Parts of Speech and Sentence Structure

Parts of Speech

• Nouns: Words that name people, places, things, or ideas. Examples: dog, city, happiness, justice
• Pronouns: Words that take the place of nouns. Examples: he, she, it, they, we, I
• Verbs: Words that show action or state of being. Examples: run, sing, is, are, was
• Adjectives: Words that describe nouns. Examples: big, red, happy, beautiful
• Adverbs: Words that describe verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs. Examples: quickly, slowly, very, often
• Prepositions: Words that show the relationship between a noun or pronoun and another word in the sentence. Examples: on, in, at, to, from
• Conjunctions: Words that connect words, phrases, or clauses. Examples: and, but, or, because
• Interjections: Words that express strong emotion. Examples: Wow!, Ouch!, Help!

Sentence Structure

• Basic sentence structure typically follows Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) order. Example: The dog chases the ball.
• Sentences can be simple, compound, or complex.
• Simple sentences have one independent clause.
• Compound sentences have two or more independent clauses joined by a conjunction.
• Complex sentences have one independent clause and one or more dependent clauses.
• Dependent clauses cannot stand alone as a complete sentence

Tenses

• Present tense: Shows action happening now, or a general truth. Examples: I walk, she works, the sun rises.
• Past tense: Shows action that happened in the past. Examples: I walked, she worked, the sun rose.
• Future tense: Shows action that will happen in the future. Examples: I will walk, she will work, the sun will rise.
• Perfect tenses (present perfect, past perfect, future perfect) describe actions completed in relation to another time.

Subject-Verb Agreement

• The verb must agree with the subject in number (singular or plural). Example: The dog barks, The dogs bark.

Parts of a Sentence

• Subject: The person, place, thing, or idea that performs the action or is the focus of the sentence.
• Predicate: The part of the sentence that tells what the subject does or is.
• Object: The noun or pronoun that receives the action of the verb.
• Complement: A word or phrase that completes the meaning of the verb.

Punctuation

• Commas, periods, question marks, exclamation points, semicolons, colons, and quotation marks are used to separate and clarify elements of a sentence.
• Commas are used for lists, separating clauses, and to offset nonrestrictive phrases.
• Semicolons are used to join closely related independent clauses.
• Colons are used to introduce lists, explanations, or quotations.

Common Grammar Errors

• Subject-verb disagreements are a common error.
• Misusing tenses is also prevalent among writers.
• Pronoun usage and agreement issues also pose problems for many.
• Comma splices and run-on sentences are frequent errors in sentence structure.
• Misplaced modifiers can lead to unclear meanings.

Writing Style

• Formal writing style uses sophisticated and objective language.
• Informal writing style uses conversational and friendly language.
• Tone is the implied attitude of a piece of writing, for example, persuasive, humorous, or angry.