grammatical relation

6.2

The way words and phrases connect in a sentence, like subject or object

noun
/ˈɡræmətɪkəl rɪˈleɪʃən/

Specialized

: relación gramatical

In the sentence, 'She gave him a book,' the grammatical relation shows 'She' as the subject and 'him' as the indirect object.

Examples

The subject and object are common examples of grammatical relations in English sentences.
Understanding grammatical relation helps clarify how words interact within a complex sentence.
Different languages may express the same grammatical relation using different grammatical structures.
A grammatical relation connects words.
The grammatical relation between words is essential.
The subject and verb must agree in tense to maintain the appropriate grammatical relation in the sentence.
Identifying the grammatical relation between nouns and modifiers can enhance understanding of sentence structure.

Synonyms

linguistic relation

vsgrammatical relation

Specialized

7.7

A connection between words or parts of a sentence, for example agreement between adjectives and nouns

is limited to relationships formed by sentence grammar like subject or object

Surface Forms

grammatical relation singular

grammatical relations plural

Morphology

grammatical + relation

The meaning 'a relationship between words established by grammatical structure' is directly derivable from combining 'grammatical' (pertaining to grammar) and 'relation' (a connection). This adjective+noun composition follows a standard, cross-linguistically common pattern, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents should understand the MWE.

Etymology

Grammatical relation uses a simple picture: imagine words as people in a sentence, with a subject doing the action and an object receiving it, while other words help like friends. This 'relation' shows how the words are connected by the grammar, so the term means the connection or job each word has in a sentence.