Download English for Grade 9

Grammar Terms Packet
Hannah Harris, [email protected]
Jacob Kluch, [email protected]
1. Action verb: a verb that describes a physical or mental action; Ex: He threw the
ball.
2. Adjective: part of speech that describes a noun; Ex: She is wearing a purple dress.
3. Adjuncts: part of a sentence that modifies the verb to show time, manner, place,
frequency, and degree: Ex: It is nearly done.
4. Adverbs: formed by adding –ly to an adjective; modifies the meaning of a verb;
Ex: He runs quickly during track practice.
5. Agreement: when the words, sentences, and grammar in a sentence are in
alignment with each other; Ex: There is only one car available.
6. Appositive: a noun (or noun phrase) placed next to another that gives extra
information or explanation; Ex: The dog, a West Highland White, started barking.
7. Articles: a, an, and the; “The” is the definite article, while “a” and “an” are
indefinite articles. Ex: The student picked up a textbook.
8. Auxiliary verb: verbs that work together and form verb phrases; also known as
helping verbs; Ex: The robbers were feeling nervous, so they stayed in their
hideout.
9. Clauses: part of a sentence that usually contains a subject and a verb. It is usually
connected to the other part of the sentence by a conjunction. It is not a complete
sentence on its own. Ex: Before they agreed to purchase the house, they drove
around the neighborhood to see if they liked the area.
10. Colon: introduces a list of items; introduces a long or formal quotation; Ex: The
team dreamed of the best way to end the season: practicing hard every day, giving
each other encouragement, playing hard during every game, and winning the state
title.
11. Commas: Use commas to separate independent clauses when they are joined by
any of these seven coordinating conjunctions: and, but, for, or, nor, so, yet. Use
commas after introductory clauses, phrases, or words that come before the main
clause. Use a pair of commas in the middle of a sentence to set off clauses,
phrases, and words that are not essential to the meaning of the sentence. Ex: He
did not study, so he thought the test was hard.
12. Complex sentence: a sentence with one independent clause and at least one
dependent clause. Ex: I ate the meal that you cooked.
13. Compound sentence: composed of at least two independent clauses and does not
require a dependent clause. The clauses are joined by a conjunction. Ex: My
friend invited me to a party, but my parents didn’t let me go.
14. Conjunction: a word like and, but, when, or, etc., which connects words, phrases
or clauses; Ex: The concert got off to a rough start because the musicians were
nervous, but after intermission the performers played much better.
15. Declarative sentence: a sentence that makes a statement and ends in a period; Ex:
My birthday is in December.
16. Dependent clauses: cannot stand alone and need another clause to complete their
meaning; After their club meeting, the girls walked home together.
17. Direct object: the direct object of a verb is affected by the action of a verb; Ex:
She closed the door.
18. Ellipses: a series of marks that usually indicate an intentional omission of a word
or sentence or whole section from the original text being quoted; Ex: “What
should I do this weekend...,” he wondered.
19. Etymology: the history of a word
20. Exclamatory: using, containing, or expressing an exclamation; Ex: Have fun
storming the castle!
21. First person: This is I when used to talk about yourself. I is always singular. This
is we when used to talk about a group in which I is a member. We is plural. Ex:
When I go on road trips, I like to keep my car’s tank of gas full.
22. Fragments: Fragments are incomplete sentences. Usually, fragments are pieces of
sentences that have become disconnected from the main clause. Ex: Purdue offers
many majors in engineering. Such as electrical, chemical, and industrial
engineering.
23. Future Tense: verbs expressing an action that has not happened yet; Ex:
Tomorrow I will walk to the park.
24. Gerund: a verb when it acts as a noun; gerunds can act as the subject or object of a
main verb. Ex: Studying is good for you.
25. Idiom: an expression that is particular to a specific language; Ex: He is pushing up
daisies.
26. Imperative sentence: a sentence that gives advice or instructions or that expresses
a request or a command; Ex: Turn in your papers as soon as you get in to class.
27. Indefinite articles: the words “a” and “an”; Ex: Please pick up a piece of paper.
28. Independent clauses: act as complete sentences; Ex: Jim studied for his chemistry
quiz.
29. Indirect object: the object of a verb that is not directly affected by the action, but
can either receive the direct object or have the action done for them. Ex: She sent
James the letter.
30. Infinitive phrases: usually occurs with “to” (to go, to come, to wear, etc.); it is a
verb that shows no person, tense, or aspect. Ex: I had to go.
31. Interjections: a word or short phrase used in speech to gain attention, to exclaim,
protest, or command. They can be used to show emotion such as surprise or
shock. They are often found at the beginning of a sentence, especially in speech,
and are commonly followed by an exclamation mark or a comma. Ex: Wait!
What’s going on here?
32. Intransitive verb: an action verb without a direct object; Ex: The guards stood at
the front door of the bank.
33. Italics: sets off words when referred to as words and foreign words or phrases not
common in English. Ex: "What does the word persona mean?"
34. Jargon: the language used by people who work in a particular area or who have a
common interest. All have specialized terms and expressions that they use, many
of which may not be comprehensible to the outsider. Ex: I need an O.R.
(operating room), stat!
35. Linking verb: a verb that links the subject of a sentence to a word in the predicate.
Some linking verbs are forms of be, such as am, is, was, and were. Others, such as
appear, become, feel, look, remain, sound, and taste, express conditions. Ex:
Donna is a shopaholic.
36. Morpheme: unit of language with meaning; differs from a word because one
cannot stand alone; Ex: Breaking a mirror is considered unlucky.
37. Noun: A word that names a person, place, thing, or idea. Ex: The robber was put
in jail.
38. Object Complement: follows and modifies or refers to a direct object; Ex: The
school voted Elizabeth Class President.
39. Palindrome: a word that reads the same back or forward; Ex: He was able to
finish the dangerous race without damaging his racecar.
40. Passive voice: the subject receives the action; only transitive verbs can be used in
the passive voice. What would be the direct object of the verb in the active voice
becomes the subject of the verb in the passive voice; Ex: The mailman was bitten
by the dog.
41. Past simple tense: used for past actions that happened at a specific time, which
can be given by a time phrase (yesterday, last year, etc.); Ex: I liked the movie we
saw last night.
42. Person: 1st, 2nd, and 3rd; Ex: I like ice cream. You like ice cream. He likes ice
cream.
43. Predicate: a simple sentence can be divided into two parts: the subject and the
predicate, which is the verb and any complement of the verb, and can include the
object. Ex: She wrote a book.
44. Preposition: a word that links a noun, pronoun, or gerund to other words. They
can have a variety of meanings. They show direction! Ex: He’s going to the shop.
45. Prepositional phrases: the combination of a preposition and its complement. Ex:
She left early in order to get to the bank.
46. Present simple tense: depict actions that are repeated or habitual, states
something. Ex: I get up at 9:00 A.M.
47. Run-on sentences: a sentence in which two or more independent clauses
(complete sentences) are joined without appropriate punctuation or conjunction;
Ex: The next chapter has a lot of difficult information in it, you should start
studying right away.
48. Second person: This is you. Second person is used when referring to the
addressee. The addressee may be singular or plural, depending on how many
individuals are being addressed. Ex: When are you coming home?
49. Semicolons: use a semicolon in place of a period to separate two sentences where
the conjunction has been left out; Ex: The sun is high; put on some sun block.
50. Sentence: a group of words that tells a complete thought, typically containing a
subject and predicate; Ex: Hopefully there won’t be a lot of homework in this
class.
51. Simple Predicate: Tells what the subject is doing or what happened to the subject.
Ex: Emily eats a snack after school.
52. Simple sentence: contains one subject and one main verb; it contains one
independent clause. Ex: I like coffee.
53. Simple Subject: tells who or what is performing the action in the sentence; Ex:
James threw the ball.
54. Split-infinitive: when a word or phrase comes between the particle "to" and the
verb in an infinitive; “to boldly go where no man has gone before.”
55. Subject/verb agreement: When the subject of a sentence is composed of two or
more nouns or pronouns, use a plural verb. Ex: She and her friends are at the fair.
The book is in the drawer.
56. Tense: used to show the relation between the action or state described by the verb
and the time, which is reflected in the form of the verb. There are two basic tenses
in English: the present and past tense.
57. Third person: This is he, she, it, and they. Third person is used when referring to
any person, place, or thing other than the speaker and the addressee. Ex: He
decided to go for a run on the beach.
58. Transitive verb: an action verb that appears with a direct object (a person or thing
that receives the action of the verb) is called a transitive verb; Ex: He slammed
the book down on the table.
59. Verb: a word used to express action, a condition, or a state of being; Ex: He plays
basketball.
60. Whom v. Who: Use the he/him method to decide which word is correct. He =
who. Him = whom. Ex: Who/Whom wrote the letter? He wrote the letter.
Therefore, who is correct. Ex: For who/whom should I vote? Should I vote for
him? Therefore, whom is correct. Tip: Whom follows a preposition.
Literary Terms Packet
61. Adage: a wise saying; proverb
62. Alliteration: the repetition of initial sounds in neighboring words
63. Allusion: a brief reference to a person, event, or place, real or fictitious, or to a
work of art
64. Anecdote: a little story, often amusing, inserted in an essay or speech to help
reinforce the thesis
65. Archetype: a universal symbol, story pattern, theme, or character that appears
often in literature, film, and art and is easily recognizable
66. Aside: an actor's speech, directed to the audience, not to be heard by others in the
story
67. Caesura: a natural pause or break
68. Characterization: the method used by a writer to develop a character
69. Chronology: placing events in a story by order of how they happened
70. Cliché: an overused expression that has lost its freshness, force, and appeal; Ex:
The phrase "happy as a lark"
71. Climax: the turning point in a literary work
72. Colloquialism: a word or phrase used in everyday plan relaxed speech placed in
formal writing
73. Conflict: the struggle found in fiction
74. Connotation: an implied meaning of a word
75. Denotation: the literal meaning of a word, the dictionary meaning
76. Diction: an author's word choice
77. Digression: moving away from the main plot of theme by preventing additional
information that may or may not be relevant
78. Dramatic monologue: speech that expresses a character’s feelings and gives the
audience insight into the character’s feelings
79. Epilogue: a short poem or speech spoken directly to the audience following the
conclusion of a play
80. Euphemism: the substitution of an agreeable or less offensive expression
81. Fable: fictional story with animals (myths)
82. Falling action: the series of events that take place after the climax
83. Farce: type of exaggerated comedy that features an absurd plot, ridiculous
situations, and humorous dialogue
84. Fiction: prose narrative bases on imagination, usually the novel or the short story
85. Figurative language: symbolic language that literary devices use to create special
effects or feelings; this symbolic language makes comparisons, exaggerates and
means different things based on its context
86. Flashback: an action that interrupts to show an event that happened at an earlier
time
87. Foil: a character who serves as a contrast to another perhaps more primary
character, so as to point out specific traits of the primary character
88. Foot: The basic metrical unit that generates a line of verse. (It is not a meter)
89. Foreshadowing: method used to build suspense by providing hits for what is to
come
90. Hyperbole: exaggeration or overstatement
91. Imagery: evokes one or all of the five senses
92. Internal Rhyme: rhyme within a line
93. Irony: the discrepancy between what is said and what is meant
94. Metaphor: a figure of speech that exaggerates or overstates for dramatic effect
95. Mood: emotional attitude the author takes toward her subject
96. Motif: a recurrent thematic element in an artistic or literary work. A dominant
theme or central idea
97. Narrative Hook: the opening of the story that grabs the reader’s attention
98. Onomatopoeia: a word that imitates the sound it represents
99. Oxymoron: a figure of speech that combines contradictory terms
100. Parable: a brief story meant to teach a lesson
101. Personification: giving human qualities to animals or objects in a direct and
detailed way
102. Prologue: an introduction or preface, especially a poem recited to introduce a
play
103. Protagonist: the hero or central character of a literary work
104. Pseudonym: False name, alias used by a writer
105. Pun: words that mean more than two things
106. Repetition: the recurrence of words, phrases, or lines
107. Rhetorical question: a question to which no answer is expected because the
answer is obvious
108. Rhyme: the similarity between the syllable sounds at the end of two or more
lines
109. Satire: a literary term used to ridicule or make fun of human voice or weakness,
often with the intent of correcting, or changing the subject of the satiric attack
110. Setting: the time and place in literature
111. Simile: the comparison of two unlike things using like or as
112. Sonnet: form of poetry that has 14 lines and follows a strict rhyme scheme and
specific structure
113. Stanza: unified group of lines in poetry
114. Symbol: a person, place, or object that has a concrete meaning in itself and also
stands for something beyond itself, such as an idea or feeling
115. Symbolism: device in literature where an object represents an idea
116. Syntax: the way in which linguistic elements are put together to form phrases or
clauses
117. Theme: the general idea or insight about life that a writer wishes to express; all
elements of literary terms contribute to theme
118. Tone: the attitude a writer takes towards a subject or character: serious,
humorous, sarcastic, ironic, satirical, tongue-in-cheek, solemn, objective
119. Transcript: a written record or words originally spoken aloud
120. Understatement: statement that lessens or minimizes the importance of what is
meant