English Grammatical Terms

Letter E

(PG = Prescriptive Grammar  —  DG = Descriptive Grammar)

(GL = Grammatical Lingo  —  OB = Obtuse  —  NG = Not Grammatical)

  • Ellipsis  —  [DG]  The Term “Ellipsis” is a form of Punctuation where-in there are three Periods in a row.  [ … ]  Grammatically — it is used to signify that there are Words which have been eliminated in the place were the Ellipsis is — usually in a quotation of a different text or Reported Speech.

 

Example:  He said,  “I’ll just have to do it myself, because I can’t rely on any of these other … people to do anything!”

In this example the Ellipsis indicates that there was more that was said after “other” and before “people” but it was eliminated from the quote because it was not needed to make the point.

 

It is also very-often used — style-wise — as a way of creating an emphasized pause — longer than a Comma, a Dash, or a Period.  This is only done in creative writing and is not considered to be the “official”, Formal, or “correct” use of the Ellipsis(You can find examples of this in nearly every blog post on GiveMeSomeEnglish!!!)

  • Elliptical Clause  —  [NG & OB]  The Term “Elliptical Clause” is used to refer to a Clause in-which an Ellipsis is used to indicate that certain Words have been eliminated.

However — this is a completely Obtuse, and not even Grammatical.  Because the Ellipsis is the MISSING information FROM the Clause, and therefore is NOT that which “describes” the Clause itself.  it is merely saying that because an Ellipsis is IN the Clause, that it IS an “Elliptical Clause”.  Therefore — this Term is completely useless to anyone in ANY situation — and is, there-fore — Grammatical Dross.

 

Example:  “Yes!  GiveMeSomeEnglish!!! is the coolest freakin’ English Website In The Universe!” — In this example, by adding “is” (instead of simply saying “yes”)extra “Emphasis” is added to the answer…  thus the Term “Emphatic”.  This Grammatical Device is usually used in response to a Question — or to support or oppose another statement or idea.

The “Letters” of The English Alphabet (in both upper & lower-case form) Are:  Aa, Bb, Cc, Dd, Ee, Ff, Gg, Hh, Ii, Jj, Kk, Ll, Mm, Nn, Oo, Pp, Qq, Rr, Ss, Tt, Uu, Vv, Ww, Xx, Yy, Zz

The reason that it is called The “English” Language — Even though it is made up of elements from nearly all other Languages known to Man — is because, up until very recently, The Country of England was the dominant World Power.  And “English” is the Name of the Language spoken by the people of England., which was largely made of of the people called “The Angles”  ⇒  Angle-land  ⇒  England  ⇒  who speak “English”.

But, since the form of The English Language that is most-commonly spoken throughout The World is very different to the form of English that is spoken in England — (and because it is not the form of English that most people what to learn) — I have been motivated to changing the name of the form of The English Language that I teach, and am creating a FULL Grammar for, to:  “The Common Tongue”.  Because “English” IS “The Common Tongue” of The World;  for business, education, science, & travel.  It has been for a very long time — and probably will be for even longer.

Although the Suffix “-ology” means:  “The Study Of” — in Common Usage — we say that a Word‘s Etymology is “where the Word comes from”.

  • Exaggeration —  [NG]  The Term “Exaggeration” is not a Grammatical Term.  It is a Linguistic Term which is used to say that some Statement is the OPPOSITE to an “Understatement”.  In-other-words — the Statement described something as being far MORE or to a far HIGHER degree than the truth of the matter.

 

“To say that ‘The Red Hot Chili Peppers have totally sold-out and now they just suck’ is an exaggeration.”

— Translation:  First of all, “selling out” and being incredibly successful are two separate things.  And although they are not nearly as good as they were in 1992, they are still a pretty good band that can write some catchy tunes.

 

“To say that Covid 19 was ‘the deadliest disease known to man’ and that the Russian/Ukrainian war is a ‘genocide’ were two of the biggest exaggerations that the news media have ever spread in the history of the news media lying to mankind.”

—  Translation:  They absolutely were not!  Covid 19 may be technically a “disease” — but it no more deadly than “the flu”.  The Russian/Ukrainian war may actually be a “thing”…  But it is FAR from being a “Genocide”.  If it were actually a “Genocide” — then why the hell is The TOEFL Exam Still Available In Ukraine but NOT In Russia?!?!?!

  • Exclamation — [NG & GL]  The Term “Exclamation” is not a Grammatical Term.  It is Grammatical Lingo which is used to refer to anything that a person “Exclaims”;  some sort of Statement that is used to announce something — usually in a way where it was not expected or not “asked for”.

For Example:  “I Will Create The Greatest English-Language Learning System In The Universe!”, The Teacher exclaimed.

  • Exclamation Mark —  [PG]  The Term “Exclamation Mark” is used to refer to the Symbol Of Punctuation which is used to indicate — first, and foremost — that someone is “Exclaiming” something.  However — in Common Usage — it indicates either:  yelling / excitement / surprise / etc..  The Exclamation Mark looks like this.  [ ! ]

In present times — it is not considered to be “good practice” to use an Exclamation Mark in official writing or even in literature!  Apparently, It should only kept to creative & humorous writing or texting, and Informal emails & messages.  However — I like the Exclamation Mark so much that I almost always use it in threes (like in the name GiveMeSomeEnglish!!!).  In this way it is comprehended as not being used for “yelling” (when someone is angry) — but for EXTREME EXCITEMENT!!!  😀

Further-more — the Question Mark has a “Point” at the bottom of it, and we do not say “Question Point”.  We say “Question Mark”.  So logically, we should also use “Exclamation Mark”.

  • Expression —  [NGGL]  The Term “Expression” is not a Grammatical Term.  It is Grammatical Lingo used to refer to any Phrase that is “Expressed”.  It is Grammatical Lingo, and NOT a proper Grammatical Term because the Term does not give any indication of the Grammatical Classification of the actual Expression.  It is simply a Term (like “Exclamation”) that describes something that a person says.  Literally ANYTHING that a person says is an “Expression” — it is “pressed” (using the muscles of the diaphragm to create the sound) outwardly (“ex-“).  To “Ex-Press” literally means:  To Press Outwardly.  And “Expression” is:  That which has been “pressed out”  (words spoken).  😎

There-fore we can say that something is a Metaphorical Expression, because — either we do not want to further classify what kind of Expression it is, beyond being Metaphorical (Noun-Phrase, Phrasal-Verb, etc.)  — or because that further information is irrelevant.

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