6th Grade Grammar
Notes
Subjects and Predicates
 A subject is a noun or pronoun in a sentence.
 A simple subject is one word.
 A complete subject includes all the words in a subject:
 Example of a simple subject:
 The cat chases the mouse.
 Example of a complete subject:
 The fat cat in the kitchen chases the mouse.
Compound Subjects and Predicates
 A compound subject contains two subjects connected
with a conjunction. Example:
 The dog and cat chased the mouse.
 A compound predicate contains two predicates
connected with a conjunction. Example:
 The cat chased the mouse down and pounced on him.
Compound Sentences
 A compound sentence contains two independent clauses
joined by a comma and a conjunction. Example:
 St. Anthony School students like their new ipads, and they
use them every day.
 Jeremy uses his ipad to check his email, but he doesn’t use
the calculator app.
 These coordinating conjunctions connect independent
clauses to form compound sentences:
 for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so (fanboys)
Phrase
 A phrase is a group of words lacking a subject or
predicate (or both). Examples:
 the amazing Spiderman (noun phrase, no predicate)
 have eaten lunch (verb phrase, no subject)
 in six months (prepositional phrase, no subject or
predicate)
Clauses
 An independent clause has a subject and a verb and can
stand alone as a complete sentence. Example:
 Halloween is my favorite day of the year.
 A dependent clause has a subject and a verb but cannot
stand alone as a sentence. Example:
 Because Halloween is my favorite day of the year,
 These words create adverb (dependent) clauses: when,
where, while, as, since, if, although, whereas, unless,
because (www.asia.wub)
Sentence Fragments
 A sentence fragment is missing either the subject or the
predicate and does not contain a complete thought.
Example:
 Ran for president. (missing the subject)
 Sarah, seeing that the coast was clear, (missing the
predicate)
Run-on Sentence
 A run-on sentence incorrectly joins together sentences.
Examples:
 He recognizes his chance he makes the most of it.
 As he ran through the doorway, the dog saw the meat
on the table and took two big leaps jumping on the
table he grabbed the goods and galloped away
grinning.
 Use a period, a comma and a conjunction, or an
adverb to create a complex sentence.
Complex Sentences
 A complex sentence has one independent clause and
one dependent clause. Example:
 (dependent clause) Because there are only four more
days left in the first quarter, (independent clause)
students are working hard to turn in all assignments.
 Students are working hard to turn in all assignments
because there are only four more days left in the first
quarter. (No comma if the dependent clause comes
after the independent clause)
Compound-Complex
Sentences
 A compound-complex sentence has two independent
clauses and at least one dependent clause. Example:
 If you are an Eagle scout, and you have good grades, it
should be easy to get an academic scholarship to the
school of your choice.
 Research shows that people who spend more time
helping others are generally happier, so do something
nice for yourself and think about someone else’s
problems instead of your own!