inflections
Grammatical form changes
Inflections are changes in word form that signal grammatical relationships—adding -s for plurals, -ed for past tense, -ing for continuous action.
English has relatively few inflections compared to languages like Latin or Russian.
In a different sense, inflection refers to variation in pitch or tone of voice: Her voice rose with an inflection of surprise.
The term also describes points where curves change direction or trends shift: an inflection point in the company's growth.
Verb form variation system
- declensionNoun form variation
- morphologyStudy of structural forms
- paradigmGoverning framework of thought
- affixesWord-modifying additions
suffixes · prefixes · root · stem · lemma · agreement · case · number
In operation now
- passiveNot actively participating
- middleCentral point or position
- causativeExpressing what produces effects
- reflexiveDirected back at subject
reciprocal · deponent · impersonal · valency · agent · patient · transitive · intransitive
Time already gone
- presentGift or current moment
- futureTime still to come
- perfectWithout any flaw
- imperfectHaving flaws or faults
pluperfect · preterite · progressive · continuous · simple · compound · conditional · habitual
Varying signals to transmit
- alterationAct of modifying
- fluctuationIrregular change over time
- deviationDeparture from expected path
- pitchFrequency of sound
tone · curve · pattern · contour · rise · fall · cadence · intonation
Verb mood expressing unreality
- indicativeServing as a sign
- imperativeUnavoidably necessary
- conditionalDependent on prerequisites
- modalityParticular form or type
conjugation
Verb form variation system
- declensionNoun form variation
- morphologyStudy of structural forms
- paradigmGoverning framework of thought
affixes · suffixes · prefixes · root · stem · lemma · agreement · case · number · gender
active
In operation now
- passiveNot actively participating
- middleCentral point or position
- causativeExpressing what produces effects
reflexive · reciprocal · deponent · impersonal · valency · agent · patient · transitive · intransitive
past
Time already gone
imperfect · pluperfect · preterite · progressive · continuous · simple · compound · conditional · habitual · iterative
modulation
Varying signals to transmit
- alterationAct of modifying
- fluctuationIrregular change over time
- deviationDeparture from expected path
pitch · tone · curve · pattern · contour · rise · fall · cadence · intonation · prosody
subjunctive
Verb mood expressing unreality
- indicativeServing as a sign
- imperativeUnavoidably necessary
- conditionalDependent on prerequisites
- vocabularyword, words, new words, term, terms
- etymologyword origins, word history, word origin, etymon, root words
- grammardeclension, pronouns, adjectives, conjugation, nouns
- linguisticslinguistics, phoneme, phonemes, morpheme, morphemes
- word studyword origins, word roots, word meaning, word meanings, word formation
- dictionary elementsheadwords, entries, definitions, lemmas, etymologies
inflectionsmonotones
Single sustained pitches
monotony · flatness · tonelessness · drone · deadpan
inflectionsstraight lines
Unbent one-dimensional figures
linearity · straightness · rigidity · uniformity · flatness
- inflection pointsWhere curvature changes sign
- inflectional endingsBound morphemes marking grammar
- voice inflectionPitch shifts while speaking
- vocal inflectionPitch variation in speech