Download 8GrammarDef

Grade 8 – Grammar Unit
Concrete Noun – there are two types (proper and common)
Proper Noun – A noun that represents a SPECIFIC person, place, or thing.
Days of the week, months, religions, languages, and historical documents are
also proper nouns. When using a proper noun, remember to use a CAPITAL
LETTER. This is a type of concrete noun.
Common Noun – A noun that represents a person, place, or thing IN
GENERAL. These nouns are only capitalized if they appear at the beginning of a
sentence. This is a type of concrete noun.
Abstract Noun – a noun that represents an idea
Pronoun – a word that replaces a noun.
Adjective – A word that describes a noun.
Verb – Describes an action.
Adverb – A word that describes how an action is done. These usually end with
the suffix “ly”.
Preposition – These words typically indicate the direction or location of an
object.
Conjunction – A joining or linking word. A conjunction often links two sentences
(complete thoughts) together.
Comma – There are several rules when using a comma:
-
To avoid confusion, use commas to separate words and word
groups with a series of three or more.
Use a comma to separate two adjectives when the word and
can be inserted between them.
Use a comma when an -ly adjective is used with other
adjectives.
Use commas before or surrounding the name or title of a
person directly addressed.
Colon – The colon is often used to introduce a list of items. (ex: You will need to
bring three things to the party: chips, soda and crackers.)
Semi colon – A semi colon is used to join together two independent clauses. It is
also used to join two clauses using a transition such as however, therefore, or on
the other hand. (ex: Jack drives a truck; Jill drives a sedan.) (ex: You should get your
brakes fixed; otherwise, you might have an accident.)
**Subject – The subject is what (or whom) the sentence is about (ex: HOWIE
MANDEL ate five cookies.)
**Predicate – The predicate (which always includes the verb) goes on to relate
something about the subject. Basically, it is whatever is NOT the subject in a
sentence. (ex: Howie Mandel ATE FIVE COOKIES.)
**Independent Clause – A full and complete thought that can stand alone.
(ex: They ate chips.)
**Dependent Clause – Cannot stand alone because it is not a complete thought.
So, this means it depends on an independent clause to complete it. It will
normally be separated from the independent clause with a COMMA.
(ex: Even though Miss Kelly assigned homework,)
Simple Sentence – one independent clause (a complete thought)
(ex: The Rock is handsome.)
Compound Sentence – two independent clauses (two complete thoughts)
joined by a co-ordinating conjunction such as AND, BUT, OR, HOWEVER, etc.
(ex: The Rock is handsome and he is Miss Kelly’s boyfriend.)
Complex Sentence – one independent clause joined with a dependent clause.
(ex: Although the game was good, the goalie played terribly.)
Compound-Complex Sentence – two simple sentences (two complete
thoughts) joined with a dependent clause. HINT: watch for commas
(ex: Jimmy ate the apple, although, Jill ate the orange.)
Declarative Statement – a regular statement of fact.
Imperative Statement – a statement that gives a command.
Interrogative Statement – always asks a question.
Exclamatory Statement – a statement that shows strong emotion.