THE COMP CODEX: GRAMMAR & MECHANICS DSC-UCF Writing Center Comp Codex 1 of 13
THE COMP CODEX A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF COMMON PROBLEMS Grammar, punctuation, and mechanics can be daunting and difficult to teach and learn in a classroom. Most of us acquire the basics of our native language/s as children. We absorb much of our language at a young age through example and practice. The written rules of English grammar, however, don t always line up with our verbal customs. Add to that regional dialects, accents, and slangs, and you can have a difficult pickle on your hands when you find yourself plunging into collegiate and academic writing. All students are of course strongly encouraged to utilize the resources available to you at the DSC-UCF Writing Center. Contents of this packet Subject-Noun Predicate Verb Clauses Fragments Punctuation Comp Codex 2 of 13 GRAMMAR & MECHANICS The purpose of this document is to highlight some core fundamentals of grammar, punctuation, and mechanics that are often problematic to college students. This document is not intended to function as a catch-all for all matters containing grammar, punctuation, and mechanics. This isn t the end-all, be-all grammar handbook. Far from it. Instead, it simply highlights a few of the core issues we often find in undergraduate writing from sentence completion to comma usage, from run-on sentences to prepositional phrases.
Subject Noun The SUBJECT NOUN is the primary element (or elements if plural) that performs the action in a sentence. There are two nouns in this simple sentence: and. However, there is only one subject noun. is the subject noun because the rattlesnake is the noun doing the action. The grass isn't doing any action. In this simple sentence, is the subject noun because he is the one doing the loving, so to speak. The is simply the object of Billy s love.. In this example, is the subject noun. Not all nouns are concrete, tangible things such as people, places, and objects. Concepts and actions can also function as nouns and as subject nouns. It depends on the construction of the sentence. As we've just seen, love can function as either a verb or a noun. Note: In the three examples above, note how each sentence begins with the subject noun. This is common in contemporary American English, but it isn't always the case. Sometimes sentences begin with introductory elements that 'set the stage' for the main sentence. In this example, is the subject noun. The main clause is. The introductory element ( ) functions to set up that main clause with more meaning and context. When the subject noun doesn't start a sentence, it's often because there's an introductory element like this (often with a comma separating the introductory element from the main clause).. Again, this sentence begins with an introductory element. The core sentence really begins after the comma. The subject noun is because the rattlesnake is the noun doing the action (it Billy and away).. In this example, serve as the subject noun. More than one individual noun can serve as a subject noun. They is a pronoun that can be used to replace Becky and Roger as the subject noun. MERRIAM-WEBSTER SIMPLE DEFINITIONS What is a NOUN? a word that is the name of something (such as a person, animal, place, thing, quality, idea, or action) and is typically used in a sentence as subject or object of a verb or as object of a preposition What is a VERB? a word (such as jump, think, happen, or exist ) that is usually one of the main parts of a sentence and that expresses an action, an occurrence, or a state of being What is a PRONOUN? a word (such as I, he, she, you, it, we, or they ) that is used instead of a noun or noun phrase What is a PROPER NOUN? a word or group of words (such as Noah Webster, Kentucky, or U.S. Congress ) that is the name of a particular person, place, or thing and that usually begins with a capital letter What is a ADJECTIVE? a word that describes a noun or a pronoun What is a ADVERB? a word that describes a verb, an adjective, another adverb, or a sentence and that is often used to show time, manner, place, or degree 3 of 13
The Predicate Verb The PREDICATE is everything else in a sentence that s not technically the subject or a part of a subject phrase. This includes the PREDICATE VERB and any other OBJECTS (such as the direct object receiving the action of the predicate verb). Of particular importance is the predicate verb. For a sentence to be complete, there must be both a subject noun and a predicate verb. Everything else is technically optional. Let s focus on the predicate verb. The PREDICATE VERB signifies what the SUBJECT is actually doing.. Because is the subject noun, is the predicate verb. is what the rattlesnake did.. In this example, is clearly the predicate verb; that s what Billy is doing.. Finally, because is the subject noun, is the predicate verb. Is, was, and have (and all their possible variations) are common predicate verbs. In each of these examples, note how the predicate verb immediately follows the subject noun. This is quite common in American English, but it s certainly not a hard rule. Later, we ll check out nonrestrictive elements where the subject noun and the predicate verb are legitimately interrupted. For now, let s focus again on our other three examples:. As is the subject noun, is the predicate verb because that s what Billy did. Everything else is simply providing context and more information.. What did the rattlesnake physically do? In this example, it actually did two things: Billy s hand and away. Thus, in this sentence, we actually have two predicate verbs following the single subject noun: and. This is, of course, totally permissible. Later, we ll check out what happens when you have more than one subject noun and each subject noun has its own predicate verb (which makes a compound sentence possible).. We already know that the subject noun is. In this example, however, the predicate verb is not the next word. The predicate verb is actually, not. In this example, functions simply as an adverb giving more detail to the predicate verb,. 4 of 13
COMBINATIVE EXAMPLES: As we ve already seen, sentences can contain more than one subject noun and/or more than one predicate verb in a number of combinations. Let s check out a number of examples. Subject nouns are in bold font, and predicate verbs are underlined: Independent and Dependent Clauses An INDEPENDENT CLAUSE is a group of words that makes sense as a complete thought (a complete sentence consisting of a subject noun, predicate verb, and perhaps other predicate objects). If you understand how to identify subject nouns and predicate verbs, then you know how to find independent clauses. In the following example, the independent clause is underlined. Note how it could function as a sentence all by itself: A DEPENDENT CLAUSE is a group of words that cannot stand alone as a complete sentence (a fragment). Note how the following underlined dependent clause would not make much sense as its own sentence: FRAGMENTS are essentially incomplete sentences or dependent clauses standing by themselves. If you know how to identify subject nouns and predicate verbs, then you can more easily identify what needs to be done to make an fragment into a complete sentence. 5 of 13
Noun Clauses A NOUN CLAUSE is a series of words that includes both a subject and a verb and can be used like a simple noun (as a either the subject or an object). Noun Clauses are often introduced with the following words:. Examples: Noun clause used as a subject:. Noun clause used as an object:. NOUNS BEGINNING WITH A GERUND: A gerund is an ing verb that is used as a noun. Gerund used as a subject: Gerund used as an object:.. SUBJECT NOUN AND PREDICATE VERB ORDER IN QUESTIONS: In statements, the subject noun typically precedes the predicate verb. In questions, however, this order is often reversed: STATEMENT QUESTION NOUN CLAUSES BEGINNING WITH A QUESTION WORD: Question words such as,,,, /,,, and can be used to introduce a noun clause. Do not use the same word order for a noun clause that you use for a question. The subject comes before the verb in the noun clause. QUESTION NOUN CLAUSE 6 of 13
NOUN CLAUSES BEGINNING WITH WHETHER OR IF: When a yes or no question is changed to a noun clause, the words or are used to introduce the clause. QUESTION NOUN CLAUSE If you look more closely at the noun clause examples above, you might notice that both sides of each sentence could function as a complete sentence. The actual subject noun and predicate verb, however, come before and. Billy Billy what? Billy wonders Billy wonders what? Billy wonders if the antivenin will work. Ah, okay. NOUN CLAUSES BEGINNING WITH THAT: The word that is often used to introduce the noun clause in a statement of fact. STATEMENT NOUN CLAUSE In the first two noun clause examples above, is the subject noun and is the predicate verb. We We what? We know. We know what? We know that rattlesnakes are venomous. Ah, okay! The third example is different. In what is the subject noun and the predicate verb? Interestingly, is the predicate verb. This means that actually functions as the subject noun. In the third example, the subject noun is actually a noun clause. 7 of 13
F r a g m e n t s a n d R u n - O n Errors UNINTENTIONAL FRAGMENT: Fragments are incomplete sentences that cannot stand alone clearly. Dependent clauses left alone are fragments. If you add the phrase Did you know that before everything you ve written as a sentence, you can often catch many fragment errors. If it doesn t make sense, then the sentence probably can t stand alone. (Did you know that) [Doesn t work] (Did you know that) Remember, a complete sentence can include many different elements, but it must have both a subject noun and a predicate verb. Fragment: Correct: Correct: Correct:. [Doesn t work] Clauses that begin with one of the words below typically cannot stand alone as sentences, even if they have a noun and verb. These chunks of words must be connected (at beginning or end) of a sentence that could stand alone. Fragment: Correct: Fragment: Correct:. [Doesn t work]. [Doesn t work] Transition words/phrases are different than the words above. They can be inserted at the beginning, the end, or in the middle of a complete sentence that can stand alone. ( Although is NOT on this list!). 8 of 13
A Note About Those Commas: Introductory/transitional elements at the beginning of the sentence don t always have to have commas before the subject noun/predicate verb. However, those commas can really help set rhythm to your sentences. They can also make it easier for your readers to identify when the main clause begins. Generally speaking, the longer and more complex your introductory element, the more you really, really need that comma! You should generally use these introductory commas, though. They help clarify your sentence structure. More Examples: FUSED SENTENCES: A fused sentence, one kind of run-on error, occurs when no punctuation separates two chunks of words that could stand alone as sentences. Correct fused sentences by 1) adding a period (or) 2) adding a semi- colon (or) 3) adding a comma followed by or (or) 4) making one of the stand alone chunks be unable to stand alone. Incorrect: Fix #1: Fix #2: Fix #3: Fix #4: Can you identify the subject nouns and predicate verbs in these four fixes? 9 of 13
COMMA SPLICE: A comma splice, another kind of run-on error, occurs when you try to join two independent clauses with only a comma. Basically, comma splices happen when you re using a comma instead of a period; however, there are often many ways to fix a comma splice Incorrect: Fix #1: Fix #2: Fix #3: Fix #4: Punctuation COMMAS Separating an introductory element: Use a comma after introductory words and phrases (anything leading up to the subject). This isn t always technically required, but it is usually needed and/or (at the very least) useful... In both of those examples, notice how you could rewrite the sentence as follows: E. Joining independent clauses (into a compound sentence): When both sides of one of the FANBOYS ( ) could stand alone as sentences, use a comma before the FANBOYS. The key here is to recognize that you have two complete sentences, one on each side of the FANBOYS (in this case, ). If you see a FANBOYS and a complete sentence on each side of that FANBOY, you probably need a comma. MECHANICS PHASE 10 of 13
Separating parenthetical elements (non-restrictive elements): A non-restrictive element is essentially a phrase that functions as an descriptor. You can typically delete a non-restrictive element from its sentence, and the sentence should still make sense (albeit with less detail). When you have a nonrestrictive element in the middle of a sentence or at the end of a sentence, separate it with commas. In the first two examples, the non-restrictive elements actually interrupt the subject noun and predicate verb. If you were to delete the non-restrictive elements, the subject noun and predicate verb would be side by side (as is often the case in written English: This is quite common with non-restrictive elements. It s also a handy strategy to remember when citing sources in academic papers. Consider this basic example: Grammatically, that sentence is perfectly fine. There s nothing inherently wrong with it, but who is Jonathan Losos? In academic writing, it s sometimes advantageous to describe who your sources are to your readers. Compare the previous version to this one (which features a non-restrictive element describing who Losos is): Now we ve jacked this random name with some serious credibility. MECHANICS PHASE 11 of 13
Which phrases are not typically necessary for the main sentence to make sense, so you should put a comma before which. That phrases ARE necessary for the main sentence to make sense, so do NOT put a comma before that. Use commas to separate Transition Words/Phrases from the rest of the sentence no matter where they appear. NOTE: Although is NOT on this list! MECHANICS PHASE You also use commas to separate basic items in a list of three or more items. Generally speaking, you are encouraged to use a comma after each item. That last comma is called the Oxford Comma (the one before and ). We recommend always using the Oxford comma for clarity. 12 of 13
SEMICOLONS There are two main reasons to use a semi-colon in contemporary English: 01: Use a semicolon to connect two complete sentences. You could write the above example as two complete sentences separated by a period (also changing the lowercase h in to H). 02: Use a semi-colon in a list of items that already contains commas. COLONS There are four items in that example, each composed of a city and a state. Because commas are used to clarify cities from states, we use semicolons to separate each of the items. Use a colon after a complete sentence when specific information (which may or may not be able to stand alone ) follows it for exemplification. One way to tell if the colon is justified is by saying Now I m going to get more specific about what I just said where the comma falls. If it makes sense, you r probably in shape to use a colon. MECHANICS PHASE 13 of 13