Name: ____________________________________
Period: _______
Grammar Packet: Holiday Edition
Some of this material has already been covered in class;
some of it will be covered later on. You should be able to do the
packet independently, and it will help you prepare for class.
Submit your Holiday Grammar and Style Packet to the Packet
Box no later than Friday, January 30.
Even if you are able to finish your packet during school
hours, always take it home and ask a relative or homework helper to
review it with you before you turn it in.
If you ever have any trouble, remember you can always come
to my classroom at lunch on the first and last days of the week for
individual help. 
I have no extras. If you lose your packet, you will have to
print another from my teacher website (www.lusd.org/Page/3380).
This Month’s Learning Objectives:
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Identify prepositions and prepositional phrases.
Correct improperly used prepositions.
Identify direct objects.
Identify indirect objects.
Write possessives using both the of and the ‘s method.
Correctly punctuate ‘s possessives.
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Commonly Misused Phrases
I. A phrase is a group of words that are used as a unit.
A sentence is made up of phrases. Of course, a sentence is also a
group of words. The difference between a phrase and a sentence is
that a sentence must express a complete thought (in other words, it
must have a subject and a predicate).
Phrases don’t need to express a complete thought. It is just a group
of words that are working together to express part of an idea.
Sample Sentence: After the fall of the Roman empire, Western
Europe is said to have fallen into a “dark age,” where knowledge of
complex learning and civilization was lost.
Sample Phrases:
After the fall of the Roman empire,
fall of the Roman empire
Roman empire
Western Europe is said
is said to have fallen
have fallen
fallen into
fallen into a “dark age”
where knowledge of complex learning and civilization was lost
complex learning and civilization
knowledge of complex learning and civilization
was lost
II. An idiom is a phrase, sentence, or saying that is used in a
particular way among a particular group of people. Idioms are not
logical, yet they are “correct” for that language. You must simply
learn the rules if you want your speech or writing to sound correct.
III. Certain phrases are idiomatic: you can’t use every word with
every single other word, in English or any other language.
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Obviously, there are hundreds of thousands of idiomatic phrases in
English. You cannot learn them all at once. However, you can start
training yourself by studying the following chart and fixing the
many incorrect phrases in the “Sotp!” Proofreading Exercise.
You will notice that the most common mistakes are using “of” too
often.
Wrong Phrase
Correct Phrase
attention at, attention for (noun)
afraid about (adjective)
attention to
afraid of [noun]
OR
afraid to [verb]
amazing at, amazing in
different from
good at
inferior to, superior to
nervous about
sure about
adjust to
excel in, excel at
satisfied with
report on
worry about
amazing of, amazing for (adj)
different to (adj)
good of, good on, good in (adj)
inferior than/superior than (adj)
nervous of (adj)
sure of (adj)
adjust of, adjust for (verb)
excel of, excel for (v)
satisfied of (v)
report of, report in (v)
worry of (v)
Proofread the following essay. You will have to write directly on
the draft to fix it. Here is a checklist:
 Tell the writer to indent. Draw a little arrow where she should
have indented and write the message INDENT!
 Capitalize the beginning of each sentence and proper
nouns/adjectives.
 Fix all misspelled words, including contractions.
 Use the chart above to correct misused phrases.
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english 7
cassie Elliot
Period 1
Novmeber 27 2014
“Dealing with Fear” Essay
Do u no what its like when youre palms sweat and your legs get shaky?
When you are scared, sometimes you cant even stand up. Its worse if
you think you are inferior than everyone else in the group. Then you
can get overwhelmed with terror. If you ever feel that way, I can
sympathize with u.
One of the things that I am the most afraid about is public speaking. some times teachers will ask us out of the blue to stand up and report
in what we just read. I am good on reading, but that doesnt mean I can
just talk about it without writing what I want to say first! My fifth-grade
teacher used to encourage us to write our speech. That was all right,
but then he started taking of points if we “read our speech.” Well then I
always wanted to say “What was the point of writing it. My english
teacher this year says its a part of life and I will learn to adjust for the
challenge. I am not so sure of that.
One aspect I get very nervous of beginging. When do i start. I like the
teacher to be very clear and the other students to NOT pay perfect
attention at me. In addition I get worry of what people will say
afterwords. also, the teacher all ways tells me to “speak up.” I am
already talking as loud as i can!! But she still all ways says I am to
quiet.
But you want to know whats realy wierd. Guess what i excel of.
You would never guess, but I am an amazing public singer!
4
Prepositions
You have already learned that nouns can be concrete (physical) or
abstract (conceptual). However, that is not the end of the story.
Oftentimes we want to be even more specific about what thing we
are talking about. Prepositions are words that show the relationship
between a noun (a thing) and the rest of the world.
Prepositions are often the first word in a prepositional phrase. This
is a group of words that begins with a preposition and ends in a
noun:
Preposition – Noun
OR
Preposition – Article – Noun
OR
Preposition – Adjective – Noun1.
Here are some examples. The prepositions are in bold. The entire
prepositional phrase is underlined.
The food on his plate was getting cold.
I trained the dog with yummy treats.
The tree behind your house is her favorite.
Obviously, prepositions allow us to be clearer and more specific in
our writing. These are small words that nevertheless pack a lot of
power! Here the 25 most common prepositions in English2:
If you have already studied pronouns before this course, then bear in mind that a pronoun is
simply a type of noun. Therefore, for him is also a prepositional phrase. (If you haven’t studied
pronouns, don’t worry about them yet. They only confuse the issue.)
2
Source: English Club Online (https://www.englishclub.com/vocabulary/common-prepositions25.htm)
1
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Examples of Prepositions
about
after
against
among
around
as
at
before
between
by
during
for
from
in
into
like
of
on
out
over
through
to
under
with
without
PRACTICE 13
In the following sentences, double-underline any preposition and
underline any prepositional phrase. There may be more than one in
a sentence.
EXAMPLE: I am worried about the test that Mrs. Tennant is giving on
Friday.
1. Zeus was the ruler of the Greek gods.
2. In 146 BCE, the Romans took over.
3. Roman religion was influenced by the Greeks.
4. Livius Andronicus, a liberated Greek slave, translated The
Odyssey into Latin.
5. Cato spoke in front of the Senate about the Carthaginian war.
6. The army burned Carthage to the ground.
Most sentences in these practices are taken from The Western Heritage, eds. Kagan, Ozment,
and Turner.
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Direct Objects
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A direct object is a noun or noun phrase that tells who or what
receives the action of the verb.
EXAMPLES:
I called Ryan.
[Q: Who was called? A: Ryan]
Swimming marathons require strength and endurance.
[Q: What do the marathons require? A: strength and endurance]
To find the direct object, ask the question Whom? or What? after the
verb. The answer to that question is the direct object.
PRACTICE 2
Underline the direct object in each sentence.
EXAMPLE: During a marathon, some swimmers may lose several
pounds.
1. My uncle repairs engines.
2. I met Dr. Mason.
3. Did Bill hit a home run?
4. Please buy fruit, bread, and milk.
5. A swimmer in training may swim five or six miles every day.
6. Fatigue, pain, and huge waves challenge marathon swimmers.
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Source: Holt Handbook (74-75).
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Indirect Objects
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Consider this sentence:
Roger passed a note in class.
The direct object is obviously a note. (What did Roger pass? A note.)
However, what if your question is who Roger was passing a note to?
There are two ways to answer that question.
1) You can answer the question by using a prepositional phrase:
Roger passed a note to Rosie in class.
Now we know who Roger is passing the note to because of the
prepositional phrase to Rosie (Prep – Noun).
2) The second way to answer the question is to use an indirect
object. Indirect objects are nouns or noun groups. They also answer
the question to whom, to what, for whom, or for what, but they do
NOT use a preposition:
Roger passed Rosie a note in class.
This sentence is also perfectly correct.
Notice that, when you use a prepositional phrase to answer to
whom, you must put the phrase after the verb. If you don’t want to
use a preposition and instead use a direct object, then you put the
phrase before the verb.
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Source: Holt Handbook (76-78).
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PRACTICE 3
Rewrite the sentence so that, instead of using a prepositional
phrase, you are using an indirect object:
EXAMPLE: I threw the ball to Lila.  I threw Lila the ball.
1. Paula left a tip for the waiter.
_________________________________________________________________
2. Marco made a card for Mr. Eppley.
_________________________________________________________________
3. I am giving my pencil to Susanna.
_________________________________________________________________
4. Her dad made dinner for us.
_________________________________________________________________
PRACTICE 4
In each sentence, the direct object is already underlined. Doubleunderline the indirect object.
EXAMPLE: Will you please save Ricardo and Juliana a seat?  Will
you please save Ricardo and Juliana a seat?
1. I found us seats near the stage.
2. I’ll gladly lend you my new CD.
3. I fed the horse and the mule some hay and oats.
4. Mai told the children stories about her family’s escape from
Vietnam.
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PRACTICE 5
Underline the direct object. Double-underline the indirect object.
EXAMPLE: The ship’s captain gave the crew orders. 
The ship’s captain gave the crew orders.
1. Vinnie made us some lasagna.
2. They owe you and me an apology.
3. The performers showed visitors authentic costumes and food.
4. My secret pal sent me a birthday card.
5. The Nobel Foundation awarded Octavio Paz the Nobel Prize in
Literature.
Possessives
Of is a special preposition. It has many uses. One of its uses is that
it can form phrases that show possession:
The wealth of Mrs. McGintley is incredible.
In that sentence, the prepositional phrase of Mrs. McGintley shows
us who the wealth belongs to (which is another way of saying who
possesses the wealth).
Of course, this sentence sounds very old-fashioned and awkward.
The more common way to say it is to use a possessive:
Mrs. McGintley’s wealth is incredible.
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The possessive case means that a noun is written so as to show that
it is the owner of another noun. It can be either singular or plural.6
The singular possessive is used when the possessive noun refers to
a single person, a single place, a single thing, etc. It is formed by
adding ‘s to the noun:
Kathleen’s desk (the desk of Kathleen)
the mailman’s bag (the bag of the mailman)
an hour’s time (the time of an hour)
anybody’s guess (the guess of anybody)
The plural possessive is used when the possessive noun refers to
more than one people, places, things, etc.
the girls’ locker room (the locker room of the girls)
the boys’ gym (the gym of the boys)
the deer’s frightened eyes (the frightened eyes of the deer)
There are two ways to form a plural possessive:
1) If the plural noun ends in s: add ‘ (just an apostrophe)
2) If the plural end does NOT end in s: add ‘s (same as singular possessive)
PRACTICE 6
Rewrite the phrase with a noun in the possessive case.
EXAMPLE: the games of the children  the children’s games
1. the dance of fairies _______________________________________
2. the daughter of the prince ________________________________
3. the hoodie of the boy _____________________________________
4. the mirror of Suyin _______________________________________
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Source for pages 11-12: Holt Handbook (330-331)
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PRACTICE 7
Identify the word that needs an apostrophe in each of the following
sentences. Then, write that word with correct punctuation.
EXAMPLE: The babys cries are very annoying.  baby’s
1. The Prado in Madrid, Spain is one of the worlds greatest
museums.
_________________________________
2. Shown on the next page is one of the Prados paintings by Diego
Velazquez, Las Meninas.
_________________________________
3. Velazquezs painting is known in English as The Maids of Honor.
_________________________________
4. The maids dresses are even more imposing than that of the bride.
_________________________________
5. To the princesss right, a kneeling maid of honor offers her
something to drink.
_________________________________
6. In most experts opinion, this painting marks the height of the
Golden Age of Spanish art.
_________________________________
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Write It!
This Month’s Challenge:
Your teachers are looking for you to correctly use the possessive
case at least 3 times in this month’s writing.
Suggested Topic:
Make up the name of four characters who share the same room. Use
one of the characters as a first-person narrator. (S)he will complain,
at length, about how his/her siblings leave such a mess in their
room:
Fictional Siblings:
__________________________ __________________________
__________________________ __________________________
(HINTS: Whose dresser is always blocking the bookcase? Whose shoes are
you always tripping over because they are left on the floor? Whose bunk
is the top bunk; whose bunk is the bottom? Whose clothes hangers are
scattered everywhere? Whose books take up too much room? Who always
leaves a mess for someone else to clean? Who always tells you to be more
organized, and then leaves her own pillow covered in crumbs?)
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Proofread! ** Indent your paragraph. ** Make sure your paragraph
is at least 8 sentences and enjoyable to read. ** Capitalize each
sentence and all proper nouns and adjectives. ** Make sure you
have correct end-punctuation. ** Look up the spelling of words you
are unsure of. ** Make sure you used correct punctuation with any
interjections. ** Make sure you used 3 possessives correctly. **
Fix ANYTHING you know how to fix.
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The page numbers cite pages on which you should have written something, so
that you can check to make sure you did not skip an exercise.
You may have to flip back before the exercise in order to read the lesson or the
full instructions for the exercise.
Grading Rubric:
“Sotp!” Proofreading Exercise (p. 4):
_____/15
Practice #1 (p. 6)
_____/6
Practice #2 (p. 7)
_____/6
Practice #3 (p. 9)
_____/4
Practice #4 (p. 9)
_____/4
Practice #5 (p. 10)
_____/5
Practice #6 (p.11)
_____/4
Practice #7 (p. 12)
_____/6
Write It! Followed Directions (p. 14-15 )
_____/10
Did you correctly use:
 at least 3 words in the possessive case?
Write It! Proofreading and Effort (p. 14-15 ) _____/10
Total
_____/70
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