English Grammatical Terms

Letter E

Ellipsis – An Ellipsis is a form of punctuation (…) where-in there are three periods in a row. Grammatically it is used signify that there are missing words – usually in a quotation. Quite often, it is used – style-wise – as a way of creating an emphasized pause. This is only done in creative writing and is not considered “official” or formal use of the ellipsis. (You can find examples of this in nearly every blog post on GiveMeSomeEnglish!!!)

Elliptical Clause – An Elliptical clause is one in-which an ellipsis is used to indicate that certain words are left out.

Emphatic Tense – An Emphatic tenses is a form of a past or present-tense sentence where-in the basic form of the verb “(to) Be” is used to add emphasis. Example: “Yes! GiveMeSomeEnglish!!! is the coolest freakin’ English website in The Universe!” – In this example, by adding the sentence with “is” (instead of simply saying “yes”) – extra “emphasis” is added to the answer… thus the term “emphatic”

Etymology – Etymology is the term used to refer to the origins of terms, and words, and the root elements of such.

Exclamation Mark – This is a form of punctuation (!) which is used to indicate either: yelling/excitement/surprise/etc.. In “modern” times, it is not considered “good practice” to use an exclamation mark in official writing or even in literature. It should only kept to creative and humorous writing or texting and informal emails/messages.