Grammar
NOUN
person, place, thing, idea
common (n): names a general noun; begins with lower case letter (city)
proper (N): names a specific noun; begins with capital letter
PRONOUN (pro)
takes the place of a noun
personal pronouns (having to do with you)
I, you, he she it
we, you, they
me, you, him, her, it
us, you, them
my, your, his, her, its, mine, yours
our, your, their, ours, yours, theirs
reflexive pronouns (ref) (reflects back to your “self”)
myself, yourself, himself
herself, itself, ourselves
yourselves, themselves
relative pronoun (rp) (starts an adjective dependent clause)
that, which, who, whom, whose
interrogative (int): asks a question
Which? Whose? What? Whom? Who?
demonstrative (dem): demonstrates which one
this, that, these, those
indefinite (ind) doesn’t refer to a definite person or thing
each, either, neither, few
some, all, most, several, few
many, none, one, someone, no one
everyone, anyone, somebody, nobody
everybody, anybody, more, much, another
both, any, other, etc.
ADJECTIVE (adj)
modifies nouns and pronouns
tells which one? How many? What kind?
articles (art): a, an, the
proper adjective (Adj.) proper noun used as an adjective: (American flag)
ADVERB (adv)
modifies adjective, verbs, and other adverbs
tells How? When? Where? To what extent?
Examples: really, extremely, very, easily, not, never
PREPOSITIONS
shows relationship between a noun or pronoun and some other word in the sentence. See examples of prepositions below:
across, after, against, around, at
before, below, between, by
during, except, for, from, in
of, off, on, over, since, through
to, under, until, with, according to
because of, instead of, etc.
CONJUNCTION: joins words,phrases, and clauses
coordinating conjunctions (cc)
FANBOYS (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so)
subordinating (sc)
starts adverb dependent clauses: (Have to be followed by a subject and verb)
after, since, before, while, because, although, so that, if, when, whenever, as, even though, until, unless, as, if, etc.
correlative (cor conj)
not only/but also, neither/nor, either/or, both/and
INTERJECTIONS (int)
expresses emotion but has no real connection with the rest of the sentence
set apart from sentence by comma or exclamation point
No, I’m not finished with my homework. Wow! What a great car!
VERB
shows action or helps to make a statement
action (av)
shows action She slapped him!
linking verb (lv)
links two words together
can be linking: is, be, am, are, was, were, been, being, appear
become, feel, grow, look, remain, seem, smell, sound, stay, taste, etc.
helping verb (hv)
helps an action verb or linking verb
If a verb or phrase has four verbs, the first three are helping. If it has three
verbs, the first two are helping, etc.
VERBAL: word formed from a verb, but acting as a noun, adjective or adverb.
gerund: (ger)
verb acting like noun
ends in --ing
Reading is fun. I enjoy shopping.
SIMPLE SUBJECT (S)
The who or what of the verb.
Must be a Noun, pronoun, or gerund!
can never be in a prepositional phrase
There and Here are never the Subject
The subject can be an “understood you” in an imperative sentence.
COMPLETE SUBJECT (Underline once)
simple subject plus its modifiers
The dog with spots likes to bark loudly.
SIMPLE PREDICATE/VERB
trasitive verb (vt): takes a direct object
intransitive verb (vi): does not take a direct object.
All linking verbs are intransitive!
COMPLETE PREDICATE (Underlined twice)
verb plus its modifiers
The dog with spots likes to bark loudly.
_______________
COMPLEMENT: Completes the meaning of the Subject and verb
Direct object (do)
is a noun or pronoun and is NEVER in a prep. phrase
follows an ACTION VERB!
Indirect Object
Is a noun or a pronoun and is never in a prepositional phrase.
Comes before a direct object and after the verb.
To find it, say, “subject, verb, direct object, to or for whom or what?”
He gave me the paper. “He gave paper to whom?” me (indirect object).
Predicate nominative (pn)
is a noun or a pronoun
follows linking verb and RENAMES the subject
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predicate adjective (pa)
is an ADJECTIVE
follows a linking verb and DESCRIBES the subject
He is nice.
APPOSITIVE
noun or pronoun that follows and renames another noun or pronoun
Ms. Nelson, the teacher, plunged into the pool.
APPOSITIVE PHRASE (app)
noun or pronoun (along with modifiers) that follows and renames another noun or pronoun
Ansley, my daughter, loves to dance.
PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE (prep ph)
group of words beginning with preposition and ending with noun or pronoun
can act as adjective ( I want a room with a view.) or adverb (His house is on the lake.)
must be next to noun or pronoun its modifies
OBJECT OF PREPOSITION (op)
follow preposition and tells what? or whom?
It has to be a noun or pronoun
If there is no object, it is NOT a preposition.
NOUN OF DIRECT ADDRESS (nda)
person being spoken to in a sentence.
Mom, I’m hungry. Go Clean your room, Rebekah.
INFINITIVE PHRASE (inf ph)
Infinitive plus its modifiers and objects
He likes to eat pepperoni pizza.
OBJECT OF INFINITIVE (obj inf)
Follows infinitive and tells “what?”
I want to eat pizza. “To eat what?’ pizza (obj. of inf.)
GERUND PHRASE (ger phr)
Gerund plus its modifiers and objects
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OBJECT OF GERUND (obj ger)
Follows gerund and tells “what?”
I like eating pizza. “Eating what?” pizza (object of gerund)
PARTICIPLE PHRASE (part ph)
Participle plus its modifiers and objects
Running down the hall, he bumped into the principal.
A clause is just a FANCY word for a sentence.
It must have a SUBJECT and VERB
Independent Clauses (ind cl)
Every sentence must have at least one independent clause
The independent clause can usually stand alone.
An independent clause does NOT start with a relative pronoun or subordinating conjunction.
Dependent (dep cl): also called subordinate clause
The dependent clause can NEVER stand alone.
A dependent clause can start with a relative pronoun
that, which, who, whom, whose
A dependent clause can start with a subordinating conjunction:
after, since, before, while, because, although, so that, if, when,
whenever, as, even though, until, unless, as, if, etc.
SENTENCE TYPES
Simple sentence (s) one independent clause
Compound sentence (cd): two or more independent clauses
Complex sentence (cx): one independent clause + one or more dependent clauses
SENTENCE PURPOSE
Declarative: makes a statement and ends in a period (dec)
Interrogative: asks a question, ends in question mark. (int)
Imperative: gives command and ends in period (imp)
Exclamatory expresses strong feelings and ends in exclamation point (exc)
A declarative, interrogative, or imperative sentence can be exclamatory if it expresses strong feelings and ends in an exclamation point.
CAPITALIZATION
CAPITALIZE the following:
Always capitalize the word “I”.
Capitalize proper nouns!
days of the week, months, holidays, historical events, etc.
names of states, countries, cities, islands, bodies of water, mountains, streets, parks, stores, etc.
nationalities, races, religions
brand names of products
titles of books, magazines, stories, poems, songs, etc.
the first word in a sentence
the first word of a quotation
SEMICOLONS
Joins two clauses without a coordinating conjunction
He likes apples; she likes oranges.
Can be used in series with commas for clarity:
We went to London, England; Paris, France; Madrid, Spain; and Rome, Italy.
Can be used in a compound-complex sentence that already contains other commas.
If you understand this rule, you can use it; and you’ll seem very smart.
APOSTROPHE
Use apostrophes to make words possessive and to make contractions.
Don’t use apostrophes to make words plural.
Possessive pronouns don’t use apostrophes (hers, its, ours, yours, etc)
Be sure you have a real word before your apostrophe: children’s toys, not childrens’ toys.
If the word is plural and ends in s, add apostrophe only: dogs’ owners.
Treat singular nouns ending in s just like any other singular noun: boss’s, Brutus’s
UNDERLINING/ITALICIZING
Underlining and italicizing are the same thing.
Underline OR italicize titles of long things: newspapers, magazines, CDs, movies, novels, plays, musical compositions, etc.
Underline or italicize names of ships, planes, trains, and artwork.
Underline or italicize foreign expressions.
QUOTATION MARKS
Quote titles of short things: short stories, poems, songs, articles, episodes of TV shows, etc.
Quote dialogue and words copied from other sources.
Commas and periods that follow quoted words always go inside closing quotation marks. Example: I said, “Go home.”
Colons and semicolons that follow quoted words always go outside closing quotation marks. Example: We’re “friends”; we don’t date.
Use single quotation marks only to enclose quotes within quotes.
Use double quotation marks in all other situations. Example: He’s a real “team player.”
COMMAS
1. adverb dependent clause*, independent clause
EXAMPLE: If it rains, we’ll go inside.
2. independent clause (no comma) adverb dependent clause:
Example: We’ll go inside if it rains.
3. independent clause, cc** independent clause
Example: Joe likes pizza, but Fred likes tacos.
4. subject verb (no comma) cc verb
Example: Joe likes pizza but does not like vegetables.
5. independent clause; independent clause
Example: Joe likes pizza; Fred likes tacos.
6. introductory participial phrase
Example: Running down the hall, he tripped and fell.
7. introductory prepositional phrase:
Example: After English class, we go to lunch.
8. , nonessential appositive,
We read The Great Gatsby, a novel, in class.
essential: We read the novel The Great Gatsby in class.
9. ,nonessential adjective clause***
Nonessential Example: Jane, who drives a red car, is nice.
Essential Example: All students who skip school should be suspended.
10. items in a series: Buy apples, oranges, and bananas.
11. ,noun of direct address, : Tom, give me the phone. Don’t sit there, Sue.
12. day of week, month date, year: The date was Sunday, February 27, 2000, in Georgia.
13. city, state, We moved to Peachtree City, Georgia, in 1975.
14. introductory word: Well, I hope you come to the party.
15. , interrupter, These rules, I think, will help you!