Clarification on Some Confusion

Clauses Defined Clauses are groups of words that can act as a sentence, but they don’t always make a sentence. Clauses will always have a subject and a predicate. The subject in a clause is actively performing the verb.

Examples of Clauses. Subject, Verb (that starts the predicate) since she laughs at funny people I despise individuals of low character when the saints go marching in Rodney Washerman went to the store to pick up some chips

Independent and Dependent Clauses An independent clause, IC, is a clause that can stand alone as a sentence. I despise individuals of low character. Rodney Washerman went to the store to pick up some chips. Dependent clauses do not make sense as a sentence and cannot stand alone. since she laughs at funny people when the saints go marching in

Practice Makes Perfect! Tell me which of these is a dependent and which is an independent clause. Jim reads. I was late to work. Because I woke up late this morning. The paper does not specify what format it should be in for an A. When we arrived in class. If my neighbor does not pay his rent on time.

Phrases Defined A phrase is a group of two or more words that does not have a subject and verb combination and does not form a predicate. It contains a noun or a verb, but does not have a subject or a predicate. Phrases add information to the sentences you are writing. Just like clauses, there are different types of phrases.

Examples of phrases. leaving behind the dog before the first test broken into thousands of pieces because of her glittering smile after the devastation

Clause or Phrase? Which of these is a clause and which is a phrase? Because he likes the house I ate some breakfast In the sand Before I went to school Playing guitar Running in place

Adjective Rule-Commas When a noun is modified by two or more adjectives, you put a comma after every adjective except for the one right in front of the noun. Here is a noun= dog Here are some adjectives=smelly hairy wet dirty Here is a sentence with the noun and its adjectives= The smelly, hairy, wet, dirty dog pooped on the floor again.

Important!!! When the last adjective in a series is thought of as part of the noun, the comma before the adjective is omitted. Basically if you have a compound noun, you know it doesn’t need a comma. Ex- I mailed the package at the main post office. (post and office name a place) For lunch we had smooth, creamy broccoli soup. (broccoli and soup name a thing)

Practice Tell me where the commas go in the following sentences. It’s been a long hectic tiring day. Get that filthy disgusting stinky animal out of my house! I told you it was going to be a long boring ride home.

Subordinate Conjunctions Subordinate conjunctions introduce dependent (subordinate) clauses. They also connect dependent clauses to independent clauses. Ex- Although the pep rally is today, we still have to cover these concepts.

Some Common Subordinate Conjunctions After Although As Than Since That Because Before If Even if Even though Though Until How So that Unless

IC/DC Patterns Since subordinate conjunctions connect dependent and independent clauses, we will practice making sentences using them. You need a comma when using a subordinate conjunction to connect a dependent clause to an independent clause (DC, IC). You do not always need a comma to connect an independent clause to a dependent clause with a subordinate conjunction (IC DC).

IC/DC Examples DC,IC= Instead of worrying about how difficult the material is, the students decided to take the time to relax and absorb the information. IC DC= He took the stage since he had been preparing for this moment his entire life.

Participle Phrases Participles end in –ed or –ing. (Unless they are irregular verbs) Participles can function as verbs, nouns, or adjectives. Ex- The water drained slowly into the pipe clogged with dog hair. Clogged with dog hair modifies the noun pipe. There is no action expressed by the word “clogged.”

Participle Phrases and Commas A participle phrase consist of the participle and all the modifiers for the participle. Ex- Eating the last of the leftover pizza. Everything in the phrase goes along with the participle. Here is the example in a sentence. LaShae found her friend Ben eating the last of the leftover pizza. What is the noun being modified?

Participle Phrases and Commas cont. Use a comma after a participle phrase that starts a sentence. Ex- Calling for a timeout, the referee blew his whistle and signaled. Exhausted after a three mile swim, Diana emerged from the water.

Gerunds When a participle functions as a noun it is a Gerund. Gerunds are easily confused with participles because they end in –ing as well, but they are not verbs. Gerunds may look like a verb, but they function as nouns. Ex- His first love is swimming. Swimming is used as a noun here. It is his first love.

Practice Which is a gerund and which is a participle? Walking on the beach, she dodged jellyfish that had washed ashore. Walking on the beach is painful if jellyfish have washed ashore. Freddie hates waking to the buzz of an alarm clock. Waking to the buzz of an alarm clock, Freddie cursed another Monday.