Meaning & use
unconjugated
Last updated
Meanings
adjectivecomparabletechnical
Describing a verb given in its basic form, without endings or changes that show person, tense or number.
Grammar: Usually not graded; it describes a state: an unconjugated verb.
Patterns
- an unconjugated verb
- unconjugated form
Dictionaries list verbs in their unconjugated form.
The learner kept using the unconjugated verb after every subject.
An unconjugated infinitive follows the modal verb in this sentence.
adjectivebefore a nounchemistrymedical
Describing a chemical compound or molecule that is free and has not been joined to another substance such as a protein or acid.
Grammar: Mostly before a noun: unconjugated bilirubin.
Patterns
- unconjugated bilirubin
- unconjugated form
Unconjugated bilirubin travels in the blood before the liver processes it.
The lab measured unconjugated hormone levels in the sample.
Unconjugated bile acids are not yet bonded with glycine.
Common combinations
- unconjugated verb
- The textbook shows each unconjugated verb in bold.
- unconjugated form
- Use the unconjugated form in the dictionary entry.
- unconjugated bilirubin
- High unconjugated bilirubin can cause jaundice.
- unconjugated estrogen
- Tests measured unconjugated estrogen in the blood.
Synonyms and how they differ
- uninflected
- Uninflected is a general grammar term for any word without endings, while unconjugated applies only to verbs.
- base form
- Base form is a plain noun phrase for the dictionary form, whereas unconjugated is an adjective describing it.
- free
- Free is the chemical everyday term for not bonded, but unconjugated is the more precise technical choice.
Opposites
Word family
- conjugate verb
- to list or change a verb form for person and tense
- conjugated adjective
- having verb endings added, or chemically joined
- conjugation noun
- the set of forms of a verb
- conjugate noun
- a compound formed by joining two substances
Commonly confused: unconjugated or uninflected?
unconjugated vs uninflected
Uninflected applies to any word with no grammatical endings, while unconjugated applies only to verbs.
Practice
In the sentence To go is a verb, the verb go is ___.
Choose one answer.
Go is shown in its basic infinitive form with no endings, so it is unconjugated. Conjugated or inflected would mean it had changed for person or tense.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “unconjugated”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.