Sophomore English Honors: DOL 10-2

Clause

• contains both a subject and its predicate

• may or may not express a complete thought

Subject

noun or pronoun and all words that modify it

Predicate

verb or verb phrase describing subject or performed by subject and all words that modify it

Independent Clause

• clause that can stand alone
• expresses a complete thought or idea

Dependent/Subordinating Clause

an incomplete thought (sentence fragment) that needs a main clause to finish its idea

Phrase

2 or more words acting as 1 part of speech (another type of sentence fragment)

Appositive Phrase

noun phrase describing the noun it follows (NO VERBS)
→ My sister, an excellent doctor, volunteers with children in poorer countries.

Participial Phrase

phrases beginning with an -ing or -ed verb and its modifiers but without a subject or helping verb (EX: "hoping for the best," "studying the plaque")

Conjunctive Adverb

act like introduction words and must be set off with a comma (EX: however, therefore, otherwise, nevertheless)

Use commas to set off an…

interrupters (phrases and subordinated clauses that interrupt the main clause of a sentence) and include: appositive phrases (unnecessary) AND participial phrases (end in -ing)

Use a comma after an…

introductory words and phrases that precede the main clause, which include: two or more prepositional phrases AND participial phrases

Use a comma with a…

coordinating conjunction (FANBOYS) to join two otherwise independent clauses

Use a comma to join a…

subordinate introductory clause (dependent clause) to an independent clause (main clause), including nonessential clauses

A subordinate clause cannot…

stand alone as a sentence

Use commas to separate…

items in a list

parallel structure

• all about matching; various parts of the sentence balance themselves against each other: noun for noun, phrase balances with phrase, clause with clause, etc.
• same tense and same syntax
• all items in a list must have this

Whenever a sentence contains two or more similar elements, these elements must be kept…

parallel

What is subject-verb agreement?

the plurality of the subject of a sentence must match the plurality of the verb

Which numbers should you spell out?

those under 100

'affect' VS 'effect'

• 'affect' is a verb (to influence)
• 'effect' is a noun (result)

'me' VS 'I'

• 'me' is an object
• 'I' is a subject

'nor' VS 'or'

• 'nor' when using neither
• 'or' when using either

'us' VS 'we'

• 'us' is an object
• 'we' is a subject

'who' VS 'whom'

• 'who' is a subject
• 'whom' is an object

'farther' VS 'further'

• 'farther' means distance (adverb)
• 'further' means additional, greater extent (adjective) OR to give a boost to the progress of something (verb)

'whose' VS 'who's'

• 'whose' is possessive
• 'who's' is a contraction for who is

Avoid beginning sentences with the word…

there

'have' is a…

helping verb that must be followed by a main verb

'of' is a…

preposition (word that identifies the relationship between two nouns/pronouns; ex: on, under, of, to, etc.) that must be followed by a noun or pronoun