronouns
a) Personal - refer to people. These pronouns change their form in a sentence as to case, number, and gender. (He came here.)
b) Indefinite - these do not state a specific number or amount and refer to both people and thins. (Some came here.)
c) Interrogative - this is the Main Subject of the sentence which also asks the question. (Who came here?)
d) Demonstrative - this pronoun points out or illustrates.
(This is my book.)
e) Conjunctive or Relative - is both the subject of a Subordinate Clause and the Subordinate Conjunction which introduces the Subordinate Clause.
(This is the man who came here.)
f) Reflexive - is a word which feflects back to a noun or pronoun in a sentence and is used for emphasis. They always end in `self,` or `selves.`
(He did it himself.)
23. Subordinate Clause - is a group of words which starts with a subordinate conjunction, and has a subject and a predicate which depend upon some part of the Principal Clause. Subordinate Clauses either modify or describe, or take the place of parts of the P.C.
24. Subordinate Conjunction - is a word which introduces a subordinte clause, the same way a preposition introduces a prepositional phrase
25. Kinds of Subordinate Clause
26. Gender - all nouns and pronouns have gender
a) Masculine - (male) - boy
b) Feminine - (female) - girl
c) Common - (both male or femalem, or other if not defined) - one of the children
d) Neuter - (things) - wall
27. Number - all nouns and pronouns have case and this is determined by the location and use odf the sentence.
a) Nominative - when used, it means the same id rhe Subject is either the Principal Clause or the Subordinate Claise
b) Objective - when a noun is used as an Indirect or Direct Object as well as all nouns or pronouns in Prepositional Phrases
c) Possessive - when a noun or pronoun shows ownership or possession
28. Pronominal Adjective - ia a pronoun which when used by itself is a pronoun but when used to describe a noun it takes the form of an adjective.
29. Agreement - This is the term used when a sentence is balanced, meaning if the subject is singular the predicate and all other words referring to same must be singular. (The children are here and they are happy.)