1st Semester Study Guide 2009
Nouns are persons, places, things, or ideas.
Example: The boy hit the ball.
Verbs
Adjectives
* Adjectives describe nouns. They modify nouns by telling:
What kind/ Which one/ How many/ How much or to what extent/
Example: The small boy ate the red apple. Small describes the boy, and red describes the apple.
* Demonstrative adjectives tell which one. These are: these, those, that, this.
Example: Pass those papers to the front. Which papers? - those paper
* Sometimes Demonstrative Adjectives can be used as Demonstrative Pronouns. These Demonstrative Pronouns replace something else.
Example: Will you hand that to me? That is not known.
Adverbs
Adverbs describe verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs. The tell when, where, and how.
Example: Johnny walked slowly. Slowly tells how.
Suzy ran outside. Outside tells where.
I will study for this test tonight. Tonight tells when
Pronouns
Pronouns take the place of nouns.
Example: Bobby is taking a test. He is taking a test. In the second sentence, Bobby is being replaced by he.
Prepositions (pgs. 360-362)
A preposition is a word that shows the relationship between a noun or a pronoun and another word in the sentence. Many students find it helpful to remember "a preposition is anywhere a mouse can run." This takes care of words such as over, under, between, around and others. However, don't forget those prepositions such as for, of, about and the time prepositions (such as after, before, until). Study the chart on page 361 in your textbook.
The object of the preposition is the noun or pronoun that follows the preposition.
For example:
The mouse ran under Lucy's desk.
The prepositional phrase begins with the preposition and ends with the object. For example:
The mouse ran under Lucy's desk. Under Lucy's desk is the prepositional phrase.
Interjections (pgs. 366-367)
An interjection is a word that expresses emotion. Some examples are:
aha hey hooray aw oops ow well yippee yikes
Interjections are often followed by exclamation points. However, sometimes they are followed by commas. For example:
Well, are you finished yet?
Conjunctions (pgs. 364-366)
Conjunctions join together words and phrases. The three man conjunctions are and, or, and but. However, there are many more such as:
for nor or so yet
Don't forget about correlative conjunctions. They are used in pairs.
both......and either.......or neither.....nor not only......but also whether......or
Rember Fanboys!
The Subject of a Sentence:
* The complete subject of the sentence includes the simple subject and all the modifiers that go with it.
Example: My dog likes to play. My dog- complete subject
likes to play- complete predicate
·
Find the simple subject. The simple
subject is the main word or words in the complete subject.
Example: Jonathan studied for his test. Who studied for his test? Jonathan did. Jonathan is the subject!
·
Finding the subject
tips:
-
The subject of an interrogative sentence
often comes after the first word of the sentence.
-
The subject of an imperative sentence
is always you.
-
Here and there are never subjects on a
sentence. If a sentence starts with Here or there, the subject will be the
first noun after the first verb.
-
The subject of a declarative sentence
often comes first.
Compound subject has two or more simple subjects that have the same predicate. A compound predicate has two or more simple predicates that have the same subject. Be able to recognize these in a sentence.
Sentence Fragments:
A sentence fragment is a group of words that does not express a complete thought. Most of the time they leave out the predicate or subject. Sometimes they are dependent clauses that need and independent clause to make them clear. For example:
-The fuzzy bear. (missing a predicate, the "doing" part)
-Jumped up and down the long hallway. (missing a subject)
-While I studied for my test. (The subordinating conjunction "while" makes this a dependent clause, It needs an -independent clause to make it complete.)
Types of Sentences:
Imperative Sentence- Makes a request or a command. Place a period on the end
of this sentence.
Declarative Sentence-
makes a statement. Place a period at the end of this type of sentence.
Interrogative Sentence-
asks a question. Place a question mark at the end of this type of sentence.
Exclamatory Sentence-
Expresses strong emotion. Place and exclamatory mark at the end of this
sentence.
Adjective and Adverb Phrases:
There are two kinds of prepositional phrases, adjective and adverb.
An adverb phrase will modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs. They will tell where, when, how, and sometimes why.
Example:
I found my tapping shoes on the beach. Where were the tapping shoes found? They were found on the beach. On the beach modifies the verb found.
Adjective phrases modify nouns or pronouns. They tell what kind, how many, and which one.
Example:
The picture on the wall fell down. Which picture fell? The one on the wall fell. "On the wall" tells us which picture. This makes "on the wall" an adjective phrase.
Clauses
A clause is a group of words that contains a subject and its verb. There are two kinds of clauses, independent and subordinate (also known as dependent).
* An independent clause is a complete thought and can stand alone as a sentence.
Example: While skipping down the hall, I sang a song.
"I sang a song" is an independent clause. We can make a sentence of it.
* A subordinate/dependent clause begins with a subordinating conjunction and cannot stand alone as a sentence.
Example: While father was sleeping, we picked out his present.
"While father was sleeping" is our subordinate/dependent clause. Even though it has a subject (father) and a verb (sleeping), it will not make sense by itself as a sentence. The subordinating clause "while" makes it a subordinate/dependent clause.
Subject/Verb Agreement-
To make most nouns plural, you would add s. However, plural verbs do not end with s and singular verbs end in s.
Example:
verb: play
singular verb: plays
plural verb: play
If
you have a plural subject, you must have a plural verb.
Example:
Girls like to shop at the mall.
If
you have a singular subject, you must have a singular verb.
Example:
Lucy likes to shop at the mall.
When
a compound subject is joined by and, always use a plural verb.
Example:
John and Zach play softball after school.
When
a compound subject is joined by or, either, neither, nor, the verb must
agree (match) the verb closest to it.
Example: Neither John nor Zach plays softball after school.