Syntax And Grammar Terminology

noun A word that refers to a person, place, thing, event, substance, or quality.

adjective A word that describes or modifies a noun or pronoun.

• The linguist explained the concept of a garden-path sentence to the class.
• I got confused by that garden-path sentence in the article.
• That sentence totally led me down the garden path.
• Her words were like a garden-path sentence, leading me astray before I understood the true meaning.

noun A noun phrase in Latin grammar that consists of a noun or pronoun in the ablative case followed by a participle, often used at the beginning of a sentence to express a circumstance or condition

• The ablative absolute is a grammatical construction commonly used in Latin.
• I still don't understand how to properly use the ablative absolute in my Latin homework.
• The teacher said we should include an ablative absolute in our essays, but I have no idea what that means.
• Just as the ablative absolute sets the stage for the main clause in Latin, the opening scene of the movie served as a figurative ablative absolute for the rest of the story.