Grammar Basics Freshman English

Sentence Introduction A sentence is a word, or group of words that contains a subject and a verb and that expresses a complete thought He smiles. Autumn leaves twirled gently to the ground. The park district will open an outdoor ice skating rink in November.

There are 2 parts to all sentences: The subject part tells Who or what? The predicate part tells us what about it?

Look at the first sentence you wrote. He smiles Look at the first sentence you wrote. He smiles. subject-(ask yourself “Who?” or “What?”)= He predicate-(ask yourself “what about it “he.” )= smiles. Now look at the next sentence. Autumn leaves twirled gently to the ground Find the subject and the predicate.

Now do the last one on your own- Underline the subject once and the predicate twice. The park district will open an outdoor ice skating rink in November. End of Day 1

Sometimes subject and predicate parts can be sneaky- Understood subjects Subjects can sometimes be understood even if they are not actually seen in the sentence. Ex. Go to the library. Understood subject = You Predicate= go to the Library

Subjects at the end of a sentence Some sentences begin with a clause and end with the subject. If you ask yourself “Who or What is the sentence about,” you will easily find the subject. ex. Under the cabinet is toilet paper. Because they were deeply in love, the couple decided to marry. End of day 2 notes

Identifying Predicate parts of a sentence can be tricky too- You must find the verb, BUT there are 3 types of verbs: Action (easiest b/c it is doing something) Linking (links the subject to the rest of the sentence…not as easy) Helping (words that are added before another verb and the “HELP” make a verb phrase

3 verb types Action Linking Helping Ex. climb Dance Laugh Run Ex. am Be Appear Get Ex. do Am Were Being Joseph climbs to the top of the stairs. The coach appears very angry. Sissy is being grumpy this morning. End of day 3- practice Simple subjects and simple predicates

What is a clause? Every properly constructed English sentence contains at least one clause.  A clause is a section, or a part of a sentence, which includes a subject and some kind of description. Sentences can contain one or more clauses.   

For example: The leaves in the tree turned yellow, caused by the changing of the seasons. There are two clauses in this sentence: (1)  The leaves in the tree turned yellow (2)  caused by the changing of the seasons

Independent vs. Dependent clauses The independent clause is the dominant, main clause of the sentence. Dependent clauses only serve to modify (describe, or provide information about) independent clauses.  Unlike independent clauses, dependent clauses cannot exist by themselves. 

After he graduated from college, Daniel got a job in a bank. 1. Underline the subject- Who or what? 2. Underline the predicate twice- what about it? 3. Is it a complete thought? Subject+predicate+complete=independent clause Does any thing describe this but can’t stand on its own?=dependent clause

Independent clause= Subject + Predicate + Complete thought Dependent clause= Can not stand on it’s own. (it is a bike basket, not the wheels or frame)

Independent Clause Dependent Clause(s) “I do” I take the bus everyday to school, but I missed it yesterday because I woke up too late. Independent Clause Dependent Clause(s)

As soon as it stopped raining, we saw a double rainbow. “we do” As soon as it stopped raining, we saw a double rainbow. Frank, who works part-time, will be your guide. I have tickets for the Justin Bieber concert, which is in November. Last of Day 3