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Fryeburg Academy Grammar Reference
PARTS OF SPEECH
Noun: A noun names a person, place, or thing. Proper Nouns- name a specific person, place, or object. They begin
with a capital letter. Common Nouns name a non-specific, person, place, or object. They are not capitalized.
Proper: Austin, Chevrolet, Brownfield Common: hunter, car, town
Pronouns: A pronoun takes the position and function of a noun, but do not specifically name the person, place,
or thing.
he , she, you, they , we, it
Verbs: Verbs are divided into two groups. An action verb is a word expresses action (run, carry, declare).
A linking verb expresses a state of being (is, are, seem).
Action: Martha carried the water down the hill.
Linking: James is the tennis team captain.
Adjectives: An adjective modifies, describes, or limits a noun or a pronoun. Articles a, an, and I are adjectives.
The new girl is nice.
I saw a big black bear.
Adverbs: An Adverb is a word that describes or modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. An adverb tells
how, when, where, why, how often, or how much.
verb: run quickly
adj.: often happy
adv.: too loudly
Prepositions: A preposition is a word that shows the relationship between a noun (or pronoun) and another word
in the sentence. A preposition is always followed by the object of the preposition.
My friend Neal hikes in the White Mountains.
During lunch, I sat with Jonas.
Conjunctions: A conjunction is a word or group of words that joins words or groups of words. Coordinating
conjunctions, such as and, but, or, and, join words or word groups that have the same function. Correlative
conjunctions, such as neither…nor, are pairs of conjunctions that connect related words or word groups.
Subordinating conjunctions join independent clauses to dependent clauses.
Coordinating conjunction: Jill and Keith have arrived.
Jill may swim but will not dive.
Correlative Conjunction: Neither Jake nor Tom have arrived.
Subordinating Conjunction: Sally likes to swim when she is hot.
Interjections!: an interjection is a word or group of words that express feeling or represents a sound.
Hello. Hey! Watch out!
SUBJECT/VERB AGREEMENT
Number indicates whether a verb is singular or plural. A verb must agree in number with its subject. In a clause,
the verb and its subject must both be singular or both be plural.
Chris leaves for college tomorrow.
Chris and Scott leave for college tomorrow.
Jessie, as well as everyone else, is angry about the new rules.
VERB TENSES
Verb tense indicates time. There are six verb tenses.
Present: Expresses action that happens in the present, or that happens continually/regularly
Pizza is my favorite food
I love the Red Sox, so I hate the Yankees.
Past: Expresses action that has been completed.
July was hot and humid.
I forgot my mother’s birthday last week.
Future: Expresses action that will take place in the future. Always needs the helper will.
I will be rich and famous some day.
Pedro will write his essay tonight.
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Present Perfect: Expresses action that began in the past but continues in the present or is completed in the present.
Always needs the helpers has or have.
Mary and Paul have gone to England for the summer.
Manny says he has read this book before.
The weather has been rainy all week.
Past Perfect: Expresses an action in the past that occurs before another past action. Always needs the helper had.
I had been nervous until I actually got on stage.
The baby birds had fallen out of their nest during the night.
Future Perfect: Expresses action that will begin in the future and be completed by a specific time in the future.
Always needs the helpers will have.
By this time tomorrow, I will have learned my parents’ decision.
VOICE
Voice indicates whether the subject is acting or being acted upon. Transitive verbs can be active or passive voice;
linking verbs do not have voice. Tense does not matter. Active voice is stronger. Passive voice is considered weak
and should be avoided.
Active voice: A transitive verb in the active voice directs or carries the action from the subject to the
object. The subject is the doer.
The juniors will take the SAT test on Saturday.
(The juniors are the doers; the action is taking; the test receives the action.)
Passive voice: A transitive verb in the passive voice directs toward the subject. The subject is the receiver.
The SAT test will be taken by the juniors on Saturday.
(The test is not the doer; it is the receiver of the action.)
With passive voice, the doer is not always stated.
My wallet was stolen.
PRONOUN CASES
Possessive: my, his, her, our, their, whose, your, its
Nominative: I, he, she, we, they, who, whoever, you, it
The nominative case is for pronouns used as subject and predicate noun.
I ran to the dentist.
It is I.
Objective: me, him, her, us, them, whom, whomever, you, it
The objective case is used for pronouns used as direct objects, indirect objects and objects of the preposition.
He hit me.
He gave me the ball.
He gave the ball to me.
PLURAL VS. POSSESSIVE
To make a word plural, add an “s”: chairs, trees, books…
When a word ends in “s”, make it plural by adding “es”: messes, Joneses, kisses....
To make a word possessive, add “’s”: Tony’s, company’s, school’s…. (except “it”: to make “it” possessive, simply add
the “s”: “its”, “it’s” is a contraction for “it is”)
PHRASES AND CLAUSES
Phrase: a group of two or more grammatically linked words without a subject or a verb or both.
both teachers and students
across the bay
Clause: a collection of grammatically-related words including a subject and a verb (though sometimes the subject
is implied). Clauses are the building blocks of sentences: every sentence consists of one or more clauses.
Independent Clause: If a clause can stand alone as a sentence, it is an independent clause.
The Prime Minister is in Ottawa.
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Dependent Clause: Some clauses, however, cannot stand alone as sentences: in this case, they are
dependent clauses or subordinate clauses.
because the Prime Minister is in Ottawa
SENTENCE FRAGMENTS
Sentence Fragment: a word group that pretends to be a sentence. To be a sentence, a word group must consist of at
least one full independent clause. An independent clause has a subject and a verb and can stand alone.
Fragment: Is often hot and humid during the summer.
Complete Sentence: It is often hot and humid during the summer.
Fragment: On the old wooden stool in the corner of my grandmother’s kitchen.
Complete Sentence: On that morning I sat in my usual spot on the old wooden stool in the corner of my grandmother’s
kitchen.
RUN-ON SENTENCES
Run-On Sentence: independent clauses that have not been joined correctly. (One type of run-on sentence is called a
comma splice.)
Gestures are a means of communication for everyone, they are essential for the hearing-impaired.
This sentence can be repaired several different ways:
1. Add a coordinating conjunction:
Gestures are a means of communication for everyone, but they are essential for the hearing-impaired.
2. Add a semicolon:
Gestures are a means of communication for everyone; they are essential for the hearing-impaired.
3. Add a period:
Gestures are a means of communication for everyone. They are essential for the hearing-impaired.
SENTENCE VARIETY
There are four types of sentences: simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex. Using sentence variety
makes your writing more effective and interesting.
Simple Sentence: A simple sentence may have a single subject or a compound subject. It may have a simple
predicate (verb) or a compound predicate. A simple sentence has only one independent clause, and
it has no dependent clauses.
My head aches.
Her brother and sister argued.
The old man tripped and fell.
The students and their teachers laughed and applauded.
Jordan is the new class president.
After school, I study in the library for an hour.
Compound Sentence: A compound sentence consists of two independent clauses. The clauses must be joined by a
semi-colon or by a comma and a coordinating conjunction. (The comma can be omitted if the clauses are
very short.)
The little girl liked the Ferris wheel, but the little boy did not.
Robert didn’t feel well; he left early
I called and I called.
Complex Sentences: A complex sentence contains one independent clause, and one or more dependent clauses
When I got to school, I realized I had forgotten my math homework.
I didn’t go to Karissa’s party because I had to work.
Compound-Complex Sentence: A compound-complex sentence contains two or more independent clauses and one
or more dependent clauses
Because I studied hard, I really thought I would do well on the exam, but I only got a C.
José was mad at me, and he wouldn’t speak to me for a week after I criticized his new girlfriend.
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PUNCTUATION
End punctuation must appear at the end of all complete sentences! Each has a specific purpose to assist in
communicating the "meaning" of the sentence.
Examples:
. ! ?
Commas have forever baffled students; the following is a basic example using commas. Commas must also be
used in writing dates, place names and when punctuating dialogue.
Along with her new school outfits
, Susan purchased books, pens, pencils and even a new computer bag.
Semicolons
A semicolon's best use to join two independent clauses (sentences close in meaning).
Weather in Fryeburg, Maine is often quite extreme
; today's low was forty degrees below normal.
Dashes and hyphens
two kinds of dashes: the n-dash - and the m-dash --.
n-dash is called that because it is the same width as the letter "n". Used for numerical ranges, as in
"5-8 year olds".
The n-dash is also called a hyphen and is used internally or to join two words:
pre-Columbian
super-rich
m-dash is longer--the width of the letter "m". Used for parenthetical punctuation--like it was just used
to explain the purpose of the longer mark.
The m-dash is primarily used between words:
One single mistake--and a little one at that--changed the course of history.
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