TEAS English

homophones

words that sound the same but have different meanings (mail vs male)

homographs

words spelled the same but don’t sound the same

proper nouns

names, days of the week, months, geographic locations

contractions

combine words (don’t and you’re)

conjunctions

connect words, phrases, or clauses

coordinating conjunctions FANBOYS

connect equal parts of sentences (and, but, yet, or, nor, for so)

correlative conjunctions

show the connection between pairs (either, neither, not only)

subordinating conjunctions

joins dependent clauses with independent clauses (after, although, because, before, since, unless, until, whenever)

semicolon

used between closely related independent clauses (standalone sentences)

• Calvin is a teacher; Jenn is a nurse.

• Michael doesn’t like seafood; he prefers pasta.

hyphens

joins two or more words that serve as a single adjective before a noun

verb

actions or experiences

transitive verb

a verb whose action indicates a receiver (she plays the piano)

intransitive verb

does not indicate a receiver (he slept)

adverb

tells us how often, how, where, or when (always, yesterday)

pronouns

replaces the name of a person, place, or thing (I, she, he, they)

interjection

expresses strong emotions, followed by an exclamation mark

definite nouns

preceded by “the”, and indicate a specific person, place, thing, or idea

indefinite nouns

preceded by “a or an”, and do not indicate a specific person, place, or thing"

preposition

describes place, time, or direction; used before a noun/pronoun to show relationships between an object and another word. (jumped over the box, get into the car, i got food during break)

predicate

tells what something/someone is or does (contains a verb)

• Tim lost his dog

predicate nominative

renames the subject

• Tim’s dog is a monster

modifier

word/phrase that adds information about another word/phrase (adjective/adverb)

• Tim lost his white dog

subject complement

a noun that renames the subject/adjective that describes the subject/succeeds the linking verb, which links to its subject

• Melissa is a teacher

• She is respected by her students

object complement

noun, adjective, or phrase that adds information about/succeeds the direct object

• They find her intelligent

independent clause

a complete thought. can stand as a sentence alone.

dependent clause

not a complete thought/standalone sentence, starts with a subordinating conjunction (when, if, while, because, who, that, which, as, although)

• when the cat is sleeping

simple sentence

one independent clause (1 subject + 1 verb)

compound sentence

2 or more independent clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction (FANBOYS)

• Grace opened the door, and she looked outside.

FANBOYS

for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so

complex sentence

one independent clause and at least one dependent clause (comma used but not coordinating conjunction)

• when he won the award, everyone cheered.

compound-complex sentence

2 independent clauses + 1 dependent clause

sentence fragment

incomplete sentence punctuated as if it were finished

indirect objects

recipient of the direct object (him/her test)

when to use whom

if you can answer the question with him/her

when to use who

if you can answer the question with he/she

imperative sentence

issues a command, request, or instruction (subject is assumed)

• go straight, put your shoes on

past simple tense

an action that has already happened

past perfect tense

(has, have, had) + verb in past form

past progressive tense

subject + (was, were, will) + verb-ing

present simple tense

an action that occurs in the present

present perfect tense

(has, have, had) + verb in past form; action that has taken place before now

present progressive tense

action that is ongoing now (am, is, are) + verb-ing

future simple tense

an action that hasn’t happened yet

future perfect tense

(will have) + verb in past form; action that will be completed before a specific time

future progressive tense

(will be) + verb-ing; action that will occur and continue for a set period of time in the future

inflectional suffixes

added to show grammatical function, no change in meaning

• cat + s = cats

derivational suffixes

added to create a new word with a different meaning

• fear + less = fearless

cohesiveness

provides smooth transitions and eliminating choppy sentences

progressiveness

ensuring ideas are active, developing, or advancing

divisiveness

a text’s ability to divide concepts into clear categories (highlighting conflicting viewpoints + stimulate debate)

recursiveness

continuous loop of prewriting, drafting, revising, and editing

danglin modifier

when a sentence begins with an introductory modifying phrase and a comma, the noun directly after the comma must be the exact thing being described

• WRONG: walking into the room, the test felt overwhelming.

• CORRECT: walking into the room, she felt the test was overwhelming

consonants

not vowels

general nouns

names of conditions or ideas (beauty, strength, peace)

collective noun

names for a group of people, places or things that act as a whole

• class, company, dozen, group, team, public

pleural verb

DOES NOT end in -es or s (are, have, go, do)

singular verbs

ends in -es or -s

compound subjects

when joined by and, it is treated as a plural subject

joined by or/nor

verb must agree in number with the part of the subject that is closes to the verb

• Stan or Paul wants to read the book (singular)

• Either the blanket or pillows arrive this afternoon (pleural)

singular/indefinite pronouns (SSSAAANNNEEE)

each, either, neither, other, *silently add the word ONE > use singular verbs

Someone, somebody, something, anyone, anybody, anything, no one, nobody, nothing, everyone, everybody, everything

antecedent

the noun that has been replaced by a pronoun

• when sarah came, she poured a cup of coffee

gerund

a type of verb that always functions as a noun; ends in -ing

• swimming, reading

appositive phrases

word or phrase that is used to explain or rename nouns/pronouns

• terrier, hunters at heart, have been…

• his plan, to save and invest money, proved to…

semicolon

to separate items in a series that already have commas (complex series)

• We visited Birmingham, Alabama; New York City, New York; and San Diego, California.

to join clauses using transitional words like: however, otherwise, therefore, subsequently, in addition

appendix

includes additional supplemental information related to the text that was too details to include in main text

index

alphabetical list of keywords/topics with page numbers

glossary

defines terms used in text

main idea

last sentence of 1st paragraph

topic sentence

first sentence of every paragraph

colloquialisms

slangs

relative pronouns

connect dependent clause to noun/pronoun in main clause (who, whom, whose, which, that)

cause and effect words

because, since, as, given that

temporal sequence words

chronological order

contrast words

regardless, on the other hand, whereas

-ism

doctrine

-ia

condition

-ness

characteristic (noun suffix)

-sion, -ance, -tion, -ation

state of being (noun suffix)

ante-

before

epi-

upon, on top of

trans-

across, beyond

intra

-ist, -or, -er

one who does

-ment

action or resulting state

-ous, -ious

marked/characterized by

-ic, -ical

pertaining to

-ive

quality or nature of

-ate

to become/show

-en

to cause to be/become

-fy, ify

to make

-ly

in a manner of

epistle

formal, didactic letter (religious)

prewriting strategies

brainstorm, visual map, asking questions

elements of writing

prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, publishing

-ion

the state/condition of

-ize

to make/to cause

using that vs which

which: when there is a comma

that: when there is no comma