Download Grammar At A Glance Chart 2017

Mechanics, Usage, and Grammar List
AT-A-GLANCE NOTES: Parts of speech, usage, punctuation, capitalization, and sentence structure.
TERM
NOUN
Types of Nouns:
DEFINITION and EXAMPLES
A NOUN is a word or word group that is used to name a person, place, thing, animal,
or idea.
A. COMMON NOUN - refers to a general group of persons, places, things, ideas
that are usually not capitalized.
(boy, dog, book, school, math, love, intelligence, movie)
B. PROPER NOUN - refers to the name or title of a specific person, place, thing,
idea.
(Providence High School, Snoopy, Miley Cyrus, The Book Thief, English)
C. CONCRETE NOUN - names a person, place, thing, or concept that is tangible or
can be perceived by our 5 senses.
(car, teacher, student, kitten, building, chair)
D. ABSTRACT NOUN - names a person, place, thing, or concept that does NOT
have physical qualities
(feelings/emotions, ideas, concepts)
E. COMPOUND NOUN - consists of two or more words used together as a single
noun.
(sister-in-law, word processor, Sitting Bull, Andy Griffith, World War II)
F. COLLECTIVE NOUN - a word that names a group.
(audience, chorus, crew, flock, assortment, bundle, troop)
G. POSSESSIVE NOUN - nouns that show possession or ownership. Will always
have an apostrophe.
(Harry's book, the dog's tail, my sister's dress, the man's hand, the boys' uniforms,
three girls' bows)
**Careful!!! You can tell if the noun is singular / plural by the placement of the
apostrophe.
H. SINGULAR NOUN - word that names a single person, place, thing, or idea.
No -s added.
(table, child, lamb, robot, class, root)
I. PLURAL NOUN - word that names more than one person, place, thing, or idea.
ADD -s, -es, -ies to form a plural noun
(puppies, gates, glasses, shoes, clocks)
FUNCTIONS OF NOUNS:
1. SUBJECT (SUBJ)
2. DIRECT OBJECT (DO)
3. INDIRECT OBJECT (IO)
4. APPOSITIVE (APP)
5. OBJ. OF PREPOSITION (OOP)
6. PREDICATE NOUN (PN)
TERM
PRONOUN
Pronoun / Antecedent
DEFINITION and EXAMPLES
A PRONOUN is a word that is used in place of one or more nouns or pronouns.
The ANTECEDENT is the word that a pronoun takes the place of.
Randy arrived to class late. He was sent to get a pass.
antecedent
Pronoun-Antecedent
Agreement
Types of Pronouns:
pronoun
Note: The pronoun and its antecedent must agree in number (singular/plural). If the
antecedent is plural, then the pronoun must also be plural and vice versa.
PERSONAL PRONOUN refers to the one speaking (1st person),
the one spoken to (2nd person), or the one spoken about (3rd
person)
1st person
2nd person
3rd person
I, me, we, us
you,
he, she, it, they, them
their,
(possessive) my, mine, our, ours
(possessive) your, yours
(possessive) him, his, her, hers, its,
theirs
A DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUN is used to point out a specific person, place,
thing, or idea.
(this, that, these, those)
AN INTERROGATIVE PRONOUN introduces a question.
(who, whom, which, what, whose)
A RELATIVE PRONOUN introduces a subordinate clause
(that, which, who, whom, whose)
An INDEFINITE PRONOUN is called such because it does not refer to anyone or
anything in particular.
Singular Indefinite
Pro.
anybody, anyone, anything,
everybody, everyone, everything,
nobody, no one, nothing,
somebody, someone, something,
one, either, neither, each
Plural Indefinite Pro.
both, few,
many, several
Sing. OR Plural Pro.
all, any, more, most,
none, some
**Depending on how used
in sentence.
TERM
ADJECTIVE
CONJUNCTION
***See attached handout for
examples of conjunctions
PREPOSITION
Prepositional Phrase
VERB
Types of verbs:
Action Verbs
(followed by DO/IO)
Linking Verbs
(followed by PA or PN)
(predicate adj. / predicate noun)
DEFINITION and EXAMPLES
An ADJECTIVE is a word that is used to modify (describe) a noun or
pronoun.
To modify means to describe a word or to make its meaning more
clear/definite.
The most frequently used adjectives are:
a
an
the
They're also called ARTICLES.
A CONUNCTION is a word used to connect words, clauses, and
sentences.
 Coordinating conjunction – connects two sentences (FANBOYS)
(for and, nor, but, or, yet, so)
 Subordinating conjunction – introduces a dependent clause
A PREPOSITION is a word that shows the relationship of a
noun/pronoun to another word in the sentence. (in, of, outside, down,
during, before, with, since, under)
**See notes for more comprehensive list.
A PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE consists of a preposition followed by
its OBJECT (a noun or pronoun)
Ex. in the basement
on the field
outside the building
A VERB is a word that is used to express action or a state of being.
A. ACTION VERB expresses either physical or mental action.
(study, scamper, scurried, landed, watches, drive)
B. LINKING VERB connects, or links, the subject to its compliment
(an adj. or another noun/pronoun)
Ex. am, is, are, was, were, be, been, being
C. HELPING VERB helps the main verb express action or state of
being.
(can, has, have, had, will, would, could, should, does, may, shall)
D. VERB PHRASE consists of at least one main verb and one or more
helping verbs.
(should have been studying, may be playing, will think, is reading, was
gambling)
ADVERB
INTERJECTION
An ADVERB modifies or changes verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs.
Tells WHERE, WHEN, HOW, TO WHAT EXTENT (how much)
An INTERJECTION expresses emotion. Has NO grammatical
relation to the rest of the sentence.
(oh, ah, hey, whew, well, whoa, yikes)
PHRASE
A PHRASE is a group of related words within a sentence that function as a single
part of speech.
DOES NOT contain both a verb and a subject.
Examples: in the car
CLAUSE
at the movies
his love of music
A CLAUSE is a word group that DOES contain a verb and its subject.
Independent Clause – can stand alone as a sentence by itself and expresses a
complete thought. We also call this a COMPLETE SENTENCE.
Example: A funny clown entertained the crowd of fans.
Dependent Clause – contains subject and verb…...Does NOT express complete
thought and is NOT stand alone as a sentence.
Example: Which was not at all funny.
SENTENCE STRUCTURES:
SIMPLE SENTENCE – an independent clause that contains a subject, a verb, and expresses a complete
thought.
S-V
SS-V
S-VV
SS-VV
COMPOUND SENTENCE – two related independent clauses (sentences) combined by a F-A-N-B-O-Y-S
I,cI
word (coordinating conjunction – for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so)
I;I
COMPLEX SENTENCE – an independent clause with one or more dependent clauses connected to it.
D,I
ID
COMPOUND-COMPLEX SENTENCE – two independent clauses with one or more dependent clauses
connected to it.
D, I,cI
I,c I D
SENTENCE TYPES:
Declarative – makes a statement, ends with a simple period.
Imperative – issues a command or request, ends with a period and can end with exclamation point
Interrogative – asks a question and ends with a question mark
Exclamatory – expresses strong emotion and ends with an exclamation point
CAPITALIZATION:
1. Names of people
2. Names of mountains, mountain ranges, hills and volcanoes
3. Names of bodies of water (rivers, lakes, oceans, seas, streams and creeks)
4. Names of buildings, monuments, bridges and tunnels
5. Street names
6. Schools, colleges and universities
7. Political divisions (continents, regions, countries, states, counties, cities and towns)
8. Titles of books, movies, magazines, newspapers, articles, songs, plays and works of art
9. The first letter in a sentence
10. The pronoun “I”
PUNCTUATION:
(;) SEMICOLON –
3 rules:
Rule 1: Use a semicolon between independent clauses that are closely related in theme.
Rule 2: Use a semicolon before conjunctive adverbs and transitional phrases that join independent clauses.
Rule 3: To ensure clarity, use a semicolon between items that contain internal punctuation.
(:)
COLON -
1. Use a colon after a sentence or independent clause when introducing a list of items.
2. Use a colon following a greeting (also known as a salutation) in a business letter
(‘)
APOSTROPHE - A. To show possession of singular nouns, the apostrophe goes BEFORE the –s.
That is Sheila’s book. (singular possessive)
The playful puppy chewed Bob’s shoes.
(singular possessive)
B. To show possession of plural nouns, the apostrophe goes AFTER the –s.
The cities’ buildings are massive and tall. (plural possessive)
All the kittens’ paws are as white as snow. (plural possessive)
C. To create a contraction – can’t, don’t, doesn’t, won’t, wouldn’t, hasn’t, haven’t
COMMAS (EIGHT BASIC USES)
1. USE A COMMA TO SEPARATE INDEPENDENT CLAUSES.
RULE: Use a comma before a coordinating conjunction (FANBOYS – for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so) when it
joins two complete ideas (independent clauses)
Examples: He walked down the street, and then he turned the corner.
You can go shopping with me, or you can go to a movie alone.
2. USE A COMMA AFTER AN INTRODUCTORY CLAUSE OR PHRASE.
RULE: Use a comma after an introductory clause. This tells reader that the clause has come to a close and
the main part of the sentence is about to begin.
Example: When Evan was ready to iron, his cat tripped on the cord and sent the iron flying.
RULE: Use a comma after an introductory phrase. It lets the reader know the phrase has come to a close
and the main part of the sentence is about to begin.
Example: Near a small stream at the bottom of the canyon, park rangers found a gold mine.
3. USE A COMMA BETWEEN ALL ITEMS IN A SERIES. (BETWEEN ITEMS IN A LIST)
RULE: Use a comma to separate each item in a series. A series is a list or group of 3 or more items.
Example: 1. We bought apples, peaches, and bananas today. (list of words)
2. Mary promised that she would be a good girl, that she would not bite her
brother, and that she would not climb onto the television. (list of clauses)
3. The instructor looked through his briefcase, through his desk, and around the
office for the lost grade book.
(list of phrases)
4. USE COMMAS TO SET OF NONRESTRICTIVE CLAUSES. (NONESSENTIAL CLAUSES)
RULE: Use commas to enclose clauses not essential to the meaning of the sentence. (nonrestrictive)
Clauses which are essential are called restrictive. Both restrictive and nonrestrictive clauses may begin with a
relative pronoun (who, whom, whose, that, which).
Example: Steven Strom, whose show you like, will host a party next week.
John, who spent the last three days fishing, is back on the job again.
(nonrestrictive)
(nonrestrictive)
The gentleman who is standing by the fireplace is a famous composer. (restrictive)
5. USE A COMMA TO SET OFF APPOSITIVES. (when the information IS NOT necessary for clarity)
RULE: An appositive is a noun or noun phrase that renames a nearby noun. It offers nonessential
information. Nonrestrictive appositives are set off with commas; restrictive appositives are not.
If the information in the appositive IS necessary, DO NOT USE COMMAS.
If the information IS NOT necessary, USE COMMAS.
Example: Alexander Pope, the Restoration poet, is famous for his monologues. (appositive)
The poet Pope is famous for his monologues. (no appositive)
The New York Jets, the underdogs, surprised everyone by winning. (appositive)
6. USE A COMMA TO INDICATE DIRECT ADDRESS. (the person to whom one is directly speaking)
RULE: When a speaker in a sentence names the person to whom he is speaking, this addressing of the
audience is called direct address. Direct address is indicated by the use of a comma or commas, depending
upon its placement within the sentence.
Example: I think, John, you’re wrong.
John, I think you’re wrong.
I think you’re wrong, John.
7. USE COMMAS TO SET OFF DIRECT QUOTATIONS.
RULE: A dialogue is a conversation between two or more people. The speaker’s identity and the exact
words he/she said are separated by a comma.
Example: Mary said, “I dislike concerts because the music is too loud.
“I dislike concerts because the music is too loud,” she said.
“I dislike concerts,” proclaimed Mary, “because the music is too loud.”
8. USE COMMAS WITH DATES, ADDRESSES, TITLES, AND NUMBERS.
DATES:
Ex. On December 12, 1890, orders were sent out for the arrest of Sitting Bull.
ADDRESSES:
Ex. John Lennon was born in Liverpool, England, in 1940.
Ex. Please send the letter to Greg Carvin at 708 Spring Street, Washington, IL 61571.
TITLES:
Ex. Sandra Belinsky, MD, has been appointed to the medical board.
NUMBERS:
Ex. 3,500
100,000
6,000,000