Download Grammar Rules

Grammar Rules!
Parts of Speech:
1. A noun is a word that names a person, place, thing or idea-common, proper, concrete,
abstract, collective, compound, or possessive.
2. A pronoun is a word used in place of a noun or another pronoun-possessive pronouns,
reflexive, intensive, demonstrative, indefinite, interrogative or relative. The word
that a pronoun stands for is called its antecedent.
3. A verb expresses an action, a condition, or a state of being-action, linking, or
auxiliary (helping).
4. An adjective modifies or limits the meaning of a noun or pronoun-articles, or proper
adjectives.
5. An adverb modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb.
6. A preposition shows the relationship between a noun or pronoun and another word in
a sentence.
7. A conjunction connects words or groups of words-coordinating, correlative, or
subordinating.
8. An interjection is a word or a phrase used to express emotion.
The Sentence and Its Parts:
9. Every sentence has two basic parts: a subject and a predicate.
10. The basic elements of a sentence are the simple subject and the simple predicate.
11. The complete subject includes the simple subject and all the words that modify, or
tell more about, it.
12. The complete predicate includes the verb and all the words that modify, or tell more
about, it.
13. A sentence can have more than one subject or verb.
14. A sentence can be used to make a statement (declarative), ask a question
(interrogative), give a command (imperative) or show strong feelings
(exclamatory).
15. In an inverted sentence the subject comes after the verb or part of the verb phrase.
16. Though here or there may begin a sentence, these words are rarely subjects.
17. In a question the subject usually comes after the verb or inside the verb phrase.
18. In an imperative sentence the subject is an understood “you.”
19. Complements are words that complete the meaning or action of verbs-predicate
adjectives or predicate nominatives.
20. Action verbs often require complements called direct objects and indirect objects to
complete their meaning.
Using Phrases:
21. A prepositional phrase consists of a preposition, its object, and any modifiers of the
object-adverb prepositional phrases or adjective prepositional phrases.
22. An appositive is a noun or pronoun that identifies or renames another noun or
pronoun-essential or nonessential.
23. A participle is a verb form that acts as an adjective. It modifies a noun or a pronoun.
A. participial phrase consists of a participle plus its modifiers and complements.
24. A gerund is a verb form that ends in -ing and acts as a noun.
25. An infinitive is a verb form, usually beginning with the word to, that can act as a
noun, an adjective, or an adverb.
Clauses and Sentence Structure:
26. A clause is a group of words that contains a subject and a verb-independent or
subordinate.
27. An adjective clause is a subordinate clause that is used as an adjective to modify a
noun or pronoun-essential or nonessential
28. An adverb clause is a subordinate clause that modifies a verb, an adjective, or an
adverb.
29. A noun clause is a subordinate clause used as a noun.
30. A simple sentence consists of one independent clause and no subordinate clauses.
31. A compound sentence consists of two or more independent clauses joined together.
32. A complex sentence consists of one independent clause and one or more
subordinate clauses.
33. A compound-complex sentence consists of two or more independent clauses and one
or more subordinate clauses.
Writing Complete Sentences:
34. A sentence fragment is part of a sentence that is punctuated as if it were a
complete sentence.
35. A run-on sentence is two or more sentences written as thought they were one
sentence.
Using Verbs:
36. Every verb has four principal parts: the present, the present participle, the past, and
the past participle.
37. A tense is a verb form that shows the time of an action or a condition-simple, perfect,
or progressive.
38. When a verb’s subject performs the action expressed by the verb, the verb is in the
active voice.
39. When a verb’s subject receives the action expressed by the verb, the verb is in the
passive voice.
40. The mood of a verb conveys the status of the action or condition it describesindicative, imperative, or subjunctive.
Subject-Verb Agreement:
41. A verb must agree with its subject in number.
42. In a verb phrase, it is the first helping verb that must agree with the subject.
43. The subject of a verb is never found in a prepositional phrase or an appositive
phrase.
44. Singular indefinite pronouns take singular verbs.
45. Plural indefinite pronouns take plural verbs.
46. Some indefinite pronouns take singular verbs when they refer to one person or thing.
They take plural verbs when they refer to two or more people or things.
47. A compound subject whose parts are joined by and usually requires a plural verb.
48. When the parts of a compound subject are joined by or or nor, the verb should agree
with the part closest to it.
49. When a collective noun refers to a group as a unit, it takes a singular verb. When it
refers to a group acting as individuals, it takes a plural verb.
50. Titles of works of art, literature, and music are singular. Words and phrases that
refer to weights, measures, numbers, and lengths of time are usually treated as
singular.
Using Pronouns:
51. Personal pronouns take different forms depending on how they are used in a
sentence. The form of a pronoun is called its case-nominative, objective,
and possessive.
52. Personal pronouns that function as subjects or as predicate nominatives are in the
nominative case.
53. Personal pronouns that function as direct objects, indirect objects, or the objects of
prepositions are in the objective case.
54. Personal pronouns that show ownership or relationships are in the possessive case.
55. The case of the pronoun who is determined by the function of the pronoun in the
sentence. Who is the nominative form of the pronoun. In questions, who is used
as a subject or as a predicate pronoun. Whom is the objective form. In a
question, whom is used as a direct or an indirect object of a verb or as the object
of a preposition.
56. Use who when the pronoun is the subject of a subordinate clause.
57. Use whom when the pronoun is an object in a subordinate clause.
58. A pronoun must agree with its antecedent in number, gender, and person.
59. A personal pronoun must agree in number with the indefinite pronoun that is its
antecedent.
60. The referent of a pronoun should always be clear-indefinite, general or ambiguous.
61. Pronouns can be used with an appositive, in an appositive, or in a comparison.
Using Modifiers:
62. Do not use both –er and more to form a comparative. Do not use both –est and most
to form a superlative.
63. When you are comparing something that is part of a larger group to the group itself,
use other or else to avoid an illogical comparison.
Capitalization:
64. Capitalize names and initials in names.
65. Capitalize titles and abbreviations of titles that are used before names or in direct
address.
66. Capitalize abbreviations of titles even when they follow the names.
67. Capitalize a title of royalty or nobility only when it precedes a person’s name.
68. Capitalize words indicating family relationships only when they are used as parts of
names or in direct address.
69. Always capitalize the pronoun I.
70. Capitalize the names of ethnic groups, races, languages, and nationalities, along with
adjectives formed from these names.
71. Capitalize the names of religions, religious denominations, sacred days, sacred
writing, and deities.
72. Capitalize the first word of every sentence.
73. Capitalize the first word in every line of traditional poetry.
74. Capitalize the first word of a direct quotation if it is a complete sentence.
75. In a divided quotation, do not capitalize the first word of the second part unless it
starts a new sentence.
76. In a letter, capitalize the first word of the greeting, words such as Sir or Madam, and
the first word of the closing.
77. Capitalize the first word of each entry in an outline, as well as the letters that
introduce major subsections.
78. Capitalize the first word, the last word, and all other important words in a title. Do
not capitalize conjunctions, articles, or prepositions of fewer than five letters.
79. In geographical names, capitalize each word except articles and prepositions.
80. Capitalize the words north, south, east, and west when they name particular regions
of the country or world or are parts of proper names.
81. Capitalize the names of planets and other specific objects in the universe.
82. Capitalize the names of specific buildings, bridges, monuments and other landmarks.
83. Capitalize the names of specific airplanes, trains, ships, cars and spacecraft.
84. Capitalize all important words in the names of organizations, institutions, stores and
companies.
85. Capitalize abbreviations of the names of organizations and institutions.
86. Capitalize the names of historical events, periods, and documents.
87. Capitalize the abbreviations B.C., A.D., B.C.E., C.E., A.M., and P.M.
88. Capitalize the names of months, days and holidays but not the names of seasons.
89. Capitalize the names of special events and awards.
90. Capitalize the brand names of products but not common nouns that follow brand
names.
91. Capitalize the names of school subjects only when they refer to specific courses.
92. Capitalize the word freshman, sophomore, junior or senior only when it is used
as part of a proper noun or in a direct address.
Punctuation:
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98.
Use periods at the end of all declarative sentences and most imperative sentences.
Use periods at the end of most sentences containing indirect questions.
Use periods after initials and after most abbreviations.
Use a period after each number or letter in an outline or list.
Use a question mark at the end of an interrogative sentence.
Use an exclamation point to end an exclamatory sentence or after a strong
interjection.
99. In a series of three or more items, use a comma after every item except the last one.
100. Use commas after first, second, and so on when they introduce items in a series.
101. Use commas between adjectives of equal rank that modify the same noun.
102. Use a comma after an introductory word or a mild interjection.
103. Use a comma after an introductory prepositional phrase that contains one or more
other prepositional phrases.
104. Use a comma after an infinitive phrase, a participial phrase, or an adverb clause that
begins a sentence.
105. Use commas to set off words that interrupt the flow of thought in a sentence.
106. Use commas to set of nonessential appositives.
107. Use a comma whenever readers might misinterpret a sentence without it.
108. Use commas to separate direct quotations from explanatory words like he said,
Greg replied, and Sheila asked.
109. Use a comma to separate independent clauses joined by a conjunction in a
compound sentence.
110. Use commas to set off nonessential clauses.
111. Use a semicolon to join the parts of a compound sentence if no coordinating
conjunction is used.
112. Use a semicolon before a conjunctive adverb that joins the clauses of a compound
sentence.
113. When commas occur within parts of a series, use semicolons to separate the parts.
114. Use a colon to introduce a list of items.
115. Use a colon between two independent clauses when the second explains or
summarizes the first.
116. Use a colon to introduce a long or formal quotation.
117. Use quotation marks at the beginning and at the end of a direct quotation.
118. Use single quotation marks around a quotation within a quotation.
119. If one speaker’s words continue for more than a paragraph, each paragraph should
begin with a quotation mark. However, a closing quotation mark should not be
used until the end of the entire quotation.
120. Dialogue is conversation between two or more people. Begin a new paragraph each
time the speaker changes, and use a separate set of quotation marks for each
speaker’s words.
121. Use quotation marks around the titles of magazine articles, chapters, short stories,
TV episodes, essays, short poems, and songs.
122. Use a hyphen if part of a word must be carried over from one line to the next.
123. Use hyphens in compound numbers from twenty-one to ninety-nine.
124. Use hyphens in fractions.
125. Use hyphens in certain compound nouns.
126. Use a hyphen between words that function as a compound adjective before a noun.
127. Use apostrophes to form the possessive forms of nouns.
128. To form the possessive of an indefinite pronoun, use an apostrophe and s.
129. Use an apostrophe and s to form the plural of a letter, a numeral, or a word referred
to as a word.
130. Use an apostrophe in a contraction.
131. Use dashes to signal an abrupt change of thought or set off an idea that breaks into
the flow of a sentence.
132. Use a dash after a series to indicate that a summary statement follows.
133. Use parentheses to set off material that is loosely related to the sentence or
paragraph in which it occurs.
134.
135.
136.
137.
Use an ellipsis (…) to indicate an omission of words or an idea that trails off.
Use italics to set off letters referred to as letters and words referred to as words.
Use italics to set off foreign words and phrases.
Use italics to set off the titles of books, newspapers, magazines, plays, movies,
television series, book-length poems, long musical compositions, and works of
art.