Senior Grammar Cheat Sheet
Parts of Speech
1). Noun – A word that represents a person, place, thing or idea.
2). Pronoun – A word that replaces a noun.
Antecedent – The noun that is being replaced by a pronoun.
Personal – I, Me, Us, We, You, (Y’all), He, Him, She, Her, It, They, Them
Possessive – My, Mine, Our, Ours, Your, Yours, (Y’alls), His, Her, Hers, Its, Their, Theirs
Reflexive/Intensive – Myself, Ourselves, Yourself, Yourselves, Himself, Herself, Itself, Themselves
(Reflective adds necessary info to sentence)
Relative – Which, That, Who, Whom, Whose, Where
Demonstrative – This, That, These, Those
Interrogative – Who, Which, What, Where, How
Indefinite – All, Any(one), Both, Each, Few, Either, Several, Some(body), Nobody, None, One, No One, Etc.
3). Verb – A word that shows time, action, or existence.
Action – A verb that shows a mental or visible action.
Transitive – A verb that transfers its action to a noun or pronoun.
Intransitive – A verb that does not transfers its action to a noun or pronoun.
Helping – A verb that can be added to another verb to make a single verb phrase.
Linking – A verb that links the subject with a descriptive word at the end of the sentence.
4). Adjective – A word that modifies (describes) a noun or pronoun.
Articles – A, An, The
Coordinate Adjective – Two or more adjectives in a row that could be reversed or have “and”
between them & still keep the same meaning.
5). Adverb – A word that modifies (describes) a verb, adjective, or another adverb.
6). Preposition – A word showing a relationship between a noun/pronoun (Obj. of Prep.) & another word.
7). Conjunction – A word used to join words, phrases, or clauses.
Coordinating – A word used to join words, phrases, or clauses that are grammatically equal.
FANYBOYS: For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So
Correlative – Words that work in pairs to join grammatically equal words, phrases, or clauses.
Subordinating – A word used to join an independent clause with a dependent clause.
8). Interjection – A word that expresses emotion and is independent of the sentence.
Parts of Sentence
1). Subject – The noun(s)/pronoun(s) that perform the action of the sentence (includes any modifiers).
2). Predicate – Verb(s) that represent the action of the sentence (includes any modifiers).
3). Compliment – Word(s) needed to complete the meaning of the predicate (includes any modifiers).
Subject Compliment – An adjective/noun that follows a linking verb and modifies the subject.
Direct Object – A noun or pronoun that follows a transitive verb: answers S + V + “What?”
Indirect Object – A noun or pronoun sometimes used when there is a direct object:
answers S + V + DO + “To whom/what?”
Senior Grammar Cheat Sheet
Important Terms
Compound – Containing two or more parts.
Fragment – A sentence that is incorrectly an incomplete thought.
Run-On – A single sentence that contains more than one complete thought joined together/punctuated incorrectly.
Verbal – A word that is half verb and half another part of speech.
Gerund – A verb ending in “ing” used as a noun.
Present Participle – A verb ending in “ing” used as an adjective.
Past Participle – A verb in the form you would use after the word “have” used as an adjective.
Infinitive – A verb in its most basic form (to + action) used as a noun.
Appositive – A noun/pronoun (often with modifiers) that follows another noun/pronoun to better explain it.
Phrase – A group of words that goes together.
Noun, Verb, Prepositional, Adjective, Adverbial, Participle – Self-explanatory.
Absolute Phrase – A phrase with a noun & participle that isn’t grammatically connected to the sentence.
Clause – A group of words that goes together AND has a subject and predicate.
Independent – A clause that is a complete thought by itself.
Dependent/Subordinate – A clause that cannot be a complete thought by itself.
Elliptical – An adverb clause that has had words omitted from it but are understood/implied to be there.
Relative/Adjective – A dependent clause that starts with a relative pronoun & describes a noun.
Noun, Adverbial – Self-explanatory.
Simple Sentence – A sentence that has only one complete subject and predicate.
Compound Sentence – A sentence made up of two or more independent clauses.
Complex Sentence – A sentence with at least one dependent clause.
Compound Complex Sentence – A compound sentence that also has a dependent clause.
Sentence Patterns
Pattern 1: Subject + Intransitive Action Verb
S
+
IAV
Pattern 2: Subject + Transitive Action Verb (+ Indirect Object) + Direct Object
S
+
TAV
(+ IO)
Pattern 3: Subject + Linking Verb + Subject Complement
S
+
LV
+
SC
+
DO
Senior Grammar Cheat Sheet
Punctuation Rules
Comma Rule 1: Complete idea +
Comma Rule 2: Complete idea
,
,
Coordinating Conjunction + Complete idea.
Incomplete idea.
OR
Incomplete idea
,
Complete idea.
Exception 1: Use NO comma between Comp./Inc. when a Participle Phrase is at the end of the sentence AND it is
right next to the word it is modifying.
Exception 2: Use NO comma between Comp./Inc. when the Inc. idea is at the end of the sentence and it is joined
to the Comp. idea with a subordinating conjunction.
,
,
Comma Rule 3: Series item 1 Series item 2 and Series item 3
,
,
OR
,
Comma Rule 4: Start sentence nonessential end sentence.
OR
Coord. Adjective 1 Coord. Adjective 2
,
Complete sentence nonessential.
Comma Rule 5: Use a comma between city and state (& at end of state), between day of the week and date,
between date and year (& at end of year), and where you would have a line break in an address.
;
Complete idea + + Complete idea
Semicolon Rule:
:
Colon Rule: Complete idea complete/incomplete idea.
The second idea must be a list, definition, or explanation of the first idea.
Dash Rules:
—complete/incomplete idea.
Complete idea
—nonessential—end sentence.
Start sentence
—complete idea.
List
Research Rules:
,
.
Incomplete idea “Direct Quote ” (Citation)
:
.
Complete idea “Direct Quote ” (Citation)
.
.