1. To enhance your writing
Grammar Rules
To enhance your writing

2. Parts of Speech
Preposition – Tells where something takes place ('at' the store), when or why something takes place ('before' dinner), or general descriptive information (the girl 'with' the cool shoes). Exceptions are the words “of” and “for”. A prepositional phrase always ends with a noun (he went to the store).
Pronoun - A word that takes the place of a noun, noun phrase, or noun clause. A pronoun can function as a subject, object, or complement in a sentence. Examples: Anything, each, ourselves, that, these, whatever, nothing, most…

3. Parts of Speech continued
Interjection - Most commonly used in informal language rather than in formal writing or speech. Function is to express emotions or sudden bursts of feelings. Is in the form of a single word, a phrase, or even a short clause. Examples: Sweet! I got a PS4 for my birthday! Holy cow! I forgot my keys! Shawie is our chemistry teacher. Oh, the horror!
Conjunction - the part of speech used as a “joiner” for words, phrases, or clauses in a particular sentence. Examples: “I was trying to daydream, but my mind kept wandering.” "A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable but more useful than a life spent doing nothing.“

4. Appositive Phrase
a noun or noun phrase that renames another noun right beside it and is separated from the main sentence with commas.
Its main purpose is to give the reader more detail about the noun it modifies.
Example: The insect, a large cockroach with hairy legs, is crawling across the kitchen table.
Example: Queen Victoria, one of England's greatest monarchs, ruled for sixty-three years.
Please write your own example in your notes.

5. Participle Phrases
A participle phrase is an adjective and begins with a participle word (usually ending in “ing”).
It is located directly after the noun it modifies.
In other words, it is used to describe the noun it follows.
Example: Is that Arthur running for the bus?
Example: You could see the panther releasing its grip.
Please write your own example in your notes.
Punctuation: When a participial phrase begins a sentence, a comma should be placed after the phrase.
Arriving at the store, I found that it was closed.
If the participle or participial phrase comes in the middle of a sentence, it should be set off with commas only if the information is not essential to the meaning of the sentence.
Sid, watching an old movie, drifted in and out of sleep.
Note that if the participial phrase is essential to the meaning of the sentence, no commas should be used:
The student earning the highest grade point average will receive a special award.

6. Punctuation is Powerful!
An English professor wrote the words…
“A woman without her man is nothing.”
All of the males in the class wrote:
“A woman, without her man, is nothing.”
All of the females wrote:
“A woman: without her, man is nothing.”

7. Gerund Phrase
Begins with an ing word, and usually functions as a noun that is the subject in the sentence, unlike the participle phrase. Therefore, it is not separated by commas.
Example: Eating ice cream on a windy day can be a messy experience if you have long, untamed hair.
Example: Bill decided that scrambling over the pile of debris was not safe. (Scrambling serves as the subject to this sentence).
Please write your own example in your notes.

8. Infinitive Phrase
A verb plus any complements (direct object) and/or modifiers (adverb)
Example: He likes to knead the dough slowly when making pizza.
Example: The teacher stayed after school to help her students.
Please write your own example and identify the direct object and modifier if necessary.

9. Connotation vs. Denotation
Connotation: the wide array of positive and negative associations that most words naturally carry with them
Example: love and romance
Denotation: the precise, literal definition of a word that might be found in a dictionary.
Example: a red flower with a green stem