ACCUPLACER

English Grammar
Guide

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✓ 37 Grammatical Terms

✓ 5 Error Types
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 37 Grammatical Terms

1. Adjective – a word that modifies a noun or pronoun.

Examples: the blue shirt; a funny clown; He is handsome.

2. Adverb – a word that modifies a verb, clause, adjective, or another adverb.

Examples: I ran quickly. Come here now.
I am very happy to meet you.
I drove extremely slowly.

3. Comma – a punctuation mark used in a sentence to set off a word, phrase, or

clause, or to separate items in a list.
Examples: This is, actually, not my shirt.
Entering the hospital room, Bill started to feel nervous.
It was my turn to wash the dishes, so we used paper plates.
We walked to the park, played soccer, and swung on the swings.

4. Connotation – the implied meaning of a word or expression.

Examples: youthful – positive connotation; childish – negative connotation

5. Modify/modifier – to use a descriptive word to clarify the meaning of another

word or phrase. (Can be in the form of an adjective, adverb, or modifying phrase.)
Examples: the tall building; the swiftly flowing water;
Tired from late nights, the student studied for his third test.
Running in place, I couldn’t wait to start the race.

6. Noun – a person, place, thing, or idea.

Examples: grandmother; Holland; mouse; gratitude

7. Participle – a word formed from a verb that can be used as an adjective, with a
conjugated helping verb as part of a verb phrase, or at the beginning of a modifying
phrase.
Examples: the risen sun; has woken;
Spoken all over the world, English is an important language.

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 8. Past progressive – a tense used for an action that began and continued in the
past.
Examples: were speaking; was drinking

9. Past simple – a tense used for an action that began and ended in the past.
Examples: gave; blended; was

10. Period – a punctuation mark used to indicate the end of a sentence or an

abbreviation.
Examples: I bought you these flowers.; etc.

11. Plural – refers to more than one person, place, or thing.

Examples: babysitters; counties; pencils; were

12. Preposition – a word that is used before a noun or a pronoun to define a time,
spatial, or other relationship.
Examples: to the bank; at the store; in a minute; across the street

13. Present progressive – a tense for an action that is happening right now.
Examples: is playing; are chewing

14. Pronoun – a word that replaces a noun (person, place, thing, or idea).
Examples: he; she; them; our; ours; their

15. Semi-colon – a punctuation mark used to distinguish between two related

independent clauses or (elaborately written) items on a list.
Examples: They went to the beach; it was hot.
They were required to bring three barbeque grills; a prepared,
homemade vegetable salad; and six large bottles of diet soda.

16. Singular – refers to one person, place, thing, or idea.

Examples: babysitter; county; pencil; is

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 17. Subject – expresses about whom or what the sentence is written; who or what
is carrying out the action in the sentence.
Examples: Pink is my favorite color.
Barbara likes chocolate cake.

18. Tense – a verb type that identifies a specific time (present simple, present
progressive, past simple, past perfect, future simple, etc.).

19. Verb – expresses the state of or the action carried out by the subject in the
sentence.
Examples: Pink is my favorite color. Barbara likes chocolate cake.

20. Active voice – a sentence in which the subject performs the action. See also
passive voice.
Examples: Active: Brenda bought a bike.
Passive: A bike was bought (by Brenda).

21. Clause – a construction containing a subject and a verb and forming part of a
sentence or whole sentence. A sentence may consist of a single clause or of several
clauses.
Examples: A single clause sentence: Brenda bought a bike.
A sentence consisting of two clauses:
(1) Brenda bought a bike
(2) because her car broke down.

22. Conjugated verb – a verb used in a tense or time, as opposed to an

unconjugated verb, which lacks tense. The first verb in every sentence or clause must
be conjugated. See also unconjugated verb.
Examples: Incorrect: She eating the doughnut.
Correct: She is eating the doughnut.

23. Conjunction – one word or more used to connect two words, phrases, or
clauses that are grammatically equal. In the last case, it is used with a comma before it.
Examples: My foot and hand hurt.
My foot hurts, and my head aches.

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 24. Coordinating conjunction – a type of conjunction that joins two independent
clauses and is always used with a comma before it. The main coordinating conjunctions
are and, or, but, and so.
Example: There was a sale, so Bob drove to the mall.

25. Gerund – an unconjugated verb form. Created by adding “-ing” to the base
form of the verb. A gerund can be used as a noun replacement or as a verb.
Examples: Noun replacement: Walking is a very good form of exercise. My favorite
exercise is walking.
Verb: She is walking to the park right now.

26. Independent clause – a clause that can stand on its own as a simple sentence
and contains both a subject and a conjugated verb; it makes sense by itself and
therefore expresses a complete idea.
Example: The boy walked to the store.

27. Infinitive – an unconjugated verb. Created by adding “to” to the base form of
the verb. An infinitive can be used as a noun replacement or as a verb.
Examples: Noun replacement: To know her is to love her.
Verb: He told me to give this to you.

28. Modifying phrase – a phrase that describes a noun or a pronoun. The modifying
phrase must be adjacent to (before or after) the noun or pronoun it is modifying and
can only begin with a gerund or a past participle.
Examples: Leaving us alone, Mom closed the door.
Written in 1948, the novel 1984 is considered a classic.

29. Passive voice – a sentence in which the object, rather than the subject,
performs the action. The focus in passive sentences is on the action rather than the
subject. It is constructed by using a form of “to be” and a past participle verb. See also
active voice.
Examples: Active: Brenda bought a bike.
Passive: A bike was bought (by Brenda).

30. Past participle – an unconjugated verb that is used in perfect tenses in the
active voice and in all tenses in the passive voice.
Examples: Active: Mike has thrown the ball over the fence.
Passive: The ball was thrown over the fence.
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 31. Pronoun-noun agreement – when using a noun and a pronoun in the same
sentence, ensuring that the two agree both in number and in gender.
Examples: Incorrect: Each boy rode their bike to school.
Correct: Each boy rode his bike to school.

32. Relative clause – a clause that modifies the noun that comes immediately
before it. A relative clause begins with a relative pronoun.
Example: I have a friend whose husband is a teacher.

33. Relative pronoun – special pronouns used to connect a relative clause to the
noun it modifies. The main relative pronouns are who, which, that, whose, and whom.
Example: I have a friend whose husband is a teacher

34. Subordinate clause – a clause that is introduced by a conjunction and must be

preceded or followed by an independent clause. There is no comma preceding it, but
there is a comma before the independent clause if the subordinate clause precedes it.
Examples: My foot hurts because I kicked the wall.
Because I kicked the wall, my foot hurts.

35. Subordinating conjunction – a conjunction that begins a subordinate clause.

There is no comma preceding it.
Example: My foot hurts because I kicked the wall.

36. Unconjugated verb – a verb that is not used in a tense or time (i.e., gerund,
infinitive, and past participle). It can never be the first or only verb in a sentence or a
clause. See also conjugated verb.
Examples: Gerund: I like running in the park.
Infinitive: I like to run in the park.
Past participle: I have run in the park for many years.

37. Verb-tense agreement – keeping the same tense throughout a clause.

Examples: Incorrect: Chad promised his younger brother that he will take him to a
ball game.
Correct: Chad promised his younger brother that he would take him to a
ball game.

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 5 Error Types

1. Comma splice – the improper use of a comma instead of a conjunction, a

period, or a semi-colon to connect two independent clauses. A comma splice creates a
run-on sentence.
Error: The doctor was unavailable, she went on vacation.
Corrections: The doctor was unavailable because she went on vacation.
The doctor was unavailable. She went on vacation.
The doctor was unavailable; she went on vacation.

2. Modification error – occurs when the modifying clause is not adjacent to the
noun it is modifying.
Error: Leaving us alone, the door was closed by Mom.
Correction: Leaving us alone, Mom closed the door.

3. Parallel construction error – using a different type of word to make a list,

resulting in an illogical sentence.
Error: Joe likes singing, to walk, and diving.
Correction: Joe likes singing, walking, and diving.

4. Pronoun-noun agreement error – using a noun and a pronoun that do not agree
in number or gender.
Error: Each boy rode their bike to school.
Correction: Each boy rode his bike to school.

5. Sentence-fragment – an incomplete sentence, missing either a subject or a

conjugated verb, or both. Correction involves either adding the missing part or
changing the structure of the sentence-fragment to create a complete sentence, as in
the first corrected sentence below.
Error: The cat, which drank all the milk.
Corrections: The cat drank all the milk.
The cat, which drank all the milk, purred.

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