Many absolute adjectives can be modified by adverbs such as almost or near <an almost fatal dose> <at near maximum capacity>. Many adjectives considered to be absolute are in fact often preceded by comparative adverbs <a more perfect union> <a less complete account>. In such cases, more means "more nearly" and less "less nearly."

An adjective can follow a noun as a complement <The book made the bag heavy>. It can also modify noun phrases <the largest of the cars that were on sale> and noun clauses <It seemed incomprehensible that one senator could be so powerful>.

An indefinite adjective designates unidentified persons or things <some children> <other hotels>.

An interrogative adjective is used in asking questions <Whose book is this?> <Which color looks best?>.

A possessive adjective is the possessive form of a personal pronoun <her idea> <its second floor>.

A relative adjective (which, that, who, whom, whose, where) introduces an adjectival clause or a clause that functions as a noun <in April, by which time the report should be finished> <not knowing whose house this was>.

Adjectives used together can be described as coordinate adjectives when they share equal relationships to the nouns they modify <a concise, coherent essay> <a soft, flickering, blue light>, and as noncoordinate adjectives when the first of two adjectives modifies the second adjective and the noun together <a low monthly fee> <the first warm day>. See also absolute adjective; attributive; demonstrative adjective; predicate adjective.

Adverbs usually indicate time, place, or manner <Do it now> <There they remained> <she went willingly>. They can connect statements <A small bomb had been found; nevertheless, they were continuing their search> and can tell the reader what the writer thinks about what is being said <Luckily I got there on time>. They can modify verbs <ran fast>, adjectives <an awfully long speech>, participles <a well-acted play>, adverbs <sleeps fairly well>, particles <woke right up>, indefinite pronouns <almost everyone>, cardinal numbers <over 200 guests>, and prepositional phrases <just out of reach>. Occasionally they modify a preceding noun <the great city beyond>, and some adverbs of place and time can serve as the objects of prepositions <Since when has your hair been blond?> <Before long there was a knock at the door>. See also auxiliary verb; sentence adverb; split infinitive.

When a subject is composed of two or more singular nouns joined by and, the plural verb is usually used <the intelligence and originality that mark his writing>.

When singular nouns are joined by or, the singular verb is usually used <The average man or woman was not interested>. When the negative neither  . . .  nor is used with singular nouns, it usually takes a singular verb <Neither she nor anyone else is fond of the idea>. But when neither  . . .  nor is used with nouns of differing number, the noun closest to the verb usually determines its number <Neither he nor his colleagues were present> <Neither the teachers nor the principal was interested>. Similar rules apply to either  . . .  or.

Insertions set off by commas, dashes, or parentheses should not affect agreement <This book, like her earlier books, has sold in large numbers> <Their reputation—and along with it their income—has suffered>.

In constructions like "A bunch of the boys were throwing around a basketball" or "Only a fraction of the deposits are insured," the verb is usually plural. See also collective noun.

When an amount of money, a period of time, or some other plural noun phrase of quantity or measure forms the subject, a singular verb is used <Ten dollars is all I have left> <Two miles is as far as they can walk> <Two thirds of the area is under water>.

Singular nouns joined by or can use either a singular or a plural pronoun, whichever sounds best <either Fred or Marianne will give their presentation after lunch> <Each employee or supervisor should give what he or she can afford>.

The indefinite pronouns anybody, anyone, each, either, everybody, everyone, neither, nobody, none, no one, somebody, and someone are used with singular verbs <Everyone in the company was pleased> <Nobody is responsible>, but are commonly referred to by they, their, them, or themselves <Nobody could get the crowd's attention when they spoke> <Everybody there admits they saw it>.

Restrictive and nonrestrictive appositives play different roles in a sentence and are traditionally distinguished by their punctuation. A nonrestrictive appositive <Their house, a white brick mansion, was two miles from town> is generally set off with commas. A restrictive appositive <He sent his daughter Cicely to college> uses no commas and indicates that one out of a group is being identified (in this case, one daughter from among two or more). See also nonrestrictive clause; restrictive clause.

Nouns have functioned like adjectives in this position for many centuries. Even plural attributives such as physics laboratory, Civil Liberties Union, mathematics book, weapons system, communications technology, and singles bar are common.

A main (or independent) clause could stand alone as a sentence <We'll leave as soon as the taxi arrives>. A subordinate (or dependent clause) requires a main clause <We'll leave as soon as the taxi arrives>.

An adjective clause modifies a noun or pronoun <the clown, who was also a horse trainer> <I can't see the reason why you're upset>. An adverb clause modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb <When it rains, it pours> <I'm certain that he is guilty> <We accomplished less than they did>. A noun clause can be a subject, object, or complement <Whoever is qualified should apply> <I don't know what his problem is> <The trouble is that she has no alternative>. See also sentence; subordinate clause.

Collective nouns have been used with both singular and plural verbs. When the group is considered as a unit, the singular verb is used <The government is prepared for a showdown> <His family is from New England> <The team has won most of its games>. When the group is thought of as a collection of individuals, the plural verb is sometimes used <Her family are all conservatives>. Singular verbs are more common in American English and plural verbs more common in British English. See also agreement; notional agreement.

A collective noun followed by of and a plural noun follows the same rule as collective nouns in general <A collection of rocks were laid out on the table> <A flock of birds were heard through the window> <This cluster of stars is the brightest>.

Writers should take care to match their pronouns and verbs: singular with singular <The committee is hopeful that it will succeed>, and plural with plural <The faculty are hoping to discuss their issues>.

The names of companies and other organizations are generally treated as singular <Harvard considers itself a great university>.

Compounds are written in one of three ways: solid <workplace>, hyphenated <screenwriter-director>, or open <health care>. The choice among these styles for a given compound represents one of the most common of all style issues. A dictionary will list many compounds, but will usually omit those whose meanings are obvious. New compounds can be patterned on similar compounds that do appear in dictionaries.

Coordinating conjunctions (such as and, because, but, or, nor, since, so) join elements of equal importance, to show similarity <They came early and stayed late>, to exclude or contrast <a brilliant but arrogant man>, to offer alternatives <She can wait here or return later>, to propose reasons or grounds <The timetable is useless because it's out-of-date>, or to specify a result <His mother is ill, so he's not coming>.

Correlative conjunctions (such as either  . . .  or, neither  . . .  nor) are used in pairs and link alternatives or equal elements <Either you go or you stay> <The project will benefit neither residents nor visitors> <She showed not only understanding but also judgment>.

Subordinating conjunctions (such as unless, whether) join subordinate clauses to main clauses and are used to express cause <Because she learns quickly, she is an eager student>, condition <Don't call unless you're coming>, manner <It looks as though it's raining>, purpose <He gets up early so that he can exercise before work>, time <She kept a diary when she was a teenager>, place <I don't know where he went>, or possibility <They were undecided whether to go or stay>.

Conjunctive adverbs are used to express addition <He enjoyed the movie; however, he had to leave before the end>, emphasis <She's brilliant; indeed, she's a genius>, contrast <That was unfortunate; nevertheless, they should have known the danger>, elaboration <They agreed on only one point: namely, that too much money had been spent already>, conclusion <The case could take years; as a result, many plaintiffs will accept settlements>, or priority <First combine the dry ingredients, then add the eggs and beat well>.

The predicate noun clause not introduced by that is more common after some verbs (such as believe, hope, say, think) than others (such as assert, calculate, hold, intend).

Contractions involving verbs used to be avoided, but today they are often recommended to help writers avoid sounding too formal.

The common participial phrase usually begins with a participle; in "Happening to meet them there, I invited them to sit with us," the subject, "I," is understood to be present in the preceding phrase, which modifies it. But a writer may accidentally let a participial phrase modify a subject or some other noun in the sentence it was not intended to modify; the result is a dangling participle. Thus in "Turning the corner, a large red building appeared," it is the building that may seem to be turning the corner.

Dangling participles are usually hardly noticeable except to someone looking for them. The important thing to avoid is creating an unintended humorous effect (as in "Opening up the cupboard, a cockroach ran for the corner").

In expressions like "that song of Ella Fitzgerald's" or "a good friend of ours," the possessive relationship is indicated by both of and the genitive inflection (Fitzgerald's, ours), even though only one or the other is strictly necessary. However, this construction is standard in all kinds of writing. See also genitive.

Today the double negative (as in "They didn't have no children" or "I can't get no satisfaction") is associated with uneducated speech and is generally avoided.

The genitive is usually produced by adding -'s or a phrase beginning with of.

The genitive has other similar functions as well; these include the subjective <Frost's poetry>, objective <her son's graduation>, descriptive <women's colleges>, and appositive <the state of Massachusetts> <the office of president> genitives. See also double genitive; possessive.

A gerund can be preceded by a possessive noun or pronoun <her husband's snoring>. See also possessive; possessive with gerund.

Who is often substituted for whom to introduce a question, even when it is the object of a preposition <Who are you going to listen to?> <Who do you work for?>.

Nouns are used as subjects <The artist painted street scenes>, direct objects <Critics praised the artist>, objects of prepositions <a painting signed by the artist>, indirect objects <The council gave the artist an award>, retained objects <An artist was given the award>, predicate nouns <Petra Smith is this year's award winner>, objective complements <They announced Petra Smith as this year's award winner>, and appositives <Petra Smith, this year's award winner>. See also collective noun; count noun; mass noun; proper noun.

Faulty parallelism occurs when different constructions are used within a sentence where you would ordinarily expect to find similar constructions. It often involves the words and, or, either, or neither. In the sentence "To allow kids to roam the streets at night and failing to provide organized activities have been harmful," an infinitive phrase (To allow kids to roam  . . . ) and a participial phrase (failing to provide  . . . ) are treated as parallel when they are not. Replacing the infinitive with a participle achieves this parallelism (Allowing kids to roam  . . .  and failing to provide  . . . ).

Though often considered a weaker form of expression than the active voice, the passive nevertheless has important uses—for example, when the receiver of the action is more important than the doer <He is respected by other scholars>, when the doer is unknown <The signature had been copied expertly> or is understood <Jones was elected on the third ballot>, or when the speaker or writer wants the doer to remain anonymous <He would only say that mistakes had been made>; compare active voice.

A personal pronoun's function within a sentence determines its case. The nominative case (I, we, you, he, she, it, they) is used for pronouns that act as subjects of sentences <he and I will attend>.

The possessive case (my, mine, our, ours, your, yours, his, her, hers, its, their, theirs) is used for pronouns that express possession or a similar relationship <our own offices> <its roof>.

The objective case (me, us, you, him, her, it, them) is used for pronouns that are direct objects, indirect objects, retained objects, or objects of prepositions <He told me about the new contract> <She gave him the manuscripts> <He was given them yesterday> <This is between you and her>. See also indefinite pronoun; pronoun.

There are seven basic types of phrases. An absolute phrase consists of a noun followed by a modifier (such as a participial phrase) and acts independently within a sentence without modifying a particular element <He was sitting still, his eyes staring straight ahead>.

A gerund phrase includes a gerund and its modifiers, and it functions as a noun <Eating two doughnuts is Mike's idea of breakfast>.

An infinitive phrase includes an infinitive and may function as a noun, adjective, or adverb <To do that would be stupid> <an event to remember> <They struggled to get free>.

A participial phrase includes a participle and functions as an adjective <Hearing the noise, he ran to the window>.

A verb phrase consists of a verb and any other terms that either modify it or complete its meaning <He comes once a month> <She will arrive too late>. See also noun phrase; participial phrase.

In "the reason for everyone['s] wanting to join," either the possessive or the common form of everyone can be used. The possessive is required only when the -ing word is clearly a noun <My being here must embarrass you>. The possessive is quite common with proper nouns <the problem of John's forgetting the keys> but rare with plurals <learned of the bills [bills'] being paid>.

Sentences may end with a preposition; in fact, many sentences almost require the preposition at the end <What can she be thinking of?> <he got the answer he was looking for> <They still haven't been heard from>.

The relative pronoun who typically refers to persons and some animals <a man who reads a lot> <a person whom we can trust> <Seattle Slew, who won horse racing's Triple Crown>; which refers to things and animals <a book which sold well> <a dog which barked loudly>; and that refers to persons, animals, and things <a book that sold well> <a man that reads a lot> <a dog that barked loudly> .

Whom is commonly used as the object of a preposition in a clause that it introduces <she is someone for whom I would gladly work>. However, who is commonly used to introduce a question even when it is the object of a preposition <who are you going to listen to?> <who do you work for?>.

A declarative sentence makes a statement <The cow had jumped over the fence>. An exclamatory sentence expresses strong feeling <That's ridiculous!>. An interrogative sentence asks a question <Who said that?>. An imperative sentence expresses a command or request <Get in here now!>.

Grammarians used to disapprove of the split infinitive, but they rarely do so today. It is useful when a writer wants to emphasize the adverb. See also infinitive.

Auxiliary verbs (be, have) are used to indicate time relations other than the simple present, past, and future tenses. The progressive tenses express action either in progress <is seeing>, in the past <was seeing>, or in the future <will be seeing>. The perfect tenses may express action that began in the past and continues in the present <has seen>, that was completed before another past action <had seen>, or that will be completed before some future action <will have seen>.

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