Terms

Grammar terms beginning with letter F

September 8, 2011

False friend A word in a foreign language which looks very much like a word in your own language but which has a very different meaning. Finite verb A label applied to a verb-form which is marked for tense. A finite verb has the marking –s in the simple present tense. Note that this happens [...]

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Grammar terms beginning with letters D and E

September 7, 2011

Double negative A construction in which two or more negative words occur in a single clause. Examples are: I don’t have nothing to prove. I didn’t see nothing. Double negatives are common in colloquial English. Formerly they were also acceptable in standard English, but now they are regarded as non-standard. Note that a double negative [...]

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Grammar terms beginning with Letter D

September 6, 2011

Dangling participle A dangling participle is a participle which is not grammatically linked to the rest of the sentence. For example, in the sentence ‘Standing at the gate, a scorpion bit him’, the participial phrase ‘standing at the gate’ is dangling; it appears to be linked to the scorpion, but it is wrong. Though dangling [...]

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Grammar terms beginning with C

September 5, 2011

Complex preposition A preposition which consists of two or three words. Examples are: in spite of, in front of, out of, on top of etc. Compound A word constructed by combining two or more existing words. The meaning of a compound word is not always predictable from the meanings of its component parts. Compound sentence [...]

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