Final Exam Study Guide

McBridge English-83 Fall 2009

Study Guide – Final Exam This guide covers all of the grammar units we have studied this semester.

Subjects and Verbs The subject of a sentence tells who or what a subject is doing or what is happening. Example: Our teacher gives us hard tests. A verb tells what the subject is doing or what is happening. Ex. My brother collects baseball caps. Compound subjects are two or more subjects in one sentence. Ex. Dogs and cats aren’t always enemies. Compound verbs are multiple verbs used with a subject. Ex. I both cry and laugh when I watch this movie. An adjective is used to describe a noun or subject. Ex. The sneaky ninja did not set off the alarm. Prepositional phrases are groups of words that begin with a preposition such as in, across, or after (check your book for a complete list). Ex. I usually eat oatmeal before school.

Fragments A fragment is an incomplete sentence missing a subject or verb; fragments also occur when a subject and verb are introduced by a dependent word. Ex. Because I like to read crime novels. There are five types of fragments: 1) An afterthought fragment occurs when an extra, incomplete thought is added to a sentence. Ex. Anthony ate pizza. With mushrooms on it.

2) An –ing fragment occurs when a verb ending in –ing is used as a main verb. Ex. Falling asleep in the sun. I got a sunburn.

3) A to fragment occurs when the word to is paired with the main verb in a sentence.

McBridge English-83 Fall 2009 Ex. My grandfather saves his grocery bags. To save money.

4) Dependent-clause fragments are incomplete sentences that begin with a subordinating word. Ex. Although bears are afraid of humans. They should be avoided. 5) Relative-clause fragments occur when a dependent clause begins with a relative word (who, whose, whom, which, that). Ex. My father was born in San Augustin. Which is in Mexico. There are two ways to correct a fragment: •

Connect it to the sentence before or after it. Ex. The car needs a new engine. That has a lot of horsepower. becomes The car needs a new engine that has a lot of horsepower.

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Make it into an independent clause. Ex. I’m taking the day off tomorrow. To fix the dishwasher. becomes I’m taking the day off tomorrow. I need to fix the dishwasher.

Run-Ons Two separate statements that are crammed into a single sentence create a run-on. There are two types: •

A fused sentence occurs when two sentences are “fused” together without any punctuation. Ex. The movie ended I went home.

McBridge English-83 Fall 2009

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A comma splice occurs when two sentences are joined together and separated with a comma. Ex. Final exams always stress me out, they involve much more studying.

The only difference between a fused sentence and comma splice is the comma in the comma splice. There are four ways to correct a run-on: 1) Separate the two sentences with a period. 2) Separate the two sentences with a comma + FANBOYS. 3) Separate the two sentences with a semicolon. 4) Change one of the sentences into an independent clause with a subordinating word.

Irregular Verbs Study the following list of irregular verbs; they are listed in groups of past/present/past participle. Am/was/been Are/were/been Begin/began/begun Break/broke/broken Do/did/done Drink/drank/drunk Forget/forgot/forgotten Get/got/gotten Has/had/had Have/had/had Is/was/been See/saw/seen Take/took/taken Choose/chose/chosen Write/wrote/written Write/wrote/written Understand/understood/understood

Commas We have studied four ways to use commas: 1) Commas with items in a series. Ex. Joe is allergic to cats, pollen, and dust.

2) Commas with introductory material.

Be/was/been Bring/brought/brought Eat/ate/eaten Go/went/gone Hurt/hurt/hurt Swim/swam/swum Wear/wore/worn

McBridge English-83 Fall 2009 Ex. To save time, chop your ingredients before you begin cooking.

3) Commas with a FANBOYS. Ex. This book was boring, but it taught me a lot.

4) Commas with interrupting material. Ex. California, the most populous state, has pleasant weather all year round.

Apostrophes Apostrophes are used to show possession; there are three ways: 1) For singular words, use ‘s to show possession. Ex. Edward’s dog knows more than thirty tricks.

2) For plural words, use s’ to show possession. Ex. The students’ grades began to drop after their last quiz.

3) For irregular plural words, use ‘s to show possession. Ex. The line into the women’s bathroom seemed a mile long.