Grammar, Part I

Unit Review Sheet

Facts and Definitions

Lesson 1: Parts of Speech

• A noun can be a person, place, thing, or idea.
• Proper nouns refer to specific people, places, and organizations and should be capitalized.
• Common nouns refer to generic people, places, or things and are not capitalized.
• Noncount nouns are singular.
• A pronoun takes the place of a noun and often refers to a specific noun (called the pronoun's antecedent).
• Personal pronouns refer to a specific noun.
• Possessive pronouns show ownership.
• Demonstrative pronouns point to something.
• Relative pronouns link nouns or pronouns to other parts of the sentence.
• Reflexive/intensive pronouns end in -self or -selves. Reflexive means that the person or thing receives the action of the verb. Intensive pronouns follow a noun or personal pronoun and are used for emphasis.
• Interrogative pronouns ask a question.
• Indefinite pronouns are words like everybody or someone that don't typically refer to any specific person, place, or thing.
• A verb describes an action or a state of being.
• Action verbs describe something happening.
• Linking verbs (which include the "being" verbs) describe a state of being.
• Some words can be either action or linking verbs, depending on their use. If you can satisfactorily substitute a form of the verb "to be" (is, was, were, etc.), then the verb in question is a linking verb.
• Helping/auxiliary verbs come before the main verb to help express certain conditions or tenses. A verb can have up to 3 helping verbs (e.g., should have been seeing). A main verb and its helping verbs are a verb phrase.
• Transitive verbs take an object, meaning that something receives their action.
• Nothing receives the action of intransitive verbs. Note that all linking verbs are intransitive.
• Prepositions begin prepositional phrases.
• Conjunctions join words, phrases, clauses, or sentences.
• Coordinating conjunctions join equals together (a word with another word, a phrase with another phrase, etc.). They are the FANBOYS (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so).
• Correlative conjunctions are always found in pairs (such as either/or, neither/nor).
• Subordinating conjunctions begin dependent clauses.
• Adjectives modify or describe nouns or pronouns. They tell which one, what kind, or how many.
• Articles (a, an, the) function as adjectives. "A" and "an" are indefinite articles, and "the" is a definite article.
• Adverbs modify or describe verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs. They answer one of these questions: How? (quickly, slowly) When? (yesterday, once) Where? (here, there) Why? (to go faster).
• Conjunctive adverbs provide strong transitions between two independent clauses. The formula for using a conjunctive adverb is independent clause + semicolon + conjunctive adverb + comma + independent clause.
• Intensifiers are adverbs that change the intensity or strength of adjectives or adverbs. Examples include "very slowly," "quite unhappy," "too blurry," and "more quickly."
• The comparative form of an adjective or adverb compares two things. A positive comparison uses "-er" or "more," depending on the number of syllables in the original word; a negative comparison always uses "less" (less green).
• The superlative form of an adjective or adverb compares more than two things and judges which is best/worst. A positive comparison uses "-est" or "most," depending on the number of syllables in the original (positive) word; a negative comparison always uses "least" (least green).
• Interjections are words or phrases that usually come at the beginning of a sentence, express a mild or strong emotion, and don't relate to the rest of the sentence grammatically (you can take it out, and the rest of the sentence still makes sense).

Lesson 2: Subject-Verb Agreement

• If a subject and verb are separated by one or more prepositional phrases or adjective clauses, pretend those phases or clauses aren't there and try to match the subject and verb.
• The subject of a verb is never located in a prepositional phrase.
• These indefinite pronouns are always singular: all that begin in "some," "no," or "any" and end in "-thing," "-body," or "-one" (like anything, somebody, or everyone), each, either, neither, other, another, much.
• The indefinite pronouns both, few, many, and several are always plural.
• These pronouns can be either singular or plural: all, any, most, none, and some. Look at the prepositional phrase that follows the word to determine whether the word the pronoun refers to is singular or plural.
• Compound subjects joined by "and" take a plural verb. For subjects joined by "or" or "nor," use the subject closest to the verb to match to the verb.

Lesson 3: Pronoun Problems

• Personal pronouns must agree with their antecedent in both number and gender.
• The possessive adjectives are my, our, your, his, her, its, their.
• Pronoun reference problems occur when the pronoun's antecedent is unclear (i.e., it could refer to more than one person or thing) or missing completely.
• First-person point of view includes forms of "I" and "we"; second-person point of view involves forms of "you"; third-person point of view includes forms of "he," "she," "it," "they," and the singular indefinite pronouns.
• Case refers to the form of a pronoun depending on its function in a sentence.
• Subject pronouns are usually the subject of a verb. They are I, you, he, she, it, we, and they.
• Object pronouns are objects of verbs (direct or indirect objects) or objects of prepositions. They are me, you, him, her, it, us, and them.

Lesson 4: Commas

• Use a comma to separate three or more items in a series.
• Coordinate adjectives are ones that are equal and interchangeable. Two or more coordinate adjectives before a noun require a comma.
• In a compound sentence, use the formula independent clause + comma + one of the FANBOYS + second independent clause.
• Insert a comma after an introductory word, phrase, or dependent clause (one that comes before the main part of the sentence).
• Set off name suffixes and titles (such as Jr., M.D., or C.P.A.) with commas.
• When you write the month, day, and year, insert a comma between the day and year. (If the date is in the middle of a sentence, a comma is needed after the year as well.) If you include only the day and month or month and year, no comma is required.
• If you write out an address in a sentence, insert commas between each element except for the state and zip code.
• If you include a city and state/country in a sentence, put commas around the state/country.
• Set off nonessential words, phrases, and clauses with commas.
• Appositives are words or phrases that rename a noun or pronoun. Set off nonessential appositives with commas.
• If a sentence directly addresses someone, set off the person's name with commas.
• Parentheses can be used to set off extra or helpful information like page numbers, dates, and asides (extra comments or remarks).
• Dashes set off nonessential information that you want to emphasize. Dashes can also introduce a list or restate/clarify something. Dashes tend to be less formal than other types of punctuation.

Lesson 5: Review

• [none]

Lesson 6: Colons and Semicolons

• Semicolons are used to separate two closely related independent clauses, to join two independent clauses with a transitional word/phrase (or conjunctive adverb), and to separate items in a list when the individual items have commas in them.
• Colons are used to introduce a list or to restate or clarify something. In any of these cases, the colon must be preceded by a complete sentence.
• You can use a colon in front of a quotation if the introduction to the quote is a complete sentence.
• In formal writing, a colon is used to introduce a long indented quotation.
• Other colon uses include the greeting of a business letter, expressing time, dividing a main title of a book or article from its subtitle, and separating the chapter and verse of the Bible.

Lesson 7: Spelling

• A mnemonic device is a trick to help you remember something.

Final Project: Wrapping Up

• [none]