Grammar Glossary
Welcome to the Grammar Glossary by GrammarGramps!
On this page, we're going to list the definitions of all grammar concepts for you to learn. Right now, you might notice some grammar concepts/elements not listed here. We're going to do our best to add them all ASAP. This glossary will be updated regularly.
Each entry in the glossary has a short definition and is linked to a main guide (related to that concept) on our website. There will be entries that aren't linked yet, but I'll make sure to come back and do it as soon as the relevant guide is published.
We hope you enjoy learning from these grammar definitions by GrammarGramps. If you have any confusion or question regarding any concept, feel free to send me a message.
1. A
Adjective
Meaning of adjective in grammar: An adjective is a word that describes a noun or pronoun by defining its quality or quantity.
(e.g. a blue car)
Adjective Clause
Meaning of adjective clause in grammar: An adjective clause is a dependent clause that describes a noun or pronoun. It usually starts with a relative pronoun. An adjective alone is typically a word, while an adjective clause is longer.*
(e.g. The book that you gave me is useful.)
*See definition of clause in the section dealing with C.
Adjective Phrase
Meaning of adjective phrase in grammar: An adjective phrase is a group of words that act as an adjective by modifying or describing a noun or pronoun.
(e.g. a student eager to learn)
Adverb
Meaning of adverb in grammar: An adverb describes or modifies a verb, an adjective, another adverb, or an entire clause. Just as an adjective modifies a noun or pronoun, an adverb does the same thing for a verb.
(e.g. She speaks clearly)
Adverbial
Meaning of adverbial in grammar: An adverbial is a word, phrase, or clause that acts as an adverb in a sentence. In grammar, the “adverbial” can be thought of as the umbrella term that covers adverbs, adverbial clauses, and adverbial phrases.
(e.g. He left after dinner.)
Adverbial Clause
Meaning of adverbial clause in grammar: An adverbial clause is defined as a dependent clause in a sentence that modifies a verb, adjective, or the entire sentence.
(e.g. She stayed because it was raining.)
Adverbial Phrase
Meaning of adverbial phrase in grammar: An adverbial phrase is a phrase that performs the role of an adverb in a sentence. An adverbial phrase is different from a simple adverb in that the latter is a single word, while the former contains multiple.
(e.g. They met in the evening.)
Affirmative Sentence
Meaning of affirmative sentence in grammar: An affirmative sentence is a sentence that describes something as true and factual in a positive and non-ambiguous way. Affirmative sentences have a confirmatory tone, and they don’t use negative or doubtful words like “not” or “maybe.”
(e.g. He understands the rule.)
Agent
Meaning of agent in grammar in grammar: An agent, in grammatical terms, is a person or a thing that performs the action (verb) mentioned in the sentence. An agent is usually a noun or a pronoun.
(e.g. The food was eaten by the man.)
Agreement
Meaning of agreement in grammar: Agreement, in grammar, refers to the rule which requires the words in a sentence to match in terms of number, and gender.
(e.g. The woman walks, they walk )
Allomorph
Meaning of allomorph in grammar: An allomorph is a different form of the same morpheme that appears based on pronunciation or grammar rules. Allomorphs change sound or spelling but keep the same meaning.
(e.g. plural -s, -z, -ɪz )
Ambiguity
Meaning of ambiguity in grammar: An ambiguity in grammar occurs when there is more than one apparent meaning in a word, phrase, or sentence.
(e.g. I saw a man with a telescope.) The sentence doesn’t clarify whether the viewer saw the person holding a telescope or through a telescope.
Anaphora
Meaning of anaphora in grammar: In grammar, an anaphora is a word used to refer to another word or entity placed earlier in the sentence or phrase.
Note: Anaphora has a different meaning in rhetoric.
(e.g. Pronouns are examples of anaphora. For instance, “I saw a man while he was standing.”
Antecedent
Meaning of antecedent in grammar: An antecedent is the word or phrase that a pronoun points to.
(e.g. When John arrived, he sat down.)
Appositive
Meaning of appositive in grammar: An appositive is a noun or noun phrase that defines or explains another noun right next to it.
(e.g. My brother, a doctor, lives abroad.)
Appositive Phrase
Meaning of appositive phrase in grammar: An appositive phrase is an appositive with modifiers attached to it that provide additional information about a noun. Just as an appositive alone is simply a word, an appositive phrase is a collection of them
(e.g. Asia, the largest continent of the world, has more than 40 countries.)
Article
Meaning of article in grammar: An article, in grammar, is a word (known as a determiner) that is attached to a noun to show whether it is specific or non-specific (general). The three articles used in grammar are “the,” “a” and “an.”
(e.g. in the phrase “A car is fast,” we’re talking about a random car. However, in the phrase, “The car is fast,” we’re talking about a specific one.)
Aspect
Meaning of aspect in grammar: An aspect, in grammar, is one of four categories that shows how a certain action or event takes place over time.
The four grammar aspects are simple, continous, perfect, and perfect continous, and they are used alongside tenses to show how an action or event takes place. For instance, present continous, past perfect, etc.
(e.g. The phrase “The woman is walking,” is present continous, while the phrase “The man has been walking” is present perfect continous. In both of these classifications, the “continous” and “perfect continous” labels are “aspects.”)
Assertive Sentence
Meaning of assertive sentence: An assertive sentence is a sentence that declaratively and resolutely states a fact without any ambiguity. It is different from an affirmative sentence as the fact stated by an assertive sentence can either be negative or positive.
(e.g. The sky is blue.)
Attributive Adjective
Meaning of attributive adjective in grammar: An attributive adjective appears before the noun that it applies to, instead of after it. It attaches to the noun as an attribute instead of appearing elsewhere in the sentence.
(e.g. In this sentence “The tall man wished he was hungry so that he could eat the food his mom had made him,” there are two adjectives: tall and hungry. The word “tall” describes the attribute of the noun (the man), while the word “hungry” is the attribute that the man wishes to have, as he doesn’t currently possess it.
Grammatically, both are adjectives but specifically, one is an attributive adjective (the one that appears before the noun) while the other is not (the one that appears a few words after).
Auxiliary Verb
Meaning of auxillary verb in grammar: An auxillary verb is a verb that is used along with a main verb in a sentence to indicate the tense, or the manner in which the act was performed.
(e.g. He should eat his food.) (In this sentence, the word “should” is an auxillary verb as it describes that the act of eating should be done as an obligation or duty rather than something optional.)
Active Voice
Meaning of active voice in grammar: An active voice is a structure/method of writing a sentence in which a subject performs the verb on the object. The meaning of active voice can be understood easily in contrast to passive voice, in which the object is acted on by the subject.
(e.g. Jack cracked open the old egg.)
Accusative Case
Meaning of accusative case in grammar: An accusative case is a case in grammar that is used to indicate the main object that a verb is being performed on. Simply put, it is the noun or pronoun in the sentence that is being acted on by the subject.
(e.g. He flung a frying pan at the wall.)
Adjective Complement
Meaning of adjective complement in grammar: An adjective complement is a word or phrase in a sentence that is used right next to an adjective to explain or complete its meaning.
(e.g. In the sentence “He is confused about the task,” the word “confused” is the adjective, but the “about the task” part explains what the man is actually confused about.)
Adverb of Frequency
Meaning of adverb of frequency in grammar: An adverb of frequency is an adverb that shows how frequently an action occurs. These adverbs use words like “often,” “sometimes,” “rarely,” and so forth.
(e.g. He is rarely concerned about anything.)
Adverb of Manner
Meaning of adverb of manner in grammar: An adverb of manner is an adverb that describes the method or way in which an action is performed.
(e.g. She spoke politely.)
Adverb of Place
Meaning of adverb of place in grammar: An adverb of place is an adverb that describes the location or direction of an action rather than the action itself.
(e.g. They waited outside.)
Adverb of Time
Meaning of adverb of time in grammar: An adverb of time is an adverb that expresses the point in time or duration in which an action happens.
(e.g. He arrived yesterday.)
Affix
Meaning of affix in grammar: An affix is a letter or group of letters (a morpheme) attached to a root word that changes the meaning, grammatical role, or word class.
(e.g. un-happy, hope-ful)
Alliteration
Meaning of alliteration in grammar: An alliteration is a stylistic literary device where the same starting sound appears in neighboring or closely connected words.
(e.g. wild and windy weather)
Anastrophe
Meaning of anastrophe in grammar: An anastrophe is a sentence structure that intentionally reverses expected word order for emphasis or stylistic effect.
(e.g. Gone are the days,)
Animate Noun
Meaning of animate noun in grammar: An animate noun is a noun that names a living being, such as a human or animal. This includes beings that are invisible, but supposed to be alive, such as spirits.
(e.g. teacher, dog)
Archaic Word
Meaning of archaic word in grammar: An archaic word is a word that has fallen out of modern use but may appear in older texts or formal styles.
(e.g. thou, thee)
Argument
Meaning of argument in grammar: An argument is a sentence element (such as a noun or noun phrase) that a verb depends on to form a complete and meaningful statement.
(e.g. She gave him a book.)
Aspectual Verb
Meaning of aspectual verb in grammar: An aspectual verb is a verb that signals the stage of an action, such as its start, continuation, or completion.
(e.g. begin, continue, stop)
Adjunct
Meaning of adjunct in grammar: An adjunct is an optional and non-essential part of a sentence that adds meaning and context but can be deleted without there being any effect on grammatical completeness and coherence.
(e.g. She spoke softly in the room.)
Anacoluthon
Meaning of anacoluthon in grammar: An anacoluthon is a sentence that changes structure or tense mid-way, deviating from the original grammatical pattern. For instance, a sentence that starts in the past tense but ends in the present tense by changing midway would be an anacoluthon, according to GrammarGramps.
(e.g. If you think that—well, never mind.)
2. B
Bare Infinitive
Meaning of bare infinitive in grammar: A bare infinitive is a verb form that is used without the word “to”. It commonly appears after a verb or auxiliary verb.
(e.g. She made him leave early.)
Base Form
Meaning of base form in grammar: A base form is the basic and unmodified version of a verb from which tense, aspect, or agreement forms are created. It is not used with any suffixes, such as “-ed” or “-ing”. A base form is also known as the “dictionary form” of a verb.
(e.g. They run every morning.)