SATislookingforrhetoricalanalysisessays,notopinions.

ENGLISHGRAMMAR

SECTION1:CLAUSES

Clausesarethefundamental,abstractideaofthesentencetheveryessenceofthesentence.
Aclauseisagroupofrelatedwordscontainingasubjectandaverb.
Itisdifferentfromaphraseinthataphrasedoesnotincludeasubjectandverbrelationship.
Itistruethat...
Occasionally,verbscanalsobeusedinawaywheretheyrenotthemainverbofthesentence.
Therearemanydifferentkindsofclauses.Itwouldbehelpfultoreviewsomeofthegrammar
vocabularyweusetotalkaboutclauses.
Independent:Aclausethatcanstandbyitselfandstillmakesense.Anindependentclause
couldbeitsownsentence,butisoftenpartofalargerstructure,combinedwithother
independentclausesandwithdependentclauses.Independentclausesaresometimescalled
essentialorrestrictiveclauses.
Dependent:Aclausethatcannotstandbyitself.Itdependsonsomethingelse,anindependent
clause,foritsmeaning.Adependentclausetryingtostandbyitselfwouldbeasentence
fragment.Dependentclausesaresometimescalledsubordinate,nonessential,ornonrestrictive
clauses.Wewillreviewthedifferentkindsofdependentclauses.
Independentclauses:
Glaciersleavebehindholesintheground.
Theseholesarecalledkettles,
andtheylookjustlikescoopedoutpots.
Glaciersalsoleavebehindenormousdepositsofglacialgarbage
thesedepositsarecalled
morains.
Kettleholes
resultwhenalargeblockoficeisleftbehindtheglacierandthenmeltsaway,
leavingalargedepression.
(
Italicizedisafullindependentclause)

Thelastsentencedeservesfurtherattention.
Noticethatthissentenceconsistsofaverybriefindependentclausefollowedbyalongand
complexdependentclause.
Kettleholesresultwhenalargeblockoficeisleftbehindtheglacierandthenmeltsaway,
leavingalargedepression.
Thedependentclausebehindwithwhatiscalledasubordinatingconjunction.Thiscausesthe
clausetobedependentupontherestofthesentenceforitsmeaningitcannotstandbyitself.
Independentclausescanbeconnectedinavarietyofways:
1. Byacommaandlittleconjunction(and,but,or,nor,for,yet,andsometimesso).
2. Byasemicolon,byitself.
3. Byasemicolonaccompaniedbyaconjunctiveadverb(suchashowever,moreover,
nevertheless,asaresult,consequently,etc.).

4. And,ofcourse,independentclausesareoftennotconnectedbypunctuationatallbut
areseparatedbyaperiod.
Dependentclausescanbeidentifiedandclassifiedaccordingtotheirroleinthesentence.

Nounclausesdoanythingthatanouncando.Theycanbesubjects,objects,andobjectsof
prepositions.
WhatTurveydrophasforgottenaboutAmericanpolitics
couldfillentirelibraries.
PresidentJohnsonfinallyrevealed
whathehadinmindforhiscongressionalleaders.
SheilaThistlethwaitehaswrittenamarvelousbookabout
howAmericanpoliticsandeconomic
processesoftenruncountertocommonsense.
(
Underliningmeansdependentclause
)

Adverbclausestendtotellussomethingaboutthesentencesmainverb:when,why,under
whatconditions,etc.
AfterJubalEarlyinvadedtheoutskirtsofWashington,
Congressionalleaderstookthe
Southernthreatmoreseriously.
Lincolninsistedonattendingthetheaterthatnight
becauseitwasimportanttodemonstrate
domesticatetranquility.
(
Boldmeansadverbclause
)
Notehowthedependentclausesbeginwithdependentwords,wordsthatsubordinatewhat
followstotherestofthesentence.Thesewordsarealsocalledsubordinatingconjunctions.

Adjectiveclausesmodifynounsorpronounsintherestofthesentence.
Theinternet,
whichstartedoutasameansformilitaryandacademictypestosharedocuments
,
hasbecomeahouseholdnecessity.
TimBernersLee,
whodevelopedtheWorldWideWeb
,couldneverhaveforeseenthe
popularityofhisinvention.
Thegraphicaluserinterface
thatwealltakeforgrantednowadays
isactuallyalate
developmentintheWorldWideWeb.
(
Nowitalicsareusedtoshowadjectiveclauses
)
Adjectiveclausesareplacednearesttothewordtheymodify.
Sometimesanadjectiveclausehasnosubjectotherthantherelativepronounthatintroduces
theclauses.
Theinternetwasstartedin1969underacontractledbytheAdvancedResearchProjects
Agency(ARPA)
whichconnected
fourmajorcomputersatuniversitiesintheSouthwesternUS.

Understandingclausesandhowtheyareconnectedwiththelargerstructureofyoursentence
willhelpyouavoidsentencefragmentsandrunonsentencesandmakeitpossibleforyouto
punctuateyoursentencesproperlyandwriteconfidentlywithavarietyofsentencestructures.

SubjectVerbAgreement

PrimaryRule:
Asingularsubjectmusthaveasingularverb.
Apluralsubjectmusthaveapluralverb.

Insimplesentences,thisusuallyisntaproblem.
Henry
is
meowing.(singular)
Thecats
are
meowing.(plural)

Butcomplexsentencestructurescanmakethistricky.
NeitherAaron,who
lives
inJackson,norBen,who
lives
inGrassLake,
isplanning
anythingfor
thisweekend.

Either/or,neither/nor.
Iftheyconnect2singularsubjects,useasingularverb.
Iftheyconnect1singularand1pluralsubject,putthepluralsecondanduseapluralverb.
IftheyconnectsomethingwithI,putIsecondandmakeyourverbagreewithI.
Ifeitherorneitheristhesubjectofthesentence,useasingularverb.

Here/There
HereandThereareNEVERsubjects.LookAFTERtheverbforthesubject.
Here
are
five
apples
.
There
is
the
boy
Itoldyouabout.
(sentenceaboveiscalledasubjectcompliment)

AndAlongwith/Aswellas/Notonly/Butalso
When
and
joinstwoormoresubjects,useapluralverb.

TupacandBiggie

were
victimsofviolence.
Ignorenonessentialphraseslike
alongwith,togetherwith,aswellas,besides
,and
not
when
determiningwhetherthesubjectissingularorplural.

Tupac,aswellasBiggie,
was
avictimofviolence.
Whenthesubjectofasentenceincludes
notonly/butalso
construction,maketheverbagree
withthenounclosesttothatverb.
Notonlythe
dog
butalsothe
cats

enjoy
anapintheafternoon.
Notonlythe
cats
butalsothe
dog
enjoys

anapintheafternoon.

Who/That/WhichClauses
Ifoneoftheseclausesoccurinthemiddleofthesentence,usethenoundirectlyinfrontof
who/that/whichtodetermineifthesubjectandverbagree.
The
students
(
who

watch
YouTubevideosinsteadofdoingtheirwork)
are
frustrating.

PresidentsDay
,(
which

is
observedonaMonday),
means
wegetalongweekend.

IndefinitePronouns
Thesepronounsrequirea
singularverb
:
Another,anybody,anyone,anything,each,either,everybody,everyone,everything,little,much,
neither,nobody,noone,nothing,one,somebody,someone,something.
Ignoretheofphrase,anduseasingularverb.
Each
ofthestudents
is
here.
Everyone
ofthegirls
needs
apencil.
Several
oftheboys
ask
togetadrinkeveryday.
Thesepronounscantakea
singularorplural
verb:
All,any,more,most,none,some.
Usetheofphrasetodeterminesingularorplural.
Askyourself:
Isit_____ofonething?
Or
Isit_____ofmanythings?
All
ofthecupcakes
are
gone.
Most
oftheweek
is
over.
None
oftheseanswersarecorrect.

UsingAdjectivesandAdverbsCorrectly

LearningTargets:
Identifyandcorrectlypairadjectiveswiththeircorrespondingnounsandpronouns.
Identifyandcorrectlypairadverbswiththeircorrespondingverbs,adjectives,andotheradverbs.
Identifyandcorrectlypaircomparativeandsuperlativemodifiers.
Identifyandcorrectmisplacedmodifiersandothercommonerrors.

Whatareadjectives?
Adjectivesmodifynounsorpronouns.
Examples:Hot,happy,silly,big,bloody,creative,boring

Whatareadverbs?
Adverbsmodifyverbs,adjectives,andotheradverbs.
Manyadverbsendwith
ly
.
Manyadverbsanswerthequestionof
how
?
Examples:quickly,very,well,really

RecognizingAdjectivesandAdverbs
Manywordshavebothanadjectiveandadverbform.
Adjectives:Happykids,smoothrock,goodnight,efficientworkers,casualdress,quickmeeting,
hopefulchildren,realbutter.

Adverbs:Playinghappily,runningsmoothly,eatingwell,workingefficiently,dressingcasually,
talkingquickly,waitinghopefully,reallyhot.

ComparativesandSuperlatives
Mostadverbsandadjectivesalsohaveacomparativeandsuperlativeform.
Simple:Hot,good,exciting,careful.
Comparative:Hotter,better,moreexciting,lesscareful.
Superlative:Hottest,best,mostexciting,leastcareful.
Usethecomparativeformtocomparetwothings.
Usethesuperlativeformtocomparethreeormore.

Doublecomparatives
Dontusemoreormostwitherorest.

Absoluteconcepts
Dontusecomparativesorsuperlativeswithabsoluteconcepts.
Absolutesonlyhavetwopossibilities,onoroff,yesorno,withnothinginbetween.
Thesewordsexpressabsoluteconceptsthatcannotbemodified:
more
priceless,
quite
on,
very
unanimous,
quite
unique,
sortof
dead,
alittlebit
pregnant,
extremely
perfect,
completely
anonymous.
(italicsareunnecessarywords)

Dontuseadjectiveswhenanadverbisneeded
Youdida
real
nicejob.(anadjectivecannotmodifyanotheradjective,incorrectgrammar)
Youdida
really
nicejob.(theadverbreallymodifiesnice,correctgrammar)
He
did
good.(no)
Hedid
well
.(yes)
Hedida
good
job.(yes)
Fuelinjectionhelpsthecarrun
efficient.
(no)
Fuelinjectionhelpsthecarrun
efficiently
.(yes)
Come
quick
!(no)
Come
quickly
!(yes)
Hopefully
,itwontrain.(no,anadverbexplains
how
somethingwillhappen)
Ihope
thatitwontrain.

Dontuseneedlessadverbs
Examples:Really,very,absolutely,extremely,quite,actually,somewhat,rather.

CompoundAdjectives
Twoormoreadjectivesoftenappeartogetherseparatedwithcommas.
Bradstiny,tightswimsuitshowedoffhishairybelly.
Thewordstinyandtighteachworkseparatelytomodifyswimsuit.
Connectthewordswithahyphenwhentheyfunctiontogether
before
anoun.

Connectthewordswithahyphenwhentheyfunctiontogether
before
anoun.
Brads
goldplated
piercingsstoodoutagainsthis
brightred
sunburn.
Donothyphenatethewordswhentheycome
after
thenountheymodify.
Examples:
Bradwaswellknownalongtheboardwalk.(nohyphen)
Bradwasa
wellknown
jerk.(hyphen)
HisSUBwasfullyequipped.(nohyphen)
HedroveafullyequippedSUV.(hyphen)
Bradworkedfulltimeonhistan.(nohyphen)
Bradwasafulltimechickmagnet.(hyphen)

MisplacedModifiers
Putadjectivesandadverbsclosetothewordstheymodify.
Noticehowthemeaningisaffectedbytheimproperplacement.

POSTBREAKNOTES

Anadjectiveand/oradverbitemonanobjectivetestmightlooklike:

Jacobate
slow
,chewinghisfood
thoroughl
y.Hismotherwas
really
impressedsincesheoften
accusedhimofboltingdinner.
Slowmustbecomeslowly.

Review:Adjectivesdescribenouns,whileadverbsdescribeverbs.

Farzanadid
poor
onheralgebraquiz.Shecouldntconcentrate
well
becausehertablematewas
chomping
noisily
onapieceofgum.

Lawrencecheatedonthechemistrytest,butheisstill
very
happywithhisA.

The
excruciating
longschooldayputWandaina
bad
mood.Shewas
very
tiredandjustwanted
togohometorelax.

LearningTargets:
Identifyanddefinepronouns.
Identifytheantecedentofapronoun.
Identifyandfixpronounantecedentagreementerrorswithrespecttocollectivenouns.
Identifyandfixpronounantecedentagreementerrorswithrespecttointerrupters.
Identifyandfixcommonpronounantecedentagreementerrorswithrespecttosingularplural
usages.

Whatdoyouneedtounderstandaboutpronounantecedentagreementerrors?
Whatsapronoun?
Whatsanantecedent?

Whatsapronoun?
Apronounisawordthattakestheplaceofanounoranotherpronoun.
Itcantaketheplaceofasubjectword.(I,you,he,she,it,we,they)
Itcantaketheplaceofanobjectword.(We,you,him,her,it,us,them)
Itcantaketheplaceofapossessiveword.(My,mine,your,yours,his,hers,its,our,ours,their,
theirs)

Whatsanantecedent?
Theantecedentisthewordthatthepronounreplaces.
Thelumberjackthrew
his
axeontheground.
(hisrenamesthelumberjack)
WhenCarlos,thecrackdealeracrossthestreet,sawtheaxedrop,hepicked
it
upandhanded
ittothelumberjack.
(itrenamestheaxe)
Afterwards,Carlosandthelumberjackwentto
their
nightschoolclasses.
(thererenamesCarlosandlumberjack)

PronounAntecedentAgreement:Allpronounsandtheirantecedentsneedtoagreeinperson
andnumber.

AgreeinPerson
I
hatetoproofreadmypaperbecauseproofreadingissuchaboringthingfor
you
todo.
(DisagreementinpersonfirstpersonantecedentI,secondpersonpronounyou)
Whyshould
I
studyliterature?
You
dontgetanythingoutofit.
(Disagreementinnumber
I
shouldntstudyitbecause
you
dontgetanythingoutofit?)

AgreeinNumber
Singularantecedentsgetsingularpronouns.
The
boy
tossed
his
hatonthetable.
Pluralantecedentsgetpluralpronouns.
The
boys
tossed
their
hatsonthetable.

Youllgenerallyrunintotwoproblemsintwocases:
Whentheantecedentisanindefinitepronoun,and...
Whentheantecedentisasingularnounthatcouldrefertoamanorawoman.

IndefinitePronouns:Theyreusuallysingular.
Singulars:Another,anybody,anyone,anything,each,either,everybody,everyone,everything,
little,much,neither,nobody,nothing,noone,one,other,somebody,something,someone.

Plurals:Both,few,many,others,several.
Orwhentheyresingularorplural,dependingoncontext.
SingPlural:All,any,more,most,none,some.
DEPENDSONCONTEXT
Ifofcomesafteroneofthosewords,thenitistakingonwhateverthethingthatcomesafterthe
ofis.

SingularNounsthatCanRefertoaManoraWoman
A
person
shouldbeabletomakeup
their
ownmindaboutprayerinschools.
Generally,theseerrorsoccur:
Becausethewriteristryingtoavoidsexism.
Whenyoudontknowiftheantecedentismaleorfemale,itseemslogicaltousethepronoun
they.

SubjectivePronouns
FormsincludeI,you,she,he,it,we,andthey.
Asubjectpronounfunctionsasthesubjectofaverb.

ObjectivePronouns
Formsincludeme,you,her,him,it,us,andthem.
Anobjectivepronounfunctionsasadirectobject,indirectobject,orobjectofapreposition.

DirectvsIndirect
Tofindadirectobject,usethisformula:subject+verb+what?orwho?
Theindirectobjectiswhoeverorwhateverreceivesthedirectobject.

PossessivePronouns
Formsincludemy,mine,your,yours,her,hers,his,its,our,ours,their,andtheirs.
Possessivepronounsdonotrequireanapostropheadjectiveformsdonotagreewiththenouns
thatfollow.
Your,her,our,andtheir=adjectives.
Yours,hers,ours,andtheirs=nouns.

PronounFormsPartIII:UsageofPronounForms

First,whatarepronounforms?
Pronounformsrefertothevarioustypesofpronouns.Youhavealreadylearnedaboutthe
personalpronouns(I,she,you,he,it,etc.).Andyouhavetouchedontheinfinitiveform(any,all,
anyone.).
Nowweneedtolookatothertypesofpronouns.Remember,anywordthatstandsinforanoun
maybeapronoun.

ReflexivePronouns
Regularreflexivepronounsrefertothesubjectandarenecessarytothemeaningofthe
sentence.
Thereflexivepronounwillserveasanobject.
Theyenjoyed
themselves
atthefootballgame.
(Readthesentencewithoutthemselves.Doesitmakesense?)
Jeffreybought
himself
anewpairofcleats.
(Ifyouremovehimself,themeaningcouldchange.)

IntensivePronouns
Intensivepronounsintensifythesubjectbutarenotnecessarytotheunderstandingofthe
sentence.Theycanberemovedwithoutharm.
Mrs.Autreyherselfbakedthatapplepie.
(Ifyouremovetheintensivepronoun,themeaningofthesentencedoesnotchange.)

Demonstrative
Pointsoutaspecificperson,place,thing,oridea.
This,that,these,andthosecanbeusedasbothadjectivesandpronouns.
Whentheyareusedalone,theyarecalleddemonstrativepronouns.
That
isabeautifulcostume.
These
arethetshirtsIdesigned.
Whentheymodifynounsorpronouns,theyarecalleddemonstrativeadjectives.
Whyare
these
bookslayingonthefloor?
Iprefer
that
brandoficecream.

Interrogatives
Interrogativepronounsareusedwhenaskingquestions,asininterrogation
Thepronounswho,what,andwhichareallinterrogativepronouns.
Becarefulofcase.Whoissubjective,whomisobjective,andwhoseispossessive.
Thesamecaserulesapplyhereaswiththepersonalpronouns,sobesuretoknowhowyouare
usingtheinterrogative.
Quicknote:Willisthefuturetenseofis.
Whatandwhichcanbeusedeitherasinterrogativepronouns,orasinterrogativeadjectives
followedbynouns.

RelativePronouns
Arelativepronounisapronounthatintroducesarelativeclause.Itiscalledarelativepronoun
becauseitrelatestothewordthatitsrelativeclausemodifies.
Theperson
who
phonedmelastnightwasmyteacher.


RelatingtheRelatives
Therearefiverelativepronouns:who,whom,whose,which,andthat*.
Likewiththeinterrogatives,who(subject)andwhom(object)aregenerallyonlyforpeople.
Whoseisforpossession.
Also,
which
canbeusedforthings.
That
canbeusedforthingsandpeopleonlyinessential
relativeclauses(clausesthatareessentialtothesentenceanddonotsimplyaddextra
information).
Relativepronounscanbesingularorplural.

EssentialClauseUses
Theperson
who
phonedmelastnightismyteacher.
Thecar
that
hitmewasyellow.
(
That
ispreferableto
which
whenusingthesubject.)
Theperson
whom
Iphonedlastnightismyteacher.
Thepeople
who
Iphonedlastnightaremyteachers.
(
Whom
iscorrectbecauseistheobjectivecase)
Possessive:
Thestudent
whose
phonejustrangshouldstandup.
Students
whose
parentsarewealthypayextra.
Thepolicearelookingforthecar
whose
driverwasmasked.
Thepolicearelookingforthecar
ofwhich
thedriverwasmasked.

NonessentialClauses
SubjectiveUses:
Mr.Salow,
who
isverykind,ismyteacher.
Thecar,
which
wasataxi,exploded.
(Relativepronounsinnonessentialclausesareeasytospotbecausetheyintroduce
informationthatisnotnecessaryforthemeaningofthesentence.)
ObjectUses:
Mr.Salow,
whom
Ilikeverymuch,ismyteacher.
Thecar,
which
Iwasdrivingatthetime,suddenlycaughtfire.
PossessiveUses:
Mybrother,
whose
phoneyoujustheard,isadoctor.
Thecar,
whose
driverjumpedoutjustbeforetheaccident,wascompletelydestroyed.
Thecar,thedriver
ofwhich
jumpedoutjustbeforetheaccident,wascompletelydestroyed.


Reciprocals
Weusereciprocalpronounswheneachoftwoormoresubjectsisactinginthesameway
towardstheother.Forexample,AistalkingtoB,andBistalkingtoA.Sowesay:
AandBaretalkingto
eachother.
Thereareonlytworeciprocalpronouns,andtheyarebothtwowords:
Eachother
Oneanother
Whenweusethesereciprocalpronouns:
Theremustbetwoormorepeople,things,orgroupsinvolved,andtheymustbe
doingthe
samething
.
Examplesofreciprocals:
JohnandMarylove
eachother
.
PeterandDavidhate
eachother
.
Thetenprisonerswereallblaming
oneanother.

Bothteamsplayedhardagainst
eachother
.
Wegave
eachother
gifts.
Whydontyoubelieve
eachother?

Thegangsterswerefighting
oneanother.