Basic Grammar Flashcards
Noun
The name of a person, place or thing
Verb
A word that describes an action.
Adverb
A word that describes how an action was done (gleefully, slowly etc.)
Adjective
A describing word (beautiful, unhappy, intelligent)
Preposition
Describes the location/time/manner of a noun. Must always be followed by a noun of pronoun (The salt sat beside the pepper)
Conjunction
Connecting words (For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So
Interjections
Words that demonstrate emotion (yay, sheesh etc.)
Indefinite Article
Used to refer to non-specific nouns (a or an) (can I borrow a book?)
Definite Article
Used to refer to a specific noun (the) (the dog bit me, take the new student on a tour)
The subject of a sentence
The star of the sentence. The main thing you are talking about in a sentence. (His hair changes colour every week…The coffee shop has a beautiful smell)
The predicate of a sentence
States the action the subject is taking in the sentence, or shares more information about the subject (his hair appears to be purple…the coffee shop bakes fresh pastries every morning)
Independent clause
A clause that can make sense without any extra information (I ate the pineapple) (can be as simple as “Stacey sobbed”)
Dependent clause
A clause that does not make sense or finish a thought, therefore it needs to be supported by an independent clause. (Q. Why did you eat the pizza? A. Because it was delicious - a dependent clause that is used by native English speakers, but grammatically is a sentence fragmentation)
Example: Independent - Claire pointed out the monster
Dependent - That she saw last night. YOU DO NOT NEED THE DEPENDENT CLAUSE TO UNDERSTAND THE INDEPENDENT CLAUSE
Declarative sentence
Sentences that make a statement (she walked down the stairs)
Interrogative sentence
Sentences that ask questions (which way did she walk?)
Exclamatory sentence
Sentences that show strong emotion (what an incredible day!)
Imperative sentence
Sentences that make a strong command (go follow her down the stairs!)
Capital letters
Are used at the beginning of every new sentence. Capital letters are also used for the name of a person, place, book/movie title, etc.
Full stops
Are used at the end of every sentence.
Question marks
Are used to indicate a direct question.
Exclamation marks
Are used to show strong emotions or to add emphasis
Clause
Groups of phrases that contain a subject and a verb (the fast, red squirrel darted up a tree)
Semicolons
Can be used instead of a conjunction, but should be used for independent clauses (I took my suitcase; however, I wish I took my rucksack…That is crazy; I’m not going back there).
Can also be used when there are more than one comma used in each unit of the list (I’ve visited Santa Fe, New Mexico; Denver, Colorado; Austin, Texas; New Orleans, Los Angeles.
Semicolons allow sentences to have a closer relationship and a full stop would.
Colons
Are used to show items in a list (In my suitcase I have: two t-shirts, one dress, a hairdryer…)
They are also used to introduce a long and direct quote (according to Goodreads, Nora Robert once said: “Magic exists. Who can doubt it, when there are rainbows and wildflowers, the music of the wind and the silence of the stars?”)
Colons are also used to separate independent clauses when the second clause explains the first in more detail (I did not have time to change: I was already late)
Commas
Are used when there needs to be a pause in the sentence (I knew I had to leave, even though I was too scared)
They are also used to separate ideas in a sentence (I wanted the long, black, leather coat)
Parenthesis
Brackets () are used to add extra information to a sentence.
Example: John and Jane (who are brother and sister) both have red hair.
Apostrophes
Indicates a missing letter (I am = I’m… has not = hasn’t)
Indicates possession of something
Singular example: Sarah’s dog bit me…Miss Campbell’s students worked hard.
Plural example: the children’s toys
Quotation marks
Used to show someone is talking (“don’t go outside” she said…Amy told her teacher, “Sir I forgot my homework”)
Single quotation marks are used when there is a quote within a quote (James told his father, “I saw Mark at the playground, and he said to me ‘Bill started the fight,’ and I believed him”)
Elipses (…)
Used to shorten a quote or to show a passing in time.
Hyphen
Used to join two or more words together (back-to-back…well-known)
