enallage

English

Examples (grammatically correct transformation)

He came, didn't he? for
Didn't he come?
There were mistakes made. for
Mistakes were made.
They may do what they want. for
He or she may do what he or she wants.

Examples (grammatically incorrect substitution)

We was robbed for
we were robbed.

Alternative forms

  • enallagy

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ἐναλλαγή (enallagḗ, “interchange, variation”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ɛˈnæləd͡ʒiː/
  • Rhymes: -ælədʒi

Noun

enallage (countable and uncountable, plural enallages)

  1. (rhetoric) Transformation from one grammatically correct form to another.
  2. (rhetoric) The substitution of one grammatical form for another that violates a grammatical rule.
    • 1851, Goold Brown, The Grammar of English Grammars‎[1]:
      And when all men shall have adopted this enallage, the fault indeed will be banished, or metamorphosed, but with it will go an other sixth part of every English conjugation.

Hyponyms

  • alleotheta, allotheta, alleosis

See also

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