Download CAHSEE Grammar/Usage Cheat Sheet

CAHSEE Grammar/Usage Cheat Sheet
Sample
Walking and to jog and to cycle are activities many people can
enjoy.
A To walk, and jogging and cycle
B To walk, to jog, and cycling
C Walking, jogging, and cycling
D Leave as is.
Problem: Parallel structure
Sample
While Sara visited with Sam: she finished her science project.
A with Sam. She finished
B with Sam; she finished
C with Sam, she finished
D Leave as is.
Problem: Independent and dependent clauses—how to punctuation
Sample
My sister a high school freshman, is trying out for the school play.
A sister, a high school freshman,
B sister: a high school freshman
C sister a high school freshman
D Leave as is.
Problen: Appositives—how to punctuate
Sample
We’re sorry to bother you, but we need to ask you a question.
A sorry, to bother you but we need
B sorry to bother you, but, we need
C sorry to bother you but we need
D Leave as is.
Problem: Connecting 2 independent clauses with a conjunction—how to
punctuate
Sample
Tam left the decision up to _________.
A we
B us
C she
D they
Problem: Objective pronoun v. subjective pronoun
Sample
Akia told us about her safari across the plains of East Africa in our geography
class.
A In our geography class, Akia told us about her safari across the plains of
East Africa.
B Akia told us about her safari in our geography class across the plains of
East Africa.
C In our geography class Akia told about her safari across the plains of East
Africa to us.
D Leave as is.
Problem: Misplaced modifier
Sample
Walking and to jog and to cycle are activities many people can enjoy.
A To walk, and jogging and cycle
B To walk, to jog, and cycling
C Walking, jogging, and cycling
D Leave as is.
Problem: Parallel structure
CAHSEE Cheat Sheet cont.
Phrase—not a sentence, does not contain a subject and a verb
Ex. Prepositional phrase
On the chair
Clauses—independent and dependent
Independent clause—subject and verb, can stand alone as a sentence
Dependent clause—subject and verb, cannot stand alone as a sentence
Ex. I go to bed early. (independent)
Ex. When I go to bed early. (dependent)
I v. Me
I = we—subject of sentence (doing the action)
me=us—object of sentence (being acted upon)
John and Steve went to the store.
We went to the store
John and I went to the store.
Dad asked John and Steve to go to the store
Dad asked us to go to the store.
Dad asked John and me to go to the store.
Subjective v. Objective Pronouns
We, she, he, they—subject of a sentence
Us, her, him, them—object of a sentence
We love them. v. Us love they.
Misplaced modifiers—causes confusion, awkwardness
Example from above:
Where did the safari take place?
When did the safari take place?
Where did Akia talk about her safari experience?
Use of semi-colon—( ; )
Separate 2 independent, related clauses—no conjunction
Gerund
A verb ending in ing used as a noun, subject of a sentence
Cooking can be a social activity.
Swimming is my favorite form of exercise.
Subordinate Clauses
After Amy sneezed all over the tuna salad
After = subordinate conjunction; Amy = subject; sneezed = verb.
Once Adam smashed the spider
Once = subordinate conjunction; Adam = subject; smashed = verb.
Until Mr. Sanchez has his first cup of coffee
Until = subordinate conjunction; Mr. Sanchez = subject; has = verb.
Who ate handfuls of Cheerios with his bare hands
Who = relative pronoun; Who = subject; ate = verb
Subordinate + Main clause—separate with comma
Even though the broccoli was covered in cheddar cheese , Emily
refused to eat it.
Unless Christine finishes her calculus homework , she will have
to suffer Mr. Nguyen's wrath in class tomorrow.
While Bailey slept on the sofa in front of the television ,
Samson, the family dog, gnawed on the leg of the coffee table.
Main + Subordinate—no comma
Tanya did poorly on her history exam Ø because her best friend
Giselle insisted on gossiping during their study session the
night before.
Jonathon spent his class time reading comic books Ø since his
average was a 45 one week before final exams.
Diane decided to plant tomatoes in the back of the yard Ø where the
sun blazed the longest during the day .