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GRAMMAR SLAMMER
CLUE CARD A
THE SENTENCE SKELETON
1. Subject – Verb Sentences
S
V
The dog ate.
2. Subject – Verb – Direct Object
S
V
DO
Our dog ate his bone.
Ask “What”
after the verb.
3. Subject – Verb - Indirect Object – Direct Object
S
V
DO
IO
Indirect objects are
between the verb
and direct object.
That dog gave the cat his toy.
“To” or “For”
before the indirect
object
4. Subject – Linking Verb – Predicate
Nominative
S
LV
PN
This dog is my pet.
The subject and
predicative
nominative can be
switched.
5. Subject – Linking Verb - Adjective
S
LV
That puppy is cute.
Adj
Can the adjective go
before the subject?
“Cute Puppy”
If you roll
a six,
roll again.
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GRAMMAR SLAMMER
CLUE CARD B
NOUNS
1. Proper Nouns
The subject (or any other noun) should name a
specific person, organization, place, or era of history.
Amanda is a Collie.
2. Compound Noun
Conjunctions:
AND, OR, NOR
The dog and cat are sleeping
3. Personal Pronoun
Replace a noun with the correct personal pronoun.
S
i
n
g
P
l
u
r
PERSON
NOMINATIVE CASE
OBJECTIVE CASE
1st
2nd
3rd
I
You
He, She, It
Me
You
Him, Her, It
1st
2nd
3rd
We
You
They
Us
You
Them
He is sleeping.
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4. Infinitive
to + verb
To + Verb
To growl shows poor manners.
5. Gerund
- Gerund A verb used as a
noun
Eating dog food is disgusting.
6. Relative Clause as the Subject
- Relative Pronouns –
Who
Whose
Whichever
Whoever has a dog has a friend.
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Whoever
Which
That
GRAMMAR SLAMMER
CLUE CARD C
ADJECTIVES
1. Simple Adjectives
A young dog will play ball.
2. Prepositional Phases
POSITION IN
Space: in, under, near, by etc.
Time: after, during, before etc.
Others: to, by, of, with, except
The dog in the large cage will play ball.
3. Compound Adjectives
Put a comma
between the
two
adjectives.
The playful, happy dog will play ball.
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4. Participial Phrases
Participle = A verb
form
used as an adjective.
Seeing us, our dog will play ball.
5. Relative Clause as an Adjective
S
V
S
V
A relative clause begins with a
relative pronoun.
Relative Pronouns
WHO, WHOM, WHICH,
WHOSE, THAT
The dog who jumped the fence will play ball.
If you roll
a six,
roll again.
5
Perfect Tense
Has “have” or “had”
in the verb phrase
GRAMMAR SLAMMER
CLUE CARD D
VERB TENSES

Progressive
Action is ongoing
Now
1. Present Perfect - Progressive
X
action
Rover has been growling at the man.
X Now
X
Ran
Growl X Action
2. Past Perfect – Simple Action
Rover had growled at the burglar who then ran away.
3. Past Perfect – Progressive Action
X
now
action
Rover had been growling at the burglar when the neighbors called the police.
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4. Future Perfect
Rover will have been brushed
before the next dog show.
Show
Future Action
X
X
Brushed
Now
X
5. Future Perfect – Progressive Action
Now
X
Action
Rover will have been stopping criminals for five years when he gets his next
ribbon as a police dog.
6. Compound Verbs
Rover growled and barked at the convict.
Conjunctions:
AND, OR, BUT
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Adverbs Modify:
VERBS
ADJECTIVES
ADVERBS
GRAMMAR SLAMMER
CLUE CARD E
ADVERBS
When?
Where?
How?
How Much?

1. Simple Adverbs
Can Only be used with Action Verbs.
If you have a linking verb in your sentence, roll again.
S
V
Our dog slept soundly.
2. Adverbial Prepositional Phrases
Can only be used with Action Verbs.
If you have a linking verb in your sentence, roll again.
S
V
POSITION IN
Time: after, during, before etc.
Others: to, by, of, with, except
Space: in, under, near, by etc.
The dog slept in the blue car.
3. Adverb modifying an adverb
Our dog slept quite soundly.
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4. Adverb modifying an adjective
The extremely tired dog slept.
5. Complex Prepositional Phrases
His dog will sleep on the porch in back of the house.
STOP
Before going on,
roll again.
If you get an EVEN
number, go to F.
If you get an ODD
number, go to G.
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GRAMMAR SLAMMER
CLUE CARD F
MISCELLANEOUS SENTENCES
1. Interjections
!
Exclamation
Mark Needed!
Wow! That dog is large.
2. Direct Address
,
Thomas, you come now.
Don’t forget
the comma.
,
3. Quotes
“Quotation marks are
required,” he said.
Nancy said, “Thomas is going to be a very large dog.”
“Thomas is going to be,” said Nancy, “a very large dog.
“Thomas is going to be a very large dog,” said Nancy.
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4. Questions
Split the verb phrase.
VERB SPLIT
Thomas will be sixty-five pounds.
Will Thomas be sixty-five pounds?
5. Appositive
N
( )
V
Appositives
Restate the Noun
Our Black Lab, Thomas, is quite large.
Commas
before and
after
YOUR
SENTENCE
IS NOW
COMPLETE
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GRAMMAR SLAMMER
CLUE CARD G
COMPOUND AND COMPLEX SENTENCES
1. Compound with Comma – Conjunction
The German Shepherd is my dog, and the Scottish Terrier is my sister’s dog.
CS, and CS
2. Compound with semi-colon
CS; CS
The German Shepherd is my dog; the Scottish Terrier is my sister’s dog.
3. Complex with comma
scDC, CS
SUBORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS
Because I like my dog, I take good care of her.
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After
Although
As
As soon as
Because
Before
If
In order to
Since
So
Then
That
Though
Unless
Until
When
Whenever
Where
Whether
While
4. Complex without a comma
I take good care of my dog because I like her.
CS sc DC
5. Compound/Complex Sentence
The Granddaddy
of all Sentences!
Our dog has won the state championship, and her puppy will compete in the next
show because he is well trained.
YOUR
SENTENCE
IS NOW
COMPLETE
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