This week we dig deeper into the structure of writing: sentences.
Sentence - made up of one or more words that express a complete thought in a statement, question, request, command, or exclamation
Fragments - look like a complete sentence, but often does not complete a thought. Often, these fragments are subordinate (or dependent ) clauses.
Fragment Example: Because he was tired. This is a subordinate clause that is an incomplete thought.
Sentence: Because he was tired, the man took a nap. Subordinate clauses like "because he was tired" need independent clauses like "the man took a nap."
Sentences come in 4 flavors:
Simple - Expresses one complete thought with one independent clause and no dependent clauses
The man took a nap.
Compound - Has two independent clauses - joined by a conjunction or semicolon - and has no dependent clause
The man took a nap, and the cat jumped on his head.
Complex - Has one independent clause and one or more dependent clauses
Because he was tired, the man took a nap.
Compound-Complex - Has at least two independent clauses and one or more dependent clauses.
Because he was tired, the man took a nap, and the cat jumped on his head.
And that wraps another guide.
References:
Kern, Jara. (2020). The Infographic Guide to Grammar. Adams Media
Venolia, Jan. (2001). Write Right! (4th ed.). Ten Speed Press
Welcome to week 11 of our Grammar Guide. This week is all about interjections. Interjections typically show up in dialog.
Interjections are used to express emotion such as surprise, displeasure and other strong emotions. Interjections are typically abrupt as an aside or interruption and most often appear in dialog.
Hey!
Wow!
Yuck!
A strong interjection will typically have an exclamation point ! as punctuation. However, you will see them with a period if the reaction is more subdued. Whoa.
Some suggestions on Interjections:
Use them sparingly. Like the exclamation point, you should limit your use of interjections as they can quickly tire out the reader and lose their impact when overused.
Sometimes, you can use !@#$@ to stand in for more... salty... interjections.
Any word type can work as an Interjection
Verb: Run!
Noun: Dog!
Adjective: Great!
Some words are only interjections. Some examples:
Oops!
Ouch!
Oh!
Shh!
Ahh!
Listen! Don't over do the interjections.
References:
Kern, Jara. (2020). The Infographic Guide to Grammar. Adams Media
Venolia, Jan. (2001). Write Right! (4th ed.). Ten Speed Press
Welcome to tenth Grammar Guide! This week we are going to be talking all about FANBOYS!
Well, Myr & Cia are working together to talk about conjunctions, but FANBOYS are part of it. We'll get to that shortly.
Conjunctions join two parts of a sentence together, and there are four types of conjunctions:
Coordinating Conjunctions
Coordinating Conjunctions - a conjunction placed between words, phrases, clauses, or sentences of equal rank. There are 7 of them and you can remember them with the mnemonic FANBOYS. When a conjunction joins two independent clauses, it must be preceded by a comma.
Ex: I bought lettuce and carrots.
Ex: I bought the lettuce, but she bought the carrots.
Correlative Conjunctions
Correlative Conjunctions - pairs of words that work together to connect two parts of a sentence that hold an equal value or correlate with one another. Some examples: either/or, neither/nor, such/that, both/and, as/as, whether/or, rather/than
Ex: I ate neither the lettuce nor the carrots.
Subordinating Conjunctions
Subordinating Conjunctions - Join an independent or main clause and a dependent clause together, usually to modify the independent clause to provide a reason, result, cause, or purpose. When a sentence starts with a subordinating conjunction, the entire phrase is followed by a comma. The most common words used in subordinating conjunctions, which can be remembered with the acronym I SAW A WABUB are: If, Since, As, When, Although, While, After, Because, Until, Before.
Ex: Since you are up, you can eat the lettuce.
Conjunctive Adverbs
Conjunctive Adverbs join two independent clauses in one sentence to show cause/effect, sequence of events, contrast, or connection. They are preceded with a semicolon and followed by a comma. There are common adverbs used for this purpose such as: however, therefore, nevertheless, besides, after all, finally
Ex: Lettuce is healthy for you; however, it is not something I enjoy eating.
References:
Kern, Jara. (2020). The Infographic Guide to Grammar. Adams Media
Venolia, Jan. (2001). Write Right! (4th ed.). Ten Speed Press
