Daily Grammar

 Daily Grammar Questions we have done thus far.

#1

 

Sentences

 

Every sentence contains a noun and a verb; that is, a sentence must have a subject and a predicate.

 

A sentence is a group of words that express a complete thought, begins with a capital letter, and ends with a period or other punctuation.

 

Daily Dose # 2 

Parts of speech are the building blocks of sentences:

The subject is a noun and everything attached to that noun.	The predicate is a verb and everything attached to that verb.
Cattle	graze.
A tall girl	ran to the gate.
Penelope, the faithful wife of Odysseus,	slowly wove an intricate tapestry.

 

 

 Daily Dose # 3

·        Sometimes a complete sentence seems to be missing a necessary part. Stop! is an example, since it seems to have no subject. However, the subject, you, is understood. Similarly, some sentences contain parts of speech that are understood and are omitted.

·        Here is a copy of the assignment I gave you. (that I gave to you)

·        Write me when you find work. (Write to me)

 

 

 

Daily Dose # 4

As a general rule, do not write sentence fragments (incomplete sentences). When you edit, look for fragments and rewrite them into complete sentences.

You are not likely to write:

·        While watching television

However, you may lose track of a complicated sentence:

·        While watching television and keeping an eye on the clock, Emma began to wonder if, despite what she had been told and in spite of what she had promised, that she was already late.

Something happened on the way to the period. The sentence needs rewriting.

 

 

 

Daily Dose # 5

Of the eight parts of speech that combine to make a sentence, at least two are required to make a sentence: a noun (the subject) and a verb (the predicate).

 

Phrases

·        groups of words that belong together

 

Clauses

·        a group of words that contains a subject and a predicate

 

Daily Dose # 6

Nouns

Nouns name things: soil, tree, liberty, unicorn, country, William Shakespeare.

Nominals are words or phrases that act like nouns:

·        That red one is the one I want.

·        Choosing the right word can be hard.

 

Appositives are words and phrases that rename a noun.

·        Abigail Moriarty, the notorious swindler, is back in town.

·        Jane, the friend I told you about, is going to visit.

 

Daily Dose # 7

An appositive must have the same grammatical relationship to the other parts of the sentence as the noun it renames. In other words, if you were to cross out the original nouns

and the extra commas, then you would still have a perfectly good sentence.

·        The notorious swindler is back in town.

 

Daily Dose # 8

From these examples we see that appositives are also nominals. Remember that a word or group of words can act as more than one part of speech. It all depends on how the word is used.