GRAMMAR WORKSHOP

9th Grade English

Why is Grammar Important?

Look at the following sentences and choose the correct version. Woman, without her man, is nothing.

Woman, without her, man is nothing. Let’s eat, Tweety!

Let’s eat Tweety! Celebration Pavilion, Queen Elizabeth Park

Celebration Pavilion Queen Elizabeth Park Jim needs a camera, battery and case.

Jim needs a camera battery and case.

Why is Grammar Important?

A panda walks into a cafe. He orders a sandwich, eats it, then draws a gun and fires two shots in the air. “Why?” asks the confused waiter, as the panda makes towards the exit. The panda produces a badly punctuated wildlife manual and tosses it over his shoulder. “I’m a panda,” he says at the door. “Look it up.” The waiter turns to the relevant entry, and sure enough, finds an explanation. “Panda. Large black-and-white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves.”

What is a Noun?

Nouns name: Persons (Ms. Douglas, Brittany Spears, Pres.

Obama) Places (Japan, Houston, Red Sea)

Things (chair, book, mountain)

Ideas (reality, peace, success)

Qualities (pain, mystery, simplicity)

Forms of Nouns

Singular nouns (one) City, earthquake, town

Plural nouns (more than one) Add –s , or –es Ex. Cities, earthquakes, towns Irregular plurals: woman/women, child/children, etc.

Possessive Nouns Indicate Ownership or source. Singular Nouns add an apostrophe plus –s (ex.

Jane’s pen) Plural Nouns add an apostrophe (ex. Students’

rights)

What is a Verb?

Verbs express: An action (Ex. bring, change, grow) An occurrence ( Ex. become, happen) A state of being (Ex. be, seem)

Forms of Verbs

Two changes in form: From Present to Past

Add –d or –ed Ex. The boys play today/ The boys played yesterday. Irregular past tense : eat/ate, begin/began, etc.

Adding Present tense verbs to singular nouns/pronouns Add –s or –es. (ex. The bear escapes; it runs; the woman sings). Exception: be and have.

Helping Verbs

A.k.a. Auxilliary Verbs Do, does, did, can, could, may, will,

would, shall, should, and must Ex. Could run; may escape; must help.

Combine with special forms of verbs to make verb phrases Ex. Will be running, might have escaped, could have

been helped.

Pronouns

Most pronouns substitute for nouns. Personal pronouns

Ex. I, you, he, she, it, we, they… Relative pronouns

Ex. Who, whoever, which, that… Possessive Pronouns

Ex. Its, their, ours, mine, yours… Most change form to indicate their

function in a sentence. Ex. He called me. I called him back.

Possessive Pronouns

Pronouns that show possession of something.

Used to refer to the following: Number—Singular (ex. Mine) or Plural (ex.

Ours) Person– Ist person (Mine), 2nd Person

(yours) or 3rd Person (his, hers) Gender– Male (his) or Female (hers)

number persongender (of "owner")

possessive pronouns

singular

1st male/female mine

2nd male/female yours

3rdmale his

female hers

plural

1st male/female ours

2nd male/female yours

3rdmale/female/neuter

theirs

Adjectives

Describe or modify nouns or pronouns A.k.a. modifiers

Ex. gentle, small, pretty, smart, kind, etc. Ex. The small, obedient child followed her

mother home.

Adverbs

Describe or modify verbs, adjectives or other adverbs, or whole groups of words

Ex. Gently, helpfully, almost, kindly. Recently, the earth trembled The earthquake nearly destroyed the city.

Prepositions

Relate nouns, or pronouns to other words in a sentence.

Ex. About, at, down, for, of, with, because. The boy went down the street to get his ball. I had to get a pass to class because I was late.

What is a Sentence?

Most sentences make statements: First, they name something. Then, they make a statement about/ or

describe an action involving that something.

Needs to be a complete thought.

Sentences have Two Parts

Subject Answers the question: who or what does

the action Predicate

Everything from the verb onward. Includes a verb and completes the thought.

Ex. The bees are swarming.

Examples of Sentences

SubjectThe bees

The earth

The earthquake

Predicate

are swarming

trembled

destroyed the city

Identifying Subjects and Predicates

Identify the subject and predicate of each sentence below.

Then use each sentence as a model to create a sentence of your own. Example: An important scientist spoke at a

conference. The hungry family ate at the dinner.

In Class Practice: Identify Subject and the Predicate.

1. The leaves fell.2. October ends soon. 3. The orchard owners made apple cider.4. They examined each apple carefully

before using it. 5. Over a hundred people will buy cider at

the roadside stand.

Direct and Indirect Objects

Direct Object: identifies who or what receives the action of the verb. Ex. The earthquake destroyed the city.

Indirect Object: identifies to or for whom the action of the verb is performed. Ex. The government sent the city aid.

Intransitive and Transitive Verbs Intransitive Verbs are verbs that do not need

following words to complete their meaning. Ex. The earthquake trembled.

Transitive verbs are verbs that require direct objects to complete their meaning.

The verb transfers the action from subject to object. Ex. The earthquake destroyed the city.

Subject/Object Complements The word that describes the subject is the

subject complement. Ex. The result was chaotic.

The verb that link the subject and its description is called a linking verb.

Ex. The result was chaos. The word or noun that complements or

completes the object is the object complement. The O.C. must describe or rename the direct object. Ex. The citizens considered the earthquake a disaster.

Identifying Sentence Patterns In the following sentences, identify each verb as intransitive,

transitive, or linking. Then identify each direct object (DO), indirect object (IO), subject complement (SC), and object complement (OC).

Example: Children give their parents both headaches and pleasures. Give is a transitive verb.

Many people find New Orleans exciting. Tourists flock there each year. Usually they visit the French Quarter first. The Quarter’s old buildings are magnificent. In the Quarter, artists sell tourists their paintings.

Clauses—Independent/ Dependent A Clause: A group of words that includes a

subject and a verb. Independent Clause: Can express a

complete thought and can stand alone. Ex: Tara ate a cheese roll after she watched the

news. Dependent Clause: a clause that does not

express a complete thought. It is usually the supporting part of a sentence that cannot stand alone. Tara ate a cheese roll after she watched the news.

Using Commas with Clauses

Rule #1 Use commas to separate independent clauses when they are joined by any of these seven coordinating conjunctions (a.k.a. FANBOYS): and, but, for, or, nor, so, yet.

The game was over, but the crowd refused to leave. The student explained her question, yet the

instructor still didn't seem to understand. Yesterday was Maria’s anniversary, so her

husband took her out to dinner.

Using Commas with Clauses

Rule #2aUse commas after:

introductory a) clauses, b) phrases, or c) words that come before the main clause.

a. Common starter words for introductory clauses that should be followed by a comma include: after, although, as, because, if, since, when, while.

While I was eating, the cat scratched at the door.Because her alarm clock was broken, she was late for class.When the snow stops falling, we'll shovel the driveway.

Using Commas with Clauses

Rule #2a Continued…*Do not put a comma after the main clause when a dependent clause follows it (except for cases of extreme contrast).INCORRECT: The cat scratched at the door, while I was eating.CORRECT: She was still quite upset, although she had won the Oscar. (This comma use is correct because it is an example of extreme contrast.)

Subject-Verb Agreement

For every sentence, the subject and verb of the subject must be in agreement.

If the subject is singular, the verb must be singular. The cat is on the mat.

If the subject is plural, the verb must be plural. Ex. The dogs are howling.

Subject Verb Agreement Rules 1. When the subject of a sentence is composed

of two or more nouns or pronouns connected by and, use a plural verb. She and her friends are at the fair.

2. When two or more singular nouns or pronouns are connected by or or nor, use a singular verb. The book or the pen is in the drawer.

Subject Verb Agreement Rules 3. When a compound subject contains both a

singular and a plural noun or pronoun joined by or or nor, the verb should agree with the part of the subject that is nearer the verb. The boy or his friends run every day. His friends or the boy runs every day.

Subject Verb Agreement Rules 4. Doesn't is a contraction of does not and

should be used only with a singular subject. Don't is a contraction of do not and should be

used only with a plural subject. The exception to this rule appears in the case of

the first person and second person pronouns I and you. With these pronouns, the contraction don't should be used.

He doesn't like it. They don't like it.

Subject Verb Agreement Rules 5. Do not be misled by a phrase that comes

between the subject and the verb. The verb agrees with the subject, not with a noun or pronoun in the phrase. One of the boxes is open The people who listen to that music are few. The team captain, as well as his players, is anxious. The book, including all the chapters in the first section,

is boring. The woman with all the dogs walks down my street.

Subject Verb Agreement Rules 6. The words each, each one, either, neither,

everyone, everybody, anybody, anyone, nobody, somebody, someone, and no one are singular and require a singular verb. Each of these hot dogs is juicy. Everybody knows Mr. Jones. Either is correct.

Subject Verb Agreement Rules 7. Nouns such as civics, mathematics, dollars,

measles, and news require singular verbs. The news is on at six.

Note: the word dollars is a special case. When talking about an amount of money, it

requires a singular verb. When referring to the dollars themselves, a

plural verb is required. Five dollars is a lot of money. Dollars are often used instead of rubles in Russia.

Subject Verb Agreement Rules 8. Nouns such as scissors, tweezers, trousers,

and shears require plural verbs. (There are two parts to these things.) These scissors are dull. Those trousers are made of wool.

9. In sentences beginning with there is or there are, the subject follows the verb. Since there is not the subject, the verb agrees with what follows. There are many questions. There is a question.

Subject Verb Agreement Rules 10. Collective nouns are words that imply more than one

person but that are considered singular and take a singular verb, such as: group, team, committee, class, and family. The team runs during practice. The committee decides how to proceed. The family has a long history. My family has never been able to agree.

In some cases in American English, a sentence may call for the use of a plural verb when using a collective noun. The crew are preparing to dock the ship.

This sentence is referring to the individual efforts of each crew member

Subject Verb Agreement Rules 11. Expressions such as with, together with,

including, accompanied by, in addition to, or as well do not change the number of the subject. If the subject is singular, the verb is too. The President, accompanied by his wife, is traveling to

India. All of the books, including yours, are in that box.