Download EOCT Grammar Review

Preparation for the EOCT:
Revising and Editing
But I Stink at Grammar!
Grammar Review
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Commas
Capitalization
Run-ons and Fragments
Apostrophes
Hyphens
Pronouns
Spelling
Misused/Confused Words
Ordering Sentences
Commas
 Use commas:
 to separate dates, cities and states, and
introductory words
 before a coordinating conjunction
(FANBOYS)
 in a list
 before or after a direct quotation
 before or after a direct address
 after an introductory clause in a
sentence
“Gotta keep ‘em separated!”
 Cities & States:
 Harrison High School is located in Kennesaw,
Georgia.
 Dates:
 The high school’s first homecoming queen was
crowned on Friday, October 17, 1995.
 Direct Address:
 Hoyas, show your school spirit by wearing green and
blue on Fridays!
 Introductory Words:
 Of course, it’s a free country; you can wear whatever
color you want.
FANBOYS
(For, and, nor, but, or, yet, so)
 Conjunctions:
 Jack stayed after school for tutoring on
Wednesday, but Jill did not.
* Remember, there are many more
conjunctions not included in this acronym!
“They keep going and going…”
 Lists:
 Most juniors at Harrison study American
Literature, American History, math, and
science.
“What he said!”
 Quotations:
 Everyone at the pep rally cheered, “Go
Hoyas!”
“I’m proud to introduce…”
 Introductory clauses:
 Because Susie is my friend, I offered to
give her a ride home after school today.
 With high-fives and shouts of joy, the
Hoyas celebrated their team’s winning
touchdown.
Capitalization
 Proper Nouns
 Titles
(most words)
 First word of sentence
 Direction as a location
ALL CAPS
 Write out the following sentences,
capitalizing words whenever
necessary:
 sandra set out on a trip to the west to
visit john steinbeck’s home town and see
some of the places he mentions in of
mice and men. she booked her trip
through the literary travel corporation in
st. louis, missouri.
Run-ons and Fragments
 Run-on sentence
 a sentence that continues without any defined
breaks using a comma and conjunction or
ending punctuation
 often, multiple sentences that are not separated
 Fragment
 a part of a sentence lacking either the subject or
a verb
 incomplete – cannot stand alone as a sentence
“Stop that run-on!”
 Rewrite the following sentence.
 The teacher stood up to walk to the front
of the room and a student placed his bag
where the teacher was to stand and the
teacher tripped on the bag and fell on
her face the class laughed and the boy
felt bad.
“Hmmm…it needs something.”
 Expand each fragment to make it a
complete sentence:
 Which was found on the floor.
 As the students were packing to leave.
Apostrophes
 To show possession
 To write contractions
 To add ‘s’ to numbers or letters
“That’s mine!”
 Rewrite the following sentences using
apostrophes to show possession:
1. That homework belongs to Jim.
2. That iPod now belongs to Ms. Wallace,
because you had it out during class.
“I love the 80’s!”
Answer the following questions using ‘s:
1. What is your favorite decade?
2. What grades do you hate making in
school?
Hyphens
 #1: Compound preceding adjectives
 Combine words into an adjective before a
noun
 The brown-eyed girl vs. The girl is brown eyed.
 Hot-water bottle vs. hot water bottle (see
difference?)
 Age descriptors, too! (seven-year-old…)
 #2: Prefixes
 Before the root word
 Re-read
ex-boyfriend
pre-screen
bicycle
 #3: Numbers 21-99 written out
 Twenty-one
forty-two
ninety-nine
Add hyphens in the following:
 My noise canceling headphones
were not for long term use.
 My ex boyfriend and I are no
longer together because he was
not super romantic.
 My five year old daughter can’t
wait to be six years old.
Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement
 Pronoun: a word that may be used to
replace another noun
 I, you, he, she, it, we, they
 me, you, him, her, it, us, them
 my, your, his, her, its, our, their
(subjective)
(objective)
(possessive)
 Antecedent: a noun that the pronoun has
replaced (usually appears earlier)
 Ex.: Janie looked frantically for her vocabulary
homework, praying that she had not lost it.
Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement
 Pronouns and their antecedents must
agree in both number and gender.
 Fill in the blank with the appropriate
pronoun and underline the
antecedent:
 Erica’s boyfriend gave ___ a mum for
homecoming.
 I hope that the football team wins ___
game on Friday.
Vague Reference Pronouns
 Every pronoun you write should refer
clearly and unmistakably to ONE
PARTICULAR noun (the antecedent).
 Ex: After buying the new vocabulary book, Kara
put it safely in her backpack.
 Unfortunately, it is very easy to create a
sentence that uses a pronoun WITHOUT a
clear, unmistakable noun antecedent.
 Ex: After putting the new vocabulary book in
her backpack, Kara lost it.
Correcting Vague References
 Underline the vague reference
pronoun in each sentence. Then,
rewrite the sentence to correct the
problem.
 NOTE: There is more than one way to do this!
1. After putting the new vocabulary book in
her backpack, Kara lost it.
2. Even though Barry was quite smart, he
made poor use of it in school.
Spelling
YOU CANNOT USE THE DICTIONARY
ON THE TEST!
YOU WILL HAVE TO GUESS ON
SPELLING IF YOU ARE NOT SURE.
Memorize!
Commonly Confused Words:
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Then, than*
Effect, affect *
Lay, lie *
Principle, principal
Accept, except
Complement, compliment
Allusion, illusion
Already, all ready
Conscious, conscience
Write, right
A lot, alot
Then vs. Than
 Then
 Than
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At that time:
 Meet me during lunch,
I'll talk to you then.
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Immediately following:
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In addition:
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In that case:
 First I will go to Ms.
Wallace’s class, then I
will go to Ms.
Poyner’s.
 The team scored a
touchdown and then a
field goal too.
 If you need to make
up the test, then stay
after class for
tutoring.
For comparison:
 She has much better
grammar than I.
Practice choosing “affect” or
“effect”
Effect
(noun) meaning: consequence, outcome,
appearance
Affect
(verb) meaning: transform, change
Try substituting the word “effect” with consequence
What is the
effect of not doing your homework?
(consequence – noun/thing)
Try substituting the word “affect’ with transform
How will doing your homework affect your grade?
(transform –
verb/action)
Practice choosing “then” or “than”
 Circle the word that is grammatically
correct for each sentence:
 Ian ate lunch and (then/than) went to
English class.
 Cy Woods played a much better
ballgame (then/than) Cy Springs last
week.
 If you’re not going to take notes in class,
(then/than) don’t expect to do well on
the test.
Lay or Lie
Lay or Lie?
 Present tense –
 Present tense –
 Past tense –
 Past tense of “lie”
is…lay
 You “lay” down a thing
 The thing “laid” down
 I laid down my book on
the table and it still lays
there today.
 Past Participle–
 You “have laid” down a
thing
 You “lie” down
 Last week, you “lay”
down.
 I hoped he would lay
still last night, but today
he still won’t lie still.
 Past participle –
 You “have lain” down
Ordering Sentences
 Rewrite the following paragraph, putting
the sentences in a more logical order:
 She has to attend a student council meeting
after school. Today, the club is going to be
making their float for the homecoming
parade. She missed the last two meetings
because of choir practice. Her team is
responsible for painting the main banner.
The float has a Hollywood theme.
THE END
…or is it???