Basic Grammar Stuff!
Grammar geek = Wonderful writer
What’s the difference between a clause and a phrase?
Clause
 A clause is a complete thought and includes a subject and a verb.
 Sally likes popcorn. (Subject does the verb). Sally likes.
 What does Sally like? Popcorn. Popcorn receives the direct
action of the verb “likes,” so it becomes the direct object.
 S D W (Subject does what)
 Both independent and dependent clauses have subjects and
verbs, so what’s the difference?
What’s an independent clause vs. a dependent clause?
 Independent Clause
 An independent clause is a complete thought.
 It always has a subject and a verb and can stand alone.
 Example: I like chocolate candy.
 Dependent Clause
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A dependent clause is NOT a complete thought.
It always has a subject and a verb, but it CAN’T stand alone.
It ALWAYS has a subordinating conjunction (AAAWWUBIS).
A comma follows a dependent clause when it comes at the beginning of a
sentence.
 Example: Because I like chocolate candy,
Phrase
 A phrase does not have a subject or a verb.
 Appositive phrase: Adds more detail to nouns or pronouns.
 Mrs. Healy, a 7th grade teacher at HTMS, loves to read.
 Prepositional phrase: Begins with a preposition and ends with an object of
the preposition which must be a noun or pronoun. You will never find a
subject in a prepositional phrase.
 After the game, we went to the store.
 We went shopping at the mall during the holidays.
Simple Sentence
 The same thing as an independent clause.
 It has at least one subject and at least one verb, but it can have compound
subjects and verbs.
 It is a complete thought.
 Formulas: S+V, S+V+V, S+S+V, S+S+V+V
 Example of S+V: Mrs. Healy loves Mr. Healy.
 Example of S+V+V: Mrs. Healy loves Andrew and Patrick and adores Meg.
Compound Sentence
 Composed of two independent clauses joined by a comma and a fanboy.
 There must be a subject and a verb on either side of the comma and
Fanboy.
 Example: HTMS is a great place to learn, and the teachers are amazing.
 For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So
Complex Sentence
 Composed of one independent and one dependent clause.
 Each clause has its own subject and verb.
 The dependent clause must start with an AWWUUBBISS word.
 A comma follows a dependent clause when it comes at the beginning of a
sentence.
 After, Although, As, When, While, Until, Because, Before, If, Since
 Example: While I walked to school today, it started to rain.
Compound-Complex Sentence
 Composed of two independent clauses joined by a comma and a fanboy and
at least one dependent clause.
 Has a minimum of three subjects and three verbs.
 Combines the attributes of both compound and complex sentences.
 Examples:
 When it stopped raining, we went outside to play, and we all got muddy.
 We went outside to play when it stopped raining, and we all got muddy.
 We all got muddy when it stopped raining, and we went outside to play.
Simple, CD, CX, or CD-CX?
I don’t care because I’m too
tired.
Simple, CD, CX, or CD-CX?
Before the game, we went to eat
pizza.
Simple, CD, CX, or CD-CX?
Only two weeks of school are
left until vacation.
Simple, CD, CX, or CD-CX?
Olivia is bringing a pony, and
Emma is brining honey.
Simple, CD, CX, or CD-CX?
We won’t be back after the
holiday.
Simple, CD, CX, or CD-CX?
We won the game since we
scored in overtime, and we
never gave up.
Simple, CD, CX, or CD-CX?
It rained all weekend, but we
really needed it.
Linking or Helping Verb?
We were going home.
Linking or Helping Verb?
We were late.
Linking or Helping Verb?
It was a beautiful day.
Linking or Helping?
We should not go to practice.
Action or linking?
The candy remains in the dish.
Helping or linking?
We will stay here.
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How to be a Grammar Guru
Everything you need to know to write an awesome
sentence
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