Grammar & Sentence Structure The Basics – a review

Parts of Speech Noun Subject Pronoun Verb A person, place or thing; can be the subject of a sentence Subject What or who the sentence is about Pronoun A word that replaces or stands for a noun (he, she, it) Verb An action word

Parts of Speech Adjective Adverb Preposition A word that describes or modifies a noun Examples: careful, quick, wise Adverb A word that describes or modifies a verb (often ends in –ly) Ex: very, super, incredibly Preposition A word that indicates the relationship of a noun to another word Ex: to, at, with, for, against

Building Sentences Subject Predicate “actor” in a sentence Person, thing, who acts or is described in the sentence Predicate What is said about the subject of the sentence Contains verb

Building Sentences Phrase Clause Dependent Clause Independent Clause A group of words that does NOT have a subject and verb Clause A group of words containing a subject and verb to form part of a sentence Dependent Clause Does not express a complete thought, cannot be a sentence Independent Clause A clause expressing a complete thought, a sentence

Four Basic Sentence Types Simple Sentence Compound Sentence Complex Sentence Compound-Complex Sentence

Simple Sentences Definition - a sentence with one independent clause; a complete thought. A simple sentence can have compound subjects, compound verbs, and many difference types of phrases.

Simple Sentences Examples: Jamal plays football. Domino catches mice and birds. Mrs. Donahue and Mrs. Nielsen read every night. Sidney is taking both French and Latin. Unlike many other languages, the English alphabet has twenty-six letters to represent the sounds of its words.

Sentence Building (part II) Independent Clause A clause expressing a complete thought, a sentence Ex: Ms. Morgan went to school. Coordinating Conjunction Joins equals to one another: words to words, phrases to phrases, clauses to clauses For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So (FANBOYS) Ex: Kayla and Alaina like to read manga. Conjunctive Adverb Joins two independent clauses together Therefore, nevertheless, however, next, for example

Semicolons Semicolon ( ; ) Used between independent clauses that are not joined by a coordinating conjunction Ex: Ms. Morgan was at school on Monday; Tuesday she was absent. Used between ICs joined by a conjunctive adverb Ex: Ms. Morgan was at school on Monday; however, Tuesday she was absent.

Semicolons Semicolon ( ; ) Used between items in a series with internal punctuation Ex: Ms. Morgan, a teaching assistant; Mrs. Nielsen, a teacher; and Mr. Person, the principal, met to talk about English classes. Used between ICs with internal punctuation Ex: To do well in school, we should do our homework; but to do well in life, we need to experience!

Compound Sentences Definition – a sentence with two independent clauses joined by: a) a coordinating conjunction b) a conjunctive adverb, or c) a semicolon alone Examples: a) Christi reads novels, but Alaina likes manga. b) Christi reads novels; however, Alaina likes manga. c) Christi reads novels; her friends read manga.