TEAS English + Language Usage: Conventions of Standard English

Mometrix prep book

compound noun

a noun that is made up of two or more words, sometimes written with hyphens

ex: mother-in-law; court-martial

how to make compound nouns plural

an -s or -es is added to the noun portion of the word

ex: mothers-in-law; courts-martial

relative pronouns

which, that, who — help clarify or describe a noun

homophones

words that sound alike but are spelled differently

affect and effect are confusing because they can both be used as a _____ or a ______

noun; verb

affect (n)

feeling, emotion, or mood that is displayed

ex: a patient has a flat affect

note: rarely used outside of technical medical so if noun for is needed on a test, you can safely select effect

affect (v)

to alter, to change, to influence

ex: The sunshine affects the plant’s growth

note: while the very form of effect isn’t rare, affect (v) is usually the best bet on a test when a verb is needed

effect (n)

a result, a consequence

ex: What effect will this weather have on our schedule?

note: if a noun is needed on a test, it is usually effect

effect (v)

to bring about, cause

ex: These new rules will effect order in the office

note: not always, but generally speaking affect (v) is more common than this one

homographs

words that share the same spelling, but have multiple meanings (usually a noun/verb or noun/adjective meaning)

ex: bank, content, fine, lead, object

a polite request can be followed by a _____ instead of a ______

period; question mark

Put commas where they belong in these sentences:

1. Bob caught three fish and I caught two fish.

2. After the final out we went to a restaurant to celebrate

3. Studying the stars I was awed by the beauty of the sky

4. I will bring the turkey the pie and the coffee.

5. Wow you know how to play this game.

1. Bob caught three fish, and I caught two fish.

2. After the final out, we went to a restaurant to celebrate.

3. Studying the stars, I was awed by the beauty of the sky

4. I will bring the turkey, the pie, and the coffee.

5. Wow, you know how to play this game.

Put commas where they belong in these sentences:

1. No I cannot come tomorrow.

2. John Frank who coaches the team was promoted today.

3. Thomas Edison an American inventor was born in Ohio.

4. You John are my only hope in this moment.

5. This is the last time correct?

6. You are my friend not my enemy.

1. No, I cannot come tomorrow.

2. John Frank, who coaches the team, was promoted today.

3. Thomas Edison, an American inventor, was born in Ohio.

4. You, John, are my only hope in this moment.

5. This is the last time, correct?

6. You are my friend, not my enemy.

Put commas where they belong in these sentences:

1. July 4 1776 is an important date.

2. He is meeting me at 456 Delaware Avenue Washington D.C. tomorrow morning.

3. Paris France is my favorite city.

4. John Smith PhD will will be visiting your class today

5. “You can start” she said “with an apology.”

1. July 4, 1776, is an important date.

2. He is meeting me at 456 Delaware Avenue, Washington, D.C., tomorrow morning.

3. Paris, France, is my favorite city.

4. John Smith, PhD, will will be visiting your class today.

5. “You can start,” she said, “with an apology.”

semicolons are used

to connect major sentence pieces of equal value

3 use cases of semicolons

1. between closely connected independent clauses NOT connected with a coordinating conjunction

   • ex: You are right; we should go with your plan.

2. between independent clauses linked with a transitional word

   • ex: I think we can agree on this; however, I am not sure about my friends

3. between items in a series that has internal punctuation

   • ex: I have visited NY, NY; Augusta, Maine; and Baltimore, MD

colons must come

after a complete independent clause

exs: to make a list, for explanations, to give a quote, separate title and subtitle, in time, after the greeting in a formal letter

periods and commas go _____ the quotation marks; colons and semicolons go _____

inside; outside

question marks and exclamation points go ______ the quotation marks when they are part of the quote

inside

apostrophes are used to show

• possession

• the deletion of letter in contractions

an apostrophe is not needed with these possessive pronouns:

his, hers, its, ours, theirs, whose, and yours

hyphens are used to

separate compound words

dashes are used to

show a break of a change in thought

ellipsis marks are used to

show that words have been removed from a quotation

brackets are used to

• place parentheses inside parentheses

• add clarification or detail to a quote that is not part of the quote

List the 8 parts of speech

1. nouns

2. pronouns

3. verbs

4. adjectives

5. adverbs

6. prepositions

7. conjunctions

8. interjections

noun

person, place, thing, idea

types of nouns

• common

• proper

• general

• specific

• collective

common noun

generic names for people, places, and things

ex: boy, girl, school, car

proper noun

specific people, places, and things

ex: Paris, Madonna, Statue of Liberty

general noun

names of conditions or ideas

ex: beauty, strength, peace, truth

specific noun

names of people, places, and things understood by the senses

ex: friend, city hall, cough, silk

collective nouns

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

ex: choir, class, herd, team, public

pronoun

stands in for a nound

types of pronouns

• personal

• intensive

• relative

• interrogative

• demonstrative

• indefinite

• reciprocal

personal pronouns

singular and plural

I, you, he, she, it, we, us, mine, yours, theirs, they, them, etc.

intensive pronouns

I myself, you yourself, he himself, they themselves, etc.

relative pronouns

which, who, whom, whose

interrogative pronouns

used to refer to nouns in the form of a question — they take the place of the noun that answers the question

what, which, who, whom, whose

demonstrative pronouns

refer to specific things that are either near or far away:

that, that, these, those

indefinite pronouns

non-specific people, things, or amounts:

all, any, each, everyone, either/neither, one, some, several, none, nobody, other

reciprocal pronouns

each other, one another

verb

indicates something’s action or state of being; or the action that has been done to something

note: verbs are required in a sentence. no verb = no sentence

types of verbs

• transitive

• intransitive

• action verbs

• linking verbs

transitive verbs

a verb whose action indicated a receiver

ex: she plays the piano. john joined the crowd

intransitive verbs

do not indicate a receiver of an action

ex: He slept. Sharon collapsed.

action verbs

show what the subject is doing

ex: He sings. Run! I talk with him everyday. She reads.

linking verbs

link the subject of a sentence with a noun, pronoun or adjective

ex: I am John. Shirley felt tired. That soup smells good.

active voice of a verb

when the subject is doing the action

ex: Jon drew the picture

passive voice of a verb

when the subject is acted upon

ex: The picture is drawn by Jon

verb tenses

• present - I talk

• past - I talked

• future - I will talk

• present perfect - I have talked

• past perfect - I had talked

• future perfect - I will have talked

adjective

a word that modifies a noun or pronoun

articles

adjective used to distinguish nouns as definite or indefinite

note: the ONLY articles are a, an, and the

the three degrees of adjectives for comparison include

1. positive - difficult; smart

2. comparative - more difficult; smarter

3. superlative - most difficult; smartest

adverbs

modify a verb, adjective, or another adverb — answers where, when, how, or to what extent something was done

note: not and never are considered adverbs

preposition

a word placed before a noun or pronoun that shows the relationship between an object and another word in time or space

conjunction

joins words, phrases, or clauses and show the connection between the joined pieces

types of conjunctions

1. coordinating conjunctions

2. correlative conjunctions

3. subordinating conjunctions

coordinating conjunctions

connect equal parts; include FANBOYS:

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

correlative conjunctions

show the connection between pairs:

either/or, neither/nor, not only/but also

subordinating conjunctions

join subordinate (dependent) clauses with independent clauses:

after, although, whenever, because, unless, until, so that, while….

interjections

words of exclamation

subject of a sentence

names who or what the sentence is about;

will be complete (including all its modifiers) or simple (without modifiers)

predicate of a sentence

explains or describes the subject

compound subjects

two or more nouns joined by and, or, nor

with a compound subject joined by or/nor, the verb must agree with _____

the subject that is closest to the verb

ex: Stan or Phil wants to read the book.

Either the blanket or the pillows arrive tomorrow.

complement

a noun, pronoun, or adjective that is used to give more information about the subject or verb in the sentence

direct objects

a noun or pronoun that receives the action of a verb —> find the verb and ask who or what?

ex: I took the blanket.

Jane read books.

Indirect objects

a word or group of words that show how an action had an influence on someone or something —> find the verb and ask to/for whom or what?

note: if you have an indirect object, you always have a direct object

ex: We taught the old dog (indirect) a new trick (direct).

I gave them (indirect) a math lesson (direct).

antecedent

that noun that has been replaced by a pronoun

—> a noun and its antecedent must agree in number: John — he; John and Rick — they

clause

a group of words that contains both a subject and a predicate (verb)

independent clause

contains a complete thought

dependent (subordinate) clause

does not contain a complete thought — cannot stand as a complete thought on its own

types of dependent clauses include

• adjective clauses

• adverb clauses

• noun clauses

adjective clauses

a dependent clause that modifies a noun or pronoun;

begin with a relative pronoun or verb (who, which, where, when) and come after the noun

ex: I learned the reason why I won the award.

adverb clause

dependent clause that modifies a verb, adjective, or adverb;

usually immediately before or after the independent clause

noun clause

dependent clause that can be used as a subject, object, or complement

4 classifications of sentence structure

1. simple

2. compound

3. complex

4. compound-complex

simple sentence has

one independent clause with no dependent clauses; may have compound elements

ex: Judy watered the lawn.

Judy and Alan watered the lawn.

Judy watered the lawn and pulled the weeds.

Judy and Alan watered the lawn and pulled the weeds.

compound sentence has

two or more independent clauses with no dependent clauses (usually joined with a comma or semicolon)

ex: The time has come, and we are ready.

I woke up at dawn; the sun was just coming up.

complex sentence has

one independent clause and at least one dependent clause

ex: Although he had the flu, Harry went to work.

Marcia got married, after she finished college.

compound-complex sentence has

at least 2 independent clauses and at least 1 dependent clause

ex: John is my friend who went to India, and he brought back souvenirs.