Words, Clauses Sentences

Grammar The Basics Subject, Verb, Object Modifiers, Prepositions, Articles Modifiers, Prepositions, Articles Modifiers: Adjectives, Adverbs Modifiers: Adjectives, Adverbs Prepositions  The Preposition Cube The Preposition Cube Articles Recap Sentences & Clauses Independent & Dependent Independent & Dependent

The Basics: Subject, Verb, Object In English, we almost invariably structure our sentences in what is called the “SVO” format: S V O Subject – Verb – Object

The Basics: Subject, Verb, Object The dogran home SubjectVerbObject In English, we almost invariably structure our sentences in what is called the “SVO” format: S V O Subject – Verb – Object

“From the ceiling hung the chandelier” The Basics: Subject, Verb, Object When a sentence is in the “passive voice,” however, the order is generally reversed. Here the chandelier is the subject, even though it follows the verb, and the ceiling is the object even though it precedes the verb.

The Basics: Subject, Verb, Object A simple sentence may, or may not, also have an object. This is a noun, or noun phrase, which tells to whom or what the action is being done. This cup Some people My family Jed and Jethro is go runs drank A simple sentence always has a subject. This is a noun, or noun phrase, which is “doing” something. A simple sentence always has a verb. This is a verb, or verb phrase, which tells what the subject is doing. on the table. on rollercoasters. a restaurant the moonshine

The Basics: Subject, Verb, Object The dogran home First, identify the verb. Next, identify the subject-noun (or noun phrase). If there is another noun or noun phrase which follows the verb and completes the action in some way – that is the object

The Basics: Subject, Verb, Object Sometimes a simple sentence doesn’t have an “object” – just a subject and verb. The dog barked. The car crashed. The sky is falling. My back is aching. Your computer has crashed

The Basics: Subject, Verb, Object But subjects and verbs do not necessarily make a complete simple sentence. John put… Ralph laid… I gave… The dog is… I will get… The simple sentence must form a complete thought.

The Basics: Subject, Verb, Object But just because it’s simple, doesn’t mean a simple sentence is necessarily short. The happy, yet strangely clean chimneysweep, ran quickly and cheerfully up and down the grimy streets of London in the fog.

The Basics: Subject, Verb, Object The happy, yet strangely clean chimneysweep, ran quickly and cheerfully up and down the grimy streets of London in the fog. ran verb chimneysweep Noun (subject) streets Noun (object) Here we have a single subject, a single verb, and a single object.

The Basics: Modifiers, Prepositions, Articles The happy, yet strangely clean chimneysweep, ran quickly and cheerfully up and down the grimy streets of London in the fog. The rest of the words are: modifiers, prepositions, articles, and conjunctions. happy clean grimy

The Basics: Modifiers – Adjectives & Adverbs The happy, yet strangely clean chimneysweep, ran quickly and cheerfully up and down the grimy streets of London in the fog. happy clean grimy There are two kinds of modifiers. Words which modify nouns are called “adjectives.” Adjectives modifying “chimneysweep.” Adjective modifying “streets.”

The Basics: Modifiers – Adjectives & Adverbs The happy, yet strangely clean chimneysweep, ran quickly and cheerfully up and down the grimy streets of London in the fog. quicklycheerfully Words which modify verbs are called “adverbs.” strangely Adverbs modifying the verb “ran”

The Basics: Modifiers – Adjectives & Adverbs The happy, yet strangely clean chimneysweep, ran quickly and cheerfully up and down the grimy streets of London in the fog. quicklycheerfully But adverbs also modify adjectives and other adverbs. strangely Adverb modifying adjective “clean.”

The Basics: Prepositions The happy, yet strangely clean chimneysweep, ran quickly and cheerfully up and down the grimy streets of London in the fog. up Prepositions are words which tell about the position of something and come before a noun. (“Pre” = before. Therefore, prepositions indicate position and come before.) Prepositions revealing direction and position down in

The Basics: Prepositions So what are the rest of the words here? Some are modifiers. There are two types of modifiers. Most of what you need to know about prepositions can be learned with a cube and a ball.

The Basics: The Preposition Cube In On Beside

The Basics: The Preposition Cube Through

The Basics: The Preposition Cube Under

The Basics: The Preposition Cube Behind

The Basics: The Preposition Cube Across

The Basics: The Preposition Cube Around

The Basics: The Preposition Cube Near

The Basics: The Preposition Cube With

The Basics: “Of” – The Special Preposition As noted, prepositions come before a noun and form the beginning of a prepositional phrases. “Of,” however, is slightly different. It acts very much like a conjunction in that it combines a noun with something else: another noun, an adverb or adjective, or a verb. The streets of San Francisco Hair of the dog Bay of Pigs Joining two nouns: Joining a noun to a verb Singing of freedom and joy Speaking of penguins Thinking of radiators

The Basics: “Of” – The Special Preposition As noted, prepositions come before a noun and form the beginning of a prepositional phrases. “Of,” however, is slightly different. It acts very much like a conjunction in that it combines a noun with something else: another noun, an adverb or adjective, or a verb. Swift of foot Lean of limb Warm of heart Joining a noun and adjective Joining a noun to an adverb Sprightly of gait Fleetingly of importance Hardly of interest

The Basics: Articles The happy, yet strangely clean chimneysweep, ran quickly and cheerfully up and down the grimy streets of London in the fog. So what are the rest of the words here? Some are modifiers. There are two types of modifiers. Articles are those little words that sort of point to a noun. The most common is “the.” The the But “the” isn’t the only article.

The Basics: Articles There are two major types of articles: “definite” and “indefinite.” Both types are similar in that they point to a noun. The hats those people wore to this rodeo had an effect on our mayor. Thethose this an the

The Basics: Articles A “definite” article points to one or more specific nouns. The book This book That book Those books These books

The Basics: Articles An “indefinite” article points to an unspecified instance of a noun. A book An apple

The Basics: Putting It All Together Now let’s go back to our long simple sentence and examine the types of words it contains. The happy, yet strangely clean chimneysweep, ran quickly and cheerfully up and down the grimy streets of London in the fog. verb Subject-noun Object-noun Modifier: Adverbs Modifier: Adjectives Prepositions Articles

The Basics: Putting It All Together Now let’s go back to our long simple sentence and examine the types of words it contains. The happy, yet strangely clean chimneysweep, ran quickly and cheerfully up and down the grimy streets of London in the fog. verb Subject-noun Object-noun (note the joining “of”) Modifier: Adverbs Modifier: Adjectives Prepositions Articles ran chimneysweep streets of London strangely, quickly, cheerfully happy, clean, grimy up, down, in The (three times)

The Basics: Putting It All Together So what are these remaining words? The happy, yet strangely clean chimneysweep, ran quickly and cheerfully up and down the grimy streets of London in the fog. Conjunction (in this case) Another object, this time as a prepositional phrase. yet in the fog

The Basics: A Recap There are several types of words: Verbs Nouns Modifiers: Adjectives and Adverbs Articles: Definite and Indefinite. Prepositions – with “of” being a special instance

Sentences & Clauses: Analyzing Clauses To understand sentences, you must understand clauses. Every clause has a verb. Or to put it another way, every verb has a clause. There are two types of clauses: Independent Dependent. An independent clause can stand on its own as a sentence. In other words – an independent clause is a simple sentence. A dependent clause is a partial simple sentence.

At the most, there are three sections to a clause: the predicate (the verb and its modifiers) the subject (the subject-noun and its modifiers) the object (the object-noun and its modifiers) Sentences & Clauses: Analyzing Clauses

Here is a sentence composed of an independent and a dependent clause. The car narrowly missed the tree which had fallen across the road.

Sentences & Clauses: Analyzing Clauses Since the verb is the backbone of every clause, we begin by locating the verbs. The car narrowly missed the tree which had fallen across the road. There are two verbs in this sentence: missed had fallen The car narrowly missed the tree which had fallen across the road.

Sentences & Clauses: Analyzing Clauses Next we find the words modifying the verb The car narrowly missed the tree which had fallen across the road. “missed” is modified by “narrowly.” “had fallen” is not modified by anything

Sentences & Clauses: Analyzing Clauses The combination of the verb and its associated modifiers gives us our predicate – shown in brackets. The car (narrowly missed) the tree which (had fallen) across the road.

Sentences & Clauses: Analyzing Clauses Next we locate the subject-nouns. The car (narrowly missed) the tree which (had fallen) across the road. The subject-noun is the noun doing the action. Therefore, “car” is the subject noun of “missed,” and “which” is the subject-noun (pronoun) of “had fallen.”

Sentences & Clauses: Analyzing Clauses Then we find the modifiers and auxillary words associated with each subject-noun. The car (narrowly missed) the tree which (had fallen) across the road. For “car” the only word associated with it is the definite article, “the.” For “which” there are no associated words.

Sentences & Clauses: Analyzing Clauses The subject-noun and its associated words form the “subject” of the clause – shown in square brackets. [The car] (narrowly missed) the tree [which] (had fallen) across the road.

Sentences & Clauses: Analyzing Clauses Now we look to see if there are any object-nouns. These are the nouns to which the action is being done. [The car] (narrowly missed) the tree [which](had fallen) across the road. The thing the car “missed” is the “tree.” The thing the “which” had fallen across was the “road.”

Sentences & Clauses: Analyzing Clauses And as before, we find what words are associated with the object-nouns. [The car] (narrowly missed) the tree [which](had fallen) across the road. For “tree,” the only word associated with it is the definite article, “the.” For “which,” there is a definite article associated with it, but following it is a preposition, “across.” Since prepositions always start phrases (with the exception of “of”), then “across” is also associated with “road.”

Sentences & Clauses: Analyzing Clauses The object-nouns and their associated words form the “object” of each clause – shown in curly brackets. [The car] (narrowly missed){the tree} [which](had fallen) {across the road.}

Sentences & Clauses: Independent & Dependent This leaves us with two clauses: This clause can stand on its own as a complete simple sentence and is therefore an “independent clause.” "The car narrowly missed the tree” “which had fallen across the road” This clause can’t stand on its own as a complete simple sentence and is therefore a “dependent clause.” The car narrowly missed the tree which had fallen across the road.

Sentences & Clauses: A Recap All sentences are either complete simple sentences, or combinations of complete and incomplete simple sentences. A complete simple sentence is composed of a subject, a verb, and sometimes an object – always in the SVO order. A complete simple sentence can also be called an “independent clause.” It forms a complete thought A partial simple sentence can also be called a “dependent clause.” It has a subject and verb (no object) but cannot stand on its own as a full sentence. It doesn’t form a complete thought.