Direct objects are nouns that receive the action of a verb and answer the question โwhat?โ or โwhom?โ (e.g., โI bought some flowersโ).
Indirect objects are nouns that receive the direct object and answer the question โto whom?โ or โfor whom?โ (e.g., โI bought Morgan some flowersโ).
Both direct objects and indirect objects are used with transitive verbs. Direct objects are required after transitive verbs, and indirect objects are optional
Read this FAQ: What is the difference between a direct object and an indirect object?
Root words form the basis of word families, or groups of all the words derived from a given root.
Word families include all the inflections and derivations of a given root word. However, because language evolves over time, some words in a word family might have very different meanings, even if they share the same etymological root.
Read this FAQ: What are word families?
To break down a word and identify the root, it is helpful to first identify any affixes attached to the word. Prefixes and suffixes often modify root words, so removing these can reveal the root word and help you unlock the wordโs meaning.
For example, โpredatedโ has the prefix โpre-โ (โbeforeโ) and the suffix โ-ed,โ which is used here to indicate the past tense. Removing the prefix and the suffix gives us the root word โdatus,โ or the past participle of โdare,โ โto give,โ in Latin.
Read this FAQ: How can I identify a root word?
โNon-defining relative clauseโ is another name for a nonrestrictive clause, which is a type of relative clause (or adjective clause) that gives extra, nonessential information about the noun or pronoun it modifies (e.g., โI am going to visit Lake Superior, which is the worldโs largest freshwater lakeโ).
Nonrestrictive clauses can be removed from a sentence without changing its meaning.
Read this FAQ: What is a non-defining relative clause?
โDefining relative clauseโ is another name for a restrictive clause, which is a type of relative clause (or adjective clause) that gives essential identifying information about the noun or pronoun it modifies (e.g., โThe girl who is holding a teddy bear is my daughterโ).
Restrictive clauses cannot be removed from a sentence without changing its meaning or making it unclear.
Read this FAQ: What is a defining relative clause?
Both restrictive clauses and nonrestrictive clauses are types of relative clauses (or adjective clauses), which act as adjectives in sentences to describe nouns or pronouns.
- Restrictive clauses give essential identifying information about the nouns they modify. They often answer the question โwhich one?โ If they are removed from a sentence, the meaning of the sentence is changed or becomes unclear (e.g., โApples that are picked too early are sourโ).
- Nonrestrictive clauses give extra, nonessential information about the nouns they modify. They can be removed from a sentence without changing its meaning or making it unclear (e.g., โApples, which are my favorite fruit, are high in fiberโ).
Nonrestrictive clauses are set off from the rest of the sentence by commas. Restrictive clauses should not be set off by commas.
Read this FAQ: What is the difference between restrictive and nonrestrictive clauses?
Nonrestrictive clauses are used to give extra, nonessential information about a noun, pronoun, or noun phrase (e.g., โThe summer Olympics, which take place every 4 years, will be in Parisโ).
Unlike restrictive clauses, which are used to identify people or things, nonrestrictive clauses are typically used to give additional information about particular people or things. So, they are frequently used with specific nouns (e.g., โmy mom,โ โthe new teacher,โ โyour houseโ) rather than general nouns (e.g., โkids,โ โthe man,โ โbooksโ).
When a relative clause is used to describe a proper noun (e.g., โDavid,โ โProspect Parkโ), a nonrestrictive clause is almost always used.
Read this FAQ: Why are nonrestrictive clauses used?
Nonrestrictive clauses, like all relative clauses (or adjective clauses), begin with a relative pronoun, typically โwhich,โ โwho,โ โwhom,โ or โwhoseโ (e.g., โI want to vacation in Majorca, which is part of Spainโ).
The relative pronoun โthatโ is only used with restrictive clauses, never with nonrestrictive clauses.
Nonrestrictive clauses are set off from the rest of the sentence by commas.
Read this FAQ: Which word signals a nonrestrictive clause?
To identify a misplaced modifier, it is important to understand which word(s) in a sentence a modifier is describing. If the modifier is far away from those words, it likely needs to be moved closer.
Example:
โRunning away with its tail between its legs, the child laughed after frightening the dog.โ
In this sentence, the subject of the modifying clause โRunning away with its tail between its legsโ clearly refers to the dog, but another subject, โthe childโ is squeezed between the clause and what it describes.
Better phrasings would be as follows:
- โThe child laughed after frightening the dog, which ran away with its tail between its legs.โ
- โRunning away with its tail between its legs, the dog had been frightened by the child, who laughed afterward.โ
Read this FAQ: How can I identify a misplaced modifier?
A squinting modifier, also known as an ambiguous modifier, is a modifier that could possibly modify two different parts of the sentence.
The following sentence has a squinting modifier:
โPaolo works in a restaurant serving shrimp.โ
In this sentence, it is unclear if Paoloโs specific job is serving shrimp in a restaurant or if the restaurant is dedicated specifically to shrimp.
This can be clarified as either of the following two sentences:
- โPaolo works serving shrimp in a restaurant.โ [indicating that Paolo serves shrimp]
- โPaolo works in a restaurant that serves shrimp.โ [indicating that the restaurant serves shrimp]
Read this FAQ: What is a squinting modifier?
