Grammar: Reading And Language Arts Terms Explained
Plain-language definitions of every grammar term your child meets in school, each with kid-friendly explanations, worked examples, and common mistakes to watch for.
Abstract noun
An abstract noun is a word that names an idea, feeling, quality, or state of being that you cannot see, hear, touch, taste, or smell, such as "happiness," "friendship," or "freedom."
Action verb
An action verb is a word that tells what someone or something does, showing an action you can often see, hear, or imagine, such as run, jump, think, or read.
Active and passive voice
Active and passive voice are two ways to write a sentence that describe whether the subject is doing the action (active) or receiving the action (passive).
Adjective
An adjective is a word that describes a noun or pronoun by telling what kind, which one, how many, or how something looks, sounds, feels, smells, or tastes.
Adverb
An adverb is a word that gives more information about a verb, an adjective, or another adverb, often telling how, when, where, or to what extent something happens.
Antecedent
An antecedent is the noun or noun phrase that a pronoun refers back to in a sentence, such as "Maria" being the antecedent of "she" in "Maria forgot her book, so she went back."
Appositive
An appositive is a noun or noun phrase that sits next to another noun and gives extra information about it, often set off by commas.
Article
An article is a small word, such as "a," "an," or "the," that comes before a noun to show whether you are talking about something specific or something general.
Auxiliary verb
An auxiliary verb is a helping verb that works with a main verb to show tense, voice, mood, or to form questions and negatives, such as "is running," "have finished," or "did not go."
Clause
A clause is a group of words that has a subject and a verb and shows an action or a state of being, and it can be a complete sentence or only part of one.
Collective noun
A collective noun is a word that names a group of people, animals, or things as one whole unit, such as "team," "flock," or "class." It looks like a singular noun, but it refers to many members together.
Common noun
A common noun is a word that names a general person, place, thing, or idea, but not a specific one, and it is usually not capitalized unless it starts a sentence.
Comparative and superlative
Comparative and superlative are forms of adjectives and adverbs that show comparisons: comparative compares two people, places, or things ("bigger"), and superlative shows the highest or lowest degree in a group of three or more ("biggest").
Complete sentence
A complete sentence is a group of words that has a subject and a verb, expresses a full idea, and can stand on its own.
Complex sentence
A complex sentence is a sentence that has one complete thought (an independent clause) and at least one extra part that cannot stand alone (a dependent clause), joined with a word like because, when, if, although, or since.
Compound sentence
A compound sentence is a sentence that contains two or more independent clauses, usually joined by a comma and a coordinating conjunction such as "and," "but," or "so," or by a semicolon.
Compound-complex sentence
A compound-complex sentence is a sentence that has at least two independent clauses and at least one dependent clause, all joined with correct punctuation and connecting words.
Concrete noun
A concrete noun is a naming word for something you can detect with your five senses, such as a person, place, animal, or object you can see, hear, smell, taste, or touch.
Conditional
A conditional is a sentence or clause that describes what happens, or would happen, if a certain condition is met, often using words like "if," "unless," or "as long as."
Conjunction
A conjunction is a word that connects words, phrases, or clauses so they work together in one sentence, such as "and," "but," or "because."
Coordinating conjunction
A coordinating conjunction is a short joining word, such as "and" or "but," that links two equal parts of a sentence, like two words, phrases, or independent clauses.
Correlative conjunction
A correlative conjunction is a pair of joining words that work together to connect equal parts of a sentence, such as "either/or," "neither/nor," or "both/and." Each part of the pair comes before the words or phrases being linked.
Dangling modifier
A dangling modifier is a describing word or phrase that is not clearly attached to the word it is meant to describe, which can make a sentence confusing or unintentionally funny.
Declarative sentence
A declarative sentence is a sentence that makes a statement or gives information and usually ends with a period.
Dependent clause
A dependent clause is a group of words with a subject and a verb that cannot stand alone as a complete sentence because it does not express a complete thought.
Determiner
A determiner is a word that comes before a noun and tells which one, how many, or whose it is, such as "a," "the," "this," or "my."
Direct object
A direct object is the noun or pronoun in a sentence that receives the action of the verb, answering the question "what?" or "whom?" after the verb.
Double negative
A double negative is a sentence that uses two negative words in the same part of the sentence so that the meaning becomes unclear or the negatives cancel each other out, such as "I don't need no help" instead of the clearer "I don't need any help."
Exclamatory sentence
An exclamatory sentence is a type of sentence that shows strong feeling, such as excitement, surprise, anger, or joy, and it ends with an exclamation mark (!).
Future tense
Future tense is a way of writing or speaking that shows an action will happen later, not now and not in the past.
Gerund
A gerund is a verb form that ends in -ing and is used as a noun in a sentence, naming an activity or action like "running" or "reading".
Helping verb
A helping verb is a verb that works with a main verb to show time, possibility, or meaning in a sentence, such as "is running," "have finished," or "will go."
Imperative sentence
An imperative sentence is a sentence that gives a command, request, or instruction, often telling someone what to do, and it usually has an understood subject of "you."
Indefinite pronoun
An indefinite pronoun is a pronoun that refers to a person, place, thing, or amount in a general way, without naming exactly which one or how many.
Independent clause
An independent clause is a group of words that has a subject and a verb and expresses a complete thought, so it can stand alone as a sentence.
Indirect object
An indirect object is the noun or pronoun in a sentence that receives the direct object and usually answers the question "to whom," "for whom," "to what," or "for what" after an action verb.
Infinitive
An infinitive is the base form of a verb, usually written with the word "to" in front of it, that names an action without showing who does it or when it happens.
Interjection
An interjection is a word or short phrase that shows strong feeling or sudden reaction, such as surprise, joy, or pain, and is usually set off from the rest of the sentence with a comma or exclamation point.
Interrogative sentence
An interrogative sentence is a type of sentence that asks a question and usually ends with a question mark.
Irregular verb
An irregular verb is a verb whose past-tense and past-participle forms do not follow the regular pattern of simply adding -ed, such as "go" becoming "went" instead of "goed".
Linking verb
A linking verb is a verb that does not show action but connects the subject of a sentence to more information about it, such as what it is or how it feels.
Misplaced modifier
A misplaced modifier is a word or group of words that is placed too far from the word it describes, which makes the sentence sound confusing or accidentally change meaning.
Modifier
A modifier is a word or group of words that describes or limits another word, adding detail about how, when, where, which one, or how much.
Mood of a verb
The mood of a verb is the form of the verb that shows the writer or speaker's attitude, such as stating a fact, asking a question, giving a command, or talking about a wish or possibility.
Noun
A noun is a word that names a person, place, thing, or idea, such as "teacher," "park," "pencil," or "happiness." Nouns often act as the subject or object in a sentence, showing who or what the sentence is about.
Parallel structure
Parallel structure is a way of writing words or parts of a sentence so that items in a list or comparison follow the same grammatical pattern, which makes sentences clearer, smoother, and easier to read.
Participial phrase
A participial phrase is a group of words built around a verb form that ends in -ing or -ed (a participle) that works together to describe a noun or pronoun in a sentence.
Participle
A participle is a verb form that is used like an adjective, describing a noun or pronoun, and it often ends in -ing or -ed (or another past-tense form).
Parts of speech
Parts of speech are the basic types of words in a language, such as nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs, that describe what a word does in a sentence.
Passive voice
Passive voice is a way of writing a sentence where the subject receives the action instead of doing the action, often using a form of "to be" plus a past participle, as in "The ball was thrown by Sam."
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