The Jabberwocky 'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves Did gyre and gimble in the wabe; All mimsy were the borogoves, And the mome raths outgrabe. "Beware the Jabberwock, my son! The jaws that bite, the claws that catch! Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun The frumious Bandersnatch!" He took his vorpal sword in hand: Long time the manxome foe he sought-- So rested he by the Tumtum tree, And stood awhile in thought. And, as in uffish thought he stood, The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame, Came whiffling through the tulgey wood, And burbled as it came! One two! One two! And through and through The vorpal blade went snicker-snack! He left it dead, and with its head He went galumphing back. "And hast thou slain the Jabberwock? Come to my arms, my beamish boy! O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!" He chortled in his joy. 'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: All mimsy were the borogoves, And the mome raths outgrabe.

Grammar The Basics Sentences & Clauses Subject, Verb, Object Modifiers, Prepositions, Articles Modifiers: Adjectives, Adverbs Prepositions The Preposition Cube Articles Recap Sentences & Clauses Independent & Dependent

The Basics: Subject, Verb, Object In English, we almost invariably structure our sentences in what is called the “SVO” format: S V O Subject – Verb – Object

The Basics: Subject, Verb, Object The dog ran home In English, we almost invariably structure our sentences in what is called the “SVO” format: Subject Verb Object S V O Subject – Verb – Object The verb is the doing The subject is the thing doing The object is the thing being done to.

The Basics: Subject, Verb, Object When a sentence is in the “passive voice,” however, the order is generally reversed. “From the ceiling hung the chandelier” Here the chandelier is the subject, even though it follows the verb, and the ceiling is the object even though it precedes the verb.

The Basics: Subject, Verb, Object A simple sentence always has a subject. This is a noun, or noun phrase, which is “doing” something. This cup Some people My family Jed and Jethro is go runs drank on the table. on rollercoasters. A simple sentence always has a verb. This is a verb, or verb phrase, which tells what the subject is doing. a restaurant A simple sentence may, or may not, also have an object. This is a noun, or noun phrase, which tells to whom or what the action is being done. the moonshine

The Basics: Subject, Verb, Object The dog ran home First, identify the verb. Next, identify the subject-noun (or noun phrase). If there is another noun or noun phrase which follows the verb and completes the action in some way – that is the object

The Basics: Subject, Verb, Object Sometimes a simple sentence doesn’t have an “object” – just a subject and verb. The dog barked. The car crashed. The sky is falling. My back is aching. Your computer has crashed

The Basics: Subject, Verb, Object But subjects and verbs do not necessarily make a complete simple sentence. John put… Ralph laid… I gave… The dog is… I will get… The simple sentence must form a complete thought.

The Basics: Subject, Verb, Object But just because it’s simple, doesn’t mean a simple sentence is necessarily short. The happy, yet strangely clean chimneysweep, ran quickly and cheerfully up and down the grimy streets of London in the fog.

The Basics: Subject, Verb, Object Here we have a single subject, a single verb, and a single object. The happy, yet strangely clean chimneysweep, ran quickly and cheerfully up and down the grimy streets of London in the fog. chimneysweep ran streets verb Noun (subject) Noun (object)

The Basics: Modifiers, Prepositions, Articles The rest of the words are: modifiers, prepositions, articles, and conjunctions. The happy, yet strangely clean chimneysweep, ran quickly and cheerfully up and down the grimy streets of London in the fog. happy clean grimy

The Basics: Modifiers – Adjectives & Adverbs There are two kinds of modifiers. Words which modify nouns are called “adjectives.” The happy, yet strangely clean chimneysweep, ran quickly and cheerfully up and down the grimy streets of London in the fog. happy clean grimy Adjectives modifying “chimneysweep.” Adjective modifying “streets.”

The Basics: Modifiers – Adjectives & Adverbs Words which modify verbs are called “adverbs.” The happy, yet strangely clean chimneysweep, ran quickly and cheerfully up and down the grimy streets of London in the fog. strangely quickly cheerfully Adverbs modifying the verb “ran”

The Basics: Modifiers – Adjectives & Adverbs But adverbs also modify adjectives and other adverbs. The happy, yet strangely clean chimneysweep, ran quickly and cheerfully up and down the grimy streets of London in the fog. strangely quickly cheerfully Adverb modifying adjective “clean.”

The Basics: Prepositions Prepositions are words which tell about the position of something and come before a noun. (“Pre” = before. Therefore, prepositions indicate position and come before.) The happy, yet strangely clean chimneysweep, ran quickly and cheerfully up and down the grimy streets of London in the fog. up down in Prepositions revealing direction and position

The Basics: Prepositions So what are the rest of the words here? Most of what you need to know about prepositions can be learned with a cube and a ball. Some are modifiers. There are two types of modifiers.

The Basics: The Preposition Cube In Beside

The Basics: The Preposition Cube Through

The Basics: The Preposition Cube Under

The Basics: The Preposition Cube Behind

The Basics: The Preposition Cube Across

The Basics: The Preposition Cube Around

The Basics: The Preposition Cube Near

The Basics: The Preposition Cube With

The Basics: “Of” – The Special Preposition Joining two nouns: As noted, prepositions come before a noun and form the beginning of a prepositional phrases. “Of,” however, is slightly different. It acts very much like a conjunction in that it combines a noun with something else: another noun, an adverb or adjective, or a verb. The streets of San Francisco Hair of the dog Bay of Pigs Joining a noun to a verb Singing of freedom and joy Speaking of penguins Thinking of radiators

The Basics: “Of” – The Special Preposition Joining a noun and adjective As noted, prepositions come before a noun and form the beginning of a prepositional phrases. “Of,” however, is slightly different. It acts very much like a conjunction in that it combines a noun with something else: another noun, an adverb or adjective, or a verb. Swift of foot Lean of limb Warm of heart Joining a noun to an adverb Sprightly of gait Fleetingly of importance Hardly of interest

The Basics: Articles Articles are those little words that sort of point to a noun. The most common is “the.” So what are the rest of the words here? Some are modifiers. There are two types of modifiers. The The happy, yet strangely clean chimneysweep, ran quickly and cheerfully up and down the grimy streets of London in the fog. the the But “the” isn’t the only article.

The Basics: Articles There are two major types of articles: “definite” and “indefinite.” Both types are similar in that they point to a noun. The The hats those people wore to this rodeo had an effect on our mayor. those this an the

The Basics: Articles The book This book That book Those books These books A “definite” article points to one or more specific nouns.

The Basics: Articles A book An apple An “indefinite” article points to an unspecified instance of a noun.

The Basics: Putting It All Together Now let’s go back to our long simple sentence and examine the types of words it contains. The happy, yet strangely clean chimneysweep, ran quickly and cheerfully up and down the grimy streets of London in the fog. verb Subject-noun Object-noun Modifier: Adverbs Modifier: Adjectives Prepositions Articles

The Basics: Putting It All Together Now let’s go back to our long simple sentence and examine the types of words it contains. The happy, yet strangely clean chimneysweep, ran quickly and cheerfully up and down the grimy streets of London in the fog. ran verb chimneysweep Subject-noun streets of London Object-noun (note the joining “of”) strangely, quickly, cheerfully Modifier: Adverbs happy, clean, grimy Modifier: Adjectives up, down, in Prepositions The (three times) Articles

The Basics: Putting It All Together So what are these remaining words? The happy, yet strangely clean chimneysweep, ran quickly and cheerfully up and down the grimy streets of London in the fog. yet Conjunction (in this case) in the fog Another object, this time as a prepositional phrase.

The Basics: A Recap There are several types of words: Verbs Nouns Modifiers: Adjectives and Adverbs Articles: Definite and Indefinite. Prepositions – with “of” being a special instance

Sentences & Clauses: Analyzing Clauses To understand sentences, you must understand clauses. Every clause has a verb. Or to put it another way, every verb has a clause. There are two types of clauses: Independent Dependent. An independent clause can stand on its own as a sentence. In other words – an independent clause is a simple sentence. A dependent clause is a partial simple sentence.

Sentences & Clauses: Analyzing Clauses At the most, there are three sections to a clause: the predicate (the verb and its modifiers) the subject (the subject-noun and its modifiers) the object (the object-noun and its modifiers)

Sentences & Clauses: Analyzing Clauses Here is a sentence composed of an independent and a dependent clause. The car narrowly missed the tree which had fallen across the road.

Sentences & Clauses: Analyzing Clauses Since the verb is the backbone of every clause, we begin by locating the verbs. The car narrowly missed the tree which had fallen across the road. The car narrowly missed the tree which had fallen across the road. There are two verbs in this sentence: missed had fallen

Sentences & Clauses: Analyzing Clauses Next we find the words modifying the verb The car narrowly missed the tree which had fallen across the road. “missed” is modified by “narrowly.” “had fallen” is not modified by anything

Sentences & Clauses: Analyzing Clauses The combination of the verb and its associated modifiers gives us our predicate – shown in brackets. The car (narrowly missed) the tree which (had fallen) across the road.

Sentences & Clauses: Analyzing Clauses Next we locate the subject-nouns. The car (narrowly missed) the tree which (had fallen) across the road. The subject-noun is the noun doing the action. Therefore, “car” is the subject noun of “missed,” and “which” is the subject-noun (pronoun) of “had fallen.”

Sentences & Clauses: Analyzing Clauses Then we find the modifiers and auxillary words associated with each subject-noun. The car (narrowly missed) the tree which (had fallen) across the road. For “car” the only word associated with it is the definite article, “the.” For “which” there are no associated words.

Sentences & Clauses: Analyzing Clauses The subject-noun and its associated words form the “subject” of the clause – shown in square brackets. [The car] (narrowly missed) the tree [which] (had fallen) across the road.

Sentences & Clauses: Analyzing Clauses Now we look to see if there are any object-nouns. These are the nouns to which the action is being done. [The car] (narrowly missed) the tree [which](had fallen) across the road. The thing the car “missed” is the “tree.” The thing the “which” had fallen across was the “road.”

Sentences & Clauses: Analyzing Clauses And as before, we find what words are associated with the object-nouns. [The car] (narrowly missed) the tree [which](had fallen) across the road. For “tree,” the only word associated with it is the definite article, “the.” For “which,” there is a definite article associated with it, but following it is a preposition, “across.” Since prepositions always start phrases (with the exception of “of”), then “across” is also associated with “road.”

Sentences & Clauses: Analyzing Clauses The object-nouns and their associated words form the “object” of each clause – shown in curly brackets. [The car] (narrowly missed){the tree} [which](had fallen) {across the road.}

Sentences & Clauses: Independent & Dependent This leaves us with two clauses: "The car narrowly missed the tree” The car narrowly missed the tree which had fallen across the road. This clause can stand on its own as a complete simple sentence and is therefore an “independent clause.” “which had fallen across the road” This clause can’t stand on its own as a complete simple sentence and is therefore a “dependent clause.”

Sentences & Clauses: A Recap All sentences are either complete simple sentences, or combinations of complete and incomplete simple sentences. A complete simple sentence is composed of a subject, a verb, and sometimes an object – always in the SVO order. A complete simple sentence can also be called an “independent clause.” It forms a complete thought A partial simple sentence can also be called a “dependent clause.” It has a subject and verb (no object) but cannot stand on its own as a full sentence. It doesn’t form a complete thought.