Grammar

Grammar

• = is from the Greek "art of letters" (words)

Article purpose

• this article focuses on sentences and sentence parts, including:
  • sentence definition
  • clauses & phrases
  • types of nouns, verbs, adjectives and modifiers & their use in a sentence

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
  • etymology (word origin)
  • semantics (individual word meaning)
  • syntax (word choice, combinations and context)
• 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

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

Template:Clause (grammar)

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:
  • The Phrase (chompchomp.com)
  • English Phrases: Everything You Need to Know (english-grammar-revolution.com)

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)

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"
• 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")
• see: Infinitives (owl.purdue.edu)

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"

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"
• adverb ex.:
  • "Stephanie rode her bicycle to the store"
    • "to the store" = adverb to describe where Stephanie rode

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"
• 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

The 7 coordinating conjunctions

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

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

• see
  • [Conjunction (grammar) (wiki)]

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"

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

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
  • {https://parentingpatch.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/2013-03-09-Using-Nouns-and-Noun-Phrases-as-Object-Complements-1.jpg]

vocabulary & definitions

Denotation and Connotation

• denotation = literal meaning of a word
• connotation = associations wit words
  • generally positive or negative associations