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Grammar Brush-Up. Dana Collins. Nouns: a person , place , animal , thing , or an abstract idea George Washington, Suffolk County, dog, book, beauty Nouns can be possessive of other nouns George Washington ’s dog… The possessive is shown with an apostrophe and an ‘s’
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Grammar Brush-Up Dana Collins
Nouns: a person, place, animal, thing, or an abstractidea • George Washington, Suffolk County, dog, book, beauty • Nouns can be possessive of other nouns • George Washington’s dog… • The possessive is shown with an apostrophe and an ‘s’ • Nouns can be proper, meaning they are a name • George Washington • Proper nouns are capitalized Parts of SpeechNouns
Nouns can be count or non-count • Count nouns have singular and plural forms • Book(s); Shelf/Shelves; Hat(s) • Non-count nouns include liquids and things you wouldn’t normally count • Oil; Rice; Oxygen • Nouns can be collective • These name groups of things • Committee; Class; Flock Parts of SpeechNouns
Verbs describe actions • Verbs take many forms • Base forms of verbs are also called infinitives • Infinitives begin with the word ‘to’ • To watch; to sleep; to heal • Other forms are shown when verbs are tensed • Tenses express time • They include past, present, future, perfect, and progressive • For example: to watch (base form); watched (simple past); watches (simple present); will watch (future); had watched (past perfect); is watching (present progressive) Parts of SpeechVerbs
To form a complete sentence, all you need is one noun and one verb • Thomas sleeps. • We can also say, a complete sentence must contain a subject and a predicate • The subject tells us who or what the sentence is about (nouns) • The predicate tells us the action or condition of the subject (verbs) • Example: Most birds (subject) / can fly (predicate) Subject/Predicate Subject/Predicate Activity
Adjectives describe or modify another person or thing in a sentence • Adjectives are usually placed before nouns • Example: A tall, handsome stranger. • However, they sometimes go after nouns • Example: The president elect moved into the White House. • Example: The house was ablaze. • Example: Someone special came to my house. Parts of SpeechAdjectives
When many adjectives are placed before a noun, they are placed in a specific order • This order is: general opinion, specific opinion, size, shape, age, color, nationality, material • Example: The nice, eccentric, chubby, round, 10-year-old, golden, Scottish, furry retriever ate dinner. • Separate multiple adjectives with commas • Don’t put a comma between the final adjective and the noun the adjectives describe Parts of SpeechAdjectives http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/english-grammar/adjectives/order-adjectives
Adjectives can express degrees of modification called comparatives and superlatives • Add ‘-er’ to make a comparative adjective • Add ‘-est’ to make a superlative adjective • Example: The cute cat. The cuter bunny. (comparative) The cutest dog. (superlative) • Irregular comparative and superlative forms don’t follow the ‘-er’ ‘-est’ pattern • Example: She was the worst teacher. • Some adjectives don’t take degrees at all • Example: absolute, impossible Parts of SpeechAdjectives
Adverbs modify verbs • They tell us when, where, how, in what manner, or to what extent • Examples: • He shopped yesterday. • He ran there. • He ate quickly. • She ran barefoot. • They spoke forever. Parts of SpeechAdverbs
Adverbs can also modify adjectives or other adverbs • He passed an extremely hard test. • She quite happily skipped home. • Kinds of adverbs: • Adverbs of manner, adverbs of place, adverbs of frequency, adverbs of time, adverbs of purpose What types of adverbs are these? now, there, slowly, always, to be the best Parts of SpeechAdverbs
Adverbs are found in all different parts of a sentence • When there are many adverbs/adverb clauses, they follow a specific order: • manner, place, frequency, time, purpose • Example: Lucas naps soundly, at home, each morning, before breakfast, to feel alert. Parts of SpeechAdverbs
Some parts of speech don’t carry meaning, but hold meaningful words together • The girl goes to the store. • Which words you can picture in your head? • The words you cannot picture are the GLUE words or structure words • These include articles, auxiliary verbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and pronouns Parts of SpeechGLUE Words
Articles signal nouns • There are two types of articles: the definite article (the) & the indefinite articles (a/an) • What’s the difference between these two sentences? • I want a book. • I want the book. Parts of SpeechArticles
If you see two verbs in a sentence, one of them is usual an auxiliary verb and one is the main verb • Auxiliary verbs = have, be, do • What’s the difference between these two sentences? • I have cats. • I have always liked cats. Parts of SpeechAuxiliary Verbs
Preposition words show position or the placement/location of sentence elements • Some one word prepositions: about, in, onto, outside, through, to, underneath, within • Some two word prepositions: apart from, inside of, because of, out of, prior to Parts of SpeechPrepositions
Conjunctions are used to make sentences longer • We can call these longer sentences “complex” • They may have two subject and many verbs • Example: I like apples and Mary likes pears. • FANBOYS • For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So Parts of SpeechConjunctions
Pronouns can substitute for nouns/noun phrases • What can you substitute for the underline parts of the following sentences? • The beautiful man buys flowers. • It is my book. • The woman admired her own reflection in the mirror. • A student forgot their book. Parts of SpeechPronouns Parts of Speech Identification Activity
An independent clause is a group of words that contains a subject and a verb and expresses a complete thought • An independent clause = a grammatically correct sentence • Examples: • Mary eats cake. • The merry students study hard. • Go home. (Is this grammatical?) Independent ClausesSimple Sentences
Miguel sings the tenor part and Sara sings the soprano. • What are the clauses in the following sentence? Are they independent? • They eloped, for they wanted their freedom. • Try joining the following two independent clauses to form a compound sentence. • Should I stay? Should I go? Compound SentencesIndependent Clause +Independent Clause
A dependent clause contains a subject and a verb but it is NOT a complete thought; it CANNOT stand alone • Example: Because it feels right. • This is a sentence fragment. • These clauses often begin with subordinators • Examples of subordinators: when, while, in order to, because, after, since, unless Complex SentencesDependent Clause + Independent Clause Identify Clauses & Sentences Activity
Run-on sentences happen when independent clauses have not been joined properly with a coordinating conjunction. • What’s wrong with this sentence? • Home Economics teaches how to sew and cook it has made me a better homemaker. • What about this one? • Home Economics teaches how to sew and cook, however, it has made me a better homemaker. Run-on Sentences
Most paragraphs should have a main point stated in a topic sentence • All the other sentences in the paragraph should relate to this point • A paragraph does not need a topic sentence if it is continuing to explain a topic stated in the paragraph that comes before it Paragraph Writing
Example of Paragraph with Topic Sentence: • Nearly all living creatures manage some form of communication. The dance patterns of bees in their hive help to point the way to distant flower fields or announce successful foraging. Male stickleback fish regularly swim upside-down to indicate outrage in a courtship contest. We, too, use gestures, expressions, postures, and movement to give our words point. -Olivia Vlahos, Human Beginnings Paragraph Writing
You can create an outline with topic sentences as a pre-writing exercise • Remember, the outline is not set in stone and can easily be revised along the way Paragraph Writing
There are two types of revision: sentence level & global level • Sentence level is when you edit a sentence for grammar, punctuation, spelling, etc. • Global level is when you make larger changes, for example moving around paragraphs, moving information from one paragraph to another, deleting or adding paragraphs, making an idea longer, or saying something in a simple sentence that had been said in several Revision
Spelling and grammar checkers are not always 100% accurate. They are sophisticated, but not sophisticated enough to understand all of the nuances of the English language. Therefore, it is not wise to rely on it. Think of it as a slightly incompetent assistant. Then proofread and edit! A Note on Spelling/Grammar Check
Use commas before coordinating conjunctions (FANBOYS) that join two independent clauses • Use a comma after small word groups that tell how, why, or what • When Lucas wants dinner, he begins to purr. • Use a comma between all items in a series • In her cupboard, she kept dishes, glasses, mugs, tureens, and glass figurines. Basic Punctuation RulesThe Comma Oxford Comma Handout
When two or more adjectives modify a noun, use a comma or ‘and’ • Jingshu is a kind, courteous student. • Jingshu is a kind and courteous student. • When two or more adjectives do not modify a noun separately, don’t use a comma • I ordered a rich chocolate layer cake for dessert. Basic Punctuation RulesThe Comma
Use commas after transitional expressions • Moreover, we have decided to cancel Christmas. • Use commas after parenthetical expressions • I went, with my shoes on, for a walk. • Use commas to separate contrasted elements • Unlike Sophie, Lucas eats prescription food. • Use commas to set off direct quotations • A wise man once said, “Carpe Diem!” Basic Punctuation RulesThe Comma
Semicolons can repair comma splices • In 1800, a traveler needed six weeks to get from New York City to Chicago, in 1860, the trip by railroad took two days. • In 1800, a traveler needed six weeks to get from New York City to Chicago; in 1860, the trip by railroad took two days. • Use a semicolon between independent clauses linked with a transitional expression • I like cereal; in fact, I eat it every morning. Basic Punctuation RulesThe Semicolon
Use a colons for lists, appositives, and quotations • My breakfast includes: mashed potatoes, cereal, and coffee. • My roommate is guilty of two of the seven deadly sins: gluttony and sloth. • Consider the words of a wise man: “Carpe diem.” Basic Punctuation RulesThe Colon
Use parentheses to show afterthoughts • I was playing the Chopin piece (my favorite) at the recital. • You can also use parentheses to show minor disagreement • I was told to walk (not run) with scissors. Basic Punctuation RulesParentheses
Use quotation marks for direct quotations • Offset longer quotations • Mrs. Parker said, “Keep the change.” • Always place commas and periods inside the quotation marks • Colons and semicolons go outside quotation marks • Use single quotation marks to show a quotation within a quotation • Use quotation marks around the titles of short works: newspaper and magazine articles, poems, short stories, songs, episodes of TV shows, chapters of books… Basic Punctuation RulesQuotation Marks
“Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth…that all men are created equal.” • Ellipses can also be used to show hesitation or a trailing thought • I can’t find it.. • These are mostly used informally, such as in emails • Be careful not to overdo it: “I’m writing to you…I need legal advise…I was in a car accident…please help….” Basic Punctuation RulesEllipses
Use two hyphens to form a dash (--) • Sometimes Word autocorrects to form an em-dash (—) and this is perfectly acceptable • Use the em-dash to set off parenthetical material for extra emphasis • I got a terrible report card—an A and 4 D’s—due to never studying. • Also use it to set off appositives with commas • There are many kinds of dogs—Daschunds, hounds, mixed breeds—that need love and affection. Basic Punctuation RulesThe Dash
