Grammar for Life

Rules and Examples

Master your modifiers:

Jose explained what the essay he wrote was about in Spanish.

In Spanish, Jose explained what the essay he wrote was about.

A modifier is a word or group of words that modifies, or describes, another word or group of words in a sentence. A modifier should always appear next to the word or words it modifies.

Vary Your Sentences(Rule 1)

• At the beginning of the sentence, put an adverb, a word that adds description to a verb.– Incorrect: Dorothy skipped

down the yellow brick road.–Correct: Merrily, Dorothy

skipped down the yellow brick road.

Vary Your Sentences (Rule 2)

To add pizzazz to your writing, reconstruct your sentence structure by following this important rule!

Move a prepositional phrase to the beginning of the sentence.

Incorrect Sentence: David walked to school at 7:00 A.M. so he would not be late for class.

Correct Sentence: At 7:00 A.M., David walked to school so he would not be late for class.

VARY YOUR SENTENCES

Incorrect:I made cookies on Saturday. They were delicious! Correct:I made cookies on Saturday, and they were delicious!

• Rule #3: Link two sentences to form a compound sentence.

Vary Your Sentences (Rule # 4)

• Combine two or more sentences by placing a clause in the middle of the sentence.

• Use commas to separate the clause from the rest of the sentence.

• Incorrect: Baseball is my favorite sport. It is fun to play.

• Correct: Baseball, my favorite sport, is fun to play.

Redundancy• Rule- to keep your writing clear and

efficient, it is important to avoid unnecessary repetition. • Incorrect: This is the best, greatest

burrito I have ever eaten.• Correct: This is the best burrito I have ever eaten.

Comma Sense Rule #4- Use a pair of commas in the middle of a sentence to set off words that are not essential elements of the sentence. WRONG: Your gym teacher Mr. C is teaching, us basketball.

CORRECT: Your gym teacher, Mr. C, is teaching us basketball.

(Rule #3)Use commas to separate items in a

series of three or more things

O My favorite, movies are, Bed knobs, Broomsticks Slap-shot and, Sandlot.

O My favorite movies are Bed knobs and Broomsticks, Slap-shot, and Sandlot.

Comma Sense

Comma Sense; Rule 2Use a comma after an introductory element.

RULE: After an introductory phrase, use a comma to separate both sentences that can stand on their own.

WRONG!• When I was watching Wicked I was thoroughly impressed by the talent that was showcased.

RIGHT!• While I was watching

Wicked, I was thoroughly impressed by the talent that was

showcased.,

COMMA SENSE• Rule #1- Use a

comma before a conjunction (and, but, for, nor, or, so , yet) to join two independent clauses.

• Incorrect Example: The football game was interrupted with bad weather yet we still had a great time.

• Correct Example:The football game was interrupted with bad weather, yet we still had a great time.