Join In
Twitter
YouTube
Weekly Newsletter
Libraries
A-Z Grammatical Terms
A-Z Confused Words
FAQs by Writers
A-Z Awkward Plurals
Punctuation Lessons
Common Mistakes
(ordered by seriousness) ESL Vocabulary Lists Parts of Speech Lists A-Z Idioms and Proverbs Tests and Games Top Tip Install a grammar checker
for your browser
(ordered by seriousness) ESL Vocabulary Lists Parts of Speech Lists A-Z Idioms and Proverbs Tests and Games Top Tip Install a grammar checker
for your browser
Grammatical Terms
Glossary of Grammatical Terms
Learning grammatical terms is essential to take your language study or writing skills to the next level. If you're learning a foreign language in a classroom setting, then you must know the grammatical terms so you and your tutor can discuss language structures efficiently. If you're looking to improve your writing, then you must know the grammatical terms to remove the guesswork from aspects such as punctuation, sentence structure, and capitalization.For example, to use commas accurately, you must understand dependent clauses, independent clauses, conjunctions, interjections, the vocative case, cumulative adjectives, parenthesis, and apposition. If you don't understand those terms, you are flying by the seat of your pants regarding commas.
Table of Contents
- Basic Grammar Terms
- Introduction to the Nine Parts of Speech
- A-Z Glossary
Basic Grammar Terms
Here are the nine principal parts of speech (also called "word classes"). The lessons and videos above are deliberately detailed as they are intended for teachers or advanced learners. (In the glossary below, there are simpler versions of these lessons, annotated "for kids.")Introduction to the Nine Parts of Speech
This lesson with the accompanying video is a helpful, simplified introduction to the nine parts of speech.A-Z Glossary
This A-Z list of grammatical terms provides links to the explanations of the meanings. Each entry has a link to a lesson that includes example sentences as well as a printable and sendable test. Many of the entries have a video icon, which is a link to a video tutorial on our YouTube channel.A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
A
- abbreviation
- absolute possessive
- abstract noun
- accusative case
- acronym
- active sentence
- active voice
- adjective
- adjective complement
- adjective clause
- adjective phrase
- adjunct
- adverb
- adverbial clause
- adverbial phrase
- affix
- alliteration
- anagram
- analogy
- anaphora
- anastrophe
- antecedent
- antonym
- apostrophe
- apposition
- appositive
- archaism
- article
- aspect
- assonance
- auxiliary verb
B
C
- case
- clause
- cliche
- co-ordinate conjunction
- collective noun
- collocation
- colloquialism
- colon
- comma
- common noun
- commoratio
- comparative
- complement
- complete aspect
- complete tense
- complex sentence
- compound adjective
- compound noun
- compound predicate
- compound sentence
- compound subject
- compound verb
- concrete noun
- conditional sentences
- conjugation
- conjunction
- conjunctive adverb
- connotation
- consonance
- consonant
- continuing aspect
- contraction
- copular verbs
- correlative conjunction
- countable noun
D
- dangling modifier
- dash
- dative case
- declarative sentence
- definite article
- demonstrative adjective
- demonstrative pronoun
- denotation
- dependent adverb clause
- dependent clause
- determiner
- diction
- diphthong
- direct object
- direct question
- double comparative
- double negative
E
- ellipsis
- emotive language
- emphatic pronouns
- epiphora
- euphemism
- exclamation mark
- exclamatory sentence
F
- feminine
- figurative
- figure of speech
- finite verbs
- first person
- full stop (period)
- future perfect tense
- future perfect progressive tense
- future progressive tense
- future tense
G
H
I
- idiom
- imperative mood
- imperative sentence
- indefinite adjective
- indefinite article
- indefinite aspect
- indefinite pronoun
- indefinite tense
- independent clause
- indicative mood
- indirect object
- indirect question
- infinitive form
- infinitive phrase
- intensifier
- intensive pronoun
- interjection
- interrogative
- interrogative adjective
- interrogative adverb
- interrogative pronoun
- interrogative sentence
- intransitive verb
- irony
- irregular verb
J
K
L
M
N
- neologism
- neuter
- nominative case
- non-countable noun
- non-finite verbs
- non-restrictive clause
- noun
- noun clause
- noun phrase
- number
O
- object
- object of a preposition
- objective case
- object complement
- objective personal pronoun
- onomatopoeia
- oxymoron
P
- palindrome
- paradox
- paragraph
- parallel lists
- parentheses
- parenthesis
- parenthesis in apposition
- participle
- participle phrase
- parts of speech
- passive sentence
- passive voice
- past form
- past participle
- past perfect tense
- past perfect progressive tense
- past progressive tense
- past tense
- perfect aspect
- perfect progressive aspect
- perfect progressive tense
- perfect tense
- period (full stop)
- periodic sentence
- person
- personal pronoun
- personification
- phrasal verbs
- phrase
- plural
- positive degree
- possessive adjective
- possessive case
- possessive noun
- possessive personal pronoun
- possessive pronoun
- predicate
- predicate adjectives
- predicate nominative
- prefix
- preposition
- prepositional phrase
- present participle
- present perfect tense
- present perfect progressive tense
- present progressive tense
- present tense
- progressive aspect
- progressive tense
- pronoun
- proper noun
- prose
- punctuation
Q
R
- reciprocal pronoun
- reflexive pronoun
- regular verb
- relative adverb
- relative pronoun
- restrictive clause
- restrictive modifier
- rhetorical question
- root
- run-on sentence
S
- satire
- simile
- second person
- semicolon
- sentence
- sentence fragment
- simple aspect
- simple future tense
- simple past tense
- simple present tense
- simple sentence
- simple subject
- simple tense
- singular
- split infinitive
- squinting modifier
- staccato sentences
- stative verbs
- subject
- subjective case
- subject complement
- subject-verb agreement
- subjective personal pronoun
- subjunctive mood
- subordinate clause
- subordinating conjunction
- suffix
- superlative
- syllable
- synonym
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
Help Us Improve Grammar Monster
- Do you disagree with something on this page?
- Did we miss a term?
- Did you spot a typo?
Find Us Quicker!
- When using a search engine (e.g., Google, Bing), you will find Grammar Monster quicker if you add #gm to your search term.
Learn more...