Grammar Review

Grammar Review

Verifying Preliminary Definitions

When we verify something, we check to make sure it is correct. The preliminary definition is the initial understanding we have of a word. Context clues are words or phrases surrounding an unknown word that help us determine its meaning. By applying the knowledge of context clues, such as finding the definition in the sentence or inferring meaning from the information given, students are able to verify their understanding of a word. Use these strategies to check if their initial thoughts about a word's meaning are accurate.

Multiple Choice

In the sentence "The dogs were so hungry that they could have killed one another for a morsel of meat," what does the word "morsel" mean?

• A tiny piece of food

• A lot of food

• A bone

• The dogs wanted food

Multiple Choice

What does the word "abhorrent" most likely mean in this passage?

Students were encouraged to stand together and create a cohesive environment, promoting unity and mutual respect. In a school where kindness and empathy were valued, acts of cruelty were considered abhorrent.

• Emphasizing the popularity of certain behavior

• Referring to behaviors that are deeply offensive or repugnant

• Describing actions that are common in a cohesive environment

• Signifying the unity and cooperation among students

Phrases and Clauses

• Phrases are groups of words that act like a single part of speech but cannot be a full sentence because they lack both a subject and a verb.

• Examples of phrases include "my best friend," "with the blue shirt," and "for 20 days."

• Clauses are groups of words that can be a sentence because they have both a subject and a verb. Clauses can be dependent or independent.

• Examples such as "the wizard who cast a spell" as a dependent clause and "The wizard cast a spell" as an independent clause.

• Phrases act like parts of speech, while clauses have both a subject and a verb.

Multiple Choice

In the sentence, "Although it was raining, they went for a walk," what is the underlined part?

• Phrase

• Independent clause

• Dependent clause

• Main idea

Multiple Choice

Which of the following is an example of a phrase?

• "I went to the park."

• "Running in the morning"

• "She is reading a book."

• "The dog barked loudly."

Noun Clauses

• Noun clauses are a type of subordinate clause that functions as a noun.

• They can play various roles within sentences, such as being a subject, direct object, indirect object, predicate nominative, or object of a preposition.

• Noun clauses cannot be removed from a sentence unless they are an indirect object.

• Noun clauses do not use commas, which helps distinguish them from other types of clauses.

• Locate and identify noun clauses in sentences using words like "whatever," "that," and "whom" as signals.

Multiple Choice

Identify the noun clause in the following sentence:

Do you know who is the governor of Ohio?

• Do you know

• the governor

• who is the governor of Ohio

• There is not a noun clause in the sentence.

Multiple Choice

Identify the noun clause in the following sentence:

Andy promised that he'd be on time for the party. 

• Andy promised

• for the party

• he'd be on time

• that he'd be on time for the party

Dependent Clauses

• An independent clause is essentially a sentence with a subject and a verb.

• A dependent clause also has a subject and a verb, but it cannot stand alone as a sentence.

• Dependent clauses often start with subordinating conjunctions like "because" or "while."

• These clauses provide additional information but rely on an independent clause to form a complete sentence.

Multiple Choice

Which of the following is an example of a dependent clause?

• "She went to the store."

• "Because it was raining."

• "The sun is shining."

• "He loves pizza."

Multiple Choice

Identify the dependent clause in the following sentence: "After I finish my homework, I will watch TV."

• "After I finish my homework"

• "I will watch TV"

• "Finish my homework"

• "I will"

Commas

• There are seven major coordinating conjunctions in the English language, which can be remembered using the acronym FANBOYS (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so).

• Coordinating conjunctions are used to join various elements such as words, phrases, or clauses.

• When using a coordinating conjunction to join two independent clauses (essentially two different sentences), a comma is required. If the two clauses can be split into separate sentences, a comma should be used.

• However, if the clauses cannot stand alone as separate sentences, a comma should be omitted.

Multiple Choice

Choose the sentence with the correct comma placement.

• Jeremy, and I, have had our share of arguments.

• Jeremy and I, have had our share of arguments.

• Jeremy and I have had our share of arguments.

• Jeremy and I have had, our share of arguments.

Multiple Choice

Choose the sentence with the correct comma placement.

• She finished her work, and then took a long lunch.

• She finished her work, and then, took a long lunch.

• She finished her work and then, took a long lunch.

• She finished her work and then took a long lunch.

Semicolons

• The semicolon is used to link two closely related ideas that can stand on their own as individual sentences.

• The semicolon helps connect sentences that share similar or related information.

• A semicolon can be used before an introductory adverb or transitional phrase, and it can be used in a complex list, which will be explained in another video.

• Overall, the semicolon is used to link independent clauses that can function as separate sentences with a period, and it is a useful tool for creating more cohesive and connected writing.

Multiple Choice

Which sentence is correct?

• The sweater had a large hole in it; still, Pauline hoped that she could mend it.

• The sweater had a large hole in it, still, Pauline hoped that she could mend it.

• The sweater had a large hole in it still Pauline hoped that she could mend it.

• The sweater had a large hole in it, still Pauline hoped that she could mend it.

Multiple Choice

Choose the correct punctuation to complete this sentence!

Our teacher assigned us some books to read over the ______ they all seem pretty difficult.

• summer,

• summer:

• summer

• summer;

Colons

• The main rule is that colons must come after a complete sentence and before additional information about that sentence.

• These are examples to illustrate this rule: a shopping list, sports played, and hobbies.

• Sometimes the extra information after a colon can be a complete sentence, in which case it should be capitalized.

• Don't use colons incorrectly, such as when there is no complete sentence before the colon or when the extra information is unrelated to the sentence.

Multiple Choice

Insert a punctuation mark (if needed) to introduce the list in bold.

Every Sunday morning, Josiah prowls the local flea market for items to add to his collection of curiosities. His favorite finds include a vintage unicycle, a sculpture made entirely out of seashells, and a framed portrait of Abraham Lincoln.

• include: a vintage

• include, a vintage

• include; a vintage

• Leave as is.

Multiple Choice

Where should the colon go (if needed)? 

You may be required to bring many things sleeping bags, pans, utensils, and warm clothing.

• be:

• things:

• bring:

• No colon

Parallel Structure

• Parallel structure refers to the alignment of words or phrases in a sentence, particularly when listing verbs or nouns.

• Parallel Structure or Parallelism is a repeated grammatical pattern in a sentence.

• Example: Recommended exercise includes running, swimming, and cycling.

Multiple Choice

Read this sentence.

The customer service representative was asked to deal with customers kindly, professionally, and in a helpful manner.

In this sentence, write kindly, professionally, and in a helpful correctly (if needed).

• kindly, to be professional, and helpful.

• customers kindly, to be professional, and to be helpful.

• kindly, professionally, and helpfully.

• Leave as is.

Multiple Choice

Read this sentence.

Going to school, riding a bike, and to spend time with friends were little things enjoyed today that Anne Frank could not do, due to her circumstances.

Write this sentence correctly (if needed).

• Leave as is.

• To go to school, to ride a bike, and spending time with friends were little things enjoyed today that Anne Frank could not do, due to her circumstances.

• School, riding bikes, and spending time with friends were little things enjoyed today that Anne Frank could not do, due to her circumstances.

• Going to school, riding a bike, and spending time with friends were little things enjoyed today that Anne Frank could not do, due to her circumstances.

Parts of Speech

• The parts of speech include: verbs, nouns, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, interjections, conjunctions, and prepositions. Each part of speech has a different function within a sentence.

• Verbs describe actions or experiences, while nouns name people, places, things, or ideas.

• Adjectives describe nouns or pronouns, and adverbs describe verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs.

• Pronouns are used to replace the names of people, places, things, or ideas.

• Interjections express strong emotions like Wow!, Yay!, Well, and Whoa!

• Conjunctions connect words, phrases, or clauses like FANBOYS (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, and so).

• Prepositions describe place, time, or direction as in “the man on the platform,” “she arrived after dinner,” “what did you do it for ?”

Multiple Choice

What part of speech is the bolded word?

I bought a beautiful dress at the mall.

• preposition

• adjective

• noun

Multiple Choice

What part of speech is the bolded word?

I left my shoes under the kitchen table.

• adjective

• pronoun

• preposition

• A root is the basic part of any word.

• An affix is a letter or a series of letters that can be added to the beginning or end of a root to create a word.

• A prefix is an affix that is added to the beginning of a root.

• A suffix is an affix that is added to the end of a root.

• To identify patterns of word changes and to determine how to change word forms, it is important to understand the relationship between roots and affixes first.

• Most roots and affixes in the English language are derived from the ancient Greek and Latin languages.

Patterns of Word Change

Patterns of Word Change

• Word form refers to the different forms or parts of speech that a word can take. The four main forms of a word are nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs

• For example, the verb "consider" can be turned into the noun "consideration," the adjective "considerable," and the adverb "considerably.

• Learning common suffixes can help identify the form of a word.

• For nouns, common suffixes include "shun," "idi," "ment," "ness," and "er."

• Verb suffixes include "ify," "ize," "ate," and "en," while adjective suffixes include "ous," "ful," "less," and "ed."

• Adverbs are often formed by adding "ly" to adjectives, such as "considerably" or "confidently."

• Recognizing these suffixes can help in understanding and using the correct word form.

Multiple Choice

Complete the sentence with a word that has the same root as the word in bold. For example, a person who collects stamps is a stamp collector.

A _________ person is someone you can rely on.

• rely

• reliably

• reliance

• reliable

Multiple Choice

Complete the sentence with a word that has the same root as the word in bold. For example, a person who collects stamps is a stamp collector.

A mathematics textbook covers topics that are ___________ in nature.

• mathematical

• mathematician

• math

• mathematically

MLA In-Text Citation

• In-text citations in MLA format are used when quoting or paraphrasing information from a source.

• If you know the author's last name, include it in parentheses after the information being cited. If you don't know the author's last name, use the first two to three words of the title instead.

• Include the page number in parentheses after the author's name or title.

• If the source is an article, it should be placed in quotation marks

• It is necessary to cite the source even if it is not a direct quote.

• In MLA format, the citation information is placed in parentheses before the period.

• Example: for a direct quote would look like this: According to Smith, "the sky is blue" (45).
  And for a paraphrased idea, it would look like this: The sky is often described as blue (Smith 45).

Multiple Choice

Is the use of quotation and in-text citation correct?

In The Hitchhiker, Ronald Adams asks the mechanic, "What about hitchhikers?" to which the mechanic replies, "(half-laughing) Hitchhikers- here?" (Fletcher 95). 

• Yes

• No

Multiple Choice

Which quote and citation is properly formatted?  The information for the cited quote is the following:

He was stone dead.
Edgar Allan Poe
page 85

• "He was stone dead. (85 Poe)"

• "He was stone dead" (Poe 85).

• "He was stone dead." (Poe, 85)

• "He was stone dead" (Poe, 85).

You did it!