Freshman Grammar Cheat Sheet
Parts of Speech
1). Noun – A word that represents a person, place, thing or idea.
2). Pronoun – A word that replaces a noun.
Antecedent – The noun that is being replaced by a pronoun.
Personal – I, Me, Us, We, You, (Y’all), He, Him, She, Her, It, They, Them
Possessive – My, Mine, Our, Ours, Your, Yours, (Y’alls), His, Her, Hers, Its, Their, Theirs
Reflexive/Intensive – Myself, Ourselves, Yourself, Yourselves, Himself, Herself, Itself, Themselves
(Reflective adds necessary info to sentence)
3). Verb – A word that shows time, action, or existence.
Action – A verb that shows a mental or visible action.
Transitive – A verb that transfers its action to a noun or pronoun.
Intransitive – A verb that does not transfers its action to a noun or pronoun.
Helping – A verb that can be added to another verb to make a single verb phrase.
Linking – A verb that links the subject with a descriptive word at the end of the sentence.
4). Adjective – A word that modifies (describes) a noun or pronoun.
Articles – A, An, The
Coordinate Adjective – Two or more adjectives in a row that could be reversed or have “and”
between them & still keep the same meaning.
5). Adverb – A word that modifies (describes) a verb, adjective, or another adverb.
6). Preposition – A word showing a relationship between a noun/pronoun (Obj. of Prep.) & another
word.
7). Conjunction – A word used to join words, phrases, or clauses.
Coordinating – A word used to join words, phrases, or clauses that are grammatically equal.
FANYBOYS: For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So
Correlative – Words that work in pairs to join grammatically equal words, phrases, or clauses.
Subordinating – A word used to join an independent clause with a dependent clause.
8). Interjection – A word that expresses emotion and is independent of the sentence.
Parts of Sentence
1). Subject – The noun(s)/pronoun(s) that perform the action of the sentence (includes any modifiers).
2). Predicate – Verb(s) that represent the action of the sentence (includes any modifiers).
3). Compliment – Word(s) needed to complete the meaning of the predicate (includes any modifiers).
Subject Compliment – An adjective/noun that follows a linking verb and modifies the subject.
Direct Object – A noun or pronoun that follows a transitive verb: answers S + V + “What?”
Indirect Object – A noun or pronoun sometimes used when there is a direct object:
Freshman Grammar Cheat Sheet
answers S + V + DO + “To whom/what?”
Important Terms
Compound – Containing two or more parts.
Phrase – A group of words that goes together.
Clause – A group of words that goes together AND has a subject and predicate.
Independent – A clause that is a complete thought by itself.
Dependent/Subordinate – A clause that cannot be a complete thought by itself.
Simple Sentence – A sentence that has only one complete subject and predicate.
Compound Sentence – A sentence made up of two or more independent clauses.
Complex Sentence – A sentence with at least one dependent/subordinate clause.
Compound Complex Sentence – A compound sentence that also has a dependent/subordinate clause.
Sentence Patterns
Pattern 1: Subject + Intransitive Action Verb
S
+
IAV
Pattern 2: Subject + Transitive Action Verb (+ Indirect Object) + Direct Object
S
+
TAV
(+ IO)
+
DO
Pattern 3: Subject + Linking Verb + Subject Complement
S
+
LV
+
SC
Pattern 4: Sentence Pattern 1, 2, or 3 + , Coordinating Conjunction + Sentence Pattern 1, 2, or 3
SP1/2/3
+
, Coord. Conj.
+
SP1/2/3
Punctuation Rules
Comma Rule 1: Complete idea +
Comma Rule 2: Complete idea
,
,
,
Coordinating Conjunction + Complete idea.
Incomplete idea.
,
OR
Comma Rule 3: Series item 1 Series item 2 and Series item 3
Incomplete idea
,
Complete idea.
,
OR Coord. Adjective 1 Coord. Adjective 2
Freshman Grammar Cheat Sheet
Semicolon Rule:
;
Complete idea + + Complete idea