Grammar
Grammar
- = is from the Greek "art of letters" (words)
Article purpose
- this article focuses on sentences and sentence parts, including
- sentence definition
- types of nouns, verbs, and adjectives & their use in a sentence
- clauses & phrases
Note: "punctuation" and "parts of speech" are sub-categories of "grammar"
- see also:
- Punctuation
- Parts of Speech for grammar and usage rules on word categories
- List of word parts of speech & their grammar rules for list of commonly used words, their parts of speech categories, and the rules governing their use
- SAT Writing has grammar and punctuation rules and advice
Other related categories:
- category:linguistics
- homographs including:
- homophones, homonyms & heteronyms
Note on abbreviations
- IC = "independent clause"
- DC = "dependent clause"
- SV = "subject + verb"
- SVO = "subject + verb + object"
- CB = College Board
- SAT practice tests referenced or excerpted here are from the [College Board Official Practice Test Suite]
Sentence
- a complete and grammatically correct thought that contains at a minimum a subject (or an implied subject) and a verb
- i.e., "I shop." = a complete sentence and thought.
- "Go!" = the subject, usually, "you" is implied
- this form of a command is called an "imperative" or "exclamatory" sentence.
- sentence complexity is created around the core Subject Verb Object by adding:
- clauses
- modifiers
- phrases
- prepositions, etc.
Categories of sentence purposes
- declarative sentence
- = a statement or "declaration" of fact or firm opinion
- ex. "I need to eat now."
- exclamatory sentence
= a statement of urgency or emotion
- also called an "exclamation"
- ex. "That really hurt!"
- interrogative sentence
- = or a question or a request
- ex. "Is it raining?"
- includes rhetorical questions, such as "Why does it have to rain now?" (which may also be delcarative
- imperative sentence
- = a or command
- may also be an exclamatory statement
- ex., "Get to work!"
Subject
- one of two parts of a sentence or a clause
- the subject is the "doer" of the
- see Parts of Speech for list of sentence parts
- here we will look at the roles and forms of a subject in a sentence
subject phrase
Predicate
- the 2nd part of a sentence or clause
- expresses the action of the subject and the result of that action
- a "simple predicate" is a verb
- a "complete predicate" is the rest of the sentence following the subject
Verb
- the subject is the "doer" of the
- see Parts of Speech for list of sentence parts
- here we will look at the roles and forms of a subject in a sentence
linking verb
- "link" a subject to something about that subject that is not a direct action
- linking verbs are:
- "to be" and all of its "auxiliary verb" forms, am/is/are, was/were, has/have been, is/are being, might be, could, should, might, must
- to become, to seem
- ex.:
- "Thank God it is Friday!"
- "The kids are hungry"
Object
- the subject is the "doer" of the
- see Parts of Speech for list of sentence parts
- here we will look at the roles and forms of a subject in a sentence
subject complement
- adds information to a subject following a linking verb (see above)
- = an object that is not a noun
- ex. "Jillian thought it was late"
object complement
- a word that modifies an object
- object complements follow verbs that express both an object of an action and a recipient of that action
- such as, appoint, call, create, declare, direct, elect, tell
>> to complete
Phrase
- = a sentence part that does not have a subject and verb (which would make it into a clause)
- can be two or more words, depending on the type of phrase (see below)
- phrases are connected to an IC by a comma
- phrases are not complete sentences or thoughts
- however, phrases are meaningful sentence parts (i.e,, they give meaning to the sentence)
- that is, phrases add information to a clause or one of its parts
- sources:
adjective phrase
- two or more words that act as an adjective
- ex.
- can also be compound words, such as "well-adjusted"
- well-adjusted = an adjective made up of "well" (adverb) + "adjusted" (past participle)
adverb or adverbial phrase
complement or requisite phrase
- a word, phrase or clause that is necessary, or required, to complete an idea or sentence
- complements are not separated from the main clause by punctuation
infinitive phrase
- infinitives = "to" form of a verb
- but that acts as a noun, adjective or adverb
- ex. "I decided to go to the park"
- "to go" is an infinitive phrase that acts as the direct object of the subject-verb "I decided"
- i.e. it is the object of what "I decided"
- "to the park" is prepositional phrase that acts like an adverb that describes "to go", as in "where [I decided] to go"
- ex. "The teacher reminded the class to study for the test tomorrow"
- "the class" is the object of "the teacher reminded" and "to study" is an adverb that describes the verb "reminded"
- "to study" may also be seen as a "object complement" in that it serves as the object of "reminded the class"
- "the class" is the object of "the teacher reminded" and "to study" is an adverb that describes the verb "reminded"
- ex. "I decided to go to the park"
- but that acts as a noun, adjective or adverb
- note: sometimes the "to" is dropped although the verb is still an infinitive:
- ex. "The waiter made me wait"
- "wait" can be a noun, but here it is acting as an infinitive verb (the action "to wait")
- ex. "The waiter made me wait"
- see: Infinitives (owl.purdue.edu)
noun phrase
participial phrase
- a type of adjective phrase
- uses the -ing or -ed form of a verb that acts as an adjective
- note that the "-ing" form of a verb can also be a verb (participle) or a noun (gerund)
- frequently serves as an introductory or concluding phrase that qualifies or adds meaning to the main clause
- ex. "Thinking I was late, I rushed to work."
- "thinking" = present participle of the verb "to think"
- the present participle (-ing form) acts as an adjective
- so the phrase, "Thinking I was late" is an adjective phrase (using a participial) that adds descriptive information to the main clause, "I rushed to work"
- or can also follow the main clause, as in : "I rushed to work, thinking I was late"
- ex. "Thinking I was late, I rushed to work."
prepositional phrase
- introduced by a preposition, which creates a relationship to a noun or a verb
- ex. of, by, for, on, etc.
- prepositional phrases act as either adjectives or adverbs
- i.e, they add information to or modify a noun or a verb
- adjective ex:
- "Books on sailing are fun to read"
- "on sailing" describes the types of books that are "fun to read"
- "Books on sailing are fun to read"
- adverb ex.:
- "Stephanie rode her bicycle to the store"
- "to the store" = adverb to describe where Stephanie rode
- "Stephanie rode her bicycle to the store"
verb phrase
- two or more verbs that act as a single verb
- = main verb + a helping or "auxiliary" verb
- ex, "I couldn't have eaten any more cake if I tried"
- "eat" = the main verb
- "couldn't" and "have" = helping / auxiliary verbs
- note: "if I tried" is an adverb clause (describes "could have eaten")
- = a clause because it has a subject, "I" and a verb, "tried"
- = a subordinate clause bc of the subordinating conjunction, "if", which makes the clause, "I tried" into an incomplete thought
Grammar lesson plans
- Understanding sentence cores & how to build out ideas into complex sentences
- students are to write a series of three or four simple statements of fact.
- such as,
- I like dogs.
- I have a dog.
- My dog's name is Dudu.
- Dudu is fun to play with.
- students are then to combine these thoughts two at a time by employing sentence parts such as pronouns, conjunctions, and subordinating conjunctions, such as:
- "Since I like dogs, I have one."
- "My dog's name is Dudu, and she is fun to play with"
- then combine those sentences/ ideas into a single, complex sentence:
- Since I like dogs, I have one named Dudu who is fun to play with"
- such as,
- students are to write a series of three or four simple statements of fact.
- Language and the law:
- Create courtroom scenario in which precision or imprecision in words, syntax, and grammar would change the outcome of the case
- such as the classic example of leading a witness, "Did you see the glass?" (as opposed to, "Did you see any glass?")
- Legal Writing Teaching Assistant: The Law Student's Guide to Good Writing (kentlaw.edu) from Chicago-Kent College of Law, by Prof. Marc Grinker
- Prof. Grinker reviews grammar and writing from a legal perspective
- offers examples of the need for precision in language and downfalls of poor usage and incorrect grammar
Conjunction
- conjunctions combine or coordinate words and phrases (clauses)
- see parts of speech
Alphab. list | FANBOYS list | |
---|---|---|
and | F | for |
but | A | and |
for | N | nor |
or | B | but |
nor | O | or |
so | Y | yet |
yet | S | so |
coordinating conjunctions
- = combine independent clauses (clauses that can stand as sentences on their own)
subordinating conjunctions
- = conjunctions that "subordinate" or turn an independent clause into a subordinate clause, i.e., a sentence that cannot stand on its own
- = create a need for additional information and sets up or adds to the information that follows in the dominant or main clause
- ex.: "The dog played with his toy every day until it wore out" can be phrased using a subordinating conjunction, as per:
- "Until it wore out, the dog played with his toy every day."
- "Until it wore out" is not a complete sentence or thought
Click EXPAND for partial list of subordinating conjunctions
after | although | as | as if | as long as |
as much as | as soon as | as though | because | before |
even | even if | even though | if | if only |
if then | if when | inasmuch | just as | lest |
now | now that | now when | once | provided |
provided that | rather than | since | so that | supposing |
than | that | though | till | unless |
until | when | whenever | where | whereas |
where if | wherever | whether | which | while |
who | whoever | why |
Introductory clauses & phrases
introductory clause
- provides information or context to set up a dominant clause
- = a dependent clause (does not stand as a complete sentence)
- usually begin with a subordinating conjunction
- ex. "If you want to do well on the test, use the study guide"
introductory phrase
Modifiers, qualifiers & intensifiers
modifiers
- modifiers change or add or "modify" the meaning of a word or sentence
- modifiers provide or extent additional meaning to the reader
- types of modifiers
- adjectives
- prepositions
- prepositional phrases
- adverbs
- verbs as modifiers
- participle phrase
- other
- adjective clause
- infinitive phrase
- adverbial clause
- absolute phrase
- Nouns as modifiers
qualifiers
- qualifiers limit, or "qualify," the meaning of a word
- types of qualifiers:
>> to do
intensifiers
- enhance or strengthen the meaning of a word
- (opposite of qualifiers which limit the meaning of a word)
- intensifiers are adverbs (which modify verbs and adjectives), such as "he ran very fast" or "he was very late"
- intensifiers can also act as adjectives in order to intensify an noun,
- as in "a total lie"
- types of intensifiers:
- positive intensifiers:
- very, extremely, absolutely, greatly, totally, highly, particularly, seriously, etc.
- negative intensifiers:
- never, at all, dangerously, never, etc.
- intensifiers that can be both positive or negative:
- awfully, completely
- positive intensifiers:
Sources for modifiers, qualifiers & intensifiers
- Modifiers (Walden.edu)]
- Modifiers Intensifiers, Qualifiers (My English Teacher)]
- [Intensifiers (Britishcouncil.org)]
- [Intensifier (Grammar-Monster.com)]
- for Parts of Speech entry on "Very" (s4s wiki)
Sentence diagramming
- diagraming sentences means identifying every part of speech of the words in a sentence
- See Parts of Speech
- see Using Nouns and Noun Phrases as Object Complements
vocabulary & definitions
Denotation and Connotation
- denotation = literal meaning of a word
- connotation = associations wit words
- generally positive or negative associations