7th Grade Grammar Reference SUBJECTS, PREDICATES, AND SENTENCES Declarative Sentence: a sentence that makes a statement and ends with a period Example: Edgar Allan Poe wrote suspenseful short stories. Interrogative Sentence: a sentence that asks a question and ends with a question mark Example: Did Poe also write poetry? Imperative Sentence: a sentence that gives a command or makes a request and ends with a period Example: Read “The Pit and the Pendulum.” Exclamatory Sentence: a sentence that expresses strong feeling and ends with an exclamation point Example: What a great writer Poe was! Sentence: a group of words that has subject and a predicate and expresses a complete thought Examples: I teach middle school. I like teaching. Subject: names whom or what the sentence is about complete subject - includes all the words in the subject simple subject - is the main word or word group in the complete subject. Complete Subject Example: A large ship with many sails / appeared on the horizon. (ship is the simple subject) compound subject – two or more simple subjects joined by and, or, both…and, either…or, or neither…nor Examples: Hamburgers and pizza are served in the cafeteria. Neither hamburgers nor pizza is my favorite cafeteria food. Neither pizza nor hamburgers are my favorite cafeteria food. Predicate: tells what the subject does or has, may tell what the subject is or is like complete predicate - includes all the words of the predicate simple predicate - is always a verb and is the main word or word group in the complete predicate 1 | P a g e Complete Predicate Example: Emily Dickinson / wrote hundreds of poems. (wrote is the simple predicate) compound predicate – two or more simple predicates joined together by and, or, but, both…and, either…or, or neither…nor Examples: Many students read and enjoy poetry. Florence reads and enjoys poetry. Simple Sentence: contains one complete subject and one complete predicate and expresses a complete thought Examples: Florence reads poems. Florence and James read poems. James reads and enjoys poems. Sentence Fragment: It is lacking either a subject or a predicate; a sentence fragment does not have a complete thought. Examples: The poems, Wrote about nature, on Monday Compound Sentence: two or more simple sentences joined together with a comma plus a coordinating conjunction, a semi-colon, or an adverbial conjunction proceeded by a semi-colon and followed by a comma Examples: The school cafeteria sometimes serves Chinese food, but it is not very good. The school cafeteria sometimes serves Chinese food; it is not very good. The school cafeteria sometimes serves Chinese food; however, it is not very good. Run-on Sentence: is really two or more sentences (a.k.a. independent clauses) that run together without proper punctuation to join them. Example: It may rain today take your umbrella. Options to fix: It may rain today. Take your umbrella. It may rain today, so take your umbrella. It may rain today; take your umbrella. NOUNS Noun (a.k.a. common noun): names any ordinary person, place, thing, or idea Examples: car, house, ground, sky, sun, moon Proper Noun: names a very specific person, place, thing, or idea and begins with a capital letter. Examples: Ford, White House, Earth, Mrs. Smith, Paul 2 | P a g e Singular Noun: names one person, place, thing, or idea Examples: toy, friend, deer, sheep, ox, leaf, city Plural Noun: names more than one person, place, thing, or idea Examples: toys, friends, deer, sheep, oxen, leaves, cities Collective Noun: names a group of people, animals, things, or ideas that function as one entity. Examples: audience, class, choir, staff, team, bouquet, herd Concrete Noun: names a person, place, or thing that you can actually see, touch, taste, smell, or hear Examples: radio, fire, muffins, cloud, tuba, spaghetti Abstract Noun: names an idea, feeling, emotion, or quality Examples: beauty, happiness, anger, nature, love, freedom, ability, talent, velocity, thought Possessive Noun: names a person, place, thing, or idea that shows ownership Examples: Ruth’s, student’s, students’, man’s, men’s, city’s, cities’ Appositive: A noun that is placed next to another noun to identify it or add information about it. The appositive word or phrase is usually set off from the rest of the sentence by commas unless it is needed, or essential, to the meaning of the sentence. If you could remove the appositive and the meaning of the sentence is still clear, it should be set off by commas. Example: James Madison’s wife, Dolley, was a famous first lady. Madison’s friend Thomas Jefferson was president before Madison. Appositive Phrase: A group of words that includes an appositive and other words that modify, or describe, the appositive. Example: Our fourth president, Madison held many other offices. President is the appositive and our fourth modifies, or describes, president. All together, our fourth president is an appositive phrase. VERBS Action Verb: a word or words that express/show some type of action or doing Examples: scream, swim, run, wonder, look, think, observe, dream Direct Object: the noun or pronoun that receives the action from the verb Example: Paul threw the ball. 3 | P a g e Indirect Object: precedes the direct object and tells to whom? or for whom? or to what? or for what? the action of the verb is done Example: Sarah baked me a cake. Linking Verb: connects the subject of the sentence with a noun or an adjective in the predicate (does not show action) Example: Sarah is quiet. Common Linking Verbs – True Linking Verbs The following verbs are true linking verbs. They are always linking verbs. am is are was were be being been become seem has been might have been Common Linking Verbs – Some verbs can be linking or action. HINT 1: If you can substitute any of the verbs on this second list with an equal sign [=] and the sentence still makes sense, the verb is almost always linking. HINT 2: If you can substitute am, is, or are and the sentence still sounds logical, the verb is linking. appear feel grow look prove remain smell sound taste turn Predicate Noun: The noun that follows a linking verb. It renames or identifies the subject. Example: Langston Hughes is a writer. Predicate Adjective: An adjective that follows a linking verb. It modifies, or describes, the subject. Example: Langston Hughes is talented. Helping Verb: helps the main verb express action or clarify verb tense Examples: I am learning. We are learning. I was learning. We were learning. She has learned. You have learned. He had learned. They had learned. 4 | P a g e Common Helping Verbs am be have do may can is being has does must could are been had did might would was shall should were will Active Voice: A verb is in the active voice when the subject performs the action of the verb. Example: Rudyard Kipling wrote “Rikki-Tikki-Tavi”. Passive Voice: A verb is in the passive voice when the subject receives the action of the verb. Example: “Rikki-Tikki-Tavi” was written by Rudyard Kipling. PRONOUNS Pronoun: takes the place of one or more nouns. Example: Max likes books. He particularly enjoys science fiction novels. Personal Pronoun: refers to people or things Example: Max likes books. He particularly enjoys science fiction novels. Subject Pronoun: used as the subject of the sentence Example: Max likes books. He particularly enjoys science fiction novels. Predicate Pronoun: a subject pronoun used in place of the predicate noun after a linking verb Example: The girl in the picture is I. The boy in the picture is he. Object Pronoun: used as a direct object or an indirect object after an action verb Example: The teacher praised us. (direct object) Tell me a story. (indirect object) PERSONAL PRONOUNS Singular Plural Subject Pronouns I we you you he, she, it they 5 | P a g e Object Pronouns me us you you him, her, it them Antecedent: the word a pronoun refers to; antecedent means “going before” Example: Cassie is the main character in Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. She has three brothers. Possessive Pronoun: takes the place of a possessive noun Example: Lisa’s class put on a play. Her class put on a play. (used before a noun-adjective) The idea was Lisa’s. The idea was hers. (used alone) POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS Singular Plural Used before Nouns my our (Possessive Adjective) your your her, his, its their Used Alone mine ours yours yours hers, his, its theirs Indefinite Pronoun: does not refer to a particular person, place, or thing Examples: Everybody goes to the dance. Many go to the dance. Some INDEFINITE PRONOUNS Always Singular Always Plural another everybody no one both anybody everyone nothing few anyone everything one many anything much somebody others each neither someone several either nobocy something Reflexive Pronoun: ends with –self or –selves and refers to the subject of the sentence Examples: Jeremy bought himself a book on horses. (never use hisself) The teens found themselves in an awkward situation. (never use theirselves) REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS Singular Plural myself ourselves yourself yourselves himself, herself, itself themselves 6 | P a g e Interrogative Pronoun: a pronoun used to introduce an interrogative sentence (a question) Examples: Who borrowed the book? (subject) Whom did the librarian call? (direct object) Demonstrative Pronoun: this, that, these, those; a pronoun that points out something either nearby or at a distance Examples: This is a good movie. (nearby) That is a good movie. (at a distance) These are good movies. (nearby) Those are good movies. (at a distance) ADJECTIVES Adjective: a word that modifies, or describes, a noun or a pronoun HOW ADJECTIVES MODIFY NOUNS WHAT KIND? We studied ancient history.