Simple grammar cheat sheet

Grammar

• the rules of language
  • especially for written language

Punctuation

• printed marks that indicate breaks, pauses, or other meanings in a sentence
• includes, period, comma, colon, semicolon, apostrophe, parentheses, etc.

Syntax

• word order and arrangements
• and rules for how word order and arrangements create meaning

Semantics

• meaning as created by grammatical rules and syntactical (syntax) arrangments of sentences

Parts of Speech

• categories for the role of a word in a sentence
• such as adjective, adverb, noun, verb, etc.
• many words can operate across or as different parts of speech
  • ex., an "attributive noun" acts as an adjective that modifies another noun ("dog food")

PARTS OF SPEECH

Part of Speech	Definition	Category	Other
Adjective	modifies nouns	modifier
Adverb	modifies verbs and adjectives	modifier
Article	identifies a known or unknown noun ("the" or "a"/"an")	modifier
Conjunction	joins or contrasts words and sentence parts	grammatical
Determiner	identifies specificity (these), quantity (five), amount (some), possession (our), sufficiency (enough) or a noun	modifier
Interjection	an exclamation or abrupt remark (What?, Yes!)	grammatical
Noun	a person, place or thing	grammatical
Preposition	identifies a relationship between a noun or a verb and another noun ("on the table", "to the store")	modifier
Pronoun	references a noun or a person (I, you, he/she/it, we, they, etc.)	grammatical
Verb	indicates action or existence	grammatical

Modifier

• a word or set of words that "modify" or change, add to, qualify, or describe another word or another part of a sentence
• some parts of speech are modifiers:
  • adjective, adverb, article, determiner, preposition
• phrases and clauses can also act as modifiers
  • "relative" or "adjective" clause modifies another word or sentence part
    • ex. "The pizza was so cheezie, which made a mess"
  • adverbial, participial, prepositional and other phrases modify another word or sentence part
    • "Given extra time, he was able to finish"
    • "I take biology on Tuesdays"

Sentence Parts

Subject

• a noun
• the actor
• i.e., the person place or thing that does the action
• in grammar, "subject" is in the sense of "to subject" or "to force into submission"
  • as in the "doer" of the sentence, the actor that causes the action
• also related to the word "subjective," which means "from the perspective of"

Verb

• word that expresses an action ("make") or existence ("be")
• infinitive = "to" + the verb , as in "to make"
  • infinitives express the action in general but not the action itself
  • infinitives can operate as nouns or adjectives
    • as in "I want to go" ("to go" = the object of the verb "want")

Predicate

• expresses what happens to the subject
• i.e., = the verb + the result or outcome of an action

Object

• the result, target, or recipient of an action (verb)
• objects are nouns or infinitives
• direct object
  • the "direct" or primary result of an action (verb)
  • ex. "She gave a book to him"
• indirect object
  • the "indirect" or secondary
  • ex. "She gave him a book"

Sentence

• a grammatically complete thought, as in:
  • contains a subject & verb/predicate
  • must be a complete thought

Clause

• part of a sentence
• has a subject & verb

Independent clause

• a clause that can be a sentence by itself
  • i.e. has a subject & verb and completes a thought
  • "in" = not + dependent, thus "not dependent" (independent)

Dependent clause

• a clause that cannot be a sentence by itself
  • i.e., has a subject + verb but does not complete a thought
• there are several types of dependent clauses:

Subordinate clause

• a dependent clause that starts with a Subordinating Conjunction
  • such as, after, because, since, while, etc
  • ex. "Since it is raining" = has subject + verb but is not a complete thought

Relative or Adjective clause

• a dependent clause that describes another word, idea or sentence part
• relative clauses are used to add information
• relative clauses are introduced by a relative pronoun
  • such as that, which, who, whose
  • ex. "I ate the apple that was ripe"

Phrase

• two or more words that:
  • do not contain a subject & verb
  • form a distinct grammatical unit ("constituent")

Joining sentence parts

• conjunctions combine words, phrases, clauses and ideas
• a simple conjunction combines words
  • apples or oranges
• a coordinating conjunction combines Independent Clauses (IC)
  • "I ate an apple, and I ate an orange."
• other conjunctions
  • subordinating conjunction
    • combines two clauses while "subordinating" one of the clauses (turns it into a dependent or subordinate clause)
      • I only ate one apple because I wasn't very hungry."
  • adverbial conjunctions
    • compares or contrasts two verbs
      • "However much I like tennis, I really am not good at it."

Punctuation

• note:
  • IC = Independent Clause
  • DC = Dependent Clause
  • PHr = Phrase

Punctuation

periods .

• periods separate sentences
• periods do ONE thing =

1. separate grammatically correct and complete thoughts that are distinct sentences

click EXPAND to see what PERIODS do & how to eliminate using the rule:

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periods:

• periods separate grammatically correct and complete thoughts that are distinct sentences
• notes:
  • if the sentence is grammatically or logically incomplete, it cannot end there with a period
    • i.e., SUBJECT VERB and an object or subject complement if needed to make sense
  • note that "interjection" verbs do not have an explicit SUBJECT, but can still create a complete sentence
    • ex. "Go to the store." or "Stop!"
  • same for exclamations
    • ex. "Ouch." (can stand as a sentence, although exclamations usually are punctuated by exclamation points (!)

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semicolons ;

• combine independent clauses for comparison, contrast or some relation between them
  • as opposed to periods which completely separate the ideas/ thoughts
• semicolons do ONE thing:

1. combine ICs

• note that semicolons can -- but rarely:
  • separate a list of IC's:
    • as in "IC; IC; IC; IC."
  • separate a list of common examples, usually following a colon
    • as in, "IC: this; that; the other thing."
      • ex. "On our trip, we will visit tons of places: in Africa, Egypt & Morrocco; in Europe, Greece and Italy; and in Asia, Turkey."

click EXPAND to see what SEMICOLONS do & how to eliminate using the rule/s:

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semicolons:

1. combine two ICs
   • "School is boring; I should go anyway"= IC; IC

• can also create a list of IC's (IC; IC; IC; IC.)
  • "School is boring; I already know that stuff; I should go anyway" = "IC; IC; IC
• notes:
  • semicolons must have IC (could be complete sentences & thoughts) on both sides of the semicolon
    • i.e., if the two clauses on either side of the semicolon would not stand on their own as grammatically complete sentences and thoughts, the semicolon is incorrect

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commas ,

• create pauses
• commas do FIVE things:

click EXPAND to see what COMMAS do & how to eliminate using the rule/s:

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commas:

1. combine IC, DC, or DC, IC
   • or IC, Phr or Phr, IC
     • ex. "He ate fast, which upset his stomach" = IC, DC
     • ex. "After eating too fast, his stomach was upset" = Phr, IC
       • (prepositional phrase, independent clause)
2. combine ICs
   • but only with a coordinating conjunction (FANBOYS), i.e., IC, and IC
   • ex.: "IC, and IC" or "IC, but IC"
     • "They played hard, and they won big" = IC, and IC
     • "They played hard, but they lost" = IC, but IC
3. separate lists (subjects, verbs, objects)
   • ex.: S, S and S V, V O, O and O
4. act parenthetically
   • ", .... ," (like these parentheses)
     • The movie, which was about Ancient Rome, was very informative" = S, .... , V
5. introduce a direct quotation
   • ex. "The judge declared, "Guilty!"

• notes:
  • commas can only separate a S-V or V-O if acting parenthetically
  • commas CANNOT combine two ICs without a coordinating conjunction (FANBOYS)
  • 1 or more commas can separate multiple subjects, verbs or objects from one another
    • "Joey, Joella and Josephina jumped for joy"
      • = a single comma between the subject "Joey" and its verb "jumped" because the comma creates a list and not a grammatical separation of the subject and verb

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colons :

• distinguish additional information following an IC, usually a list, explanation, or example to clarify or extend the idea presented in the IC
• colons = do ONE thing:

1. extend or provide examples in support of a prior IC
   • i.e., colons follow a complete statement with an extended idea or example/s
     • The prosecutor presented the evidence: a fingerprint, the weapon, and a written confession" = IC: list

• note that colons DO NOT:
  • follow a dependent clause
  • interrupt a clause or requisite (essential, required) elements in a sentence
    • ex., "I went to the store: because I needed some supplies"
      • the colon here interrupts the connection between "I went to the store" and the reason why, "because..."
    • or "She knew: that it was the right thing to do"
      • the colon here interrupts the requisite relative pronoun "that" and the clause it creates
  • have multiple colons in a sentence

click EXPAND to see what COLONS do & how to eliminate using the rule/s:

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colons:

1. extend or provide examples following an IC

• what follows the colon can be in any grammatical form (IC, DC, phrase)
  • except a conjunction (as in : I bought shoes: and some socks (= incorrect)
  • or a required (requisite) phrase or clause ("I bought shoes: that fit" = incorrect)
  • colons are usually followed by a list or an example
  • a colon may set up a direct quotation, such as:
    • The lawyer claimed the accusation was wrong: "He's innocent!" = IC: IC
• note:
  • a colon must be preceded by an IC
  • it can be followed by anything except for another colon

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dashes --

• separate ideas within a sentence, either parenthetically or like a colon
• dashes do TWO things:

1. act like a colon
2. act like parentheses (...) = -...-

click EXPAND to see what DASHES do & how to eliminate using the rule/s:

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dashes:

1. act like a colon
   • ex. "She left stuff behind -- a plastic ring, a cheap phone, and a pencil" = IC -- list
2. act like parentheses (...) = -...-
   • The stuff that she left behind -- a plastic ring, a cheap phone, and a pencil -- wasn't that expensive"

• notes:
  • if there is NOT another dash in the sentence, then the dash is NOT acting parenthetically (...)
  • if the dash is operating as a colon, it must be preceded by an IC