Mid Term Grammar Review (7th Grade)
Test on Thursday, December 18th (9:40 AM – 11:30 AM)
Bring reading or study material
Nouns (person, place, thing or idea)
Count Nouns (concrete/singular and plural forms): book, city, women, hats
Give two examples of a concrete noun:_______________________________________
Count nouns use few/fewer/fewest for comparison purposes (adjectives)
He has fewer cookies than she does.
Non-count Nouns (abstract/no plural forms): popcorn, valor, pride, love
Non-count nouns can be pluralized in rare cases (fishes, cheeses) to indicate types, but you should
provide other examples on your test
Non-count nouns use little/less/least for comparison purposes (adjectives)
Charles had less bravery than the knight on the horse.
Give two examples of an abstract noun: _______________________________________
Know the irregular pluralization of nouns like goose/geese, ox/oxen, sheep/sheep, fungus/fungi,
loaf/loaves, brother-in-law/brothers-in-law, etc….
Write two irregular noun plurals (not included above): _______________________________
Nouns as Subjects (who or what the sentence is about): Jack is the leader of the team. The book was
made into a movie. Dallas is a big city. Fame is not all it’s cracked up to be.
Subject Complements: subject complements follow a linking verb and rename the subject (S=SC):
Jack was the guy who led the team to victory. The girls were the basketball players who won the game.
Christmas is the best time of year.
When you’re looking for the subject complement, do not include modifiers (adjectives)—underline only
the actual noun that renames the subject.
Write a sentence using S=SC (subject, linking verb, subject complement):
___________________________________________________________________________
Direct Objects: answer “whom or what” after the verb; I set the book down. She drank a whole cup of
eggnog. Do not include prepositional phrases with the direct objects (prior sentence does not include
“of eggnog” because it is a prepositional phrase).
Indirect Objects: answer “to/for whom or to/for what” after the verb; I gave Bill the book; I threw my
cat the toy.
Objects of a Preposition: always follow a preposition! Know your prepositions, and you’ll always be
able to find the object. The class [with the treats] went crazy [over the candy]. The field trip [to the
chocolate factory] was fun [for everyone].
Object Complement: rename the object (usually with verbs like call/choose/elect/make/name); The
teacher called Franklin the smartest turtle in the room. The drama coach named Sharalyn best actress of
the year. I elected seventh grade upper school champions.
Write a sentence that contains one direct object (DO), one indirect object (IO), and one object of a
preposition (OP); label accordingly.
___________________________________________________________________________________
Appositives: follow the noun and help identify it; The book, an old manual, was written in 1868.
The teacher, a fantastic magician, enthralled his students.
Appositive Phrase: includes the appositive and its modifiers (in the sentences above: an old manual and
a fantastic magician)
Non-Restrictive: set off by commas; not necessary to meaning (can be removed)
The singer, a brunette, was slightly off pitch.
Sometimes the class, a group of twenty-eight students, could do no wrong.
Restrictive: necessary to determine meaning (cannot be removed without confusion):
The singer Justin Bieber is loved by many young girls.
Cindy’s friend Janet is a very giving person.
Write a sentence using an appositive phrase and indicate whether it is restrictive or non-restrictive:
_________________________________________________________________________________
Possessive Nouns (express ownership): boy’s, Jane’s, teachers’ (plural), teacher’s (singular); to form the
possessive of a compound noun you must add ’s to the end of the word: mother-in-law’s or editor-inchief’s.
Separate Possession: two or more nouns with independent ownership; each noun gets an ‘s
John’s and Will’s books will be published this fall. (separate ownership)
Joint Possession: one thing is owned by two or more people; only the last noun gets the ’s
John and Will’s publisher was a great guy. (joint ownership)
Create a sentence demonstrating either joint or separate ownership: ______________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
Adjectives: Adjectives modify nouns, pronouns, subjects, phrases and/or clauses by describing
number, color, size, type or other qualities
Subject Complement: adjectives that follow a linking verb and describe the subject
The rainbow was colorful because of the sun. The book was good.
Object Complement: follows the direct object and describes it
He called the picture beautiful. They named him man of the year.
(!) Demonstrative Adjectives: point out definite person/place/thing/idea: this, that, these, those
(Remember that the demonstrative adjectives become demonstrative pronouns when they replace a noun
instead of modifying it.)
He gave that book to his sister for Christmas.
(?) Interrogative Adjectives: what, which (usually a set or group), and whose (possessive)
Whose sweater is still in the lost and found?
(#) Indefinite Adjectives: refer to any or all of a group; all, any, both, each, either, few, some, etc….
must match in number: either/neither/every/each/another are always singular
Some students are really good at studying for tests. Each is special in its own way.
Understand and be able to create examples of the following adjectives:
Positive (fat) shows a quality
Comparative (fatter) compares a quality between two items or two sets of items
Superlative (fattest) compares three or more items
Know when to use more or less/most or least in a sentence (more/less=count nouns, most/least=non
count nouns) and be able to form irregular comparative adjectives (good/better/best, fun/more
fun/most fun, little/less/least, bad/worse/worst)
Few and Little
Count Nouns (concrete) take few/fewer/fewest: His paper had few mistakes.
Non-Count Nouns (abstract) take little/less/least: Their idea was least popular.
Create a sentence using few and another sentence using less.
____________________________________________________________________________
Adjective Phrases
An adjective phrase is simply a group of words that describe something; phrases DO NOT have a
predicate (verb) and a subject… that’s how we tell them apart from clauses.
Prepositional Phrases: include a preposition, object of the preposition and any modifiers (adjectives)
He went to Santa’s house. (prepositional phrase)
Dolls with long hair usually wear braids. (adjective prepositional phrase that modifies dolls)
Create a sentence using a prepositional phrase that acts like an adjective:
___________________________________________________________________________
Clauses have a subject and a predicate/verb.
The state, which was known for its warm weather, was covered in snow.
A Dependent Clause cannot stand on its own; it becomes an Adjective Clause if it describes or
modifies something:
Restrictive Adjective Clause (necessary to determine proper meaning, usually begins with THAT)
The test that he aced was supposed to be really hard.
If we take out the italicized clause above, we change the meaning of the sentence.
Use the relative pronoun “that” in restrictive clauses.
Non-Restrictive Adjective Clause (not necessary to meaning, set off in commas, begin with WHICH)
The mouse, which was never caught, is still loose somewhere in the attic.
We can take out the italicized clause above and not change the meaning of the sentence.
Create a sentence using a restrictive adjective clause:
___________________________________________________________________________
Create a sentence using a non-restrictive adjective clause:
_____________________________________________________________________________
Pronouns (pronouns rename a noun)
Pronouns are classified as: subject, object, possessive, intensive/reflexive, interrogative, demonstrative,
relative and indefinite.
Antecedent (the word, phrase or clause to which the pronoun refers/occurs before pronoun); antecedents
must agree in gender/number/person with the noun they rename.
Person:
1st Person: person speaking (I, me, we, us)
2nd Person: person or thing spoken to (you)
3rd Person: person or thing spoken about (he/she/they, him/her/them, it)
Gender: masculine (he), feminine (she), neuter (it)
Number: singular (I), plural (they)
Subject Pronouns: (I, you, he, she, it, we, they); pronouns as the subject or subject complement
I am the leader of the band. Frank— he is the tall guy— is the lead singer.
Subject pronouns can always begin a sentence; object pronouns cannot.
Object Pronouns: (me, you, him, her, it, us, them) pronouns can be objects of a verb or a preposition
Jan hit me on top of the head. (direct object)
Jan kicked the ball toward me. (indirect object)
Jan ran with him to find the lost ball. (object of a preposition)
When the pronoun choice occurs in the middle/end of the sentence, remember to either take the sentence
apart or to finish the thought before deciding whether a pronoun should be a subject or an object: I/me,
him/he, her/she. Dad gave the money to them and me. The family and I went to the mall.
Same rule applies with Than or As
Jan is faster than I (am fast). Paul is more lazy than he (is lazy).
Frank is as good as she (is). I enjoyed the movie more than (I enjoyed) him.
Possessive Pronouns: (mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, theirs) NO apostrophe!
Ours is the best class in the world.
That book is yours.
Whatever he takes is his.
Possessive Pronouns stand alone (The book is mine);
Possessive Adjectives modify a noun (His book is on the table)
Intensive Pronouns (end in –self or –selves) emphasize the noun or pronoun they follow: (she herself
fixed the car); we tend to avoid using these in our language.
DO NOT use “hisself” or “theirselves” since they do not exist!!!!
Write a single sentence that uses one subject pronoun and one object pronoun:
_________________________________________________________________________________.
Reflexive Pronouns (myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves) are
usually used as objects that rename the subject (I hurt myself); they can also be indirect objects (He
cooked himself a hot dog) and objects of a preposition (They took it upon themselves to leave).
Make sure that Pronouns agree with their Antecedents (what precedes them) in number/gender/person!
Students are smart, so you must be careful with them. This concept also applies to subject/verb
agreement (beauty and talent ARE rare).
Demonstrative Pronouns specify a definite person, place, or thing (this, that, these, those)
Indefinite Pronouns are non-specific
All, any, more, most, none, some (these can be either plural or singular);
Another, anyone, anything, each, much, one (singular);
Both, few, many, several (plural);
Make sure your indefinite pronouns ALWAYS match the verb you’re using with them:
All are here; anything goes; each is special.
Indefinite Pronouns can be used as subjects or objects (direct, indirect, object of preposition, and
adjectives). Know these concepts!
Everybody wanted to get into the concert. (Subject)
He took all of the books back to the library. (DO)
They gave everyone a box of donuts. (IO)
Why didn’t Jan listen to anyone at the meeting? (Object of Preposition)
Few students can write a perfect paper. (Adjective)
Interrogative Pronouns ask questions (whose, which, what, who/whom)
Who: subject of a question (Who went with you?)
Whom: object of a verb or preposition (To whom did he give the gift?)
Whose: asks possession (Whose coat is this?)
Which: asks about a group (Which restaurant has the best pizza?)
What: asks about things (What did the waiter bring?)
Relative Pronouns join dependent clauses to their antecedents: who, whom, whose, which, that.
The animal that tried to escape is over there.
The player who broke the record is really fast.
Who/Whom in relative pronouns uses the same rule as the Interrogative Pronouns above:
Who as subject (The girl who went to the store has gotten lost.)
Whom as object (The man to whom the letter was sent has moved.)
Tricky choices (circle the correct relative pronoun, but beware of hiding prepositions!):
(Who/Whom) was talking before school?
(Who/Whom) was he talking to before school?
Write any questions you have in the space below!