TEAS English
Appositives phrases
used to explain or remain nouns or pronouns. example: Terriers, hunters at heart, have been dressed up to look like lap dogs. hunters at heart renames terriers. they can be essential ( if the person place or thing is too general) or nonessential.
proper nouns
used to name a specific person, place, or thing. These begin with a capital letter. Examples: Sarah, Los Angelas, Mars, Cafe Río. when talking about the planet with live on refer to as Earth. when talking about dirt, rocks, or land, you lowercase earth.
-ly
usually changes adj into adverbs
-ise, -ize
usually changes nouns into verbs
-able, -ible
usually changes verbs into adj
lofty
very high, overly proud or arrogant
mind mapping
visually diagramming ideas around a central concept
belli-
war, warlike. bellicose
correct pronoun determination
we or us boys played football last year. correct answer: we. we played football last year. changing forms: subjective case: HE is coming to the show. objective case: jack drove HIM to the airport. possessive case: the flowers are MINE.
bene-
well, good
interrogative
what, which, who, whom, whose
drop the final E
when adding a suffix to a root that ends in E, drop the E if the suffix begins with a vowel but not before a suffix beginning with a consonant. exceptions: duly, peaceable, truly
Double the final consonant
when adding a suffix to a root that ends in a single consonant, double the consonant if a single vowel precedes the consonant and the consonant ends an accented syllable or one-syllable word.
brackets
when placing parentheses inside parenthesis: example: Paul revere (a silversmith and industrialist [see Ch. 4]), rode through the towns. OR use when adding explanation or details that are not part of a quote: the father explained, "My children are planning to attend my alma mater[State University]."
auxiliary
(adj.) giving assistance or support; (n.) a helper, aid. a helping verb is needed to show the change in form. am, are, is (have, had, has) was, were, will (or shall) present: I talk. past: I talked. further: I will talk present perfect: I have talked. past perfect: I had talked. further perfect: I will have talked
germane
(adj.) relevant, appropriate, apropos, fitting
erudite
(adj.) scholarly, learned, bookish, pedantic
nonconformist
(n.) a person who refuses to follow established ideas or ways of doing things; (adj.) of or relating to the unconventional
collective nouns
(nouns of multitude) name a group of persons, places, or objects gathered together into a unit. class, company, dozen, herd, team
cleave
(v.) To cut or split open; to cling to
who or whom
1. Isolate the relative pronoun in its own clause 2. Ask yourself: who or whom... ? 3. Answer with ordinary personal pronoun such as "he did" or "I'll invite him" 4. He- use who, him- use whom.
comma splice
A comma splice is a sentence error involving the use of a comma to connect two sentences instead of using a coordinating conjunction. The sentence listed here contains two separate ideas joined by only a comma. Both incomplete sentence and sentence fragment are terms denoting a sentence that lacks a complete thought or idea. A compound sentence is not a sentence error, but a type of sentence.
formal writing
A fancy writing. Formal writing is used in public speaking, written reports, academic papers and tests: formal requests including letters, opinion pieces, etc.
dependent clause
A group of words that contain a subject and a verb, and does not contain a complete thought
independent clause
A group of words that includes a subject and predicate and can stand alone as a complete sentence
phrase
A group of words that work together as a unit. not a complete sentence. prepositional phrases describes where or the location.
second person
A narrative mode that addresses the reader as "you"
compound noun
A noun made up of two or more words. mother-in law and court-martial. plural : mothers-in-law and courts-martial.
mnemonic
A pattern or other device to help remember something
noun
A person, place, thing, or idea
dashes
A punctuation mark (—) used to indicate a sudden break in thought, to set off parenthetical material. use to set off parenthetical statements or an appositive with internal punctuation (the three trees-- oak, pine, and magnolia--are coming on a truck tomorrow). to show a break or change in tone or thought. (the first question--how silly of me-- does not have a correct answer.)
simple sentence
A sentence consisting of one independent clause and no dependent clause
run-on sentence
A sentence with extra parts not joined properly
complex sentence
A sentence with one independent clause and one or more dependent clause
emphasis paragraph
A short paragraph that highlights a key point
abbreviation
A shortened form of a word or phrase. 3 P.M. , Mr. Jones, Bill Jr. , Pennsylvania Ave.
formal
A style that follows conventional rules
action verb
A verb that expresses either physical or mental activity, a sentence can be complete with one word: action word.
object
A word or group of words that receives the action of a verb. N.= a lifeless item that can be held and observed. V= disagree.
adjective
A word or phrase that modifies or describes a noun or pronoun.
pronoun
A word that takes the place of a noun. a pronoun may be grouped as personal, intensive, relative, interrogative, demonstrative, indefinite, and reciprocal
root
A word to which an affix can be attached
imperative sentence
An imperative sentence gives a command or makes a request, and usually contains no subject. Here the subject is understood to be "you."
conjugating the verb
when you need to change the form of a verb, you are conjugating the verb. the key parts of a verb, are first person singular, present tense, (dream), first person singular, past tense (dreamed), and the past participle (dreamed.) present tense: active voice singular plural first person: I dream we dream second person: you dream you dream third person: he, she, it dreams they dream
relative
which, who, whom, whose
absolute phrase
with a participle that comes after a noun. this is never the subject. they are used independently from the rest of the sentence. example: the alarm ringing, he pushed the snooze button.
com-
with, together, very. commotion, complicate
sym-
with, together. sympathy, symphony
intra-
within. intramural, intrastate
an-
without
a-
without, lacking. atheist, agnostic
interjection
words or phrases that represent short bursts of emotion. a word for escalation. hey! oh,... Ouch ! Please! Wow!
transition
words or sentences that lead from one idea to another
homophone
words pronounced alike but with different meaning.
homograph
words spelled the same with different meanings
verbals
words that appear to be verbs, but are acting as some other part of speech. three types: participle: used as an adj. present ends in -ing and past ends in -ed, -d, -n, or -t. participle phrases are made of a participle and all of its modifiers. they come right after the noun or pronoun they modify. gerunds: verb that is used as a noun. -ing ending verbs. infinitives: is a verbal that can be used as a noun, an adjective, or an adverb. infinitive phrases are made of an infinitive and all complements and modifiers. they are used as adj, or adverbs.
synonyms
words with identical or similar meanings
verbose
wordy
linking verbs
are intransitive verbs that show a condition (the subject being described but does no action). they link the subject of a sentence to a noun or pronoun, or they link a subject with an adjective. common linking verbs: appear, be, become, feel, grow, look, seem, smell, sound, and taste.
common nouns
are the class or group of people, places, and things. (don't capitalize)
-ist
worker, follower. monopolist, socialist
double negatives
are used to emphasize negation are not part of standard English. negative modifiers should not be paired with other negative modifiers or negative words. (none, nobody, nothing, neither). the modifiers hardly, barely, and scarcely, are also considered negatives.
circum-
around. circumference, circumspect
peri-
around. periscope, perimeter
bear
as in to bear arms
dis-
away, from, down, not. dissent, disappear
for-
away, off, from. forget, forswear
-ous
marked by, given to. religious, riotous
Rebelliousness
means defiance.
suppressed
means put down by authority or force
metr
measure
adjetive
modifies a noun or pronoun (third, four)
spelling
necessary, embarrass, business
neo-
new. neolithic, neoconservative
personal
nominative: is the case for nouns and pronouns that are the subject of a sentence. object is the case for nouns and pronouns that are an object in a sentence. possessive is the case for nouns and pronouns that show possession and ownership. singular: nominative objective possessive first person. I. me my, mine second you you your, yours third he, she, it him, her, it his, her, hers, its plural: first we us ours, our second you you your, yours third. they them their, theirs
rhino-
nose
insensitive
not caring; slow to feel or notice
Inconspicuous
not easily seen; subtle; not noticeable
un-
not, reverse of. unhappy, unlock
non-
not. nonentity, nonsense
predicate nouns
nouns that modify the subject and finish linking verbs. (my father is a lawyer)= father is subject lawyer is predicate noun.
split infinitive
occurs when modifying word comes between the word TO and the verb that pairs with TO. (to clearly explain vs to explain clearly)
substantial
of considerable importance, size, or worth
-er (-or)
office, action. teacher, elevator, honor
mono-
one monologue, monogamy, monograph
-ard
one that does excessively drunkard, wizard
uni-
one. uniform, unity
ex-
out. extract, excerpt
servile
overly submissive
plural ox
oxen
parallelism
pairs parts of speech, or clauses together with a matching piece.
-ed
past tense
tense
past, present, future
indelible
permanent
cliches
phrases that are used over and over again and do not really mean anything
apothegms
pithy, compact saying
blunt
plain spoken
-s, -es, -ies
plural
mal-
poor, bad, not. malfunction, malpractice
-ship
position. internship, statesmanship
fore-
previous. foretell, forefathers
colon
punctuation mark used in introduction of a quote or list, ratio, and time. after an independent clause to make a list. use a colon for elaboration( there is one thing that stands out in your resume: responsibility.) or to a give a quote. (the man started with an idea: "we are able to do this") , use in a formal letter (Dear Sir:), time (it its 3:14 P.M.), to separate a title and subtitle (the essay is titled "America: a short introduction to a modern country)
comma
punctuation mark used to separate parts of sentences. can help understand connections. an absent comma is a comma in the wrong place. rule #1, use a comma before a coordinating conjunction joint independent clauses. ex: Bob caught three fish, and I caught two fish. #2: use a comma after an introductory phrase or adverbial clause. #3, between items in a series. #4, between coordinate adjectives not joined with and. ex: the kind, loyal dog followed me home. #5, between yes and no responses or interjections. #6, use to separate nonessential modifiers (John, who is coaching the team, was promoted today) and nonessential appositives (Thomas, an American inventor, was born in Ohio). #7, use to set off nouns of direct address(you, John, are my only hope), interrogative tags (this is the last time, correct?), and contrast (you are my friend, not my enemy) #8, with dates(July, 4, 1776, is an important date), addresses (465 Delaware ave, Washington, D.C., tomorrow) , geographical names( Paris, France, is my favorite city), and titles (John smith, Ph.D., will be visiting your class today) #9: use to separate expressions like he said, and she said, if they come between a sentence of a quote
quotation marks
punctuation marks that denote spoken or other quoted text. newspaper and magazine articles, poems, short stories, songs, television episodes, radio programs, and subdivisions of books or websites. also used to highlight irony and to show how words are being used to set off other words in a different way from dictionary definition. colons and semicolons are put outside quotation marks. when the question or exclamation mark goes with the whole sentence, the mark is left outside of the quotation marks.
Parentheses
punctuation marks that set off explanatory material within text
constructed
put together; fitted together; built
-tude
quality, state, result magnitude, fortitude
-ness
quality, state. greatness, tallness
which words indicates contrast
regardless, nonetheless, even so, and however
ad-
to, toward. advance, adventure
bi-
two. bisect, biennial
bare
uncovered
hypo-
under, below. hypodermic, hypothesis
sub-
under, subjugate, substitute
Inadvertently
unintentionally
who
used for people only (Mozart was the one who wrote those papers)
that
used for people or things (is Luis glamour the author that wrote western novels
which
used for things only ( johns dog, which was called Max, is large.
precarious
Dangerous; risky; lacking in security or stability
adverbs
Describe actions (verbs); often end in -ly. the negatives NOT and NEVER are known as adverbs. they come aright after the verb. **rules for comparing adverbs are the same as the rules for adjectives** (positive, comparative, and superlative)
fastidious
Difficult to please
brainstorming
Discussing as a group to create an idea or solve a problem. this can be accomplished through free-association with a topic
using the word "doctor"
Doctor should be capitalized when it is used as a title, or when it is being used to address someone directly. It should not be capitalized when it is used as a noun or descriptor. I saw doctor Ingalls is incorrect, as Doctor Ingalls should be capitalized. Is it serious, Doctor? is incorrect because although the first use of doctor is correct, the second use of the word should not be capitalized. The Doctor wore a pristine white coat is also incorrect, as the doctor in this sentence is not a title or name, but a noun. Names are always capitalized, while noun words which indicate family relations should be in lowercase unless used as a title.
effect vs. affect
Effected means "executed, produced, or brought about." Effect can be used as a noun that means result. Effect as a verb= bring about. Affect as a verb means to influence. Affect can be used as a noun for feeling emotion or mood. Affected means "made an impact on."
independent clause conjunctions
FANBOYS
intensive
I myself, you yourself, he himself, her herself, the (thing) itself, we ourselves, you yourselves, they themselves
magn-
Iarge, magnitude, magnify
scared vs. scarred
If you are scared, you are fearful of something. If you are scarred, you have a mark left by a healed wound. Scarred can also refer to a psychological trauma. The words "at first" assure us that this is not the case with Joey
emigrate vs immigrate
Immigrate means to come into a country. The word emigrate means to leave a country.
irrepressible
Incapable of being controlled or held back; unrestrainable
slang
Informal language usually tied to a specific group of people
frivolous
Lacking in seriousness or importance
pronoun-antecedent agreement
Matching like numbers of pronouns and their antecedents: singular with singular, plural with plural
subject-verb agreement
Matching like numbers of subjects and verbs: singular with singular, plural with plural. when one subject is singular and one is plural, you make the verb agree with the closer subject. collective nouns: example: the team are leaving for their homes after the game.
affixes
Morphemes that are added to words to create related but different words(happy and happiness). derivational affixes from new words based on and related to the original words. inflectional affix form different grammatical versions of words. (adding -s and -ed).
refuse
N= garbage or debris that has not been thrown away. V= to not allow.
general nouns
Names of ideas or conditions such as beauty, strength, truth or peace
specific nouns
Names people, places and things, such as baby, friend, town, rainbow
transitive verb
a verb whose action (drive, run, jumped) points to a receiver (car, dog, kangaroo). comes. in active (doing the action) or passive voice (receives the action)
perimeters vs parameters
Parameters are rules or limits that control what something is or how something should be done. Perimeters are measurements of the distance around something.
passive vs. active voice
Passive voice uses the object of an action as the subject. We made many mistakes is active voice because it uses the perpetrator of the action as the subject. Though the Many mistakes answer has changed some of the sentence structure, it does not use the acting person or entity as the subject. The Though mistakes were made option is an example of using both passive and active voice in a single sentence, rather than changing a passive sentence to an active sentence. This answer choice also adds previously unstated information, for which the question does not call. The If mistakes were made option combines passive and active voice in addition to changing the original sentence's meaning.
article and complements
Remember that articles show you whether nouns are specific or not. Elephant is a noun, and the article the shows that the author is talking about a specific elephant. The complement always follows a linking verb. In this case, the linking verb is was, so the complement following it is entertaining.
simple predicate
Sentences are composed of subjects and predicates. The subject is the "doer" in a sentence, or what the sentence is about. A simple predicate is simply the main verb. Each sentence must have a main verb, and the easiest way to find it is to look for a word that shows action. If there is no action verb in the sentence, then the simple predicate will be a "state of being" verb. By memorizing the short list above, you can easily find this type of verb.
NESW
South and Southwest should be capitalized when they are used to describe a geographical location, rather than a city or region descriptor. Senators and congressman are incorrectly capitalized, as these titles only require capitalization when used directly before a name or as a means of addressing someone. Dr. Cornish is correctly capitalized, but Doctor of Science should not be capitalized. Finally, seasons such as autumn do not require capitalization.
prescriptive grammar
Specific rules for using language and grammar
complete predicates
The complete predicate contains the main verb and all of the words that describe the verb and make the sentence's meaning clear. The predicate is usually in the second half of the sentence.
Complete Pedicate
The complete predicate includes the entire verb and all of its modifiers.
tone
The implied attitude toward the topic
modifier
a word or group of words that provides description for another word
dangling modifier
a word or phrase that modifies a word not clearly stated in the sentence. it can also be a dependent clause that have a clear connection to the word. they need to be placed in the right sequence to make sense
adverb
a word or phrase that modifies or qualifies an adjective, verb, or other adverb or a word group, expressing a relation of place, time, circumstance, manner, cause, degree, etc. (e.g., gently, quite, then, there ).
verb
a word that describes an action or state of being
preposition
a word that describes relationships between other words that show the relationship between an object and another word in the sentence. common prepositions
irregular plural
The plural form of the word crisis is crises, which is irregular. The other words form plurals in a regular fashion. The plural form of horse requires adding s. Since baby ends with a consonant followed by a *y*, it requires dropping the y and adding ies for plural formation. This is not done with monkey because it ends with a vowel followed by a *y*, so we just add s.
constituents
The residents of a congressional district or state.
topic sentence
The sentence that summarizes the main idea of a paragraph
juxtaposition
The term juxtaposition is used to describe the effect of placing two images or ideas side by side to create a contrast or comparison. While a word used to suggest two items that are similar in nature is close, it fails to denote the placement of the two items in question. The other options do not accurately describe juxtaposition.
who vs whom
The word "who" is used as a subject in a sentence. The word "whom" is used as an object. whom is the receiver of the action. if you can replace who with he or she then use who. if you can replace with he or she use who. if you can replace with him or her use whom
plural form of crisis
The words analysis and thesis are two other words for which the i changes to e in the plural form. crises.
article
Words (a and an) that refer to nouns
transition word
Words that link or introduce ideas
conjunction
a connecting word
charlatan
a fraud; a quack or imposter
stream of consciousness writing
a narrative device that mimics interior monologue
semi colon
a punctuation mark (';') used to connect independent clauses linked with a transitional word, use a semicolon between closely connected independent clauses that are not connected with a coordinating conjunction, use a semi colon between items in a series that has internal punctuation.
Apostrophe
a punctuation mark used to indicate either possession or the omission of letters or numbers
informal
a relaxed, unofficial style
compound-complex
a sentence having two or more coordinate independent clauses and one or more dependent clauses.
declarative sentence
a sentence that makes a statement. This sentence makes a declarative statement of fact, so can be classified as a declarative sentence.
compound sentence
a sentence with two or more coordinate independent clauses, often joined by one or more conjunctions. A compound sentence contains two complete, stand-alone sentences, which are connected by a coordinating conjunction, in this case,and. There are seven coordinating conjunctions: and, but, for, or, nor, so, and yet.
simple sentenece
a simple sentence contains one subject and one single verb
Artifice
a skillful or ingenious device; a clever trick; a clever skill; trickery. false or insincere behavior.
coherent paragraphs
a smooth flow of sentences: linking ideas clearly, repetition of key words, parallel structures, and consistent verb tense
citation
a strictly formatted line of text that provides a source reference
perfective
a verb for an item that has been completed
progressive
a verb that shows something is currently happening
articles
are adjectives used to mark nouns. the definite (limited or fixed amount) article the, the indefinite (no limit) articles a and an. I lose THE bottle that belongs to me. does anyone have A bottle to share
agile
able to move quickly and easily
supra
above
super-
above, extra. supersede. supernumerary
epi-
above, upon, on. epilogue
over-
above. overbearing, oversight
trans-
across, beyond, over. transact, transport.
-ance
act, condition, fact. acceptance, vigilance
-ism
act, manner, doctrine. barbarism, socialism
-th
act, state, quality. warmth, width
-ion
action, result, state. union, fusion
-ation
action, state, result. occupation, starvation
when a noun ends in the letter ch,sh, s,x,or z
add an es
circumfixes
add parts both before and after words. how light becomes enlighten
plural numbers and letter
add s
predicate adjectives
adj that modify the subject and finish linking verbs. example; your mother is patient. mother = subject and patient is predicate aj
types of dependent clauses
adjective( modifies nouns or pronouns. they being with a relative pronoun (who, whom, which, and that) or a relative adverb (where, when, and why). they come after the noun that the clause needs to explain or rename. it can be essential or nonessential. if you can read the sentence without it its nonessential.) adverb(modifies verbs, adj, and other adverbs. put adverb immediately after or before the independent clause. example: after, although, as, as if, before, because, if, since, so, so that, unless, when, where, or while.), noun( can be used as a subject, object, or complement. noun clauses can begin with how, that, what, whether, which, who, or why.
subordinating conjunctions
after, although, as, because, before, even though, if since, though, unless, until, when, whenever, whereas wherever, while examples: I am hungry BECAUSE I did not eat. he went home WHEN everyone left
post-
after, following. postpone. postscript
anti-
against
contra-
against, opposing. contradict, contravene
ob-
against, opposing. objection
indefinte
all, any, each, everyone, either/neither, one, some, several
pan-
all, entire. panorama, pandemonium
omni-
all, everywhere. omniscient, omnivore
inter-
among, between. intercede, interrupt
prefix
an affix that added in front of the word
suffix
an affix that appears at the end of a word
fragment
an incomplete sentence
colloquialism
an informal word or phrase
draft
an unfinished version of a text
equi-
equal. equivalent, equilibrium
audacity
excessive boldness, rashness, daring
hyper-
excessive, over. hypercritical, hypertension
obsequious
excessively submissive or overly attentive
retro-
back, backward. retrospect, retrograde.
re-
backward, again. revoke, recur
dys-
bad, painful, difficult, not functioning well
mis-
bad, poorly, not. misspelled, misfire
ante-
before, previous. antecedent, antedate
pre-
before, previous. prevent. preclude
para-
beside, beyond. parallel, paradox
ultra-
beyond, excessively. ultramodern, ultrasonic, ultraviolet
italics
books, movies, plays, newspapers, magazines, and long musical pieces are put in italics.
stem "pnea"
breathing
authentic
external guarantee of correctness
Prefix: tachy-
fast
-ess
feminine. waitress, duchess
phrasal verbs
call off, look up, drop off. verbs that look like they have propositions at the end of them but they are a part of the verb
-able
capable of being. tolerable, edible
- ful
filled with, marked by. thankful, zestful
direct object
receive the action of the verb.
capitalization
capitalize proper nouns and adj that come from proper nouns: my parents are from Europe. My father is British, and my mother is Italian. capitalize directional names (NESW) when they refer to specific areas(James from the West), but not when they refer to the direction(after three miles turn south onto the highway). capitalize all important words in a title: short prepositions are not included unless at beginning or end of title. capitalize kinship names only if they are used as a part of a whole proper noun(Uncle Mark is coming over tonight. OR Did you ask Mom if you can have a cookie). when using kinship name descriptively, do not capitalize it (Sally's uncle Jimbo is a ship captain).
Since, whether, and accordingly are examples of which type of signal words?
cause and effect
-en
cause to be, become. deepen, strengthen
-ize
cause to be, treat with. sterilize, mechanize, criticize
demeaning
causing someone to lose their dignity and the respect of others
-ive
causing, making
philanthropic
charitable, giving
Commonly Misspelled Words
chauffeur, committee, conscious, deferred, disappoint, ecstasy, embarrass, foreign, harass, hygiene, innocence, acknowledgment, aisle, appearance, campaign, changeable, colonel, conceive, coolly, develop, dissatisfied, extraordinary, foreigner, hypocrisy, intelligible, irresistible, arctic, auxiliary, beggar, business, candidate, congratulations, correspondent, deceive, diphtheria, dissipate, discipline, eighth, exhilaration, grievous, imminent, indigestible, judgment, likelihood, awkward, beneficiary, ceiling, commit, competent, conqueror, courtesy, deference, disappear, discussion, drudgery, eligible, exaggerate, existence, fascinate, forehead, forfeit, handkerchief, hurriedly, incidentally, inevitable, intercede, legitimate, maintenance, mattress, momentous, niece, obedience, omitted, parliament, propeller, receive, referred, restaurant, sacrilegious, sheriff, tournament, twelfth, usage, vengeance, weird, maneuver, miniature, mortgage, ninety, obstacle, pageant, permissible, prairie, questionnaire, relieve, sentinel, shriek, supersede, temperament, tragedy, vacuum, vigilance, wholly, mischievous, neither, occasion, perseverance, possess, preceding, pronunciation, psychiatrist, rally, recommend, religious, rhythm, scarcely, strenuous, transferred, unanimous, villain, misspell, notoriety, occurrence, parallel, pronouncement, psychology, recede, referral, resistance, ridiculous, severely, soliloquy, surprise, vein
-logy, -ology
class-maintaining, retained into a noun
crass
coarse, unfeeling; stupid
Menagerie
collection of animals
subordination
combining a dependent clause with an independent clause by using conjunctions such as after, although, before, unless, whenever and many others.
uttered
communicated in words
-er
comparative
analogies
comparison between two things that appear to have nothing in common
interfixes
compound words via central affixes. ex: speed + meter = speedOmeter
decisive
conclusive; beyond doubt; showing determination. making choices rapidly
-ing
continuous, progressive
editing
correct errors
curtail
cut short
unrestrainable
death or dark side
mor-
death. mortality, mortuary
bereaved
deprived or left desolate, especially through death
inflection
details of how a word is expressed to modify its tone or meaning
derivation
determining the origin of a word
ignoble
dishonorable; shameful
intransitive verb
do not point to a receiver of a direct object
cata-
down, away, thoroughly. catastrophe, cataclysm
reciprocal
each other, another
geo
earth
question mark
end mark that denotes a query. can also be a polite request followed by a period. will you please walk with me.
exclamation mark
end mark that denotes strong feeling and used for exclamatory interjections.
prim-
first, early. primitive, primary
point of view
first- I second- written to the reader. third- most common: know plot
swashbuckler
flamboyant soldier or adventurer
vehemently
forcefully
pro-
forward, in place of. propel. pronoun
ab-
from, away off. abdicate, abjure
de-
from. depart
replete
full
manipulative
good at influencing other people do what they want
gluttonous
greedy for food and drink
semi-
half. semicircle, semicolon
peaked
having a sickly appearance
ic
having to do with
-ate
having, showing. separate, desolate
-cephalus
head
Hyphenate
hyphenate prefixes before proper nouns or proper adj. hyphenate all words beginning with self-, ex-, and all-. hyphenate when it adds clarity. numbers between 21-99 need hyphen. twenty-five, one hundred fifty-one. use for fractions if they are used as adjectives: the recipe says that we need a three-fourths cup of butter. compound words used a adjectives that come before a noun need a hyphen. the well-fed dog took a nap. to avoid confusion: semi-irresponsible
to add suffix to words ending in e
if the e is silent, the e will be kept if the added suffix begins with a constant. if the suffix begins with a vowel, the e is dropped.
abysmally
in a terrible manner
-esque
in the style of, like picturesque, grotesque
in-
in, into. intrude, invade
(time and space) a-
in, on, of, up, to. abed, afoot
moods
indicative (fact, opinion, question), imperative (orders and requests), subjunctive (wishes and statements that go against facts: if I were you, I would do this. (I am not you, so it goes against fact)
supporting detail
info that supports the main idea by answering who, what, where, when, or why
Colloquialism
informal words or expressions not usually acceptable in formal writing(y'all)
extraneous
irrelevant
a process paragraph
is related to time order. describes a process or teaches the reader something
antecedent
is the noun that has been replaced by a pronoun. a pronoun and the antecedent agree when they have matching number and gender. example: John came into town, and HE played for us. the word he replaces john
conjugation
join words, phrases, or clauses and they show the connection between the joined pieces. coordinating conjunctions FANBOYS( and, but, yet, or, nor, for, and so) that connect equal parts of sentences. correlative conjunctions TWO WORDS ( either.....or (neither....nor) not only.... but also) show the connection between pairs. subordinating conjunctions join subordinate (dependent clauses) with independent clauses.
words ending in y
keep y if preceded by vowel. if ends in a consonant and y, the y is changed to an i before the suffix is added
obtuse
lacking sharpness of intellect; not clear or precise in thought or expression
-less
lacking, without. hopeless, countless
affix
letters placed at the beginning or end of a word or word part to change its meaning
informal writing
like may be used as a preposition and in what kind of writing, as a conjunction. personal emails (I, my) (readers like you)
Phil-
love, like. philosophy. philanthropic
-mania
madness
revising
make the writing more effective
-fy
make, cause to have. glorify, fortify
-ic
make, cause. terrific, beautific
The prefix poly- means
many
poly-
many. polymorphous, polygamous
relative and absolute adjectives
relative: can show the comparison between things. will show different degree of something or someone to something else or someone else. the three degree: positive(the work is DIFFICULT, she is SMART), comparative(the work is MORE DIFFICULT than your work. she is SMARTER than me), and superlative(this is the MOST DIFFICULT work of my life. she is the SMARTEST lady in school). absolute: can show comparison- they just show in a different way.
habitually
repeatedly or continuously
-oid
resembling
-ment
result, action. refreshment, disappointment
ortho-
right, straight. orthogonal, orthodox
plural roof
roofs
homo-
same, equal. homogenized, homonym
complement
sentence part that gives more information about a subject or object.
present, present perfect, past, past perfect, future, future perfect
she looks, she has looked, she looked, she had looked, she will look, she will have looked
Incriminating
showing guilt
prefix Brady-
slow
gregarious
sociable
jargon
special words or expressions that are used by a particular profession or group and are difficult for others to understand. (blast, epic fail)
-hood
state, condition manhood, statehood
-acy
state, condition. accuracy, privacy
y
state, quality, act
-ity (-ty)
state, quality, condition. acidity, civility, royalty
-dom
state, rank, condition. serfdom, wisdom
-sion (-tion)
state, result. revision, expedition
piqued
stimulate (interest or curiosity)
ortho
straight
Dogmatic
stubbornly opinionated. arrogant or insistent
modes of sentence patterns
subject + linking verb + subject complement subject + transitive verb + direct object subject + transitive verb + indirect object + direct subject + transitive verb + direct object + object complement subject + transitive verb
complete sentece
subject and verb or predicate. a fragment is an incomplete sentence. declarative states a fact and ends with period. imperative tells someone to do something and ends with a period. interrogative asks a question with a question mark. exclamatory shows strong emotion and ends with exclamation point.
-ish
suggesting, like. churlish, childish
-est
superlative
one, next, finally, another, first
supporting detail transition words
context
surrounding words that lend meaning to an idea
plural of tempo
tempi
subject
the main noun of a sentence that is doing or being. the complete subject is the simple subject and all of its modifiers. in imperative sentences the verbs subject is understood, but not actually present in the sentence. although the subject ordinarily comes before the verb, in sentences that begin with There are or There was, the subject follows the verb. the ability to recognize the subject of a sentence helps in editing a variety of problems, such as sentence fragments and subject-verb agreement, as well as the using the correct pronouns. implied: go to the post office for me (You are subject).
predicate
the part of a sentence that explains what the subject does or is like. what remains when you have found the subject. the predicate describes the subject.
indirect object
the person or thing to whom or which something is done. to show how an action had an influence on someone or something. if there is an indirect object in the sentence, then you always have a direct object in the sentence. when you are looking for the indirect object, find the verb and ask to/for whom or what.
morpheme
the smallest meaningful unit in grammar
diction
the style of writing determined by word choice
recursive process
the writing process in which the writer moves through the stages of writing in a unique sequence; non-linear. revisiting steps after completing other steps.
demonstrative
this, that, these, those
ellipsis marks
three periods (...) to show when words have been removed from a quotation. if a full sentence or more is removed from a quoted passage then use four periods. (then he picked up the groceries ... paid for them ... later he went home)
dia-
through, across, apart. diameter, diagnose
per-
through. perceive, permit
bank
to collect or pile up (v)
conceived
to imagine or develop as an idea; to understand or grasp; to become pregnant with
incense
to make very angry (V). a material that is burned in religious settings and makes a pleasant aroma (n).
vis-
to see. vissage, visible
progressive present tense
to show something is happening right now. I am walking.
peeked
to take a quick look
graph
to write