Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
👑 Controlling others 📝 Governing element 🧑‍💼 A controlling person
dominative

dominative

9.9
Controlling the form or ending of another word in a sentence
  • adjective
  • /ˈdɒmɪnətɪv/
  • Specialized
translation icon : dominante
  • A dominative noun can determine the case of the adjectives that modify it.

Examples

  • In some languages, the verb is the dominative element in the sentence structure.

  • The teacher explained how the dominative role of the verb affects the object in the sentence.

  • The dominative noun controls the verb.

  • A dominative adjective can change the meaning.

  • In some languages, the verb is the dominative element that controls the case of nouns in the sentence.

  • A dominative noun can determine the grammatical case of related adjectives in a sentence.

  • The teacher explained how the dominative role of the verb influences the grammatical structure of the entire sentence.

Surface Forms

dominative positive

Morphology

dominative = dominate (semi-transparent) = dominate + ive

Formally derived from 'dominate' + '-ive', but the sense is technical (linguistic 'governing') and may be less obvious to general learners.

Etymology

Dominative comes from the Latin dominus 'lord', like the verb dominate. In grammar, a dominative element is like a 'lord' word that controls the form or case of another word, so it decides how that word changes.