CLEP English Composition COMBINED WITH, Grammar Definitions I Printed

dangling modifier; definition and corrective action

(a modifier or verb in search of a subject) either appears to modify the wrong word or has nothing to modify. a sentence with a dangling modifier often looks correct. to correct these: 1. Change the modifying phrase to a clause with a subject Or 2.Change the subject of the sentence to the word that should be modified. ***Example: "Having finished the assignment, the TV was turned on." Why? Because the subject of the follow-up, main clause's verb did NOT make sense with the first, dependent clause's verb. (The tv was turned on is okay, but the TV did not finish the assignment and turn itself on.) Correction: Having finished the assignment, Jill turned on the TV."

Limited Omniscient Narrator

(first person) usually already knows the outcome (includes only knowing one character's thoughts, though they may guess other characters' thoughts, having one person's personality)

Types of Evidence

(from most to least valid) -documented facts and statistics -expert testimony -personal experience and anecdote -hypothetical illustration -analogies (the last two are not hard evidence, but offer common sense and probability to support an argument)

Omniscient Narrator

(third person) all-seeing, all-knowing, and able to be everywhere at once (includes knowing all of the characters' thoughts)

Episodic Plot

- DEFINITION: Made up of a series of chapters or stories linked by the same character, place, or theme but held apart by their individual plot, purpose, and subtext. - DETAIL: The chapters or stories could be shuffled around and placed in a different order if desired! (since there is no overall beginning, middle, and end to the book or story as a whole.) - NOTE: (In some cases there may be a sense of time passing throughout the episodes though, as if the character is growing or changing through each successive chapter or story.)

modifiers definition and application rule

- TIP: Put as close to the word it modifies as possible, and make sure that it is not between two words it might modify. A modifier changes, clarifies, qualifies, or limits a particular word in a sentence in order to add emphasis, explanation, or detail. -- DEFINITION: A word, phrase or clause that describes another word, phrase, or clause. Modifiers tend to be descriptive words, such as adjectives and adverbs. Modifier phrases, such as adjective clauses and adverbial phrases, also exist and tend to describe adjectives and adverbs. Consider the following simple sentence: Sarah was a sure fit for junior prom queen. Now consider the same sentence with multiple modifiers added: The blonde girl named Sarah, who was a foreign exchange student from England, quickly climbed the ladder of popularity during her junior year, smiling her way through cheerleading and an ASB presidency term she inched near the top and was a sure fit as junior prom queen.

Semicolon Rules:

1. Link two independent clauses to connect closely related ideas 2. Link clauses connected by conjunctive adverbs or transitional phrases to connect closely related ideas 3. Link lists where the items contain commas to avoid confusion between list items Example of 1: "Some people write with a word processor; others write with a pen or pencil." Example of 2: "There are basically two ways to write: with a pen or pencil, which is inexpensive and easily accessible; or by computer and printer, which is more expensive but quick and neat." Example of 3: "Some people write with a word processor, typewriter, or a computer; but others, for different reasons, choose to write with a pen or pencil."

Pronoun Rules

1. Must correspond with a singular or plural form of the noun (the antecedent) to which it refers. 2. It must be in the same person (1st, 2nd, 3rd) as the noun. 3. It must refer clearly to a single word, not a complete idea. 4. Must be in one of 3 case forms according to their function in the sentence.

Misused comma/clause rule - this is the rule a comma splice breaks:

A comma alone cannot join two independent clauses (complete sentences). A semicolon can, but not a comma.

Conjunction

A conjunction is a part of speech that is used to connect words, phrases, clauses, or sentences. Conjunctions are considered to be invariable grammar particle, and they may or may not stand between items they conjoin. (Unlike a preposition, a conjunction can connect any two like elements together in a sentence. Most notably, conjunctions have the ability to connect verbs together. This means that conjunctions can connect two sentences together.) -Has three types. Coordinating, Subordinating and Correlative. Each type joins together different parts of a sentence. Ex: Men and women, wind or weather. General conjunctions: after, although, as, as if, as long as, as much as, as soon as, as though, because, before, by the time, even if, even though, for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so

Phrase and Example

A phrase is a group of words without a subject-verb component, used as a single part of speech. Examples: Best friend (this phrase acts as a noun) Needing help (this phrase acts as an adjective; see Adjectives and Adverbs) With the blue shirt (this prepositional phrase acts as an adjective; see Prepositions) For twenty days (this prepositional phrase acts as an adverb)

Reflexive Pronouns

A reflexive pronoun ends ...self or ...selves and refers to another noun or pronoun in the sentence (usually the subject of the sentence). The reflexive pronouns are myself, yourself, herself, himself, itself, ourselves, yourselves and themselves. Examples: 1. The dog bit ITSELF. (In this example, the intensive pronoun itself refers back to the noun the dog.) 2. Are you talking to YOURSELF?

Preposition

A word that connects or links two nouns or pronouns together. a preposition is only able to connect a noun element into a sentence. It stands before a noun or pronoun. Location indicating prepositions (under, through, behind) are common as well as other connecting words. example of preposition is the word "with" in the following; "I'm going with her." Other common ones: about, above, according to, across, after, against along, amid, among, around, at, before, behind, in, concerning, for, past, in, by, off.

Conjunctive Adverbs Definition and word examples:

Adverbs are words that modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs and they can be used as conjunctions (link words, phrases, and clauses together for smooth transitions) as well. When they are both conjunctions and adverbs, they're known as conjunctive adverbs. Examples: also, however, otherwise, consequently, indeed, similarly, finally, likewise, then, furthermore, moreover, therefore, hence, nevertheless, thus, nonetheless.

Subordinating Conjunctions

After, although, as, as if, as long as, as much as, as soon as, as though, because, before, by the time, even if, even though, if, in order that, in case, lest, once, only if, provided that, since, so that, than, that, though, till, unless, until, when, whenever, where, wherever, while

Connotation

All the meanings, associations, or emotions that a word suggests

Intensive (or Emphatic) Pronouns

An intensive pronoun (sometimes called an emphatic pronoun) refers back to another noun or pronoun in the sentence to emphasize it (e.g., to emphasize that it is the thing carrying out the action). Include: myself, yourself, herself, himself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, and themselves. Examples: John bakes all the bread himself. (In this example, the intensive pronoun himself refers back to the noun John and emphasizes what he did.) The cat opened the door itself.

Conjunctions

Conjunctions are used to link words, phrases, and clauses together and provide a smooth transition between ideas.

Subordinating conjunctions

Emphasize main ideas- although, because, before, though, etc.

Coordination

Emphasizes equal ideas and uses a coordinating conjunction. Like subordination, it combines ideas to give emphasis on certain parts of a sentence. Example: "The restaurant had a hostess, and they decided to keep the podium at the front door."

Subordination

Emphasizes main ideas using a subordinating conjunction. Also combines ideas to give emphasis on certain parts of a sentence just like coordination. Example: "The restaurant decided to keep the podium at the front door, because they had a hostess."

Fragments

Include a portion of a sentence, but do not represent a complete thought.

Requirements for a Complete Sentence

Must include a subject-noun, predicate-verb, and they must represent a complete thought.

Objective Pronoun

Objective Pronouns are pronouns where the verb is being performed upon the noun the pronoun is replacing. An objective pronoun is a pronoun that stands in for the object of a verb, a prepositional phrase, or an infinitive phrase. ." Examples: 1. "My aunt Marge made the cake for [me]." (The pronoun is the object of the prepositional phrase). 2. "My aunt Marge brought [it] to the party." (The pronoun is the direct object of the verb.) 3. "My aunt Marge was happy to see [her] at the party." ( The pronoun is the object of the infinitive phrase "to see")

simple sentence

One independent clause

Limited/Restricted Narrator

One narrating person telling the story from their perspective and who has limited insight into what will happen next (they learn what happens when it happens)

Preposition vs Conjunction

Prepositions establish a relationship between two parts of a sentence in a way that conjunctions don't. Conjunctions act more like glue and don't add a lot of meaning. Prepositions usually establish some sort of positional relationship between elements in a sentence. In contrast to a preposition, a conjunction can connect any two like elements together in a sentence. Most notably, conjunctions have the ability to connect verbs together. This means that conjunctions can connect two sentences together.

Verisimilitude

Presenting a story or drama in a universe that appears just like the real one. Most novels and television sitcoms do this. ("imitation of life")

Interrogative Pronouns

Pronouns used in questions. Although they are classified as pronouns, it is not easy to see how they replace nouns. Who, which, what, where, how, whoever, whatever, whose are all interrogative pronouns

Reciprocal Pronouns

Reciprocal pronouns are used for actions or feelings that are reciprocated. The two most common reciprocal pronouns are each other and one another. Examples: 1. They like ONE ANOTHER. 2. They talk to EACH OTHER like they're babies.

Persona (and dramatic monologue)

Refers to the voice of a particular kind of character—the character who is also the narrator within a literary work written from the first-person point of view.

Case forms of pronouns

Singular, Objective, Possessive

Fact

Something that is true and can be proven

Opinion

Something the person believes, thinks, or feels.

Syntax

The arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed sentences in a language.

Parallelism

The concept of presenting ideas is equal thoughts. LACKING PARALLELISM IS A MISTAKE: When ideas are listed without parallelism the sentence becomes choppy and incomprehensible. CORRECT USE: When ideas are listed with parallelism, the sentence flows and emphasis is shared across each idea. Example: before boarding the plane she said goodbye to her husband, bought a coffee and went through the security checkpoint.-Parallel

Denotation

The dictionary definition of a word

Singular Pronoun:

The noun that the pronoun is representing is singular, so the pronoun referring to it must be singular. Otherwise, the noun has to be made plural. Non-example: A teacher should treat all THEIR students fairly. Example: The teacher should treat his students fairly.

Personal Pronouns

The personal pronouns are I, you, he, she, it, we, they, and who. More often than not (but not exclusively), they replace nouns representing people. When most people think of pronouns, it is the personal pronouns that usually spring to mind.

Subjective Pronoun

The subject is the noun performing the action.

Correlative Conjunctions

These are always used in pairs. Used to join phrases or words that carry equal importance within a sentence. both... and either... or neither... nor not only... but also whether... or Rather ...than, Not only ...but also, If ...then, Both ...and, No sooner ...than What with ... when Scarcely ...when, Rather ...than, No sooner ...than EXAMPLE: scarcely/when - I had SCARCELY walked in the door WHEN I got the call and had to run right back out again. GOOD TIPS: Rules: 1.Ensure verbs agree so your sentences make sense. 2. Must make sure the pronouns agree. 3.Keep parallel structure intact. Equal grammatical units need to be incorporated into the entire sentence. EXAMPLE: NOT ONLY did Mary grill burgers for Michael, BUT she ALSO fixed a steak for her dog, Vinny.

Absolute Possessive Pronouns

These pronouns also show possession. Unlike possessive pronouns, which are adjectives to nouns, these pronouns sit by themselves. Mine, yours, his, hers, ours and theirs are all absolute possessive pronouns. Examples: 1. The tickets are as good as OURS. 2 Shall we take YOURS or THEIRS?

Possessive Pronouns and examples:

Used to indicate who (or what) owns something. Like all pronouns, possessive pronouns take the place of nouns in sentences. Examples: mine yours his hers ours theirs

idiom

a phrase without a literal meaning

indefinite pronoun

a pronoun that does not refer to a specific, person, place, thing, or idea; examples: everyone, everything, everybody, anybody, many, most, few, each, some, someone, all, nothing, nobody, and no one

Clause

a syntactic construction containing a subject and predicate and forming part of a sentence or constituting a whole simple sentence.

adjective

a word that modifies, or describes, a noun or pronoun; example: We saw LAZY lions beneath a SHADY tree.

noun

a word that names a person, place, thing, or idea; example: boy, Juan, river, Texas

transitive verb

action verb followed by a noun or pronoun that receives the action; example: I KNOW the story.

positive adjective

adjective used when no comparison being made; example: This is a HOT day.

articles

adjectives 'a,' 'an,' and 'the' - a comes before something which starts with a vowel or semi-vowel

comparative adverb

adverbs such as lower, nearer, more slowly; faster, more seriously

superlative adverb

adverbs such as lowest, nearest, most slowly; fastest, most seriously

predicate adjective

an adjective that follows a linking verb and describes the subject of a sentence; includes forms of taste, look, feel, smell, appear, seem, and become; example: I look TIRED, but I feel FINE.

proper adjective

an adjective that is formed from a proper noun; example: Africa --> African; Scotland --> Scottish

superlative adjective

an adjective used to compare three or more items; example: This is the HOTTEST day of the year.

comparative adjective

an adjective used to compare two items; example: Today is HOTTER than yesterday.

Comma Spices:

appear when two sentences are joined by only a comma The attempt to join two independent clauses with a comma, but without a coordinator. not all comma splices are errors.

verb phrase

contains the main verb and helping verbs

irregular verb

does not end with -ed to form the past participle; examples; (is, are, am / was / were) ; (has, have / had / had) ; (do, does / did / done) ; ate, grown, bought, sold, spent, taken, etc.

Coordinating conjunctions

emphasize equal ideas- and, but, or, etc.

Coordinating Conjunctions

for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so FANBOYS

intransitive verb

includes all linking verbs and any action verbs that do not take an object; example: My friends CRIED.

helping verb

is not the main verb in a phrase; are added to another verb to make the meaning clearer; includes any forms of TO BE

object pronoun

is used as a direct/indirect object in a sentence; example: Rebecca gave ME a gift.

linking verb

joins the subject and the predicate

proper noun

names a particular person, place, thing, or idea; example: Amelia Earhart, Chicago, Katmai National Park

common noun

names any person place, thing or idea; example: pilot, city, park

plural noun

names more than one person, place, or thing; example: principals, switches, communities, toys, leaves, roofs, radios, potatoes, feet, sheep

singular noun

names one person, place, or thing; example: principal, cafeteria, stereos

predicate nominative

noun or pronoun that follows a linking verb and renames the subject; example: Lassie has been a CELEBRITY for decades.

direct object

noun or pronoun that receives the action of a verb; tells who or what receives the action; example: Bobby loved his PARENTS.

possessive noun

noun that shows ownership or possession

split infinitive

placing an adverb between the "to" and the verb (ex. to rise, to not rise; to golf, to slowly golf; to dive, to quickly dive)

present / present participle

play / (is, are, am) playing --> adding -ing used with form be

past / past participle

played / (have, has, had) played --> adding -ed or -d with form have

plural possessive noun

shows ownership by more than one person or thing; example: my friends' parents

singular possessive noun

shows ownership by one person or thing; example: my aunt's house

possessive pronoun

shows ownership or possession of something; example: Jerome is learning about HIS ancestors.

preposition

shows the relationship of a noun or a pronoun to another word in the sentence; example: I walked ALONG the beach.

pronoun

takes the place of one or more noun; example: I, you, he, she, it, we, they, it

future tense

tells that something will happen in the future; uses WILL with the verb; example: Dena WILL LAUGH at the jokes.

indirect object

tells to whom or for whom the action of the verb is done; example: Jack showed the DOG kindness.

action verb

tells what the subject of a sentence does or did. example: She SLEEPS every day. She SLEPT every day. ...In future tense, the action verb word won't change (Ex run - will run).

demonstrative adjective

tells which one; examples: this, that, these, and those

past perfect

tense with the past participle and helping verb HAD

present perfect

tense with the past participle and helping verb HAVE and HAS

future perfect

tense with the past participle and helping verb WILL HAVE

main verb

the most important verb in a phrase

who

use as a subject pronoun; example: _____ is not going?

whom

use as an object pronoun; example: To _____ am I speaking?

subject pronoun

used as a subject or part of a the subject in a sentence; WE are ready to go.

reflexive pronoun

usually refers to the subject of a sentence; examples: myself, yourself, himself, herself, ourselves, yourselves, and themselves

past tense

verb that tells something that happened in the past; example: Dena LAUGHED at the jokes.

present tense

verb that tells something that is happening now; example: Dena LAUGHS at the jokes.

verb tense

verb that tells the time of the action or being

antecedent

when using pronoun, the noun to which it refers; example: HE heard. NICHOLAS heard. // pronouns should agree with number and gender; example: NICHOLAS heard a LIBRARIAN tell STORIES.

adverb

words that describes verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs; answers when, where, how, to what extent; modifies a verb, adjective, or adverb; tells how, when, where, or to what extent; example: Our skates move EFFORTLESSLY. (how) or The ice is glistening NOW. (when) **most adverbs are formed by adding -ly to an adjective**

negatives

words that mean no; common negatives: no, not, never, nowhere, nothing, nobody, no one, neither, scarcely, barely; use only one in a sentence