Standard english grammar docx

English Composition 2 Prisca Ya-Chi Chiu Providence University, Taiwan © 2014, SOLA GRATIA Standard English Grammar Selected from Butler & McAlexander Overby Hickman.

Correct Writing. Sixth Edition. Singapore: Gengage Learning, 2011.

A sentence is made up of single parts of speech combined into a pattern that express a complete thought.

1. Subjects and Verbs A. Every simple sentence must have two basic elements: (1) the thing we are talking about  subject (noun, pronoun, group of words) (2) what we say about it  predicate (verb) a. Pilots fly. b. Flowers bloom. * The subject comes before or after the verb. a. In the room were a cot and a chair. b. There are flowers on the table. * Either the verb or the subject or both may be compound; that is, there may be more than one subject and more than one verb.

B. Verb: (1) Transitive Verbs: if its action is directed toward some receiver. a. David flew the plane.

(2) Intransitive Verbs: if its action is not directed toward some receiver. a. Lightning strikes. (The action is complete without an object).

(3) Linking verbs: a special group of intransitive verbs that make a statement not by expressing action but by indicating a state of being or a condition.

(Examples: be, feel, taste, look, smell, sound, appear, grow, remain, stay, turn, seem, become).

Exercise 1. The brick house around the corner was built by Tom’s uncle.

2. I cannot finish this lab experiment this afternoon.

3. The mother cat with her kittens was on the porch.

4. Dr. Brown’s article will be published in the spring.

5. There was a renaissance of Native American graphic art in the 1930’.

6. Several members of our law firm are attending the San Francisco conference.

7. Is Wayne looking forward to his retirement?

2. Complements Nouns, pronouns, and adjectives are used to complete verbs and are called complements.

(1) A direct object is a noun that completes the verb and receives the action expressed in the verb. a. The pilot flew the plane.

(2) An indirect object is a word (or words) denoting the person or thing indirectly affected by the action. a. We gave her the book.

(3) A predicate noun (predicate nominative) is a noun that renames or identifies the subject and completes such verbs as be, seem, become, and appear, look, smell, sound, feel, taste, grow (linking verbs). a. The woman is a doctor. b. My best friends are she and her sister. c. Mary has become a surgeon.

(4) A predicate adjective is an adjective that completes a linking verb and describes the subject. a. The man seems angry.

(5) An objective complement is a noun or an adjective that completes the action expressed in the verb and refers to the direct object. a. Jealousy made Othello a murder. (in a sense identical with the direct object). b. She thought the day disagreeable. (describes or limits the direct object) * It occurs commonly after such verbs as think, call, find, make, consider, choose, elect, and believe.

Exercise 1. Dr. John is a French professor at York University. PN 2. I forgot the most important thing on the grocery list. DO 3. We visited Mary and her new baby. DO 4. She brought us several pieces of candy. IO 5. I found her attitude offensive. Objective complement.

6. I considered John the brightest student in the class. OC 7. She is teaching me English. IO 8. They elected Tom captain of the tennis team. OC 9. The speaker appeared nervous. PA 10. Brown thought his novel splendid. OC 3. Verbals A. The Gerund is a verbal used as a noun and in its present tense always ends in –ing.

(1) Planning the work carefully required a great deal of time.  Used as a subject

(2) I appreciated your taking time to help me.  Used as a complement (DO) (3) She was not to blame for breaking the vase. Used as an object of a preposition (4) His unselfish act, giving Marty his coat, plainly showed Ed’s generosity.  Used as an appositive B. The Participle is a verbal used as an adjective.

(1) Present Participle: The baby, wailing pitifully, refused to be comforted.

(2) Past Participle: An old coat, faded and torn, was her only possession.  passive voice C. The Infinitive: to + V (1) To err is human.  Used as a subject (2) He wanted to go tomorrow. Used as an object.

(3) He had few books to read.  Used as adjective.

(4) Frank seemed eager to go.  Used as an adverb (5) She rode fast to escape her pursuers.  Used as an adverb Exercise 1. The audience was delighted by his storytelling. gerund 2. Lin’s acting class is full. Part 3. Have you found your lost keys? Part 4. He bought him a computer. verb 5. The children were sitting on the sofa watching TV. Modifies children, Part.

6. By adding storm windows, she saved on her heating bill. Object of preposition 7. One of his favorite pastimes is telling stories. Predicate N 8. Chasing the dog around the house, Tim fell. Modifies Tim, Part 9. We enjoyed his singing and dancing. DO 10. The ringing of bells reminds us something special. S 11. There is something to be said for taking the less traveled roads. Object of P 12. Using her money wisely, Mary buys a secondhand computer. Modifier Mary, Part 13. His ability to become a professional football player was unquestioned. Adj 14. My brother plans to marry him. N 15. It is my decision to attend summer school. adj 4. Phrases A phrase is a group of related words, generally having neither subject nor predicate and used as though it were a single word.

A. The Gerund Phrase (1) Being late for breakfast is Joe’s worse fault.  Used as the subject (2) She finally succeeded in opening the camera.  Used as the object of the preposition (3) Bill hated driving his goal balls into the lake.  Used as the object of the verb (4) His hobby, making furniture, is enjoyable and useful.  Used as an appositive B. The Participial Phrase a. The boy standing in the doorway is the one who asked to borrow our rake.

C.

D.

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F.

b. Disappointed by his best friend, Roger refused to speak to him.

The Infinitive Phrase: Infinitives function as adjectives, adverbs, or nouns. a. She had a plane to catch at eight o’clock.  modifies plane b. To be in Mr. Frost’s class was to learn the meaning of discipline.  subject, PN c. Millie left early to avoid the heavy traffic.  modifies left d. After the night outdoors we were happy to be warm and dry again.  modifies happy e. Ted has no plans except to watch television.  object of the preposition f. We decided to go for a long walk.  the direct object g. Her fiancé seems to be very pleasant.  predicate adjective The Absolute Phrase: A noun followed by a participle may form a construction grammatically independent of the rest of the sentence. It is never a subject, nor does it modify any word in the sentence. a. The bus having stopped, the tourists filed out. b. The theater being nearby, I decided to walk.

The Prepositional Phrase: A prepositional phrase consists of a preposition followed by a noun or pronoun as its object, together with any modifiers the noun and pronoun may have. a. The plan of the house is very simple. b. The river runs through rich farmland. c. Throughout the house there was an aroma of corned beef and cabbage.

The Appositive Phrase: An appositive is a word or phrase that explains, identifies, or renames the word it follows. a. This book, a long novel about politics, will never be a best-seller. b. Jean knew a way out of her difficulty: telling the truth. c. His greatest ambition, to make a million dollars, was doomed from the start.

Exercise 1. During our stay in Taiwan, we decided to visit 101. prep 2. Business having been slow, the computer offered generous discounts on personal computers. Absolute 3. Did you remember to feed the dog? N 4. Having wrapped the present, Amy went to bed. Part, adj. Infin, adv.

5. Reading his novel is a romantic experience. Ger N 6. Olivia, my sister, has read all of Peter’s novels. App,N, prep, adj 7. The game proved challenging to all the players. Part adj, prep adv 8. They spend their lives seeking answers to the world’s mysteries. Part, adj modify they, prep adj.

9. We had already assembled the tools to use the next day. Inf, adj 10. To swim alone is never wise. Inf, N

5. Independent Clauses A. A group of words containing a subject and a verb and expressing a complete thought is called a

sentence or an independent clause.

B. Summary of punctuation: (1) Two independent clauses connected by a coordinating conjunction are separated by a comma. * Coordinating conjunctions: and, but, for, or, nor, so, and yet. a. She ran up the steps and into the house. b. Mr. Brown caught the fish, and her husband cooked them.

(2) Two independent clauses not connected by a coordinating conjunction are separated by a semicolon. A semicolon is necessary before a conjunctive, transitional adverb—however, moreover, nevertheless, therefore, then, accordingly, otherwise, thus, besides, consequently, hence—beginning a second clause. a. John is quite strong; he is much stronger than I. b. We drove all day; then at sundown we began to look for a place to camp. c. It rained during the afternoon; consequently, our trip to the mountains had to be postponed.

(3) A semicolon is used to separate independent clauses that are joined by a coordinating conjunction but are heavily punctuated with commas internally. a. Being somewhat excited and, incidentally, terribly tired, Ellen’s two children, Mary and Fred, became unruly; but they went quickly to sleep on the trip home.

(4) Short independent clauses, when used in a series with a coordinating conjunction preceding the final clause, may be separated by commas. a. The audience was seated, the lights were dimmed, and the curtain was raised.

C. The Comma Splice: Use of a comma between two independent clauses not joined by a coordinating conjunction. a. I enjoyed his company, I do not know that he enjoyed mine.

D. The Run-Together Sentence: results from omitting punctuation between two independent clauses not joined by a conjunction. a. Twilight had fallen it was dark under the old oak tree near the house. * Coordinating Conjunctions 對等連接詞: and, but, for, or, nor, so, and yet. * Subordinating Conjunction 從屬連接詞: after, as, as soon as, although, because, before, if, as if, as though, so that, lest, in order that, because * Correlative Conjunction 相關連接詞: both…and… not only… but also, either… or… neither… nor… * Conjunctive, Transitional Adverbs 連接詞副詞—however, moreover, nevertheless, therefore, then, accordingly, otherwise, thus, besides, consequently, hence—beginning a second clause.

Exercise

1. I am sure that we can reconstruct the history of this organization, however, it may take a few weeks to complete.

2. Vegetarian meals have few calories, they are also economical.

6. Dependent Clauses Although it has both a subject and a verb, it does not express a complete thought. Any clause beginning with a subordinating word like what, that, who, which, when, since, before, after, or if is a dependent clause.

A. A None Clause is a dependent clause used as a noun.

(1) What you intend to do [your plan] is interesting.  subject.

(2) Tell me what you intend to do [your plan].  direct object (3) That is what you intend to do [your plan].  predicate nominative (4) I am interested in what you intend to do [your plan].  object of a preposition (5) The fact that he had not told the truth soon became apparent.  in apposition with the noun fact.

(6) Bob’s problem, how he could open the locked door, seemed insoluble.  in apposition with the noun problem. (set off by commas, nonessential appositives).

B. An Adjective Clause is a dependent clause that modifies a noun or pronoun.

(1) She is a woman who is respected by everyone.

(2) Mr. Johnson, whose son attends the University, is our minister.

(3) He saw the place where he was born.

(4) It was a time when money did not count.

(5) I know the reason why I failed the course.

(6) My father, who was a country boy, has lived in the city for years.  nonessential clause adds information what the word it modifies.

C. An Adverbial Clause is a dependent clause that functions as exactly as if it were an adverb.  modifiers a verb, an adjective, an adverb, or the whole idea expressed in the sentence’s independent clause).

1. Time (when, before, since, as, while, until, after, whenever).

2. Place (where, wherever, whence, wither) a. He went where no one had ever set foot before.

3. Cause (because, since, as) 4. Purpose (in order that, so that, that) 5. Result (so. . . that, such. . . that) 6. Condition (if, unless) 7. Concession (though, although) 8. Manner (as, as if, as though) 9. Comparison (as, than) 7. Kinds of Sentences A. A simple sentence is a single independent clause with one subject and one predicate. (The one

subject, however, may consist of more than one noun or pronoun, and the predicate may consists of more than one verb.) a. Robert has a new car. b. Robert and his brother have a new car. c. Robert and his brother washed and polished his new car.

B. A compound sentence contains at least 2 independent clauses and no dependent clause. a. Mary likes the mountains, but Jackie prefers the seashore. b. A lamp was lighted in the house, the happy family was talking together, and supper was waiting.

C. A complex sentence contains only 1 independent clause and 1 or more dependent clauses. a. The toy that you gave John for his birthday party is broken. b. Why he refused to contribute to the fund we do not know.

D. A compound-complex sentence has at least 2 independent clauses and 1 or more dependent clauses. a. My friend was offended by my attitude, and I was sorry that she was hurt. b. We spent the morning looking for the home of the woman who paints landscapes, but we were unable to find it.

8. The Sentence Fragment A. A subject X B. a predicate in your sentences X C. and to express a complete thought. X 9. Five Sentence Patterns A. B. C. D.

S + V The moon rose.

S + V + C I am a student 補充主詞意義 linking V 沒有 action 的不及物 S + V + O I know her. 動詞承受者 S + V + O + O Will you buy me a drink? I hand Bob a Key. (ID, DO) 授予動詞

E. S + V + O + C

They elected Mr. Lin Chairman. I have found this article very interesting.

10. Voice

1. Active voice 2. Passive voice a. The automobile was driven into the garage. b. She drove the automobile into the garage.