18 Glossary (18/20) -- Professional Communications

18 Glossary Grammar and Punctuation Adjectives An adjective is a word that describes a noun. It tells you something about the noun. Adverbs An adverb is a word that usually describes a verb or further modifies (describes) an adjective. It tells you how something is done or describes the words that are already describing the noun. It may also tell you when or where something happened. Antecedent An earlier word, phrase, or clause to which another word (especially a following relative pronoun) refers back Antimetabole A specific kind of reversal of phrasing Apostrophe A punctuation mark that is used with a noun to show possession or to indicate where a letter has been left out to form a contraction Articles An article is used to introduce a noun. Colon A colon is used to introduce lists, quotes, examples, and explanations. You can also use a colon after the greeting in business letters and memos. Comma The comma can indicate a pause in a sentence or a separation of things in a list. Commas indicate grammatical structure and relationship between clauses, phrases, etc. Their presence or absence is integral to meaning, and their placement can drastically change what the sentence means. Complex Sentence When you join dependent and independent clauses together, you create complex sentences Compound Sentence Consists of two simple sentences joined together by a coordinating conjunction Conjunctions A conjunction joins two words, phrases, or sentences together. Contraction A word or group of words resulting from shortening an original form Coordinating Conjunction There are seven coordinating conjunctions: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so Correlative Conjunctions Correlative conjunctions include the following constructs: both…and, either…or, just as…so, neither…nor, not…but, not only…but also, whether…or Dangling Modifiers A dangling modifier modifies the subject of a sentence, but the placement of the modifier makes it seem as though it modifies another noun in the sentence. Other times, a dangling modifier actually modifies someone or something other than the subject of the sentence, but the wording makes it appear as though the dangling modifier modifies the subject. Dash A punctuation mark used to set off information in a sentence for emphasis Dependent Clause A dependent clause on its own is just part of a sentence or fragment. It must be joined to an independent clause for it to make sense to the reader. Direct Quotation An exact account of what someone said or wrote Exclamation Mark Used at the end of an exclamatory sentence, indicating that the sentence is an exclamation, or at the end of an imperative sentence to indicate a command. Grammar A set of actual or presumed prescriptive notions about correct use of a language Hyphen A hyphen is used to combine words that work together to form a single description. Independent Clause An independent clause, in addition to containing a subject and verb, expresses a complete thought and can stand alone as a