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")
    • a non-finite verb can act as an adjective, adverb or noun
      • gerund (-ing), participle adjective (-ing/ -ed) or infinitive ("to" form) of a verb

PARTS OF SPEECH Collapse

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

Sentence

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

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.,
  • it follows the subject
  • = the verb + the result or outcome of an action
• predicates always contain a verb

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"

Subject Complement

• a noun, pronoun or adjective that "complements" a linking verb
  • i.e., if the verb does not have a direct object it has a "complement"
    • ex. "He is a guitarist"
      • linking verbs such as "to be" have complements instead of objects
• linking verbs do not have objects
  • linking verbs include, act, be, seem, smell, etc.

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:

Expand

---

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 (!)

---

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:

Expand

---

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

---

commas ,

• create pauses
• commas do FIVE things:

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

Expand

---

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

---

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:

Expand

---

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

---

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:

Expand

---

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