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Grammar Progressions
THREE PARTS OF A SENTENCE
SUBJECT “The Who or What”
1) Hannah helped Tzipporah onto one of the low shelves.
2) She curled into a fetal position and lay still, her thumb back in her mouth.
**Label the subjects in the first two sentences. Remember
that only nouns or pronouns can be subjects.
PREDICATE – “The Subject’s Verb”
3) Gitl stood slowly.
4) Her face was motionless.
5) She was whispering to herself.
**Label the predicates in the first two sentences. Remember
that only verbs and verb phrases can be predicates. (A verb phrase is
simply a helping verb joined with a main verb.)
COMPLETED THOUGHT “Writing Is Longer Than Talking”
6) A girl from the camp named Rivka.
7) She shook her head.
8) So she could see the others behind her.
9) Wanted to be sure the scene was safe.
10) Hannah listened.
**Label 6-10 as an incomplete thought or a correct sentence.
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Page One Responses
1. Hannah
3. stood
6. incomplete thought
9. incomplete though
2. She
4. was
7. correct sentence.
10. correct sentence
5. was whispering
8. incomplete thought
A subject and predicate together create a CLAUSE.
An Independent clause can be a sentence all by itself.
S
P
Example: Hanna glanced at her wrist. (Independent)
A dependent clause cannot stand alone as a sentence.
S
P
Example: As the tattooing pen burned her flesh.
(Dependent)
DIFFERENT TYPES OF COMPLETE SENTENCES
SIMPLE SENTENCE “One Independent Clause”
11) The women and children lay as still as corpses.
12) You must take good care of your bowl.
COMPOUND SENTENCES “Two Independent Clauses”
13) Esther started to turn away,
but
14) Hannah could see the clipboard,
Rivka caught her arm.
and
it was covered with numbers and names.
COMPLEX SENTENCE “One Independent and One Dependent”
15) When she stood up
Hannah saw Gitl halfway down the building.
16) As the girl fell asleep,
she could smell the midden in her pours. .
**Label the subjects and predicates in 11-16.
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PRONOUN CHOICE WITHIN SENTENCES
**Fill in the pronoun chart.
17)
Subject
Object
Possessive
First Person
Second Person
Third Person
First Person
Second Person
Third Person
SUBJECT PRONOUNS “Who or What”
18) (She and Rivka) (Rivka and her) exchanged glances from across the room.
19) (Me and Gitl) (Gitl and I) will take care of you.
OBJECT PRONOUNS “Receivers”
Use the
chart as a
guide!
20) Rivka warned Rachel and (me) (I).
21) Gitl looked at Fayge and (me) (I).
POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS “Owners”
22) The children shed (there) (their) clothes and rand for the trash heap.
23) Where is (you’re) (your) friend, Yente?
**Circle the best choices in numbers 18-23.
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Page Two Responses
11. Subject = Women/Children
Predicate = lay
14. Subjects = Hannah / It
Predicates = could see/ was covered
12. Subject = You
Predicate = must take
15. Subjects = she / Hannah
Predicates = stood/ saw
13. Subjects = Esther / Rivka
Predicates = started/ caught
16. Subjects = girl / she
Predicates fell/ could smell
Page Three Responses
17.
Subject
Object
Possessive
18. She and Rivka (subjects)
First Person
Second Person
I
me
my, mine
you
you
your, yours
he, she, it
Third Person
him, her, it
his, her, hers, its
19. Gitl and I
20. me
21. me
First Person
we
us
our, ours
Second Person
you
you
your, yours
Third Person
they
them
their, theirs
22. their
23) your
Find the Mistakes
24-28.
Hannah dreads going to her familys Passover Seder. Her relatives always tell the
same stories, and Hannah is tired of hearing they talk about the past. When she opens
the front door to symbolically welcome the prophet Elijah. She is transported to a
Polish village – and the year 1942. Why is she there? Who is this “Chaya” that
everyone seems to think she is? Just as she begins to unravel the mystery. Nazi
soldiers come to take everyone away. Only Hannah knew the unspeakable horrors
that await.
**Circle and correct the 5 mistakes in this paragraph.
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The Three Verbs
ACTION VERBS “Things people do”
29. The line moved quickly, silently.
30. A girl handed them each a metal bowl.
31. The girl told them to memorize the look of their bowl.
32. Hannah reached for the child, and Gitl grabbed her hand.
**Underline the six action verbs in the sentences above.
LINKING VERBS – “Joins a subject with a noun or adjective.”
Verbs that can be helping or linking
Am, is, are, was, were, be, being, been
Verbs that can be action or linking.
appear, become, feel, grow, look, smell, sound, taste
33. The men in big boots are guards.
34. Rachel is dead.
35. Children were terrified.
36. Be strong, Chaya.
**Underline the linking verb in sentences 27-30.
Esther looked at Rivka’s face.
37. Esther looked confused.
38. Hannah smelled the midden on her skin.
The midden smelled terrible.
She felt Gitl’s cold hand on her skin.
39. She felt sorry for Reuven.
**In each pair above, label which underlined word is used
as an action verb and which is used as a linking verb.
HELPING VERBS – “Friendly helpers for action or linking verbs.”
40. 3 D’s:
3 M’s:
3 H’s:
CSW:
CSW:
8 Forms of Be:
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Page Four Responses
24. (Line 1) Possessive Mistake: …her family’s Passover Seder.
25. (Line 2) Pronoun Mistake: …Hannah’s tired of hearing them talk…
26. (Lines 2-3) Sentence Fragment: This is a dependent clause beginning with “When she…”
27. (Line 5) Sentence Fragment: This is a dependent clause beginning with “Just as she…”
28. (Line 6) Verb Tense Switch: The entire paragraph is written in present tense, but the
word “knew” switches to past tense. Keep literary present.
Page Five Responses
29. moved
33. are
37. linking/action
40. do does did
30. handed
34. is
38. action/ linking
may might must
31. told
35. were
39. linking/ action
have has had
32. reached, grabbed
36. be
could should would
can shall will
am is are was were be being been
PRESENT PARTICIPLE AND PAST PARTICIPLE?
A Present Participle is a verbal form with –ing added to it.
Example: Standing beside Rivka, Hannah felt safe.
A Past Participle is a verbal form with –ed added to it.
Example: Exhausted, Hannah wished she could remember.
41. Depressed people looked on.
43. Shmuel, quieted by fear, looked at the crowd.
42. Rivka saw the horrifying midden. 44. Screaming, Fayge approached.
**Label the underlined word present (PRP) or past participle. (PAP)
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Gerunds, Participles, and Infinitives
VERBALS
A verbal is a word that looks like a verb, but acts like a noun, adverb, or adjective. In other words, they
LOOK like verbs, but
they’re not. They’re like “verb wannabes”! Don’t let the look fool you.
Verbals do not work with subjects like verbs do.
Gerunds – These verb lookalikes always end with ing and act like nouns.
Example: Running was useless.
In this sentence, running is the subject doing the action. (It is the useless THING.) We know that
verbs cannot be subjects. So, running is acting like a noun even though it looks like a verb.
Try your own now. Identify the gerund in the following sentence.
Singing created happiness throughout the marriage procession.
Participles – These verb lookalikes can end in ed, en, or ing and act like adjectives.
Example: The crying child reached for her mother.
Child is the subject. Reached is the verb connected with the subject. (Predicate) What about the
word crying? Well, we know crying looks like a verb, but here it is describing the child. What
kind of child is it? (A crying child) So, crying is acting like an adjective even though it looks like
a verb.
Try your own now. Identify the participle in the following sentence.
The abandoned barrack was silent.
Infinitives – These verb lookalikes can act like nouns, adjectives, or adverbs. Most
importantly, they have the word TO in front of the verb form.
Example: She brought water to repay Hannah..
She is the subject.
brought is the predicate.
In this sentence, the infinitive to
repay is acting
like an adverb telling us why. Remember: Look for the to in front of the verb form, and infinitives
are easy to spot!
Try your own now. Identify the infinitive in the following sentence. (Infinitives have two word!)
To live was the heroic action of the prisoners.
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"I’m tired of (45) remembering,” Hannah
said to her mother as she climbed into the car.
She was (46) flushed with April sun and her
mouth felt sticky from jelly beans and Easter
candy.
"You know it's Passover," her mother said,
sighing, in a voice deliberately low. (47)She
kept smiling, so no one at Rosemary's house
would know they were arguing.
"I didn't know."
"Of course you knew."
"Then I forgot." Hannah could hear her voice
beginning (48) to rise into a whine she couldn't
control.
"How could you forget, Hannah. Especially
this year, when Passover falls on the same day
as Easter? We've talked and talked about it.
(49)First we've got to go home and change.
Then we're going to Grandpa Will and
Grandma Belle's for the first night's Seder."
"I'm not hungry. I ate a big dinner at
Rosemary's. And I don't want (50)to go to the
Seder. Aaron and I will be the only kids there
and everyone will say how much we've grown
even though they just saw us last month. And,
besides, the punch lines of all the jokes will be
in Yiddish."(51) When her mother didn't answer
at once, Hannah slumped down in the seat.
Sometimes she wished her mother would yell at
her the way Rosemary's mother did, but she
knew her mother, would only give her one of
those slow, low, reasonable lectures that were
so annoying.
"Passover isn't about(52) eating, Hannah,"
her mother began at last, sighing and pushing
her fingers up through her silver-streaked hair.
"You could have fooled me," Hannah
muttered.
"It's about remembering."
"All Jewish holidays are about remembering,
Mama. I'm tired of remembering."
"(53) Tired or not, you're going with us,
young lady. (54) Grandpa Will and Grandma
Belle are expecting the entire family, and that
means you, too. You have how much family
means to them. Grandma lost both her parents
to the Nazis before she and her brother
managed to escape. And Grandpa . . ."
"I remember. I remember. . . ," Hannah
whispered.
45. a. gerund b. gerund phrase
c. participle d. infinitive
46. a. gerund b. infinitive c. participle d. participle phrase
47. a. simple sentence b. complex sentence c. compound
sentence
48. a. gerund b. participle c. infinitive phrase d. infinitive
49. a. simple sentence b. complex sentence c. compound
sentence
50. a. gerund b. infinitive
51. a. simple sentence
52. a. gerund
c. participle d. participle phrase
b. complex sentence
b. gerund phrase
c. participle
c. compound
sentence
d. infinitive
53. a. gerund b. gerund phrase c. participle d. participle
phrase
54. a. simple sentence b. complex sentence c. compound
sentence
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Keep Them Active
By Cecil Murphey
I have been honored by you because I have been given this award.
The previous sentence, although grammatical, bores readers. Twice in that sentence I used the
passive voice with "have been honored" and "have been given."
Now I'll flip it around and write the sentence in the active voice: You have honored me because
you gave me this award. Both sentences are grammatical, but the second is clearer, stronger,
more direct, and uses fewer words. That classifies itself as better writing.
We call this principle: "Prefer the active, avoid the passive."
When I teach beginning writers, often they don't grasp the importance of this principle. They
mistakenly assume that the passive voice lends their work authority, perhaps even a quality of
majesty. In reality, the passive voice sounds weak. Why not strive for directness by using as few
words as possible?
The active voice refers to the subject of the sentence doing something and the passive means the
subject is being acted on. For example: Ed threw the ball is active; the ball was thrown by Ed is
passive. It may seem like a small matter, but the passive voice requires more words and weakens
the writing.
Try this example:
His words infuriated Arlene. (Active)
Arlene was infuriated by his words. (Passive)
I call it lazy writing. Good writing sizzles with excitement—that is, strong verbs express conviction and
authority. Think of it this way: People read for entertainment or to gain information—and expect us to
deliver. Powerful writing flows from robust verbs; passive writing limps along and hides behind
extraneous words.
• I'm sorry my report was poorly delivered. (If you're going to apologize, apologize: I'm sorry I wrote a
bad paper.)
• Mistakes were made. (This dilutes the apology and hedges on the matter of guilt. Isn't it stronger to
write, "We made mistakes"?)
• It has been found regrettable that the villagers' lives were terminated by the battle. This is boring prose.
Try: It's sad that many villagers died in the battle.
We need to ask ourselves, "Does the subject of the sentence do anything or is something done to it?"
Whenever we write in the passive, we weaken the impact and lose the visual image for readers.
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55. **Demonstrate the “Targeted Highlighting Strategy” on
the article “Keep Them Active.”
ACTIVE AND PASSIVE VOICE
56. Hannah hid the child.
59. The child was hidden by Hannah.
57. Watery soup was eaten by them.
60. They ate watery soup.
58. Rivka organized shoes.
61.
Shoes were organized by Rivka.
**Decide if sentences 42-47 are written in the Passive Voice (P)
or the Active Voice. (A)
Punctuation
Comma Rules
1. Joining Two Independent Clauses (Compound Sentence)
2. Direct Address (Speaking to someone)
3. Sentence Introduction
4. Sentence Interruption 5. Appositive 6. Listing
7. Splitting Two Adjectives
62) She watched the frightened, shaking child, but her mind forced he to stay still.
Rule 1:
Rule 2:
63) She had, surprisingly, become a musselmen, the walking dead.
Rule 1:
Rule 2:
64) “Chaya, you are my niece. I will watch you, protect you, and care for you.”
Rule 1:
Rule 2:
**Identify the two comma rules being used in each sentence.
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Page Six Responses
41. Past Participle
42. Present Participle
43. Past Participle
44. Present Participle
Page Eight Responses
45. a. gerund
50. b. infinitive
46. d. participle phrase
51. b. complex sentence
47. c. compound sentence
52. a. gerund
48. d. infinitive
53. c. participle
49. a. simple
54. c. compound sentence
Page Ten Responses
56. Active
59. Passive
57. Passive
60. Active
58. Active
61. Passive
Page Ten Responses
62. #1 Splitting Two Adjectives #2 Joining Independent Clauses
63. #1 Sentence Interruption
#2 Appositive
64. #1 Direct Address
#2 Listing
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REVIEW OF THE REVIEW…
1. A complete sentence must have a subject,
predicate, and complete thought.
2. Three main types of sentences writers create
are simple, compound, and complex.
3. Pronouns can act like a subject, or an object,
or even a possessive word.
4. There are three types of verbs: action, liking,
and helping.
5. Verbs can show different tenses like present
participle and past participle.
7. Some words look like VERBS but really act
like nouns, (gerunds) adjectives, (participles) or
infinitives.
8. Generally speaking, strong writers are
encouraged to use the active voice instead of the
passive voice when writing.
9. Don’t guess when to use a comma. Learn
the rules. Use a comma when following a rule.
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