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Conventions for Units 1-6
Unit 1 Week 1- Four Kinds of Sentences: Declarative Sentences: tell something and end with a
period. Interrogative Sentences: ask something and end in a question mark. Imperative
Sentences: give a command or make a request and end with a period. Exclamatory Sentences:
express strong feelings and often end with an exclamation mark.
Unit 1 Week 2- Subjects and Predicates: A complete sentence must have a subject and a
predicate. The subject is the word or group of words that tells whom or what the sentence is
about. The predicate is the word or group of words that tell something about the subject. If a
sentence doesn’t have one of each, it is not a sentence but a sentence fragment.
Unit 1 Week 3- Independent and Dependent Clauses: A clause is a group of related words that
has a subject and a predicate. If a clause makes sense by itself, it is an independent clause. If a
clause does not make sense by itself, it is a dependent clause.
Unit 1 Week 4- Compound and Complex Sentences: A compound sentence contains two
simple sentences joined with a comma and a word such as and, but, and or. A complex
sentence is made up of a simple sentence and another part. The other part has a subject and
verb, but it is a dependent clause, which means it doesn’t make sense by itself.
Unit 1 Week 5- Common Nouns, Proper Nouns, and Appositives: A common noun names any
person, place, or thing. A proper noun names a particular person, place, or thing. Proper
nouns include titles of books and movies, as well as many abbreviations. Capital letters are
used for the first letter and each important word of a proper noun. When two nouns refer to
each other in the same sentence, they are known as appositives.
Unit 2 Week 1- Regular and Irregular Plural Nouns: Regular plural nouns name more than one
and are formed by adding –s or –es. Irregular plural nouns are formed in unusual ways such as
changing a final f or fe to v before adding –es.
Unit 2 Week 2- Possessive Nouns: A possessive noun shows ownership. Possessive nouns can
be either singular or plural. Singular nouns form singular possessives.
Unit 2 Week 3- Action and Linking Verbs: Action Verbs tell what the subject of the sentence
does. Linking Verbs link, or join, the subject to a word or words in the predicate. They tell
what the subject of a sentence is like. Common Linking Verbs include am, is, are, was, were,
will be, seem, feel, and look.
Unit 2 Week 4- Main and Helping Verbs: Main verbs show the action in a sentence. Main
verbs are always the last word in a verb phrase. Helping verbs clarify the meaning of the main
verb. For instance, they may indicate when the action takes place. The come before the main
verb in a sentence.
Unit 2 Week 5- Subject-Verb Agreement: Subject-Verb agreement occurs when the correct
singular or plural verb is used to match the singular or plural noun or pronoun in the subject.
Singular nouns and pronouns take singular verbs. Plural nouns and pronouns take plural verbs.
Unit 3 Week 1- Past, Present, and Future Tenses: Present tense verbs show action that is
happening now. Past Tense verbs show action that happened in the past. Most past tense
verbs are formed by adding –ed to the present tense. Future Tense verbs show action that will
happen in the future. Future tense verbs are formed by adding the word WILL or a form of IS
GOING TO to the present tense. Some verbs, however, do not follow the usual past tense rules.
These verbs are called irregular verbs, and their past tense forms must be memorized.
Unit 3 Week 2- Principle Parts of Regular Verbs: A verb’s tenses are formed from its principle
parts: the present, the past, and the past participle. Regular verbs add –d or –ed to form the
past tense.
Unit 3 Week 3- Principle Parts of Irregular Verbs: An irregular verb is one that does not add –
ed to form the past tense. Most irregular verbs have different spellings for the past and the
past participle.
Unit 3 Week 4- Troublesome Verbs: Troublesome Verbs are pairs of verbs that are confusing
because they have similar meanings or because they look alike.
Unit 3 Week 5- Prepositions and Prepositional Phrases: A preposition is a word that shows a
relationship between a noun and another noun. A prepositional phrase begins with a
preposition and ends with a noun called the object of the preposition.
Unit 4 Week 1- Subject and Object Pronouns: Pronouns used in the subjects of sentences are
called subject pronouns. Pronouns used as direct objects or objects of prepositions are object
pronouns.
Unit 4 Week 2- Pronouns and Antecedents: A pronoun is a word that replaces a noun or noun
phrase. The word or words that a pronoun stands for is the pronoun’s antecedent.
Unit 4 Week 3- Possessive Pronouns: A possessive pronoun is used in place of a possessive
noun. Like the possessive noun, it shows who or what owns something. Like a pronoun, it
takes the place of a noun, such as a person, animal, or thing. Remember that possessive
pronouns don’t take apostrophes.
Unit 4 Week 4- Indefinite and Reflexive Pronouns: Indefinite pronouns do not refer to a
particular person or thing. They can be used in the subject or predicate of a sentence.
Reflexive pronouns reflect the action of the verb back in the subject. They cannot be used as
the subject of a sentence.
Unit 4 Week 5- Who and Whom: Use who as the subject of a sentence. Use whom as the
object of a preposition such as to, for, or from, as a direct object. To check whether you should
write who or whom in a question, think of a sentence with he or him in place of who or whom.
If he is correct, then write who. If it is not correct, write whom.
Unit 5 Week 1- Contractions and Negative Contractions: A contraction is a shortened form of
two words. An apostrophe takes the place of one or more letters. Contractions can be formed
from a pronoun and a verb. A negative contraction is when you combine a verb with not. An
apostrophe takes the place of the letter o in not.
Unit 5 Week 2- Adjectives and Articles: An adjective is a word that modifies a noun or
pronoun. It usually, but not always, comes before the noun it describes. When an adjective is
used to modify a pronoun, it usually comes after the pronoun and follows a linking verb such as
is, was, look, or seem. Most adjectives answer the questions What kind?, How many?, How
much?, or Which one? The words a, am, and the are special adjectives called articles.
Unit 5 Week 3- Demonstrative Pronouns: This, That, These, and Those: This, that, these, and
those are demonstrative pronouns. They demonstrate the position of an object. This and
these refer to things that are nearby. That and those refer to things that are at a distance.
These pronouns have singular and plural forms. This and that are used to indicate single
objects, and these and those indicate multiple objects.
Unit 5 Week 4- Comparative and Superlative Adjectives: A comparative adjective is used to
compare two people, places, things, or groups. Add –er to most adjectives to make them
comparative. A superlative adjective is used to compare three or more people, places, things,
or groups. Add –est to most adjectives to make them superlative. Remember that there is no
need to combine the word more with comparative or superlative adjectives in your writing.
Unit 5 Week 5- Adverbs: An adverb tells how, when, or where something happens. It can
describe a verb, and adjective, or another adverb. Many adverbs that tell how end in –ly. You
can change adjectives to adverbs by adding –ly. A comparative adverb compares two people
places, things, or groups. Add –er to most adverbs to make them comparative. A superlative
adverb is used to compare three or more people, places, things, or groups. Add –est to most
adverbs to make them superlative.
Unit 6 Week 1- Modifiers: Remember to use modifiers correctly. A modifier is a word that
limits the meaning of another word. Keep modifiers close to the words they modify.
Sometimes using modifiers incorrectly changes the meaning of a sentence. Prepositional
phrases should be kept close to the words they modify too.
Unit 6 Week 2- Conjunctions: A conjunction is a word that joins words, phrases, or entire
sentences. And, or, and but are conjunctions. You can use conjunctions to join subjects,
predicates, and objects. Sometimes two sentences about related topics can be combined, using
a comma and conjunction or a subordinating conjunction such as because, if, then, or when.
Unit 6 Week 3- Commas: A comma is a punctuation mark that indicates a short pause. A
comma is used to set off or separate words or groups of words. Use a comma after a person’s
name when you directly address that person. Use commas to separate three or more words in
a series. Use commas to set off an appositive, which is an explanation placed next to a word.
Unit 6 Week 4- Questions and Question Marks: A quotation is the exact words a speaker says.
In your writing, put a quotation in quotation marks. Use commas to set off the words that
introduce a quotation. Also, place the end punctuation or the comma that ends the quotation
inside the quotation marks.
Unit 6 Week 5- Punctuation: Use a semicolon to join the parts of a compound sentence when
no conjunction is used. Use a colon to introduce a list. Use a hyphen in compound nouns, such
as great-uncle, and compound adjectives before a noun, such as out-of-town guests. Use
parentheses for words inserted as a comment.