Name ________________________________________ Date ____________________________ Period ______________
GRAMMAR REVIEW: WRITTEN AND ORAL ENGLISH LANGUAGE CONVENTIONS
UNIT TWO
Standard(s) Addressed:
Grade 7 Review WOC: 1.2 Identify and use infinitives and participles and make clear references between pronouns and antecedents; 1.3 Identify all parts of speech
and types and structure of sentences; 1.4 Demonstrate the mechanics of writing (e.g., quotation marks, commas at end of dependent clauses) and appropriate
English usage (e.g., pronoun reference); Grade 10 WOC: 1.1 Identify and correctly use clauses (e.g., main and subordinate), phrases (e.g., gerund, infinitive, and
participial), and mechanics of punctuation (e.g., semicolons, colons, ellipses, hyphens).
ESLR:
Reflective Communicators: Think, read, write, listen, speak well
Rationale: Each day we will begin class with a grammar review activity. As you can see from the standards, you should
have learned and mastered most of these grammar rules in the 7th grade. However, in an effort to better prepare you
for the CAHSEE ELA exam on March 13, 2012, we will be reviewing this material throughout the semester.
Directions: At the start of class each day you are to have this paper (or the latest version of it) on your desk. When the
bell rings you are to begin working on the activity. You will be responsible for knowing this material for the quiz at the
end of each unit. (Note: the Unit Two exam is scheduled for Wednesday, October 19.)
Grammar Activity (Monday, 10/03): “Complete Subjects and Predicates”
You’ll remember from the previous unit (and your homework organizers) that a sentence is a group of words that
contains a subject, contains a verb (predicate), and expresses a complete thought. A sentence fragment is a group of
words that is missing any one of the three “sentence elements.”
Up to this point, we’ve been looking at simple subjects and simple predicates. That is, we’ve been looking only at the
main subject and the main verb. Today we’re going to look at the complete subject and complete predicate—the subject
(and all the words that modify it) and the verb (and all the words that modify it).
Example: Most birds can fly.
Simple Subject: birds
Simple Predicate: fly
Remember, though, the complete subject and predicate include the words that modify (add to) the simple
subject and predicate.
Complete Subject: Most birds
Complete Predicate: can fly
Directions: In the following sentences underline the complete subject once and the complete predicate twice.
1. I want a new car.
2. James is nice.
3. The sun is moving.
4. Maxine wrote the letter.
5. The letter was written by Maxine.
6. The farmers are plowing the field.
7. Ben Sherman is an amazing baseball player.
8. The storm clouds are getting darker.
9. Dogs, cats, and turtles make the best pets.
10. The stern judge ruled that the defendant was not guilty.
Now it’s your turn. Write your own sentence underlining the complete subject once and the complete predicate twice.
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Grammar Activity (Tuesday, 10/04): “Complements”
A complement is a word or group of words that completes the meaning of a verb and may be a noun, pronoun, or an
adjective. A subject complement is a word or group of words that follows a linking verb and renames or describes the
subject.
Examples:
Sara plays soccer.
Subject: Sara
Verb: plays
Complement: soccer (noun)
This dessert tastes delicious.
Subject: dessert
Verb: tastes (this is a linking verb because it cannot exist on its own—This tastes does not express a complete
thought)
Subject Complement: delicious (adjective)
Directions: Read the following sentences. Underline the subject and linking verb once and the subject complement
twice.
1. The chlorine in the pool smelled harsh.
2. This bread tastes moldy to me.
3. The hungry beggar felt too faint to hold out his cup.
4. The caged tiger gets especially restless during storms.
5. One of a mail carrier’s occupational hazards is the overzealous watchdog.
6. After my yoga exercises, I feel almost weightless.
7. The sunflowers by the gate grow taller every day.
8. The achievements and courage of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. have become part of our American heritage.
9. Mahatma Gandhi always remained peaceful despite his opponents’ most outrageous provocation.
10. Is his pulse normal?
Grammar Activity (Thursday, 10/06): “Predicate Nominative and Predicate Adjective”
There are two different kinds of subject complements: predicate nominative and predicate adjective. A predicate
nominative is a noun or pronoun that follows a linking verb and renames, identifies, or explains the subject of a
sentence. A predicate adjective is an adjective that follows a linking verb and describes the subject of a sentence.
Predicate Nominative Example: Watson is Sherlock Holmes’s assistant.
Subject: Watson
Linking Verb: is
Predicate Nominative: assistant (Watson, the subject, is renamed assistant)
Predicate Adjective Example: Adam remained loyal to his friends.
Subject: Adam
Linking Verb: remained
Predicate Adjective: loyal (Adam, the subject, is described as loyal)
Directions: Underline each subject complement in the sentences below and then identify each as either predicate
nominative (PN) or predicate adjective (PA).
1. My favorite dessert is chocolate cake and ice cream. PN
2. Jenny’s idea sounds interesting. ______
3. The baby’s best friend is his blanket. ______
4. After the race, the runners felt exhilarated. ______
5. Janie became tan and muscular after her summer at camp. ______
6. That novel became an overnight bestseller. ______
7. The police search was extremely thorough. ______
8. Akeelah and the Bee is a movie about an eleven-year-old girl. ______
9. Despite winning the lottery last week, my cousin still seems unhappy. ______
10. Mr. Richards became mayor of a small town in Ohio. ______
Grammar Activity (Friday, 10/07): “Prepositional Phrases”
Prepositional phrases are among the easiest structures in English to learn. Remember that a phrase is just a group of
related words without a subject and a verb. Using what you remember about prepositions from the last grammar unit,
put parentheses around the prepositional phrases in the following sentences. Be sure to start with the preposition first
(in, on, to, at, of . . .) and include the words that go with it. Then underline the sentence’s subject once and verb twice.
Example: Roald Dahl is the author (of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.)
1. In his youth, Dahl had two memorable experiences with sweets.
2. One of them involved the owner of a candy store.
3. Dahl and his young friends had a bad relationship with this particular woman.
4. On one visit to her store, Dahl put a dead mouse into one of the candy jars behind her back.
5. The woman later went to his school and demanded his punishment.
6. He and his friends received several lashes from a cane in her presence.
7. During his later childhood years, Dahl became a taste-tester for the Cadbury chocolate company.
8. Cadbury sent him and other schoolchildren boxes of sweets to evaluate.
9. Dahl tried each candy and made a list of his reactions and recommendations.
Grammar Activity (Monday, 10/10): “Identifying Verb Phrases”
Sometimes a verb is one word, but often the whole verb includes more than one word. These are called verb phrases.
Example: verb = speak
verb phrases = is speaking; had been speaking; was spoken; will be speaking; etc.
Two forms of “speak”—speaking and to speak—look like verbs but neither form can ever be the only verb in a sentence.
No –ing word by itself or to _______ form of a verb can be the main verb of a sentence.
Example:
Using --ing:
Jeanine speaking French. (not a sentence because there is no complete verb phrase)
Jeanine was speaking French. (a sentence because the linking verb was makes the verb phrase complete)
Using to __________:
Ted to speak in front of groups. (not a sentence because there is no real verb)
Ted likes to speak in front of groups. (a sentence because the linking verb likes makes the verb phrase complete)
Underline the verbs or verb phrases twice in the following sentences. (Note: there may be multiple verbs/verb phrases.)
1. For the first time, scientists have successfully cloned a dog.
2. Cloning experts had been attempting this accomplishment for many years.
3. They had had success with horses, cats, and even rats before they could clone a dog.
4. The scientists who eventually succeeded were from Seoul National University in South Korea.
5. They named the cloned dog Snuppy as a tribute to the university where the accomplishment was made.
6. Of course, Snuppy can thank his “parent” dog, a three-year-old Afghan hound, for all of his great features.
7. Now that a dog has been cloned, everyone anticipates that some pet owners will want a clone of their dogs.
8. The procedure for dogs involves different steps and may always be more difficult.
9. Cloning pets will definitely cost a lot of money and be a gamble at best.
Grammar Activity (Tuesday, 10/11): “Verbals and Verbal Phrases”
Yesterday we looked at verb phrases, a phrase consisting of a verb and its auxiliaries (or helpers). Verb phrases act as
the sentence’s predicate. Verbals, on the other hand, are a different story.
A verbal is a word formed from a verb but used as a noun, adjective, or adverb. A verbal phrase consists of a verbal and
all its modifiers.
There are three types of verbal phrases: participial (past/present), gerund, and infinitive. A participial phrase functions
as an adjective, a gerund phrase functions as a noun, and an infinitive phrase functions as either a noun, an adjective,
or an adverb. Below is a chart to remind you what verbals of these types look like.
Participial (Present)
erupting
teaching
Participial (Past)
erupted
taught
Gerund
erupting
teaching
Infinitive
to erupt
to teach
Using this chart as a guide, you should be able to easily find verbal phrases.
Example: Shopping at her favorite stores, Renee spent her entire paycheck.
This is a participial phrase because it functions as an adjective telling more about Renee.
Take a look at another example.
Example: Shopping online is Emily’s favorite pastime.
This is a gerund phrase because it is functioning as the subject of the sentence; it is, therefore, a noun.
Just one more, and then you’ll be ready to tackle this on your own.
Example: Ann likes to shop for bargains.
This is an infinitive phrase because the word “to” precedes (def: comes before) the verb. The phrase is
functioning as a direct object, but you don’t need to know that today.
Directions: Read the following sentences. Underline the verbal phrase and identify it as a participial phrase (PP), gerund
phrase (GP), or infinitive phrase (IP).
1. Skiing in Vermont is my idea of relaxation.
2. To ski every winter in Colorado will get very expensive.
3. Having been chosen for the lead role, she suddenly developed severe stage fright.
4. Lending money to a friend is a sure way to end a friendship.
5. Convinced that he could win the election, he hired a campaign manager.
6. Shaking violently from the cold, Janis couldn’t wait outside any longer.
7. To earn a grade based on effort seemed fair to the students.
8. Walking alone at night is not safe.
9. His empty stomach, rumbling like an avalanche, needed food. (Bonus participation point if you can identify the
figure of speech used in this sentence!)
10. The alarm clock told him it was time to get up and work.
11. In the game of baseball, stealing first base is impossible.
12. Raising the coffin lid, Dracula peered into the darkness.
Grammar Activity (Wednesday, 10/12): “Appositive Phrases”
An appositive is a noun or pronoun placed beside another noun or pronoun to identify or describe it. An appositive
phrase includes an appositive and any modifiers it has.
Example: Mount Vesuvius, an Italian volcano, buried two towns in A.D. 79.
The underlined portion, an Italian volcano, is an appositive phrase identifying Mount Vesuvius.
Directions: Read the following sentences, then underline the appositive phrase and draw an arrow to the noun(s) the
phrase is describing or identifying.
1. My teacher, Ms. Handley, is very strict.
2. The boys climbed the mountain, one of the highest in the west.
3. Queen Victoria, one of England’s greatest monarchs, ruled for 63 years.
4. Have you ever read The Red Pony, a novel by John Steinbeck?
5. Groucho Marx, the star of many film comedies, also had his own television show.
6. The poem, one of Robert Frost’s best, is called “The Death of the Hired Man.”
7. My brother, a graduate of Northwestern, is now practicing medicine.
8. Our dog, a beagle, is 12 years old.
9. Dr. Avina, the principal of Segerstrom, will speak at the assembly.
10. Jane’s house, a brick bungalow, is on Oak Street.
Grammar Activity (Thursday, 10/13): “Clauses”
A clause is a group of words that includes both a subject and a predicate. An independent clause presents a complete
thought and can stand alone as a sentence. A dependent clause (also called a subordinate clause) does not present a
complete thought and cannot stand alone.
Example: Mrs. DeVries won twenty dollars last week.
This is an independent clause; it has a subject (Mrs. DeVries), a predicate (won), and it expresses a complete
thought so it can stand on its own.
Example: Since Mrs. DeVries won twenty dollars last week.
This is a dependent clause; it has a subject (Mrs. DeVries), a predicate (won), but it doesn’t express a complete
thought (since indicates there is going to be some action—paying back Ms. Handley for the coffee she bought,
buying candy for 4th period). As it exists now, it cannot stand on its own.
Directions: Read the following sentences, paying careful attention to the underlined portions (they’re clauses). Next to
each underlined section, indicate whether the clause is independent (IC) or dependent (DC).
1. I’ve applied for three jobs, hoping to get one.
2. Whenever she’s nervous, she bites her nails.
3. Since we all pitched in to help, it didn’t take long at all.
4. We’ll go as soon as I am off the phone.
5. That’s Carla, whose brother is a famous doctor.
6. I drank the whole pitcher of lemonade that she made.
7. Racing around the track, Frania headed for the finish line.
8. You should allow extra time, in case there is traffic.
9. Julie is determined to climb Yosemite’s Half Dome even though she is afraid of heights.
10. Don’t bother to call me on Thursday nights because I’ll be watching Grey’s Anatomy.
11. Proofreading his resume one last time, Anthony discovered a spelling error.
12. If you do the laundry, I’ll vacuum the house.
13. Even if I ace this exam, I’ll still have a “D” in French.
14. Unless the hurricane changes its course, all schools and businesses will be closed tomorrow.
15. Though Megan seems shy, she is really funny.
Grammar Activity (Monday, 10/17): “Reviewing Phrases and Clauses”
Before you begin today’s activity, you might consider reviewing the activities related to both phrases and clauses.
1. Describe the difference between a phrase and a clause. (Remember to write your response as a complete sentence!)
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
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Identify each group of words below. Use a P for phrase and a C for clause.
_____ 1. into the darkness
_____ 4. volcanoes exist
_____ 2. of Antarctica
_____ 5. of the brave scientists
_____ 3. winds blow the sand
_____ 6. researchers collect fossils
Indicate whether the underlined portions of each of the sentences below are clauses (C) or phrases (P).
1. Antarctica has not always been buried in ice.
2. Millions of years ago, Antarctica was a much warmer place.
3. Gondwanaland, a land mass that included Antarctica, Africa, Australia, India, and South America, began to break
apart about 140 million years ago.
4. Antarctica began drifting south, and ice began building up.
5. This happened approximately 30 million years ago.
Grammar Activity (Tuesday, 10/18): “Uses of Subordinate Clauses”
You’ll remember from previous grammar activities that a subordinate clause (also called a dependent clause) is made
up of a subject and a verb but does not express a complete thought, so it cannot stand on its own as a sentence.
(Participation Point Opportunity! What is the other type of clause called? Why is it different?)
There are three types of subordinate clauses: adjective, adverb, and noun. We’re pretty sure that by now you know
what a noun is, so we’re only going to refresh your memory about the adjective and adverb. An adjective modifies a
noun or a pronoun, and an adverb modifies a verb, and adjective, or an adverb.
If you’re still having trouble, here’s a checklist you can use to help you distinguish between the three.
ADJECTIVE CLAUSE



Modifies a noun or pronoun
Tells what kind or which one
Usually follows the word it modifies
 Usually introduced by a relative
pronoun (who, whom, whose, that,
which)
ADVERB CLAUSE

Modifies a verb, adjective, or an
adverb
 Tells how, when, where, why, to what
extent, under what condition
 Usually introduced by a
subordinating conjunction (after,
because, unless, etc.)
NOUN CLAUSE


Used as a noun
May be used as a subject, predicate
nominative, direct object, indirect
object, object of a preposition
Example: The first blind date that I ever had was Ralph.
The underlined portion that I ever had was Ralph is an adjective clause because it tells me which blind
date I am referring to. (It also follows a noun, which is part of my checklist, too.)
Example: Ralph was my first and only blind date because I married him.
The underlined portion because I married him is an adverb clause because it tells why this was my only
blind date. (It also is introduced using a subordinating conjunction, which is part of my checklist, too.)
Example: I must admit that Ralph was my first and only blind date.
The underlined portion that Ralph was my first and only blind date is a noun clause because it is being
used as a direct object (A direct object is a noun or pronoun that receives the action of a verb or shows
the result of the action. It answers the question "What?")
Directions: The subordinate clause is underlined, so you will need to indicate whether it is an adjective clause (AC),
adverb clause (AVC), or noun clause (NC).
1. This is the plane that broke the sound barrier.
2. The peacekeepers were badgered by jeers from the mob.
3. The students felt that district officials had been misled.
4. Tim was not interested in what he was reading.
5. We danced until the cabaret closed.
6. We drove through town to where I used to live.
7. That he had even asked her made her angry.
8. Here is the person who wanted to meet you.
9. We could go to a movie unless you have other plans.
10. She said that she was happy with her grades.
11. The natives, when they heard the war cries, grew restless.
12. Whatever you want to do is fine with me.