Download Applied Grammar Basics with Practice

Name: ______________________________________________
Period: ______
Applied Grammar Basics & Equations
The 8 Parts of Speech
1. N—Noun (person, place, thing, idea—can be singular or plural): concrete nouns = doctor, home,
table; abstract nouns = beauty, courage, peace.
2. PRO—Pronoun (are used in place of nouns to avoid repetition): personal pronouns = I/me/my,
his/he/him, it, they/their, etc.; reflexive pronouns = myself, herself, themselves, etc.; interrogative
pronouns = which, who, whom, whose; demonstrative pronouns = this, that, these, those;
indefinite pronoun = anyone, someone, something, everyone, anything, etc.
3. V—Verb (action word or state of being—can be in any tense): run/ran is/was/were.
4. ADJ—Adjective (describes noun): large, hairy, sharp, fast, beautiful, wealthy, insane, big, fuzzy,
long-winded, crazy, serene, intelligent, skilled, obstreperous, funny, long, dying.
5. ADV—Adverb (describes verb, often in form of adjective + -ly; also may describe adjectives & other
adverbs): darkly, quickly, morosely, long-windedly, sometimes, soon, later, again, seldom, today,
never, always, etc.
6. PREP—Preposition (see list)
7. CONJ—Conjunction (connects words, phrases or clauses together): FANBOYS (For, And, Nor,
But, Or, Yet, So); also SUB-CONJ—Subordinate Conjunction (comes at the beginning of a
dependent clause): because, that, if, since, etc.
8. INT—Interjection (expresses emotion; does not relate grammatically to the rest of the sentence):
wow, hey, cheers, oh, oops
Other Important Grammatical Terms
 ART—Article (a kind of adjective) definite article = the; indefinite article = a/an.
 PART—Participle (looks like a verb, but functions like an adjective. It needs a linking verb or an
action verb to complete a sentence. To form, add a suffix to an action verb like –en or –ing or
sometimes –ed): (is) beaten, (is) walking, jilted boyfriend, working woman.
 GER—Gerund (looks like a verb, but functions like a noun. To form, add –ing): “I like skiing”;
“shopping is my hobby”
 LV—Linking Verb (a verb that links the subject to the predicate by functioning like an equal sign.
Examples: is, are, will be, was, becomes, seems, appears): “She is a doctor.” “He seems afraid.”
Exception: In the sentence “Who is singing?” is is a helping verb that is part of the present
progressive form of the verb sing.
 HP—Helping Verb (sometimes called Auxiliary Verb; it teams with a main verb to form a verb
phrase): is studying, has bought, will be growing, could come, might run, etc.
 INF—Infinitive (“to” + verb): to sleep, to dream, to write, etc.
Types of Phrases
 NP—Noun Phrase (typically ART + ADJ + N “the blue dog”)
 VP—Verb Phrase (also called predicate, typically ADV + V “ran fast”; V + NP “gave some money”;
V + PP “jump off the bridge”)
 PP—Prepositional Phrase (preposition and any noun phrase—for example, PREP + ART + ADJ +
N “through the dark woods”)
 PART P—Participial Phrase (participle and any noun phrase or prepositional phrase—“Seeing
her mother again, she felt unbridled joy.” “Working around the clock, the firefighters managed to
put out the fire.” “Frozen since December, the pond is now safe for skating.”)
 GER P—Gerund Phrase (gerund and any noun phrase or prepositional phrase—“Watching
television is not my thing.” “Cramming for tests is not a good idea.”)
 INF P—Infinitive Phrase (infinitive and any noun phrase or prepositional phrase—“To own a
tarantula, you have to be fearless.” “He managed to kick the ball past the dazed goalie.”
Common Prepositions
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
about
about
above
according to
across
across from
after
against
ahead of
along
alongside
along with
amid
amidst
among
amongst
anti
apart from
around
as
as for
aside from
as to
astride
at
away from
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
bar
barring
because of
before
behind
below
beneath
beside
besides
between
beyond
but
by
by means of
*
*
*
*
*
circa
close to
concerning
considering
contrary to
*
depending on
*
*
*
*
despite
down
due to
during
*
*
*
*
except
except for
excepting
excluding
*
*
*
*
following
for
forward of
from
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
in
in between
including
in favor of
in front of
in lieu of
inside
inside of
in spite of
instead of
into
irrespective of
*
like
*
minus
*
*
*
*
near
near to
next to
notwithstanding
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
of
off
on
on account of
on board
onto
on top of
opposite
opposite to
other than
out of
outside
*
*
*
outside of
over
owing to
*
*
*
*
*
*
past
pending
per
plus
preparatory to
prior to
*
*
*
regarding
regardless of
round
*
*
*
save
save for
since
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
than
thanks to
through
throughout
till
to
together with
toward
towards
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
under
underneath
unlike
until
up
up against
upon
up to
up until
*
*
*
versus
via
vis-à-vis
*
*

with
within
without
4 Types of Sentences
1. A simple sentence has the basic elements that make up a sentence: a subject and a verb phrase
or predicate. Examples:




Jose waited for the train. "Jose" = subject, "waited" = predicate (verb + prepositional phrase)
The train was late. "The train" = subject, "was late" = predicate (linking verb + adjective)
Jose and Rebecca took the bus. "Jose and Rebecca" = compound subject, "took the bus" =
predicate (verb + noun phrase)
I looked for Jose at the bus station. "I" = subject, "looked for Jose at the bus station" = predicate
(verb + prepositional phrase + prepositional phrase)
2. A compound sentence refers to a sentence made up of two independent clauses (or complete
sentences) connected to one another with a coordinating conjunction (FANBOYS). Examples:




Jose waited for the train, but the train was late.
I looked for my friends at the bus station, but they arrived at the station before noon and left on
the bus before I arrived.
My friends arrived at the bus station before noon, and they left on the bus before I arrived.
My friends left on the bus before I arrived, so I did not see them at the bus station.
3. A complex sentence is made up of an independent clause (a clause that can also stand alone as
a simple sentence) and one or more dependent clauses connected to it. Some examples of
dependent clauses are “because we arrived at the bus station before noon”; “while he waited at the
train station”; “after they left on the bus”. Dependent clauses cannot stand alone as a sentence, but
they can be added to an independent clause to form a complex sentence. Dependent clauses often
begin with subordinating conjunctions, such as after, although, as, because, before, even though,
if, since, though, unless, until, when, whenever, whereas, wherever, that, why, and while, but
may also begin with infinitive phrases or participial phrases. Examples of complex sentences:








Because Jose and Rebecca arrived at the bus station before noon, I did not see them at the
station.
While he waited at the train station, Jose realized that the train was late.
After they left on the bus, Jose and Rebecca realized that I was waiting at the train station.
I did not see Jose and Rebecca at the station because they arrived at the bus station before
noon.
Jose realized that the train was late while he waited at the train station.
Jose wondered why the train was late.
To get to the train station on time, Jose left home an hour early.
Seeing Rebecca after a long time, Jose realized she had changed a lot.
4. A compound-complex sentence has one complex sentence joined to a simple sentence with a
conjunction. Examples:


While Tom reads novels, Jack reads comics, but Sam only reads magazines.
Although thought to be indestructible, the Twin Towers fell on Sept. 11, 2001, and that forever
changed the NYC skyline.
Name________________Per____Date_____ Applied Grammar Exercises
Write simple sentences using the following formulas:
1. N V.
2. ART N V.
3. ART N ADV V.
4. ADV ART N V.
5. ADV ART ADJ N V.
6. ART N CONJ ART N V.
7. ART ADJ N PREP ART N V.
8. ART ADJ N PREP ART ADJ N V.
9.
ART ADJ ADJ N PREP ART ADJ N ADV V.
10. PRO CONJ PRO V PREP ART ADJ N.
11. GER LV PRO ADJ N.
12. GER PREP ART N ADV V.
13. INT, PRO ADJ ADJ N V PREP ART N.
Write compound sentences using the following formulas:
14. N V PREP ART N, CONJ ART N LV ADJ.
15. PRO V PREP ART N, CONJ PRO ADV V PREP ART ADJ N.
Write complex sentences using the following formulas:
16. N V SUB-CONJ N V.
17. SUB-CONJ N V, PRO V PREP ART N.
18. ADV PRO V PREP ART N SUB-CONJ ART N V.
19. INF PREP ART N, PRO ADV V.
20. PART N ADV, PRO V ADJ N.