concord (n.)

A term used in GRAMMATICAL theory and description to refer to a formal relationship between ELEMENTS, whereby a FORM of one WORD requires a corresponding form of another. In English, for example, a singular SUBJECT co-occurs with the third-person singular form of the VERB in the present TENSE, e.g. he walks (v. they walk); in Latin, there is concord between the NUMBER, GENDER and CASE of ADJECTIVES and NOUNS. This formal correspondence was traditionally referred to as AGREEMENT (the adjective ‘agrees’ with the noun, etc.), and is usually contrasted in grammatical discussion with the notion of GOVERNMENT. Negative concord refers to cases where an element expressing NEGATION requires some other element(s) in the sentence to be negative. In Spanish, for example, sentences such as No tengo ningún dinero (‘I have no money at all’) use the negative form ningún following no, rather than the positive form algún (‘some’).