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Legs quivering
Fingers = noun; scraping = participle; frosting = direct object; our, the, leftover, off the plates =
modifiers.
Rather than modifying a specific word, an absolute phrase will describe the whole clause:
Her arms folded across her chest, Professor Hill warned the class about the penalties of
plagiarism.
We devoured Aunt Lenora's carrot cake, our fingers scraping the leftover frosting off the plates.
Because of the spicy Jamaican pepper, David reached for his glass of iced tea.
If you are unsure whether a sentence contains an action verb or not, look at every word in the
sentence and ask yourself, "Can a person or thing do this?"
Can you during? Is during something you can do? Can you biology? Is there someone biologying
outside the building right now? Can you class? Do your obnoxious neighbors keep you up until 2
a.m. because they are classing? Can you Omesh? What does a person do when he's Omeshing?
Can you nap? Bingo! Sure you can! You'd probably prefer napping to listening to a biology
lecture yourself. Can you at? Of course not! Can you his? Show me hising. Can you desk?
Demonstrate desking for me!
When Joseph dived into the violent waves to rescue a drowning puppy, his bravery amazed the
crowd of fishermen standing on the dock.
Bravery, one of the nouns in this sentence, is an example of an abstract noun. You can see
Joseph, the water, and the crowd. But you cannot see bravery itself. Bravery has no color, size,
shape, sound, odor, flavor, or texture; it has no quality that you can see, hear, smell, taste, or
touch. Any noun that escapes your five senses is an abstract noun.
Puppy is an example of a concrete noun. You can see a puppy, stroke its fur, smell its breath, and
listen to it whine. You can even taste the puppy if you don't mind pulling dog hair off your
tongue! Because a puppy will register on all five senses, puppy is a concrete noun.
annoyance pothole
deceit plagiarist
dedication teacher
destruction bomb
curiosity cat
happiness ice cream
intelligence diploma
loyalty dog
trust airplane
relaxation bubble bath
The Adjective
Recognize an adjective when you see one.
Adjectives describe nouns by answering one of these three questions: What kind is it? How many
are there? Which one is it? An adjective can be a single word, a phrase, or a clause.
Dan decided that the fuzzy green bread would make an unappetizing sandwich.
What kind of bread? Fuzzy and green! What kind of sandwich? Unappetizing!
A friend with a fat wallet will never want for weekend shopping partners.
A towel that is still warm from the dryer is more comforting than a hot fudge sundae.
Seven hungry space aliens slithered into the diner and ordered vanilla milkshakes.
The students, five freshmen and six sophomores, braved Dr. Ribley's killer calculus exam.
The disorganized pile of books, which contained seventeen overdue volumes from the library
and five unread class texts, blocked the doorway in Eli's dorm room.
The most unhealthy item from the cafeteria is the steak sub, which will slime your hands with
grease.
Which item from the cafeteria? Certainly not the one that will lower your cholesterol!
The cockroach eyeing your cookie has started to crawl this way.
Which cockroach? Not the one crawling up your leg but the one who wants your cookie!
The students who neglected to prepare for Mrs. Mauzy's English class hide in the cafeteria rather
than risk their instructor's wrath.
Which students? Not the good students but the lazy slackers.
If the adjectives are coordinate, you must use commas between them. If, on the other hand, the
adjectives are noncoordinate, no commas are necessary. How do you tell the difference?
Coordinate Adjectives
Coordinate adjectives can pass one of two tests. When you reorder the series or when you insert
and between them, they still make sense.
The tall, creamy, delicious milkshake melted on the counter while the inattentive waiter flirted
with the pretty cashier.
The delicious, tall, creamy milkshake melted on the counter while the inattentive waiter flirted
with the pretty cashier.
The series of adjectives still makes sense even though the order has changed.
And if you insert and between the adjectives, you still have a logical sentence:
The tall and creamy and delicious milkshake melted on the counter while the inattentive waiter
flirted with the pretty cashier.
Noncoordinate Adjectives
Noncoordinate adjectives do not make sense when you reorder the series or when you insert and
between them.
Jeanne's two fat Siamese cats hog the electric blanket on cold winter evenings.
If you switch the order of the adjectives, the sentence becomes gibberish:
Fat Siamese two Jeanne's cats hog the electric blanket on cold winter evenings.
Logic will also evaporate if you insert and between the adjectives.
Jeanne's and two and fat and Siamese cats hog the electric blanket on cold winter evenings.
Stevie, a suck up who sits in the front row, has a thicker notebook than Nina, who never comes
to class.
The thinnest notebook belongs to Mike, a computer geek who scans all notes and handouts and
saves them on the hard drive of his laptop.
Comparative Adjectives
You can form comparative adjectives two ways. You can add er to the end of the adjective, or
you can use more or less before it. Do not, however, do both! You violate the rules of grammar if
you claim that you are more taller, more smarter, or less faster than your older brother Fred.
Because Fuzz is a smaller cat than Buster, she loses the fights for tuna fish.
For dinner, we ordered a bigger pizza than usual so that we would have cold leftovers for
breakfast.
Kelly is lazier than an old dog; he is perfectly happy spending an entire Saturday on the couch,
watching old movies and napping.
The new suit makes Marvin more handsome than a movie star.
Movies on our new flat-screen television are, thankfully, less colorful; we no longer have to
tolerate the electric greens and nuclear pinks of the old unit.
Heather is more compassionate than anyone I know; she watches where she steps to avoid
squashing a poor bug by accident.
Superlative Adjectives
You can form superlative adjectives two ways as well. You can add est to the end of the
adjective, or you can use most or least before it. Do not, however, do both! You violate another
grammatical rule if you claim that you are the most brightest, most happiest, or least angriest
member of your family.
These are the tartest lemon-roasted squid tentacles that I have ever eaten!
Nigel, the tallest member of the class, has to sit in the front row because he has bad eyes; the rest
of us crane around him for a glimpse of the board.
Because Hector refuses to read directions, he made the crispiest mashed potatoes ever in the
history of instant food.
Because Isaac has a crush on Ms. Orsini, his English teacher, he believes that she is the most
gorgeous creature to walk the planet.
The most frustrating experience of Desiree's day was arriving home to discover that the onion
rings were missing from her drive-thru order.
The least believable detail of the story was that the space aliens had offered Eli a slice of
pepperoni pizza before his release.
Why Fred cannot stand sitting across from his sister Melanie
Why = relative adverb; Fred = subject; can stand = verb [not, an adverb, is not officially part of
the verb].
Read the examples below. Notice that the adjective clause follows the word that it describes.
Diane felt manipulated by her beagle Santana, whose big, brown eyes pleaded for another
cookie.
Chewing with her mouth open is one reason why Fred cannot stand sitting across from his sister
Melanie.
Snarling and skidding on the smooth tile, Oreo and Skeeter, Madison's two dogs, competed for
the hardboiled egg that bounced across the kitchen floor.
Laughter erupted from Annamarie, who hiccupped for seven hours afterward.
Punctuate an adjective clause correctly.
Punctuating adjective clauses can be tricky. For each sentence, you will have to decide if the
adjective clause is essential or nonessential and then use commas accordingly.
Essential clauses do not require commas. An adjective clause is essential when you need the
information it provides.
The vegetables that people leave uneaten are often the most nutritious.
Vegetables is nonspecific. To know which ones we are talking about, we must have the
information in the adjective clause. Thus, the adjective clause is essential and requires no
commas.
If, however, we eliminate vegetables and choose a more specific noun instead, the adjective
clause becomes nonessential and does require commas to separate it from the rest of the
sentence.
The Adverb
Recognize an adverb when you see one.
Adverbs tweak the meaning of verbs, adjectives, other adverbs, and clauses. Read, for example,
this sentence:
Is Bailey a sound sleeper, curled into a tight ball? Or is he a fitful sleeper, his paws twitching
while he dreams? The addition of an adverb adjusts the meaning of the verb sleeps so that the
reader has a clearer picture:
Our basset hound Bailey sleeps peacefully on the living room floor.
Adverbs can be single words, or they can be phrases or clauses. Adverbs answer one of these
four questions: How? When? Where? and Why?
Roxanne very happily accepted the ten-point late penalty to work on her research essay one more
day.
The adverb surprisingly modifies the entire main clause that follows.
Many single-word adverbs end in ly. In the examples above, you saw peacefully, rudely,
completely, happily, and surprisingly.
Not all ly words are adverbs, however. Lively, lonely, and lovely are adjectives instead,
answering the questions What kind? or Which one?
Many single-word adverbs have no specific ending, such as next, not, often, seldom, and then. If
you are uncertain whether a word is an adverb or not, use a dictionary to determine its part of
speech.
Adverbs can also be multi-word phrases and clauses. Here are some examples:
The prepositional phrase at 2 a.m. indicates when the event happened. The second prepositional
phrase, through Deidre's open bedroom window, describes where the creature traveled.
With a fork, George thrashed the raw eggs until they foamed.
The subordinate clause until they foamed describes how George prepared the eggs.
Sylvia emptied the carton of milk into the sink because the expiration date had long passed.
The subordinate clause because the expiration date had long passed describes why Sylvia poured
out the milk.
For example, don't write drink quickly when you mean gulp, or walk slowly when you mean
saunter, or very hungry when you mean ravenous.
Beth loves green vegetables, so she eats broccoli more frequently than her brother Daniel.
Among the members of her family, Beth eats pepperoni pizza the least often.
Real is an adjective, so it cannot modify another adjective like smart or salty. What people
should say is "Anthony is really smart" or "This pizza sauce is really salty."
If you train yourself to add the extra ly syllable when you speak, you will likely remember it
when you write, where its absence will otherwise cost you points or respect!
When a short adverb such as also, never, or not interrupts, it is still an adverb, not part of the
verb. Read these examples:
For his birthday, Frank would also like a jar of dill pickles.
After that dreadful casserole you made last night, Julie will never eat tuna or broccoli again.
Despite the approaching deadline, Sheryl-Ann has not started her research essay.
Has started = verb; not = adverb.
How did Tommy scrub? Until his arms ached, an adverb clause.
Josephine's three cats bolted from the driveway once they saw her car turn the corner.
When did the cats bolt? Once they saw her car turn the corner, an adverb clause.
The missing eyeglasses are in the refrigerator, where Damien absentmindedly set them down
while eating his roommate's leftover fried rice.
Where are the missing eyeglasses? Where Damien absentmindedly set them down, an adverb
clause.
After her appointment at the orthodontist, Danielle cooked eggs for dinner because she could
easily chew an omelet.
Why did Danielle cook eggs? Because she could easily chew an omelet, an adverb clause
The Antecedent
Recognize an antecedent when you see one.
The English language includes pronouns, such as she, it, or they. Pronouns are generic words
that have little meaning on their own. If you hear a friend say, "She is beautiful," you know your
friend is referring to a singular, feminine being or object, but with just the pronoun she, you don't
know if the discussion concerns a woman, a cheetah, or an automobile. You cannot picture the
she until you know the antecedent, the word that this pronoun refers to or replaces.
Often, an antecedent is the word, phrase, or clause that you replace with one of these third-
person personal pronouns:
Our carnivorous friends will not attend the picnic because they despise tofu hotdogs and black
bean burgers.
When Kris sprained his ankle, Coach Ames replaced him with Jasper, a much slower runner.
Eating with your mouth closed has several benefits. Most importantly, it keeps people from
turning away in disgust.
Karline hopes that her roommates remember to walk the new puppy. It will mean less urine to
mop up when she gets home.
That her roommates remember to walk the new puppy = clause as antecedent; it = personal
pronoun.
Other times, the antecedent might be the word, phrase, or clause that a demonstrative pronoun
replaces.
Demonstrative Pronouns
Jackson rides his skateboard to work. Now this is an eco-friendly mode of transportation!
You need to work on throwing large, unwieldy objects and catching heavy things. Those are the
skills you must acquire to be a successful chainsaw juggler.
Throwing large, unwieldy objects, catching heavy things = phrases as antecedents; those =
demonstrative pronoun.
Francine prays that the neighbors will keep their barking dog inside. That will allow her to get a
good night's sleep.
That the neighbors will keep their barking dog inside = clause as antecedent; that [the second
one] = demonstrative pronoun.
And sometimes the antecedent is the point of reference for a relative pronoun.
Relative Pronouns
Principal Meyers, whose nose hair curled outside his nostrils, delivered the morning
announcements.
The dish that contains the leftover squid eyeball stew cannot go in the microwave.
Eating ice cream for dinner, which might not be nutritionally smart, is what Teresa wanted after
her long day of waitressing.
Eating ice cream for dinner = antecedent; which = relative pronoun.
Sometimes, however, establishing agreement can be tricky. Consider the situations below.
When you join two or more singular nouns with and, you create a plural antecedent:
The beetle and baby snake were thankful they escaped the lawnmower blade.
If, however, you include each or every in front, the antecedent becomes singular and will thus
require a singular pronoun:
Each beetle and baby snake was thankful it escaped the lawnmower blade.
No matter how many nouns you include, if you have each or every in front, the antecedent is
singular and needs a singular pronoun for agreement:
Each beetle, baby snake, worm, centipede, lizard, grasshopper, and toad was thankful it escaped
the lawnmower blade.
Each beetle + baby snake + worm + centipede + lizard + grasshopper + toad = singular
antecedent; it = singular pronoun.
Correlative Conjunctions
When you use correlative conjunctions like either ... or, neither ... nor, or not only ... but also,
only the second antecedent counts for agreement.
If, for example, the second antecedent is plural, then the pronoun that follows must be plural:
Not only Freddy the nose picker but also grateful shoppers replenished their supply of tissues
during the drugstore sale.
But if the second antecedent is singular, then you need a singular pronoun to maintain
agreement:
Not only grateful shoppers but also Freddy the nose picker replenished his supply of tissues
during the drugstore sale.
Singular indefinite pronouns are often antecedents. Logic might indicate that the indefinite
pronoun is plural—when we say everyone, for example, we mean more than one person—but
with this group, you must use a singular pronoun for agreement:
After the long hike in the cold mountains, everybody needs to replenish her fluids with a
steaming bowl of squid eyeball stew.
The lack of air conditioning made everyone's shirt stick to his skin.
Collective Nouns
Class, family, jury, and team are examples of collective nouns. This type of noun names groups
composed of two or more members. As we all know, sometimes a group acts in unison, as one
unit, with every member doing the same thing at the same time. Other times, the members of the
group have their own agendas and are pursuing individual goals.
When a collective noun is an antecedent, the behavior of its members determines whether you
need a singular or plural pronoun.
If all of the members are doing the same thing at the same time, then the collective noun is
singular and requires a singular pronoun for agreement:
The team roared its displeasure when the opposition scored another touchdown.
If, however, the members of the collective noun are acting individually, you indicate that change
by using a plural pronoun:
In the produce section, the Larsen family began arguing about the vegetables they would prefer
for dinner.
After the long and difficult exam, the class returned home, some to pack for winter break, some
to study for their Thursday exams.
During the off season, the team spend their afternoons as they please, happy to escape the
demands of the coaches.
Many people might attend a school, work for a business, or volunteer at an organization, but
when the name of that school, business, or organization is the antecedent, you must ignore—for
the purpose of agreement—all of the people involved and use a singular pronoun.
When Weaver High School won the regional football championship on a technicality, we
sneaked onto campus the next evening and cut all four legs off its tiger mascot.
Save room for dessert, for Tito's Taco Palace offers its diners fried ice cream with habanero jelly.
PencilGang International met its fundraising goal last year, so free pencils will be distributed to
needy writers worldwide.
The Apostrophe
Recognize an apostrophe when you see one.
Although the apostrophe might look like a comma defying gravity, this mark of punctuation has
three distinct jobs: to show possession, make contractions, and form odd plurals.
Showing possession with an apostrophe [and often an added s] simplifies the phrasing:
Vince's donut
The dictionary owned by the grammar whiz = The grammar whiz's dictionary
Nouns that do end in s require more thought. If the noun is plural, just attach an apostrophe.
But if the apostrophe comes after the s, we understand that many dogs have a variety of leashes:
If the noun ending in s is singular, most sources recommend adding both the apostrophe and an
additional s.
In these cases, the apostrophe + additional s adds another syllable to the pronunciation. If the
extra syllable sounds unnatural, add just the apostrophe.
Since "sounds natural" can be a matter of region or opinion, your best bet in these cases is to
consult the textbook or handbook assigned to your class, the teacher or professor who will be
evaluating your assignment, or your supervisor or the style manual your industry uses. Then
follow the advice that you get.
Cannot = Can't
Let us = Let's
I am = I'm
It is = It's
We have = We've
He will = He'll
If you are writing for a very formal audience—a teacher, a boss, an editor, a snotty group of
intellectuals—you might want to err on the side of stuffy and spell out the words rather than
contract them:
We'd've We would have arrived on time if our car hadn't had not gotten a flat tire.
Whenever you have plural lower-case letters, use the apostrophe + s to make the letters plural.
Grandma prefers to sign birthday cards with k's and h's instead of x's and o's.
If you have capital letters, however, most writers use just the s.
David has two BAs—one in art history and the other in classical studies—but no job.
Sharon has two DOBs, the official one on her birth certificate and the one four months later
when her great aunt Matilda remembers to send a check.
Some writers will use apostrophe + s to make capital letters plural to avoid confusion.
Look at all of those I's in your project summary. You did have two other teammates, right?
Kevin earned three A's this semester, missing a 4.0 because of one missed question on Dr.
Grayson's final exam.
These apostrophes help you not confuse I's with the verb Is or A's with the subordinate
conjunction As.
Numbers
To escape the high 90s in town, we drove to the beach to enjoy the cool ocean breeze.
To escape the high 90's in town, we drove to the beach to enjoy the cool ocean breeze.
What's best—90s or 90's, 20s or 20's? Whatever your textbook, teacher, boss, or industry style
guide recommends. Decide who is your intended audience, and then use what that person or
group expects.
Sometimes you will need to use another part of speech as a noun. If the expression is common,
use just an s to make it plural.
The haves opened their lunch bags and began munching in front of us have-nots.
But if you use another part of speech as a noun in a less familiar way, you can form the plural
with apostrophe + s.
With her red pen, Dr. Pennington crossed through all of the well's I had used as transitions.
A chorus of ah-ha's filled the classroom as Prof. Warner finally solved the difficult equation on
the board.
For example, singular present tense verbs end in s but do not need any punctuation.
Sheila know's knows that Daniel does not have enough color sense to buy the house paint
unsupervised.
Most plural nouns end in s, but unless they are possessive, you don't include the apostrophe.
Common apostrophe abuse occurs with possessive pronouns. Yes, you usually indicate
possession with an apostrophe. Pronouns, however, are the exception.
These are Frank's camping supplies. Their's Theirs are still in the trunk
The Appositive
Recognize an appositive when you see one.
An appositive is a noun or noun phrase that renames another noun right beside it. The appositive
can be a short or long combination of words. Look at these appositive examples, all of which
rename insect:
The insect, a large cockroach with hairy legs, is crawling across the kitchen table.
The insect, a large, hairy-legged cockroach that has spied my bowl of oatmeal, is crawling across
the kitchen table.
During the dinner conversation, Clifford, the messiest eater at the table, spewed mashed potatoes
like an erupting volcano.
My 486 computer, a modern-day dinosaur, chews floppy disks as noisily as my brother does
peanut brittle.
Genette's bedroom desk, the biggest disaster area in the house, is a collection of overdue library
books, dirty plates, computer components, old mail, cat hair, and empty potato chip bags.
Reliable, Diane's eleven-year-old beagle, chews holes in the living room carpeting as if he were
still a puppy.
A hot-tempered tennis player, Robbie charged the umpire and tried to crack the poor man's skull
with a racket.
Robbie, a hot-tempered tennis player, charged the umpire and tried to crack the poor man's skull
with a racket.
And when the appositive ends the sentence, it looks like this:
Upset by the bad call, the crowd cheered Robbie, a hot-tempered tennis player who charged the
umpire and tried to crack the poor man's skull with a racket.
Other times, the activity or condition continues over a long stretch of time, happens predictably,
or occurs in relationship to other events. In these instances, a single-word verb like stubbed or is
cannot accurately describe what happened, so writers use multipart verb phrases to communicate
what they mean. As many as four words can comprise a verb phrase.
A main or base verb indicates the type of action or condition, and auxiliary—or helping—verbs
convey the other nuances that writers want to express.
Read these three examples:
Sherylee smacked her lips as raspberry jelly dripped from the donut onto her white shirt.
Since Sherylee is such a klutz, she should have been eating a cake donut, which would not have
stained her shirt.
In the first sentence, smacked and dripped, single-word verbs, describe the quick actions of both
Sherylee and the raspberry jelly.
Since Sherylee has a pattern of messiness, is dripping communicates the frequency of her
clumsiness. The auxiliary verbs that comprise should have been eating and would have stained
express not only time relationships but also evaluation of Sherylee's actions.
Below are the auxiliary verbs. You can conjugate be, do, and have; the modal auxiliaries,
however, never change form.
Be Do Have
am
is
has
are does
have
was do
had
were did
having
being
been
can, could, may, might, must, ought to, shall, should, will, would
Is = linking verb.
Freddy is studying Beatrice’s steaming bowl of squid eyeball stew with envy in his eyes.
Is = auxiliary verb; studying = present participle completing the verb phrase.
We’re not slackers! We did prepare our homework for Mrs. Long.
Did = auxiliary verb; prepare = main verb completing the verb phrase.
Has = auxiliary verb; bought = past participle completing the verb phrase.
Forms of Be
Present Progressive
Use the present progressive tense to convey an action or condition happening right now or
frequently.
Alex must wait a while longer because the muffins are cooling by the window.
Are = auxiliary verb; cooling = present participle completing the verb phrase.
Past Progressive
Use the past progressive tense to show either 1) an action or condition that continued in the past
or 2) an action or condition interrupted by another.
Was = auxiliary verb; hoping = present participle completing the verb phrase.
Unfortunately, Naomi's lab reports were missing the nutritional data on chocolate-broccoli
muffins.
Were = auxiliary verb; missing = present participle completing the verb phrase.
While Naomi was obsessing about her grade, Jason shared the data that she needed.
Was = auxiliary verb; obsessing = present participle completing the verb phrase.
Future Progressive
Use the future progressive tense to indicate an action that will continue in the future.
Will, be = auxiliary verbs; growing = present participle completing the verb phrase.
Will, be = auxiliary verbs; eating = present participle completing the verb phrase.
Form passive voice with the auxiliary verb be.
You can make any transitive verb—an action verb that can take a direct object—passive with the
auxiliary verb be.
Forms of Be
Preposition.
Notice how wordy and clunky passive voice is! Now you know why English teachers tell you to
avoid it!
Present Perfect
Use the present perfect tense to convey an action or condition that began in the past but
continues [or is finished] in the present.
Has = auxiliary verb; bought = past participle completing the verb phrase.
Have = auxiliary verb; saved = past participle completing the verb phrase.
Past Perfect
Use the past perfect tense to show that one action in the past occurred before another.
Because Marge had purchased the earplugs, she no longer fantasized about smothering George
with a pillow.
Had = auxiliary verb; purchased = past participle completing the verb phrase.
Future Perfect
Use the future perfect tense to indicate that an action will be finished in the future.
This Sunday, Marge will have gotten an entire week of uninterrupted sleep.
Will, have = auxiliary verbs; gotten = past participle completing the verb phrase.
Forms of Do
Did = auxiliary verb; eat = main verb completing the verb phrase.
Doesn't the evidence point to Samuel, who still has a bit of black olive stuck to his front tooth?
Does = auxiliary verb; point = main verb completing the verb phrase.
can, could, may, might, must, ought to, shall, should, will, would
Fred might share his calculus homework if you offer him a slice of pizza.
Ann could have run the half marathon if she had started to train four months ago.
Jason can pass chemistry this semester if he stops spending his study time at the arcade.
The Clause
Recognize a clause when you see one.
Clauses come in four types: main [or independent], subordinate [or dependent], adjective [or
relative], and noun. Every clause has at least a subject and a verb. Other characteristics will help
you distinguish one type of clause from another.
Main Clauses
Cola spilled over the glass and splashed onto the counter.
The important point to remember is that every sentence must have at least one main clause.
Otherwise, you have a fragment, a major error.
Subordinate Clauses
As cola spilled over the glass and splashed onto the counter
The important point to remember about subordinate clauses is that they can never stand alone as
complete sentences. To complete the thought, you must attach each subordinate clause to a main
clause.
Whenever lazy students whine, Mrs. Russell throws chalk erasers at their heads.
Anthony ran for the paper towels as cola spilled over the glass and splashed onto the counter.
Relative Clauses
A relative clause will begin with a relative pronoun [such as who, whom, whose, which, or that]
or a relative adverb [when, where, or why].
That had spilled over the glass and splashed onto the counter
Like subordinate clauses, relative clauses cannot stand alone as complete sentences. You must
connect them to main clauses to finish the thought.
The lazy students whom Mrs. Russell hit in the head with a chalk eraser soon learned to keep
their complaints to themselves.
My dog Floyd, who loves pizza crusts, eats them under the kitchen table, where he chews and
drools with great enthusiasm.
Anthony ran to get paper towels for the cola that had spilled over the glass and splashed onto the
counter.
Punctuating relative clauses can be tricky. You have to decide if the relative clause is essential or
nonessential and then use commas accordingly.
Essential relative clauses do not require commas. A relative clause is essential when you need
the information it provides.
A dog that eats too much pizza will soon develop pepperoni breath.
Dog is nonspecific. To know which dog we are talking about, we must have the information in
the relative clause. Thus, the relative clause is essential and requires no commas.
If, however, we revise dog and choose more specific words instead, the relative clause becomes
nonessential and does require commas to separate it from the rest of the sentence.
My dog Floyd, who eats too much pizza, has developed pepperoni breath.
Noun Clauses
Any clause that functions as a noun becomes a noun clause. Look at this example:
You really do not want to know the ingredients in Aunt Nancy's stew.
Ingredients = noun.
You really do not want to know what Aunt Nancy adds to her stew.
Collective Nouns
Because people behave as both herd animals and solitary creatures, collective nouns can be
either singular or plural, depending on context. In writing, this double status often causes
agreement errors. How do you tell if a collective noun is singular or plural? What verbs and
pronouns do you use with the collective noun?
Here is the key: Imagine a flock of pigeons pecking at birdseed on the ground. Suddenly, a cat
races out of the bushes. What do the pigeons do? They fly off as a unit in an attempt to escape
the predator, wheeling through the sky in the same direction.
People often behave in the same manner, doing one thing in unison with the other members of
their group. When these people are part of a collective noun, that noun becomes singular and
requires singular verbs and pronouns. As you read the following examples, notice that all
members of the collective noun are doing the same thing at the same time:
Every afternoon the baseball team follows its coach out to the hot field for practice.
Team = singular; follows = a singular verb; its = a singular pronoun. All members of the team
arrive at the same place at the same time.
Class = singular; takes = a singular verb; its = a singular pronoun. All members of the class are
testing at the same time.
The jury agrees that the state prosecutors did not provide enough evidence, so its verdict is not
guilty.
Jury = singular; agrees = a singular verb; its = a singular pronoun. All members of the jury are
thinking the same way.
Now imagine three house cats in the living room. Are the cats doing the same thing at the same
time? Not this group! One cat might be sleeping on top of the warm television. Another might be
grooming on the sofa. A third animal might be perched on the windowsill, watching the world
outside. There is one group of animals, but the members of that group are all doing their own
thing.
Members of collective nouns can behave in a similar fashion. When the members are acting as
individuals, the collective noun is plural and requires plural verbs and pronouns. As you read
these examples, notice that the members of the collective noun are not acting in unison:
After the three-hour practice under the brutal sun, the team shower, change into their street
clothes, and head to their air-conditioned homes.
Team = plural; shower, change, head = plural verbs; their = a plural pronoun. The teammates are
dressing into their individual outfits and leaving in different directions for their individual
homes.
After the long exam, the class start their research papers on famous mathematicians.
Class = plural; start = a plural verb; their = a plural pronoun. The students are beginning their
own research papers—in different places, at different times, on different mathematicians.
The jury disagree about the guilt of the accused and have told the judge that they are hopelessly
deadlocked.
Jury = plural; disagree, have told = plural verbs; they = a plural pronoun. Not everyone on the
jury is thinking the same way.
Whenever you cannot decide if a collective noun is singular or plural, exercise your options as a
writer. You have two ways that you can compose the sentence without causing an agreement
error: 1) insert the word members after the collective noun [jury members, committee members,
board members], or 2) use an entirely different word [players instead of team, students instead of
class, soldiers instead of army]. Then you can use plural verbs and pronouns without worrying
about making mistakes or sounding unnatural.
Here is an example:
Fanning the slice of pizza with a napkin, Jolene waited for it to cool, she had already burned the
roof of her mouth with the fried cheese sticks.
The first main clause is Jolene waited for it to cool, and the second is she had already burned the
roof of her mouth with the fried cheese sticks. Notice that the two clauses have only a comma
connecting them.
First, you can break the error into two separate sentences, like this:
Fanning the slice of pizza with a napkin, Jolene waited for it to cool. She had already burned the
roof of her mouth with the fried cheese sticks.
Another good option is to connect the two main clauses with a comma and a coordinating
conjunction:
Fanning the slice of pizza with a napkin, Jolene waited for it to cool, for she had already burned
the roof of her mouth with the fried cheese sticks.
Semicolon
Fanning the slice of pizza with a napkin, Jolene waited for it to cool; she had already burned the
roof of her mouth with the fried cheese sticks.
Subordination
Your last option is to use a subordinate conjunction. This method reduces one of the two clauses
to an incomplete thought:
Fanning the slice of pizza with a napkin, Jolene waited for it to cool since she had already burned
the roof of her mouth with the fried cheese sticks.
The banana rotting at the bottom of Jimmy's book bag has soaked his biology notes with ooze.
I cannot believe that you tried one of those disgusting chocolate-broccoli muffins!
If a main clause exists in the sentence, you can attach whatever other sentence elements you
need. Look at the additions to the main clause below. All of the additions keep the original main
clause complete.
Buzzing around the picnic table, a bumblebee flew into Peter's open mouth.
A bumblebee flew into Peter's open mouth, stinging the poor boy's tongue, which swelled up as
big and as blue as an eggplant.
Because it smelled the peach-flavored bubble gum, a bumblebee flew into Peter's open mouth.
A bumblebee flew into Peter's open mouth and tickled the poor boy's tonsils.
Taking a wrong turn, a bumblebee flew into Peter's open mouth, but it buzzed back out before
Peter swallowed.
Avoid an accidental fragment.
Sometimes you might begin a group of words with a capital letter, then conclude with an end
mark, but forget to insert a main clause anywhere in the mix. When this happens, you have
written a fragment, a major error in writing. Read the examples that follow:
Spilling the hot spaghetti sauce all over his new suede shoes.
For example, a mailbox stuffed with bills, two dozen messages on the answering machine, an
uppity cat, and a dead lawn.
And peeked into the room, risking the wrath of Mrs. Mauzy, who has no patience for students
walking into class late.
Read the revisions below. You will see that adding a main clause completes the thought:
Because hungry sharks flashed on the surface of the waves, Mike and Sarah decided to return
their surfboards to the car.
Leonardo grabbed the pot handle with his bare hands, spilling the hot spaghetti sauce all over his
new suede shoes.
Danny sold half of his comic book collection to buy nice jewelry for his greedy girlfriend Gloria.
For example, April found a mailbox stuffed with bills, two dozen messages on the answering
machine, an uppity cat, and a dead lawn.
Sherry turned the doorknob and peeked into the room, risking the wrath of Mrs. Mauzy, who has
no patience for students walking into class late.
At the local Dairy Queen, Marsha gasped at the sight of pickle slices on her banana split.
At the local Dairy Queen, Jenny and Marsha gasped at the sight of pickle slices on their banana
splits.
At the local Dairy Queen, Officer Jenkins, Mrs. Lowery, the Williams twins, Harold, Billy Jo,
Jenny, and Marsha gasped at the sight of pickle slices on their banana splits.
Officer Jenkins, Mrs. Lowery, the Williams twins, Harold, Billy Jo, Jenny, Marsha = compound
subject; gasped = verb.
Before mixing the ingredients for his world-famous cookies, Bobby swatted a fly buzzing around
the kitchen.
Before mixing the ingredients for his world-famous cookies, Bobby swatted a fly buzzing around
the kitchen and crushed a cockroach scurrying across the floor.
Before mixing the ingredients for his world-famous cookies, Bobby swatted a fly buzzing around
the kitchen, crushed a cockroach scurrying across the floor, shooed the cat off the counter,
picked his nose, scratched his armpit, licked his fingers, and sneezed.
Bobby = subject; swatted, crushed, shooed, picked, scratched, licked, sneezed = compound verb.
When the job of an adverb is to connect ideas, we call it a conjunctive adverb. Here is the list:
Conjunctive Adverbs
A conjunctive adverb can join two main clauses. In this situation, the conjunctive adverb behaves
like a coordinating conjunction, connecting two complete ideas. Notice, however, that you need
a semicolon, not a comma, to connect the two clauses:
The dark skies and distant thunder dissuaded Clarice from her afternoon run; moreover, she had
thirty calculus problems to solve for her morning class.
Leon's apartment complex does not allow dogs over thirty pounds; otherwise, he would have
bought the gangly Great Dane puppy playing in the pet store window.
The cat ate a bowlful of tuna; then, to the squirrels' delight, the fat feline fell asleep in the
rocking chair.
A conjunctive adverb will also introduce, interrupt, or conclude a single main clause. In this
situation, you will often need commas to separate the conjunctive adverb from the rest of the
sentence.
Check out these examples:
At 10 a.m., Paul was supposed to be taking his biology midterm. Instead, he was flirting with the
pretty waitress at the coffee house.
Maria declined Jeff's third invitation to go out. This young man is determined, nevertheless, to
take her to dinner one night soon.
After mowing the yard in the hot sun, Pedro was too hungry to shower. He did wash his dusty
hands, however.
Anna called to say her car would not start. Rafael will therefore have to walk to school.
The long noodles splashed tomato sauce all over the front of Brenda's shirt. Ordering fettuccine
was a mistake indeed.
Coordinating conjunctions connect words, phrases, and clauses. Look at the examples that
follow:
Rocky, my orange tomcat, loves having his head scratched but hates getting his claws trimmed.
Rocky terrorizes the poodles next door yet adores the German shepherd across the street.
Rocky refuses to eat dry cat food, nor will he touch a saucer of squid eyeball stew.
I hate to waste a single drop of squid eyeball stew, for it is expensive and time-consuming to
make.
Even though I added cream to the squid eyeball stew, Rocky ignored his serving, so I got a spoon
and ate it myself.
Subordination, however, emphasizes the idea in the main clause more than the one in the
subordinate clause. Generally, the patterns look like these:
Read the pairs of sentences that follow. The first version coordinates the two ideas. The second
version subordinates one idea to emphasize the other.
To survive the fetal pig dissection, Rinalda agreed to make all of the incisions, and Frances
promised to remove and label the organs.
To survive the fetal pig dissection, Rinalda agreed to make all of the incisions if Frances would
promise to remove and label the organs.
Diana stared dreamily at the handsome Mr. McKenzie, but Olivia, who hated economics,
furiously jiggled her foot, impatient to escape the boring class.
While Diana was staring dreamily at the handsome Mr. McKenzie, Olivia furiously jiggled her
foot, impatient to escape the boring economics class that she hated.
At a red light, Maria jumped out of Gino's car and slammed the door, for she could not tolerate
one more minute of the heavy metal music that Gino insisted on blasting from the stereo.
At a red light, Maria jumped out of Gino's car and slammed the door because she could not
tolerate one more minute of the heavy metal music that Gino insisted on blasting from the stereo.
Making an A in Anatomy and Physiology has not helped Sima choose a career. She might decide
to make her parents happy and go to medical school, or she might use her knowledge of the
human body to become a sculptor.
Making an A in Anatomy and Physiology has not helped Sima choose a career. Although she
might decide to make her parents happy and go to medical school, she might also use her
knowledge of the human body to become a sculptor.
Kyle refused to eat the salad served with the meal, nor would he touch any green vegetable put
on his plate.
After Kyle refused the salad served with the meal, he then would not touch the green vegetables
put on his plate.
Joe spent seven hours studying calculus at the Mexican diner, so now he can set his math book
on fire with his salsa breath.
Since Joe spent seven hours studying calculus at the Mexican diner, he can now set his math
book on fire with his salsa breath.
Because she gets seasick, Danielle is dreading the spring break cruise, yet she might enjoy
herself once she realizes how many cute guys in skimpy bathing suits parade the decks.
Even though Danielle is dreading getting seasick on the spring break cruise, she will probably
enjoy herself once she realizes how many cute guys in skimpy bathing suits parade the decks.
When you connect two main clauses with a coordinating conjunction, use a comma. The pattern
looks like this:
While I am at work, my dog Floyd sleeps on the bed , and my cat Buster naps in the bathtub.
You can also use a coordinating conjunction to connect any two items. These items can be any
grammatical unit except main clauses. The pattern looks like this:
My dog Floyd has too many fleas and too much hair.
When you have three or more items in a series, you generally use a comma before the
coordinating conjunction. Some handbooks and style guides will tell you that this comma is
optional, but my advice is to put it in. The pattern looks like this:
Here is an example:
Swatting olives off the kitchen counter, dragging toilet paper streamers through the house, and
terrorizing Jacques Cousteau, the parakeet, have consumed another of Buster's days.
What you should remember is that you break no grammar rule if you begin a sentence with a
coordinating conjunction. Because you might be breaking your instructors' rules, however, you
should ask what their preferences are.
If you decide to begin a sentence with a coordinating conjunction, keep these three things in
mind:
While I was answering the telephone, Buster, my cat, jumped onto the kitchen counter and
swatted all of my jalapeño-stuffed olives onto the dirty kitchen floor. So I had to rinse off the cat
hair and crumbs sticking to these delicacies before I could add them to the salad.
Flying down the bumpy path, Genette hit a rock with the front wheel of her mountain bike, flew
over the handlebars, and crashed into a clump of prickly palmetto bushes. Yet even this accident
would not deter her from completing the race.
Only when an interrupter immediately follows the coordinating conjunction do you need to use
commas. Read this example:
We hoped that decorating the top of Christine's cupcake with a dead grasshopper would freak her
out. But, to our amazement, she just popped the whole thing in her mouth, chewed, and
swallowed.
In the fall, Phillip will either start classes at the community college as his mother wishes or join
the Navy, his father’s hope.
Neither the potted ivy on the counter nor the dirty dishes in the sink have enjoyed water on their
surfaces for the past week.
Professor Wilson not only requires a 3,000-word research essay but also assigns a 500-word
reaction paper every single week.
When you use correlative conjunctions, be careful about
verb agreement.
If you connect two subjects with a correlative conjunction, the second one must agree with the
verb that follows.
Every single evening either the horned owl or the squabbling cats wake Samantha with their
racket.
Every single evening either the squabbling cats or the horned owl wakes Samantha with its
racket.
Neither Yolanda nor the cousins expressed their disappointment when blind Aunt Sophie set
down the plate of burnt hamburgers.
Neither the cousins nor Yolanda expressed her disappointment when blind Aunt Sophie set down
the plate of burnt hamburgers.
Not only did Michael grill a steak for Tiffany, but he also prepared a hotdog for Rocket, her dog.
Michael grilled meat not only for Tiffany but also for Rocket, her dog.
Michael grilled meat for not only Tiffany but also Rocket, her dog.
The Count Noun
Recognize a count noun when you see one.
Nouns name people, places, and things. Many nouns have both singular and plural forms. If you
can add a number to the front of a noun and put an s at the end of it, you have a count noun.
Check out these examples:
Jeremy, an impolite pig, grabbed all seventeen cookies off of the plate.
Cookie is a count noun. You can have one cookie, or you can be a pig like Jeremy and have
seventeen cookies.
Jeremy apologized for his rudeness, but his growling stomach stopped him from returning any of
the cookies to the plate.
Rudeness is an example of a noncount noun. Jeremy does not have five rudenesses. Such a
statement would make absolutely no sense!
hurricane(s) weather
chair(s) furniture
smile(s) happiness
bagel(s) flour
book(s) information
assignment(s) homework
Horrified, Mom snatched the deviled eggs from Jack, whose fingers were covered in cat hair.
Notice that horrified precedes Mom, its target, just as deviled sits right before eggs. Whose
fingers were covered in cat hair follows Jack, its target.
Sometimes, however, an inexperienced writer will include a modifier but forget the target. The
modifier thus dangles because the missing target word leaves nothing for the modifier to
describe.
Dangling modifiers are errors. Their poor construction confuses readers. Look at the samples
below:
Hungry is a single-word adjective. Notice that there is no one in the sentence for this modifier to
describe.
Rummaging in her giant handbag is a participle phrase. In the current sentence, no word exists
for this phrase to modify. Neither sunglasses nor detection has fingers to make rummaging
possible!
With a sigh of disappointment, the expensive dress was returned to the rack.
With a sigh of disappointment is a string of prepositional phrases. If you look carefully, you do
not find anyone in the sentence capable of feeling disappointed. Neither dress nor rack has
emotions!
With a sigh of disappointment, Charlene returned the expensive dress to the rack.
Zippy and Maurice played soccer with a grapefruit pulled from a backyard tree.
Zippy, Maurice = subjects; played = verb. Zippy and Maurice played what? Soccer = direct
object.
Zippy = subject; kicked = verb. Zippy kicked who? Maurice = direct object.
Sometimes direct objects are single words like soccer and Maurice; other times they are phrases
or clauses. The formula nevertheless works the same.
Sylina = subject; hates = verb. Sylina hates what? Biting her fingernails [a gerund phrase] =
direct object.
Even worse, Sylina hates when Mom lectures her about hand care.
Sylina = subject; hates = verb. Sylina hates what? When Mom lectures her about hand care [a
subordinate clause] = direct object.
Direct objects can also follow verbals—infinitives, gerunds, and participles. Use this abbreviated
version of the formula:
To see magnified blood cells, Gus squinted into the microscope on the lab table.
Dragging her seventy-five pound German shepherd through the door is Roseanne's least favorite
part of going to the vet.
Dragging = gerund. Dragging what? Her seventy-five pound German shepherd = direct object.
Heaping his plate with fried chicken, Clyde winked at Delores, the cook.
The space alien from the planet Zortek accidentally locked his keys in his space ship.
Alien = subject; locked = action verb. The space alien locked what? His keys = direct object.
The space alien was happy to find a spare key taped under the wing.
Alien = subject; was = linking verb. The space alien was what? Happy = subject complement.
I me
we us
you you
he, she, it him, her, it
they them
who whom
After I give my dog Oreo a scoop of peanut butter, she always kisses me with her sticky tongue.
She = subject; kisses = verb. She kisses who? Me = direct object.
Because Jo had skipped Mr. Duncan's class five times in a row, she ducked out of sight
whenever she spotted him on campus.
She = subject; spotted = verb. She spotted who? Him = direct object.
Because David was always eating her food, Theresa sneaked corn chips and candy bars into her
room and hid them in the clothes hamper.
Theresa = subject; hid = verb. Theresa hid what? Them = direct object.
The man who ordered another double anchovy pizza claims to have a pet dolphin in his backyard
pool.
Which man among the billions of human males on the planet? The one who ordered the double
anchovy pizza!
Freddie hopes to return to the city where he met a woman with haunting green eyes.
Which of the many cities on the planet? The one where Freddie met a memorable woman!
The student who needs an A on the final exam is copying statistics formulae on her bare ankle.
Which of the many students in the class? The one who needs an A on the test!
Note that the exact same clauses above—in sentences with minor alterations—can become
nonessential. Read these versions:
Mr. Hall, who ordered another double anchovy pizza, claims to have a pet dolphin in his
backyard pool.
Freddie hopes to return to Cairo, where he met a woman with haunting green eyes.
Veronica, who needs an A on the final exam, is copying statistics formulae on her bare ankle.
In place of ambiguous nouns like man, city, and student, we now have Mr. Hall, Cairo, and
Veronica, specific proper nouns. The information in the relative clauses might be interesting, but
it's not necessary, for we already know which man, which city, and which student. Because these
clauses are now nonessential, they require commas to separate them from the rest of the
sentence.
A proper noun won't always signal that the relative clause is nonessential. In a passage of more
than one sentence, you will sometimes find such a well-defined common noun that the relative
clause is a mere accessory. Read this example:
As we sped through the neighborhood, we spotted crows eating French fries tossed on the road.
They did not fly to a tree as we expected. The birds, which never showed fear of the vehicle,
watched as we swerved around them.
The relative clause which never showed fear of the vehicle is nonessential since we know which
birds. Thus the clause requires commas.
The car that Madeline purchased from a newspaper ad belches black smoke whenever she
accelerates.
The rats are nesting in the closet where Grandma hides her money.
The waiter who served the salad did not notice the caterpillar nibbling a lettuce leaf.
When the clause becomes decorative rather than defining—or nonessential—you will then need
to separate it with commas:
The ancient Buick, which Madeline purchased from a newspaper ad, belches black smoke
whenever she accelerates.
The rats are nesting in the master bedroom closet, where Grandma hides her money.
Javier, who served the salad, did not notice the caterpillar nibbling a lettuce leaf.
Every sentence must have at least one main clause. A main clause contains an independent
subject and verb and expresses a complete thought. Once you have a main clause, you can then
add other grammatical elements, but you must have the main clause as the base of the sentence.
Because Julissa wore too much perfume, Victor sneezed repeatedly during the stressful
chemistry test.
Victor sneezed repeatedly, each time asking Janice for a new tissue to blow his nose.
To deal with the stress building up in his head, Victor sneezed repeatedly as he slogged through
the difficult chemistry test.
Slogging through the stressful chemistry test, Victor sneezed repeatedly while John chewed his
pencil and Julissa rubbed her lucky rabbit's foot.
Without the main clause Victor sneezed repeatedly, all of the sentences above would be
fragments.
You have a number of different options when fixing a fragment. Frequently, you can attach the
fragment either to the front or to the end of a nearby main clause. Another option is to add
whatever words will give the fragment its own mandatory main clause.
Below you will find examples of different fragments and the revisions that they require to
become complete sentences.
Subordinate Clause Fragments
A subordinate clause contains a subordinate conjunction, a subject, and a verb. Because this type
of clause does not express a complete thought, it cannot stand alone as a complete sentence.
Flooring the accelerator, Juan wove through the heavy traffic. As his ex-girlfriend Gigi chased
him down the interstate.
Flooring the accelerator, Juan weaved through the heavy traffic as his ex-girlfriend Gigi chased
him down the interstate.
As his ex-girlfriend Gigi chased him down the interstate, Juan floored the accelerator, weaving
through the heavy traffic.
Flooring the accelerator, Juan weaved through the heavy traffic. In hot pursuit was his ex-
girlfriend Gigi, who was chasing him down the interstate.
A participle phrase usually begins with an ing or ed word. In the case of irregular verbs, an
irregular past participle, like burnt or spoken, will begin the phrase.
Aunt Olivia always wears a motorcycle helmet. Worrying that a meteor or chunk of space debris
will conk her on the head.
Worrying that a meteor or chunk of space debris will conk her on the head, Aunt Olivia always
wears a motorcycle helmet.
Because she worries that a meteor or chunk of space debris will conk her on the head, Aunt
Olivia always wears a motorcycle helmet.
Aunt Olivia always wears a motorcycle helmet. She worries that a meteor or chunk of space
debris will conk her on the head.
Jiggling his foot nervously, Ronald sat in the provost's office. To explain why he had brought
Squeeze, his seven-foot pet python, to Mr. Parker's English class.
Jiggling his foot nervously, Ronald sat in the provost's office to explain why he had brought
Squeeze, his seven-foot pet python, to Mr. Parker's English class.
To explain why he had brought Squeeze, his seven-foot pet python, to Mr. Parker's English class,
Ronald sat in the provost's office, jiggling his foot nervously.
Jiggling his foot nervously, Ronald sat in the provost's office. He needed to explain why he had
brought Squeeze, his seven-foot pet python, to Mr. Parker's English class.
Afterthought Fragments
Afterthought fragments begin with the following transitions: especially, for example, for
instance, like, such as, including, and except.
These transitions frequently introduce good details that the writer is providing as an afterthought
for previous information.
Jacob has several ways to annoy his instructors. Such as rolling his eyes, smirking, reading
supermarket tabloids during lecture, folding handouts into paper airplanes, and drawing
caricatures on his desk.
Jacob has several ways to annoy his instructors, such as rolling his eyes, smirking, reading
supermarket tabloids during lecture, folding handouts into paper airplanes, and drawing
caricatures on his desk.
Rolling his eyes, smirking, reading supermarket tabloids during lecture, folding handouts into
paper airplanes, and drawing caricatures on his desk are the many ways Jacob annoys his
instructors.
Jacob has several ways to annoy his instructors. For example, he rolls his eyes, smirks, reads
supermarket tabloids during lecture, folds handouts into paper airplanes, and draws caricatures
on his desk.
Lonely Verb Fragments
Lonely verb fragments occur when you have a verb phrase without a subject. Typically, the
subject is understood, but because it does not occur within the word group, the necessary main
clause is missing.
After dinner, Mike and Pat leave their dirty dishes on the back patio. And let the raccoons,
opossums, and armadillos that visit the yard eat the leftovers.
After dinner, Mike and Pat leave their dirty dishes on the back patio and let the raccoons,
opossums, and armadillos that visit the yard eat the leftovers.
After dinner, Mike and Pat leave their dirty dishes on the back patio so that the raccoons,
opossums, and armadillos that visit the yard can eat the leftovers.
After dinner, Mike and Pat leave their dirty dishes on the back patio. They enjoy letting the
raccoons, opossums, and armadillos that visit the yard eat the leftovers.
Appositive Fragments
An appositive is a word or group of words that renames a noun right beside it. Because an
appositive does not contain a main clause, it cannot stand alone as a complete sentence.
When Dustin pulled into the driveway, Alicia admired his flashy new car. A red convertible with
fancy rims and fuzzy dice hanging from the rearview mirror.
When Dustin pulled into the driveway, Alicia admired his flashy new car, a red convertible with
fancy rims and fuzzy dice hanging from the rearview mirror.
Alicia admired Dustin's flashy new car, a red convertible Mustang with fancy rims and fuzzy
dice hanging from the rearview mirror, when it pulled into the driveway.
When Dustin pulled into the driveway, Alicia admired his flashy new car. Dustin recently bought
a red convertible with fancy rims and fuzzy dice hanging from the rearview mirror.
Because the milk carton was empty, Paul poured orange juice on his bowl of cereal. What a
dork!
Intentional fragments are not grammar errors. They can, however, get you into trouble if you are
a beginning writer. Your teachers might think that any fragment in your composition is evidence
that you do not understand the concept of a complete sentence. Before you include an intentional
fragment in a piece of writing, you should ask your teachers if they will mind.
Rather than starting with the first sentence and reading through the piece in a normal fashion,
begin with the last sentence and work your way back to the top. This way, the sentences won't
flow together. You will instead see each sentence as an individual unit. A word group that does
not express a complete thought will stand out so that you can catch it and fix the problem.
Look at this short paragraph which contains an afterthought fragment embedded in it:
David will eat anything on a dare. We have watched him consume many nauseating things. For
example, broccoli dipped in chocolate sauce, a raw fish head with the eyes intact, and a handful
of live earthworms. Sharon has to close her eyes, and I've had to fight the urge to gag.
If you read the paragraph backwards, starting with the last sentence first, the fragment announces
itself:
Sharon has to close her eyes, and I've had to fight the urge to gag. For example, broccoli dipped
in chocolate sauce, a raw fish head with the eyes intact, and a handful of live earthworms. We
have watched him consume many nauseating things. David will eat anything on a dare.
If you try this proofreading strategy, do not use it exclusively. To find other problems, you will
still need to read your composition in the normal way as well.
Here is an example:
Driving home from school, Brett vowed to protect the fragile ecosystem all the while the tires of
his Cadillac Escalade flattened the toads hopping on the wet streets.
The first main clause is Brett vowed to protect the fragile ecosystem, and the second is the tires
of his Cadillac Escalade flattened the toads hopping on the wet streets. Notice that the two
clauses run together with no punctuation.
First, you can break the error into two separate sentences, like this:
Driving home from school, Brett vowed to protect the fragile ecosystem. All the while, the tires
of his Cadillac Escalade flattened the toads hopping on the wet streets.
Another good option is to connect the two main clauses with a comma and a coordinating
conjunction:
Driving home from school, Brett vowed to protect the fragile ecosystem, yet all the while, the
tires of his Cadillac Escalade flattened the toads hopping on the wet streets.
Semicolon
Driving home from school, Brett vowed to protect the fragile ecosystem; all the while, the tires
of his Cadillac Escalade flattened the toads hopping on the wet streets.
Subordination
Your last option is to use a subordinate conjunction. This method reduces one of the two clauses
to an incomplete thought:
Driving home from school, Brett vowed to protect the fragile ecosystem as the tires of his
Cadillac Escalade flattened the toads hopping on the wet streets.
The Gerund
Recognize a gerund when you see one.
Every gerund, without exception, ends in ing. Gerunds are not, however, all that easy to identify.
The problem is that all present participles also end in ing. What is the difference?
Gerunds function as nouns. Thus, gerunds will be subjects, subject complements, direct objects,
indirect objects, and objects of prepositions.
Present participles, on the other hand, complete progressive verbs or act as modifiers.
Since Francisco was five years old, swimming has been his passion.
Francisco enjoys swimming more than spending time with his girlfriend Diana.
When Francisco wore dive fins to class, everyone knew that he was devoted to swimming.
One day last summer, Francisco and his coach were swimming at Daytona Beach.
Swimming = present participle completing the past progressive verb were swimming.
Eating ice cream on a windy day can be a messy experience if you have long, untamed hair.
Eating ice cream on a windy day = subject of the verb can be.
A more disastrous activity for long-haired people is blowing giant bubble gum bubbles with the
car windows down.
Blowing giant bubble gum bubbles with the car windows down = subject complement of the
verb is.
Wild food adventures require getting your hair cut to a short, safe length.
Getting your hair cut to a short, safe length = direct object of the verb require.
Jamming too much clothing into a washing machine will result in disaster.
Jamming too much clothing into a washing machine = gerund phrase, the subject of the verb will
result.
Jamming too much clothing into the washing machine, Aamir saved $1.25 but had to tolerate the
curious stares of other laundry patrons as his machine bucked and rumbled with the heavy load.
Jamming too much clothing into the washing machine = present participle phrase describing
Aamir.
Buttering toast with a fork, Bernard vowed that he would finally wash the week's worth of dirty
dishes piled in the sink.
Hogging the middle of the bed = gerund phrase, the subject complement of the linking verb is.
Last night I had to sleep on the couch because I found my dog Floyd hogging the middle of the
bed.
Hogging the middle of the bed = present participle phrase describing Floyd.
Direct objects follow transitive verbs [a type of action verb]. If you can identify the subject and
verb in a sentence, then finding the direct object—if one exists—is easy. Just remember this
simple formula:
Jim = subject; built = verb. Jim built what? Sandcastle = direct object.
Sammy, Maria = subjects; brought = verb. Sammy and Maria brought who? Billie Lou = direct
object.
Jim = subject; built = verb. Jim built what? Sandcastle = direct object. Who got the sandcastle?
Granddaughter = indirect object.
So that Darren would have company at the party, Sammy and Maria brought him a blind date.
Sammy, Maria = subjects; brought = verb. Sammy and Maria brought who? Blind date = direct
object. Who got the blind date? Him = indirect object.
We = subject; told = verb. We told what? Lie = direct object. Who got the lie? Mom = indirect
object.
Sometimes, the indirect object will occur in a prepositional phrase beginning with to or for. Read
these two sentences:
Tomas paid the mechanic 200 dollars to fix the squeaky brakes.
Tomas paid 200 dollars to the mechanic to fix the squeaky brakes.
In both versions, the mechanic [the indirect object] gets the 200 dollars [the direct object].
When the direct object is a pronoun rather than a noun, putting the indirect object in a
prepositional phrase becomes a necessary modification. The preposition smoothes out the
sentence so that it sounds natural. Check out these examples:
Leslie didn't have any money for a sandwich, so Smitty purchased her it.
Blech! That version sounds awful! But now try the sentence with the indirect object after a
preposition:
Leslie didn't have any money for a sandwich, so Smitty purchased it for her.
Locating the indirect object her in a prepositional phrase lets the sentence sound natural! Now
read this example:
Ewww! This version sounds awful too! But with a quick fix, we can solve the problem:
The Infinitive
Recognize an infinitive when you see one.
To sneeze, to smash, to cry, to shriek, to jump, to dunk, to read, to eat, to slurp—all of these are
infinitives. An infinitive will almost always begin with to followed by the simple form of the
verb, like this:
To + Verb = Infinitive
Important Note: Because an infinitive is not a verb, you cannot add s, es, ed, or ing to the end.
Ever!
To sleep is the only thing Eli wants after his double shift waiting tables at the neighborhood café.
No matter how fascinating the biology dissection is, Emanuel turns his head and refuses to look.
To look functions as a noun because it is the direct object for the verb refuses.
Wherever Melissa goes, she always brings a book to read in case conversation lags or she has a
long wait.
Richard braved the icy rain to throw the smelly squid eyeball stew into the apartment dumpster.
To throw functions as an adverb because it explains why Richard braved the inclement weather.
As soon as Theodore felt the rain splatter on his hot, dusty skin, he knew that he had a good
excuse to return the lawn mower to the garage.
Felt = special verb; rain = direct object; splatter = infinitive minus the to.
When Danny heard the alarm clock buzz, he slapped the snooze button and burrowed under the
covers for ten more minutes of sleep.
Heard = special verb; alarm clock = direct object; buzz = infinitive minus the to.
Although Dr. Ribley spent an extra class period helping us understand logarithms, we still
bombed the test.
Helping = special verb; us = direct object; understand = infinitive minus the to.
Because Freddie had never touched a snake, I removed the cover of the cage and let him pet
Squeeze, my seven-foot python.
Let = special verb; him = direct object; pet = infinitive minus the to.
Since Jose had destroyed Sylvia's spotless kitchen while baking chocolate-broccoli muffins, she
made him take her out for an expensive dinner.
Made = special verb; him = direct object; take = infinitive minus the to.
I said a prayer when I saw my friends mount the Kumba, a frightening roller coaster that twists
and rolls like a giant sea serpent.
Saw = special verb; my friends = direct object; mount = infinitive minus the to.
Hoping to lose her fear of flying, Rachel went to the airport to watch passenger planes take off
and land, but even this exercise did not convince her that jets were safe.
Watch = special verb; passenger planes = direct object; take, land = infinitives minus the to.
Sara hopes to quickly finish her chemistry homework so that she can return to the more
Wrong:
interesting Stephen King novel she had to abandon.
Sara hopes to finish her chemistry homework quickly so that she can return to the more
Right:
interesting Stephen King novel she had to abandon.
Some English teachers believe that thou shall not split infinitives was written on the stone tablets
that Moses carried down from the mountain. Breaking the rule, in their eyes, is equivalent to
killing, stealing, coveting another man's wife, or dishonoring one's parents. If you have this type
of English teacher, then don't split infinitives!
Other folks, however, consider the split infinitive a construction, not an error. They believe that
split infinitives are perfectly appropriate, especially in informal writing.
In fact, an infinitive will occasionally require splitting, sometimes for meaning and sometimes
for sentence cadence. One of the most celebrated split infinitives begins every episode of Star
Trek: "To boldly go where no one has gone before ...." Boldly to go? To go boldly? Neither
option is as effective as the original!
When you are making the decision to split or not to split, consider your audience. If the piece of
writing is very formal and you can maneuver the words to avoid splitting the infinitive, then do
so. If you like the infinitive split and know that its presence will not hurt the effectiveness of
your writing, leave it alone.
To smash a spider
To lick the grease from his shiny fingers despite the disapproving glances of his girlfriend Gloria
Infinitive phrases can function as nouns, adjectives, or adverbs. Look at these examples:
To finish her shift without spilling another pizza into a customer's lap is Michelle's only goal
tonight.
To finish her shift without spilling another pizza into a customer's lap functions as a noun
because it is the subject of the sentence.
Lakesha hopes to win the approval of her mother by switching her major from fine arts to pre-
med.
To win the approval of her mother functions as a noun because it is the direct object for the verb
hopes.
The best way to survive Dr. Peterson's boring history lectures is a sharp pencil to stab in your
thigh if you catch yourself drifting off.
To survive Dr. Peterson's boring history lectures functions as an adjective because it modifies
way.
Kelvin, an aspiring comic book artist, is taking Anatomy and Physiology this semester to
understand the interplay of muscle and bone in the human body.
To understand the interplay of muscle and bone in the human body functions as an adverb
because it explains why Kelvin is taking the class.
To avoid burning another bag of popcorn, Brendan pressed his nose against the microwave door,
sniffing suspiciously.
When an infinitive phrase breaks the flow of a main clause, use a comma both before and after
the interrupter. The pattern looks like this:
Here is an example:
Those basketball shoes, to be perfectly honest, do not complement the suit you are planning to
wear to the interview.
When an infinitive phrase concludes a main clause, you need no punctuation to connect the two
sentence parts. The pattern looks like this:
The Interjection
Recognize an interjection when you see one.
To capture short bursts of emotion, you can use an interjection, which is a single word, phrase, or
short clause that communicates the facial expression and body language that the sentence itself
will sometimes neglect.
Interjections are thus like emoticons. One writer might write the sentence like this:
Or like this:
But another writer might use an interjection to express that same burst of happiness:
The interjection yum lets us see the emotional response to the information in the sentence. If the
writer was really hoping for spicy ground beef in the burrito, notice how a different interjection
communicates the disappointment:
Interjections are common in spoken English, so they are appropriate if you are capturing
dialogue in your writing. Read this example:
My colleague in the physics lab shouted, "Hooray! They made the right decision!" when she
learned that the International Astronomical Union (IAU) demoted Pluto to dwarf planet.
Interjections are also appropriate in informal communication, like texts or emails to friends:
Oh, snap! The IAU has added gravitational dominance as a requirement for planethood.
Good writers know that careful word choice can capture the same emotion and body language
that the interjection communicates. In the sentence below, we recognize the writer’s unhappiness
even though we find no interjection:
Worse than the refried beans was the disappointment that spread over my tongue as I bit into the
vegan burrito.
Interjections
However, any word, phrase, or short clause that captures an emotional burst can function as an
interjection. So if you write, Emily has switched her major to chemistry, you could use an
adjective, for example, as an interjection:
Notice that the sentence itself, Emily has switched her major to chemistry, doesn't provide an
emotional reaction to the information. The interjection does that job. And remember, not
everyone might be congratulatory and happy:
Strong emotions, such as anger, excitement, or surprise, need an exclamation point [!] to
communicate the intensity.
Ugh! I cannot believe we are eating leftover vegan burritos for a third night.
Huh? You want me—the person with a D average—to help with your calculus homework?
A comma [,] or period [.] will indicate weaker emotions, like indifference, doubt, or disdain.
These two marks of punctuation dial down the volume on the sentence.
Here comes Prof. Phillips. Uh-oh, did he catch sight of your cheat sheet?
It looks like George is skipping class even though our group presentation is due today. Typical.
The Interrupter
Recognize an interrupter when you see one.
An interrupter is a word, phrase, or clause that significantly breaks the flow of a sentence. Read
the examples that follow:
Please take those smelly socks to the garage, Kris, and put them in the washing machine.
My essay, to be perfectly honest, flew out of the bus window while I was riding to school.
What you just ate, if you must know, was squid eyeball stew.
The First Part of the Sentence + , + Interrupter + , + The Rest of the Sentence.
Jerome's calculus teacher is usually a real slave driver. Tonight, surprisingly, Jerome has only
fifty problems to solve as homework.
My cat Fuzz loves to curl up on my lap and sleep. Buster, on the other hand, prefers to use my
thigh as a scratching post.
The bathroom tiles, whenever time permits, require a good scrubbing, for the grout is black with
mold.
If you want to emphasize the break more strongly, use dashes to separate the interrupter from the
rest of the sentence. The pattern looks like this:
The First Part of the Sentence + — + Interrupter + — + The Rest of the Sentence.
My brother's seven-foot python—aptly named Squeeze—slithered out the open back door and
frightened Mrs. Russell, our next-door neighbor, nearly to death.
That nuclear orange jacket—believe me—fails to complement your lime green pants.
Huffing and puffing, we arrived at the classroom door with only seven seconds to spare.
James went to the campus cafe for a steaming bowl of squid eyeball stew.
To escape the midday sun, the cats lie in the shade under our cars.
In the evenings, Glenda sits on the front porch to admire her immaculate lawn.
Flipped on its back, the beetle that Clara soaked with insecticide dies under the refrigerator.
Other action verbs, however, can be transitive or intransitive, depending on what follows in the
sentence. Compare these examples:
Because of blood sugar problems, Rosa always eats before leaving for school.
During cross-country practice, Damien runs over hills, through fields, across the river, and along
the highway.
Keila is a shopaholic.
Ising isn't something that Keila can do. Is connects the subject, Keila, to additional information
about her, that she will soon have a huge credit card bill to pay.
Areing isn't something that cats can do. Are is connecting the subject, cats, to something said
about them, that they enjoy sleeping on the furniture.
Turned connects the subject, Vladimir, to something said about him, that he needed an antacid.
Seems connects the subject, a ten-item quiz, with something said about it, that its difficulty
depends on preparation, not length.
Irene always feels sleepy after pigging out on pizza from Antonio's.
The following verbs are true linking verbs: any form of the verb be [am, is, are, was, were, has
been, are being, might have been, etc.], become, and seem. These true linking verbs are always
linking verbs.
Then you have a list of verbs with multiple personalities: appear, feel, grow, look, prove, remain,
smell, sound, taste, and turn. Sometimes these verbs are linking verbs; sometimes they are action
verbs.
How do you tell when they are action verbs and when they are linking verbs?
If you can substitute am, is, or are and the sentence still sounds logical, you have a linking verb
on your hands.
If, after the substitution, the sentence makes no sense, you are dealing with an action verb
instead. Here are some examples:
Sylvia is the stew? I don't think so! Tasted, therefore, is an action verb in this sentence,
something Sylvia is doing.
I smell the delicious aroma of a mushroom and papaya pizza baking in the oven.
I am the aroma? No way! Smell, in this sentence, is an action verb, something I am doing.
When my dog Oreo felt the wet grass beneath her paws, she bolted up the stairs and curled up on
the couch.
Oreo is the wet grass? Of course not! Here, then, felt is an action verb, something Oreo is doing.
This substitution will not work for appear. With appear, you have to analyze the function of the
verb.
Swooping out of the clear blue sky, the blue jay appeared on the branch.
The Modifier
Recognize a modifier when you see one.
Modifiers are words, phrases, or clauses that provide description in sentences. Modifiers allow
writers to take the picture that they have in their heads and transfer it accurately to the heads of
their readers. Essentially, modifiers breathe life into sentences. Take a look at this "dead"
sentence:
Poor Stephen, who just wanted a quick meal to get through his three-hour biology lab, quickly
dropped his fork on the cafeteria tray, gagging with disgust as a tarantula wiggled out of his
cheese omelet, a sight requiring a year of therapy before Stephen could eat eggs again.
Modifiers can be adjectives, adjective clauses, adverbs, adverb clauses, absolute phrases,
infinitive phrases, participle phrases, and prepositional phrases. The sentence above contains at
least one example of each:
Adjective = poor.
Adverb = quickly.
Absolute phrase = a sight requiring a year of therapy before Stephen could eat eggs again.
Without modifiers, sentences would be no fun to read. Carefully chosen, well-placed modifiers
allow you to depict situations with as much accuracy as words will allow.
After two months of rainstorms, Fred carries his umbrella everywhere in anticipation of more
bad weather.
Because Big Toe Joe has ripped all four chairs with his claws, Diane wants to buy new furniture
and find the cat another home.
When Mrs. Russell postponed the date of the research paper, smiles lit up the faces of her
students, filling the room with happiness.
Because the beautiful Josephine will help Pablo with his calculus assignments, he never minds
the homework from Dr. Ribley's class.
Category Examples
Food beef, bread, butter, fish, macaroni, meat, popcorn, pork, poultry, toast, etc.
air, exhaust, helium, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, pollution, smog, smoke, steam,
Gases
etc.
Groups of Similar baggage, clothing, furniture, hardware, luggage, equipment, mail, money,
Items software, vocabulary, etc.
Liquids blood, coffee, gasoline, milk, oil, soup, syrup, tea, water, wine, etc.
Materials aluminum, asphalt, chalk, cloth, concrete, cotton, glue, lumber, wood, wool, etc.
Particles or Grains corn, dirt, dust, flour, hair, pepper, rice, salt, sugar, wheat, etc.
When you want to indicate number with a noncount word, you have two options. First, you can
put of in front of the noncount word—for example, of thunder—and then attach the resulting
prepositional phrase to an appropriate count word.
A second option is to make the noncount noun an adjective that you place before a count noun.
Then you could write a sentence like this:
Time is a good example. When you use this word to mean the unceasing flow of experience that
includes past, present, and future, with no distinct beginning or end, then time is a noncount
noun. Read this example:
Time dragged as Simon sat through yet another boring chick flick with his girlfriend Roseanne.
Time = noncount because it has no specific beginning and, for poor Simon, no foreseeable end.
When time refers to a specific experience which starts at a certain moment and ends after a
number of countable units [minutes, hours, days, etc.], then the noun is count. Here is an
example:
On his last to Disney World, Joe rode Space Mountain twenty-seven times.
Times = count because a ride on Space Mountain is a measurable unit of experience, one that
you can clock with a stopwatch.
You can find the noun dog in a sentence, for example, but you don't know which canine the
writer means until you consider the entire noun phrase: that dog, Aunt Audrey's dog, the dog on
the sofa, the neighbor's dog that chases our cat, the dog digging in the new flower bed.
Modifiers can come before or after the noun. Ones that come before might include articles,
possessive nouns, possessive pronouns, adjectives, and/or participles.
Participles: the drooling dog, the barking dog, the well trained dog
Modifiers that come after the noun might include prepositional phrases, adjective clauses,
participle phrases, and/or infinitives.
Prepositional phrases: a dog on the loose, the dog in the front seat, the dog behind the fence
Adjective clauses: the dog that chases cats, the dog that looks lost, the dog that won the
championship
Participle phrases: the dog whining for a treat, the dog clipped at the grooming salon, the dog
walked daily
Infinitives: the dog to catch, the dog to train, the dog to adopt
Less frequently, a noun phrase will have a pronoun as its base—a word like we, everybody,
etc.—and the modifiers which distinguish it. Read these examples:
Someone intelligent
No one important
Parallel Structure
Recognize parallel structure when you see it.
Whenever you include a list of actions or items, you must use equal grammatical units. If the
first item is a noun, then the following items must also be nouns; if the first action is a simple
past tense verb, then make the other items simple past tense verbs as well.
Students capped their pens, were closing their notebooks, and zipped their book bags as they
tried to alert Professor Jones, rambling at the lectern, that the end of class had arrived.
Capped and zipped are both simple past tense verbs, but were closing is past progressive,
wrecking the parallelism.
Students , , and .
Students , , and .
To establish parallelism, you can use all simple past tense verbs:
Students capped their pens, closed their notebooks, and zipped their book bags as they tried to
alert Professor Jones, rambling at the lectern, that the end of class had arrived.
Or you can revise the sentence so that all of the items in the list are nouns:
Students gathered their pens, notebooks, and book bags as they tried to alert Professor Jones,
rambling at the lectern, that the end of class had arrived.
Not only did Professor Jones give the class a withering look, but he also assigned 20 extra pages
of homework as punishment for their impatience to leave.
Professor Jones not only gave the class a withering look but also assigned them 20 extra pages of
homework as punishment for their impatience to leave.
Or you can have two nouns as this version does:
Professor Jones gave the class not only a withering look but also 20 extra pages of homework as
punishment for their impatience to leave.
The Participle
Recognize a participle when you see one.
Participles come in two varieties: past and present. They are two of the five forms or principal
parts that every verb has. Look at the charts below.
Regular Verbs:
Verb Simple Present Simple Past Past Participle Present Participle Infinitive
Irregular Verbs:
Verb Simple Present Simple Past Past Participle Present Participle Infinitive
Notice that each present participle ends in ing. This is the case 100 percent of the time.
On the other hand, you can see that past participles do not have a consistent ending. The past
participles of all regular verbs end in ed; the past participles of irregular verbs, however, vary
considerably. If you look at bring and sing, for example, you'll see that their past participles—
brought and sung—do not follow the same pattern even though both verbs have ing as the last
three letters.
Consult a dictionary whenever you are unsure of a verb's past participle form.
A verb can have as many as four parts. When you form multipart verbs, you use a combination
of auxiliary verbs and participles. Look at the examples below:
With a broom, Mrs. Olsen was beating our alligator over the head in an attempt to retrieve her
poodle.
Our pet alligator has been stalking neighborhood pets because my brother Billy forgets to feed
the poor reptile.
Our pet alligator should have been eating Gator Chow, crunchy nuggets that Billy leaves for him
in a bowl.
Should, have = auxiliary verbs; been = past participle; eating = present participle.
Participles as Adjectives
Past and present participles often function as adjectives that describe nouns. Here are some
examples:
The crying baby drew a long breath and sucked in a spider crouching in the corner of the crib.
Which baby? The crying baby. Which spider? The one that was crouching in the corner.
The mangled pair of sunglasses, bruised face, broken arm, and bleeding knees meant Genette had
taken another spill on her mountain bike.
Which pair of sunglasses? The mangled pair. Which face? The bruised one. Which arm? The
broken one. Which knees? The bleeding ones.
Participles as Nouns
Present participles can function as nouns—the subjects, direct objects, indirect objects, objects of
prepositions, and subject complements in sentences. Whenever a present participle functions as a
noun, you call it a gerund.
Sneezing exhausts Steve, who requires eight tissues and twenty-seven Gesundheits before he is
done.
Valerie hates cooking because scraping burnt gook out of pans always undermines her
enjoyment of the food.
Joelle bit her tongue instead of criticizing her prom date's powder blue tuxedo.
Omar's least favorite sport is water-skiing because a bad spill once caused him to lose his swim
trunks.
Since all phrases require two or more words, a participle phrase will often include objects and/or
modifiers that complete the thought. Here are some examples:
Participle phrases always function as adjectives, adding description to the sentence. Read these
examples:
The horse trotting up to the fence hopes that you have an apple or carrot.
The water drained slowly in the pipe clogged with dog hair.
Eaten by mosquitoes, we wished that we had made hotel, not campsite, reservations.
Walking on the beach, Delores dodged jellyfish that had washed ashore.
Walking on the beach = present participle phrase describing the noun Delores.
Walking on the beach = gerund phrase, the subject of the verb is.
Waking to the buzz of the alarm clock, Freddie cursed the arrival of another Monday.
Waking to the buzz of the alarm clock = present participle phrase describing the noun Freddie.
Waking to the buzz of the alarm clock = gerund phrase, the direct object of the verb hates.
After a long day at school and work, LaShae found her roommate Ben eating the last of the
leftover pizza.
Eating the last of the leftover pizza = present participle phrase describing the noun Ben.
Ben's rudest habit is eating the last of the leftover pizza.
Eating the last of the leftover pizza = gerund phrase, the subject complement of the linking verb
is.
Glazed with barbecue sauce, the rack of ribs lay nestled next to a pile of sweet coleslaw.
When a participle phrase concludes a main clause and is describing the word right in front of it,
you need no punctuation to connect the two sentence parts. The pattern looks like this:
Mariah risked petting the pit bull wagging its stub tail.
But when a participle phrase concludes a main clause and modifies a word farther up in the
sentence, you will need a comma. The pattern looks like this:
Cooper enjoyed dinner at Audrey's house, agreeing to a large slice of cherry pie even though he
was full to the point of bursting.
If too much distance separates a modifier and its target, the modifier is misplaced.
Draped neatly on a hanger, William borrowed Grandpa's old suit to wear to the interview.
The suit, not William, is on the hanger! The modifier must come closer to the word it is meant to
describe:
For the interview, William borrowed Grandpa's old suit, which was draped neatly on a hanger.
Straightening his tie and smoothing his hair, the appointment time for the interview had finally
arrived.
We assume William is about to interview, but where is he in the sentence? We need a target for
the participle phrase straightening his tie and smoothing his hair.
Straightening his tie and smoothing his hair, William was relieved that the appointment time for
the interview had finally arrived.
The Phrase
Recognize a phrase when you see one.
A phrase is two or more words that do not contain the subject-verb pair necessary to form a
clause. Phrases can be very short or quite long. Here are two examples:
After lunch
After slithering down the stairs and across the road to scare nearly to death Mrs. Philpot busy
pruning her rose bushes
Certain phrases have specific names based on the type of word that begins or governs the word
group: noun phrase, verb phrase, prepositional phrase, infinitive phrase, participle phrase, gerund
phrase, and absolute phrase.
Noun Phrases
A noun phrase includes a noun—a person, place, or thing—and the modifiers—either before or
after—which distinguish it. The pattern looks like this:
The shoplifted pair of jeans caused Nathaniel so much guilt that he couldn't wear them.
With her love of Shakespeare and knowledge of grammar, Jasmine will someday be a great
English teacher.
Verb Phrases
Sometimes a sentence can communicate its meaning with a one-word verb. Other times,
however, a sentence will use a verb phrase, a multi-word verb, to express more nuanced action or
condition. A verb phrase can have up to four parts. The pattern looks like this:
Had cleaned
Must wash
Mom had just cleaned the refrigerator shelves when Lawrence knocked over the pitcher of
orange juice.
Sarah should have been writing her research essay, but she couldn't resist another short chapter
in her Stephen King novel.
If guests are coming for dinner, we must wash our smelly dog!
Prepositional Phrases
At the minimum, a prepositional phrase will begin with a preposition and end with a noun,
pronoun, gerund, or clause, the "object" of the preposition.
The object of the preposition will often have one or more modifiers to describe it. These are the
patterns for a prepositional phrase:
On time
The spider above the kitchen sink has just caught a fat fly.
The librarian at the check-out desk smiles whenever she collects a late fee.
As an adverb, a prepositional phrase will answer questions such as How? When? or Where?
Amber finally found the umbrella wedged under the passenger's front seat.
Where did Amber locate the umbrella? Under the passenger's front seat!
Infinitive Phrases
An infinitive phrase will begin with an infinitive [to + simple form of the verb]. It will often
include objects and/or modifiers that complete the thought. The pattern looks like this:
To slurp spaghetti
To gulp the glass of water with such thirst that streams of liquid ran down his chin and wet the
front of his already sweat-soaked shirt
Infinitive phrases can function as nouns, adjectives, or adverbs. Look at these examples:
To avoid another lecture from Michelle on the benefits of vegetarianism was Aaron's hope for
their date at a nice restaurant.
To avoid another lecture from Michelle on the benefits of vegetarianism functions as a noun
because it is the subject of the sentence.
Cheryl plans to take microbiology next semester when Professor Crum, a pushover, is teaching
the course.
To take microbiology next semester functions as a noun because it is the direct object for the
verb plans.
The worst thing to happen during the severe thunderstorm was a lightning strike that fried Clara's
computer.
To happen during the severe thunderstorm functions as an adjective because it modifies thing.
Ryan decided to mow the long grass on the front lawn to keep his neighbors from complaining to
the homeowners association.
To keep his neighbors from complaining to the homeowners association functions as an adverb
because it explains why Ryan mowed the lawn.
Participle Phrases
A participle phrase will begin with a present or past participle. If the participle is present, it will
dependably end in ing. Likewise, a regular past participle will end in a consistent ed. Irregular
past participles, unfortunately, conclude in all kinds of ways [although this list will help].
Since all phrases require two or more words, a participle phrase will often include objects and/or
modifiers that complete the thought. The pattern looks like this:
Participle phrases always function as adjectives, adding description to the sentence. Read these
examples:
The stock clerk lining up cartons of orange juice made sure the expiration date faced the back of
the cooler.
Gerund Phrases
A gerund phrase will begin with a gerund, an ing word, and will often include other modifiers
and/or objects. The pattern looks like this:
Gerund phrases look exactly like present participle phrases. How do you tell the difference? You
must determine the function of the phrase.
Gerund phrases always function as nouns, so they will be subjects, subject complements, or
objects in the sentence. Read these examples:
Washing our dog Gizmo requires strong arms to keep the squirming, unhappy puppy in the tub.
A good strategy for avoiding dirty dishes is eating every meal off of paper towels.
Eating every meal off of paper towels = subject complement of the verb is.
Susie tried holding the slippery trout, but the fish flipped out of her hands and splashed back into
the stream.
Absolute Phrases
An absolute phrase combines a noun and a participle with any accompanying modifiers or
objects. The pattern looks like this:
Fingers = noun; flying = participle; her, over the piano keys = modifiers.
Eyes = noun; following = participle; arc = direct object; our, the, of the ball = modifiers.
Rather than modifying a specific word, an absolute phrase will describe the whole clause:
His brow knitted in frustration, Thomas tried again to iron a perfect crease in his dress pants.
Francine played the difficult concerto, her fingers flying over the piano keys.
We watched Leo launch a pass to his fullback, our eyes following the arc of the ball.
The Preposition
Recognize a preposition when you see one.
Prepositions are the words that indicate location. Usually, prepositions show this location in the
physical world. Check out the three examples below:
The puppy is on the floor. The puppy is beside the phone.
On, in, and beside are all prepositions. They are showing where the puppy is. Prepositions can
also show location in time. Read the next three examples:
In the spring, I always vow to plant tomatoes but end up buying them at the supermarket.
During the marathon, Iggy's legs complained with sharp pains shooting up his thighs.
At midnight, in the spring, and during the marathon all show location in time.
Because there are so many possible locations, there are quite a few prepositions. Below is the
complete list.
Prepositions
* But is very seldom a preposition. When it is used as a preposition, but means the same as
except—Everyone ate frog legs but Jamie. But usually functions as a coordinating conjunction.
At school
According to us
By chewing
If you find a noun [with or without modifiers] following one of these five prepositions, then all
you have is a prepositional phrase. Look at these examples:
As a good parent
Before dinner
Until midnight
The object of the preposition will often have one or more modifiers to describe it. These are the
patterns for a prepositional phrase:
At home
In time
From Richie
With me
By singing
From my grandmother
The sweet potatoes in the vegetable bin are green with mold.
The note from Beverly confessed that she had eaten the leftover pizza.
As an adverb, a prepositional phrase will answer questions such as How? When? or Where?
Freddy is stiff from yesterday's long football practice.
How did Freddy get stiff? From yesterday's long football practice!
Feeling brave, we tried the Dragon Breath Burritos at Tito's Taco Palace.
Neither of these cookbooks contains the recipe for Manhattan-style squid eyeball stew.
Cookbooks do indeed contain recipes. In this sentence, however, cookbooks is part of the
prepositional phrase of these cookbooks. Neither—whatever a neither is—is the subject for the
verb contains.
Neither is singular, so you need the singular form of the verb, contains. If you incorrectly
identified cookbooks as the subject, you might write contain, the plural form, and thus commit a
subject-verb agreement error.
Some prepositions—such as along with and in addition to—indicate "more to come." They will
make you think that you have a plural subject when in fact you don't. Don't fall for that trick
either! Read this example:
Tommy, along with the other students, breathed a sigh of relief when Mrs. Markham announced
that she was postponing the due date for the research essay.
Logically, more than one student is happy with the news. But Tommy is the only subject of the
verb breathed. His classmates count in the real world, but in the sentence, they don't matter,
locked as they are in the prepositional phrase.
The Semicolon
Recognize a semicolon when you see one.
The semicolon [ ; ] is a powerful mark of punctuation with three uses.
The first appropriate use of the semicolon is to connect two related sentences. The pattern looks
like this:
Here is an example:
Grandma still rides her Harley motorcycle; her toy poodle balances in a basket between the
handlebars.
A semicolon can also team up with a transition—often a conjunctive adverb—to connect two
sentences close in meaning. The pattern looks like this:
My father does not approve of his mother cruising around town on a Harley motorcycle;
however, Grandma has never cared what anyone thinks.
Finally, use the semicolon to avoid confusion when you have complicated lists of items. The
pattern looks like this:
Information
On a Harley motorcycle, my grandmother and her poodle have traveled to Anchorage, Alaska;
San Francisco, California; and Tijuana, Mexico.
The two main clauses that the semicolon joins should be closely related in meaning.
Don't capitalize the word that follows the semicolon unless that word is a proper noun, one that
is always capitalized.
Limit your use of semicolons; you should not scatter them wantonly throughout your writing.
Semicolons are like glasses of champagne; save them for special occasions.
The Subject
Recognize a subject of a sentence when you see one.
In a sentence, every verb must have a subject. If the verb expresses action—like sneeze, jump,
bark, or study—the subject is who or what does the verb. Take a look at this example:
Danced is an action verb. Tommy is who did the dancing. Look at the next example:
Crashed is the action verb. The hotrod is what did the crashing.
Not all verbs are action verbs. Some verbs are linking: am, is, are, was, were, seem, and become,
among others. Linking verbs connect the subject to something that is said about the subject. Take
a look at this example:
Bathroom is the subject. Is connects the subject to something that is said about it, that the
bathroom is a disaster. Here is another example:
The word tiles is the subject. Are connects tiles to something said about them, that they are fuzzy
with mold.
Generally, but not always, the subject of a linking verb will come before the linking verb.
The big, hungry, green Martian grabbed a student from the back row.
Who did the grabbing? The Martian, of course. But this Martian wasn't petite, satisfied, and blue.
No, this one was big, hungry, and green. The complete subject, then, is the huge, hairy, hungry,
green Martian.
The simple subject, on the other hand, is the who or what that is doing the verb without any
description. Take a look at this example:
at home
between us
without crying
Sometimes a prepositional phrase appears to be either the subject itself or part of the subject.
Read the example that follows:
In this sentence, the boys seem to be the ones who do not want the pizza, but because they are
part of a prepositional phrase, of these boys, they are not the subject. Neither is the actual
subject. Take a look at another example:
My dog, along with her seven puppies, has chewed all of the stuffing out of the sofa cushions.
Here, both my dog and her seven puppies are chewing on the sofa, but because the puppies are
part of the prepositional phrase along with her seven puppies, the only word that counts as the
subject is dog.
In a small house adjacent to our backyard lives a family with ten noisy children.
Lives is the action verb in this sentence, but it is not the house or the backyard that is doing the
living. Instead, it is the family with ten noisy children. Family, then, is the subject of this
sentence, even though it comes after the verb. Take a look at another example:
Are is the linking verb in this sentence. The word trees, however, is not the subject because trees
is within the prepositional phrase around the peach trees. The subject in this sentence,
bumblebees, follows the verb rather than coming before it.
The following verbs are true linking verbs: any form of the verb be [am, is, are, was, were, has
been, are being, might have been, etc.], become, and seem. These true linking verbs are always
linking verbs.
Then you have a list of verbs that can be linking or action: appear, feel, grow, look, prove,
remain, smell, sound, taste, and turn. If you can substitute any of the verbs on this second list
with an equal sign [=] and the sentence still makes sense, the verb is almost always linking.
Face = subject; will turn = linking verb; red = adjective as subject complement. [Will turn is
linking because if you substitute this verb with an equal sign, the sentence still makes sense.]
She = subject; felt = linking verb; sick = subject complement. [Felt is linking because if you
substitute this verb with an equal sign, the sentence still makes sense.]
Michelle = subject; felt = action verb. She felt what? Forehead = direct object. [Felt is action
because if you substitute this felt with an equal sign, the sentence does not make sense.]
I me
we us
you you
he, she, it him, her, it
they them
who whom
Don't blame Gerard. It was I who woke you from a sound sleep.
Don't get mad at me! I didn't pull your ponytail! It was he.
Subordinate Conjunctions
Relative Pronouns
Remember this important point: A subordinate clause cannot stand alone as a sentence
because it does not provide a complete thought. The reader is left wondering, "So what
happened?" A word group that begins with a capital letter and ends with a period must contain at
least one main clause. Otherwise, you will have written a fragment, a major error.
So what happened? Did Amy throw it down the garbage disposal or serve it on toast to her
friends? No complete thought = fragment.
So what happened? Did Belinda cheer him for his bravery or lecture him on animal rights? No
complete thought = fragment.
So what happens? Is he too sleepy to work, or does he have a grumpy disposition? No complete
thought = fragment.
So what happened? Were the roommates shocked, or did they ask him to pass the box so that
they could do the same? No complete thought = fragment.
Even though the broccoli was covered in cheddar cheese, Emily refused to eat it.
Unless Christine finishes her calculus homework, she will have to suffer Mr. Nguyen's wrath in
class tomorrow.
While Bailey slept on the sofa in front of the television, Samson, the family dog, gnawed on the
leg of the coffee table.
When you attach a subordinate clause at the end of a main clause, you will generally use no
punctuation, like this:
Jonathon spent his class time reading comic books Ø since his average was a 45 one week before
final exams.
Diane decided to plant tomatoes in the back of the yard Ø where the sun blazed the longest
during the day.
When the information in the relative clause clarifies an otherwise general noun, the clause is
essential and will follow the same pattern that you saw above:
Nick gave a handful of potato chips to the dog Ø who was sniffing around the picnic tables.
Dog is a general noun. Which one are we talking about? The relative clause who was sniffing
around the picnic tables clarifies the animal that we mean. The clause is thus essential and
requires no punctuation.
When a relative clause follows a specific noun, punctuation changes. The information in the
relative clause is no longer as important, and the clause becomes nonessential. Nonessential
clauses require you to use commas to connect them.
Nick gave a handful of potato chips to Button , who was sniffing around the picnic tables.
Button, the name of a unique dog, lets us know which animal we mean. The information in the
relative clause is no longer important and needs to be separated from the main clause with a
comma.
Relative clauses can also interrupt a main clause. When this happens, use no punctuation for an
essential clause. If the clause is nonessential, separate it with a comma in front and a comma
behind. Take a look at these examples:
After dripping mustard all over his chest, the man Ø who was wearing a red shirt Ø wished that
he had instead chosen ketchup for his hotdog.
After dripping mustard all over his chest, Charles, who was wearing a red shirt, wished that he
had instead chosen ketchup for his hotdog.
Since the two simple sentences are related, you can combine them to express the action more
effectively:
If the two ideas have unequal importance, save the most important one for the end of the
sentence so that your reader remembers it best. If we rewrite the example above so that the two
ideas are flipped, the wrong point gets emphasized:
When a six-foot snake slithered across the side walk, Rhonda gasped.
A reader is less concerned with Rhonda's reaction than the presence of a giant snake on the
sidewalk!
Subordinate Conjunctions
The subordinate conjunction has two jobs. First, it provides a necessary transition between the
two ideas in the sentence. This transition will indicate a time, place, or cause and effect
relationship. Here are some examples:
Louisa will wash the sink full of her dirty dishes once her roommate Shane cleans his stubble
and globs of shaving cream from the bathroom sink.
We looked on top of the refrigerator, where Jenny will often hide a bag of chocolate chip
cookies.
Because her teeth were chattering in fear, Lynda clenched her jaw muscle while waiting for her
turn to audition.
The second job of the subordinate conjunction is to reduce the importance of one clause so that a
reader understands which of the two ideas is more important. The more important idea belongs in
the main clause, the less important in the clause introduced by the subordinate conjunction.
As Samson blew out the birthday candles atop the cake, he burned the tip of his nose on a
stubborn flame.
Ronnie begins to sneeze violently whenever he opens the door to greet a fresh spring day.
Even though Dana persevered at the calculus exam, she was only adding another F beside her
name in Dr. Armour's grade book.
Nicky shook her head and sighed Ø as she puzzled over the algebra problem.
Subordinate Clause + , + Main Clause.
When the doorbell rang, Nicky slammed shut her textbook and rose to pay for her pizza.
Punctuation gets trickier when the subordinate clause begins with a relative pronoun like who,
which, or where. Sometimes you will need a comma, and sometimes you won't, depending on
whether the clause is essential or nonessential.
When the information in the relative clause clarifies an otherwise general noun, the clause is
essential and will follow the same pattern that you saw above:
Nicky paid the deliveryman Ø whose rusty hatchback choked and coughed in the driveway.
Deliveryman is a general noun. Which one are we talking about? The relative clause whose rusty
hatchback choked and coughed in the driveway clarifies the restaurant employee we mean. The
clause is thus essential and requires no punctuation.
When a relative clause follows a specific noun, punctuation changes. The information in the
relative clause is no longer as important, and the clause becomes nonessential. Nonessential
clauses require you to use commas to connect them.
Nicky paid Fernando , whose rusty hatchback choked and coughed in the driveway.
Fernando, the name of a unique restaurant employee, lets us know which deliveryman we mean.
The information in the relative clause is no longer important and needs to be separated from the
main clause with a comma.
Relative clauses can also interrupt a main clause. When this happens, use no punctuation for an
essential clause. But if the clause is nonessential, separate it with a comma in front and a comma
behind. Take a look at these examples:
After seeing the cheap tip, the man Ø who delivered Nicky's pizza Ø wished that he had driven
more slowly.
After seeing the cheap tip, Fernando, who delivered Nicky's pizza, wished that he had driven
more slowly.
Joshua wants a smile from Leodine, his beautiful but serious lab partner.
Cornelius painted the canvas in Jackson Pollock fashion, dribbling bright colors from a heavily
soaked brush.
Pinky the poodle cleans the dirty supper dishes with his tongue before Grandma loads the
"prewashed" items into dishwasher.
Important note: When no direct object follows an action verb, the verb is intransitive.
The Verb
Recognize a verb when you see one.
Verbs are a necessary component of all sentences. Verbs have two important functions: Some
verbs put stalled subjects into motion while other verbs help to clarify the subjects in meaningful
ways. Look at the examples below:
My grumpy old English teacher smiled at the plate of cold meatloaf.
The important thing to remember is that every subject in a sentence must have a verb. Otherwise,
you will have written a fragment, a major writing error.
The crunch of the potato chips drew the angry glance of Professor Orsini to our corner of the
room.
Crunch is something that we can do. We can crunch cockroaches under our shoes. We can
crunch popcorn during a movie. We can crunch numbers for a math class. In the first sentence,
then, crunch is what the potato chips do, so we can call it a verb.
Even though crunch is often a verb, it can also be a noun. The crunch of the potato chips, for
example, is a thing, a sound that we can hear. You therefore need to analyze the function that a
word provides in a sentence before you determine what grammatical name to give that word.
Because of the spoiled mayonnaise, Ricky vomited potato salad all day.
Vomiting is something that Ricky can do—although he might not enjoy it.
Thunder boomed in the distance, sending my poor dog scrambling under the bed.
If you are unsure whether a sentence contains an action verb or not, look at every word in the
sentence and ask yourself, "Is this something that a person or thing can do?" Take this sentence,
for example:
Can you during? Is during something you can do? Can you the? Is there someone theing outside
the window right now? Can you summer? Do your obnoxious neighbors keep you up until 2 a.m.
because they are summering? Can you my? What does a person do when she's mying? Can you
poodle? Show me what poodling is. Can you pant? Bingo! Sure you can! Run five miles and
you'll be panting. Can you and? Of course not! But can you drool? You bet—although we don't
need a demonstration of this ability. In the sentence above, therefore, there are two action verbs:
pant and drool.
During bad storms, trailer parks are often magnets for tornadoes.
Areing isn't something that trailer parks can do. Are is simply connecting the subject, trailer
parks, to something said about them, that they tend to attract tornadoes.
Became connects the subject, Jose, to something said about him, that he wasn't happy.
A three-mile run seems like a marathon during a hot, humid July afternoon.
Seems connects the subject, a three-mile run, with additional information, that it's more arduous
depending on the day and time.
At restaurants, Rami always feels angry after waiting an hour for a poor meal.
The following verbs are true linking verbs: any form of the verb be [am, were, has been, are
being, might have been, etc.], become, and seem. These true linking verbs are always linking
verbs.
Then you have a list of verbs with multiple personalities: appear, feel, grow, look, prove, remain,
smell, sound, taste, and turn. Sometimes these verbs are linking verbs; sometimes they are action
verbs. Their function in a sentence decides what you should call them.
How do you tell when they are action verbs and when they are linking verbs? If you can
substitute am, is, or are for the verb and the sentence still sounds logical, you have a linking verb
on your hands. But if, after the substitution, the sentence makes no sense, you are dealing with an
action verb. Here are some examples:
Chris is the grasshopper? I don't think so! In this sentence then, tasted is an action verb.
I am the delicious aroma? Not the last time I checked. Smell, in this sentence, is an action verb.
The aroma of the grilled octopus smells appetizing.
The students are the equation? Of course not! Here, looked is an action verb.
This substitution will not work for appear. With appear, you have to analyze the function of the
verb.
Here, appeared is connecting the subject, Godzilla, to his state of mind, happiness.
Harvey might have spilled the chocolate milkshake because the short dress distracted him.
Harvey should have been spilling the chocolate milkshake down his throat.
Offering her license and registration, Selena sobbed in the driver's seat.
Other times, the activity or condition continues over a long stretch of time, happens predictably,
or occurs in relationship to other events. In these instances, a single-word verb like sobbed or
was cannot accurately describe what happened, so writers use multipart verb phrases to
communicate what they mean. As many as four words can comprise a verb phrase.
A main or base verb indicates the type of action or condition, and auxiliary—or helping—verbs
convey the other nuances that writers want to express.
Selena should have been driving with more care, for then she would not have gotten her third
ticket this year.
In the first sentence, screeched and mashed, single-word verbs, describe the quick actions of both
the tires and Selena.
Since Selena has an inclination to speed, is disobeying [a two-word verb] communicates the
frequency of her law breaking. The auxiliary verbs that comprise should have been driving [a
four-word verb] and would have gotten [a three-word verb] express not only time relationships
but also evaluation of Selena's actions.
To avoid another speeding ticket, Selena will never again take her eyes off the road to fiddle with
the radio.