Grammar Review

Clauses

An independent clause is a group of words that contains a subject and verb and expresses a complete thought.

A dependent clause has a subject and a verb, but cannot stand alone because it does not express a complete thought.

When Ronnie gets here, let’s start the music.

On a piece of lined paper, identify the clauses in the following sentences.

Because I forgot to study, I was not prepared for my test.

I will tell Denise what she missed if she comes to class late.

The weather is beautiful today, so I’ll take a walk.

Coordinating Conjunctions

A coordinating conjunction expresses a relationship (reason, addition, negation, contrast, option, contrary outcome, or result) between two like (same kind) words, phrases or clauses. Without coordinators, the reader is left to guess the relationship between two related sentences in a paragraph.

FANBOYS

F - ForA - AndN - NorB - ButO - OrY - YetS - So

Semi-colons

Semi-colons can be used between two independent clauses. The semi-colon keeps the clauses somewhat separate, like a period would do, so we can easily tell which ideas belong to which clause. But it also suggests that there may be a close relationship between the two clauses—closer than you would expect if there were a period between them.

• Here are a few fine independent clauses, standing on their own as complete sentences:

I went to the grocery store today. I bought a ton of fruit. Apples, grapes, and pears were on sale.

• Now—where could semi-colons fit in here? They could be used to join two (but not all three) of the independent clauses together. So either of these pairs of sentences would be okay.

I went to the grocery store today; I bought a ton of fruit. Apples, grapes, and pears were all on sale.

Parallel Structure

Parallel structure (also called parallelism) is the repetition of a chosen grammatical form within a sentence.

Parallelism creates balance in your writing.

Make the following sentences parallel.

1. Mary likes hiking, swimming, and to ride a bicycle.

2. My friend took me dancing and to a show.

3. It's harder to do long division than dividing with a calculator.

4. Bruce Wayne likes donning his Batman costume, answering the Commissioner's phone calls, and to save Gotham City from cruel villains like the Penguin.

Active and Passive Voice

Active voice occurs when the subject of the sentence is performing the action of the verb.

The chef cooked the fish to perfection.

Passive voice occurs when the subject is not doing the action of the sentence but rather is being acted upon.

The fish was cooked to perfection by the chef.

Decide whether the following sentences are written in active or passive voice.

1. The dance was ruined by the rowdy students,

2. Kevin swam the entire length of the pool.

3. Mr. Wilburn made an announcement about the upcoming fundraiser.

4. The car was crushed by the falling tree.

Reminders

• When you are asked to answer questions based on a passage, do that. Do not think about the entire piece of literature unless you are instructed to do so

• If you have questions, ask them. We may not be able to answer every question you have, but we will do as much as we can to help you.

• Please consider coming in for additional review on Saturday morning from 9:00-11:00. Ms. Cimino will be in room 611.