A group of words must pass three tests in order to be called a sentence: It must contain a subject, which tells you who or what the sentence is about Gabriella lives in Manhattan. It must contain a predicate, which tells you what the subject is or does Gabriella lives in Manhattan. It must express a complete thought
Two types of verbs make up all sentences: An action verb describes the action in a sentence dance drive write A linking verb links the subject of the sentence to words that describe or rename it appear be become is seem were
It can be hard to find the subject and verb in certain types of sentences: The subject of a command is always understood to be you [You] Subject Give me that book. Verb In a question, the verb comes before the subject To find the subject and verb, rewrite the question as a statement Was Danielle home? Danielle was home. Subject Verb
It can be hard to find the subject and verb in certain types of sentences: In a here or there sentence, the verb also comes before the subject Here or there is never the subject There goes my afternoon. My afternoon goes there. (Continued) Subject Verb
There are two important rules for writing a sentence correctly: Every sentence must start with a capital letter The neighbors are getting loud. Every sentence must end with a punctuation mark (a period, question mark, or exclamation point) The neighbors are making such a racket!
A sentence can have more than one subject or more than one verb (or both at once): Compound subject Danielle and Darryl were home. Compound verb The boxes have been packed, labeled, and shipped.
There are several guidelines for using commas in a compound sentence: Don t separate a subject from a predicate with a comma The woman riding the brown horse, is my sister. Don t put a comma between two parts of a compound subject or verb Jamil, and Katy got engaged last week.
(Continued) There are several guidelines for using commas in a compound sentence: Do use a comma when a compound has three or more subjects or verbs My boss, her assistant, and I arrived early for the meeting. This morning she jogged three miles, lifted weights, and stretched.
A noun is a word that labels a person, place, thing, or idea. A plural noun names more than one person, place, thing, or idea The tigers are hungry. A proper noun names a specific person, place, thing, or idea and begins with a capital letter The tiger is named Shep.
(Continued) A noun is a word that labels a person, place, thing, or idea. A possessive noun shows ownership An apostrophe and an s are used to form the possessive Shep s home is in northeast Asia. Tigers main food source is wild pig.
Pronouns can replace nouns, making writing less repetitive. A pronoun may be a subject I, you, he, she, it, we, they, who A pronoun may be an object me, you, him, her, it, us, them, whom A possessive pronoun may stand alone mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs, whose A possessive pronoun may accompany a noun my, your, his, her, its, our, their, whose
(Continued) Pronouns can replace nouns, making writing less repetitive. In compounds with a noun and a pronoun, it can be hard to figure out whether to use a subject pronoun or an object pronoun To make it easier, cross out the noun Kyoko and (I, me) went to a concert. (I, me) went to a concert. Kyoko and I went to a concert.
Soundalike words, called homonyms, can cause confusion about when to use apostrophes. Contractions use apostrophes Possessive pronouns do not You re out of your mind. Possessive nouns use apostrophes Possessive pronouns do not The robot s metal hand reached out and scratched its head.
(Continued) Soundalike words, called homonyms, can cause confusion about when to use apostrophes. Never use an apostrophe to form a plural noun (even if it sounds like a possessive noun) The coal miners went out on strike and the steelworkers union voted to join them.
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