Grammar terms beginning with the letter N

Negation

The label negation refers to the use of a negative element like not or a negative auxiliary like can’t.

Negative auxiliary
These are forms like don’t, can’t, doesn’t and won’t.

Nominal group
The label nominal group refers to a grammatical unit which can combine with a determiner to make a noun phrase. Note that some linguists use this term as a synonym for noun phrase.

In the sentence ‘The young lady was very kind’, the nomial group ‘young lady’ combines with the article the to form the noun phrase ‘the young lady’.

Nominative
In languages with case, the case-form used to mark a grammatical subject is called the nominative. Examples are: John, Alice, car, tree, boy etc. Note that English nouns have the same form in the nominative case and the objective case. Some personal pronouns have different forms for the nominative and objective. Examples are:

My, he, she, they, it, you, we (nominative)

Me, him, her, them, it, you, us (objective)

Non-finite
The label non-finite refers to a verb-form which is not marked for tense. A non-finite cannot be the only verb in a sentence. A typical English verb usually has the following non-finite forms: the infinitive, the gerund, the present participle and the past participle.

Noun
The part of speech which includes words like cat, dog, boy and honesty. A noun can be the subject or object of a verb. It can also be the object of a preposition or complement of a verb.

Noun clause
Any kind of subordinate clause which can occupy the position of a noun phrase.

Noun phrase
A grammatical unit which can serve as the subject or direct object. A noun phrase can also serve as the object of a preposition. Examples are: Alice, my sister, his mother, their house, the party etc.