CDA REVIEW – UNIT 3
Use with CDA Unit 3 Student Study Guide
Sentence Types
• Declarative - statement
• Interrogative - question
• Exclamatory – strong emotion
• Imperative - command
PARTICIPLES
PARTICIPLES &
PARTICIPIAL PHRASES
• What is an adjective?
• An adjective is a word that describes a noun or pronoun.
• Adjectives will answer the questions which one, what kind, or
how many?
• Example: She wore a blue sweater today.
PARTICIPLES &
PARTICIPIAL PHRASES
• A verb form that is used as an
ADJECTIVE.
• PAST or PRESENT
• Ends in –ing, -d, -ed, –en, -t
PARTICIPLES &
PARTICIPIAL PHRASES
• Participles can be found at the beginning, middle, or end
of a sentence, but they MUST BE relatively close to the
noun or pronoun they modify.
• Participles are ONE WORD.
• Participial phrases consist of that ONE WORD plus
modifiers (all the words that refer to that participle).
PARTICIPLES &
PARTICIPIAL PHRASES
STEPS to finding the
participle or participial phrase
1. Find the subject.
2. Find the real verb.
3. Look for other words that look like verbs (word endings are the
clue).
EXAMPLE #1
The pouring rain drove us inside for the party.
• “Pouring” is the participle (What kind of
rain? The pouring rain.)
• It describes rain.
• Avoid getting the participle confused with the
REAL verb – in this case “drove.”
EXAMPLE #2
Known for her patience, Mrs. Williams was his
favorite teacher.
• “known” is the participle (Which teacher? The known one.)
• “for her patience” is the modifier
• This phrase describes Mrs. Williams.
• Subject and REAL verb: Mrs. Williams was
EXAMPLE #3
The marine biologist, diving near a reef, saw a shark.
“diving” is the participle (Which biologist? The one diving.)
“near a reef ” is the modifier
This phrase describes the biologist.
Subject and real verb: biologist saw
PARTICIPLES &
PARTICIPIAL PHRASES
Twirling their canes,
the dancers tapped
across the stage.
PARTICIPLES &
PARTICIPIAL PHRASES
She heard me
sighing loudly.
Participial phrases may have
modifiers such as adverbs.
PARTICIPLES &
PARTICIPIAL PHRASES
A peeled and sliced
cucumber can be
added to a garden
salad.
PRACTICE…
• The bike had a broken spoke.
• Her smiling face made everyone happy.
• The frightened child was crying loudly.
• The people were frightened by the growling dog.
• The squeaking wheel needs some grease.
PRACTICE…
• The man, running slowly, still finished the race.
• The boy, having been scolded, finally did his work.
• The teacher, having retired, could now travel widely.
• The soldier, having saluted his superior, continued
on his way.
• The truck, swerving and sliding, hit the brick wall.
GERUNDS
Verbals and Verbal Phrases: A Review
• Remember, when verbs do what they’re told, they are an
action or a state of being…
• John, a 10th grader, plays Playstation 2 until PS3 comes out on the
market.
• Easy! PLAYS is our verb, right?
Verbals and Verbal Phrases: A Review
• But sometimes, verbs act like NOUNS, which as we all
know, can be confusing….
• Playing Playstation 2 is something that John, a tenth
grader likes.
• Now….”playing” is acting like a noun
• Our verb in the sentence becomes “likes”
• Crazy!
Gerunds
• Gerunds always, always, always end in –ing.
• They act like nouns in a sentence.
• So they can be:
• Subjects, Direct objects, Indirect Objects, and Objects of a
preposition.
The “it” test
• One last thing….a trick if you will…try to replace –ing
verbs with “it”
• If the sentence makes sense, you’ve got a gerund
• If not, it’s a present participle….
INFINITIVES
Infinitives
• 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!
Examples
• To sleep is the only thing
Eli wants after his double
shift waiting tables at the
neighborhood café. (To
sleep – subject; noun)
• Wherever Melissa goes,
she always brings a book
to read in case
conversation lags or she
has a long wait. (to read –
adjective modifying book)
• More examples on page
154
Warning
• Don’t confuse an infinitive with a prepositional phrase that
begins with to. Prepositional phrases always have objects
that are nouns or pronouns.
• Example:
• I handed the vase to my mother.
PUNCTUATION MARKS
The Dash
• A dash is used to indicate a sudden break in thought or
speech.
• “Right over here – oh, excuse me, Mr. Mills – you’ll find the
reference books,” said the librarian.
• Alisha began, “The murderer is – well, I don’t want to spoil the
ending.”
Ellipsis
• The ellipsis consists of 3 evenly spaced dots (…).
• It is used when quoting material that is too long and you
want to leave out some words.
• Example original sentence: "The ceremony honored twelve brilliant
athletes from the Caribbean who were visiting the U.S."
• With ellipsis: The ceremony honored twelve brilliant
athletes … visiting the U.S.