writing skills grammar basics for university

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1. Writing Skills Grammar Basics

2. Sentence Parts and Patterns Parts of speech Nouns: name a person, a thing, a quality, a place or an idea Common nouns name a general class of things and do not befin in a capital letter Proper nouns name a specific person, place or thing and are capitalized Collective nouns are singular in form but name a group Possessive nouns show ownership or source by adding ‘s

3. Sentence Parts and Patterns Parts of speech Pronouns: substitute for nouns and function in sentences as nouns Personal pronouns refer to a specific individual or individual (I, you, he, she, it, we, they) Indefinite pronouns do not substitute for any specific noun (everybody, some) Relative pronouns relates a group of words to a noun or another pronoun (who, whoever, which, that) Demonstrative pronouns point to a noun (this, that, such)

4. Sentence Parts and Patterns Parts of speech Verbs: express an action, an occurrence, or a state of being Plain form: indicates action that occurs in the present, habitually or is generally true Past-tense form: indicates action that occurred in the past Past participle form: uses forms of have or be to express action that occurred in the past, or modifies nouns and pronouns Present participle form: adds –ing to plain form and modifies nouns and pronouns, or functions as a noun

5. Sentence Parts and Patterns Parts of speech Adjectives: describe or modify nouns and pronouns, specifying which one, what quality or how many Adverbs: describe or modify verbs, adjectives other adverbs and groups of words, specifying when, where, how and to what extent Adjectives and Adverbs appear in three forms: Positive (i.e., a pretty girl, shout angrily ) Comparative (i.e., a prettier girl’ shouted more angrily ) Superlative (i.e., the prettiest girl, shouted the most angrily )

6. Sentence Parts and Patterns Parts of speech Prepositions: form nouns or pronouns into phrases which serve as modifiers in sentences (about, as, at, by, for, in, from, into, like…) Subordinating conjunctions: form sentence into phrases that serve as parts of compound sentences (as, if, once, that, while, when…) Coordinating conjunctions: connect words or word groups of the same kind (and, nor, or, but, for so, yet) Interjections: express feeling or command attention

7. Sentence Parts and Patterns Subjects and predicates Subject: names something. Simple subject: one or more nouns or pronouns Complete subject: includes modifiers Compound subject: subject is made up of two or more nouns or pronouns joined by a coordinating conjunction Predicate: makes an assertion about the subject or describes the action by the subject Simple predicate: one or more verbs Complete predicate: includes modifiers Compound predicate: predicate is made up of two or more actions joined by a coordinating conjunction

8. Sentence Parts and Patterns All English sentences are based on five patterns Intransitive verb: the simplest pattern, consisting of a verb that does not require a following word to complete its meaning. The dog barked. Transitive verb: the verb is followed by a direct object (a noun or pronoun that identifies who or what receives the action of the verb). The earthquake destroyed the city. Linking verb: the verb is followed by a subject complement (a word that renames or describes the subject). The woman appeared calm. Indirect object: the verb is followed by a direct object and an indirect object (a word identifying to or for whom action is performed). The company paid employees bonuses. Object complement: the verb is followed by a direct object and an object complement (a word that describes the direct object). Success makes some people nervous.

9. Sentence Parts and Patterns Phrases and clauses Phrases are word groups that serve as adjectives, adverbs, or nouns and can not stand alone as a sentence A phrase lacks either a subject or a predicate or both A clause is any group of words that contains both a subject and a predicate A main clause makes a complete statement and can stand alone as a sentence A subordinate clause contains a subject and a predicate but begins with a subordinating word

10. Sentence Parts and Patterns Subject and verb agreement A subject and its verb should agree in number and person Most problems arise when singular and plural endings are used within the same sentence The boy plays. vs. The boys play. Subject and verb should agree even when other words come between them Subjects joined by and usually take plural verbs When parts of a subject are joined by or or nor , the verb agrees with the nearer part The verb and subject agree even in inverted order, such as in questions Use singular verbs with titles and with words being defined

11. Punctuation End punctuation A sentence ends with a period (.), a question mark (?) or an exclamation point (!) Use periods with abbreviations that consist of or end in small letters Use a question mark after a direct question and sometimes to indicate doubt Use an exclamation point after an emphatic statement, interjection, or command Comma Use a comma before and, but or another coordinating conjunction linking main clauses Use a comma to set off introductory elements Use a comma or commas to set off nonessential elements Use commas between items in a series Use commas between two or more adjectives that equally modify the same word Use commas in dates, addresses, place names and long numbers Use commas with quotations according to standard practice

12. Punctuation Colon Use a colon to introduce a concluding explanation, series, or long or formal quotation Use a colon between a title and subtitle, and between divisions of time Semicolon Use a semicolon between main clauses not joined by and , but or another coordinating conjunction Use a semicolon between main clauses related by however, for example, and so on. Use semicolons between main clauses or series items containing commas Apostrophe Use the apostrophe and sometimes –s to form possessive nouns and indefinite pronouns Use an apostrophe to form contractions

13. Punctuation Quotations Use double quotation marks to enclose direct quotations Use single quotation marks to enclose a quotation within a quotation Quotation marks may enclose words being used in a special sense Place commas and periods within quotation marks Place colons and semicolons outside quotation marks Place dashes, question marks and exclamation points inside quotation marks only if part of the quotation