Name _____________________________________________________________ Date __________________________________ Period ______________
GRAMMAR REVIEW: WRITTEN AND ORAL ENGLISH LANGUAGE CONVENTIONS
CAHSEE PREPARATION: UNIT THREE
Standard(s) Addressed:
Grade 7 Review WOC: 1.2 Identify and use infinitives and participles and make clear references between pronouns and antecedents; 1.3 Identify all parts of
speech and types and structure of sentences; 1.4 Demonstrate the mechanics of writing (e.g., quotation marks, commas at end of dependent clauses) and
appropriate English usage (e.g., pronoun reference).
ESLR:
Reflective Communicators: Think, read, write, listen, speak well
Directions: At the start of class each day you are to have this paper on your desk. When the bell rings you are to
begin working on the activity. Each of these activities is designed to prepare you for the CAHSEE on March 8th, so
pay attention!
Grammar Activity (Tuesday, 2/14): “Identifying Verbs”
A verb is a word that expresses an action or a state of being. Float, sniff, discover, seem, were, and was are all
examples of verbs.
Practice: Circle all of the verbs in the following paragraphs and answer the questions below.
Creative writing is the best class! We try to activate all of our senses. One day our teacher gave us gelatin cubes.
We looked at them, felt them, smelled them, bounced them, tasted them. Perry Thompson pretended to have a
conversation with his cube after he named it Ebenezer. Some days we go for a walk around the school or through the
halls in order to use all our senses. Mrs. Zechel’s home economics class invited us to tea. That required all of our senses
and our best manners.
Each week we get an anthology of our writings: the best satire, the best poem, the best sentence, a list of the best
strong nouns and verbs, the piece with the best sentence variety, a list of the most common errors, and so forth. Our
teacher writes comments on all these pieces; these comments are useful. We can all discover what she sees in our
writing. Some days we write to music. We read some of our best writings at the local coffee shop several evenings
throughout the semester. Once a week we measure our fluency by printing on a banner and then measuring the length of
the banner. Last week I wrote seven feet! I am learning a lot in creative writing. The writing practice is good for me.
1. List two linking verbs. _________________________________________
2. List two auxiliary (helping) verbs. ____________________________________
3. List five past tense verbs. _______________________________________________________
4. List six present tense verbs. _____________________________________________________________
5. List an irregular verb. ________________________________
Grammar Activity (Tuesday, 2/14) three principal parts: the present, past and past participle. All six tenses are
formed from these principal parts. The past and past participle of regular verbs are formed by adding –ed to the
present form. For irregular verbs, the past and past participle are usually different words; however, a few have the
same form in all three principal parts.
Grammar Memory Check: A verb expresses an ___________________ or a state of ______________________.
Practice: Each of the following sentences has errors in verb tense in addition to other proofreading errors. Each
question will identify the errors you are to find and correct in the sentence provided.
1. Verb tense, comma (appositive), capitalization
Tattooing the art of making designs on the face and body by inserting dye under the skin is practiced in Egypt
before 1300 b.c.e.
2. Verb tense, run-on sentence, comma (appositive), numbers, punctuation (title)
Gone with the Wind the only book ever written by Margaret Mitchell was published in 1937 and sells 1,500,000
copies in its first year it weighed 3 pounds and sold for 3 dollars.
3. Verb tense, comma, abbreviation, comma splice
Basketball All-Star Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 pts. in one game on March 2 1962, in the same year he scores
4029 points, a record far from being matched.
4. Verb tense, quotation marks, capitalization, comma, end punctuation
Cars my Mother exclaimed when our car dies its third death in a month. “As your dad says, you can’t live with
them and you can’t live without them.”
5. Subject-verb agreement, capitalization, italics (underlining)
The hawaiian word Aloha and the hebrew word Shalom means both hello and good-bye.
Grammar Activity (Thursday, 2/16): “Joining Parallel Structures”
The coordinating conjunctions and, or, and but can join parts of sentences; the sentence parts are called parallel
because they are similar grammatical structures that express similar ideas. The parallel structures in the sentences
below are underlined:
Shauna and Lisa watch movies every weekend.
Shauna laughs or cries during the films.
Lisa eats popcorn constantly but quietly.
Practice: In the following exercise, you will be joining together sets of sentences like the ones below. (Notice the
crossed-out words; when you join parallel structures, you can be more concise because you avoid repeating
words.) The joining word and, but, and or is given in brackets to tell you which word to use.
Example: Rudy started the car.
Example: Latisha ate a burrito.
[and]
[and]
Rudy backed out of the driveway.
Latisha ate a taco.
Solution: Rudy started the car and backed out of the
Solution: Latisha ate a burrito and a taco.
driveway.
1. Sonia was planning to move into the dorms. [or] Sonia was planning to move into an apartment with a friend.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
2. She listed the benefits of each place. [and] She listed the drawbacks of each place.
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3. The apartment was close to campus. [and] The apartment was close to the mall.
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4. The dorm fee was more expensive. [but] The dorm fee included room and board.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
5. She could have her own room in the apartment. [but] She would have to share a dorm room with another
student.
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6. Sonia knew her friend was studious and responsible. [but] Sonia didn’t know what her dorm roommate would
be like.
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Grammar Activity (Monday, 2/27): “Joining Three or More Parallel Ideas”
The coordinating conjunctions and, or, and but can also join three or more elements in a sentence; all of the
elements should have similar grammatical structures.
Example: Shauna, her boyfriend, and Lisa watch movies every weekend.
Rudy started the car, backed out of the driveway, and crashed into the potted plant.
Often a series of parallel structures has descriptive modifiers.
Example: Yesterday I finished my homework, took my sister to the dentist, cooked dinner, and went to bed at
midnight.
The important thing is that the parallel parts—the verbs finished, took, cooked, and went—all have the same
grammatical structure (past tense) and can follow the sentence subject—I.
Grammar Memory Check: Sentence parts joined by coordinating conjunctions (_______, or, and _______) are called
parallel because they are ________________ grammatical structures that express ______________________ ideas.
Practice: Combine the following sets of sentences to create one sentence that contains a parallel series of two,
three, or four parts. The coordinators are given in brackets and the end of the final sentence.
1. They wanted to travel around the world. They wanted to learn about different cultures. They wanted to
become independent. [and]
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2. Fenwick thought he could become a captain. Fenwick thought he could become an admiral. [or]
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
3. Morton wanted to make a lot of money. Morton wanted to meet a lot of people. [and]
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4. Sally wanted experience as a naval engineer. Sally wanted opportunities to do undersea photography. [and]
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5. Sally became an excellent underwater photographer. Sally was promoted to captain. Sally began to give
orders to Fenwick and Morton. [and]
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6. Fenwick soon realized he would never become an admiral. Fenwick realized that he would never become a
captain. He grew tired of taking orders. [or, and]
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
7. Morton met a lot of people. Morton made a lot of money. He didn’t have any place to spend it. [and, but]
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
8. Fenwick decided to stage a mutiny. Morton decided to stage a mutiny. They disagreed over tactics. [and,
but]
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Grammar Activity (Monday, 2/27): “Forms of Adjectives”
An adjective describes or modifies a noun or a pronoun. The articles a, an, and the are also adjectives.
There are two types of adjectives: (a) a proper adjective, which is created from a proper noun and capitalized
(e.g., Canada, American); and (b) a predicate adjective, which follows a form of the “be” verb (or other linking
verb) and describes the subject. (e.g., Late autumn seems grim to those who love summer. The adjective grim
describes the subject autumn.)
There are three forms of adjectives: positive, comparative, and superlative.
 The positive form describes a noun or a pronoun without comparing it to anyone or anything else.
The first game was long and tiresome.
 The comparative form (-er, more, or less) compares two persons, places, things, or ideas.
The second game was longer and more tiresome than the first.
 The superlative form (-est, most, or least) compares three or more persons, places, things, or ideas.
The third game was the longest and most tiresome of all.
Practice: Read each sentence below. Then rewrite it using the positive, comparative, and/or superlative form of
the underlined adjective.
1. Positive: Michael Jordan was a good basketball player.
2. Comparative: Michael Jordan was a better basketball player than Larry Bird.
3. Superlative: _____________________________________
4. Positive: ______________________________________
5. Comparative: Dracula is a scarier creature than Godzilla.
6. Superlative: ________________________________________________
7. Positive: _________________________________________________________
8. Comparative: __________________________________________________
9. Superlative: That was the best meal I’ve ever eaten.
10. Positive: I feel silly today.
11. Comparative: _________________________________________________________
12. Superlative: ______________________________________________________
13. Positive: ______________________________
14. Comparative: _______________________________________
15. Superlative: This is the most remarkable painting I have ever seen.
Grammar Activity (Tuesday, 2/28): “Proofreading: Identifying Common Errors”
Test your knowledge of usage, grammar, spelling, and other common errors by answering the questions below.
Each sentence is either correct, or one of its underlined sections contains an error (no sentence contains two
errors). Circle the incorrect section of the sentence and correct it. If the sentence contains no error, circle “no
error.”
1. The other delegates and him immediately accepted the resolution drafted by the neutral states. No error
2. A town on the plains of Colombia uses solar panels to generate most of their electricity. No error
3. People from my school who are going to the party in Bristol are Paula, Tran, and me. No error
4. Cleopatra who was twenty years old when Julius Caesar landed in Egypt, was competing with her brother,
Ptolemy XIII, for power in Egypt. No error
5. Glenn has seen amazing tricks but he doubts that anyone can squeeze blood out of turnips. No error
6. When we finally arrived at the cottage, a note and a bowl of fresh fruit was waiting for us. No error
7. Kacy’s guiding principle when purchasing stationery seemed to be finding the best buy. No error
8. “Whom will attend the jazz concert at the high school just south of downtown?” wondered Connor. No
error
Grammar Activity (Tuesday, 2/28): “Forms of Adverbs”
An adverb modifies or describes a verb, an adjective, or another adverb.
Adverbs can be cataloged in four basic ways: time, place, manner, and degree.
Note: Some adverbs can be written with or without the –ly ending. When in doubt, use the –ly form.
Adverbs of manner have three forms: positive, comparative, and superlative.
 The positive form describes a verb, an adjective, or another adverb without comparing it to anyone or anything
else.
Model X vacuum cleans well and runs smoothly.
 The comparative form (-er, more, or less) compares how two things are done.
Model Y vacuum cleans better and runs more quietly than model X does.
 The superlative form (-est, most, or least) compares how three or more things are done.
Model Z vacuum cleans best and runs most quietly of all.
Grammar Memory Check: Adjectives modify or describe ________________ or ____________________. Adverbs modify or
describe a verb, an _________________, or another ______________________.
Practice: Add an adverb to each sentence below. Be sure to use the correct form. (Note: most one-syllable adverbs
take the endings –er or –est to create the comparative and superlative forms, but longer adverbs and almost all
those ending in –ly use more and most or less and least.)
1. The part of growing up on a ranch that I liked ____________ of all was having acres and acres of native prairie
to roam.
2. One part of ranching that I did very _______________ was riding horses.
3. The horses moved quite __________________.
4. Whenever my horse veered suddenly to put a cow back in the herd, I had to try ______________ to stay in the
saddle.
5. Susan, my sister, was a great rider, and she could control horses _______________ than I could.
6. For pleasure riding, we used several horses, and I liked Goldie _____________ of all because she was a
Tennessee Walker with a smooth gait.
7. We went on trail rides __________________ than most children.
8. Dad would ____________________ carry us in a blanket.
9. On an early summer morn, my sister and I often rode ___________________ to the top of Juneberry Hill to pick
berries.
10. Mom, compared to all the rest of us, was the ______________ likely to drive our pickup.
11. She packed picnic breakfasts _________________than I did.
12. After eating, we would ___________________ fill our buckets with berries and head for home.