Download Grammar boot camp part one

Grammar boot camp part one:
Helping verbs and prepositional
phrases
pretest results shouted loud and clear…we need to review these
two concepts!
Helping verbs:
Sometimes, a verb in a sentence is just one word. Often, however, a verb is made
up of several words. This type of verb is called a VERB PHRASE. A verb phrase
can have MULTIPLE helping verbs before the main part of the verb.
put
had put
will have put
might have put
should have been put
Use one of the VERB PHRASES above in a sentence on the line below.
__________________________________________________________________
EX:
Recognizing Helping Verbs:
The EASIEST way to remember the helping verbs is to memorize the song. This
time I REALLY mean memorize! (to the tune of “Jingle Bells”)
Helping verbs! Helping verbs!
There are twenty-three!
Am, are, is! Was and were!
Being, been, and be!
Have, has, had! Do, does, did!
Shall, should, will, and would!
There are five more helping verbs!
May, might, must, can, could!
But…sometimes helping verbs can be separated!
Words in a VERB PHRASE can be separated by other words. Common interrupters
include NOT, CERTAINLY, and CAREFULLY. (notice they are all adverbs)
EX:
They must NOT have been taken by taxi to the airport.
Marie has CERTAINLY NOT contacted us.
He had CAREFULLY kept all the records.
BOOTCAMP PART One practice: helping verbs
BOX the verb phrases in the sentences below. Be mindful that some phrase will
have interrupters (you can keep them inside the box )!!
1. As the immigrants arrived in America, they would be taken to Ellis Island.
2. They had been gathered into large groups.
3. Impatient guards were shouting instructions to the nervous crowds.
4. Most of the people could not understand the guards who were directing them.
5. The immigrants had been carrying their bags for hours.
6. They were being led into large rooms.
7. There, they were given a choice about their baggage.
8. They could check their bags, or they could carry them into the next room.
9. The immigrants were being closely observed by the inspectors.
10.
They would eventually be checked by each inspector.
Prepositional phrases:
Prepositions function as connectors, relating one word to another within a
sentence. But a preposition is NEVER used by itself in a sentence! A
PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE is a group of words that begins with a PREPOSITION
and ends with a NOUN OR PRONOUN Some prepositional phrases have modifiers
(like ARTICLES , ADJECTIVES and POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS) so they’re a
little longer.
Recognizing Prepositional Phrases:
The EASIEST way to remember the prepositions is to memorize the song. This
time I REALLY mean memorize! (to the tune of “Yankee Doodle”)
About, above, across, after, along, among, around at.
Before, beside, between, against, within, without, beneath, through
During, under, in, into, over, of, off, to, toward
Up, on, near, for, from, except
By, with, behind, below, down
Remember…a prepositional phrases ALWAYS START with a preposition and
STOP when you hit a VERB or PUNCTUATION MARK.
BOOTCAMP PART One practice: prepositional phrases
Cross out the prepositional phrases in the sentences below. Be mindful that some
phrase will have modifiers!!
1. Mars is the fourth planet from the sun.
2. For 687 Earth days, Mars revolves around this giant star.
3. Two moons revolve around the planet.
4. Deimos orbits Mars once in thirty hours, while Phobos orbits in only eight
hours.
5. The surface of Mars is red and dusty.
6. Huge dust storms blow across the rocky ground.
7. The dust mixed with the wind makes the air pink.
8. Sometimes the storms can last for several months!
9. The atmosphere on Mars is thin, so asteroids can easily crash into its surface.
10.
Because of these crashes, Mars is scarred by craters.