Basic Grammar

Question 1

Noun

Answer 1

The name of a person, place or thing

Question 2

Verb

Answer 2

A word that describes an action.

Question 3

Adverb

Answer 3

A word that describes how an action was done (gleefully, slowly etc.)

Question 4

Adjective

Answer 4

A describing word (beautiful, unhappy, intelligent)

Question 5

Preposition

Answer 5

Describes the location/time/manner of a noun. Must always be followed by a noun of pronoun (The salt sat beside the pepper)

Question 6

Conjunction

Answer 6

Connecting words (For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So

Question 7

Interjections

Answer 7

Words that demonstrate emotion (yay, sheesh etc.)

Question 8

Indefinite Article

Answer 8

Used to refer to non-specific nouns (a or an) (can I borrow a book?)

Question 9

Definite Article

Answer 9

Used to refer to a specific noun (the) (the dog bit me, take the new student on a tour)

Question 10

The subject of a sentence

Answer 10

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)

Question 11

The predicate of a sentence

Answer 11

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)

Question 12

Independent clause

Answer 12

A clause that can make sense without any extra information (I ate the pineapple) (can be as simple as “Stacey sobbed”)

Question 13

Dependent clause

Answer 13

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

Question 14

Declarative sentence

Answer 14

Sentences that make a statement (she walked down the stairs)

Question 15

Interrogative sentence

Answer 15

Sentences that ask questions (which way did she walk?)

Question 16

Exclamatory sentence

Answer 16

Sentences that show strong emotion (what an incredible day!)

Question 17

Imperative sentence

Answer 17

Sentences that make a strong command (go follow her down the stairs!)

Question 18

Capital letters

Answer 18

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.

Question 19

Full stops

Answer 19

Are used at the end of every sentence.

Question 20

Question marks

Answer 20

Are used to indicate a direct question.

Question 21

Exclamation marks

Answer 21

Are used to show strong emotions or to add emphasis

Question 22

Clause

Answer 22

Groups of phrases that contain a subject and a verb (the fast, red squirrel darted up a tree)

Question 23

Semicolons

Answer 23

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.

Question 24

Colons

Answer 24

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)

Question 25

Commas

Answer 25

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)

Question 26

Parenthesis

Answer 26

Brackets () are used to add extra information to a sentence.
Example: John and Jane (who are brother and sister) both have red hair.

Question 27

Apostrophes

Answer 27

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

Question 28

Quotation marks

Answer 28

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”)

Question 29

Elipses (…)

Answer 29

Used to shorten a quote or to show a passing in time.

Question 30

Hyphen

Answer 30

Used to join two or more words together (back-to-back…well-known)