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English jargon > Grammar > Flashcards

Grammar Flashcards

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Proverbs and Idioms flashcards
1
Q

Subordinating words

A

If, because, while, however, thus, after, although, as, as if, before, since, so that, that, though, unless, until, when, where, whether, while, who, which, why

“When the fire…”
“Although it was…”
“Possibly because it…”

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2
Q

Subordinating clause

A

If the ball game is rained out…-independent clause

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3
Q

Comma splice

A

Has two independent clauses separated by a comma

“It was the coldest day in fifty years, the marching band performed brilliantly.”

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4
Q

Independent clause

A

Sentence

Has subject and verb

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5
Q

Semicolon

A

Can be used between two independent clauses
“It was the coldest day in fifty years; the marching band performed brilliantly.”
“It was the coldest day in fifty years; nevertheless, the marching band performed brilliantly.”

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6
Q

Coordinating conjunction

A

And but or not so for yet

Can separate two independent clauses

“It was the coldest day in fifty years, but the marching band performed brilliantly.”

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7
Q

Transition word

A

Nevertheless, still, in any event

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8
Q

Fused sentence

A

Has two independent clauses without a punctuation connecting them

“The fire alarm went off the senator spilled her latte all over her desk.”

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9
Q

Mixed construction

A

Sentence that starts out with one construction and ends with another one.

“Décollage is when you take away pieces of an image to create new image.”

“When” locates an event in time but in the above example there is no time associated with décollage; the sentence is simply describing a process.

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10
Q

Parallelism

A

A writing technique that puts similar items into the same grammatical structure.

“Running, playing, writing”
“Clean, wash, buy”

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11
Q

Pronouns

A

Words that refer to other words or phrases

“Anna grabbed her book”

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12
Q

Antecedent

A

Words that pronouns represent
The something or someone mentioned beforehand
“Anna found her book”

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13
Q

Pronoun Reference

A

The process of connecting the pronoun to its correct antecedent

Errors “Paul and his brother have an arrangement about sausage pizza—Paul picks off the sausage, and he eats it.”

Change “he” to “his brother” to clear up the pronoun reference

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14
Q

Pronoun agreement

A

Pronoun agreeing with its antecedent in number (I, we, they) and, in some cases, gender (he, she, It)

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15
Q

Pronoun case

A

“I” and “me” and when to use them

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16
Q

Clause

A

Part of a sentence

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17
Q

Indefinite pronouns

A

Everyone, many, anyone, anything, each, either, everything, nobody, everyone, neither, no one, one, somebody, someone, both, few, many, others, all, any, enough, more, most, none, some and something

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18
Q

Singular indefinite pronoun

A

Anyone, anything, each, either, everyone, everything, neither, nobody, no one, one, somebody, someone, and something

Take singular verb even if they seem plural.

“-Each- of the candidates -agrees- with the president”

“-everyone- in our dorm -has- already -signed- the petition”

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19
Q

Plural indefinite pronouns

A

Both, few, many, others, and several are always plural

20
Q

Singular/plural indefinite pronoun depending on noun

A

All, any, enough, more, most, none, and some are singular when they refer to a singular noun and plural when they refer to a plural noun

“Don’t assume that -all- of the members of a family -vote- the same way”

“-most- of the music we heard last night -comes- from the baroque period.”

21
Q

Noncount noun

A

“All of the rhubarb was picked yesterday”

Rhubarb being the noncount noun so it takes the singular form of the verb.

22
Q

Third-person singular subject

A

Neighbor, sheriff

23
Q

Complete subject
Vs
Simple subject

A

Whole sentence: “The guy with the mirrored sunglasses runs in the park every morning.”

Complete subject: “The guy with the mirrored sunglasses”

Simple subject: “guy”

24
Q

Past perfect

A

The verb tense used to indicate that an action was competed before another action in the past began

“All of the guest -had eaten- the stew, but only two showed symptoms of food poisoning.”

Past perfect clears up the sequence of events.

25
Q

What tense do you use in MLA?

A

Present

“Morton -argues- that even though Allende’s characters -are- not realistic, -they’re- believable.”

26
Q

What tense do you use in APA?

A

Past tense or present perfect tense

Past tense: “Azele reported that 59% of the control group subjects showed high gamma levels.”

Present perfect tense: “I have often wondered how I can make my love of language into a career.”
“He has cried every day since his companion of fifty years died.”

27
Q

Signal phrase

To include quotations

A

“Freedman notes that”

“Freedman agrees that”

28
Q

How to incorporate quotes

A

Use signal phrase “Freedman mores that”

[] when adding a word or changing a tense in the quote
… to show any content you removed

Freedman notes that “the McLean Deluxe was perhaps the [food industry’s] boldest single effort… to shift the masses to healthier eating.”

29
Q

Introductory information

A

Identify verb, then the subject…
Everything that goes before the subject is introduction information.

“Initially, the council proposed five miles of new bike paths.”

“In Georgia, Lee’s book jumped quickly to the top of the best-seller list.”

“Tired and discouraged by the unsuccessful search for the fugitive Sgt. Drexel, the detective and her squad returned to headquarters.”

NOTE: some authors omit the comma if the introductory element is very short (1-3 words). Still, adding the comma after the introductory information is never wrong.

30
Q

Essential
Vs
Nonessential

Information in sentences

A

If essential than it doesn’t get offset by commas.
If I have more than one brother the name of my brother is essential to tell the reader which one:

“My brother Daniel is coming to my house tomorrow.”

If nonessential and does not add to meaning than it gets offset by commas
If I only have one brother, than adding his name becomes nonessential:

“My brother, Daniel, is coming to my house tomorrow.”

31
Q

Every sentence consists of two parts

A

Subject (includes noun and pronoun)

And predicate (includes verb)

S-birds
P- fly

S-birds of many kinds
P-fly south in the fall

S-birds and butterflies
P- fly south in the fall

S-birds
P-fly south in the fall and return north in the spring

P-here comes
S-the sun

P-in the attic were
S-old photographs and toys.

32
Q

Phrases in a sentence

A

A phrase is a word group that makes sense but lacks a subject, a verb, or both and thus cannot stand alone as a sentence

Types: prepositional, appositive, participial, gerund, and infinitive phrases.

33
Q

Prepositional phrase

A

Starts with a preposition and ends with a noun or pronoun

At school
From home
In bed

Usually functions as a adjective or adverb

34
Q

Prepositions

A

A word or group of words that tells about the relationship of a noun or pronoun to another word in the sentence.

After, at, before, behind, between, by, for, from, in, of, on, to, under, until, with, and without.

35
Q

Appositive phrase

A

Follows and gives additional information about a noun or pronoun. Functions as a noun

“We all know that computers and their spawn, the smartphone and cellphone, have created a very different world…”

36
Q

Participial phrase

A

Contains the present or past participle of a verb plus any objects, modifiers, and complements. It functions as an adjective.

“Brimming with optimism, I headed over to the neighborhood watering hole and waited.”

“A study from Princeton issued at the same times as the Duke study showed that women in the sciences reported less satisfaction in their jobs…”

37
Q

Gerund phrase

A

Includes the -ing form of a verb plus any objects, modifiers, and complements. It functions as a noun.

“Asking for candy on Halloween was called trick-or-treating, but asking for candy on November first was called begging.”

38
Q

Infinitive phrase

A

Includes an infinitive (to plus the base form of a verb: to read, to write) and any objects, modifiers, and complements. It functions as a noun, an adjective, or an adverb.

“The plan to commit more troops requires top-level approval.”

“The point of ribbon decals is to signal that we support our troops.”

39
Q

Simple tenses

A

Present

  • I talk
  • I write

Past

  • I talked
  • I wrote

Future

  • I will talk
  • I will write
40
Q

Perfect tense

A

Present perfect

  • I have talked
  • I have written

Past perfect

  • I had talked
  • I had written

Future perfect

  • I will have talked
  • I will have written
41
Q

Progressive tenses

A

Use progressive tenses to indicate continuing action

42
Q

Progressive simple tenses

A

Present progressive

  • I am talking
  • I am writing

Past progressive

  • I was talking
  • I was writing

Future progressive

  • I will be talking
  • I will be writing
43
Q

Progressive perfect tenses

A

Present perfect progressive

  • I have been talking
  • I have been writing

Past perfect progressive

  • I had been talking
  • I had been writing

Future perfect progressive

  • I will have been talking
  • I will have been writing
44
Q

Verb forms

A

Base form

  • we talk
  • I rise

Past tense

  • we talked
  • I rose

Past participle

  • we had talked
  • I had risen

Present participle

  • we are talking
  • I was rising
45
Q

Gerund
Vs
Infinitives

A

A gerund is a verb form ending in -ing that functions as a noun: hopping, skipping, jumping.

“Although many people like driving, some prefer walking.”

An infinitive is a verb form made up of to plus the base form of a verb: to hop, to skip, to jump.

“Although many people like to drive, some prefer to walk.”

Note: in general, use infinitives to express intentions or desires, and use gerunds to express plain facts.
“I wanted to study Russian.”
“Unfortunately, I ended up studying only Spanish.”

Sometimes the use doesn’t change the meaning like with:
“I begin to eat lunch.”
And
“I begin eating lunch.”

but other times it’s does like with:
“I stopped to eat lunch.”
And
“I stopped eating lunch.”

English jargon (2 decks)

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