Name: ____________________________________
Period: _______
Grammar and Style Packet:
October
Some of this material has already been covered in class;
some of it will be covered later this month. You should be able to do
the packet independently, and it will help you prepare for class.
Submit your Monthly Grammar and Style Packet to the Packet
Box no later than the last school day of the month (Friday 10/31—
Halloween). You can always turn it in early!
Even if you are able to finish your packet during school
hours, always take it home and ask a relative or homework helper to
review it with you before you turn it in.
If you ever have any trouble, remember you can always come
to my classroom at lunch on the first and last days of the week for
individual help. 
I have no extras. If you lose your packet, you will have to
print another from my teacher website (www.lusd.org/Page/3380).
This Month’s Learning Objectives:





Correctly format interjections.
Break down (analyze) words by root, prefix, and suffix.
Tell the difference between action verbs and linking verbs.
Identify the various forms, or “disguises,” of to be.
Turn verbs into gerunds (nouns that look like verbs) and
identify gerunds as nouns in a sentence.
 Break down sentences into simple subjects and simple
predicates.
 Do a writing exercise where no forms of to be are used.
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It is best to read this page before beginning, but do not expect to
understand or remember it all the first time you see it. Instead,
after you read it once or twice, work through the packet, which will
let you start to practice the rules. Return to this page as you work.
Definitely review it again before doing your Write It! on the last few
pages.
October’s Formal Writing Rules:
1) An interjection is a part of speech that can “stand alone.” It
does not form part of the subject or the predicate of a
sentence. It only expresses some sort of emotion, not thought.
It either “stands alone,” separate from other sentences with
end-punctuation, or it can be joined to a sentence with a
comma. Great! I got an A on the test. OR Well, I brought some
pictures so that everyone can see.
2) Some words can be analyzed (broken down) into smaller
pieces. These smaller pieces are roots and affixes. They don’t
stand alone, like words. They are not words. They are like word
building blocks.
3) The root of a word is also called its base. For example, the root
of interviewer is –view-. The root –view- will have the same
meaning in every word that it appears in.
4) Affixes include prefixes and suffixes.
5) Prefixes are attached before a word. For example, the prefix of
interviewer is inter—. The prefix inter- will have the same
meaning in every word that it appears in.
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6) Suffixes are attached after a word. For example, the suffix of
interviewer is –er. The suffix –er will have the same meaning
in every word that it appears in.
7) Not all words can be broken down into roots and affixes.
Common words often can’t. However, a large number of
advanced, professional vocabulary words do have roots and
affixes.
8) There are two types of verbs, action verbs and linking verbs.
(These are sometimes called “doing” verbs and “being” verbs.)
9) The most common linking verb is to be. It has many difference
appearances! Memorize these appearances of to be: am, is,
are, was, were, will be, used to be, have been, had been.
10)
You can turn verbs into nouns by adding the suffix –ing!
The result is called a gerund. Skateboarding is fun. Shouting
takes a lot of energy. Do you like fishing?
11)
A simple subject or a simple predicate is the single most
important word in the subject or predicate. If you write the
simple subject and the simple predicate of a correct sentence,
it should form another correct sentence.
12)
A simple subject is always a noun. Example: The dog
wags her tail. Swimming on a hot day is fun.
13)
A simple predicate is always a verb. Example: The dog
wags her tail. Swimming on a hot day is fun.
14)
In general, action verbs are considered more colorful and
powerful than linking verbs. You want to use more action verbs
than linking verbs in your writing.
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Interjections
The four “easy” parts of speech are: noun, adjective, verb, and
adverb.
Part of Speech
noun
adjective
verb
adverb
Definition
A person, place,
thing, event, idea, or
feeling.
Describes a noun.
Action or being.
Describes a verb or
an adjective. Often
ends in –ly.
Examples
You are really cute.
She plays well. He
shouted angrily.
There are four parts of speech left. The easiest one to identify
in the “advanced” group is definitely the interjection.
Interjections are easy to spot because they are separate from a
sentence. They don’t really a part of the subject or part of the
predicate.
This is because interjections are not “thoughtful” words.
Remember that a sentence expresses a complete idea. Interjections
have less to do with thought, and more to do with emotions:




Hey! Get off my property.
Yo! Where have you been?
Great! See you then!
Um, I think he went that
way.
 Yes, collect $200.
 No! I won’t do any more
raking today.
 Well, I’ll do that part if
you do this part.
 Cool! Joey will work on an
illustration, and everyone
else can write a separate
paragraph.
 Huh, I didn’t know that.
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Notice that interjections can either “stand alone” as a single
word with a capital letter and an exclamation point, or it can “join”
the next sentence with a comma.
It is incorrect to write an interjection “joining” a sentence
without a comma:
No I won’t do any more raking today.
Well I’ll do that part if you do this part.
Interjections are meant to add “spice” to your writing. They are
not very formal, and you wouldn’t want to use them at all in the
most serious forms of writing. However, in most semi-formal writing
for school, or when writing the dialogue in a narrative, you are
encouraged to use them. Just proofread carefully, and make sure
you have punctuated them correctly!
Proofread the following paragraph. You will have to write
directly on the draft to fix it. Refer to rules #1-8 on page 2. Here is a
checklist:
 Tell the writer to indent. Draw a little arrow where he should
have indented and write the message INDENT!
 Capitalize the beginning of each sentence.
 Capitalize all proper nouns and proper adjectives, including
those in the heading.
 Fix all misspelled words, including contractions and Power
Words.
 Make sure interjections are correctly punctuated, using either
commas or exclamation points.
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english 7
minni ratton
Period 1
september 21, 2014
“Character From Our Book Gives a Speech” Assignment
“ahem ladies and gentlemen, bois n girls. those of us here are
earthlings, martians, venusians, mercurians, jupiterites, saturnarians,
uraniarians, and neptunites. you know i think we even have a few explutonians here who are stranded because their planet no longer
exists. we all have our proud traditions and our different interests but
we are all universarians too, rite? hey we all want to live in safety and
in peace. we want our loved ones to be safe and our cultures to
flourish. well, i think its time we started looking around, thinking
carefully, and educating ourselves. we need to protect ourselves from
all the Deep Space chaos. that means we have to pick honest and brave
leaders to arrange our defense. i think weve got to take a few weeks to
really read up and reflect before making any big decisions. weve got to
postpone this vote until everyone has had a chance to do their
research. so whos with me? great we are in agreement. um how do i
turn this holo-cam off, again?”
Source: Lyndon K. Mahony, Tak’s Galactic Travels
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Roots and Affixes
At the intermediate and advanced levels of English, most vocabulary
words can be broken down into smaller pieces.
These pieces are usually not words themselves. They are simply the
“building blocks” of words.
The same “building blocks” are used in many different words.
Learning one “block” can, without exaggeration, give you a clue to
figuring out hundreds of words that it is a part of!
Take a word like interviewer. We can break this word into several
pieces.
The root of the word interviewer is view, which comes from the
Latin word videre, “to see.”
A root is the “base” of a word. This part of the word contains the
main meaning of the word.
An affix is a building-block that can be attached to the root. Affixes
are either prefixes or suffixes.
The affixes in interviewer are inter- and –er.
A prefix is attached before the root. The prefix of interviewer is
inter-, which means “between” or “among.” (Think not only of
interviewer, but also interspersed—which means “to be scattered
between”—or interrupt—which means “to break in the middle.”)
A suffix is attached after a root. The suffix of interviewer is –er. –Er
is a common suffix for nouns that name types of people (think of
not only interviewer, but reader, teacher, player, swimmer, brother,
and sister.)
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Common English Prefixes
(Source: grammar.about.com)
Prefix
a-, an-, aranteantiautococontrade-
Meaning
without
before
against
one-self
with
against
off, less
Prefix
disexexin or irinterintramacro-
Meaning
not
out of
previous
not
between
inner
large
Prefix
micromono-, uninonpostpresubtrans-
Meaning
small
one
not, without
after
before
under
across
Suffix
-ist
-ize
-less
-ment
-ness
-ship
-y
Part of Speech
Common English Suffixes
(Source: grammar.about.com)
Suffix
-able, -ible
-acy
-al
-ance, -ence
-ate
-en
-er, -or
Part of Speech
adjective
noun
noun
noun
verb
verb
noun (person)
Suffix
-esque
-ful
-ical, -al
-ify
-ious, -ous
-ish
-ism
Part of Speech
adjective
adjective
adjective
verb
adjective
adjective
noun
noun (person
verb
adjective
noun
noun
adjective
adjective
PRACTICE 1:
For the following words, 1) underline the root twice, and 2)
underline any affixes once. EXAMPLE: inconceivable  inconceivable
1) preview
2) pretest
3) unthinkable
4) incredible
5) pre-qualifying
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6) visible
7) co-captain
8) repeat
9) doctor
10)
evacuate
Two Types of Verbs
Source: ChompChompChomp.com “The Linking Verb”
One type of verb is the action verb. These verbs are words that give
a name to what someone or something does. This is why they are
sometimes also called “doing” verbs. Examples: Jane skates. The
dog barks. Marley thinks. Bob and Jason have cell phones.
The other type of verb is the linking verb. They link together a
subject with a description, instead of just giving the subject an
action. Some students at the beginning level have difficulty
recognizing these as verbs. They are not words that you can
physically “act out.” They are sometimes called “being” verbs,
because they describe existence, not action. EXAMPLES: Marsha is
cold. New York becomes very hot in the summer. Little kids seem
cute. He looks upset. The water appears to be calm.
An almost complete list of linking verbs: to be, to grow, to become,
to look, to seem, to appear, to turn, to sound, smell, to taste, to feel.
Notice that there is a complication. You cannot tell most of those
linking verbs just by seeing the word. You have to figure whether
they are being used as an action verb or as a linking verb. Take
these two examples:
1) Irene feels how soft the kitten is.
2) Irene feels happy.
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In the first sentence, feels is an action verb. Irene is doing
something. Here, “feels” is a synonym for “touches” or “pets.”
In the second sentence, feels is a linking verb. Irene is not doing
something, but being something. Another way to look at it is: in
sentence #2, the word feels is simply linking the subject (“Irene”)
with the description (“happy”). Here, “feels” is a synonym for “is.”
To Be
The most important linking verb is to be. It is extremely common in
English, BUT it has a lot of different forms (or “appearances”). You
can think of to be as a slippery word that likes to wear disguises.
Form
Example
am
are
is
was
were
used to be
will be
have been
had been
will have been
can be
should be
might be
I am cold
You are cold.
She is cold.
He was cold.
We were cold.
It used to be cold.
They will be cold.
I have been cold.
He had been cold.
It will have been cold.
It can be cold.
She should be cold.
They might be cold.
Now that you have seen these forms (or “disguises”) in examples, so
that you understand how they are used, you must memorize all
these forms so that you know “to be” when you see it.
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PRACTICE 2:
(Source: Holt Handbook p. 48)
In the following sentences, write whether the underlined verb is
action or linking.
1) Last spring, our science class visited the Hayden
Planetarium.
____________________
2) It is a wonderful place.
____________________
3) We wandered slowly through the various displays.
____________________
4) One space vehicle seemed like something from a sci-fi
movie.
____________________
5) Another display showed a thirty-four-ton meteorite.
____________________
In these sentences, 1) underline the verb and 2) write whether the
underlined verb is action or linking.
6) The meteor made a huge crater.
____________________
7) After a delicious lunch, we stayed for the show in the
observatory.
____________________
8) The observatory was as dark as night.
____________________
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9) We looked at the beautiful image of the galaxy above our
heads.
____________________
10) We should be amazed at the stars’ amazing beauty and
age.
____________________
Gerunds
You probably already know that words that look the same can
actually be two different parts of speech. (For example, address is a
noun in the sentence What is your address? but a verb in the
sentence I addressed all the envelopes.)
You probably also know that different parts of speech can have their
own special suffixes.
One thing that the suffix –ing can do is to turn verbs into nouns.
For example, the underlined words in these sentences are verbs:
I run every day with my dog.
He asks a lot of questions.
They don’t receive presents. They like to give them.
But we can turn to run, to ask, to give, and to receive into nouns by
adding –ing. We can even make them the subject of the sentence, if
we want to share a thought about those activities!
Running is good for your health!
Asking questions helps people learn.
Giving is better than receiving.
In those three sentences, the underlined words are actually being
used as nouns.
When we use verbs as a noun after adding the –ing suffix, we call
them gerunds.
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PRACTICE 3:
Fill in each blank with a gerund of your choice.
EXAMPLE: ______________ is expensive. Skydiving is expensive.
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
I really enjoy __________________.
I find __________________ to be somewhat scary or difficult.
__________________ is better than sleeping.
___________________________ will help you do better in school.
My best friend’s favorite activity in the world is
__________________.
Simple Subjects and Simple
Predicates
You remember that the subject tells whom or what the sentence is
about and that the predicate tells what the subject does or is.
You also recall that a complete, correct sentence must have both a
subject and a predicate.
EXAMPLES OF SENTENCES DIVIDED INTO SUBJECTS AND
PREDICATES:
A book about Roberto Clemente | is among my treasures.
Clemente | played right field for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Baseball | would not be the same without Clemente’s legacy.
The simple subject is the main word (or word group) that tells
whom or what the sentence is about.
EXAMPLE:
Complete subject: A book about Roberto Clemente
Simple subject: book
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Complete subject: the winner of the league’s Most Valuable
Player award
Simple subject: winner
Complete subject: my best friend’s teacher Mrs. Jenkins
Simple subject: Mrs. Jenkins
As you can see, an easy way to remember the simple subject is that
“it is the most important word in the subject.” However, for proper
names (such as Mrs. Jenkins) you should include the complete name
or title, so it may wind up being more than one word in rare cases.
The simple subject is always a noun.
The simple predicate is the main word (or word group) that tells
something about the subject.
EXAMPLE:
Complete predicate: is among my treasures.
Simple predicate: is
Complete predicate: played right field for the Pirates.
Simple predicate: played
Complete predicate: will be very rainy.
Simple predicate: will be
The simple predicate is always a verb, whether action or linking. It
must include the entire verb form. If it is a verb that is using the has
–ed form, the had –ed form, or something similar, use the complete
form for the simple predicate even if that means you use more than
one word.
Complete predicate: had decided to go to Florida.
Simple predicate: had decided
Complete predicate: has asked about you a lot.
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Simple predicate: has asked
One of many reasons to be able to identity the simple subject and
the simple predicate is that it lets you see the “bone structure” of a
complicated sentence.
PRACTICE 4:
The following sentences are already divided into complete subjects
and complete predicates. Underline the simple subject (always a
noun) and the simple predicate (always a verb). (Source: Holt
Handbook p. 11.)
1) The U.S. flag | is also called the Stars and Stripes.
2) Many scholars | are unsure about the history of the U.S. flag.
3) The Continental Congress | approved a design for the flag.
4) The name of the designer | has remained a mystery.
5) The patriots | had needed a symbol of their independence.
In these sentences, 1) divide into the subject and predicate with a
vertical line, and 2) underline the simple subject and the simple
predicate.
6) George Washington wanted flags for the army.
7) The flags failed to arrive until after the end of the war.
8) Betsy Ross made the first flag, according to legend.
9) Most historians doubt the Betsy Ross story.
10) Saluting the flag is a way to show pride in the U.S.
11) Designing flags with more than fifty stars is a lot of fun!
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Write It!
Writers are often advised to avoid using to be as much as possible.
Using to be forms too often makes your writing sound boring and
uninspired. Furthermore, if you rewrite a linking verb sentence into
an action verb sentence, you are almost sure to get a sentence that
is more precise and more interesting.
EXAMPLE:
My sister is my best friend.
My sister and I share all our secrets, all our fears, and all our
lives.
Our dog was going crazy.
Our dog scratched frantically at the door and barked for five
minutes straight.
In this month’s Write It!, you are not allowed to use ANY forms of
the verb to be (see page 10).
Suggested Topic: Describe the members of
your family and a normal night at your house.
(HINTS: What does everyone do after dinner? Who watches T.V., who
argues, who cleans up the dishes, who plays Candy Crush? Who
always tells you their secrets, and who always tattles on you? What
do the pets do? When will grandparents/cousins/etc. come to visit?)
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Write at least one complete paragraph. Make sure that you use
NONE of the forms of to be (see page 10 for the list).
You may use the suggested prompt on the previous page to help
you, or you may write about any topic you like, as long as you make
sure to never use any form of to be.
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Proofread! ** Indent your paragraph. ** Make sure your paragraph
is at least 8 paragraphs and enjoyable to read. ** Capitalize each
sentence and all proper nouns and adjectives. ** Make sure you
have correct end-punctuation. ** Look up the spelling of words you
are unsure of. ** Make sure you have no fragments! ** Make sure
you used correct punctuation with any interjections. ** Fix
ANYTHING you know how to fix.
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Grading Rubric:
“Sotp!” Proofreading Exercise (p. 6):
_____/15
Practice #1 (p. 8-9)
_____/10
Practice #2 (p. 11-12)
_____/10
Practice #3 (p. 13)
_____/5
Practice #4 (p. 15)
_____/11
Write It! Followed Directions:
_____/12
Write It! Proofreading
_____/7
Total
_____/70
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