Ela Practice Grammar Final

Most of the time the verb follows the subject. however, there are some examples where it doesn’t. Page 501

This is expressed because most of the sentence structure is gone, and you have to imply it through expression. This is also known as an imperative sentence.

This is a command, but it doesn’t have a subject so it is a imperative sentence.

“There is no place like home.”

Explanation: Although there might look look like the subject, its actually acting as more of an adverb (however it is useless in the sentence). You could re-structure the sentence to be “No place is like home.“

The word there is used in one of the few times the subject comes after the verb

It is the subject (noun) that is performing the verb in the sentence. It has no modifiers on it, so no adjectives or adverbs.

“The tired, elderly man trudged down the street.”

• Here we don’t include “The“, “tired“, or “elderly“ in the simple subject.

The complete subject is the subject (noun) that is performing the action, BUT it has all related modifiers on it.

“Our favorite movie from our childhood was playing on TV.”

• All the modifiers are included onto “movie“ in this case, even the prepositional phrase. The simple subject is underlined here.

The simple predicate is just the verb without any modifiers on it. So we would exclude any adverbs that would be related to it. Note: A verb phrase can still be considered as simple predicate. Example: “had done“

“Fred Mosby will be my new tutor.”

• This is the simple predicate here even because there are no modifiers attached to it. However, the helping verb is also included because it is part of the verb phrase.

The complete predicate is the verb that has all modifiers attached to it, and this can include adverbs, prepositional phrases, direct and indirect objects, etc.

“An early form of the bicycle was invented in France in 1690.“

• This is the complete predicate because its starts with the main verb “was“, and then has all attached modifiers: a direct object, and two prepositional phrases.

A compound subject is 2 or more nouns acting as the subject. The compound subject includes ALL modifiers and conjunctions, unless it is a simple compound subject.

“The large door and small windows are broken.”

• This would be the compound subject because it has both subjects, “door” and “windows”, and all the modifiers. Here there are 2 adjectives, an article, and a conjunction.

A compound predicate is 2 or more verbs that form the predicate. They would include all modifiers including prepositional phrases, adverbs, and conjunctions; Unless it is a simple compound predicate.

“The cat chased and caught the moose.“

• In this case the compound predicate is this because we have included both verbs, as well as the one modifier: the conjunction.

The direct object is the word (or phrase) that receives the action from the verb. This could be seen in a sentence as: Subject, Verb, Direct Object.

Don’t get this confused: the subject does the action, but the direct object receives the action.

“The students ate pizza.“

• In this sentence, the word students would be the subject, and they ate. What did they eat? They ate pizza.

An indirect object is the object that receives the direct object, its usually not the main object.

For example: “The teachers gave the students pizza.“

• in this sentence the subject is teacher, which gives pizza (pizza is the direct object). The students are the one receiving the pizza, so “students” is the indirect object because it receives the direct Object (Pizza).

Object complements are kinda weird: it’s the noun, pronoun, or adjective that follows a direct object to rename it OR say what state it’s in.

• Usually, verbs like “To make“, “to create“, “to name“, or “to call“ have object complements in the sentence. (Not always tho) Example: “To call you stupid.“

• So in “To paint something purple.“

  • “Something” is the direct object and “purple“ is the object complement because it shows what state it’s in (purple state). It is also an adjective.

When looking for an object complement, see if any words after the direct object change its state or name: Usually in the form of adjectives.

A subject complement is a word (or phrase) that follows a linking verb and identifies or describes the subject. The object complement contains the predicate adjective and nominative. A subject complement can either be an adjective, a noun, or a pronoun.

• Example: “That pie looks burnt to a crisp.“

  • Here the subject complement is “burnt to a crisp“, which is preceded by the linking verb “looks“. In this case, the subject complement is acting as an adjective.

A predicate adjective is an adjective usually describing the subject, BUT it comes after the predicate. The predicate is 99% of the time going to be a linking verb. A linking verb could be: “was“, “is“, “looks”, “become“, “been“, etc. Don’t include any conjunctions if there are multiple predicate adjectives.

• For example: “The cake was sweet.“

  • In this sentence, the predicate adjective is “sweet“, because it is describing the subject: “cake“. The linking verb “was“ is used before the adjective.

A predicate nominative (predicate noun) renames the subject after the linking verb, and it is always a noun or pronoun. This is like the predicate adjective, but with nouns. *Include any and all modifiers onto the nominative

• For example: “John was a nerd.“

  • In this case, nerd would be the noun that acts as the predicate nominative, and the article “a“ is included because it modifies “nerd“. There is a linking verb “was“, and it links the nominative to the subject.

A prepositional phrase is multiple words that start with a preposition, and then has an object of the preposition along with any modifiers. *There must be at least the preposition and it’s object.

• Example: “He arrived on time.“

  • The preposition in this sentence is “on“, and the object is “time“. There are no modifiers here, so we don’t add anything.

An appositive phrase is a noun (or noun phrase) that gives more information to another noun/phrase. It’s just extra info, and can be essential or nonessential.

• Example: “Hermione Granger, a witch at Hogwarts School, is accomplished at spells“

  • In this sentence, the appositive phrase is underlined where the main noun is “which“, followed by a prepositional phrase and an article. In this case, it is nonessential because it can be removed and the sentence will still make sense.

A participle phrase is a group of words that start with a participle, which is a word usually ending in “-ing” or “-ed” (there are also words like “gone“ which is a participle). In these phrases, include any and all modifiers. *You can think of the participle as an adjective phrase that describes a noun.

• Example: “We tried to avoid the person wearing a clown costume.“

  • In this sentence, the word “wearing“ is our participle, and it is followed by its object and modifiers: “costume“ and “a” + “clown“. This whole phrase just describes “person“.

A gerund is a verb that acts as a noun in a sentence, and it usually ends in “-ing“. Because it acts as a noun, a gerund can be the subject, direct object, indirect object, or object of the preposition. *Don’t add any modifiers to a gerund, unless it comes in a phrase (prepositional or gerund phrase).

• Example: “I hope to set a new record in swimming.“

  • “Swimming” is the gerund, and it is acting as the object of the preposition in the prepositional phrase: “in swimming“.

Infinitives are verbs that act as a noun, adjectives, or an adverb. Infinitives can also act as direct or indirect objects. They are formed when the word “to“ is in front of the base verb.%% There are also infinitive phrases, which have all modifiers added on: “to run quickly“.

• Example: “I want to go home.“

  • Here, the root verb is “go“, with to being added in front of it, forming the infinitive. In this case, the infinitive acts as the direct object.

The main clause is the independent clause, a group of words that contains the subject and predicate of the sentence. A main clause forms a complete sentence if it stood on its own.

The subordinate clause(s) is a clause that can’t stand by itself, and are dependent on the main clause. They don’t always have a direct subject or predicate.

• “I went to bed after brushing my teeth.“

  • The underlined portion of the sentence can’t stand by itself, and thus it is dependent. In this case, the clause is a propositional phrase.

A noun phrase is a group of words that start with a noun/pronoun, and it includes all the modifiers for the noun. Modifiers for noun phrases can include prepositional phrases, adjectives, articles, adverbs, etc.

• “The lawyer with the big nose ate cheese.“

  • In this sentence, the noun is “lawyer“, with the remaining words being modifiers. There is an article and a prepositional phrase.

  • *As you can see, we didn’t include the verb or direct object in the noun phrase.

An adverb phrase is a dependent clause that modifies a verb, adverb, or adjective. The adverb clause just acts as an adverb.

• Example: “He bakes cakes before he leaves for work every Sunday.“

  • The underlined portion is modifying the verb “bakes“, so it is acting as an adverb. We can also see that it can’t stand on its own, because it starts with “before“.

An adjective clause is a dependent clause that acts like an adjective: it provides more information on a noun or pronoun. There are 2 categories: essential and non-essential.

• Essential: If you took out the clause, the sentence WILL NOT make sense.

  • “The man who left his wallet is coming back for it.“

    • The underlined portion is essential because without it, the word “it“ would have no context, and so the sentence wouldn’t make sense. The clause here is also modifying the noun “man“, so we know it is an adjective clause.

• Non-Essential: If you took out the clause, the sentence WILL make sense.

  • “Lisa, who takes math class with Billy, is fluent in French.“

    • This is a non-essential clause because if we take it out, the sentence still makes sense: no context is lost. The underlined portion is also modifying the noun “Lisa“, so we know it is an adjective clause.

A simple sentence is just a subject and a predicate, and it is an independent thought that can stand on its own.

• A simple sentence does NOT contain a dependent or subordinate clause, it is ONLY the main clause

A compound sentence is a sentence that contains 2 or more INDEPENDENT clauses, joined by a conjunction or a semicolon.

• A compound sentence is basically just 2 simple sentences joined together.

A complex sentence is a sentence with one independent (main), and one or more dependent (subordinate) clauses.

• When the dependent clause is first in the sentence, then only commas will be used.

• Other complex sentences are conjoined with subordinate conjunctions: “when“, “how“, “if“

A compound-complex sentence has at least 3 separate clauses: 2 independent, and at least one dependent.

• This sentence is formed by conjoining a compound sentence and a complex sentence, usually with a coordinating conjunction

There are 3 types of verbs:

• Action Verbs

• Linking Verbs

• Helping Verbs

Action Verbs: Express action or possession, 2 types

• Transitive: Has a direct object that it is affecting

  • “Bryan raises his hand.“

    • “Raises“ is the verb, and the direct object is “hand“, so the verb must be transitive.

• Intransitive: Sometimes has indirect objects, or no objects. Name the object to (or for) whom the action was done to.

  • “Bilbo gave Sid the pencil.“

    • The verb here is “gave”, with “Sid“ being the indirect object.

    • (To whom did Bilbo give the pencil? to Sid)

A linking verb connects the subject of the sentence to the subject complement (renames or describes the subject). Linking verbs are usually: “am, are, is, was, were, become, seem, etc.”

• “The octopus seemed happy.“

  • “Seemed“ is the linking verb, and happy is the subject complement because it describes “the octopus“.

Helping verbs are used before action or linking verbs to add additional info about possibility (can, could, etc.) or time (was, did, has, etc). A main verb + a helping verb is a verb phrase.

• “Jamie is going to Ohio.“

  • “is“ is the helping verb, and “going“ is the main verb. The 2 of them together combine into the verb phrase.

There are 3 different types of nouns, and they can all be either plural or singular, as well as common or proper:

• Abstract noun: A noun that CANNOT be physically seen or felt

  • “Emotion” “Power” “Justice”

• Concrete noun: A noun that CAN be physically seen or felt

  • “ Computer” “Book” “Pencil“

• Collective noun: A noun that refers to a group of people or things

  • “school” “army” ”team”

• Singular noun: A noun that refers to a single object

  • “Heart” ”Room” ”Suit”

• Plural noun: A noun that refers to more than one item

  • “Hearts” “Rooms” ”Suits“

• Common noun: A noun that IS NOT a specific name of a place, person, or thing

  • “House” ”Life” ”Race”

• Proper noun: A noun that IS the name of a person, place, or thing

  • “George Washington” “Dallas” “The Nile River“

There are a lot of types of pronouns:

• Personal pronoun: Refers to a person or thing

  • “I” “Me” “You“ “He“ “She“

• Possessive pronoun: Shows possession over something

  • “My” “Mine” “Yours“

• Interrogative pronoun: Starts a question

  • “Who…?” ”What…?” ”Why…?” ”Which…?“

• Relative pronoun: Starts a subordinate (dependent) clause

  • “That…” “Whoever…” “Which…“

• Indefinite pronoun: Refers to a person or thing in a very general way, not very specific

  • “Everyone” ”Enough” ”Another“

• Reflexive pronoun: a pronoun that refers back to another noun or pronoun

  • Example: “He saw himself in the mirror”

• Intensive pronoun: a reflexive pronoun but it is right after the noun or pronoun

  • Example: “He himself ate the cake”

Adjectives have 3 levels, and can either be regular adjectives or proper adjectives:

• Positive adjective: The first adjective level

  • “Light, Funny, Weird”

• Comparative adjective: The second level

  • “'Lighter, Funnier, Weirder“

• Superlative adjective: The final level

  • “Lightest, Funniest, Weirdest“

• Proper Adjective: A adjective directly used to describe a name

  • “Dutch, Roman, Navajo“

There are 3 conjunction types:

• Coordinating conjunction: Joins groups with equal value, or FANBOYS

  • For

  • And

  • Nor

  • But

  • Or

  • Yet

  • So

• Correlative conjunction: Two words that work in a pair to join a group of equal value to another. They don’t have to be next to each other

  • “both...and” “either...or” ”neither...nor.

• Subordinating conjunction: A conjunction that joins a group of words that directly depends on another

  • “Because” ”After” ”Although“

A run on sentence is a sentence when 2 complete sentences are combined without a conjunction or proper punctuation (period or semicolon). *A long sentence is NOT always the run on sentence, they can be short too.

• “I have a big test tomorrow I can’t go out.” - This is incorrect because there is nothing to join the 2 independent sentences.

  • “I have a big test tomorrow__, so__ I can’t go out“ - This is correct because now there is a conjunction and a properly placed comma.