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ESL 133 Grammar Basics
A. Sentences
B. Parts of Speech
C. Clauses and Conjunctions
A. Sentences
An English sentence is made up of a group of words including at least one subject and verb that go
together. The subject and verb work together: they agree in number and the verb says something
about the subject. The subject and verb may be next to each other or may be separated by other
words. A sentence begins with a capital letter and ends with a period:
College students study for several hours each day.
subject verb
One of my classmates spends several hours in the library every day.
subject
verb
A subject and a verb together make up a clause, the basic building block of English sentences, so it is
important to be able to recognize subjects and verbs in your own writing. You can find the verb easily
by looking for the word that changes when you change the tense of the sentence, then find the
subject by looking for the noun that goes with the verb:
Jane studies for several hours every day.
subject verb
Last night, she studied from 8 pm to 11 pm.
subject verb
The subject is a noun and may have other words associated with it, making up a noun phrase. Similarly,
the verb may be made up of more than one kind of verb, making up a verb phrase:
Students in college
noun and prepositional phrase
= a noun phrase
should study for several hours each day.
verbs, phrases, adverbs, etc.
= a verb phrase
If a group of words has sentence punctuation but does not include a subject-verb unit, then it is not a
sentence. It is an incomplete sentence or fragment.
Ex. 1. Decide if the following groups of words are sentences or fragments. For the sentences, identify
the subject and verb. For the fragments, add words to make them complete sentences and then
identify the subject and verb.
1. For a 4-unit class, students must attend class four hours a week.
2. A class on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons from 3 pm to 5 pm.
3. Students should do two hours of studying for each hour in class.
4. Each hour in class means two hours of homework.
5. Eight hours of studying for a 4-unit class.
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More about Sentences:
a. A sentence may have two or more nouns joined by a conjunction that make up one subject, or two or
more verbs joined by a conjunction that make up one verb phrase. These sentences have only one
clause:
Freshmen and sophomores take mostly lower division general education courses.
two or more nouns = count as one subject
They take mostly general education classes but also can start some courses in their majors.
two or more verbs = count as one verb phrase
b. There may be other verb forms in a sentence besides the verb that goes with the subject, such as
infinitives and participles. These other verbs do not agree with the subject or have tenses, so they do
not count as verbs in the subject-verb unit:
Incoming students do not have to declare their majors right away.
Present participle used as an adjective
infinitive
c. The sentences above are statements, ending in a period. There are two other kinds of sentences,
questions and exclamations, which are not used often in academic writing:
How many units does a student usually take each semester?
Last semester John took 23 units!
B. Parts of Speech
Besides the noun that acts as the subject of the sentence and the verb that goes with it, there are
other words that make up an English sentence. There are articles that identify nouns, adjectives that
modify nouns, and adverbs that modify verbs. Prepositions may go with verbs or they may begin a
prepositional phrase. Conjunctions are used to join parts of speech. It’s not necessary to identify
every word in a sentence, but it is important to be able to identify the subject-verb pairs.
College students study
adjective
noun
verb
hard
for
several
adverb preposition adjective
hours
noun
each
article
day.
noun
Common Parts of Speech:
noun – names a person, place, thing, or idea. May be a subject or object.
verb – names an action or state of being. Verbs include main verbs, auxiliary verbs, modal verbs,
participles, infinitives, and gerunds. A main verb and its auxiliary and/or modal verbs make up
a verb phrase.
adjective – describes a noun
adverb – describes a verb
preposition – indicates a relationship in time or space. A preposition and its noun make up
a prepositional phrase.
article – helps to identify a noun
conjunction – joins words or groups of words
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Ex. 2. In the following paragraph, identify the underlined parts of speech.
There are several kinds of colleges that students can attend in the United States. Some colleges
are public schools. They are supported by the state governments and serve mainly the residents of
the state. Other schools are private schools, which are not supported by the government, so their
tuition rates are higher. Many of the best-known American colleges and universities are private, such
as Harvard, Princeton, and Yale, but there are also excellent state schools, such as the University of
California and the University of Michigan.
C. Clauses and Conjunctions
The sentences above have only one subject-verb unit, so they have only one clause, a main or
independent clause. These sentences are called simple sentences. Clauses can be joined together
with conjunctions to make longer sentences. In the examples below, the conjunction is the shaded
word.
If the conjunction is a coordinating conjunction, the two clauses are considered to be two main clauses
and the sentence is called a compound sentence:
Freshmen and sophomores take mostly general education courses, and juniors and seniors take
subject
verb
subject
verb
mostly classes in their majors.
If the conjunction is a subordinating conjunction, one clause is the main clause and the clause that
begins with the subordinating conjunction is called subordinate or dependent clause. The sentence is
called a complex sentence:
When students reach their sophomore year, they are expected to declare their majors
subject verb
subject
verb
If a sentence has both coordinating and subordinating conjunctions, it is called a compound/complex
sentence.
When students take a lecture class, they should plan on studying outside of class, but they
subject verb
subject verb
subject
don’t have to study for a lab class.
verb
Ex. 3. In the following sentences, identify the subjects, verbs, and conjunctions. How many clauses
does each sentence have, and what kinds of clauses are they? Are the sentences simple, compound,
complex, or compound/complex?
1. When students take a lecture classes, they should do two hours of studying for each hour in class.
2. One of my classes meets on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons from 3 pm to 5 pm.
3. Each hour in class means two hours of homework, so I have eight hours of homework for this class.
4. I usually study alone, but sometimes my classmates and I meet as a study group to go over the
readings.
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5. If we have a long assignment, we divide up the work, so it is easier for us to complete it.
More about subordinate or dependent clauses:
Dependent clauses can function as nouns, adjectives, and adverbs in a sentence and are called noun
clauses, adjective clauses, and adverb clauses. Some teachers use the term subordinate clauses for
only the adverb clauses, and many teachers call adjective clauses relative clauses. The relative clause
conjunctions can also be called relative pronouns.
Noun and noun clause: Noun clauses follow verb about speaking and thinking, such as tell,
recommend, think, and believe, as well as verbs of the senses, such as hear and feel.
My advisor recommended something.
My advisor recommended that I should not take more than four classes at a time.
Adjective and adjective clause: Adjective clauses follow the noun that they describe.
Industrious students might be able to handle five classes.
Students who are industrious might be able to handle five classes.
Adverb and adverb clause: Adverb clauses can be placed before the main clause or after it.
I try to study often.
I try to study as often as I can.
As often as I can, I try to study.
Summary Table of Conjunctions
Coordinating Conjunctions
join two main clauses
Subordinating Conjunctions
join an adverb (subordinate)
clause to a main clause
Conjunctions for Noun
Clauses
join a noun clause to a main
clause
Conjunctions for Adjective
Clauses, also called Relative
Pronouns
join an adjective (relative)
clause to a main clause
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for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so
(“fanboys”)
because, although, if, unless
when, while, as, since, until,
before, after
where
in order that, so that
that
if, whether,
who, what, when, where, why,
how
who, whom, which
that
whose
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Ex. 4. In these sentences, mark the conjunctions with a plus (+) sign. Then identify the clauses as
main clauses, noun clauses, adjective clauses, or adverb clauses, and identify the sentences as simple,
compound, complex, or compound/complex.
1. In the United States, there are different kinds of colleges that students can go to.
2. Some colleges are private while other colleges are supported by a state government.
3. Private colleges are usually expensive, because the students must pay the whole cost of tuition, but
state schools are cheaper because they are supported by the tax-payers of the state.
4. Students can also choose between two-year colleges and four-year colleges.
5. They can save money if they go to a two-year college because these schools are cheaper and usually
close enough to live at home.
Ex. 5 Choose a paragraph from your own writing or from another source. Make a copy of the
paragraph and analyze the sentences as follows:
a. Mark the subjects, verbs and conjunctions.
b. Identify the sentences as simple, compound, complex, or compound/complex.
c. Identify the clauses as main, noun, adjective, or adverb clauses.
Summary of Grammar Terms in Chapter 1
clause - a group of words with a subject and verb
sentence – a group of words that has at least one main clause. Questions are sentences, as
are imperatives, although they lack a subject.
main clause or independent clause – a clause that can stand alone as a complete sentence
subordinate or dependent clause – a clause that cannot stand alone and must be joined to a
main clause in order to form a complete sentence
incomplete sentence or fragment – a group of words that has sentence punctuation but is not a
complete sentence. It may be missing a subject, a verb, or a main clause.
phrase – a group of words without a subject and verb
coordinating conjunction - joins two independent clauses, each of which can stand alone as
a sentence. The conjunction is not considered to be part of either clause.
subordinating conjunction - joins a dependent clause to a main clause. The subordinating conjunction
is considered to be part of the subordinate clause.
simple sentence – a sentence with one main clause
compound sentence – a sentence with two main clauses, joined by a coordinating conjunction
complex sentence – a sentence with two clauses, one main and one dependent, joined by a subordinating
conjunction
compound/complex sentence – a sentence with at least three clauses, two main and one subordinate,
joined with appropriate conjunctions
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