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Grammar for high school admissions tests: Difference between revisions

Grammar for high school admissions tests (view source)

Revision as of 16:52, 7 May 2023

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{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
|+
|+Subject-verb matching: "to win"
!
!
!Singular
!Singular
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|-
|-
|Third person
|Third person
|''He/She/It''
|''He/ She / It''
|''wins''
|''wins''
|
|
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*** ''= The teacher taught grammar to the class''
*** ''= The teacher taught grammar to the class''


==== note on objects of non-finite verbs ====
*ex: sentence with direct and indirect objects
 
* non-finite verbs do not have subjects, but they can have objects
* high school placement tests will not student comprehension of this concept
* ex:  


{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
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|[for] students
|[for] students
|}
|}
ex:  
==== note on objects of non-finite verbs ====
 
* non-finite verbs do not have subjects, but they can have objects
** high school admissions tests will not test student comprehension of this concept
* ex. sentence with gerund (non-finite verb as a noun) that has an object:
** note that the finite verb of this sentence is "provides" and its subject is the gerund (non-finite verb as noun) "attending"
{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
|+''Attending school provides students an education''
|+''Attending school provides students an education''
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| colspan="5" |note: "attending" may also be seen as a present participle adjective modifier of the subject "school"
| colspan="5" |note: "attending" may also be seen as a present participle adjective modifier of the subject "school"
|}
|}
=== Complement ===
=== Complement ===


== Verbs ==
== Verbs ==
=== Subject-verb matching ===
=== Subject-verb matching ===


==== conjugation ====
==== verb conjugations ====


* finite verbs match the subject case
* finite verbs match the subject case
* test: when considering subject-verb matching


==== tense ====
==== tense ====
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** ex.  HSPT test 1 no.  
** ex.  HSPT test 1 no.  


=== lie v. lay: ===
* lie = to put oneself down
* lay = to put an object down
* past tense
* lie >> lay
* participle lain/lied/lying
* lay > laid
* participle: laid/laying
=== irregular past participles ===
go
* simple past (preterite) = went
participle : gone
perfect tenses use the participle!
past perfect : have/has gone
present perfect: had gone
future perfect: will have gone
== Punctuation ==
== Punctuation ==


=== apostrophe ===
=== apostrophe ===
does 3 things:  
<u>does 3 things</u>:  


1. create possessives
'''1. creates possessive noun'''


Owen's parents
* rule: only nouns can possess nouns
** however, an adjective may come be between the nouns:
*** ex. ''A guitar's top string is the thickest'' <<"top" = adjective that describes "string"
* test: if the possessive word is followed by a word that is not a noun or an adjective that modifies another noun, it is wrong:
** ex. ''The company's bought the workers new uniforms''  << incorrect
*** the "company" cannot possess the verb "bought"


2. create contractions
* singular possession. ''Owen's parents are nice''  << singular "Owen"
* plural possession: ''The students' teacher is not so nice''  << plural "students"
* note: compound possessives rule:
** if the compound possessors both possess the same thing, only the second noun uses the apostrophe
*** ex. ''Maria's and Joey's mother is nice''  << = they both have the same mother
** if the compound possessors both posses something similar but not the exact same thing, both take the possessive
*** ex. Maria's and Joey's mothers are nice << = they both have nice mothers but not the same mother


Can't, won't, it's
'''2. creates contraction'''


it's v its
* spoken English joins certain words to sound like a single word, which is represented in writing as a contraction
* the high school admissions test will use contractions only when testing homophones
** such as ''they're v. their v. there'', or ''its v. its'''
* contractions are used in standard written English for
** contracting "is" and "are"
*** ''it is > it's, they are >> they're''


they're v their
* contracting auxiliary and modal verbs with "not"
** ''would not >> wouldn't, can not >> can't, will not won't''  


3. (less commonly) indicate plurality > ex. "1960's"
* see '''homophones''' below for more
 
* <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
** or,  ''Those elephants'r big'' (with the 's" marking a slurred "is" sound in spoken
 
3. indicate plurality  
 
* ex. "1960's",
 
* the high school admissions test will not measure for this use of the apostrophe


=== Comma ===
=== Comma ===
does 6 things:
<u>does 6 things</u>:


1. combine independent clauses (IC) with coordinating conjunction (FANBOYS)
'''1. combines independent clauses (IC) with coordinating conjunction (cc)'''


* rule
* coordinating conjunction (cc) = FANBOYS (For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So)


2. combine phrases or DC w/ IC  
* rule: comma + cc to combine IC
* test: if both clauses could be sentence by themselves (each contains a finite verb and makes a complete thought)


3. create lists
'''2. combines phrases or dependent DC w/ IC'''


4. set up quotation
* rule: a sentence must contain a finite verb, which forms a clause, so anything added to the clause that does not contain a finite verb is a phrase
* ex.  
** <u>dependent clause</u>: '''''Seeing how it's late already''', we'll just skip lunch.''
** <u>phrase</u>: '''''Arriving so late''', we'll have to skip lunch.''
*** "arriving" = a verb, but it does not have a subject, so it is <u>non-finite</u> (it is a present participle adjective)
** phrase: '''''On Tuesdays before noon''', we get to swim at the pool''


(first word of the equation is capitalized)
'''3. creates lists'''
 
* lists must be of the same grammatical form
** i.e., a list is of nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc. , and not a mix of them
*** ''Cows, sheep, and are all farm animals.''
* note on "Oxford Comma"
** = the comma between the second-to-last item in a list and the "and" (cc) that combines the last item in the list
*** it is correct to have a comma or not have a comma separating the second-to-last:
**** ''Cows, sheep and are all farm animals.''
**** ''Cows, sheep, and are all farm animals.''
 
4. sets up quotation
 
* comma separates a direct quotation from it's introduction
** ''The clown said, "I feel funny."''
 
* rules:
** uses quotation marks around the quoted words
** first word of the equation is capitalized
** if at the end of a sentence, will have a period (often but not always inside the quotation mark)
** if a question, will have a question mark
*** ''The clown asked, "Why are you so funny?"''
** the


5. set aside parenthetical information (appositives, relative clauses, etc.)
5. set aside parenthetical information (appositives, relative clauses, etc.)
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ex. "Steve, my neighbor, is not very nice."
ex. "Steve, my neighbor, is not very nice."


  "Steve, who is my neibhbro, is not very nice"
  "Steve, who is my neighbor, is not very nice"


6. separate dates and place names
6. separate dates and place names
== Nouns ==


=== proper noun capitalization ===
=== proper noun capitalization ===
* titles are capitalized
** the test may show a two-word proper noun with one word capitalized but not another
*** ex.: Tom jones


=== quotation marks ===
=== quotation marks ===
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2. indicate sarcasm
2. indicate sarcasm
=== semicolon ===
does 2 things
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
2. acts as a "supercomma"
*
* Note: this use will not appear on high school entrance exam, but it may appear on a college entrance exam


=== personal pronoun subjective & objective case ===
=== personal pronoun subjective & objective case ===
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=== may v. please ===
=== may v. please ===


* Please pass the salt = ok
* may = indicates possibility or a request for permission (usually of oneself)
 
** ''May I have a couple more donuts?''
* May you pass the sale = x
* please = a polite command or request (usually of someone else_
 
** ''Please leave me alone!''
* please = asking permission
* rule:
 
** may is used to ask for permission
* may = instruction/command
** please is used to make a request
 
* ex.:
=== lie v. lay: ===
** ''Please pass the salt'' = correct
 
** ''May you pass the sale'' = incorrect
* lie = to put oneself down
 
* lay = to put an object down
 
* past tense
 
* lie >> lay


* participle lain/lied/lying
=== homophones ===


* lay > laid
* words that sound the same but spell differently


* participle: laid/laying
* high school will commonly use:
 
** ''there, they're, their''
=== irregular past participles ===
*** ''there'' = indicates specificity or location
go
*** ''they're'' = contraction of "they are"
 
*** ''their'' = plural possessive pronoun
* simple past (preterite) = went
** ''its, it's''
 
*** ''its'' = singular possessive pronoun
participle : gone
*** ''it's'' = contraction of "it is"
 
** ''then, than''
perfect tenses use the participle!
*** ''then'' = indicates a chronology (next) or a prior time ("since then")
 
*** ''than'' = makes a comparison
past perfect : have/has gone
* college admissions tests may also use:
 
** ''site, cite, sight''
present perfect: had gone
** ''fare, fair''
 
* note: compare to ''homonyms'', which are words that spell the same but pronounce or mean differently
future perfect: will have gone
** 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
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