Grammar for high school admissions tests

Sentence construction

sentence

• = a grammatically complete thought
  • contains a finite verb
  • makes a complete thought
    • The dog is playing.
      • as opposed to Since he is playing, which is not a complete thought.
• note: commands or "imperative" verbs are finite verbs, even if the subject is unstated (it is assumed)
  • ex.:Go home! = [you] Go home!
  • this concept will note be on a high school admissions test, but it may be on a college admissions test

finite verb

• verb that has a subject
• finite verbs form the predicate
  • predicate = the verb and its direct modifiers and objects

non-finite verb

• verb that does not have a subject
• non-finite verbs include
  • present participle adjective: That boring class is tedious
  • gerund (present participle as a noun): Cooking is a good skill to have
  • past participle adjective: The comedian left the audience
  • infinitive: can be an adjective, adverb, or noun
    • the concept of infinitives will not be measured on the high school entrance exam

• non-finite verbs act as adjectives, adverbs, or nouns
  • they DO NOT directly indicate an action by someone or something
  • however, they indicate a sense of an action

clause

• part of a sentence that contains a finite verb
• if the clause could be a sentence by itself, it is an independent clause
• if the clause cannot be a sentence by itself, it is a dependent clause

independent clause (IC)

• a part of a sentence that contains a finite verb and can be a sentence by itself
• ex. The dog is playing happily, since I gave him a bone

dependent clause (DC)

• a part of a sentence that contains a finite verb but cannot be a sentence by itsel
• ex. The dog is playing happily, since I gave him a bone

phrase

• two or more words that do not contain a finite verb
• important phrases for the high school entrance exam include
  • attributive noun phrase
    • two nouns next to one another, with one noun giving an "attribute" to the other
      • dog food, wine glass
  • appositive phrase
    • a parenthetical phrase to add information to another word or part of a sentence
      • ex. Steve, my nextdoor neighbor, is friendly
    • note that appositive phrases can come at the beginning or end of a sentence
      • A world expert physician, Dr. Goesa performed a postocalaptia, a groundbreaking operation.
      • Dr. Goesa,a world expert physician, performed a postocalaptia, a groundbreaking operation.
  • prepositional phrase
    • adds information to a noun or verb
      • He hit the ball out of the park
      • Thinking about math gives me a headache

sentence parts

predicate

• the verb and its direct modifiers, objects and complements
• finite verbs form the basis of a predicate

subject

• the actor or doer of a sentence
• a subject ALWAYS has a finite verb that matches to it
  • The kid wins v. The kids won
    • kid = singular; "wins" = singular verb conjugation
    • kids = plural; "win" = plural verb conjugation

	Singular			Plural
First person	I	win		We	win
Second person	You	win		You (pural)	win
Third person	He/She/It	wins		They	win

complement

• adds additional information to a noun
  • can be either to a subject or object
• "complement" means to "go along with," "coordinate with"
• complements can be adjectives, adverbs or nouns, as well as phrases
• ex:
  • The dog is nice
    • "nice" is not the object of the linking verb "is"
  • My friend considers her brother crazy

object

• the recipient of an action
• note that complements are similar, but add information and are not the result of the verb's action

direct object

• the direct recipient of the action
  • She kicked the ball over the fence

indirect object

• a noun that is the indirect recipient of an action
  • ex. I gave the dog a bone
    • the bone is what "I gave" (result of the action, thus direct object)
    • the dog is the secondary effect or recipient of the verb (indirect object)

• to test:
  • if the object can be restated with "to" or "for" after the direct object, it is an indirect object:
    • The teacher taught the class grammar
    • = The teacher taught grammar to the class

note on objects of non-finite verbs

• non-finite verbs do not have subjects, but they can have objects
• high school placement tests will not student comprehension of this concept
• ex:

School provides students an education

subject	verb	direct object	indirect object
school	provides	education	[for] students

ex:

Attending school provides students an education

subject	object of gerund	verb	direct object	indirect object
Attending	school	provides	education	[for] students
note: "attending" may also be seen as a present participle adjective modifier of the subject "school"

Verbs

Subject-verb matching

conjugation

• finite verbs match the subject case

tense

• finite verbs match the subject case

Parallel verb tense

• if a sentence contains two tenses, it is likely incorrect
  • ex. HSPT test 1 no.

Punctuation

apostrophe

does 3 things:

1. create possessives

Owen's parents

2. create contractions

Can't, won't, it's

it's v its

they're v their

3. (less commonly) indicate plurality > ex. "1960's"

Comma

does 6 things:

1. combine independent clauses (IC) with coordinating conjunction (FANBOYS)

• rule

2. combine phrases or DC w/ IC

3. create lists

4. set up quotation

(first word of the equation is capitalized)

5. set aside parenthetical information (appositives, relative clauses, etc.)

ex. "Steve, my neighbor, is not very nice."

  "Steve, who is my neibhbro, is not very nice"

6. separate dates and place names

quotation marks

do 3 things:

1. quotations

2. indicate sarcasm

personal pronoun subjective & objective case

in compound objects, remove the first noun and test the pronoun

> Steve and I went to the park.

> Steve and me went to the park

me went to the park = wrong

> She gave Joey and me a bad grade.

> She gave Joey and I a bad grade

remove "joey"

she gave I a bad grade = wrong

personal pronouns and prepositions

>  prepositions create a prep phrase

> prep prhase contains a

> preoposition + an object

Between you and I, grammar sucks.  x b/c I = subjective

Between you and me, grammar sucks.

The car stopped right in front of the dog and he.

The car stopped right in front of the dog and him.

attributive nouns

nouns that act like adjectives (but are not adjectives)

dog food

wine glass

class government

dog, wine, class = nouns, but they are modifying the 2nd noun .. giving them an "attribute"

the attributive noun is ALWAYS SINGULAR .. bc it's acting like an adjective (which don't change pluraity)

> dog food not dogs food

attributive noun is ALWAYS next to the noun it modifies

big dog bone.

dog big bone  x

-------

cumulative v. coordinate adjectives

cumulative adjectives = no comma

the 1st adjective modifies the 2nd adj + the noun

expensive small gift

= expensive [small gift]

small expensive gift

= small [expensive gift]

coordinate adjectives

= uses a comma

big, red balloon

if you can swtich them, or put "and" in between them, it uses a comma (coordinate)

=

big and red balloon = ok

red, big balloon = ok

may v. please

• Please pass the salt = ok

• May you pass the sale = x

• please = asking permission

• may = instruction/command

lie v. lay:

• lie = to put oneself down

• lay = to put an object down

• past tense

• lie >> lay

• participle lain/lied/lying

• lay > laid

• participle: laid/laying

irregular past participles

go

• simple past (preterite) = went

participle : gone

perfect tenses use the participle!

past perfect : have/has gone

present perfect: had gone

future perfect: will have gone