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NOTE: I have taken time to devise documents using my own examples and knowledge (verified to be sure I was correct). Please respect my work by using as they are with my name and website. Teachers: feel free to make as many copies as you need. Obviously, if any discrepancies are noted, please contact me: emowens@emowenseverythingenglish.com
Parts of Speech (What makes up a sentence?)
The basic parts of a sentence are subject-verb-object, with subject-verb being the components of a complete sentence: I ran. The dog jumped. Cindy was dancing. The subjects are: I, dog, Cindy. The verbs are ran, jumped, dancing.
The subject is the one doing the action, the object receives the action: I threw the ball. Bill read a book. In these sentences, I and Bill are the subjects doing the action (threw and read), and the objects are the ball and the book. There are direct and indirect objects, but this website is not intended for an intense course in grammar. The links on the side will give more in-depth descriptions.
Other main types of words in sentences include: adverb, adjective, pronoun, article, preposition, and conjunctions. Again, there are many different types of words, but this is for basic writing and reading skills.
Below is a document I have designed for my students. It has been a useful tool for helping their writing.
Punctuation
Punctuation is confusing. When do you use a comma and when do you use a period? Basically, complete thoughts (generally a sentence that has a subject and verb) should be separated from each other. You can end the thought with a full-stop (period ".") or you can add a comma with a conjunction, usually ", and" or ", but", for example.
I have created a document that can be used to guide you. Most of the punctuation marks that you will need for an average academic document are listed with examples to illustrate their use.
Verbs can be tricky. You have regular and irregular verbs; past tense or past perfect tense, not to mention all the present, future, present continuous, etc.; passive and active verbs, and the list goes on! I have compiled a handout that explains the basic forms of verbs you would be most likely to need to know for any academic writing project.
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