Friday, April 22, 2011

Basic English the Mikie Metric Way 3


Lesson 3: Grammar Terms and Sentence Parts

What is GRAMMAR?  Grammar is the set of rules for using a language. 
What is a SENTENCE?  A sentence is a group of words that express a complete thought or idea.  A sentence always begins with a CAPITAL letter and ends with a Period ( . ), a Question mark ( ? ) or an Exclamation point ( ! ).
Every sentence has two main parts: a SUBJECT, and a PREDICATE.
The boyThose dogskicked the ball.chased the mailman away.
All the womenSix white horses and four black oneswent to the store and bought new gloves.pulled the carts into town and around the square.
By looking at the examples above, can you tell what a Subject and a Predicate are?
Subject:  Who or what a sentence is about; who or what does something in a sentence; any words that tell about  or describe the main subject.
Predicate:  What happens in a sentence; who or what it happens to; words that tell when, where, why or how the action happens; words that describe  who or what  the action happens to.
NOTE: There are words called Linking Verbs that are always part of the Predicate but  do not show any action.  The most common ones are AM, IS, ARE, WAS, WERE, BE, BEING, BEEN.  They tell about the existence of something or someone, not what  someone or  something does.  They are called Linking Verbs because they link the subject to a word or words in the predicate that mean the same as the subject or that describe the subject.  To learn more about Linking Verbs, click HERE.
What are Subjects made of?
a, anlarge, small, tinyman, boy, womanI, you, weof the family
thegreen, yellow, bluehorse, dog, cathe, she, itin the choir
 old, young, ancientbuilding, tree, roadtheywith a long beard
 this, that, these, thosetruck, car, bicyclewho, which, whatfrom the office staff
 one, five, twentyhappiness, sadnessthis, that, these, thoseon the corner
 naked, wealthy, tiredfreedom, slaveryone, anyone, nobodywithout a spare tire
 Articles:  Point out nouns; signal that a noun is close ahead in a sentence.  Nouns can be used without an article, but articles can never be used without a noun.
Adjectives: Describe nouns.  They tell what kind, which one, how many, what size, what color a noun is.
Nouns:  Any word that names something is a noun.  The name of a person, a place, a thing, an idea, an emotion, or an activity is a noun.  If it is a particular person, place or thing (George, New York, Cadillac), it is a Proper Noun and must be written with a capital letter.  If it is a general name (man, city, automobile), it is a common noun with no capital letter.
Pronouns:  Pronouns take the place of nouns when we write or speak. (Tom did not come to work today.  He was sick.)
Prepositional Phrases:  These small groups of words tell us which one or what kind the sentence is referring to.  (The building on the corner is tall.  Which building?  Not the one across the street or the one in the middle of the block, but the one "on the corner".)
Not all of these parts need to be in a subject, but all of them may be.  This is how, using parts from the box above... (predicates will be in parentheses ).
He (was sick.)
The man (was sick.)
The wealthy old man (was sick.)
That ancient yellow truck without a spare tire (drove down the street.)
The great sadness of the large family in the choir (depressed me.)
What are Predicates made of?
am, is, arevery, hardlyathis, thatgirl, boy, dogme, youin the back seat
was, werequickly, slowlyanthese, thoseriver, car, foghim, herunder the pine tree
go, went, comenow, then, here, theretheone, five, many, few, severalconcert, movie, playus, thembetween the pages, on the roof
run, jump, hidewhere, everywhere big, little, old, young, prettyrunning, singing, dayanyone, someoneafter the party, before dinner
like, have, takewhen, until blue, red, dirty, clean, disgustingpity, cheer, deernobody, everybodyduring the class, with difficulty
Verbs:  Words that describe or name an action; words that describe a state of being or existence.  Every predicate must have a verb.  Verbs also tell us when something happens or exists - in the past, the present or the future.
Adverbs:  Adverbs modify (add to the meaning of) verbs.  They describe when, where, why or how something happens.  Adverbs can also modify adjectives and other adverbs.
Pronouns:  Different  pronouns are used in the predicate than are used in the subject. Subject Pronouns do it and  Predicate Pronouns  receive it.  (Theygave the balls to them.  He showed the book to him.) 
Examples of Predicates.  (Subjects are in parentheses ).
(I) am sad.
(He) walked.
(He) slowly walked home.
(She) threw the ball.
(She) quickly threw the ball to her teammate.
Before halftime, (she) quickly threw the ball to her teammate.

Exercise A:  Draw a circle around the subjects and underline the predicates in the sentences below.
1. Yesterday, Harvey and Harriet took their children to the zoo.
2. The elephants, the lions, and all of the other animals were hungry.
3. The president of the bank looked everywhere for the combination to the vault.
4. They sat quietly.
5. The red race car with yellow stripes finished last in the race.
6. After his speech, the mayor shook hands with members of the crowd.
Exercise B:  Match a subject with a predicate from the boxes below and write the complete sentences on the lines.
  • (The dirty yellow cat)  
  • ( We )
  • (Tom and his brother)
  • (The taxi driver) 
  • (Anna's elderly mother) 
  • (The green tree snake) 
  • (The detective in the gray raincoat) 
  • (Seven rats)
  • (stood outside the hotel all night.) 
  • (prowled through the dark alley.) 
  • (lived in the attic last winter.) 
  • (baked delicious apple pies.) 
  • (were late yesterday.) 
  • (sold used cars.) 
  • (was from the Middle East.) 
  • (waited patiently for his victim.)



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