Copy of Grammar

Contractions

A contraction is a shortened version of the written and spoken forms of a word, syllable, or word group, created by omission of internal letters.

examples:

Can't = Can not

Don't = Do not

I'm = I am

Note: for any essays or homework assignments, do not use contractions in your writing.

example

NOUNS

...

The person, place, thing, or idea of a sentence

Nouns

Types of Sentences

• Declarative: makes a statement

• Imperative: makes a command or polite request

• Exclamatory: expresses great emotion or excitement

• Interrogative: asks a question

Composition

Proper Nouns: Specific person, place, or thing (Capitalized)

• Charles, California, Queen Elizabeth

Common Nouns: everything else (not capitalized)

• teacher, ball, class

The first sentence contains only a few basic parts.

Abstract:

Intelligence

Bravery

Loyalty

Eloquence

Convenience

Concrete:

Student

Fire Fighter

Dog

Pencil

Computer

Adverbs

• The: adjective (definite article) – type of modifier
• first: adjective
• sentence: noun, subject
• contains: verb
• only: adverb
• a few: determiners (a is also an article)
• basic: adjective
• parts: noun

ADVERBS

Modifies other words by asking HOW

• Modifies Verbs: He drove slowly
• Modifies Adjectives: He drove a very fast car
• Modifies other Adverbs: She moved quite slowly down the street

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Cliches vs. Jargon

Simple

example:

Some students like to study in the mornings.

A simple sentence, also called an independent clause, contains a subject and a verb, and it expresses a complete thought.

Clichés vs. Jargon

Clichés are phrases, expressions, or ideas that have been overused to the point of losing its intended force or novelty.

• An apple a day keeps the doctor away

Jargon is terminology that relates to a specific activity, profession, or group.

• Noon at bdubs is a great place to find a duke.

,

Determiners

Articles, determiners, and quantifiers are those little words that precede and modify nouns

examples:

the teacher, a college, a bit of honey, that person, those people, whatever purpose, either way, your choice

Conjunctions

conjunctions

Conjunction Junction

what's your function...

A joiner word that connects parts of a sentence

Such as:

• And
• But
• Or
• Yet
• For
• Nor
• So

DETERMINERS

pronouns

Conjunctions make me think of...

abstract

YouTube Grammar

Is Social Media Ruining Grammar?

Your Grammar Sucks

What do you think?

infinitives

... all quotes were taken from Facebook and Twitter ...

Tenses

QUESTIONS?

Generally pronouns refer to a noun, individual(s), or thing(s) whose identity was made clear earlier in the text.

• They, Them, Theirs
• We, Us, Our
• He, She, It, I
• You, Yours, Mine
• This, That, Those, These
• Etc.

Pronouns

DEFINITIONS

analogies

An analogy is a comparison made to show the reasoning behind similarities of two or more things

Examples:

• Fish : Water :: Bear: Land
• A street light is like a star. Both provide light at night, both are in predictable locations, both are overhead, and both serve no function in the daytime.

Analogies

Metaphors

metaphors

A metaphor is a comparison (or figure of speech) that shows how two dissimilar things are similar in an important way.

Example:

• He has the heart of a lion
• It's a madhouse in here
• Apple of my eye
• It is raining cats and dogs

A Simile is similar to a metaphor, but will use "like" or "as" to compare two dissimilar things.

Example:

• They are like two peas in a pod

Prepositions

Prepositions

Links nouns, pronouns and phrases to other words in a sentence. Usually indicates the temporal, spatial or logical relationship of its object to the rest of the sentence.

Examples:

• The book is on the table.
• The book is beneath the table.
• The book is leaning against the table.
• The book is beside the table.
• She held the book over the table.
• She read the book during class

Phrase

Groups of words that function in a sentence as one part of speech

Examples:

• Adverbial phrase: very carefully
• Noun Phrase: the black cat
• Prepositional Phrase: over the rainbow

Ask now or forever hold your peace.

You will be graded on your grammar for all work you complete in this class from this point on ...

Transitions

Words that connect ideas and show how they are linked

Examples:

• Again, also, similarly, and yet, however, but, or, in fact, all in all, in conclusion, after a while, simultaneously, moreover, on the contrary…

Definitions:

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Clause

A group of words that contains a subject

and a verb

Example:

• Dependent Clause: “Because I went to the store…”
• Independent Clause: I went to the store.

adjectives

Split Infinitives

• To boldly go
• To quickly run
• To highly recommend

A split infinitive is a grammatical construction in the English language where a word or phrase, usually an adverb, occurs between the marker “to” and the infinitive form of the verb.

ADJECTIVES

Words that describe or modify another person or thing in the sentence

Often identified through articles such as:

a, an, and the

Examples:

• The short professor
• A solid commitment
• A month’s pay
• A six-year old child
• The unhappiest, rich man

Grammar

Basic

English I.

Basic grammar

Is it important?

The coordinators are as follows: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so. Except for very short sentences, coordinators are always preceded by a comma.

example:

Alex played football, so Maria went shopping.

Compound

A compound sentence contains two independent clauses joined by a coordinator.

Sentences

"

Parts of Speech

But seriously...

1. Nouns

2. Verbs

3. Adverbs

4. Adjectives

5. Pronouns

6. Prepositions

7. Interjections

8. Conjunctions

Feel free to ask any questions as the quarter progresses.

Subject-Verb Agreement

.

Interjections!

agreement

Singular subjects need singular verbs

• The mayor, as well as his brothers, is going to prison.

Plural subjects need plural verbs

• The major and his brothers are going to prison.

INTERJECTIONS

A part of speech that usually has no grammatical connection with the rest of the sentence and simply expresses emotion on the part of the speaker

• Wow! That was amazing.
• Oh my gosh! Did you see that?

past

ENGLISH

Basic Punctuation

punctuation

Period .

Comma ,

Apostrophe ’

Use at the end of a sentence that

• Makes a statement
• Gives a command
• Asks an indirect question

Also use a period with abbreviations

• Sometimes, check your dictionary to make sure. (ex. FBI, U.S.A., NAACP)
• Acronyms are abbreviations usually made up of the first letter from a series of words, pronounced as words not letters and does not use periods.

(ex. NATO, VISTA, RADAR)

Used to create

• Possessive forms
• The witch’s broom
• The men’s restroom
• Contractions
• I am = I’m
• It is = It’s
• Some Plurals
• She got four A’s last semester
• Don't forget to dot your i's.

Use a comma to

• separate the elements in a series (three or more things), including the last two.
• "He hit the ball, dropped the bat, and ran to first base.“
• connect two independent clauses with a little conjunction (and, but, for, nor, yet, or, so)
• “He hit the ball well, but he ran toward third base."
• Set off introductory elements
• "Running toward third base, he suddenly realized how stupid he looked.“
• Set off parenthetical elements (part of a sentence that can be removed without changing the essential meaning of that sentence)
• "The Founders Bridge, which spans the Connecticut River, is falling down.“
• Separate coordinate adjectives
• "That tall, distinguished, good looking fellow“
• Set off quoted elements
• "The question is," said Alice, “whether you can make words mean so many things.“
• avoid confusion
• For most the year is already finished.
• For most, the year is already finished.

Semicolon ;

Exclamation Mark !

Use a semicolon to

• help sort out a complex list
• There were citizens from Bangor, Maine; Hartford, Connecticut; Boston, Massachusetts; and Newport, Rhode Island.

• separate closely related independent clauses
• My grandfather seldom goes to bed this early; he's afraid he'll miss out on something.

Parentheses ( )

Use an exclamation mark at the end of an emphatic declaration, interjection, or command.

• "No!" he yelled. "Do it now!“

An exclamation mark can be inserted within parentheses to emphasize a word within a sentence.

• We have some really(!) low-priced rugs on sale this week.

An exclamation mark will often accompany mimetically produced sounds, as in

• "The bear went Grr!, and I went left."

Colon :

Use a colon before a list or an explanation that is preceded by a clause that can stand by itself

Use parentheses to include material that you want to de-emphasize or that wouldn't normally fit into the flow of your text but you want to include nonetheless.

Thirty-five years after his death, Robert Frost (we remember him at Kennedy's inauguration) remains America's favorite poet.

Think of the colon as a gate, inviting one to go on.

You nearly always have a sense of what is going to follow or be on the other side of the colon.

The charter review committee now includes the following people:

• the mayor
• the chief of police
• the fire chief
• the chair of the town council

There are a few other times to use a colon such as:

• When the introductory phrase preceding the colon is very brief and the clause following the colon represents the real business of the sentence
• Remember: Punctuation and grammar will be graded in Project One.

• After a salutation in a business letter

Dear Senator Dodd: It has come to our attention that…

Question Mark ?

Hyphen -

Brackets [ ]

Use a hyphen to create compound words, particularly modifiers before nouns

• The out-of-date curriculum
• The well-known actor

Hyphens are also used to:

• write numbers twenty-one to ninety-nine and fractions (five-eighths, one-fourth)
• create compounds (on-the-fly or step-by-step process)
• add certain prefixes to words (self-, ex-, all-, anti-, de-, etc.)

Use brackets to:

• include explanatory words or phrases within quoted language
• Mr. Perkins, Director of Athletic Programs, said that Sara, the new soccer coach [at Notre Dame Academy] is going to be a real winner.

• Change the capitalization of a word or change a pronoun to make the material fit into your sentence when quoting material
• Sara charged her former employer with "falsification of [her] coaching record."

Use at the end of a direct question

A tag question is a device used to turn a statement into a question.

• He should quit smoking, shouldn't he?

Be careful not to put a question mark at the end of an indirect question.

• The instructor asked the students what they were doing.

Ellipsis …

An ellipsis is used when you are quoting material and you want to omit some words.

The ellipsis consists of three evenly spaced dots (periods) with spaces between the ellipsis and surrounding letters or other marks.

• The ceremony honored twelve brilliant athletes … visiting the U.S.

present

concrete

gerunds

articles

Common Errors

There are some words that are often misused in the English language...these are just a few

May & Might

word usage

Who & Whom

Use might when the outcome is uncertain or unlikely

Use may when something is more likely to happen

Examples:

• Yeah, I might go bungee jumping with you.

• Yes, I may be interested in going to the coffee shop with you after class.

Who is a pronoun and is used in place of the subject of a question. Who can also be used in statements, in place of the subject of a clause.

• Who is going?
• This is who warned me.

Whom is also a pronoun, but it is used in place of the object of a question, or can be used in statements, in place of the object of a clause.

• Whom is this story about?
• This is the man whom I told you about.

Then & Than

Than is a conjunction used in comparisons

• Tom is smarter than Bill.
• This is more important than that.

Then has numerous meanings.

• I wasn't ready then. (point in time)
• Do your homework and then go to bed. (next)
• It cost $5,000, and then there was tax. (also)
• If you want to go, then you will have to finish your work. (therefore)

Affect & Effect

Affect with an a means "to influence"

• The arrows affected Aardvark

Effect with an e has a lot of subtle meanings as a noun, but to me the meaning "a result"

• The effect was eye-popping

conditionals

A complex sentence always has a subordinator such as because, since, after, although, or when or a relative pronoun such as that, who, or which.

Complex

modifiers

example:

John and Mary went to the movies after they finished studying.

A complex sentence has an independent clause joined by one or more dependent clauses.

VERBS

Conveys an action (bring, read, walk, run, learn), an occurrence (happen, become), or a state of being (be, exist, stand) in the sentence.

Four Forms

• Base (work)
• Past (worked)
• Present Participle (working)
• Past Participle (have worked)

future

VERBS