Glossary / 445part-by-part organization a means of organization, particularly in a compari-
son or contrast paper, in which the similarities (or differences) of one point of
both topics are discussed, followed by the similarities (or differences) of another
point. Compare with whole-by-whole organization. [See Chapter 8, Comparison
and Contrast, for further illustration.]
participial phrase a word group made up of a participle and its object(s) and
any modifier(s). Example: The boy wearing a baseball cap must learn to take it
off when entering a building. (The participle wearing includes an object, cap, and
a modifier, baseball.) [See Chapter 44, Phrases and Clauses.]
participle a verbal form having the qualities of both a verb and an adjective. Par-
ticiples are used as adjectives, either present (a raving beauty) or past (the beaten
path). As a verb part, participles take auxiliaries to form a verb phrase. [See Chap-
ter 44, Phrases and Clauses.]
parts of speech the eight terms given words according to their function: noun,
verb, adjective, adverb, preposition, conjunction, article, interjection. [See Parts of
Speech in Chapter 42, Classification of Words.]
passive voice the voice or form of a verb whose subject is the receiver (object) of
the action of the verb. Example: I was hit by the ball. Compare with active voice.
past participle a participle used 1. with helping verbs to show completed action
or a time or state gone by. Example: He has worked. 2. as an adjective. Example:
He is a grown man. [See Chapter 44, Phrases and Clauses.]
past perfect tense a verb tense used to show an action completed in the past
prior to some other past action. Example: He had gone before we arrived.
past tense any verb tense used to show an action completed before the present,
including the simple past tense, present perfect tense, and past perfect tense.
perfect tenses the three verb tenses used to show relationships between actions,
including present perfect tense (have gone), past perfect tense (had gone), and
future perfect tense (will have gone). [See entries in the Glossary.]
period a mark of punctuation (. ) used at the end of a declarative sentence or to
indicate an abbreviation.
periodical a publication appearing at regular intervals.
periodical index a guide to articles appearing in magazines and other periodi-
cals; may be cataloged by author, title, and/or subject.
periodic sentence a sentence so written that the full meaning cannot be under-
stood until the end. Example: Under the porch, out of the sun, hidden from the
prying eyes of mischievous little children, the old dog slept. Compare with loose
sentence. [See also Chapter 3, Revising, for a discussion of sentence variety.]