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Grammar for high school admissions tests: Difference between revisions
Grammar for high school admissions tests (view source)
Revision as of 22:09, 7 May 2023
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* singular possession. ''Owen's parents are nice'' << singular "Owen" | * singular possession. ''Owen's parents are nice'' << singular "Owen" | ||
* plural possession: ''The students' teacher is not so nice'' << plural "students" | * plural possession: ''The students' teacher is not so nice'' << plural "students" | ||
** note that some words are plural, so the possessive form will be '''''<nowiki/>'s''''' as opposed to '''''s'''''' | |||
*** ''That's the children's playground'' << children = plural, so the apostrophe goes before the '''s''' | |||
** similar words include, men, women, | |||
* note: compound possessives rule: | * note: compound possessives rule: | ||
** if the compound possessors both possess the same thing, only the second noun uses the apostrophe | ** if the compound possessors both possess the same thing, only the second noun uses the apostrophe | ||
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=== semicolon === | === semicolon === | ||
does 2 things | <u>does 2 things</u>: | ||
1. combines independent clauses | '''1. combines independent clauses''' | ||
* test: if the semicolon separates (or combines) two distinct subject-verb combinations AND each could be a sentence by itself, then the semicolon is correct | * test: | ||
** replace the semicoln with a period and see if both sides could stand as a sentence by themselves . If not, it is wrong. | |||
** if the semicolon separates (or combines) two distinct subject-verb combinations AND each could be a sentence by itself, then the semicolon is correct | |||
2. acts as a " | '''2. acts as a "super comma"''' | ||
* | * a super comma is a list of examples separated by semicolons | ||
** ex. ''We're heading to Europe this summer: Florence, Italy; Valencia, Spain; and Munich, Germany.'' | |||
* | *<u>note</u>: this use will not appear on high school entrance exam, but it may appear on a college entrance exam | ||
== Comma and no comma with phrases and clauses == | == Comma and no comma with phrases and clauses == | ||
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** 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.: | *** ex.: | ||
**** ''Dr. tom Jones is a famous physician'' << incorrect | **** ''Dr. tom Jones is a famous physician'' << incorrect | ||
** note that "the" is not capitalized for | **** ''University of missouri'' << incorrect | ||
** note that "the" is not capitalized for proper names | |||
*** ''the Navy'' (correct) v. ''The Navy'' (incorrect) | |||
=== attributive nouns === | === attributive nouns === | ||
dog, wine, class | * = nouns that modify another noun | ||
** but are not adjectives | |||
* '''''dog''' food, '''wine''' class, '''government''' class, '''class''' government'' | |||
the attributive noun | * these nouns modify the 2nd noun | ||
* called "attributive" because they convey an "attribute" to the second noun | |||
* the attributive noun is singular (almost always) | |||
** bc it's acting like an adjective (which doesn't change plurality) | |||
*** i.e., ''red shoes'' instead of ''reds shoes'' (incorrect) | |||
**** so ''dog food'' instead of ''dogs food'' (incorrect) | |||
attributive noun is ALWAYS next to the noun it modifies | * the attributive noun is ALWAYS next to the noun it modifies | ||
** ''big dog bone'' instead of ''dog big bone'' (incorrect) | |||
big dog bone | |||
dog big | |||
== Pronouns == | == Pronouns == | ||
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** ex. "bark" can mean the sound a dog makes or the skin of a tree | ** ex. "bark" can mean the sound a dog makes or the skin of a tree | ||
** high school and college admissions tests will not measure this concept | ** high school and college admissions tests will not measure this concept | ||
=== questions === | |||
* a narrator may ask a question that seems like a spoken quotation, but it may not need quotation marks | |||
** ex. | |||
*** ''What are we doing next?'' | |||
**** as opposed to | |||
**** ''"What are we doing next?" Steve asked'' | |||
* tests may present a question that contains an error in "has" or "had" for a question | |||
** turn the question into a statement and see if the subect-verb match is correct | |||
** ex | |||
*** ''Have you seen my friends?'' | |||
**** = You have seen my friends | |||
*** ''How long has they been working on it?'' | |||
**** ''They has been working on it'' << <u>incorrect</u> (needs the plural auxiliary verb "have") | |||
=== quotation marks not needed === | |||
* a thought or narrated statement does not need quotation marks | |||
** quotation marks separate words distinctly stated by someone other than the narrator or author | |||
** so the narrator or author can say something or say something someone else said without quotation marks | |||
** ex. | |||
*** ''Mr. Jackson told us to sit down.'' | |||
*** ''If you're hungry, let me know.'' | |||
*** ''Jerry, leave your paper right there.'' | |||
* when a relative clause is employed following "stated" or "said," the quotation mark is not needed: | |||
** ex. ''She said the test was super easy'' | |||
*** = ''She said [that] the test was super easy'' | |||
**** so quotation marks are not necessary | |||