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NASA SP-7084 |
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Grammar, Punctuation, and Capitalization |
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A Handbook for Technical Writers and Editors |
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Mary K. McCaskill |
The terms defined in this glossary are those used in the text. These definitions closely match any definitions given in the text and generally conform to the definitions found in Skillin et al. (1974).
active voice-sentence or verb whose subject is performing the action
adjective-word that modifies a noun, pronoun, or other substantive
adverb-word that can modify verbs, adjectives, and even other adverbs
antecedent-noun or substantive to which a pronoun refers
apostrophe-punctuation mark (') used to indicate possession, to form the plurals of abbreviations, characters, and signs, and to indicate omitted characters in contractions
appositive-the second of two nouns together which repeats the meaning of, or identifies, the first
argumentation-discourse that convinces by reasoning
article-the words a, an, or the
auxiliary verb-verb used with another verb to indicate voice, mood, and tense (are, can, do, have, may, must, shall, will)
broad reference-using pronouns to refer to the idea of the previous sentence or clause rather than to a particular antecedent (Ebbitt and Ebbitt 1982)
brackets-punctuation marks ([ ]) used to enclose editorial insertions, corrections, and comments in quoted material and in reference citations (nonmathematical)
caps & lc-capitalization of the principal words of an expression, Like This
case-form or position of a noun or substantive indicating its relation to other words in a sentence; (see nominative, objective, possessive)
clause-group of words containing a subject and a predicate
close style of punctuation-using all punctuation that the grammatical structure will allow
collective noun-name of a group of people or things
colon-punctuation mark (:) used to separate and introduce lists, clauses, and quotations
comma-punctuation mark (,) used to separate and to enclose elements of a sentence in order to prevent misreading
common noun-name of a class or kind
comparative degree of modifier-modifier that indicates a quality existing to a greater or lesser degree in one thing than in another
compound predicates-two or more predicates in a sentence with the same subject
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conjunction-connective that joins sentences, clauses, phrases, or words
conjunctive adverb-adverb used as coordinating conjunction to join independent clauses (therefore, however, thus, hence, otherwise)
coordinate adjectives-adjectives that independently modify a noun
coordinate conjunction-conjunction that joins words, phrases, and clauses of equal rank (and, but, or, nor)
coordinating conjunction-conjunction that joins grammatically equal sentence elements, that is, a word to a word, a phrase to a phrase, or a clause to a clause, see coordinate conjunction, correlative conjunction, conjunctive adverb
correlative conjunction-pair of words that connect parallel sentence elements (either . . . or, both . . . and, not only . . . but also)
dash-punctuation mark (-) used to enclose and to separate sentence elements when the elements contain internal commas or when emphasis or suspense of the sense is desired
demonstrative pronoun-pronoun that refers to something present or near (this, these) or to something more remote (that, those)
dependent clause-clause that is subordinate to, or dependent on, the independent clause
description-discourse that gives a mental image
direct quotation-repetition without change of another's language; compare indirect quotation
em dash-see dash
en dash-punctuation mark (-) used to indicate inclusive numbers and to connect a unit modifier with a two-word element
exposition-discourse that explains how and why things happen
full caps-capitalization of every letter in an expression, LIKE THIS
gerund-verb ending in ing used as a noun
grammar-study of the classes of words, their inflections (changes in form to distinguish case, gender, tense, etc.), and functions in a sentence (Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary)
headline style capitalization-capitalization of all principal words (also called caps & lc)
hyphen-punctuation mark (-) used to connect words broken at the ends of lines, prefixes and suffixes to words, and compound words
imperative mood-verb form indicating a command
independent clause-clause on which the rest of the sentence depends
indicative mood-verb form indicating fact
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indirect quotation or question-quotation or question expressed as a subordinate clause
infinitive-verb preceded by to used as an adverb, adjective, or noun
modifier-word, phrase, or clause that affects the meaning of another word or group of words; see restrictive, nonrestrictive
mood-form of verb indicating manner of doing or being; see indicative, imperative, subjunctive
narration-discourse that tells what happened
nominative absolute-noun or substantive not grammatically connected to the sentence and modified by a participle
nominative case-noun that is subject to a verb, a predicate nominative, in apposition to a nominative, or a nominative absolute
nonrestrictive modifier-modifier that does not limit or confine the meaning of the basic sentence
noun-word that names a person, place, or thing; see common, proper
objective case-noun that is object of a verb, preposition, or verbal
open style of punctuation-using only the punctuation necessary to prevent misreading
parallelism-writing logically equal ideas in the same grammatical structure
parentheses-punctuation marks (( )) used to enclose nonrestrictive or interrupting elements
participle-verb used as an adjective; may be present, ending in ing, or past, ending in ed
passive voice-verb or sentence whose subject is receiving the action
period-punctuation mark (.) used to mark the end of declarative and imperative sentences and other complete thoughts and to indicate abbreviations
personal pronoun-pronoun that refers to a person; may be first person (I, we), second person (you), third person (he, she, they)
points of ellipsis-three evenly spaced periods (. . . ) used to indicate an omission, particularly from quoted matter
positive degree of modifier-modifier that indicates existence of a quality
possessive case-noun that denotes possession
predicate-verb in a sentence along with its modifiers and object
predicate nominative-substantive that completes a verb expressing state of being such as to be, to appear, to become
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preposition-word governing a substantive-the object of the preposition-and connecting a phrase to a sentence
pronoun-word used in place of a noun
proper noun-the name of a particular person, place, or thing
question mark-punctuation mark (?) used to terminate a direct question
quotation marks-punctuation marks (' ' or " ") used to enclose words quoted from another source, direct discourse, or words requiring differentiation
relative pronoun-pronoun that replaces a noun in a dependent clause and connects the clause to the rest of the sentence
restrictive modifier-modifier that defines and thus cannot be omitted without changing the meaning of the basic sentence
semicolon-punctuation mark (;) used whenever a comma would not be sufficient to separate coordinate clauses, long internally punctuated elements of series, explanatory phrases and clauses, and elliptical clauses
sentence style capitalization-capitalization of the first letter of an element, for example, a figure caption or a item in a list
slash-punctuation mark (/) correctly used in and/or, in fractions (x/y), to indicate per (m/sec), and when quoting poetry; also used, with little grammatical basis, to indicate temporary compounds, particularly to indicate alternatives
subject-substantive along with its modifiers that tells what the sentence is about
subjunctive mood-verb form indicating a wish, a condition contrary to fact, or a demand
subordinating conjunctions-conjunction that joins a dependent clause to an independent clause
substantive-word, phrase, or clause used as a noun
superlative degree of modifier-modifier that indicates a quality existing to the greatest or least degree in a group of things
tense-time of the action or state of being expressed by a verb
unit modifier-combination of words that modify another word
verb-word that can express action or state of being
verbal-word derived from a verb used as another part of speech; see gerund, participle, infinitive
voice-form of verb indicating whether the subject is performing the action (active) or receiving the action (passive)
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