Grammar Test Review
to be used with
Study Guide Worksheet
ebrazele@echs.org
Tutorial schedule: Mondays at ECHS
Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday at
Heritage K8, room 5 (building 1875)
Topic One: Sentence types
There are four types of sentences in the English language.
They are:
Declarative: A statement which always ends with a period.
Interrogative: A question, which always ends with a question
mark.
Imperative: A command or request, which may end with either a
period or an exclamation mark.
Exclamatory: Expresses strong feeling. Always ends with an
exclamation mark.
Sentence Type Examples
Declarative
Many of the examples in the grammar book come from Johnny
Tremain.
The Liberty Bell is in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
We will take a grammar test next week.
Hector told his brother to bring him a pencil.
Notice that declarative sentences always end with a period. They are
a simple statement, and do not express strong emotion. They can be
any length, and about any topic.
Sentence Type Example
Interrogative
Is Johnny Tremain your favorite book?
Did you take out the trash yet?
What is your favorite color?
Notice that interrogative sentences are always questions.
They always end with a question mark.
Remember, if a witness is being interrogated by the police,
they are being questioned. An interrogative is a question.
Sentence Examples
Imperative
Bring me a pencil.
Get out of here!
Please try harder.
Do not open that box!
Notice that imperative sentences are always a command or request. The subject of an
imperative is the understood you. If you can not find the subject of a sentence like this, it is
most likely an imperative.
For example, if the first sentence, “Bring me a pencil,” we know the predicate (action) is the
word “bring”. The subject of the sentence is the person or thing performing the action. In this
sentence, it is not clear who will be bringing the pencil. That is because the command is
directed at you. You are the subject, even though it is not clearly stated. This is called the
understood you. If you see a sentence where the understood you is the subject, it is an
imperative.
Sentence Example
Exclamatory
I won the lottery!
The house is on fire!
That dog is salsa dancing!
Notice that exclamatory statements always end with an
exclamation mark. They show strong emotion. They do not
give a command or request.
Capitalization
Capital letters are needed for the following:
•The pronoun I
•Proper names of people, places, or things (Proper
nouns)
- for example, Boston Harbor, Mr. Jones, Main
Street, Regal Cinemas
•The first word of a quotation (not a citation)
•The first and last words of a title
•All verbs in a title
•Prepositions longer than five letters in a title
•All nouns in a title
Simple Subject and Simple Predicate
Remember, when asked to diagram simple subject and simple predicate, you must use the
t-chart template as shown below.
Subject
Predicate
If you fail to use this template, you will not receive credit for your work!
Subject: Who or what the sentence is about.
Predicate: The action taken by the subject (the verb).
When confused, look for the predicate first. The predicate is the action. Then decide who
or what is performing that action. That will be your subject.
Remember, many sentences have direct objects in addition to subjects. Direct objects
receive the action, while a subject performs the action.
Abstract and Concrete Nouns
Concrete nouns: Name a person, place, or thing that you can touch, smell, hear, taste, or
see. Remember, I could ask you to go outside and touch the concrete.
Abstract nouns: Name an idea or concept that can’t be touched, seen, smelled, heard, or
tasted. Remember, I can’t ask you to touch the abstract.
Concrete Nouns
Abstract Nouns
table
joy
shoe
Wednesday
student
time
flower
anger
air
weekend
water
Christmas
Cell phone
belief
Fragments, run-ons, and complete sentences
Complete sentence: Complete sentences express a complete
thought, and have both a subject and a predicate.
Fragment: A sentence fragment expresses an incomplete thought. It
may be missing either the subject or the predicate. If the sentence
can’t be broken into two smaller sentences (each with its own
subject and predicate), it is a fragment.
Run – On: A run on sentence expresses two or more thoughts, and
lacks the appropriate linking words or punctuation. If a sentence
could be broken into two smaller sentences (and each of those
sentences must have their own subject and predicate), then it is a
run-on.
Important reminder!!!!
When asked to “make a complete sentence from
a fragment”, you MUST write out the entire
sentence. You will NOT receive credit for writing a
few words accompanied by ellipses.
For example, if the fragment is, “Trying to make
homemade pizza,” your response should be
something like, “I am trying to make homemade
pizza.” I will not accept answers such as, “I am…”.
You need to demonstrate your ability to write a
full, grammatically correct sentence.
The present tense refers to an action which is
happening right now. When the subject is singular,
we add an s to the verb. Do not add an s to the verb
if the singular subject is either I or you. For example:
Roosters crow.
I pack.
We vote.
The rooster crows.
He packs.
She votes.
Present tense verbs
If the verb ends in s, x, z, ch, or sh, we add -es to the
verb if the subject is singular. If the subject is plural,
the verb remains the same. For example:
We clash.
The militia clashes.
Bees buzz.
A bee buzzes.
Seamstresses patch. A seamstress patches.
The future tense refers to an action
which has not yet occurred. The future
tense is normally formed with the helping
verbs shall or will. With the pronouns I an
we, the use of shall is used in formal
writing. For example:
He will serve.
They will vote.
You will smile.
We shall serve.
They shall vote.
They will smile.
Past tense verbs represent an action which already occurred.
Normally, in order to modify a verb to represent past tense, you just
add the –ed suffix. For example:
Jumped
Helped
Cooked
danced
When a verb is a single syllable word which ends with a vowel
followed by a single consonant, you will usually double the
consonant before adding the –ed. For example:
flap becomes flapped
lag becomes lagged
drag becomes dragged
Noun Genders
In grammar, there are four genders: masculine, feminine, indefinite, and
neuter.
masculine
feminine
indefinite
neuter
grandfather
grandmother
grandparent
pizza
brother
sister
sibling
shoe
stallion
mare
horse
chair
rooster
hen
chicken
bicycle
Coach Brose
Ms. Brazele
teacher
stapler
Oscar
Henrietta
student
nest
Indefinite vs. Neuter Nouns
Indefinite nouns represent people or animals which
have a gender, but the word itself doesn’t specify
what the gender is. For example, if I said
“grandparent”, I’m referring to a person who has a
gender, but you would not know if that person was
male or female.
Neuter nouns represent objects which have no
biological gender. For example, even though a dress
may belong to a girl, it is an object and has no
biological gender of its own.