Module for Week # 3
Objective:
To review the capitalization, punctuation, and sentence structure of simple
sentences.
Directions:
Use notebook paper to practice writing complete, correctly capitalized and
punctuated sentences. See exercises 1—5 below, which together tell a short
story. Use ex. 6 to apply what you have learned.
WHAT IS A SENTENCE?
How do we know when a sentence is correct? In English, there are five rules that
every sentence must follow. All sentences:
1. begin with a capital letter
2. end with a period, question, or exclamation mark
3. have at least one subject and a verb with tense
4. express a complete idea
5. make logical sense and follow the rules of grammar
Look at the following group of words for an example of what can go wrong with a
sentence.
in koala the zoo Houston bears at live
This “sentence” breaks all the rules, and as a result, it fails to communicate well. The
meaning is unclear. There is no capital letter at the beginning, no punctuation at the
end, the words are out of order and do not follow the rules of grammar. On the line
below, a writer who follows the rules in English will construct sentences like these:
In Houston, koala bears live at the zoo.
Koala bears live at the zoo in Houston.
[SCROLL DOWN FOR THE EXERCISES]
Exercise 1 All sentences begin with a capital letter.
Read the following paragraph. Change the first word of each sentence to a capital
letter.
It was a dark and stormy night. I was in a part of town that was unfamiliar
to me. The rain made it difficult to see beyond the front of my car. There were
no signs to help me know where I was. My GPS map was old, so it wouldn't
have helped me much anyway.
Exercise 2 All sentences end with a period, question, or exclamation mark.
Read the following paragraph. Decide where each sentence ends and add the correct
punctuation.
Suddenly, a shot rang out! My windshield broke into a thousand pieces!
The rain started to pour into the car. Who would shoot at me? I couldn't see or
hear anyone. I was sure I was going to die!
It isn't too hard to remember to end each sentence with a period, question mark or
exclamation point. You may not be sure sometimes which is the best one to use, but
using the wrong ending punctuation will rarely cause a lot of confusion for your reader.
NOTE: a comma is never used to mark the end of a sentence in English. The comma +
conjunction such as and/but/so/or are used to join sentences.
Exercise 3 All sentences have at least one subject and a verb with tense.
Read the paragraph on the next page and decide if each sentence has a subject and a
verb with tense. In these modules, we have already studied noun phrases and verb
phrases, but we haven’t discussed the idea of a verb’s tense yet. To see if a verb has
tense, ask yourself if you can tell the time frame of the action: past, present, or future. If
any of the sentences in the paragraph do not have a subject, add one. If any of the
sentences are missing a verb, add one. If any of the sentences have a verb which does
not indicate the past tense, correct the verb.
[SCROLL DOWN]
The rain soaked me completely. I drove on wildly looking for someone. I
needed some help. No one was on the road. A faint light suddenly appeared in
the distance. I decided to drive toward that light. I looked at my watch. It was
2:30 in the morning. Why was I not at home in my warm bed? Help!
Was this exercise a little harder to do? Capitalization and punctuation are called
mechanics. That is, they help us understand what we are reading. The capital letter
shows where a new idea begins. The end punctuation shows where that idea ends. In
addition, subjects and verbs are basic parts of any sentence. If they are missing from a
sentence, it will be difficult or impossible to understand the writer’s meaning.
Exercise 4 All sentences express a complete idea.
Read the following paragraph. Decide if each sentence expresses a complete idea, or if
it ends before you get all the information that you need. Fix the errors in the sentences.
You may have to add some words or ideas of your own. You may delete words, too.
When I approached the light. I could see that it was a huge fire. People in
strange costumes were dancing around it. I had never seen anything like this
before.
I got out of my car.
celebrating.
I asked one of the dancers what they were
They seemed to be enjoying themselves.
Then, I began to
understand.
Exercise 5 All sentences make logical sense and follow the rules of grammar.
Read the following paragraph, which concludes the story. What's wrong with the
sentences? Can you fix them?
Finally, I knew the secret; the people were ESL teachers. All of them sang
at the beginning of every semester. They hoped for patience, inspiration,
and guidance from the Great Grammar God. It is one way to excite their
creativity and enthusiasm. The teachers told me not to tell about their
secret ceremony, or the magic power of the Great Grammar God would be
destroyed.
[SCROLL DOWN]
Exercise 6
Read the following paragraph. You will notice that there is no punctuation. All of the
sentences are grammatical, but we do not know where the ideas begin and end. Add a
period at the end of each complete thought. Use a capital letter to show the beginning
of each new complete idea. Do not change any commas. Capitalize the proper nouns, as
needed.
Every year the Miller Outdoor Theater in Houston’s Hermann Park
presents free performances between April and October. For example, the
theatrical group called Theater Under the Stars performs a musical show. The
Houston Ballet gives a dance performance. It often dances a popular ballet, such
as Cinderella. The musicians of the Houston Symphony perform classical music
for the 4th of July celebration during August and September. Two plays by
Shakespeare are presented by drama students from the University of Houston.
Also, one of the last events of the season in this outdoor theater is the Asian
Festival. All of the events in the theater are free; they are open to the public. They
usually occur Wednesdays through Saturdays at 8:00 p.m.