guide
JMC 101 - MIDTERM STUDY GUIDE
A Complete Sentence has:
A complete thought
Subject and a verb
Independent clause
Ex.
I am. (Is a complete sentence with a complete thought)
Tip: Identify the subject of a sentence first, which will help you find the verb
Dependent cause: is not a complete thought
Ex.
After I go to the store…
After = subordinating conjunction
Other subordinating conjunctions are;
Before
While
Because
To make this dependent clause an independent, add to the sentence to make it a complete thought
Before I go to the store, I am going to go to the movies.
Clause vs. Phrase
Clause = subject, noun and verb
Phrase = noun OR verb (NOT both)
Parts of Speech:
Noun: person, place or thing
Subject: drives the action
Object: receives the action
Verb: The action
Example to remember: She leaned over and kissed him
She = subject
Leaned & kissed = verb
Him = object
Over = preposition
Pronouns: Stands in the place of a noun (I, we, they)
Shayla brought her books to class.
Shayla = noun
Her = pronoun
Object pronouns: receives the action (Us, me, them)
They invited us to their wedding
Us = object pronoun
Adjectives: Modifies a noun
The blue sky looked beautiful
Blue and beautiful modifies (describes) the Sky’
Adverb: Modifies other adverbs, verbs and adjectives
She’s very pretty = very
She’s very fast = very
I ran quickly = quickly
Modifier: Adds information and further defines an element in a sentence.
This CAN be a clause, phrase, adjective or adverb. Answers questions like:
Which one
What kind
How
When
Where
Ex.
The blue car is fast (blue modifies car)
She runs quickly (quickly modifies she)
Prepositions: Location, indicates direction (think of the word “position” to remember”
Ex.
The book is on the table. Other examples:
To
For
At
On
Into
After
Under
At
Conjunctions: Combines two sentences (independent clauses) with a comma and word
Ex.
I wanted to go outside, but it was raining. Other examples:
So
However
Although
Yet
Or
And
Nor
But
Interjection: Describes emotion, usually in the beginning of a sentence to further emphasize feeling.
Ex,
Ouch! That really hurt!
Ah, I finally understand the problem
Other examples;
Yay!
Woah!
Wow!
Yikes!
Oh!
Articles: A word that comes before a noun or a noun phrase to define if it’s specific or general
Ex.
THE Beyonce (You wouldn’t say A Beyonce - there is only one)
A house (You wouldn’t say THE house, unless you’re referring to a specific house. A house is general)
Transitive vs. intransitive verbs
Transitive: takes a direct object ( a noun or pronoun that RECEIVES the action of the verb)
I slammed the door (The door is the object receiving the action “slammed”
She bought a new dress (“a new dress” is the object receiving the action “bought”
Intransitive: does not take a direct object ( the action happens, but does NOT TRANSFER to an object
She sleeps early
They arrived late
He cried loud
Linking verb - Existence, sensory, state of being (links nouns and adjectives) Most common linking verbs is TO BE. Various forms of TO BE are
Am
Is
Are
Were
Feel
Ex.
She is a teacher (“is” links she to the compliment “a teacher”)
She feels tired (“feels” links she to tired)
Note: be careful with “feels”, as it could also be used as a verb!
Ex.
She feels the fabric.
Lay vs. Lie
Lay: Transitive verb (to lay down an object)
Ex.
I lay down the book.
Present tense: lay - “I lay the book on the table”
Past tense: laid - “I laid the book down earlier”
Past participle: laid - “I have laid the book down on the table”
Present participle: laying - "She is laying the book on the table."
Lie: Intransitive verb (to recline or rest)
Ex.
I lie down.
Present tense: Lie - “I lie on the couch every day”
Past tense: lay - "I lay on the couch yesterday."
Past participle: lain - "I have lain on the couch all day."
present participle: lying - "He is lying on the couch right now."
Gerund: A verb turned into a noun (typically the -ing form of a verb that functions as a noun)
Ex.
“I love running” (“Running is a gerund because it is the -ing form of the verb "run", and it is functioning as a noun in the sentence. "Running" is the thing that the subject ("I") loves. Since it is being used as the object of the verb "love," it is acting as a noun, making it a gerund.)
“She enjoys reading” (“Reading” is the object that “she” enjoys.)
Common noun vs. Proper noun
Common nouns (refers to a general person, place or thing. Is not capitalized, unless it is at the start of a sentence)
Book
Candle
Chair
Proper noun (refers to a specific person, place, or thing and is always capitalized)
America
The White House
John, Sarah
Paris
Microsoft
Your vs You’re
Your = possessive (“This is your book”)
You’re = contraction of “you are” (You’re beautiful)
Who vs. That
Who = refers to people
Ex.
“The woman who lives next door is a teacher”
“The students who passed the exam are celebrating”
That = refers to things, animals or collective nouns
“The book that you gave me is amazing”
“The team that wins gets a trophy”
Collective nouns: Singular units
Remember: Collective nouns ALWAYS takes “that” or “its”
Collective nouns:
Group
Team
Flock
Pack
Jury
Team
Swarm
Colony
Committee
Audience
Pronoun case
Subjectives: Drives the action
I
We
They
She
He
Objective: receives the action
Us
Them
Me
Her
Him
Possessive: shows ownership or possession
Mine
Theirs
Ours
Who vs Whom
Who = subjective
Whom = objective
Tip: To figure out if a sentence is who/whom, simply answer the question in your head.
Ex.
“Who ate the cookie” - I ate
“Whom should I address the letter to?” - Address to them
Note: You can also try looking for the preposition to answer whom
Ex.
“Whom should I address the letter to”” - The preposition is “to” (To whom = to them)
Whoever vs Whomever
Whoever = subjective (subject of a sentence, refers to person or people performing the action)
Ex.
“Whoever calls first wins the prize” - Whoever is subject to the verb “calls”
Whomever = objective (refers to people/person receiving the action
Ex.
“I will give the book to whomever I choose” - “Whomever” is the object of the preposition “to”
Subjunctive Mood: Hypothetical and contrary to reality
Ex.
“If I were ruler of the world, I would eat all of the ice cream.”
Other examples:
If
Were
Would
None: Not on or Not two
When looking at “None” always look for the verb.
“Not one” example:
“None (not one) of the ties matches his shirt”
Tip: To look closer to the sentence, get rid of “of the ties” to read the sentence clearer
“Not one matches his shirt” (This would clearly be singular because not ONE matches)
Not two example: (Refers to two people doing something)
“None of the jurors agree on the verdict”
(Get rid of “of the jurors” to look clearly)
“Not two agree”
Tip: To see whether a sentence is “not two”, look for these words
Agree
Collaborate
Disagree
Collude
Discussion
(You can’t do any of these things by yourself, it requires a second person. Since it’s two people, it will be plural!)
Either vs Neither
Either and Neither are usually singular, because it means “either/neither ONE”
Ex.
“Neither (ONE) of the cats IS hungry” (Singular)
“Either (ONE) of the dishes IS good” (Singular)
Either/or vs Neither/nor
When looking at “either/or & neither/nor”, there are always TWO nouns presented. ALWAYS look for the noun CLOSEST to the verb to see if it is singular or plural!!!
Ex.
Either my sisters OR my mother IS going” (MOTHER is SINGULAR) (IS = singular)
Neither my father nor my BROTHERS ARE going” (BROTHERS is PLURAL) (ARE = plural)
One of those vs The only one
Paris Hilton rule:
“Paris Hilton is ONE OF THOSE celebrities who LIKE to sleep in late”
One of THOSE refers to "celebrities” , which is plural. Like = plural
“Paris Hilton is the only ONE of the celebrities who likes to sleep in”
The only ONE referring to Paris Hilton, which is singular. (Likes = singular)
Other examples:
“Bluto is one of THOSE instructors who TAKE attendance late.
One of THOSE instructors (Plural).
TAKE = Plural
“She is the only ONE of the actresses who HAS red hair”
Only one (singular)
Has (Singular)
Tip: when looking for singular + plural words, a lot of the time the singular has a “s” at the end. For example, “has” (Singular) “is” (singular)
To remember: “S” = singular
Possessive and plurals
For proper nouns ending in “s”, just add an apostrophe at the end
(Remember, proper nouns are specific names of people, places or things)
Paris’ night life is amazing.
The Smiths’ boat is huge
The Joneses’ boat is bigger
The Gonzalezes' house is cool.
To create a possessive with a plural noun that ends in “s”, again just add an apostrophe. (this also includes -ies.
“I can’t find the boys’ pajamas. (there are two boys)
The boy’s pajamas is missing (there is only one boy)
Remember: for possessive pronouns (hers, his, ours, yours, its) you do NOT need to add an apostrophe. They are already possessive.
Possessive nouns with an ‘s (singular possessive nouns)
The teacher’s desk is tidy - The desk belongs to the teacher
The baby’s mother is tired - the mother belongs to the baby
That’s my friend’s house - the house belongs to the friend.
Plural possessive nouns:
The dogs’ bowl is empty - the bowl belongs to to two or more dogs
The teachers’ desk is tidy - the desk belongs to two or more teachers.
The babies (drop the y and add ies for plural) mother is tired - The mother belongs to two or more babies
Irregular (exceptions)
Irregular plural nouns Irregular plural
Dog - dogs Woman - Women
Friend - friends Tooth - Teeth
Bird - birds Child - children
Example for regular Example for irregular
The woman’s idea is interesting The women’s ideas are interesting
Here is the child’s toy.. Here are the children’s toys.
Note: “the idea” is the subject
Words of the week:
Effect vs affect
Effect (noun) = the result of something
Affect (verb) = what was impacted
Affect: is an action, something that happens to something else
Something that is being changed or influenced in some way.
“The new law affected millions of people” - the law changed/impacted people’s lives.
“His words affected me deeply” - his words changed/impacted my emotions.
Effect: Is the result of the outcome - is the end result of something that was affected.
“The new rule had a positive effect on the students” - The students changed behavior is the impact of the new rule.
“The medicine had a strong effect on my headache” - the medicine resulted in pain relief.
Because vs since
Because = direct cause and effect.
“Because the brick dropped on my foot, I am wearing a cast.” - He is wearing a cast because he dropped a brick on his foot.
Since = Time element
Since you left me three weeks ago, I’ve been crying everyday” - she’s cried everyday since he left her.
Principal vs principle
There are two versions of principal
Principal (noun) school administrator - “He is the principal of the school”
Principal (adjective) main, top, priority - “Chocolate is the principal ingredient”
Principle (noun) guiding code, moral code - “The nun stood by her principles”
Definable units - two things together as one
Peanut butter and jelly
Bacon and eggs
Fractions and percentages:
One-third of the book is a flashback. (book = singular) (is=singular)
The number is increasing (THE number = singular) (is = singular)
A number of students are victims of theft. (A number = plural) (are = plural)