Unit 3Grammar and usage:

Lessons 51-56

Prepositions

A preposition is a word that shows the relationship of a noun or a pronoun, called the object of the preposition, to another word in the sentence.

Preposition Object of preposition

› Example: He squeezed under the gate. Some commonly used prepositions are

listed in the following slide:

About At In To

Above Behind From Through

Across Beside Into Toward

Against Between Near Under

Among By Of Upon

Around For Over with

Use between when speaking of two people or things; use among when speaking of more than two.› Examples:

Divide the money between the two siblings. Divide the money among all three siblings.

Use different from in most instances. Use different than only to avoid awkward phrasing, especially when followed by a clause.

› Examples: City life is different from country life. Awkward: Teenagers today are not much

different from the way they were in the past. Better: Teenagers today are not much

different than they were in the past.

Underline the correct preposition given in parentheses.› I walked down an alley (between / among)

two buildings.› The four officers decided (between /

among) themselves which one of them would take the first watch.

› I look very (different from / different than) everyone else in my family.

Conjunctions

A conjunction is a word used to join words or groups of words together.› The co-ordinating conjunctions and, but,

yet, so, or, for, and nor join two or more words, phrases, or clauses of equal rank in the sentence.

› Subordinating conjunctions, such as while, because, unless, although, if, since, as, when, and until, join elements of unequal rank in the sentence. They can be placed at the beginning or in the middle of a sentence.

› Correlative conjunctions, such as either ... Or, neither ... Nor, not only ... But also, and both ... And join two equal parts of a sentence. Example: Tally was not only hungry, but

also exhausted.

Underline the conjunctions. Then write C for co-ordinating, S for subordinating, or CR for correlative. › The ostrich is not only the largest, but also

the fastest bird in the world.› The cave was full of both stalagmites and

stalacities.› As water trickles through the roof of a

cave, it leaves behind traces of minerals, and these slowly build up to form stalactites.

Double Negatives

A double negative occurs when there are two negative words in a sentence. The two negatives cancel themselves out and make a positive. › Example:

Double negative: You are not going nowhere.

Negative: You are going nowhere. Negative: You are not going anywhere.

Rewrite each sentence in two different ways, eliminating the double negative.› I wouldn’t never be caught in public

wearing some of those designer fashions!› I can’t hardly hear a thing over all that

racket!

Prepositional Phrases

Phrases can act as nouns, adjectives, or adverbs in a sentence.› A prepositional phrase is a group of

words that begins with a preposition and ends with a noun or pronoun. Example:

in the ground by New Year’s Except me

› Prepositional phrases usually act as adjectives or adverbs in a sentence. Examples:

Antecedent prep. phrase

Adjective: The woman with red hair is the senior resident.

Antecedent prep. phrase

Adverb: Maria ran to the store.

For each preposition below: Write a sentence using the preposition in a phrase that functions as an adjective. Then write another sentence for each preposition, this time using it in a phrase that functions as an adverb.

Above Beyond

During Around

Infinitive, Participial, and Gerund Phrases

An infinitive phrase consists of an infinitive along with any words that modify the infinitive. › Example: I am learning to ride a horse.

Infinitive phrases can act as nouns, adjectives, or adverbs in a sentence.› Examples:

Noun: To defrost the chicken will take some time. Adjective: Her desire to get home quickly grew

stronger. Adverb: I came to see you.

Sometimes it is difficult to tell whether a phrase that comes after a verb is acting as an adverb or as a direct object. Generally, adverbs answer the questions How? When? Why? Where? Or To what degree? A direct object answers the question What?› Example:

I hope (what?) to meet you. [direct object] We laughed (why?) to relieve the tension. [adverb]

Participial phrases contain a present or past participle along with any words that modify the participial. Participial phrases function as adjectives in a sentence.› Examples:

Taking careful aim, Michael shot the dart at the bull’s-eye.

Frightened by the thunder, my dog cowered under the bed.

Write one sentence that contains a participial phrase, and one sentence that contains a gerund phrase.

Fill in the blank with the correct form of the noun or pronoun in parentheses.› Veronica loved the idea of (we) making

supper.› (Pat) crying has nothing to do with us.› (You) singing might have disturbed the

baby.

Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers

A misplaced modifier is a word or phrase that appears to modify the wrong word. To avoid misplaced modifiers, place modifying words or phrases as close as possible to the word they modify. › Examples:

Misplaced: Safe and sound, the firefighter carried the baby out of the smoky apartment.

Corrected: The firefighter carried the baby, safe and sound, out of the smoky apartment.