Notional grammars define adjectives as “words that describe nouns.” Big, cute, green, small, and wonky are prototypical adjectives. In big bully, The baby is cute, and I painted the wall green, each adjective describes a noun. Big describes the noun bully, cute describes the noun baby, and green describes the noun wall. However, stating that […] More
Verbs are notionally defined by traditional grammars as “words that denote an action or a state of being.” A verb phrase is a grammatical structure that consists of a verb that functions as the verb phrase head plus any auxiliary verbs, particles, modifiers, complements, and objects. An infinitive phrase consists of the p-word to functioning […] More
An adjective phrase complement is a word, phrase, or clause that completes the meaning of an adjective phrase. The three grammatical forms that function as adjective phrase complements are prepositional phrases, verb phrases in the form of infinitives, and that noun clauses. The following dictionary lists the most common adjectives followed by adjective phrase complements […] More
Adjective phrase complements are words, phrases, and clauses that complete the meaning of an adjective or adjective phrase. Unlike adjective phrase modifiers that modify or describe an adjective or adjective phrase, adjective phrase complements complete the meaning of an adjective or adjective phrase. Three grammatical forms can function as adjective phrase complements. The three grammatical […] More
Traditional grammars define prepositions as words that related words to other words. A prepositional phrase consists of a preposition plus another word, phrase, or clause that functions as a prepositional complement. In grammar, an adjective phrase complement is a word, phrase, or clause that completes the meaning of an adjective or adjective phrase. Prepositional phrases […] More
Noun clauses are independent, or subordinate, clauses that perform nominal functions. Clauses are grammatical structures that contain a subject and a predicate. Grammatical Forms Grammatical Forms of English Noun Clauses explains the internal structure of noun clauses in English. Forming Noun Clauses from Questions explains the formation of noun clauses from interrogative constructions. Grammatical Functions […] More
English verbs and verb phrases perform seven primary grammatical functions within sentences in the English language. Traditional grammars define verbs as words that name actions and states. Verb phrases consist of a verb plus any modifiers, complements, particles, and auxiliaries. The seven prototypical functions of English verbs and verbs phrases are: Verb phrase head Predicate […] More
A clause is a grammatical structure that consists of a subject and a predicate. A dependent or subordinate clause is a clause that cannot function independently as a complete sentence but that must appear with another independent or main clause. A noun clause is a type of dependent clause that performs a nominal function. In […] More
A noun clause is a dependent clause that consists of a subordinating conjunction followed by a clause and that performs a nominal function. Noun clauses perform nine grammatical functions in English grammar: Subject Subject complement Direct object Object complement Indirect object Prepositional complement Noun phrase complement Adjective phrase complement Appositive The following sections define and […] More
Traditional grammars define prepositions as words that “link to other words, phrases, and clauses” and that “express spatial or temporal relations.” Prepositional phrases are phrases that consist of a preposition plus another word, phrase, or clause functioning as a prepositional complement. Prepositions and prepositional phrase perform six primary grammatical functions within sentences in the English […] More
Notional grammars define nouns as “words that name people, places, things, and ideas.” Noun phrases are phrases that consist of a noun or pronoun plus any modifiers, complements, and determiners. Grammatical Forms Grammatical Form of English Nouns explains the internal structures that distinguish nouns from other grammatical forms, which include number and possession. Types of […] More
