English Grammar Cheat Sheet, Cheat Sheet of English Language

Download English Grammar Cheat Sheet and more Cheat Sheet English Language in PDF only on Docsity! Mrs. Stephenson’s ENGLISH Grammar Cheat Sheet Spring 2011 THE THREE CARDINAL RULES OF AN ENGLISH GRAMMAR TEST (1) Most critical to remember is to begin on the left side of the page and read until you get to a question. Do not start on the right side of the page and read “around” the question to figure it out. The test makers know that you are going to do this, so they design questions that will catch you. (2) WRITE ON YOUR TEST. Make the corrections before you took at the answer choices so that you aren't duped by wrong answers. (3) Know the rule for the answer you choose; don’t choose “what sounds best.” Complete Sentances Dependent Clauses/Fragments 1. Complete sentences have at least one subject and at | 1. These are not sentences because they don’t make least one verb. sense by themselves. 2. Camplete sentences do not start with WHICH or 2. They almost always begin with WHICH, THAT, WHAT, THAT. WHERE, WHEN, BECAUSE, UNTIL, UNLESS, BEFORE, Run-On Sentences AFTER, AS, IF, SINCE, THOUGH, ALTHOUGH. 1. You cannot have two complete sentences put 3. If your sentence starts with one of these words, you will together without a comma and a fanboy (for, and, nor, need a comma after the clause ends and before your but, or, yet, so) or with a semicolon {;}. independent clause starts. 2, Cammas cannot hold together two complete sentences. Subject-Verb Agreement Contractions and Possessives Singular verbs end in -s. its and it's whose and who's ex. John runs. its is possessive whose is possessive Plural verbs do not end in -s. it's = itis who's = who is ex, John and Joe run. their and they're your and you're ignore intervening phrases when evaluating subject-verb | their is possessive your is possessive agreement. The STUFF between subjects and verbs they're = they are you're = you are doesn't count when you are correcting mistakes. Scratch them out and then make the corrections. If a singular noun ends in ~s, use ‘s. ex. Chris's bike shop Ifa plural noun ends in ~s, use only an apostrophe. ex. The giris' basketball team Unnecessary Shifts in Point of View Punctuating Titles ist PERSON or 3rd PERSON i, me, we or he, she, ifiey 1. If the thing can sit on a shelf, it must be underlined. When you begin reading the passage, note the point of | Ex. Books, movies, cds, newspapers, magazines. view it is written from. Keep that point of view throughout. NOTE: Most often, the use of YOU on the 2. If the thing is inside of something, it’s inside quates. ACT should be eliminated. However, pay attention to Ex. Poems, songs, articles, short stories, essays. the context of the passage before making your decision. WHO or WHOM? Parallel Structure WHO=he, she, it, they Language has to “match;” that is, the parts of speech ina list must be the same, sentences should follow a pattern if WHOM=him, her, them you are trying to make a point. Generally, this rule applies to lists. Plug in he or him; whichever ane makes sense tells you if you should use who or whom. Also, if the who/whom is followed IMMEDIATELY by a verb, use who.