Traditional grammars define prepositions as “words that indicate a relation between the noun or pronoun and another word, which may be a verb, an adjective, or another noun or pronoun.” Prepositional phrases consist of a preposition plus a prepositional phrase complement. In addition to six primary grammatical functions, prepositions and prepositional phrases perform six nominal […] More
Traditional grammars define the noun as a word that names a person, place, thing, or idea. Pronouns are a subcategory of nouns that take the place of nouns, noun phrases, noun clauses, and other forms. Relative pronouns both a type of pronoun that take the place of another word, phrase, or clause and a type […] More
Clauses consist of a subject and a predicate. Dependent or subordinate clauses are clauses that cannot function independently as complete sentences but that must appear with another independent or main clause. Noun clauses are a type of dependent clause that perform nominal functions. In grammar, a subject is a word, phrase, or clause that performs […] More
The traditional definition of the noun is a word that names a person, place, thing, or idea. A noun phrase is a phrase consisting of a noun including a pronoun and any modifiers, complements, or determiners. Pronouns are a subcategory of nouns that take the place of nouns, noun phrases, noun clauses, and other forms. […] 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
Present participles, or -ing participles, are a nonfinite verb form in English that perform verbal, adjectival, and nominal functions. The following sections explain how to form present participles and how to use present participles in English and include examples to illustrate form and function. Present participles are also referred to as -ing participles, active participles, […] More
Relative pronouns are both a type of pronoun that take the place of another word, phrase, or clause and a type of subordinating conjunction that introduce adjective, or relative, clauses. Adjective clauses perform the function of noun phrase modifier within noun phrases. The nine relative pronouns in English grammar are: who whom that which Ø […] More
Nouns are traditionally defined as “persons, places, things, and ideas.” Noun phrases are defined as phrases that consist of a noun or pronoun and any number of constituents including adjectives, determiners, prepositional phrases, verb phrases, and adjective clauses. Pronoun is a subcategory of noun. Pronouns and noun phrases headed by pronouns perform eight grammatical functions […] More
Interrogative pronouns are a type of pronoun that take the place of another word, phrase, or clause. Similar to interrogative determiners, interrogative pronouns are most often used in questions to gather more information about an unknown antecedent. The ten interrogative pronouns in English grammar are: who whom what which whose whoever whomever whatever whichever whosever […] More
Demonstrative pronouns are a type of pronoun that take the place of another word, phrase, or clause. Like demonstrative determiners, demonstrative pronouns also provide additional information about the proximity of the word, phrase, or clause replaced by the pronoun. The four demonstrative pronouns in English grammar are: this that these those Demonstrative pronouns are pronouns […] More
Traditional grammars defined pronouns as “small words that take the place of nouns and noun phrases.” In additional to the personal pronouns, whose antecedents are previously identified proper and common nouns, the English pronoun system also includes a subcategory known as indefinite pronouns. Indefinite pronouns function similarly to personal pronouns but refer to unspecified persons, […] More
Subjects are words, phrases, and clauses that perform the action of or act upon the verb. Although nouns, pronouns, and noun phrases most frequently function as the subjects of sentences, four grammatical forms can perform the grammatical function of subject in the English language. The four grammatical forms that can function as the subject are: […] More
