Download Grammar Lessons - Mr. King`s English

[1] THE 8 PARTS OF SPEECH
1. NOUN: a word that names a person, place, thing, or idea. (Anything you
can have, hold, keep, give, share, or show!)
* Compound noun – a noun made up of more than one word.
Examples: grandmother, baseball, great-grandfather, grand piano.
* Proper noun – the specific name of a particular person, place, thing,
or idea. Examples: Jim Carrey, Mexico, Phoenix Suns, San Francisco.
* Concrete noun – names a person, place or thing that can be
understood or experienced with the five senses. Examples: book, music, tea, ice, Mississippi.
* Abstract noun – names an idea, feeling, or quality. Examples: love, peace, beauty, imagination. joy.
2. PRONOUN: a word used in place of one or more nouns or pronouns.
* Antecedent – the word that a pronoun replaces.
Example: Joann placed her coat in the closet with the others.
antecedent
pronoun
* Personal pronoun – refers to the one speaking (1st person), the one spoken to (2nd person),
or the one spoken about (3rd person).
- 1st person singular: I, me, mine
- 1st person plural: we, us, ours
nd
- 2 person singular: you, your, yours
- 2nd person plural: you, your, yours
- 3rd person singular: he, him, his, she her, hers, it, its - 3rd person plural: they, them, theirs,
* Reflexive and intensive pronouns – myself, ourselves, yourself, yourselves, himself,
herself, itself, and themselves.
- Reflexive pronoun – refers back to the subject and directs the action back to the
subject. A reflexive pronoun must be in the sentence in order for the meaning of the
sentence to work. (Example: Jim enjoyed himself at the concert.)
- Intensive pronoun – emphasizes another noun or pronoun. It is in the sentence to
make a special point. It can be taken out without the meaning of sentence changing.
(Example: Joe prepared the salad himself.)
- Demonstrative pronoun – points out a person, place, thing, or an idea (this, that,
these, those).
- Interrogative pronoun – used at the beginning of a question (what, which, who,
whom, whose).
- Indefinite pronoun – does not refer to a definite person, place, thing, or idea.
(Examples: everybody, everyone, anybody, nobody, each, either, both, few, and some).
- Relative pronoun –begins a subordinate clause (that, which, who, whom, whose).
3. ADVERB: a word that modifies or describes a verb, adjective, or another adverb.
* Adverbs answer these questions: where, when, how, how often, how much, or to
what extent.
Examples:
We often study together.
New-comers work incredibly hard to learn the language.
Spanish can be a fairly difficult language to learn.
4. ADJECTIVE: a word that modifies or describes a noun or pronoun.
* A, an, and the are the most commonly used adjectives. They are called articles.
* When a noun is used to describe another noun or pronoun, it is considered an
Adjective: Example: Mother put different kinds of beans in her special bean soup.
noun
adjective
* Demonstrative adjectives – when the words this, that, these, and those are used to
modify nouns, they are considered demonstrative adjectives instead of pronouns.
Example: This is my book. This book is mine.
* Proper adjectives – an adjective that is made from a proper noun.
Example: One has to visit Mexico to enjoy real Mexican food.
5. VERB: a word that expresses action or state of being.
* Action verb – a verb that expresses physical or mental action.
Examples: I bowled a great game tonight. She believes your story.
* Linking verb – instead of showing what the subject is doing, this verb shows the
subject in a state of being. It links the subject to some other word in the sentence
that describes, identifies, or gives more information about it.
Examples: John was sick for two days. John is president of the senior class.
* Transitive verb – an action verb that is followed by a direct object that receives the
action. Example: The hungry dog ate the bones quickly.
* Intransitive verb – an action verb that expresses action or tells something about the
subject but does not have a direct object to receive the action.
Example: The hungry dog ate quickly.
6. PREPOSITION: a “position” word that shows the relationship between a noun or pronoun
and another word in the sentence. It does this in a prepositional phrase that consists of a
preposition, an object of the preposition, and any modifiers that go with that object.
Examples: The deer ran across the road.
We stopped at the store down the street.
Mother’s telephone call to Uncle John contained good news.
7. CONJUNCTION: word that joins words or groups of words.
* Coordinating conjunctions connect words or groups of words that are used in the
same way (and, but, for, nor, or, so, and yet).
* Correlative conjunctions are pairs of conjunctions: both…and; either…or; neither…nor;
not only…but also.
8. INTERJECTION: a word that expresses strong emotion.
An interjection is usually followed by an exclamation point and has no grammatical
relationship to the rest of the sentence. Example: Wow! That is a beautiful car!
[2] SUBJECT/VERB AGREEMENT
1. When the subject of a sentence is composed of two or more nouns or pronouns
connected by “and,” use a plural verb.
She and her friends are at the fair.
2. When two or more singular nouns or pronouns are connected by “or” or “nor,”
use a singular verb.
Neither the book nor the pen is in the drawer.
3. “Doesn't” is a contraction of “does not” and should be used only with a singular
subject. “Don't” is a contraction of “do not” and should be used only with a plural
subject. The exception to this rule appears in the case of the first person and
second person pronouns “I” and “you.” With these pronouns, the contraction
“don't” should be used.
He doesn't like it.
They don't like it.
4. Do not be misled by a phrase that comes between the subject and the verb. The
verb agrees with the subject, not with a noun or pronoun in the phrase.
One of the boxes is open.
The people who listen to that music are crazy.
The team captain, as well as his players, is anxious.
The book, including all the chapters in the first section, is boring.
The woman with all the dogs walks down my street.
5. The words each, each one, either, neither, everyone, everybody, anybody, anyone, nobody,
somebody, someone, and no one are singular and require a singular verb.
Each of these hot dogs is made of turkey.
Everybody knows Mr. Jones.
Either is correct.
6. Nouns such as civics, mathematics, dollars, measles, and news require singular
verbs.
The news is on at six.
Mathematics is my least favorite subject.
Note: the word dollars is a special case. When talking about an amount of money,
it requires a singular verb, but when referring to the dollars themselves, a plural
verb is required.
Five dollars is a lot of money.
Dollars are often used instead of rubles in Russia.
7. Nouns such as scissors, tweezers, pants, and shears require plural verbs. (There
are two parts to these things.)
These scissors are dull.
Those pants are made of wool.
8. In sentences beginning with "there is" or "there are," the subject follows the verb.
Since "there" is not the subject, the verb agrees with what follows.
There are many questions.
There is a question.
9. Collective nouns are words that imply more than one person but that are
considered singular and take a singular verb, such as group, team, committee,
class, and family.
The team runs during practice.
The committee decides how to proceed.
The family has a long history.
My family has never been able to agree.
The crew is preparing to dock the ship. This sentence is referring to the
individual efforts of each crew member.
10. Expressions such as with, together with, including, accompanied by, in addition to, or as
well do not change the number of the subject. If the subject is singular, the verb is
too.
The President, accompanied by his wife, is traveling to India.
[3] TENSE CONSISTENCY
Always keep the same tense throughout a passage of writing. Consistent
(unchanging) verb tenses clearly establish the time of the actions being
described. When a passage begins in one tense and then shifts without
warning and for no reason to another, readers are distracted and confused.
* When writing about an occurrence, or while writing exposition and
description in a story, use past tense, and keep it past tense throughout
the writing. Here is an occurrence description which is inconsistent in its
tense, and shifts from one to another:
My hopes rise and fall as Joe's heart started and stopped. The doctors insert a large
tube into his chest, and blood flows from the incision onto the floor. The tube drained some
blood from his lung, but it was all in vain. At 8:32 p.m. Joe was declared dead.
The above underlined verbs are all present tense, as though those things were
happening right now. Since the passage is recounting an incident that
occurred, it should all have been in past tense: rose, fell, inserted, flowed
* Writers often shift verb tenses when they write about literature.
Remember, when you are writing about literature events, write consistently
about them in the present tense:
The Kabuliwallah is a man who seems to need a friend to help him through the selling
season. He finds this friend in Mini. She strives to assist him in getting over his feelings of
missing his daughter, and she laughs off the troubles that other people in this story seem to
cling to. The Kabuliwallah shows that his heart is, indeed, very human.
The underlined verbs are correctly written as present tense verbs. Do not
make the mistake of writing was, strove, laughed, clung, or showed. These are past
tense verbs.
[4] AVOIDING RUN-ON SENTENCES
* A run-on sentence is a sentence that runs on and on and on... and ought to be
broken up into several smaller sentences. The most common run-on sentence is
the comma splice... or a single sentence with more than one subject, separated by
only a comma:
"The boy walked to the edge of the pier, his mother yelled so loudly that he
almost fell in."
The subject "boy" and the subject "mother" cannot share the same sentence.
There should be a period where the comma is:
"The boy walked to the edge of the pier. His mother yelled so loudly that he
almost fell in." [You could also add the word “and” after the comma in the original
sentence and it would be correct. ]
* Another common run-on sentence is when there are two subjects that appear
as one in the same sentence:
"The boy fell off the pier, he almost drowned, but was saved by the Great
Dane dog that was walking by."
The subject "boy" and the subject "he," though representing the same little boy,
are really two different subjects with different predicates (verbs that go along
with them). This is how it should read:
"The boy fell off the pier. He almost drowned, but was saved by the Great
Dane dog that was walking by."
_______________________________________________________________________________________
* Run-on sentences usually indicate that the writer isn't thinking about how the
sentence will be read. It makes our writing weak and child-like when we use runon sentences. Make certain you don't write like this:
I was walking down the street in front of my house when all of a sudden a Great Dane dog
jumped in front of me with fangs showing and drool dripping onto the fronts of my new tennis shoes
that I got on sale at the Pro Shop, which is in the mall in Hendersonville, not five blocks from
where this dog, as I said, was about to pounce on my head, when all of a sudden, out of nowhere
comes this cute little girl holding the long, blue leash.
[5] AVOIDING SENTENCE FRAGMENTS
As a rule, do not treat a piece of a sentence as if it were a sentence. To be an actual
sentence, a word group must consist of at least one full independent clause. An
independent clause has a subject and a verb, and it either stands alone as a
sentence or could stand alone. The following chart will help you test a sentence
for completeness.
1. Is there a verb?
NO: It is a fragment.
YES: Move on to the next question.
2. Is there a subject?
NO: It is a fragment.
YES: Move on to the next question.
3. Is the word group merely a subordinate clause or phrase?
[This is a sentence part that has a subject and verb, but functions within a
sentence to enhance the sentence’s meaning, not show the entire meaning]:
“The arrow that has left its bow never returns.” Although the italicized
portion of this sentence has a subject, “that,” and a verb, “left,” it is merely
there to enhance the sentence’s meaning. Notice that it cannot stand on its
own: “That has left its bow.”
YES: It is a fragment.
NO: It is a complete sentence!
____________________________________________________________________________
Here are some more subordinate clauses that get mixed up for sentences
sometimes:
“When the well is dry, we finally understand the value of water.”
“Venice would be a fine city if it were only drained.”
“Mike, who sings like Elvis, will be entering the contest Saturday.”
* Notice that all the italicized portions of the above sentences have subjects
and verbs, but they cannot function on their own as sentences. Only a word group
that can stand alone can be classified a complete sentence.
[6] APOSTROPHES:
Use the apostrophe to indicate the possessive case (except for personal pronouns),
to mark omissions in contractions or numbers, and to form certain plurals.
* Use the apostrophe to indicate the possessive case of nouns:
Possessive means "ownership": Donald's car
two weeks' pay
* Possessive case of nouns may be indicated by the use of 's (or by the apostrophe
alone), or by an of-phrase:
everybody's friend
or the friend of everybody
the students' laughter or the laughter of students
* Occasionally, the possessive is indicated by the use of both an of-phrase and 's:
that delicious lasagna of Chef Anne's
that beautiful daughter of Bob's
* A possessive noun or pronoun may be related to a word (or word group) that
precedes it or is clearly implied:
Is that old broken-down Honda Frank's or Myra's?
That house is Vera's and Milo's.
__________________________________________________________________________________:
A. For singular nouns, add the apostrophe plus "s":
Laura's idea
a week's work
a dime's worth
anyone's guess somebody's coat Tom's class
OPTION: If a singular noun ends in "s," add the apostrophe and "s" or only the apostrophe:
Keats's poetry
or Keats' poetry
a waitress's tips or a waitress' tips
B: For plural nouns ending in "s," add only the apostrophe... For plural nouns not
ending in "s," add the apostrophe and "s" :
boys' shoes [shoes for boys]
two dollars' worth
babies' toes [toes of several babies]
the Joneses' reunion
BUT: men's clothing [clothing for men]
women's jobs [jobs for women]
C: For compounds or word groups, add the apostrophe and "s" only to the last
word:
...my sister-in-law's shop
...someone else's turn
...the Secretary of Labor's idea
...George Heming Jr.'s reply
D: To indicate individual ownership, add the apostrophe and "s" to each name:
...Al's and Sue's cars [note that cars is plural]
...the doctor's and the dentist's offices [offices is plural]
E: To indicate joint ownership, add the apostrophe and "s" only to the last name or
to each name:
...Al and Sue's car or ...Al's and Sue's car.
Both ways are acceptable.
F: Use an apostrophe to indicate missing letters in contractions and in numbers:
didn't
he'll
they're
there's
class of '98
o'clock [means "of the clock"]
G: DO NOT USE APOSTROPHES WITH THE PRONOUNS his, hers, its, ours, yours,
theirs, or whose. NEVER USE APOSTROPHES WITH PLURAL NOUNS
WHICH ARE NOT POSSESSIVE:
His parents sent money; ours sent food.
A friend of theirs knows a cousin of yours.
The sisters design clothes for babies.
CAUTION: Do not confuse its with it's or whose with who's:
Its motor is small. [The motor of it is small.]
It's a small motor. [It is a small motor.]
Whose is that?
[Who owns that?]
Who's that?
[Who is that?]
[7] COMMONLY MISUSED HOMOPHONES:
Words that sound alike (or nearly alike) but have different meanings and
spellings are called homophones. The following homophones are so commonly
misused and confused that a good proofreader will double-check every time
they’re used:
affect
effect
(verb: “to exert an influence”)
(verb: “to accomplish” noun: “result”)
its
it’s
(possessive pronoun: “of or belonging to it”)
(contraction for “it is”)
loose
lose
(adjective: “free; not securely attached”)
(verb: “to fail to keep; be deprived of”)
principal
principle
(adjective: “most important” noun: “head of a school”)
(noun: “a general or fundamental truth”)
their
they’re
there
(possessive pronoun: “belonging to them”)
(contraction for “they are”)
(adverb: “that place or position”)
who’s
whose
(contraction for “who is”)
(possessive form of “who”...belongs to whom)
your
you’re
(possessive form of “you”...belongs to you)
(contraction of “you are”)
Can you think of any other homophones than the above ones or these?:
accept, except
coarse, course
cite, site
than, then
advice, advise
lead, led
weather, whether
to, two, too
elicit, illicit
read, red
conscious, conscience
precede, proceed
respectfully, respectively
[8] CAPITALIZATION:
* Capitalize proper nouns and words derived from them; do not
capitalize common nouns:
Proper nouns are the names of specific persons, places, and things. All other
nouns are common nouns. The following types of words are usually capitalized:
names for a deity, religions, religious followers, sacred books; words of family relationships used
as names; particular places; nationalities and their languages, races, and tribes; educational
institutions, departments, degrees, particular courses; government departments, organizations,
and political parties; and historical movements, periods, events, and documents.
PROPER NOUNS
God (used as a name)
Book of Jeremiah
Grandmother Bishop
Father (used as a name)
Lake Superior
the Capital Center
the South
Japan, a Japanese garden
Ohio State University
Geology 101
Environmental Protection Agency
Phi Kappa Psi
a Democrat
the Enlightenment
the Declaration of Independence
COMMON NOUNS
a god
a good book
my grandmother
your father
a beautiful lake
a center of higher learning
south of the mountain
an ornamental garden
a good four-year university
studying geology
a federal agency
a fraternity
an independent
the eighteenth century
a declaration of truth
* Months, holidays, and days of the week are always treated as proper nouns;
the seasons and numbers of the days are treated as common nouns:
Our town fair begins on the fifteenth day in June, right after Memorial Day. I like it when
it’s on a Friday! It makes the weekend seem longer.
My mother’s birthday is in early spring, on the fifth of May.
* Names of school subjects are capitalized only if they are names of languages.
However, names of particular courses are capitalized:
This semester, Austin is taking math, geography, French, and English.
Ms. Squires and Mr. King teach Creative Writing in the second semester.
*CAUTION: Do not capitalize common nouns to make them seem more
important:
Our company is currently hiring computer programmers. (not Programmers,
Company, Computer Programmers, etc.)
* Capitalize the first, last, and all major words in titles and subtitles of works
such as books, magazines, articles, and songs: In both titles and subtitles, major
words--nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs--should be capitalized. Minor words-articles, prepositions, and coordinating conjunctions--are not capitalized unless
they are the first or last word in the title or subtitle. Capitalize the second part of
a hyphenated term in a title if it is a major word, but not if it is a minor word:
The Country of the Pointed Firs
“A Valediction: Of Weeping”
The F-Plan
“Odysseus: The Warrior, the Husband, the Father”
* Obviously, you should capitalize the first word in any sentence:
Why are you going to the store? I just got back, and bought everything we need.
Give me thirty cents so I can call Mom. My mom is the best one in the world. She is
always there for me when I call her.
* Capitalize abbreviations for government agencies and departments, other
organizations, and corporations: capitalize trade names and the call letters of
radio and television stations:
EPA, FBI, OPEC, IBM, Xerox, WDVE-FM, WLOS-TV, IRS, CIA
[9] PARALLEL STRUCTURE
Parallel Structure means using the same pattern of words in lists to show that
two or more ideas have the same level of importance. The usual way to join
parallel structures is with the use of coordinating conjunctions such as "and" or
"or."
_________________________________________________________________________________
Words and Phrases in a list:
* Example 1:
Not Parallel: Mary likes hiking, swimming, and to ride a bicycle.
Parallel: Mary likes hiking, swimming, and riding a bicycle.
*Example 2:
Not Parallel: The production manager was asked to write his report
quickly, accurately, and in a detailed manner.
Parallel: The production manager was asked to write his report quickly,
accurately, and thoroughly.
* Example 3:
Not Parallel: The teacher said that he was a poor student because he
waited until the last minute to study for the exam, completed his lab
problems in a careless manner, and his motivation was low.
Parallel: The teacher said that he was a poor student because he waited
until the last minute to study for the exam, completed his lab problems in a
careless manner, and lacked motivation.
________________________________________________________________________________________
Lists After a Colon:
- Be sure to keep all the elements in a list in the same form.
* Example 1:
Not Parallel: The dictionary can be used to find these: word meanings,
pronunciations, correct spellings, and looking up irregular verbs.
Parallel: The dictionary can be used to find these: word meanings,
pronunciations, correct spellings, and irregular verbs.
Clauses in a list:
- A parallel structure that begins with clauses must continue with clauses.
Changing to another pattern or changing the voice of the verb (from active to
passive or vice versa) will break the parallelism.
* Example 1:
Not Parallel: The coach told the players that they should get a lot of sleep,
that they should not eat too much, and to do some warm-up exercises
before the game.
Parallel: The coach told the players that they should get a lot of sleep, that
they should not eat too much, and that they should do some warm-up
exercises before the game.
— or —
Parallel: The coach told the players that they should get a lot of sleep, not
eat too much, and do some warm-up exercises before the game.
* Example 2
Not Parallel: The salesman expected that he would present his product at
the meeting, that there would be time for him to show his presentation, and
that questions would be asked by prospective buyers. (passive)
Parallel: The salesman expected that he would present his product at the
meeting, that there would be time for him to show his presentation, and
that prospective buyers would ask him questions.
________________________________________________________________________________________
Proofreading Strategies to Try:
* Skim your paper, pausing at the words "and" and "or." Check on each side of
these words to see whether the items joined are parallel. If not, make them parallel.
If you have several items in a list, put them in a column to see if they are parallel.
* Listen to the sound of the items in a list or the items being compared. Do you
hear the same kinds of sounds? For example, is there a series of "-ing" words
beginning each item? Or do your hear a rhythm being repeated? If something is
breaking that rhythm or repetition of sound, check to see if it needs to be made
parallel.
[10] MAKING COMPARISONS LOGICAL:
Much of our writing is simply making comparisons. We say that one
person is stronger than another person, one city is cleaner than another city... but
sometimes when we illustrate these differences the meaning is not clear or logical.
Usually, we have to add words to our sentences to make the comparisons logical
and clear.
* Comparisons should be made between “like” or “similar” items. To
compare unlike items is illogical and distracting. Add words to show
clarity:
Incorrect: “Angie had an attention span longer than her sisters.”
It is illogical to compare an attention span to people.
Correct: “Angie had an attention span longer than that of her sisters.”
This sentence now compares attention span to attention spans.
Incorrect: “Eric preferred the restaurants in Philadelphia to Pittsburgh.”
It is illogical to compare a restaurant to a city.
Correct: “Eric preferred the restaurants in Philadelphia to those in
Pittsburgh.”
This sentence now compares restaurants to restaurants.
___________________________________________________________________________
* Sometimes the word “other” must be inserted to make a comparison
logical and clear:
Incorrect: “Chicago is larger than any city in Illinois.”
Chicago is in Illinois...Chicago cannot be larger than itself.
Correct: “Chicago is larger than any other city in Illinois.”
Now this sentence shows exactly what is meant.
Incorrect: “Steve Austin is stronger than any pro wrestler.”
Austin is a pro wrestler...He cannot be stronger than himself.
Correct: “Steve Austin is stronger than any other pro wrestler.”
Now this sentence has clarity, and it’s obvious that the writer knows what
he/she is talking about.
* Sometimes the word “as” needs to be inserted to clarify meaning and to
make the comparison logical:
Incorrect: “Chase is talented as every other actor.”
This sentence says that Chase is talented, and that every other actor is also
talented. What the sentence lacks is something showing that a comparison is
being made.
Correct: “Chase is as talented as every other actor.”
Now this sentence says that Chase’s talent is at least equal to that of the
other actors. It makes a comparison.
___________________________________________________________________________
* Comparisons should be complete enough to ensure clarity. Readers
should understand what is being compared:
Incorrect: “Teal is a lighter color.”
This sentence does not compare the color’s lightness to any other
color’s lightness.
Correct: “Teal is a lighter color than Navy blue.”
Now this sentence compares two like things, saying one is lighter than the
other one.
___________________________________________________________________________
* Finally, there should be no ambiguity (lack of clarity) about the
comparison’s meaning. In the following sentence, two
interpretations are possible:
Ambiguous and Incorrect: “Mr. King helped me more than Sam.”
Now, does the sentence mean that Sam helped me more than Mr. King
did, or that Mr. King helped Sam more than he helped me?
Clear and Correct: “Mr. King helped me more than he helped Sam.”
Clear and Correct: “Mr. King helped me more than Sam did.”
Now these comparisons are entirely clear and logical.