Grammar and Mechanics Attribute Matrix
KEY
Definitions—You should copy the definition off of the anticipation guide.
Examples—Remember, these may be different from what you have on your chart.
Some responses may be in either the third or fourth column depending on how you thought about it. That is fine.
‘
Term
Definition
Why is it important? What does it
do?
-can be the subject
-can be the object
-tells the what or who
Does it have any special rules or
qualities? If yes, what are they?
-Concrete—those you can physically
feel or touch
-Abstract-those that are ideas or
feelings
Examples
noun
A person, place, thing, or
idea
proper noun
A specific noun
-provides more detail
-specifically names a noun
-always capitalized
-often more than one word
-Dickerson Middle School
-Taylor Swift
-Dr. Smith
-LeBron
action verb
A word that tells the
physical activity of the
noun.
-tells what the subject is doing
-provides movement
-can provide excitement
-can be the only verb in a sentence
-can appear with a helping verb
-has different tenses
-can be visible or mental
-sing
-talked
-dances
-cries
-eats
Helps with the meaning of
an action verb
-help express the meaning of the
main verb
-works with the main verb to change
the tense
-can never appear alone in a
sentence
-appears with the main verb
-may appear with more than one
helping verb
-ALWAYS comes before the main
verb
am, are, is, was, were, be,
being, been, have, has, had,
can, could, do, does, did,
may, might, must, shall,
should, will, could
helping verb
-boy
-shoe
-dog
-love
-fear
linking verb
verb phrase
Links the subject to the
predicate
A group of words that
show action and when
that action happens
adjective
Describes something
about a noun
proper adjective
A proper noun that
functions as an adjective.
adverb
-join nouns or pronouns with words
that describe them or rename them
- will not have an action verb with it
-some linking verbs look like action
verbs-must check the sentence to
determine whether it is action or
linking
Am, are, is, was, were
-groups the main verb and all of the
helping verbs together
-can help determine the tense of the
sentence
-always more than one word
-can have more than one helping
verb together with an action verb
-will be singing
-is working
-am walking
-adds interest and detail
-paints a visual image
-can be linked together
-modifies nouns and pronouns only
-answers: what kind? which one?
how many? how much?
-three
-cold
-young
-many
-provides more specific details
-built from a proper noun
-always capitalized
-modifies nouns and pronouns only
-answers: what kind? which one?
how many? how much?
-provides more information
-modifies adjective, verb, or other
adverb
-answers: where? when? in what
way? to what extent?
-often end in –ly but not always
-American
-French
-Polish
-Indian
-Atlanta newspaper
-gracefully
-totally
-very
-not
-early
-tomorrow
Gives more information
about the word it modifies
Sometimes—appear,
become, feel, grow, look,
remain, seem, smell, sound,
stay, taste, turn
pronoun
Takes the place of a noun
-makes it easier to speak and write
-improves flow
-can be subjects or objects
-many different types
-may show ownership
-he
-they
-my
interjection
A word you would yell to
get attention or
emphasize something
important or surprising.
-add strong feeling
-adds emphasis
-may have a comma or exclamation
point after them
-informal so are used in
conversation more than in writing
-in writing, often part of dialogue
-Well, I guess I’ll go to bed.
-Stop! I need you to listen.
-Oh, he wished he knew the
answer.
preposition
Shows the position of a
noun in the sentence
-helps reader/listener understand
relationship of one word to another
sentence
A group of words that
help us communicate and
includes a subject and
predicate.
-The building blocks of
conversations
clause
A sentence that can be
combined with another
sentence to add meaning.
A group of words that do
not form a complete
sentence
-how to make sentences
-combining different clauses makes
writing more interesting
-provides more detail
A sentence that can stand
on its own to be
understood.
-expresses complete ideas or
thoughts
phrase
independent
clause
-think about the relationship of a
monkey to a log. This will help you
know many of the prepositions.
-introduce a prepositional phrase
which contains an object
Prepositions—on, after, in,
between
-expresses a complete thought
-can be simple, compound, complex,
or compound-complex
-must have a subject and a verb
-the same as an independent clause
-can be built in different
combinations of independent and
dependent clauses
-can be independent or dependent
-always have a subject and verb
-The man went to the store.
-Sit down!
-Because it rained, our game
was cancelled.
-can function as a noun, adjective,
or adverb when taken as a whole
-often begin with a preposition
-can never stand alone
-never has a subject or verb
-on the roof
-with the stripes
-before school
-can be added to other independent
clauses to form compound
sentences
-can be added to dependent clauses
to form complex sentences
-can stand by itself
-if standing alone, needs capital and
ending punctuation
-must have a subject and verb
-We went to the movie.
-We went to the movie;
however, Jason fell asleep.
Prepositional Phrases-in the
middle, after the rain, up the
mountain
-after it rained
-It was cold outside.
dependent clause
A phrase that can not
stand on its own without
an independent clause
attached to it.
-does not express a complete idea
or thought
-can NOT stand alone
-can be added to independent
clauses to form complex sentences
-often begin with subordinate
clauses
-must have a subject and verb
-because it rained
-We went home since school
finished.
coordinating
conjunction
Words that connect two
or more complete
sentences
-adds interest to sentences by
joining things together
-can join words or clauses
-sometimes needs commas between
items it joins
subject
A noun that functions as
the focus of a sentence
-tells who/what the sentence is
about
predicate
The part of the sentence
that is not the subject and
states the action or
description of the subject.
-the action of the sentence
-can be a singular subject or
compound
-compound subjects have two or
more subjects
-complete subject is the subject and
everything that describes it
-every clause has one
-phrases do not have one
-simple predicate-just the complete
verb
-complete predicate-verb and
everything that goes with it
-every clause has one
-phrases do not have one
Fan
And
Nor
But
Or
Yet
So
Jack fell down the hill.
Jack and Jill went up the hill.
Jack fell down the hill.
—fell is the simple predicate
--fell down the hill is the
complete predicate