Writing skills success - LearningExpress 2009

Glossary

abstract language words or phrases that refer to intangible ideas or to classes of people and objects rather than the people or things themselves. Abstractions are built on concrete ideas.

active voice in an active sentence the subject performs the action of the verb. The person or thing that performs the action is named before the verb, or the action word(s).

adjective word that describes a noun or pronoun in a sentence. Adjectives answer one of three questions about another word in a sentence: Which one? what kind? and how many?

adverb word that describes verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs. Adverbs answer one of these questions about another word in the sentence: Where? when? how? and to what extent?

apostrophe (’) symbol used to show possession; show to whom or what a noun belongs

appositive a word or group of words that immediately follows a noun or pronoun. The appositive makes the pronoun more defined by explaining or identifying it.

brackets ( [ ] ) symbols used to close parenthetical material within parentheses, to enclose words inserted into a quotation, and around the word sic to show that an error in quotation was made by the original writer or speaker.

cliche a tired, overused word or phrase

colloquialism informal word or phrase such as a lot, in a bind, pulled it off, and so on. These words are regularly used in conversations between friends, rather than in official written communication.

colon (:) symbol used to introduce a list of items, as long as the part before the colon is already a complete sentence comma (,) symbol used to separate items in lists of similar words, phrases, or clauses to make the material easier for a reader to understand. Commas are often used before the final conjunction in a sentence.

comma splice a type of run-on sentence in which a comma is used in place of semicolon to join two independent clauses without a conjunction. Comma splices can be corrected by putting a semicolon in place of the comma or by adding a conjunction after the comma.

complete sentence a group of words that expresses a complete thought and has a verb and a subject; also called independent clauses.

conjunction a joining word such as and, but, or, for, nor, so, or yet.

conjunctive adverb an adverb that joins independent clauses. These are punctuated differently from regular conjunctions.

dangling modifiers words, phrases, or clauses that begin a sentence and are set off by commas, but mistakenly modify the wrong noun or pronoun

diagonal ( / ) also known as a backslash; symbol used to join words or numbers. The most frequent use of the diagonal is with the phrase, and/or, which shows that the sentence refers to one or both of the words being joined. Diagonals are also used to separate numbers in a fraction, to show line division in poetry, or to indicate per or divided by.

diction the use of appropriate words, combining them in the right way to communicate your message accurately

double negative a negative word added to a statement that is already negative

ellipses (...) symbol that indicates omitted material or long pauses; used to show that quoted material has been omitted, or to indicate a pause or hesitation.

em-dash (—) a specialized punctuation mark that can be used to mark a sudden break in thought or to insert a comment; emphasize explanatory material; indicate omitted letters or words; or connect a beginning phrase to the rest of the sentence

future perfect progressive tense verb form that shows continuing actions that will be completed at a certain time in the future

future perfect tense verb form that shows actions that will be completed at a certain time in the future

future progressive tense verb form that shows continuing actions in the future

future tense verb form that shows action that has yet to happen

hyphen (-) symbol used to join words in creating compound nouns or adjectives. Hyphens can be used to join two coequal nouns working together as one (e.g., teacher-poet), to join multiword compound nouns (e.g., up-to-date), to join two or more words that function as a single adjective preceding the noun (e.g., a soft-spoken person), and to join prefixes to words (e.g., ex-husband, secretary-elect).

independent clause a group of words within a sentence that by itself could form a complete sentence

jargon technical, wordy language used by those associated with a trade or profession

modifiers words and phrases that describe other words. For example, an adjective is modifier because it describes nouns and pronouns. Adverbs are modifiers because they describe verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs.

misplaced modifiers words, phrases, or clauses that describe nouns and pronouns, but are placed too far away (in a sentence) from the words they describe. For example, the words only, almost, and just should be placed as closely as possible to the words they describe.

nominative case pronoun word used as subject or as complement following linking verb (am, is, are, was, were—any form of be)

nonrestrictive clause group of words that simply adds information, but is not essential to the basic meaning of a sentence (if it is removed, the basic meaning of the sentence is not changed). Nonrestrictive clauses must be set off by commas; also known as a nonessential clause.

objective case pronoun word used as object following an action verb or as object of a preposition

parallel structure two or more equivalent ideas in a sentence that have the same purpose, presented in the same form

parentheses ( ) symbols used to enclose explanatory material that interrupts the normal flow of a sentence. They also enclose information when accuracy is essential and enclose letters or numbers in a list, marking a division from the rest of the text.

past perfect progressive tense verb form that shows continuing action that began in the past

past perfect tense verb form that shows an action completed in the past or completed before some other past action

past progressive tense verb form that shows a continuing action in the past

past tense verb form that shows action that happened in the past

possessive case pronouns pronouns that show ownership, such as my, our, your, his, her, their, its

present perfect progressive tense verb form that shows action that began in the past and is continuing in the present

present perfect tense verb form that shows an action that began in the past

present progressive tense verb form that shows an action happening now, and ends in the suffix -ing

present tense verb form that shows action that happens now or action that happens routinely

pronoun a word used in place of a noun; includes I, my, she, he, them, theirs, it

proper nouns nouns that name a specific person, place, or thing. Proper nouns must be capitalized. Some examples of proper nouns include days of the week, holidays, historical events, names of people, landmarks, cities and states, names of products, and works of art and literature.

quotation marks (“ ”) symbols used to set off a direct quotation or thought within a sentence or paragraph. They are also used to set off unfamiliar terms and nicknames. Do not use quotation marks for paraphrases or indirect quotations.

redundancy the same idea expressed twice using different words; words with meanings that overlap

reflexive pronoun a pronoun that includes the word self or selves: myself, yourself, himself, herself, ourselves, themselves

restrictive clause group of words that, if omitted from a sentence, changes the entire meaning of the sentence, or even makes the sentence untrue. The restrictive clause is not set off with commas; also known as an essential clause.

run-on sentence a sentence in which independent clauses have been run together without punctuation (a period, semicolon, or comma)

semicolon (;) symbol used to separate independent clauses. This includes independent clauses that are joined without a conjunction, independent clauses that contain commas even if the clauses are joined by a conjunction, and independent clauses connected with a conjunctive adverb.

subject someone or something that performs the action or serves as the main focus of a sentence

subject-verb agreement the rule that states that the subject in a clause—the person or thing doing the action— must match the verb in number. For example, if the subject is singular, the verb must be singular; if the subject is plural, the verb must be plural.

subordinate clause a dependent clause

tone describes a writer’s emotional attitude toward the subject or audience

verb a word or phrase that explains an action, such as want, run, take, give, or a state of being, such as am, is, are, was, were, be

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