The A-Z Grammar Glossary

You've hit a term somewhere in the library — aspect, cleft, nominalisation — and you'd rather not reread a whole chapter just to remember what it means. Fair enough. Here's the plain A–Z: a one-line definition, then a link straight home to the pillar that actually teaches it. This page finds; the pillars teach.

Where UK and US labels differ, I've flagged it inline — full stop [US: period]. For the full regional map, see the [Master UK/US Index — P12 · 10]; for look-alike word pairs, the [Confusables reference — P12 · 2].

A

Adjective A word that describes or limits a noun or pronoun (cold tea, the next train). → Learn it here: [Pillar 2 · Parts of Speech]

Adverb A word that modifies a verb, adjective, or another adverb (she left early, remarkably cold). → Learn it here: [Pillar 2 · Parts of Speech]

Agreement (concord) The matching of form between related words — most often a subject with its verb, or a pronoun with its antecedent. → Learn it here: [Pillar 5 · Agreement & Concord]

Antecedent The noun or noun phrase a pronoun refers back to. In Sara lost her keys, Sara is the antecedent of her. → Learn it here: [Pillar 5 · Agreement & Concord]

Apostrophe The mark used for possession (the dog's lead) and for contractions (don't, it's). → Learn it here: [Pillar 6 · Punctuation]; possessive apostrophes also in [Pillar 2 · Parts of Speech]

Article The words a, an, and the — a small set of determiners that mark a noun as indefinite (a, an) or definite (the). → Learn it here: [Pillar 2 · Parts of Speech]

Aspect How a verb presents the shape of an event in time — completed, ongoing, or habitual — without changing which time-zone (tense) it sits in. → Learn it here: [Pillar 4 · The Verb System]

Auxiliary verb A "helper" verb (be, have, do, and the modals) used with a main verb to form tense, aspect, mood, voice, questions, or negatives. → Learn it here: [Pillar 4 · The Verb System]

B

Base form The plain dictionary form of a verb, with no tense or person marking (walk, be, have); the form used for imperatives and, with to, the infinitive. → Learn it here: [Pillar 4 · The Verb System]

C

Capitalisation [US: capitalization] The system of when to use capital letters — sentence starts, proper names, titles, and related conventions. → Learn it here: [Pillar 7 · Capitalisation]

Clause A group of words built around a verb, usually with its own subject. A main (independent) clause can stand alone; a subordinate (dependent) one cannot. → Learn it here: [Pillar 3 · Sentence Structure & Syntax]

Cleft sentence A structure that splits one clause into two to put the focus on a particular element (It was the rain that stopped play). → Learn it here: [Pillar 11 · Advanced Grammar & Syntax]

Cohesion The glue that holds a text together across sentences — pronouns, conjunctions, and repeated or related vocabulary. → Learn it here: [Pillar 11 · Advanced Grammar & Syntax]; related word order in [Pillar 3 · Sentence Structure & Syntax]

Collocation Words that habitually pair up (make a decision, heavy rain) and sound off when swapped. → Learn it here: [Pillar 8 · Spelling, Morphology & Word Choice]

Colon A mark that introduces something expanding on what came before — a list, an explanation, or a quotation. → Learn it here: [Pillar 6 · Punctuation]

Comma The workhorse mark for separating items, clauses, and parenthetical material. → Learn it here: [Pillar 6 · Punctuation]

Complement A word or phrase needed to complete the meaning of a verb (She seems happy — happy is the complement). → Learn it here: [Pillar 3 · Sentence Structure & Syntax]

Conditional A sentence pattern for situations that depend on a condition (if…, unless…), often sorted by likelihood or time (zero, first, second, third, mixed). → Learn it here: [Pillar 4 · The Verb System]

Confusable A pair or set of words easily mixed up in spelling or meaning (affect/effect, their/there/they're, practise/practice). → Learn it here: [Confusables — P12 · 2]; home lessons in [Pillar 8 · Spelling, Morphology & Word Choice] and [Pillar 10 · Common Errors & Usage Problems]

Conjunction A word that joins words, phrases, or clauses (and, but, because, although). → Learn it here: [Pillar 2 · Parts of Speech]

Contraction A shortened form marked with an apostrophe where letters are dropped (I'm, they've, won't). → Learn it here: [Pillar 6 · Punctuation]

D

Dash An em dash (—) or en dash (–) used for breaks in thought or ranges. Not the same mark as a hyphen. → Learn it here: [Pillar 6 · Punctuation]

Demonstrative A pointing word — this, that, these, those — used as a determiner or a pronoun. → Learn it here: [Pillar 2 · Parts of Speech]

Determiner A word that sits in front of a noun to pin down which one or how many (the, a, this, my, every, three). Articles are the best-known subset. → Learn it here: [Pillar 2 · Parts of Speech]

Direct object The noun phrase that receives the action of a transitive verb (She read the letter). → Learn it here: [Pillar 3 · Sentence Structure & Syntax]

E

Ellipsis (1) Leaving out words that are recoverable from context (Want coffee? for Do you want coffee?); (2) the three-dot mark (…) that signals omission or trailing off. → Learn it here: [Pillar 11 · Advanced Grammar & Syntax]; the mark itself in [Pillar 6 · Punctuation]

F

Fragment A group of words punctuated as a sentence but lacking a complete main clause (Because traffic was awful.). → Learn it here: [Pillar 3 · Sentence Structure & Syntax]

Fronting Moving an element to the front of a clause for emphasis or flow (Yesterday, I left early). → Learn it here: [Pillar 11 · Advanced Grammar & Syntax]; related word order in [Pillar 3 · Sentence Structure & Syntax]

Full stop [US: period] The mark that ends a declarative sentence, and appears in some abbreviations. → Learn it here: [Pillar 6 · Punctuation]; regional flag also in [Master UK/US Index — P12 · 10]

G

Gender (grammatical) A noun classification common in other languages but mostly lost in English, bar a few pairs (waiter/waitress). Not the same as biological sex. → Learn it here: [Pillar 2 · Parts of Speech]

Gerund An -ing form of a verb used as a noun (Swimming helps.). → Learn it here: [Pillar 4 · The Verb System]; word-formation notes in [Pillar 8 · Spelling, Morphology & Word Choice]

H

Head (of a phrase) The central word that fixes a phrase's type — the noun is the head of a noun phrase, the verb of a verb phrase. → Learn it here: [Pillar 3 · Sentence Structure & Syntax]

Hyphen A short mark used inside compound words and for splitting words at line ends (well-known, twenty-one). Distinct from dashes. → Learn it here: [Pillar 6 · Punctuation]

I

Infinitive The base form of a verb, often with to (to write, to be). The bare infinitive drops to after modals and certain verbs. → Learn it here: [Pillar 4 · The Verb System]

Inflection A change to a word's form to show a grammatical feature — tense (walk → walked), number (cat → cats), person (I am → he is). → Learn it here: [Pillar 8 · Spelling, Morphology & Word Choice]

its / it's Its is the possessive determiner; it's is the contraction of it is or it has. → Learn it here: [Pillar 2 · Parts of Speech]; see also [Confusables — P12 · 2]

J

Jargon Specialist vocabulary tied to a field or trade; a matter of register and audience. → Learn it here: [Pillar 9 · Style, Formality & Register]

M

Main clause An independent clause — one that can stand as a complete sentence. → Learn it here: [Pillar 3 · Sentence Structure & Syntax]

Modal (modal verb) A closed set of auxiliaries (can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will, would, and borderline ought to, need, dare) for ability, possibility, obligation, and permission. → Learn it here: [Pillar 4 · The Verb System]

Modifier A word, phrase, or clause that adds description. Misplaced and dangling modifiers are a common source of muddle. → Learn it here: [Pillar 3 · Sentence Structure & Syntax]

Mood The verb category that contrasts, for example, indicative (statements of fact), imperative (commands), and subjunctive (wishes and hypotheticals). → Learn it here: [Pillar 4 · The Verb System]

Morpheme The smallest unit of meaning in a word. Walked has two — walk plus the past-tense -ed. → Learn it here: [Pillar 8 · Spelling, Morphology & Word Choice]

Morphology The study of word structure — roots, prefixes, suffixes, and how forms are built or inflected. → Learn it here: [Pillar 8 · Spelling, Morphology & Word Choice]

N

Nominalisation [US: nominalization] Turning a verb or adjective into a noun (decide → decision; happy → happiness), common in formal and academic writing. → Learn it here: [Pillar 11 · Advanced Grammar & Syntax]; register notes in [Pillar 9 · Style, Formality & Register]

Noun A word for a person, place, thing, idea, or quality — the head of most noun phrases. → Learn it here: [Pillar 2 · Parts of Speech]

Number (grammatical) The singular/plural contrast that drives agreement. → Learn it here: [Pillar 5 · Agreement & Concord]

O

Object The noun phrase that typically receives the action of a transitive verb (She read the letter) or completes a preposition (on the table). → Learn it here: [Pillar 3 · Sentence Structure & Syntax]

Orthography The spelling and writing conventions of a language. → Learn it here: [Pillar 8 · Spelling, Morphology & Word Choice]

P

Parentheses [UK also: brackets] Marks — ( ) — that enclose side material held more loosely than dashes or commas. → Learn it here: [Pillar 6 · Punctuation]; regional flag in [Master UK/US Index — P12 · 10]

Participle A non-finite verb form: present participle (writing) or past participle (written), used in aspect and voice, and as a modifier. → Learn it here: [Pillar 4 · The Verb System]

Parts of speech The word classes — noun, verb, adjective, adverb, pronoun, preposition, conjunction, determiner — sorted by role and function. → Learn it here: [Pillar 2 · Parts of Speech]

Passive (passive voice) A construction in which the subject receives the action rather than doing it (The letter was written). → Learn it here: [Pillar 4 · The Verb System]

Perfect (aspect) A verb form linking a completed action to a later point in time (I have eaten; I had eaten). → Learn it here: [Pillar 4 · The Verb System]

Person (grammatical) The first (I, we), second (you), and third (he, she, it, they) contrast on verbs and pronouns. → Learn it here: [Pillar 2 · Parts of Speech]; agreement in [Pillar 5 · Agreement & Concord]

Phrase A group of words working as a single unit without its own finite verb — noun phrase, verb phrase, prepositional phrase, and so on. → Learn it here: [Pillar 3 · Sentence Structure & Syntax]

Possessive The forms that show ownership — possessive determiners (my, your) before a noun, possessive pronouns (mine, yours) standing alone, and possessive nouns marked with an apostrophe (Sara's book). → Learn it here: [Pillar 2 · Parts of Speech]

Predicate The part of a clause that isn't the subject — the verb and everything hanging off it (The driver / ignored the light). → Learn it here: [Pillar 3 · Sentence Structure & Syntax]

Prefix A morpheme added to the front of a word to change its meaning (un- + happy → unhappy). → Learn it here: [Pillar 8 · Spelling, Morphology & Word Choice]

Preposition A word that sits before a noun phrase and relates it to the rest of the clause (in, on, under, despite). → Learn it here: [Pillar 2 · Parts of Speech]

Pronoun A word that stands in for a noun or noun phrase (she, they, it, who, this). → Learn it here: [Pillar 2 · Parts of Speech]; agreement in [Pillar 5 · Agreement & Concord]

Punctuation The marks that organise writing — commas, semicolons, colons, apostrophes, quotation marks, dashes, hyphens, and the rest. → Learn it here: [Pillar 6 · Punctuation]

Q

Quantifier A word telling you how much or how many (all, some, many, few, any, no). → Learn it here: [Pillar 2 · Parts of Speech]

Quotation marks [UK also: inverted commas] Marks that enclose direct speech and quotations; single-vs-double style varies by house and variety. → Learn it here: [Pillar 6 · Punctuation]; regional flag in [Master UK/US Index — P12 · 10]

R

Register The level of formality and style a text takes for its situation — a chatty email versus a legal notice. → Learn it here: [Pillar 9 · Style, Formality & Register]

Relative clause A subordinate clause that modifies a noun, usually opening with who, which, that, or whose (the book that I lent you). → Learn it here: [Pillar 3 · Sentence Structure & Syntax]

Root The core morpheme carrying a word's central meaning — happy in unhappy, write in rewrite. → Learn it here: [Pillar 8 · Spelling, Morphology & Word Choice]

Run-on Two or more independent clauses joined incorrectly — fused, or linked by only a comma (a comma splice). → Learn it here: [Pillar 3 · Sentence Structure & Syntax]

S

Semicolon A mark that joins closely related independent clauses, or separates complex list items already full of commas. → Learn it here: [Pillar 6 · Punctuation]

Singular they They / them / their used with a singular antecedent, whether indefinite (someone left their bag) or for a known person who uses they. → Learn it here: [Pillar 5 · Agreement & Concord]

Subject The noun phrase a clause is "about," controlling agreement with the finite verb (The clocks were wrong). → Learn it here: [Pillar 3 · Sentence Structure & Syntax]; agreement in [Pillar 5 · Agreement & Concord]

Subject–verb agreement Choosing the verb form that matches the subject in number and, where relevant, person. → Learn it here: [Pillar 5 · Agreement & Concord]

Subjunctive A mood form used sparingly in modern English for hypothetical, mandative, or formulaic meanings (If I were you; I demand that he leave). → Learn it here: [Pillar 4 · The Verb System]; advanced notes in [Pillar 11 · Advanced Grammar & Syntax]

Subordinate (dependent) clause A clause that can't stand alone and is attached or embedded for meaning (when the rain stopped). → Learn it here: [Pillar 3 · Sentence Structure & Syntax]

Subordinating conjunction A word that introduces a dependent clause and shows its relationship to the main one (because, if, when, although). → Learn it here: [Pillar 2 · Parts of Speech]; clause work in [Pillar 3 · Sentence Structure & Syntax]

Suffix A morpheme added to the end of a word to change its meaning or class (kind + -ness → kindness). → Learn it here: [Pillar 8 · Spelling, Morphology & Word Choice]

Syntax The study of how words combine into phrases and clauses. → Learn it here: [Pillar 3 · Sentence Structure & Syntax]

T

Tense The grammatical marking of time on a verb (chiefly past versus non-past in English), usually discussed alongside aspect. → Learn it here: [Pillar 4 · The Verb System]

Tone The attitude or voice a piece of writing carries — formal, warm, brisk, ironic. → Learn it here: [Pillar 9 · Style, Formality & Register]

Transitive / intransitive Whether a verb takes a direct object (She read the letter — transitive) or not (She slept — intransitive). → Learn it here: [Pillar 4 · The Verb System]

U

Usage The conventional, often contested choices in grammar and word choice — the who/whom, less/fewer kind of question. → Learn it here: [Pillar 10 · Common Errors & Usage Problems]

V

Verb The word class that heads the predicate — expressing actions, states, and relations, and carrying tense, aspect, mood, and agreement. → Learn it here: [Pillar 2 · Parts of Speech]; the full system in [Pillar 4 · The Verb System]

Verb phrase A main verb plus its auxiliaries (is running; might have gone). → Learn it here: [Pillar 4 · The Verb System]

Voice (active / passive) Whether the subject performs the action (active: Sara ate the cake) or receives it (passive: The cake was eaten). → Learn it here: [Pillar 4 · The Verb System]

W

Word class Another name for a part of speech — the category a word belongs to by function and form. → Learn it here: [Pillar 2 · Parts of Speech]

Word order The default and alternative arrangements of subject, verb, object, and adjuncts that English leans on heavily for meaning. → Learn it here: [Pillar 3 · Sentence Structure & Syntax]

Z

Zero article The absence of an article where English allows none (I like coffee, not I like the coffee). → Learn it here: [Pillar 2 · Parts of Speech]

If a definition here feels thinner than you need, that's the point — this is back-matter. Follow the home link; that's where the examples and the why live. For look-alike pairs, go to the [Confusables reference — P12 · 2]; for every regional flag the library uses, the [Master UK/US Index — P12 · 10].