What is an Allusion? In short, an allusion is a figure of speech that references a famous person, place, event, or literary work. Allusions are either implied or direct. If you hear someone say, “Cupid’s arrow keeps missing me,” he or she alludes to the classic mythology that hails Cupid as the arrow-bearing God of Love. In literature, writers use …
Definite and Indefinite Articles: The & A/An
What are Definite and Indefinite Articles? Articles are teensy words that tell if a noun is specific or general. Because they modify nouns, articles are adjectives, too. In fact, they are the most commonly used adjectives. The two articles of the English language are: the and a/an. They are known as definite and indefinite articles. Also called the definite article, the …
Linking Verbs & Subject Complements
What is a Linking Verb? A linking verb connects the subject to a word in the predicate. Because linking verbs do not express an action, they also don’t require a direct or indirect object. Related Reading: Direct and Indirect Objects: Pair with Verbs Here are the most popular linking verbs: am, is, are, was, were, be, being, been. All forms …
Direct and Indirect Objects: Pair with Verbs
What are Direct and Indirect Objects? Also called verb complements, direct and indirect objects complete the meaning of an action word. “Lyn cried” is a complete sentence but “Lyn gave” is not. It makes you ask: Lyn gave what? or whom? Insert an object to make the sentence complete: “Lyn gave a pen”. Here, pen is a direct object. If …
Adverb Phrase: Phrase Modifying Another Word
Let’s learn how to define and use an adverb phrase. What is an Adverb Phrase? An adverb phrase is a group of words that modifies a verb, adjective, or adverb. Like an adverb, adverb phrases answer the questions: How? Why? When? Where? To what extent? Related Reading: Adverb – A Word that Modifies Another Word He delivered the speech amazingly well. …
Adverb: A Word that Modifies Another Word
Let’s learn how to define and use an adverb. What is an Adverb? An adverb is a word that modifies a verb (he walks slowly), an adjective (it’s quite dirty), another adverb (she arrived very early), or a whole clause (Luckily, he survived the fall). We’re used to adverbs ending in -ly but note that they sometimes take the form …
Appositive Phrase: Defining Nouns & Pronouns
Let’s define an appositive or an appositive phrase. What are Appositives? An appositive is a noun or noun phrase that identifies, explains, or defines another noun or pronoun in a sentence. It can be regarded as restrictive or nonrestrictive depending on its importance to the meaning of the sentence. An appositive is nonrestrictive or nonessential if it can be removed …
Sentence Fragment: Lacking Components
Let’s learn how to identify and fix a sentence fragment. What is a Sentence Fragment? A group of words marked by a period isn’t automatically a sentence. Recall from your basic English lessons that a sentence consists of a subject, verb, and complete thought, therefore the absence of any of these leads to sentence fragments. Sentence fragments are clauses or …
Rise vs Raise: What’s the Difference?
Let’s learn the difference between rise vs raise. Rise vs Raise – Summarizing the Difference If we are to make a list of English words that are often confused, raise and rise are sure to show up. Let today be the last day you confuse them. Raise is a transitive verb, which means it requires an object. In “Manny raised …
Which vs That: Introducing Clauses
Let’s learn when to use which vs that. Which vs That – How Are They Different? Which and that both connect an adjective clause to the noun or pronoun modified, but they differ in terms of the relevance of the clause attached to them. To review, clauses can be defined in two ways: restrictive (essential) and non-restrictive (non-essential). Which vs That …