Grammatical Terms Starting with O & P

Grammatical Terms are difficult to understand but we are giving such usage grammar that will clarify many of your doubts like grammer or grammar because this is a complete grammar list of items.

Glossary of Grammatical Terms

‘O’

1.Object complement. The slot following the direct object, filled by an adjectival (Pattern IX) or a nominal (Pattern X). The object complement has two functions: (1) It completes the idea of the verb; and (2) it modifies (if an adjective) or renames (if a nominal) the direct object: “I found the play exciting’; “We consider Pete a good _Meta” Object of a preposition. The nominal slot—usually filled by a noun phrase —that follows the proposition to form a prepositional phrase.

2. Objective case. The role in a sentence of a noun phrase or pronoun when it functions as an object—direct object, indirect object, object complement, or object of the proposition. Although nouns do not have a special form for an objective case, many of the pronouns do; personal pronouns and the relative pronoun who have separate forms when they function as objects. See Chapter 13.

3. Optional slot. The adverbial information that can be added to all the sentence patterns; such information is not required for grammaticality.

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Glossary of Grammatical Terms

‘P’

1.Parallel structure.  A coordinate structure in which all the coordinate parts are of the same grammatical form.

2. Participial phrase.  A participle together with all of its complements and modifiers.

3. Participle. The -ing and -en-verb (or verb phrase) functioning as an adjectival or adverbial. See also Present participle and Past participle.

4. Particle.  A word that combines with a verb to form a phrasal verb: look up, look into, put up with.

5. Passive voice. A feature of transitive sentences in which the direct object (the objective or goal) is shifted to the subject position and be + -en is added to the verb. The term passive refers to the relationship between the subject and verb: “Ed ate the pizza” “The pizza was eaten by Ed.”

6. Past participle. The -en form of the verb.

7. Past tense.  The –ed form of the verb, usually denoting a specific past action.

8. Person. A feature of personal pronouns that distinguishes the speaker or writer (first person), the person or thing spoke to (second person), and the person or thing is spoken of (third person).

9. Personal pronoun. The pronoun that refers to a specific person or thing. In the subjective case, the personal pronouns are I, you, he, she, we, you, they, and it. The personal pronouns have variant forms for an objective and possessive case.

10. Phoneme.  The smallest unit of sound that makes a difference in meaning.

11. Phonology.  The study of phonemes.

12. Phrasal preposition. A proposition consisting of two or more words, a simple preposition preceded by a word from another category, such as an adverb or adjective: according to, aside from, because of prior to.

13. Phrasal verb. A verb-particle combination that produces a meaning that cannot be predicted from the meaning of the parts: look up, put up with, makeup.

14. Phrase.  A word or group of words that functions as a unit within the sentence.

15. Plural. A feature of nouns and pronouns denoting more than one usually signalled in nouns by the inflectional ending -s (or -es).

16. Positive degree.  See Degree.

17. Possessive case. The inflected form of nouns (John’s, the dog’s) and pronouns (my, his, you’re, her, their, etc.) usually indicating ownership.

18. Predicate.  One of the two principal parts of the sentence, the comment made about the subject. The predicate includes the verb, together with its complements and modifiers.

19. Predicate Adjective. The adjective that functions as a subject complement. Predicate nominative. The noun or nominal functions as a subject complement.

20. Predicting the verb. The function of the verb slot in the sentence patterns, consisting of the main verb together with its auxiliaries. The verb-expansion rule in Chapter 3 accounts for the auxiliary—verb combinations of the predicating verb.

21. Predicative adjective. The adjective that occupies a complement slot in the sentence as subject complement or object complement.

22. Prefix.  An affix added to the beginning of the word to change its meaning (unlikely, illegal, prescribe, renew) or its class (enable, belittle).

23. Proposition. A structure-class word found in pre-position to—that is, preceding—a nominal. Prepositions can be classed according to their form as simple (above, at, in, of) or phrasal (according to, instead of etc.).

24. Prepositional phrase. The combination of a preposition and a nominal, which is known as the object of the proposition.

25. Prescriptivism.  An approach to teaching grammar, the purpose of which is to prescribe “proper” usage, rather than to describe how the language is actually used. It is sometimes referred to as “linguistic etiquette.”

26. Present participle. The -ing form of the verb.

27. Present tense. The base form and the -s form of the verb: help, help. The present tense denotes a present point in time (“I understand your position”), a habitual action (“I jog five miles a day”), or the “timeless” present (“Shakespeare helps us understand ourselves”).

28. Pronoun. A word that substitutes for a noun—or, more accurately, for a nominal—in the sentence. Pronoun-antecedent agreement. See Agreement.

29. Proper noun. A noun with individual reference to a person, a historical event, or another name. Proper nouns are capitalized.

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