The Last Word (Unit 2)

(grammar) a word that comes before a noun or pronoun to indicate location, direction, time, manner, or the relationship between two objects

He used a list of common prepositions to help correct his grammar mistakes in the essay.

a construction in which an adverb or adverbial phrase is placed between the particle "to" and the base form of a verb

"To carefully consider the options" is an example of a split infinitive.

the act of reducing or shrinking something

The contraction of the company's workforce left many employees jobless.

the condition of two events occurring at the same time

The conjunction of the two storms created dangerous weather.

(in grammar) the form of a verb used when the grammatical subject is affected by the action of the verb, rather than performing it

Passive voice is often used when the doer of the action is unknown or unimportant.

a question that is not meant to be answered, but is instead used to make a point or to create emphasis or effect

He asked a rhetorical question to emphasize his point about fairness.

the symbol ' used in writing to show possession or omission of letters or numbers

The apostrophe in "can't" indicates the omission of the letter "o."

to read and correct the mistakes of a written or printed text

Before submitting her essay, she asked her friend to proofread it for any typos or grammatical errors.

a type of pronoun that replaces a noun as the subject of a sentence

A subject pronoun like "I" or "he" replaces the subject noun in a sentence.

to hold the same opinion as another person about something

She agreed with the teacher's comment about her essay.

a word that gives more information about a verb, adjective, or another adverb

"Quickly" is an adverb that shows how fast something is done.

a verb that is used with other verbs to indicate tense, voice, etc., such as do, have, and be

The teacher explained that auxiliary verbs like 'have' and 'will' help to form different tenses and aspects.

a group of words or a phrase that has a meaning different from the literal interpretation of its individual words, often specific to a particular language or culture

The idiom 'kick the bucket' means to die, and its meaning is quite different from the literal interpretation of kicking a bucket.

a grammatical construction in which two negative elements are used within the same sentence, often resulting in a positive meaning

In standard grammar, a double negative can create confusion, as it often results in a positive meaning.