Verbal Section Glossary

active voice when the subject is performing the action (as opposed to passive voice) ad hominem a logical fallacy in which the arguer attacks a person rather than the person’s claim agreement the state of being balanced in number (e.g., singular subjects and singular verbs; plural antecedents and plural pronouns) antecedent the word or phrase to which a pronoun refers (e.g., J ane kissed her son) argument a set of claims with a conclusion (main claim) and one or more premises supporting that conclusion begging the question a logical fallacy in which the conclusion repeats the premise bias a strong inclination or preference for one person, position, or point of view over others cause a person, thing, or action that makes something happen chronological order when events are arranged by time (the order in which the events occurred or will occur) claim a statement with a truth value clause a group of words containing a subject and predicate (e.g., as he came running) comparative the adjective form showing the greater degree in quality or quantity, which is formed by adding -er (e.g., happier) or less (e.g., less beautiful) CHAPTER Verbal Section Glossary 12 207 comparison the discovery of similarities between two or more items or ideas complex sentence a sentence with at least one dependent and one independent clause compound sentence a sentence with at least two independent clauses conclusion in critical reasoning, the main claim of an argument (the assertion it aims to prove) conjunctive adverb a word or phrase that often works with a semicolon to connect two independent clauses and show the relationship to one another (e.g., however, therefore, likewise) contraction a word that uses an apostrophe to show that a letter or letters have been omitted (e.g., can’t) contrast the discovery of differences between two or more items or ideas coordinating conjunction one of seven words — and, but, for, nor, or, so, and yet — that serve to connect two independent clauses dependent clause a clause that has a subordinating conjunction and expresses an incomplete thought diction word choice direct object the person or thing that receives the action of the sentence effect an event or change created by an action fragment an incomplete sentence (it may or may not have a subject and predicate) gerund the noun form of a verb, which is created by adding -ing to the verb base helping verb (auxiliary verb) verbs that help indicate exactly when an action will take place, is taking place, did take place, should take place, might take place, and so on. independent clause a clause that expresses a complete thought and can stand on its own indirect object the person or thing that receives the direct object infinitive the base form of a verb plus the word to (e.g., to go) intransitive verb a verb that does not take an object (the subject performs the action on his-/her-/itself) logical reasonable, based upon reasoning and good common sense, not emotional logical fallacy a flaw or error in reasoning main idea the controlling idea of a passage mechanics the rules governing punctuation, capitalization, and spelling modifier a word or phrase that describes or qualifies a person, place, thing, or action non sequitur a logical fallacy in which the connection between a premise and conclusion is unstated; jump- ing to conclusions order of importance when ideas are arranged by rank, from most to least important or least to most important paragraph one or more sentences about one main idea, set off by indenting the first line participial phrase the adjective form of a verb, which is created by adding -ing to the verb base passive voice when the subject of the sentence is being acted upon (passively receives the action) past participle the verb form expressing what happened in the past, formed by a past-tense helping verb plus the simple past-tense form of the verb phrase a group of words that do not contain both a subject and a predicate (e.g., in the box, will be going) post hoc, ergo propter hoc a logical fallacy that assumes X caused Y just because X preceded Y predicate the part of the sentence that tells us what the subject is or does premise a claim given in support of a conclusion in an argument – VERBAL SECTION GLOSSARY – 208 present participle the verb form expressing what is happening now, which is formed by a present-tense helping verb and -ing form of the main verb proper noun a noun that identifies a specific person, place, or thing (e.g., Elm Street) qualifier a word or phrase that limits the scope of a claim (e.g., never, always) red herring a logical fallacy in which the arguer brings in an irrelevant issue to divert the argument redundancy the unnecessary repetition of words or ideas (e.g., Lana’s mentally out of her mind!) run-on a sentence that has two or more independent clauses without the proper punctuation or connect- ing words (e.g., subordinating conjunction) between them slippery slope a logical fallacy that presents an if/then situation as an absolute straw man a logical fallacy in which the opponent’s position is distorted, oversimplified, exaggerated, or otherwise misrepresented style the manner in which something is done; in writing, the combination of a writer’s sentence structure and word choice subject the person, place, or thing that performs the action of the sentence subjunctive the verb form that indicates something that is wished for or contrary to fact subordinating conjunction a word or phrase that introduces an adverb clause, making the clause depend- ent and showing its relationship to another (usually independent) clause (e.g., because, since, while) superlative the adjective form showing the greatest degree in quality or quantity, which is formed by adding -est (e.g., happiest), most (e.g., most boring), or least thesis the main idea or theme of a passage tone the mood or attitude conveyed by words or speech topic sentence a sentence that expresses the main idea of a paragraph transition a word or phrase used to move from one idea to the next and show the relationship between those ideas (e.g., however, next, in contrast) transitive verb a verb that takes an object (someone or something receives the action of the verb) wordiness the use of several words when a few words can more clearly and concisely express the same idea (e.g., the pen that belongs to Jill) – VERBAL SECTION GLOSSARY – 209 . by adding -er (e.g., happier) or less (e.g., less beautiful) CHAPTER Verbal Section Glossary 12 207 comparison the discovery of similarities between two. does premise a claim given in support of a conclusion in an argument – VERBAL SECTION GLOSSARY – 208 present participle the verb form expressing what is