CLEP College Composition (Chapter 1) Flashcards
syntax
rules that govern sentence structure, specifically word order and phrases in sentences
“I have to the store gone” is an example of incorrect ________
syntax
“I have gone to the store” is an example of correct s______
syntax
improper use of s______ can result in a message being conveyed wrong
syntax
simple sentences consist of a _______ and a _______
subject, predicate (along with a verb)
In the sentence “at 6am the alarm went off” what is the subject and what is the predicate?
the alarm is the subject, “went off” is the predicate
what two things make up a clause?
subject and predicate
what is an independent clause?
a sentence that can stand alone
what is a dependent clause?
a sentence that doesn’t make sense on its own
“after dinner, sitting on my chair” is an example of a _________ clause
dependent clause
a compound sentences contains two or more ______ ________
independent clauses (linked with a conjunction such as “and” “like” “but”)
“John fell asleep, but Mary stayed up a little while longer” is an example of a _______ sentence
compound sentence (if you take the “but” out you have two independent clauses)
a complex sentences contains an ________ _________ plus one or more _________ __________
independent clause, dependent clauses
“if” “how” “before” although” are all examples of _______ _______
subordinate conjunctions
“I am grateful to the person who invented pizza” is an example of which kind of sentence?
complex (independent clause precedes dependent)
“after eating a large dinner, he always gets drowsy” is an example of which kind of sentence?
complex (dependent precedes independent clause)
a general rule about complex sentences is that if a dependent clause precedes an independent clause, a ______ is needed
comma
a compound-complex sentence contains:
at least 2 independent clauses and at least one dependent
“the tree that was near the house fell over yesterday, but the house was unharmed” is an example of which kind of sentece?
compound-complex (the tree that was near the house is independent, the house was unharmed is independent, was near the house is dependent)
a sentence fragment is when a sentence is missing:
a subject, predicate, or verb
“because she asked me to wait before knocking” is an example of:
a sentence fragment
a easy way to think of a sentence fragment is that it is a _______ clause treated like an entire sentece
dependent
“Will admires the actor Meryl Streep, she is so talented”. What is one example of how this sentence can be changed to be grammatically correct?
“Will admires the actor Meryl Streep. She is so talented”
“Will admires the actor Meryl Streep, because she is so talented”
parallelism
when words or phrases serve the same function in a sentence (lining up similar ideas in a similar way to create a balanced rhythm and emphasis)
“Suddenly he opened the desk drawer, retrieved a sheet of paper, and began to write the letter” This sentence is an example of _______
parallelism (the use of the words opened, retrieved, and began are all examples of parallelism. A sentence that would NOT be parallelism would say something like opening, to retrieve, and begins writing)
types of agreement in sentences (4)
number, gender, person and case
“Cara, Brandon, and Sarah are leaving” is an example of ________
agreement (you could not say “Cara, Brandon, and Sarah is leaving, because that would not keep subject-verb agreement)
“The students all sat down in the their seats” and “The student sat down in his seat” is an example of which type of agreement?
number
Is the sentence “all drivers should glance at their tires periodically” grammatically correct?
yes because drivers and tires are both plural so they are in agreement
Is the sentence “The driver should glance at their tires periodically” grammatically correct?
no because the singular driver does not agree with the word “tires”
which form of agreement does this sentence violate “either John or Mary will be describing her science fair project at the end of class today”
gender
which form of agreement does this sentence violate “if a student wants to pass the class, you must know when to get help”
person (“a student” and “you” don’t agree)
case agreement is…
the function that the noun or pronoun plays in the case of the sentence
case agreement comes in three different forms, those forms are:
normative, accusative/dative, and possessive
In a normative case, the pronoun/noun serves as the ______ of the sentence
subject
“I was paid by the curator” is an example of which type of agreement in case?
normative
“The curator paid me for the statue” is an example of which type of agreement in case?
accusative/dative
“The curator paid for my statue” is an example of which type of agreement in case?
possessive
In a accusative case, the pronoun or noun function as _______ ________ in the sentence
direct/indirect object
In a possessive case, the pronoun or noun has a relationship of _______ to another noun in the sentence
possession
usually the words _____ and _____ denote a normative agreement in case
I and we
usually the words _____ and _____ denote a accusative/dative agreement in case
me and ourselves
usually the words _____ and ____ denote a possessive agreement in case
my and our
Diction refers to _____ __ _____
choice of words
the point of diction is…
word choice in order to bring a story to life. Chosen words are not necessarily correct or incorrect, but it brings different meaning to a sentence.
the word “effect” as a noun would mean…
an outcome of something
In the sentence, “adding fertilizer to the garden had a positive effect on the gardenias” does the word effect function as a verb or a noun?
noun
the word “effect” as a verb would mean…
creation of a change
In the sentence, “the prime minister attempted to effect a change in public attitudes toward his family” does the word “effect” function as a noun or a verb?
verb
The word “affect” as a verb means…
the cause of a particular outcome
In the sentence “exhaustion began to affect the boxer’s ability to defend himself” does the word “affect” function as a verb or a noun?
verb
meaning of imply:
to hint at something
meaning of insinuate:
to hint at something but negatively
meaning of infer:
draw a conclusion based on evidence
meaning of farther:
difference in physical distance
meaning of further:
difference in quantity or extent
than versus then
than is for making comparisons, then could mean at that point in time, next, in addition, or something similar to “therefore”
who versus that versus which
“who” refers to people whereas “that” and “which” refer to groups, events, and things
who versus whom
who refers to a subject, whom refers to an object
what is the meaning of lie versus lay
lie is to recline, lay is to place something
present progressive form of lay and lie:
lay: laying, lie: lying
elicit versus illicit
elicit: draw out/probe for info, illicit: something illegal
capitol versus capital
capitol: building where the government is housed, capital: the locality where the government resides
flaunt versus flout
flaunt: show off, flout: show contempt (dislike or lack of respect for someone)
stationary versus stationery
stationary: standing still, stationery: writing a paper
compliment versus complement
compliment: verbal praise, complement: complete or enhances something else
discreet versus discrete
discreet: tactful/secrective, discrete: separate/distinct
modifier
clause, phrase, or word that provides descriptive information about another part of the sentence
two main types of modifiers
adjectives and verbs
adjectives are words that ________ _________ and _________
modify, nouns, pronouns
“Which”, “What kind of”, and “How many” are questions that an (adjective, verb) will answer
adjective
adverbs are words that modify _____, other _______, _________, and entire __________
verbs, adverbs, adjectives, and clauses
_______ typically answer the question “how’
adverbs
A general rule for modifiers is that they should be (far from, close to) the words they are modifying
close to
a squinting modifier is a misplaced modifier that could refer the _______ that ________ it or the one that ________ it
clause, precedes, follows
The sentence “running on concrete surfaces quickly leads to knee damage” is an example of which incorrect modifier
a squinting modifier (the use of “quickly” tells the reader that either running on concrete will quickly lead to knee damage or running quickly on concrete will lead to knee damage eventually)
when a sentence does not contain the word or phrase that should be modified, the modifier that is used can be called a…
dangling modifier
A semicolon is generally used to divide (how many) independent clauses
two
a comma generally divides (how many) independent clauses
more than two
a _____ is used at the end of an independent clause in cases such as: ______, ______, and ________
colon, lists, explanations, and quotations
a comma can be used to _______ a sequence of two or more ______
separate, modifiers
commas are used to separate a non________ modifier from the rest of the sentence
nonrestrictive
a comma is used when a ________ clause is used at the beginning of the sentence and the sentence is fairly long
dependent
commas are used in _______ sentences to separate independent clauses
compound
apostrophes are used to: (2)
make contractions (don’t, haven’t), and to mark possessive case
subordinating conjunctions are conjunctions that introduce a…
subordinate clause
nonrestrictive modifer
word/group of words that provides extra information about a subject but is not required to understand the subject’s meaning
