Grammar for high school admissions tests: Difference between revisions

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** past participle adjective: ''The topic '''discussed''' was grammar''  
** past participle adjective: ''The topic '''discussed''' was grammar''  
* the participle is also used in the '''perfect tenses'''
* the participle is also used in the '''perfect tenses'''
=== participle phrases ===
* students will improve reading comprehension and usage scores by identifying participle or participial phrases
* a phrase does not have a finite-verb
* present or past participles can create adjectives that create "participle phrases"
* participle phrases add information to an IC without having to use another clause
** ex.
*** '''''Having done the research''', he aced the lab test''  << present participle adjective phrase
*** ''I sneezed all day, '''suffering from allergies'''  << present participle adjective phrase''
*** ''The turkey was delicious, '''cooked to perfection'''''.  << past participle adjective phrase
* <u>note</u>: high school entrance exams will not measure this concept directly, but it is helpful for students to recognize


=== perfect tenses ===
=== perfect tenses ===
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** ''By next Tuesday, I '''will have walked''' twelve miles''
** ''By next Tuesday, I '''will have walked''' twelve miles''


== Verbs to know ==
== Verbs forms to know ==
{| class="wikitable"
|+Irregular verbs to know
!verb
!present
!simple past
!present participle
!past participle
!perfect tense
|-
|be
|am/are/is
|was
|being
|beeen
|have/has been
|-
|go
|go/goes
|went
|going
|gone
|have/has gone
|-
|
|
|
|
|
|
|}


=== lie v. lay: ===
=== lie v. lay: ===
* lie = to put oneself down
* lie = to put oneself down
** or be in the position of lying down
** or be in the position of lying down
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|}
|}


=== irregular past participles ===
=== may v. please ===
go
= modal verbs (express possibility) that change the meaning of another verb
 
* may = indicates possibility or a request for permission (usually of oneself)
* simple past (preterite) = went
** ''May I have a couple more donuts?''
 
* please = a polite command or request (usually of someone else_
participle : gone
** ''Please leave me alone!''
 
* rule:
perfect tenses use the participle!
** may is used to ask for permission
 
** please is used to make a request
past perfect : have/has gone
* ex.:
 
** ''Please pass the salt'' = correct
present perfect: had gone
** ''May you pass the sale'' = incorrect
 
future perfect: will have gone
== Punctuation ==
== Punctuation ==


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* <u>note</u>: neither high school nor college admissions tests will use an apostrophe as a contraction for "is" or "are" with a common noun
* <u>note</u>: neither high school nor college admissions tests will use an apostrophe as a contraction for "is" or "are" with a common noun
** ex.  ''That elephant's big'' (with the 's" marking a slurred "is" sound in spoken  
** ex.  ''That elephant's big'' (with the 's" marking a slurred "is" sound in spoken
** or,  ''Those elephants'r big'' (with the 's" marking a slurred "is" sound in spoken  
** or,  ''Those elephants'r big'' (with the 's" marking a slurred "is" sound in spoken


3. indicate plurality  
3. indicate plurality  


* ex. "1960's",  
* ex. "1960's",
 
* the high school admissions test will not measure for this use of the apostrophe
 
=== colon ===
<u>does 1 thing</u>:
 
1. sets up an example or explanation, following an independent clause (IC)


* the high school admissions test will not measure for this use of the apostrophe
* rules:
** colons <u>must be preceded</u> by an IC
** <u>can be</u> followed by any grammatical form or punctuation, except another colon
*** ''Given so little time they did what they could''':''' cooking, cleaning and straightening things up''
*** ''Given so little time they did what they could''':''' they cooked, cleaned, and straightened things up''
** a colon would not follow "such as" since "such as" does the same thing as a colon
*** "such as" would be preceded by a comma if non-restrictive
**** ''I like playing board games, such as chess or checkers''
**** ''Doctors such as Dr. Jones are very caring''
* <u>note</u>: colons are not measured on high school entrance exams


=== comma ===
=== comma ===
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** if a question, will have a question mark
** if a question, will have a question mark
*** ''The clown asked, "Why are you so funny?"''
*** ''The clown asked, "Why are you so funny?"''
** the  
** the


'''5. set aside parenthetical information (appositives, relative clauses, etc.)'''
'''5. set aside parenthetical information (appositives, relative clauses, etc.)'''
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* no comma for Month Year: ''We took the test in April 2023.''
* no comma for Month Year: ''We took the test in April 2023.''


=== quotation mark ===
=== dash ===
<u>does 2 things</u>:
 
1. acts like a colon
 
* rule: if acting like a colon, there will be a single dash preceded by an IC
 
2. acts like parentheses
 
* rule: if acting like parentheses, there will be two dashes
 
<u>does 2 things</u>:  
<u>does 2 things</u>:  


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* will note be measured on high school or college entrance exams
* will note be measured on high school or college entrance exams
=== parentheses ===
<u>does 1 thing</u>:
* sets aside information <u>outside of the grammatical flow</u> of a sentence
** i.e., the parentheses can interrupt other sentence parts:
*** ex.  ''Birds (avian creatures) are amazing''
**** normally, we would not want to separate the subject "birds" from the verb "are" but the parentheses can do that to add important information to the sentence
**** note that pairs of commas and dashes work similarly:
**** ''Birds, avian creatures,are amazing''
**** ''Birds-- avian creatures -- are amazing''
****
* pairs of commas and dashes can act like parentheses


=== semicolon ===
=== semicolon ===
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* titles are capitalized
* titles are capitalized
** the test may show a two-word proper noun with one word capitalized but not another
** the test may show a two-word proper noun with one word capitalized but not another
*** ex.: Tom jones
*** ex.:  
**** ''Dr. tom Jones is a famous physician'' << incorrect bc both names are capitalized
** note that "the" is not capitalized for
 
=== 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
 
<nowiki>-------</nowiki>


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


=== attributive nouns ===
== Adjective ==
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
 
<nowiki>-------</nowiki>


=== cumulative v. coordinate adjectives ===
=== cumulative v. coordinate adjectives ===
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red, big balloon = ok
red, big balloon = ok


=== may v. please ===
== Misc skills and assessment topics ==
 
* may = indicates possibility or a request for permission (usually of oneself)
** ''May I have a couple more donuts?''
* please = a polite command or request (usually of someone else_
** ''Please leave me alone!''
* rule:
** may is used to ask for permission
** please is used to make a request
* ex.:
** ''Please pass the salt'' = correct
** ''May you pass the sale'' = incorrect


=== homophones ===
=== homophones ===