Grammar Terms

• A synonym is a pair of words that mean the same thing. Some examples could be happy, joyful- sad, depressed- smart, clever- etc...
• An antonym is a pair of words that mean the opposite things. An example of an antonym is fearful, brave- happy, sad- excited, bored- etc... 
• Homophones are words that sound the same but are different in spelling and meaning. Some examples include their, they’re, and there- sea and see, sell and cell- etc...
• Homographs are words that are spelled the same but differ in pronunciation or meaning. Some examples include tear (to rip apart or to cry) close (you can close a window, you can be close by) may (may you do this, the month is may) etc... 
• A suffix is a part of a word that is added to the end. For example: ful, ment, etc.)
• A prefix is a part of a word added to the beginning of the word. For example: un, in, etc.) 
• A contraction is a type of word that combines two or more other words into a shortened form, usually with an apostrophe. Some examples include can’t, won't I've, haven’t, etc... 
• Compound words are when two or more words combine to form a new single word or a phrase that acts like a single word. Some compound words include sunflower, rainbow, sunshine, textbook, Facebook, etc... 
• Effective nouns and verbs are specific. For example, effective verbs and nouns provide specific examples.
• A simple sentence is an independent clause that conveys a single, complete thought.
• One type of sentence is declarative, which is a statement. Example: I like sushi.
• Another type of sentence is interrogative, which is a question. Example: Do you like food?
• An imperative sentence is a command. Example: Wash the dishes.
• An exclamative sentence is one that you yell or express strongly, with an exclamation mark at the end. Example: "Wow!"
• An inverted sentence is one that is in reverse order. The complete thought is expressed in reverse order, or the verb is before the subject. 
• A simple subject is the sentence’s main noun or pronoun. Example: Beth loves books.
• A compound subject refers to two or more nouns or pronouns in a sentence. Example: Beth and Kendra love books. 
• A simple predicate is the basic word/words that explain what specific action the subject of the sentence is doing. For example, in the sentence, “the boy walks to school.” the simple predicate would be “walks.”
• A compound predicate occurs when the subject in the sentence is doing more than one action and is shared by two or more verbs. Example: Jan jumped on her bike and raced around the block. The compound predicate would be “jumped on her bike and raced around the block.” 
• In the sentence, "The boy ran and then stopped at the park to play soccer," the compound predicate is "ran and then stopped at the park to play soccer,"
• A direct object is a noun or pronoun that recieves the action of the verb directly. Example: In the sentence, “She ate an apple,” the direct object is “an apple” because it is the thing she directly eats.
• An indirect object is a noun or pronoun that recieves the direct object or is affected by the action indirectly. Example: “He gave her a gift” the indirect object is “her” because she is the person receiving the gift. 
• A subject complement is a word or phrase that appears after a linking verb in a sentence. It is closely related to the sentence’s subject- identifying, defining, or describing it. Example: “He is one of my best friends” the subject complement is “one of my best friends,” the subject is “he” and the linking verb is “is.” 
• An independent clause is a group of words that can stand alone as a complete sentence. Example “She went to the store to buy food,” the independent clause is “She went to the store” because it can be a sentence on its own.
• A subordinate clause is one that cannot stand alone on its own as a sentence and relies on the independent clause. Example: “Although it was raining, we went for a walk,” the subordinate clause is “we went for a walk.”