AP Seminar Study Guide
Capitalization-
SPECIFIC CAPITALIZATION:
Capitalize brand names but not the product.
Capitalize the names of the government documents and legislative acts
Capitalize the first letter of the first word of most lines of poetry
Capitalize the name of geographic places
Capitalize directions if they are a part of a geographic place
Capitalize a region of a country or an area of the world
Capitalize the names of planets and other heavenly bodies
Capitalize religions
And capitalize races, ethnic groups, and nationalities
NON-SPECIFIC CAPITALIZATION:
Capitalize the first word of what has been said/written (direct quote)
Do not capitalize the speaker unless a proper noun is used
Do not capitalize the verb!!!
Do not capitalize the word after the semi-colon
UNLESS it is a proper noun or adjective
Capitalize both parts of a hyphenated proper noun
Punctuation-
Place a comma after the speaker + verb at the beginning of a sentence (ex: he said,)
If the item quoted is placed first, and it expresses a sentence…
Place a comma within the last quotation marks
Add speaker + verb after the quotation marks
(ex: “Moppy is the cutest,” said Alexis.)
Place a colon (:) before a list
If a word/phrase interrupts the flow of the sentence place a comma BEFORE and AFTER it
A compound sentence consists of a complete sentence plus another complete sentence
A semicolon (;) may be used to separate the sentences
Use a hyphen to combine some prefixes with a base word
IF A TOWN/CITY OCCURS WITHIN A SENTENCE PLACE A COMMA AFTER THE STATE, THE SAME APPLIES TO A TOWN/CITY AND COUNTRY
PLACE A COMMA BETWEEN THE DAY AND YEAR IN A DATE. IF THE DATE OCCURS WITHIN A SENTENCE, PLACE A COMMA AFTER THE YEAR
An appositive is a word or words that add additional info about a noun, EX: do you want to meet Jade, my friend?
Use a comma to set off the appositive
If a participle phrase begins a sentence, place a comma after it
Place a comma before and after a phrase IF IT interrupts the flow
Place a comma before a title that occurs after a name
EX: Alli Ramps, D.O, is my friend
Use a comma to clarify a sentence
Parts of Speech-
VERBS:
The active voice indicates that someone or something is actively engaged in doing something
EX: Tessa made a bridal gown
The passive voice indicates that someone or something is acted upon
EX: A bridal gown was made by Tessa
Linking verbs DO NOT show action
They link adjectives with nouns (or pronouns)
To be: is, am, are, was, were, be, being, been
ADVERBS:
Adverbs can tell how they usually end in “ly”
Some do not, such as “He fell hard”
An Adverb tells how usually modifies a verb
SOME adverbs tell when or where
NOUNS:
A singular noun adds an apostrophe ( ‘ ) + s to show possession
If the noun ends with an s, put the ( ‘ ) AFTER the s
A direct object is a noun that receives the action of a verb: He Buys Comics
A predicate nominative is a noun that occurs after a linking verb that means the same as the subject
To check if the noun is predictive switch the order of the sentence around to see if it means the same
EX: His sister is our swim coach; our swim coach is his sister
PHRASES:
A phrase is 2 or more words without a subject and a verb
A prepositional phrase is a modifying phrase consisting of a preposition and its object.
EX: To school
A verb phrase is the part of a sentence containing the verb and any direct or indirect object, but not the subject.
EX: might listen
A participle is a phrase is a participle + other words
An infinitive phrase begins with an infinitive and has a modifier
A Participle phrase may be placed at the beginning of the sentence
It often serves as an adjective that describes the subject of the sentence
EX: Pounding hard against our windows, the rain prevented us from seeing the outside.
A Participial phrase may be placed within a sentence
A bus driver, stopped at a traffic light, check her mirror
CLAUSES:
An independent clause stands alone as a complete sentence
EX: I am running
A dependent clause is not a complete sentence/a complete thought
EX: I am about to…
A command is still a complete thought
EX: Go away. (You) Go away.
REG WORDS:
You’re/They’re, are contraction; you are/they are
Your/their are possessive pronouns
There says where
PREPOSITIONS:
EX: about, above, along, over, past, except, inside, like, near, since, etc.
ADJECTIVES:
Some adjectives describes EX: action-packed movie
Others are called limiting (or determining) adjectives
Articles: a, an, the
Demonstrative adjectives: this, that, these, those
Indefinitives: some, few, several, many, any, no, etc.
Numbers: one, two, etc.
PAST TENSE OF VERBS:
To do: did; had done
To go: went; had gone
To eat: are; had eaten
To fly: flew; had flown
To run: ran; had run
To bring: brought; had brought
To come: came; had come
To say: said; had said
To drink: drank; had drunk
To ride: rode; had ridden
To rise: rose; had risen
To fall: fell; had fallen
To cut: cut; had cut
To tag: tag; had tagged
To pull: pull; had pulled
To swim: swam; had swum
To burst: burst; had burst
To close: closed; had closed
To take: took; had taken
AP Seminar Study Guide
Capitalization-
SPECIFIC CAPITALIZATION:
Capitalize brand names but not the product.
Capitalize the names of the government documents and legislative acts
Capitalize the first letter of the first word of most lines of poetry
Capitalize the name of geographic places
Capitalize directions if they are a part of a geographic place
Capitalize a region of a country or an area of the world
Capitalize the names of planets and other heavenly bodies
Capitalize religions
And capitalize races, ethnic groups, and nationalities
NON-SPECIFIC CAPITALIZATION:
Capitalize the first word of what has been said/written (direct quote)
Do not capitalize the speaker unless a proper noun is used
Do not capitalize the verb!!!
Do not capitalize the word after the semi-colon
UNLESS it is a proper noun or adjective
Capitalize both parts of a hyphenated proper noun
Punctuation-
Place a comma after the speaker + verb at the beginning of a sentence (ex: he said,)
If the item quoted is placed first, and it expresses a sentence…
Place a comma within the last quotation marks
Add speaker + verb after the quotation marks
(ex: “Moppy is the cutest,” said Alexis.)
Place a colon (:) before a list
If a word/phrase interrupts the flow of the sentence place a comma BEFORE and AFTER it
A compound sentence consists of a complete sentence plus another complete sentence
A semicolon (;) may be used to separate the sentences
Use a hyphen to combine some prefixes with a base word
IF A TOWN/CITY OCCURS WITHIN A SENTENCE PLACE A COMMA AFTER THE STATE, THE SAME APPLIES TO A TOWN/CITY AND COUNTRY
PLACE A COMMA BETWEEN THE DAY AND YEAR IN A DATE. IF THE DATE OCCURS WITHIN A SENTENCE, PLACE A COMMA AFTER THE YEAR
An appositive is a word or words that add additional info about a noun, EX: do you want to meet Jade, my friend?
Use a comma to set off the appositive
If a participle phrase begins a sentence, place a comma after it
Place a comma before and after a phrase IF IT interrupts the flow
Place a comma before a title that occurs after a name
EX: Alli Ramps, D.O, is my friend
Use a comma to clarify a sentence
Parts of Speech-
VERBS:
The active voice indicates that someone or something is actively engaged in doing something
EX: Tessa made a bridal gown
The passive voice indicates that someone or something is acted upon
EX: A bridal gown was made by Tessa
Linking verbs DO NOT show action
They link adjectives with nouns (or pronouns)
To be: is, am, are, was, were, be, being, been
ADVERBS:
Adverbs can tell how they usually end in “ly”
Some do not, such as “He fell hard”
An Adverb tells how usually modifies a verb
SOME adverbs tell when or where
NOUNS:
A singular noun adds an apostrophe ( ‘ ) + s to show possession
If the noun ends with an s, put the ( ‘ ) AFTER the s
A direct object is a noun that receives the action of a verb: He Buys Comics
A predicate nominative is a noun that occurs after a linking verb that means the same as the subject
To check if the noun is predictive switch the order of the sentence around to see if it means the same
EX: His sister is our swim coach; our swim coach is his sister
PHRASES:
A phrase is 2 or more words without a subject and a verb
A prepositional phrase is a modifying phrase consisting of a preposition and its object.
EX: To school
A verb phrase is the part of a sentence containing the verb and any direct or indirect object, but not the subject.
EX: might listen
A participle is a phrase is a participle + other words
An infinitive phrase begins with an infinitive and has a modifier
A Participle phrase may be placed at the beginning of the sentence
It often serves as an adjective that describes the subject of the sentence
EX: Pounding hard against our windows, the rain prevented us from seeing the outside.
A Participial phrase may be placed within a sentence
A bus driver, stopped at a traffic light, check her mirror
CLAUSES:
An independent clause stands alone as a complete sentence
EX: I am running
A dependent clause is not a complete sentence/a complete thought
EX: I am about to…
A command is still a complete thought
EX: Go away. (You) Go away.
REG WORDS:
You’re/They’re, are contraction; you are/they are
Your/their are possessive pronouns
There says where
PREPOSITIONS:
EX: about, above, along, over, past, except, inside, like, near, since, etc.
ADJECTIVES:
Some adjectives describes EX: action-packed movie
Others are called limiting (or determining) adjectives
Articles: a, an, the
Demonstrative adjectives: this, that, these, those
Indefinitives: some, few, several, many, any, no, etc.
Numbers: one, two, etc.
PAST TENSE OF VERBS:
To do: did; had done
To go: went; had gone
To eat: are; had eaten
To fly: flew; had flown
To run: ran; had run
To bring: brought; had brought
To come: came; had come
To say: said; had said
To drink: drank; had drunk
To ride: rode; had ridden
To rise: rose; had risen
To fall: fell; had fallen
To cut: cut; had cut
To tag: tag; had tagged
To pull: pull; had pulled
To swim: swam; had swum
To burst: burst; had burst
To close: closed; had closed
To take: took; had taken