Glossary of Grammar Terms Part VII

Correlative

The term correlative refers to a pair of items which work together to connect things in a sentence. Examples are: both…and, not only…but also, either…or, neither…nor and so…that.

She is both beautiful and intelligent.
The box was so heavy that I couldn’t lift it.

Countable noun

A noun which denotes something which can be counted. Examples are: dog, cat, boy, girl, bag, shoes etc. Countable nouns can be used with numbers and the indefinite article a/an.

He has two children.
I ate an apple.

Cranberry morpheme

The label cranberry morpheme refers to a morpheme which occurs in only a single word. Examples are the cran of cranberry and the twi or twilight.

Dangling participle or hanging participle

Any participle which is not grammatically linked to the rest of its sentence is called a dangling participle or hanging participle. For example in the sentence, ‘Driving down the road, a dog leapt out in front of me’, the participle phrase ‘driving down the road’ is hanging because it is not grammatically linked to the rest of the sentence. Instead, this sentence should be rewritten as ‘While I was driving down the road, a dog leapt out in front of me’.

Hanging participles are common in speech, but they are inappropriate in writing.

Degree

The label degree denotes the grammatical category which expresses the degree to which some quality is present. English adjectives and adverbs commonly distinguish three degrees: the positive, the comparative and the superlative. The comparative is formed with –er or more. The superlative is formed with –est or most. Note that short words such as tall and short form their comparative and superlative by the addition of –er and –est. Longer words form their comparative and superlative by the addition of –more or –most.

Degree modifier

A degree modifier is a word which modifies an adjective or adverb and expresses the degree to which some quality is present. Examples are: very, rather, too, moderately, quite etc.

For example in the sentence, ‘The coat is very expensive’, the degree modifier very indicates some degree of expensiveness. Similarly in the sentence, ‘It is too cold’, the degree modifier too expresses some degree of coldness.