Unit 2: The Forces of Nature — Grammar Flashcards
What is a sentence?
A sentence is a group of words that expresses a complete thought
What is a sentence fragment?
A group of words that expresses an incomplete thought
What does a subject do in a sentence?
The subject names the person, place, thing, or idea that the sentence is about
What does the predicate do?
The predicate tells something about the subject
What are the two main parts of a sentence?
Subject and predicate
What is a complete subject?
A complete subject includes all the words used to identify the person, place, thing, or idea that the sentence is about (ask “Whom?” or “What?”)
What is a simple subject?
A simple subject is the main word in the complete subject
True or False: Sometimes a complete subject and simple subject are the same
True
What is a complete predicate?
A complete predicate includes all the words that tell what the subject is doing of that tell something about the subject
What is a simple predicate?
A simple predicate, or verb, is the main word or phrase in the complete predicate
What is a verb phrase?
A verb phrase includes the main verb plus any auxiliary verbs
What is a compound subject?
A compound subject is two or more subjects in one sentence that have the same verb and are joined by a conjunction
What is a compound verb?
A compound verb is formed when two or more verbs in one sentence have the same subject and are joined by a conjunction
What is natural order?
When the subject in a sentence comes before the verb, the sentence is in natural order
What is inverted order?
When the verb or part of a verb phrase comes before the subject, the sentence is in inverted order
What order are questions in?
Inverted order
What order are sentences that start with “here” or “there” in?
Sentences that begin within”here” or “there” are in inverted order. To find the subject of these sentences drop “there” or “here”and reorder it
What is the subject when the subject is not stated?
When the subject of a sentence is not stated, the subject is an “understood you”, seen in commands
What are the three forms of irony in literature?
Verbal Irony, Dramatic Irony, and Situational Irony
What is verbal irony?
The literal meaning of someone’s words is different from the intended meaning
What is dramatic irony?
In a story, this occurs when the reader knows about a situation that the characters do not know about
What is situational irony?
This occurs when the outcome of a situation is different than what is expected
What is situational irony?
This occurs when the outcome of a situation is different than what is expected
What is verbal irony usually represented as?
Sarcasm
What is a pun?
A pun is a form of verbal irony that plays on multiple, simultaneous meanings (joke)
What is irony?
The expression of one’s meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect
How do can you fix a sentence fragment?
A sentence fragment is a group of words that does not express a complete thought because it is missing a subject or verb. You can correct a sentence fragment by adding a subject or verb, or by attaching the fragment to another sentence
True or False: some sentence fragments result from incorrect punctuation
True
What is the base of a sentence?
A subject and verb
Besides a subject and verb, what do some sentences need to make them complete?
Many sentences also need a complement to complete their meaning. Complements include a verb’s direct and indirect object
What is a complement?
A complement is a word or group of words that completes the meaning of subjects or verbs
What are the four kinds of complements?
Direct objects, indirect objects, predicate nominatives, and predicate adjectives
Together, a subject, a verb, and a complement form what?
The sentence base
What is a direct object?
A direct object is a noun or pronoun that receives the action of the verb (ask “What?” or “Whom?” after verb)
What type of verbs do direct objects complete?
Action verbs
What objects do verbs that show ownership take?
Direct objects
What is a “compound direct object”?
Sometimes two or more direct objects, called a “compound direct object”, will follow a single verb. On the other hand, each part of a compound verb may have its own direct object
What is an indirect object?
An indirect object answers the questions “To or For Whom?” or “To or For What?” after an action verb
What comes first, an indirect or direct object in a sentence?
Indirect object
What is a compound indirect object?
A verb in a sentence can have two or more indirect objects called a compound indirect object
True or False: An indirect object is never part of a prepositional phrase
True
True or False: you cannot have an indirect object without a direct object in a sentence
True
What is a predicate nominative?
A predicate nominative is a noun or pronoun that follows a linking verb and identifies, renames, or explains the subject
What is a subject complement?
A subject complement is a complement that follows a linking verb and renames or describes the subject
What are the two subject complements?
Predicate nominative and Predicate adjective
Can a predicate nominative be compound?
Yes
Can a predicate nominative be part of a prepositional phrase?
No
What is a predicate adjective?
An adjective that follows a linking verb and modifies the subject
Can predicate adjectives be compound?
Yes
What is an objective complement?
A noun or adjective that describes or renames the direct object and usually follows the direct object
What is case?
Case is the form of a noun or a pronoun that indicates its use in a sentence
What are the three cases?
The nominative case, the objective case, and the possessive case. Unlike nouns, personal pronouns usually change form for each of the 3 cases
What is nominative case?
Used for subject and predicate nominatives (subjective case)
What is objective case?
Used for direct objects, indirect objects, and the objects of a preposition
True or False: pronoun subjects are always in the nominative case
True
What is an appositive?
A pronoun that is used as a subject can also have a noun appositive. An appositive is a word that comes right after the pronoun and identifies or renames it
True or False: an appositive will never affect the case of a pronoun
True
Sometimes using a pronoun as a predicate nominative sounds awkward even though the pronoun is correct. When you write, you can avoid awkwardness if you reword a sentence, making the predicate nominative the subject
