Hartfield’s Handy Dandy Grammar Chart
Parts of Speech
Nouns
Persons, places,
things, ideas
Identification of and Functions
Indirect Object IO Predicate
You can’t have an
Nominative PN
IO with a DO. Ask, The PN renames or
“To whom or for
identifies the
Whom after the
subject.
DO.
EX . I am a teacher.
EX I made you
The PN is teacher
brownies last night. because it identifies
I made brownies
the subject -I.
for whom? You is
the IO.
Subject S
Direct Object DO
Ask, “Who or what
did the action?” or
“Who or what
received the action?
Ask who or what
after the verb.
EX. I made
brownies last night.
I made what?
Brownies is your
DO
Verbs
Show action,
existence
Active or Passive?
Is the subject doing
the action (active)
or receiving the
action (passive)?
Transitive or
Intransitive?
Transitive verbs
take an object;
intransitive verbs do
not take an object.
Be verbsAm, is , are, was,
were, be, being,
been
Linking verbs
Be verbs + seem,
become, appear,
taste, look, feel,
smell, grow,
remain, stay, turn…
Pronouns
Replaces a noun
functions in the same
ways as a noun
Adjectives Modifies
nouns and pronouns
Subject
Same as noun
Direct Object
Same as noun
Indirect Object
Same as noun
Predicate
Nominative
Same as noun
Adverbs
Modifies verbs,
adverbs, and
adjectives
Objective
Complement
OC are nouns and
adjectives that appear
with a direct object
and rename or
describe it.
To find it: Say the
verb and the direct
object, then ask
“What?”
EX: We elected him
S
V DO
president.
OCN
Helping verbs
Be verbs +
do, does, did
shall, will
may, must, might
have, has, had can,
could, would, should
Objective
Complement
Same as noun
Object of Preposition
The noun that follows a
preposition and sometimes
modifiers.
EX. In the box
Box is the noun that follows the
preposition in and the modifier
the.
Object of preposition
Same as noun
Adjectives modify nouns and pronouns telling what kind, how many, which one. A Predicate adjective will be in the predicate, following a linking
verb and modifying the subject. She is pretty.
S LV ADJ
Adjectives can also be an objective complement of a direct object: She painted her room green.
S
V
DO OCA
An adverb clause will meet three requirements.
Modifying Verbs
Modifying Adverbs
Modifying
How something is
He studies quite
First, it will contain a subject and verb.
Adjectives
done.
well; in fact he
He is really smart
You will also find a subordinate conjunction that keeps the clause from
She hardly studied
studies very
to study so much.
expressing a complete thought.
and horribly failed.
intensely.
She is not smart.
Finally, you will notice that the clause answers one of these three adverb
questions: How? When? or Why? Because they study hard, students succeed..
Sentence Structures: Simple = SV; Compound = SV cc SV; Complex = sc s v, SV; Compound Complex = sc s v, SV + SV
Hartfield’s Handy Dandy Grammar Chart
Prepositions
Modify like
adjectives and
adverbs. Contain a
preposition and an
object and sometimes
modifiers.
beyond
by
down
during
except
for
from
in
inside
into
like
near
of
off
beyond
by
down
during
except
for
from
in
inside
into
like
near
of
off
Conjunctions
join things
Coordinating
Conjunctions
join things equally.
For
And
Nor
But
Or
Yet
So
Subordinate conjunctions join independent and dependent
clauses. The subordinate conjunction will always be in the
subordinate clause. The following list is not all inclusive.
Interjection
Show Emotion!
Wow! Ouch! Hey!
on
out
outside
over
since
through
throughout
till
to
toward
under
until
up
upon
MULTI WORD
according to
because of
by way of
in addition to
in front of
in place of
in regard to
in spite of
instead of
on account of
out of
TIME CAUSE + EFFECT OPPOSITION CONDITION
after
because
although
if
before since
though
unless
when now that
even though
only if
while as
whereas
whether or not
since
in order that
while
even if
until
so
o
o
All prepositions must have an object.
Objects of prepositions can be nouns,
pronouns, gerunds, and clauses.
o Prepositions do not always have modifiers
(to him, with her).
o The subject and verb of a sentence will
never be found in a prepositional phrase.
o Complements will never be found in a
prepositional phrase.
Correlative Conjunctions
Both… and
links subject + subject
Either…. or
links noun + noun
Neither… nor
links subject + subject
Not only…but also
links sentence + sentence
in case (that)
Curse words are interjections.
Clauses must have a subject and a verb. Independent clauses can stand alone; subordinate clauses also contain subordinate
conjunctions, are incomplete thoughts and are used like adjectives, adverbs, or nouns.
Phrases are word groups that are missing a subject, a verb, or both.
Prepositional phrases contain a preposition, an object, and sometimes modifiers.
Appositive phrases further identify its preceding noun or pronoun and are usually set off with commas.
Verbals
Gerund: -ing verbs use as a noun. Studying is a good habit.
Participial: -ing, -ed, or irregular participle form of verbs used as an adjective. Mining town, determined student, grown man
Infinitive: to plus a verb. DO NOT confuse with to plus a noun or pronoun which is a prepositional phrase.
Sentence Structures: Simple = SV; Compound = SV cc SV; Complex = sc s v, SV; Compound Complex = sc s v, SV + SV