A absolute adjective is an adjective, like supreme or infinite, with a meaning that is usually not capable of being intensified or compared. Known as an incomparable, ultimate, or absolute modifier. Absolute adjectives are in the superlative degree. Many absolute adjectives can be quantified by the addition of the word almost, nearly, or virtually.
A double entendre is a figure of speech where a word or phrase can be assumed in two ways, particularly when one meaning is risqué. Also called innuendo. One of the famous double entendres in A advertising is the slogan made by Shirley Polykoff to promote Clairol hair coloring: “Does she or doesn’t she?” The phrase double entendre is
Predicative adjective is a traditional term for an adjective that typically comes after a linking verb rather than before a noun. Another word for a predicative adjective is a subject complement.
A word component (a type of affix) can be placed within the foundational form of a word—rather than at its start or end—to create a new word or deepen its meaning. The process of adding an infix is called infixation. The most common kind of infix in grammar is the expletive, as in “fan-bloody-tastic.”
Coordinate adjectives are a series of two or more adjectives that independently modify a noun and are roughly equally important. As opposed to cumulative adjectives, coordinate adjectives can be connected by and, and the organization of the adjectives can be reversed. Coordinate adjectives are traditionally separated by commas.
A subject complement is a word or phrase that comes after a linking verb and explains or renames the subject of the sentence. Called a subjective complement. In conventional grammar, a subject complement is typically identified as either a predicate nominative or a predicate adjective.
Grammatical function is the syntactic role performed by a word or phrase in the perspective of a clause or sentence. Sometimes known as simply function. In English, grammatical function is largely determined by a word’s place in a sentence, not by inflection (or word endings).
The positive degree is the uncompared form of an adjective or adverb, oppositional to either the comparative or superlative. So named the base form or the absolute degree. The notion of a positive degree in the language is one of the easiest to grasp. For instance, in the phrase “the big prize,” the adjective big is in the positive degree. Therefore, the relative type of big is bigger;
A clause that typically alters a noun or noun phrase and is presented with a relative pronoun, a relative adverb, or a zero relative. Sometimes called adjective clause, an adjectival clause, and a comparable construction. A relative clause is a postmodifier that follows the noun or noun phrase it modifies. Relative clauses are usually divided into two types: restrictive and nonrestrictive.
Figurative language is language in which figures of speech (such as metaphors and metonyms) freely occur. This contrasts with literal speech or language. “If something happens literally,” says children’s book author Lemony Snicket in “The Bad Beginning,” “it actually happens; if something happens figuratively, it feels like it is happening. If you are literally jumping for joy, it means