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Sentence Skills
Pre-Test
Instructions: Unscramble the words to create a sentence. Pay attention to punctuation
and capital letters. You need to add commas in some sentences.
1. day/ life/ my/ in/ busy/ typical/ a/ is/ usually/ a/ day/
2. home/ school/ I / things/ do/ many/ at / work/ and/ at/ at/
3. typical/ 7:00 o’clock/ my/ day/ begins/ normally/ at
4. time/ get/ up/ this/ the/ is/ morning/ every/I
5. brush/ shower/ take/ teeth/ a/ my/ getting up/ I / after/ and/
6. breakfast/ showering/ after/ have/ I/
7. school/ breakfast/ leave/ I/ for/ after/
8. arrive/ at/ school/ at/ I/ at/ 9:00 A.M./ Mondays/ on
9. class/ go/ to/ from/ to/ I/ 9:25 A.M./ 12:05 P.M./
10. lunch/ I/ have/ 12:30P.M./ at/ almost/ day/ every/
11. lunch/ after/ class/ last/ to/ go/ my/ I/ ends
12. class/ after/ go/ I/ to/ work/ my/ ends
13. work/ I/ a/ hours/ three/ day/ but/ at/ study/ night/ I/
14. work/ store/ shoe/ a/ in/ I/ day/ every/
15. work/ do/ home/ after/ you / come/ ?
16. dinner/ have/ I/ homework/ do/ ,/ sleep/ to/ go/ and/ my/
17. usually/ day/ have/ I / busy/ very/ a/ work/ school/ home/ at/ at/ at/ and/
What is a sentence?
A sentence is a group of words that ...
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



begins with a capital letter
contains a subject (except imperatives)
contains a verb
contains one complete idea (an independent clause)
ends with a punctuation mark
You are going to learn how to write sentences step by step. To learn about subjects, you
need to know nouns and pronouns. To write verbs correctly, you need to know regular
and irregular forms of the tenses. To learn what an independent clause is (and what it
is NOT), you need to learn about fragments and run-on sentences and how to avoid
them.
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Basic Sentence Patterns
There are 5 basic sentence patterns in English. Before we start this lesson (or after class
in the lab), go to these 5 websites.
sentences with these patterns.
Click the buttons on the screen at each site to see
The 5 Basic Patterns
Subject + Verb
(http://www.manythings.org/rs/sv.html)
I swim. Joe swims. They swam.
Subject + Verb + Object
(http://www.manythings.org/rs/svo.html)
I drive a car. Joe plays the guitar. They ate dinner.
Subject + Verb + Complement
(http://www.manythings.org/rs/svc.html)
I am busy. Joe became a doctor. They look sick.
Subject + Verb + Indirect Object + Direct Object
(http://www.manythings.org/rs/sviodo.html)
I gave her a gift. She teaches us English.
The last pattern is for level 5 and grammar, and you will not see it in your level 4
classes, but you can look at it now if you want.
Subject + Verb + Object + Complement
(http://www.manythings.org/rs/svoc.html)
I left the door open. We elected him president. They named her Jane.
Nouns
A noun is a person, place, thing, or idea. Almost every sentence in English has at least
one noun. If you look closely, you can find them. Look at the following paragraph. In it,
all of the nouns are highlighted in bold. (All of these paragraphs were written by
Yuliana Rodriguez.)
Maybe when you were a child, you read the book The Little Prince, and you
did not understand it. Maybe you thought that some French guy named
Antoine de Saint-Exupery decided to write a story about a child from
another planet who traveled around the universe, and maybe you still think
that it is a nice book to entertain children, but is that really what the book
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is about? Is that the real purpose of the author? The truth is that this
book encloses a philosophy about three different aspects of life.
Exercise 1
Instructions: Can you find the nouns in this paragraph? Be careful. It is sometimes
easy to confuse a noun with an adjective.
The first and most important aspect that this book discusses is the loss of
our dreams while we grow, while we fight to get social status, or while we
are afraid of failing. The book encourages us to go back to our childhood,
making us remember what it is that we really wanted to do with our lives,
and it causes us to start to change our ways of living, affirming that it is
never too late to start again.
Here are some common types of nouns and some of their characteristics.
1. Proper nouns (CAPITALIZED) name people, places, or things.
Examples: Sandra Day O'Conner, Chevrolet
2. Common nouns (not capitalized) refer to people, places or things.
Examples: judge, automobile, poem
Exercise 2:
Instructions: Circle the proper nouns in this paragraph written by Martha Archela
(adapted for this exercise).
http://www.mdcc.edu/kendall/esl/wave/JAUtips.html
Learning English in a place like Miami is difficult because a
large amount of the population is Hispanic, which implies that
almost 100% of that population speaks Spanish. Where ever
you go, you will find people who speak Spanish. For instance,
when I go to Publix Supermarket or to Bank Atlantic, the
person whom I talk to quickly answers in Spanish. It doesn't
matter whether he or she is an American or not. That almost
everyone in Miami speaks Spanish is not an obstacle for me to
learn English. One of the things I do in order to learn English
is to borrow some printed books and audiobooks with the same
title. Later at home, while reading the printed book, I listen
to the audiobook, paying attention to the pronunciation, the
grammar, and the punctuation. Seeing me study that way, my
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husband said that I was wasting time and that I was not going
to learn anything, so he asked me why I didn't enroll at MiamiDade Community College. I answered that I probably would go.
Exercise 3:
Instructions: Underline the common nouns in Martha's paragraph. (above)
To study more about common and proper nouns, visit
this Randall Gwin Website:
http://www.mctc.mnscu.edu/~gwinra.faculty/na_esl/common_and_proper_nouns.htm
All common nouns and proper nouns can be divided into two categories:
count nouns and non-count nouns.
1. "Count nouns" can be counted. (They can be plural.)
Examples: cup=cups, person=people, dog=dogs, child=children, man=men
2. "NonCount nouns" are not plural. They are counted by adding a counting
or measuring word.
Examples: a cup of sugar, a piece of fish, a pound of gold, a lot of love
Exercise 4:
Instructions: Are the following nouns from Martha's paragraph count or non-count?
1. __ count
__ non-count
English
2. __ count
__ non-count
place
3. __ count
__ non-count
pronunciation
4. __ count
__ non-count
thing
5. __ count
__ non-count
time
6. __ count
__ non-count
audio book
7. __ count
__ non-count
American
8. __ count
__ non-count
obstacle
9. __ count
__ non-count
Spanish
10. __ count
__ non-count
Hispanic
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To study more about count/non-count nouns,
visit this Randall Gwin Web Site:
http://www.mctc.mnscu.edu/~gwinra.faculty/na_esl/count_and_noncount.htm
Gerunds and nouns
A Gerund is the –ing form of the verb used as a noun.
Examples:
I enjoyed visiting the Sequoia National Forest.
Eating too quickly can give you indigestion.
Gerunds can be nouns. Look at these examples:
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


Swimming is good exercise.
Swimming and jogging are good ways to lose weight.
Eating too quickly can cause indigestion.
Working on the computer too many hours can give you a headache.
Pronouns
Pronouns are used to replace nouns. They can be the subject or object of a
sentence.
Subject Object
Pronoun Pronoun
I
me
you
you
he
him
she
her
it
it
one
one
we
us
they
them
Here are some of the different types of pronouns.
1. Personal pronouns (I, you, us, her) are for
people and things.
2. Relative pronouns (who, which, whom) begin
dependent clauses and refer to people and things.
3. Demonstrative pronouns (this, these, that,
those) point to the nouns they replace.
|4. Interrogative pronouns (who, which, what)
form questions.
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5. Reflexive pronouns (herself, themselves)
repeat, rename, or emphasize a noun or pronoun.
6. Indefinite pronouns (one, anyone, everybody)
are for general, or nonspecific, persons or things.
Examples:
Look at the paragraph below. All of the pronouns in the example box below are
underlined.
The idea that “everybody is in a different world” is the second philosophic
idea that we can find in this book. The author establishes that each person
creates his or her own reality and lives inside it, sometimes without
noticing what is going on around him. Exupery highlights this idea,
encouraging us to investigate the other’s reality, to make our lives easier as
members of a society through tolerance. The third and last idea is the
value of friendship. This book encourages us to keep our friends by exalting
this kind of relationship as the most important one in a person’s life. This
affirms that the time that we spend with our friends and the things we
learned from them makes our friends unique. It also includes the council of
keeping our friends as treasures, which is what they really are.
Exercise 5
Instructions: Underline the nouns, and circle the pronouns in this final paragraph from
Yuliana's essay:
This book not only includes these three things, but it also talks about
love, family, society, and happiness. It really makes us think about our life.
Don’t you think it is time to stop to meditate? Don’t you think it would be
good to read this book again? Now that you can see things from a different
point of view, you will see for yourself that The Little Prince is much more
than a fairy tale.
Exercise 6:
Underline the nouns, and circle the pronouns in this final paragraph from Noemi
Juaregui's essay:
My Partner’s Best Friend,
Carmen Hars
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Patricia Pinacho has a special best friend whose name is Carmen Hass. Patricia met
Carmen two years ago when they were studying English. Carmen likes her because she is
a good conversationalist, good at keeping secrets, and very easygoing. The best quality
that Carmen possesses is that she is straightforward. They have something in common
because both of them like to talk a lot. The difference between Patricia and Carmen is
that Patricia prefers to stay at home, and Carmen likes going to parties. What Patricia
likes most about Carmen is her delicious cooking. In conclusion, it is wonderful to have a
best friend like Patricia has in Carmen.
VERBS
3 Facts about Verbs
1---All sentences have at least one verb, and there are no exceptions to this rule.
2---Verbs can describe an occurrence (an action) or a state of being.
occurrence:
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

It happened last night.
I will send the letters
tomorrow.
The dog barked.
It happened last night.
state of being:




The child is going to get well
soon.
The soup tasted delicious.
The universe has existed for
eons.
It will occur later.
3---There are four types of verbs in English:
1. TRANSITIVE VERBS usually need a direct object and may also have an
indirect object.
Example: He GAVE the book to me.
2. INTRANSITIVE VERBS cannot take objects..
Example: He FELL. (Wrong: "He fell me.")
3. LINKING VERBS are followed by an adjective or a noun.
Example: The music SOUNDS good.
4. AUXILIARY (or helping) VERBS show tense and mood.
Examples: He WAS getting up. He SHOULD go with you.
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Complete VS Simple Predicates
Now let's look at the difference between the COMPLETE PREDICATE of a sentence and
the SIMPLE PREDICATE.
A Complete Predicate is all the words that describe the action of the sentence.
Example: Henry is going to go to the beach tomorrow with is sister and brother.
A Simple Predicate is the main verb of the sentence -- not the adverbs or other words
around the verb.
Example: Henry is going to go to the beach tomorrow with his sister and brother.
Note: There will more than one predicate in a sentence if it is a compound
or complex sentence.
Example: Andy wanted to go to the beach with us, but Mother didn't want
him to be out in the sun so soon after his illness.
Exercise 1
Instructions: In the following sentences, the complete predicate (the main verb, its
auxiliaries and all the words that describe the action) are underlined. Circle the simple
predicate (the main verb).
1. Many teachers are going to that conference.
2. Charlie has opened the door all by himself today.
3. After the movie, Jacob is going to take Margaret to a nice restaurant.
4. The dog was barking and lunging at the people walking by.
5. The cat ran up a tree this morning.
Exercise 2:
Instructions: In the following sentences, the simple predicate (the main verb and its
auxiliaries) are underlined. Can you underline the complete predicate?
1. Henry was singing and dancing with the people at the party.
2. The professor arrived late to the class.
3. It happened on my birthday last year.
4. A major earthquake will occur within the next 10 years.
5. The symphony sounded offkey last night.
6. Harriet didn't feel like going to the zoo with her children yesterday.
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Exercise 3
Instructions: Underline the complete verbs in the following paragraph written by Lisday
Bello.
My First Trip to the United States
Lisday Bello
Every time I think about when I first came to the United States, my thoughts remind me of
many things that I can never forget. When I left Cuba 3 years ago, we departed from Jose
Marti International Airport, which is located in Havana. During the flight, I stared out the
window thinking how my life was going to change and the problems that I was going to face.
While I was leaving the country where I grew up, I was also leaving the persons that I love
the most, my parents.
By that time, I didn’t know when I was going to see my family again, nor did I know how
difficult this was going to be. When we arrived at Miami International Airport, my uncle was
waiting for me to take me to his house where I lived for a few months. Once outside the
airport, I was so impressed that I couldn’t believe just what I had in front of my eyes.
Everything seemed as if I were in a movie, one I had watched on TV. If I were not in this
country, I would not have experienced that great time I had when I first came here.
Subject Verb Agreement
All verbs must agree with their subjects. What does this mean?
If the subject is singular, then the verb must be singular. If the subject is plural, then
the verb must be plural. It sounds easy, right? Well, the problem is that sometimes it
is difficult to find the simple subject of the sentence. It can be surrounded by
prepositional or adverbial phrases. If you cannot find the subject, you will make
mistakes with subject-verb agreement. The most common errors happen when a noun
comes at the beginning of a sentence, but there is a preposition preceding it. In the
next section, you will learn about prepositions and prepositional phrases. For now,
remember that the simple subject of a sentence is never inside a prepositional phrase.
Here is a preview of the next lesson: Can you find the simple subject in these
sentences:

One of the students in her class (is ---are) the new class president.

One of the most beautiful countries in the South America is Venezuela.
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Exercise 1
Instructions: Circle the subject-verb agreement errors in this essay by Alexis Arroyo.
Correct each error
How Computers Have Improved Our Lives
by Alexis Arroyo
(1)Computers has improved student’s lives, medical equipment, and communication
technology more then any other invention in world history.
(2)Now computer technology have made student life easier and faster. (3)For example,
now they can find information in regards to their homework instead of having to go to the
library. (4)Also, they helps students keep in touch with their teachers all the time.
(5)Several kinds of computers has improved medical equipment also. (6)One of these
improvements are the new robot built to make it possible for a surgeon to perform surgery
even if the patient are thousands of miles away.
(7)In addition, computers improves communication all over the world. (8)For example,
people does not have to spend hundreds of dollars on long distance calls. (9)Therefore, they
can converse for hours without having to spend a penny.
(10)These are just a few examples of how computers has improved student life, develop
medical equipment, and improving communication technology. (11)In my opinion, computers
are the greatest invention in world history.
Exercise 2:
Instructions: Each of the sentences below contain an error in agreement. Identify the
error by underlining it. Write the correction in the blanks.
Example: John live in Montreal. --- lives
1. They has lived here for ten years.
________________
2. Robert and Mary is good friends. ________________
3. The instructor teach the class very well. ________________
4. Both of them teaches in the college. ________________
5. Amy and Tom is going to get married next month. ________________
6. He have wished that you would come to his wedding. ________________
7. Elly and Leslie was at the party. ________________
8. Only one of the students were doing his best, but it wasn’t good enough.
________________
9. I has to be home by three o’clock. ________________
10. The weather in Miami and Ft. Lauderdale have a been beautiful this weekend.
________________
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Exercise 3:
Instructions: Each of the sentences below contains an error in agreement. Circle the
error and then write the correction in the blank.
1. One of them live on my block. ________________
2. Rhonda have waited a long time for this day. ________________
3. Monica and Wendy's sharing an apartment together. ________________
4. One of her best friends like to go ice skating. ________________
5. Dolly and her aunt tries to improve their English. ________________
6. Peter give some money to his daughter. ________________
7. Leslie study at the University in the evening. ________________
8. Learning English are difficult. ________________
9. Both of us wants to go to Europe. ________________
10. Elena and Cary drives to work every morning. ________________
To learn more about subject-verb agreement, study these great Randall Gwin Web sites:
http://www.mctc.mnscu.edu/~gwinra.faculty/na_esl/subject_verb_agreement.htm
http://www.mctc.mnscu.edu/~gwinra.faculty/na_esl/irregular_simple_present.htm
http://www.mctc.mnscu.edu/~gwinra.faculty/na_esl/tense_and_aspect.htm
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Prepositional Phrases
Facts:
1. A preposition connects a noun to other words in a sentence.
2. There are "single-word" prepositions, and "multi-word" propositions.
3. The preposition and its noun (called "the object of the preposition") together are
called a "prepositional phrase".
Remember: The noun in a prepositional phrase is NEVER the subject of the
sentence. Many sentences in English have prepositional phrases (a preposition and a
noun that is the object of that preposition).
Look at the sentences in the diagram below:
There are several nouns in the sentences, right? But only ONE noun is the subject of
the sentence. The other nouns here are objects of prepositions (they come after a
preposition), or a subject in a subordinate clause (you will learn about this very soon.)
The subject of the sentence is the person or thing that action in the sentence.
What is the subject of these sentences? “There” and “John.” How do you
know that? Because they are the “Do-ers” of the action.
There + IS
John + ORDERED.
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Some common prepositions:










about
above
across
after
against
along
among
around
at
before










behind
below
beneath
beside
between
beyond
by
despite
down
during










for
from
in
into
like
near
of
off
on
out











over
since
through
throughout
to
toward
under
until
up
with
without
More examples of prepositional phrases.
Question: Can you identify the main subject in these two sentences?
1. Beside the lake on the blanket with her daddy, baby Jasmine is
drinking her milk.
2. Without any money in his pocket and with no friends in the city, John
decided to move to Miami for the winter.
Answer: "Jasmine" and "John"
Exercise 1:
Instructions: Underline the prepositional phrases in these sentences. Then circle the
main subject of the sentence. Remember that the subject of the sentence will NeVeR
be inside a prepositional phrase.
1. Between Maple Street and Vine, there is a wonderful donut shop with
freshly ground coffee.
2. In the International Student Program, many students come from Central
and South America.
3. One of the most beautiful countries in South America is Venezuela.
4. On the corner of the table next to the computer, the cat was sleeping
quietly with with her head resting on a speaker.
5. My children and I are traveling to France during our next vacation in
June.
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6. At the end of the semester, before the professor gives us our final
grades, we must take a final exam and turn in three essays.
7. Most of the sunsets in the rainforest of Brazil are brilliant.
8. Some of those elephants in that large paddock next to the giraffes look
sick.
9. Both of the dogs were tired after they came back from the long walk.
10. Judy and her family are moving to a quiet little town in South Florida
next summer.
Exercise 2:
Instructions: Underline the prepositional phrases (the preposition and the noun after
the preposition) in this description. Then circle the object of the preposition, and
double-underline the subject of the sentence.
1. All of the people in the room liked
the movie about old Jim.
Old Jim liked to fish at the Mirror
Lake, but as we saw in the movie,
when his line was in the water, he
always fell asleep. One day as he was
fishing reclining against a rock, he
fell asleep. In the water around his
fishing line, many fish began to jump
up out of the water. They were
trying to wake Jim up. They were
trying to warn Jim about
something........ something very
important.
I guess you will need to see the
movie to learn more.....
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Exercise 3 ---Group Assignment
Instructions: In small groups write a story or a description of one of the pictures below
using prepositional phrases. Write five sentences (minimum). Circle the prepositions.
Share your description with classmates.
Vocabulary: dock, fishing net
Vocabulary: computer monitor, keyboard
Vocabulary: campfire, kettle, sunset, horse,
saddle
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SENTENCES
Almost every sentence has a subject and a verb.
John and I
study at night.
subject
verb
Imperatives or commands are exceptions to this rule. Commands do not have subjects,
but they ARE complete sentences! Look at these examples of imperatives.
Stop it!
Come in. Sit down. Be quiet.
Play with me.
Don't fall!
Get off that wall!
Watch out!
Be careful!
Why don’t we need a subject in an imperative sentence?
In the imperative sentence, we understand that the subject is always YOU. The “you” is
invisible.
In other sentences, the subject is named, and you need to remember that the verb must
"agree" in number with that subject. This means that when the subject of the sentence
is singular, the verb is singular, too. When the subject is plural, the verb is plural. The
following subjects and verbs are conjugated correctly in the present tense.
Look at these sentences. There is a subject and a verb in each one.
You read the paper every day, don't you?
Mathew seems frustrated with his computer.
David finally hit the ball!
Jane and I are going to watch the soccer game together.
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Do you want some soda or a snack?
Exercise 1
Instructions: Look at the pictures and the subjects for each sentence. Write a
creative sentence for each picture using the subjects that are given.
Look at me!
1) I...
2) I...
3) I...
Little toy:
4) You...
Baby Jane:
5) You...
The father:
6) He...
The boat:
7) It...
The mother:
8) She...
My dog and I
9) We...
10) We...
11) We...
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Sally and her puppy
11) They...
12) They...
13) They...
Subjects and Objects
The subject of the sentence tells who does the action in a sentence. The object
receives the action of the verb. Easy, right? Let's look at the difference between the
COMPLETE SUBJECT the SIMPLE SUBJECT and the OBJECTS. This idea is important
because in order to make sure that you have correct subject-verb agreement in the
sentence, you have to make sure that the SIMPLE subject agrees with the verb. But
sometimes, the simple subject is inside of a very long COMPLETE subject with lots of
adjectives and prepositional phrases around it and it is hard to find. Here are the
definitions:
A Complete Subject is a noun or a group of words such as "My brother, John, who
studies with his best friend at the University of Miami" or "The man over there
on the corner in the yellow hat". The complete subject includes all of the words
that describe the simple subject of the sentence.
A Simple Subject is one or more nouns (car, John Brown) or pronouns (he, it). It
is the the subject of the verb. To help you write sentences that have correct
subject-verb agreement, it is necessary to identify the simple subject of a
sentence.
The other important element of most sentences is the OBJECT. The Object
often comes after a verb. The object of a verb is a noun.
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Example:
To find the direct object of a verb, you can use this process: 1) find the subject,
2) find the verb, 3) ask "subject + verb + WHAT?" The answer to that question
will give you the object. Here is an example:
Sentence: My brother studies English with his friends.
subject = brother
verb = studies
answer= English (the object)
question = brother studies WHAT?
Exercise 2
Instructions: Identify the subject (s), verb (v), and object (o) of the verb in these
sentences.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
The students over there are studying English.
Both of us raised our hands in class.
All of the people in this room came to the play.
The boy in the hall ate lunch later.
Most cats climb trees.
Almost all of my friends watch MTV.
Exercise 3
Instructions: Answer these questions in complete sentences. When you finish, circle
all of the subjects. Underline the verbs.
1. What is your favorite sport? Why do you like this sport? Where do you
play it?
2. Who is the most famous person in your country? Why is he famous? Do
you admire him? Why or why not?
3. What is the title of your favorite book? What is the book about?
4. Who is the strangest person you know? Why do you consider this person
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strange?
5. Who is your best friend? Where does s/he live? work
When you are locating subjects, BE CAREFUL with prepositional phrases. The noun
that comes after the preposition in a prepositional phrase is NEVER the subject of the
sentence.
Exercise 4:
Identify the simple subject in these sentences. Then read the explanation that follows
to see if you were correct.
1. After many years of study, both of my daughters became professionals.
Notice that the subject here is "BOTH". The first part of the sentence "after
many years of study" is only a prepositional phrase. To find the subject of a
sentence, ask "WHO" is performing the action. The simple subject is usually only
ONE word. "Of my daughters" is a prepositional phrase and you will almost never
find the main subject inside of a prepositional phrase.
2. After we finish washing the dishes, you can watch the movie with your friends in the
living room.
Notice that the subject here is "YOU". The first part of the sentence is only a
prepositional phrase. To find the subject of a sentence, ask "WHO" is performing
the action ("can watch" is the action.). The simple subject is usually only one word.
3. The third chapter in the book really helps me understand English verbs.
The subject here is "CHAPTER". To find the subject of this sentence, look at the
verb and then ask "WHAT" or "WHO" + that verb. In this case, "What HELPS me
understand English verbs?". The answer is "chapter". (The simple subject is usually
only ONE word.) In this sentence "the third" are modifier words; not the simple
subject. Adjectives are never the simple subject of a sentence.
4. Trust is an important ingredient for a good relationship.
The subject in this sentence is "TRUST". Remember that the simple subject of a
sentence is only the noun that performs the action -- not the adjectives or articles
that describe that noun. Simple subjects can be nouns such as "John Brown" or
"car" or a pronoun such as "he" or "it".
5. Who is going to teach the class when the teacher goes to the conference?
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In this sentence, the subject is the interrogative pronoun, "WHO". This
pronoun is always singular. This sentence would be incorrect if it had a
plural verb: "Who are to teach the class ..."
6. That is not what the professor said during the review session yesterday.
The subject in this sentence is "That". Remember that subjects go in front of the
main verb in a sentence. The main verb here is "is".
7. The house on the corner with all of the flowers in front and the strange doorknob is
for sale.
The simple subject in this sentence is "house". Remember that descriptions that
are made with prepositional phrases like "with all of the flowers" are almost never
the simple subject of a sentence. Prepositional phrases only give additional
information or description in a sentence.
Exercise 5:
Instructions: Circle the simple subject in these sentences. Underline the prepositional
phrases. Remember that you will not find the simple subject inside of a prepositional
phrase.
1. One of the team captains called you this morning.
2. When I think about when I first came to the United States, my
thoughts remind me of many things that I can never forget.
3. By that time, I didn’t know when I was going to see my family again.
4. Once outside the airport, I was impressed with all that I saw.
5. Special rooms and clothes are used to protect patients from hurting
themselves. (this sentence has a compound subject: 2 words)
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Internet Activities
Diagnostic Quiz and Customized Practice for Grammar in General
http://www.collegeem.qc.ca/cemdept/anglais/trouble3.htm
Subject-Verb Agreement
1. Pretest: http://cctc2.commnet.edu/sensen/part2/twelve/agreement_pretest.html
2. Explanation: http://cctc2.commnet.edu/sensen/part2/twelve/present.html
o was/were Explanation http://cctc2.commnet.edu/sensen/part2/twelve/was.html
o was/were Practice http://cctc2.commnet.edu/cgishl/par6_quiz.pl/agreement_app2.html
o there is/are http://cctc2.commnet.edu/cgi-shl/par6_quiz.pl/agreement_app5.html
Simple Present VS Present Progressive
3. "The reading text describes what normally happens during a hurricane. For this
exercise, imagine that you are a television reporter describing the approach and the
arrival of a hurricane. Because it is happening now, you must use the present
progressive instead of the simple present."
http://www.collegeem.qc.ca/cemdept/anglais/hurrican.htm
4. Making Questions
"Situation: You call me at home. I answer the phone and I tell you that I cannot talk for
very long because I'm waiting for a taxi to pick me up at my door. I'm going to a party.
Ask me questions about the party. My answers are underlined. What are the
questions?" http://www.collegeem.qc.ca/cemdept/anglais/partypcf.htm
5. Practice Present VS Present Continuous some more:
Take practice quizzes that give instant results....
http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/330/grammar/simcon1.htm
http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/330/grammar/simcon2.htm
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6. Optional practice with these tenses:
http://www.collegeem.qc.ca/cemdept/anglais/psvspprl.htm
Fragments (part 1)
7. PowerPoint Presentation on Fragments (expl)
8. Pretest and lessons on Sentence fragments (expl. and quizzes)
9. Practice:
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Fragments & Types of Sentences
Repairing Sentence Fragments
Fragments and Run-on Sentences
Practice: Sentence Fragments
Practice: Sentence Fragments II
Practice: Sentence Fragments III
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