Student Academic Learning Services SSB 204

Grammar Matters Workshop

Overview

•  Grammar terminology •  Common sentence errors •  Correcting common sentence errors •  Resources for help with grammar •  Questions

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8 Parts of Speech 1. Nouns name a person, place, thing, activity, or

quality (i.e. honesty, responsibility) -common nouns (i.e. college, friend) -proper nouns (i.e. Durham College, Sue)

2. Pronouns take the place of a noun (also known as the antecedent) -there are different types of pronouns -subject pronoun=I, you -possessive pronoun=my, your -indefinite pronoun=everything

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Parts of Speech 3. Verbs - show the action in a sentence

(walk, eat, study, call) - express a condition or state of being (is, seemed, were) - show relationship to the senses (smells, sounds, looks, feels, tastes) - there are main verbs (eat), auxiliary/helping verbs (is eating), modal verbs (might eat), and linking verbs (appears full)

4. Adjectives are words that modify (describe or limit) nouns or pronouns and tell what kind/which one/how many. -some examples include new, bright, first

-articles (a, an, the) are a special group of adjectives used before many nouns

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Parts of Speech

5. Adverbs modify (limit or describe) -verbs: The clerk worked quickly. -adjectives: The TV is too loud. -adverbs: The TV is definitely too loud.

•  Frequently end in –ly •  Usually answer the questions how? when?

to what extent? or how often?

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Parts of Speech

6. Prepositions are words that show the relationship of a noun or pronoun to some other word in a sentence

-about, of, before, by, from, in, to •  Prepositions must be followed by a noun

or pronoun; this forms a prepositional phrase which often expresses a relationship to time or space (in the spring, by the river, from the bank)

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Parts of Speech 7. Conjunctions connect words, phrases, or clauses

in a sentence -Coordinating: join two or more grammatically

equal parts in a sentence -FANBOYS=For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So

-Subordinating: join unequal parts of a sentence - i.e. after, if, since, when, because, while

-Correlative/Paired: join equal grammatical structures (i.e. either…or, not only…but also)

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Parts of Speech

8. Interjections are words that express strong emotion. A comma or an exclamation mark separates an interjection from the rest of the sentence. -Hey! Wow! Oh,

-not used in formal or academic writing

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Sentences

•  A sentence is a group of words that expresses a complete thought. Every sentence has a subject (who or what the sentence is about) and a predicate (the verb and all its modifiers).

•  Every sentence begins with a capital letter and ends with a punctuation mark.

•  The end punctuation is either a period, an exclamation mark, or a question mark.

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Active and Passive Voice •  Voice indicates how the subject relates to the

action of the verb. •  In the active (direct) voice, the subject performs the action.

The ‘doer’ is emphasized. I left the door open. The intern made the coffee.

•  In the passive (indirect) voice, the subject is the receiver of the action. The ‘by’ phrase indicates who did the action and is often omitted from the sentence. The door was left open (by me). The coffee was made (by the intern).

*Only transitive verbs (verbs that are followed by an object)can be used in the passive voice

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Phrases, Clauses •  A phrase is a group of related words that may

contain a subject or a predicate but not both. (i.e. the new manager, saw a rare bird)

•  A clause is a group of words that has a subject and a predicate.

An independent/main clause can stand alone as a sentence. i.e. We can start the job tomorrow.

A dependent/subordinate clause can not stand alone as a sentence. i.e. Since the job starts tomorrow.

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4 Sentence Types •  A simple sentence consists of 1 independent clause

and no dependent clauses I leave for work at 7:30am each day.

•  A compound sentence has 2 or more independent clauses (and no dependent clauses) which are joined in one of the following ways:

, coordinating conjunction (FANBOYS) ; ; conjunctive adverb, (i.e. however, therefore)

I leave for work at 7:30 am each day, and I get to the college by 8:00 am.

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Sentence types

•  A complex sentence has 1 independent clause and 1 or more dependent clauses. If I leave for work at 7:30am, I get to the college by 8:00 am.

•  A compound-complex sentence has 2 or more independent clauses and 1 or more dependent clauses If I leave for work at 7:30am, I get to the college by 8:00am, and I have my first appointment at 8:10am.

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Sentence Errors

•  A sentence fragment is not a whole sentence. It is missing a subject or a predicate and/or is beginning with a subordinating conjunction. Because it is cold. Is in the last row. If I leave for work at 7:30am.

•  A fragment must be attached to an independent clause and punctuated correctly.

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Sentence Errors

•  A run-on/fused sentence occurs when no punctuation is used to separate two independent clauses. Run-on sentences are a common problem students must learn how to detect and punctuate them.

•  A comma splice occurs when only a comma separates two independent clauses. Run-on sentences are a common problem, students must learn how to detect and punctuate them.

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Correcting Common Sentence Errors

•  Use a period to separate the two independent clauses into two sentences.

•  Use a comma and a coordinating conjunction (FANBOYS) to join the two independent clauses.

•  Use a subordinating conjunction (when, if, although…) to make one clause dependent and then join it to the independent clause.

•  Use a semi-colon between two closely related independent clauses.

•  Use a semi-colon, a conjunctive adverb (HOTSHOTCAT) and a comma to join the clauses.

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Grammar Resources •  Your writing handbook/communications text •  Your professor •  Workshops at the SALS Centre •  Tip sheets and handouts from SALS •  Grammar and punctuation resources on the SALS

website www.durhamcollege.ca/sals •  Peer Writing Tutors at SALS •  The ESL Specialist at SALS •  The Writing Specialist at SALS

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Feedback

•  Please help us gather some feedback to improve the service we provide in Student Academic Learning Services

•  If you are viewing this presentation online, please contact us with any suggestions you have to improve the experience – email: leslie.linstrum@durhamcollege.ca – phone:905.721.2000 extension 2491

Student Academic Learning Services SSB 204