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Mrs. Malic

8th Grade

�Grammar is a way of thinking about

language!!! (Write this down!! !)

� Parts of Speech (shows us each word):What is

the word doing?

� Parts of Sentence (architecture of the idea):

What is being said about what?

� Phrases (groups of words pretending to be a

single part of speech): What part of speech is

this group of words doing?

� Clauses (shows if more than one idea is

drawn into the sentences design): How many

different ideas are connected together in

this sentence?

�Noun

� Pronoun

� Adjective

� Verb

� Adverb

� Preposition

� Conjunction

� Interjection

� Person, place or thing

� Proper noun: Capitalized

� Common noun: Not capitalized

� Possessive noun: words that would normally

be nouns, but are used as adjectives to

modify a noun Example: The dog's collar is

too large. The word "dog's" is the possessive

noun. It tells you that the noun "collar"

belongs to the dog

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� A word that takes the place of a noun � The pronoun’s antecedent is the noun the

pronoun replaces.

� Example: Jack walked in the room and then

he sat down.

�We use them to make subjects. They may be

used as subjects of clauses and as subject

complements. They are not to be used as

objects.

�Singular

�First Person: I

�Second Person: You

�Third Person: He,

she, it

�Write down and

memorize!

�Plural

�First Person: We

�Second Person: You

�Third Person: They

�Write down and

memorize!

� They are pronouns that must be used as

direct objects, indirect objects or objects of

the preposition.

�Singular:

�First Person: Me

�Second Person: You

�Third Person: Him,

Her, it

�Write down and

memorize!

�Plural

�First Person: us

�Second Person: You

�Third Person:

Them

�Write down and

memorize!

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� A subject is a subject, and an object is an

object.

� Any part of a sentence called a subject uses

a subject pronoun. (subject of a clause or

subject complement)

� Any part of a sentence called an object uses

an object pronoun. (direct object, indirect

object, object of a preposition)

� Possessive

Pronouns: (show

possession)

�My, your, his, her,

its, our and their.

� Possessive case

pronouns do not

require an

apostrophe!!!!

� Interrogative

pronoun: (Used to

interrogate)

�Who, whose, whom,

which, what

�Demonstrative

Pronouns: (Used to

demonstrate)

� This, that, these,

those

�Modify means to change

� Example: Think of a frozen summit.

�Now think of a political summit.

Adjective is part of a binary system.

The presence of an adjective implies

the presence of a noun or pronoun.

� Positive: Good

� Comparative: Better

� Superlative: Best

� A

� An

� The

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� A word that shows action, being or links a

subject to a subject complement.

� Tells what the noun does or is

� Action verb: might show an action on a

direct object

� Linking verb: might link the subject to a

subject complement

� Verb is saying that the noun did something or

that the noun is something.

� ***Verbs are the core of everything we say

about everything!!!!

Infinitive: Present participle:

� To do, to go, to think,

to dream

Past: did, went,

thought, dreamed

� Doing, going,

thinking, dreaming,

ascending

Past Participle: done,

gone, thought,

dreamed

Memorize in order to use correctly. Memorize in order to use correctly.

� To shrink

� Shrinking

� Shrank

� Shrunk

� To write

� Writing

� Wrote

� Written

� Definition: an action verb that acts on a

direct object

� Example: The harpoon hit Moby Dick.

� An active verb is an action verb that shows

the subject acting.

� Example: John discussed the problem.

� A passive voice verb is an action verb that

shows the subject being acted upon.

� Example: The problem was discussed.

� Passive voice tends to leave out important

information. (Who discussed the problem?)

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� Active Voice: The meteor struck the ship.

� Passive Voice: The ship was struck by the

meteor.

� Active Voice: The Literary Society presented

Dickens the award.

� Passive Voice: Dickens was presented with an

award.

�Writers of scientific papers often prefer

passive voice and past tense in order to

describe the results of experiments and

scientific investigations.

�With literary and historical figures, passive

voice should be avoided.

�Six Verb Tenses:

�Present

�Past

�Future

�Present Perfect

�Past Perfect

�Future Perfect

�Present

�Past

�Future

�Present Perfect

�Past Perfect

�Future Perfect

� I protest

� I protested

� I will (shall)

protest

� I have protested

� I had protested

� I will (shall) have

protested

�Why are they called perfect?

� The three perfect tenses are called perfect

because the word perfect comes from the

Latin perficere, meaning: “to finish.”

� The perfect tenses are the tenses of things

that are finished.

� Finished in the past, finished in the present or

finished in the future.

� Parallelism in tense means sticking to the

tense you are using.

� Keeping verb tenses parallel is good writing

technique.

� Example: I went home, picked up the apple,

threw it through the window, and laughed.

(all past tense)

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� Keep parts of speech parallel

� Example: John was tall and handsome (adj)

� Example: John was tall and an athlete (adj

and noun)

� Don’t forget the magic 3!!!

� Insert picture here

�Only action verbs are transitive and

intransitive, active or passive

� Those terms do not apply to linking verbs!

� An adverb is a word that modifies a verb,

adjective or adverb.

� Beware of adverbs! Do not overuse due to

your lack of vocabulary!

� Example: The very tall, gigantic statue vs.

The colossus statue.

� “The adverb is not your friend.”

� Stephen King

� What do you think he means?

� Sometimes a modifier will backfire, especially

when overused. One example is the adverb very.

The adverb very often has the effect of

weakening the sentence by filling it with empty

space.

� The preposition shows a relationship

between its object and another word in the

sentence.

� Prepositions show relationship between time

(before, during, after), space (in, on, beside,

around), and direction (to, from, toward).

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� Prepositions show where two things are

located in relationship to each other.

� Prepositions give language its geometry.

� They are the x, y, z coordinates for the mind.

� A word that joins two words or two groups of

words.

� Coordinating conjunctions co-ordinate: Join

two words or groups of words of similar

importance.

�Memorize because you need to know in order

to identify and punctuate compound

sentences!!!

� And

� But

�Or

�Nor

� For

� So

� Yet

� Subordinate conjunctions join unequals

� They join something of lesser importance to

something of greater importance

�Memorize for use with complex sentences!!!

� If, as, since, when, because

�Multiple word conjunctions:

� Either/or

�Neither/nor

� Example: Either you or I will arrive.

� Conjunctive adverbs are conjunctions that

act both as adverbs and as conjunctions.

�However, furthermore, moreover,

nevertheless, accordingly, and therefore.

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� A word that shows emotion but has no

grammar function.

� The only part of speech that does not

participate in a relationship with other parts

of speech.

� Examples: oh, ugh, oof, wow, yes, not,

oops.

�Nouns: name things

� Pronouns: make language fast

� Verbs: make events and equations

� Adjectives and Adverbs: adjust nouns and

verbs

� Prepositions: show relationships of physics

and

� 3-D ness

� Conjunctions: combine

� Interjections: emote

� All other parts of speech provide

elaborations and variations.

� There are two main kinds of words: noun and

verb

� All other six parts of speech play supporting

roles

� A sentence is a group of words that contains

a subject and its predicate, and makes a

complete thought.

�When we study parts of the sentence, we are

studying the structure of thought itself.

� The sentence is the mind, in language.

� Simple Subject: The noun or subject pronoun that the sentence is about.

� Complete Subject: the simple subject and all of its modifiers.

� Compound Subject: more than one noun or pronoun used as a double subject of the same clause (Example: Physics and astronomy are my favorite subjects.)

� (Compound subjects using and are plural. Compound subjects using or are singular. Example: John and Jim are here. John orJim is here.)

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� The verb and other words that are about the

subject.

� The side of the sentence that says something

about the subject.

� Simple Predicate: the verb

� Complete Predicate: everything that is said

about the subject

� Example: Hamlet went over to the crater and gathered three bags of comet dust.

� Compound verb: When the stars threw down

their spears and watered heaven with their

tears…

� Simple sentence and simple predicate is

always present as a nucleus of an idea!!!!

� A noun or object pronoun that receives the action of the action verb.

�When there is a direct object we call the action verb transitive (remember from verbs!)

� Subject pronouns may not be used as direct objects. (Remember, a subject is a subject and only and object is an object!)

� The direct object is the object of direct action.

� Example: We hold these truths to be self-evident.

� Focus on the difference between the direct

object and subject complements (you will

learn soon about these)

� Action verbs go with direct objects

� Linking verbs go with subject complements

� A noun or object pronoun that is indirectly

affected by the action verb and that is

located between the action verb and the

direct object.

� Structure: S-AV-IO-DO

� Indirect object is indirectly affected by the

action verb’s action on the direct object.

� If there is an indirect object, there MUST be

a direct object, and so the action verb is still

transitive.

� A noun, subject pronoun, or adjective that is

linked to the subject by a linking verb and

tells more about the subject.

� The subject complement, in a sense,

renames the subject.

� Example: Gauguin was Van Gogh’s friend.

� Subject complement makes our knowledge of

the subject more complete.

�Only a subject pronoun can be a subject

complement, because a subject is a subject!

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� Predicate nominative: a subject complement

that is a noun or subject pronoun. Example:

It was she and I who came to visit.

� Predicate adjective: a subject complement

made out of an adjective. Example: I am

sleepy.

� If the verb is ACTION, then

� Do not look for a subject complement

� Look for a direct object

� If you find a direct object, then look for an

indirect object

If the verb is LINKING, then

� Do not look for a direct object

� Look for a subject complement

� The SUBJECT of the verb and the SUBJECT

complement use SUBJECT pronouns

� The direct OBJECT and the indirect OBJECT

use OBJECT pronouns

� The OBJECT of the preposition and the

OBJECTS of the verbals also use OBJECT

pronouns

� A group of words without a subject and its

predicate that acts like a single part of

speech.

� A phrase is like a flying formation of birds: it

is something made of some things.

� A phrase is not a complete idea because it is

a group of words that contain no

subject/predicate set and only acts as a

single part of speech

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� Both phrases and clauses are groups of

words, but a clause contains both a subject

and its predicate, a phrase does not.

� I jumped is a clause

� In the boat is only a phrase

� Phrases are found inside clauses; they are

part of clauses.

� Clauses have subjects and predicates.

Phrases don’t.

� An appositive is an interrupting definition.

� It may consist of only one word, or it may

consist on an entire phrase.

�We usually enclose appositives and appositive

phrases in commas, unless they are

exceptionally short and clear by themselves.

� Example: Botticelli, the Renaissance

painter, painted angels.

�My friend Hamlet is a woodworking artist.

� A prepositional phrase begins with a

preposition and concludes with the object of

the preposition.

� The preposition relates its object to another

word in the sentence.

� Example: the dog in the boat, the

preposition in shows a spatial relationship

between its object boat and the noun dog.

� Prepositional phrases behave as modifiers;

that is, they act like big adjectives or big

adverbs.

� Example: The dog in the boat barked.

� In the boat acts as an adjective to modify

the noun dog.

� The object of the preposition is the thing

that the preposition relates to something

else.

� It must be a noun or object pronoun!!!

� (Because a subject is a subject and an object

is an object)

� Example: The letter is for him and me.

� She and I went with you and him.

� I asked a question about her and us.

� Adjective prepositional phrases:

Prepositional phrases that modify nouns or

pronouns should be placed immediately after

the noun or pronoun they modify.

�Otherwise, the phrase will be understood to

modify the verb.

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� A verb form used as a different part of

speech.

� A verbal is not a verb; it is a former verb

doing something else.

�Gerunds, participles and infinitives are three

kinds of verbals.

� Verbals are nouns, adjectives or adverbs

made out of verbs.

� A noun made from a –ing verb.

�Gerund phrase: a gerund is a noun made out

of an –ing verb or an –ing berb made into a

noun.

� Subjects and objects may be made out of

gerunds or gerund phrases.’

� Examples: Thinking is fun. Thinking quickly

is fun. I quit joking.

� An adjective made out of a verb.

� An –ing, -ed, or –en verb made into an

adjective.

� Participles always act as adjectives to modify

nouns or pronouns.

� Example: The river was so swollen.

� A noun or modifier made from the to- form

of the verb.

� Infinitive phrase: an infinitive is a general

form of the verb made into a noun,

adjective, or adverb.

�Usually expressed by beginning with the word

to: to think, to dream, to snorkel

�We think of an infinitive as one word.

� Avoid split infinitives: splitting an infinitive

means inserting an adverb between the two

words of the infinitive.

� Example: to see (infinitive)

�to vividly see (split infinitive)

�to see vividly (better word choice)

� Phrases are groups of words that cluster

together in order to act as a single part of

speech.

� Prepositional phrases are modifiers that act

as adjectives or adverbs.

� Appositive phrases are interrupting

definitions so they are adjectives.

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�Verbal phrases are based on verbs that have been adopted to become other parts of speech.

Participles: verbals that act as adjectives.

Infinitives: verbals that are nouns or modifiers that begin with to.

Gerunds: verbals ending in ing and acting as nouns. Can be the subject of a sentence or a direct object.

***The object of verbals must be object pronouns.

� A group of words that contains a subject and

its predicate

� Two types: independent clause: a clause that makes sense independently

� dependent clause: a clause that does not make sense unless it is paired with an

independent clause. (Sometimes called

subordinating clauses often begin with

subordinating conjunctions.)

�Adjective dependent clause: A dependent

clause used as an adjective

� Adjective clauses begin with relative

pronouns.

� The man who followed you turned left.

�Adverb dependent clause: adverb clauses

are dependent clauses that act as adverbs.

Usually begin with subordinate conjunctions.

�Noun clauses: dependent clauses that act as

nouns

� Dependent clauses can not be used as

sentences by themselves; they depend on an

independent clause for meaning.

� Dependent clauses may be placed before,

after, or even in the middle of an

independent clause.

� A clause has both a subject and predicate,

like a sentence, but a sentence always has a

complete thought, whereas a clause might

be incomplete.

� A sentence can consist of several clauses.

� Every sentence has at least one independent

clause in it but not every clause is a sentence

because a dependent clause does not make a

complete thought—it is dependent upon an

independent clause.

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� Simple sentence: consist of one independent clause

� Compound sentence: a sentence compounded of two or more independent clauses

� Complex sentence: a sentence that consists of an independent clause and a dependent clause.

� Compound-complex sentence: a sentence that contains both complex and compound clause structures. (Two independent clauses and at least one dependent clause)

� I, cc I (comma before coordinating

conjunction in compound sentence)

� I;I (semicolon between independent clauses

if no coordinating conjunction)

� ID (no comma after independent clause in

complex sentence)

� D,I (comma after dependent clause in

complex sentence)

� Joining two independent clauses with a

comma (I,I)

� To correct this error, either insert a

coordinating conjunction after the comma,

or change the comma to a semicolon.

�Declarative sentence: sentence that

declares (states) Example: I will.

� Interrogative sentence: sentence that

interrogates (asks) Example: Do I dare eat a

peach?

� Imperative sentence: sentence that

commands Example: Do not go gentle into

that good night.

� Exclamatory sentence: sentence that

exclaims. Example: I will!