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:

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: