Words,

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• Words,
• Clauses
• Sentences

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Grammar

• The Basics
• Subject, Verb, Object
• Modifiers, Prepositions, Articles
• Modifiers Adjectives, Adverbs
• Prepositions
• The Preposition Cube
• Articles
• Recap

• Sentences Clauses
• Independent Dependent

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The BasicsSubject, Verb, Object
In English, we almost invariably structure our
sentences in what is called the SVO format
S V O
Subject Verb Object
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The BasicsSubject, Verb, Object
The dog
ran
home
In English, we almost invariably structure our
sentences in what is called the SVO format
Subject
Verb
Object
S V O
Subject Verb Object
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The BasicsSubject, Verb, Object
When a sentence is in the passive voice,
however, the order is generally reversed.
From the ceiling hung the chandelier
Here the chandelier is the subject, even though
it follows the verb, and the ceiling is the
object even though it precedes the verb.
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The BasicsSubject, Verb, Object
A simple sentence always has a subject. This is a
noun, or noun phrase, which is doing something.
This cup Some people My family Jed and Jethro
is go runs drank
on the table.
on rollercoasters.
A simple sentence always has a verb. This is a
verb, or verb phrase, which tells what the
subject is doing.
a restaurant
A simple sentence may, or may not, also have an
object. This is a noun, or noun phrase, which
tells to whom or what the action is being done.
the moonshine
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The BasicsSubject, Verb, Object
The dog
ran
home
First, identify the verb.
Next, identify the subject-noun (or noun phrase).
If there is another noun or noun phrase which
follows the verb and completes the action in some
way that is the object
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The BasicsSubject, Verb, Object
Sometimes a simple sentence doesnt have an
object just a subject and verb.

• The dog barked.
• The car crashed.
• The sky is falling.
• My back is aching.
• Your computer has crashed

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The BasicsSubject, Verb, Object
But subjects and verbs do not necessarily make a
complete simple sentence.

• John put
• Ralph laid
• I gave
• The dog is
• I will get

The simple sentence must form a complete thought.
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The BasicsSubject, Verb, Object
But just because its simple, doesnt mean a
simple sentence is necessarily short.
The happy, yet strangely clean chimneysweep, ran
quickly and cheerfully up and down the grimy
streets of London in the fog.
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The Basics Subject, Verb, Object
Here we have a single subject, a single verb, and
a single object.
The happy, yet strangely clean chimneysweep, ran
quickly and cheerfully up and down the grimy
streets of London in the fog.
ran
chimneysweep
streets
verb
Noun (subject)
Noun (object)
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The Basics Modifiers, Prepositions, Articles
The rest of the words are modifiers,
prepositions, articles, and conjunctions.
clean
The happy, yet strangely clean chimneysweep, ran
quickly and cheerfully up and down the grimy
streets of London in the fog.
happy
grimy
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The Basics Modifiers Adjectives Adverbs
There are two kinds of modifiers. Words which
modify nouns are called adjectives.
clean
The happy, yet strangely clean chimneysweep, ran
quickly and cheerfully up and down the grimy
streets of London in the fog.
happy
grimy
Adjectives modifying chimneysweep.
Adjective modifying streets.
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The Basics Modifiers Adjectives Adverbs
Words which modify verbs are called adverbs.
The happy, yet strangely clean chimneysweep, ran
quickly and cheerfully up and down the grimy
streets of London in the fog.
quickly
cheerfully
strangely
Adverbs modifying the verb ran
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The Basics Modifiers Adjectives Adverbs
But adverbs also modify adjectives and other
adverbs.
The happy, yet strangely clean chimneysweep, ran
quickly and cheerfully up and down the grimy
streets of London in the fog.
quickly
cheerfully
strangely
Adverb modifying adjective clean.
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The Basics Prepositions
Prepositions are words which tell about the
position of something and come before a noun.
(Pre before. Therefore, prepositions indicate
position and come before.)
The happy, yet strangely clean chimneysweep, ran
quickly and cheerfully up and down the grimy
streets of London in the fog.
up
down
in
Prepositions revealing direction and position
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The Basics Prepositions
So what are the rest of the words here?
Most of what you need to know about prepositions
can be learned with a cube and a ball.
Some are modifiers. There are two types of
modifiers.
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The Basics The Preposition Cube
On
In
Beside
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The Basics The Preposition Cube
Through
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The Basics The Preposition Cube
Under
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The Basics The Preposition Cube
Behind
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The Basics The Preposition Cube
Across
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The Basics The Preposition Cube
Around
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The Basics The Preposition Cube
Near
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The Basics The Preposition Cube
With
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The Basics Of The Special Preposition
Joining two nouns
As noted, prepositions come before a noun and
form the beginning of a prepositional phrases.
Of, however, is slightly different. It acts
very much like a conjunction in that it combines
a noun with something else another noun, an
adverb or adjective, or a verb.

• The streets of San Francisco
• Hair of the dog
• Bay of Pigs

Joining a noun to a verb

• Singing of freedom and joy
• Speaking of penguins
• Thinking of radiators

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The Basics Of The Special Preposition
Joining a noun and adjective
As noted, prepositions come before a noun and
form the beginning of a prepositional phrases.
Of, however, is slightly different. It acts
very much like a conjunction in that it combines
a noun with something else another noun, an
adverb or adjective, or a verb.

• Swift of foot
• Lean of limb
• Warm of heart

Joining a noun to an adverb

• Sprightly of gait
• Fleetingly of importance
• Hardly of interest

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The Basics Articles
So what are the rest of the words here?
Articles are those little words that sort of
point to a noun. The most common is the.
Some are modifiers. There are two types of
modifiers.
The happy, yet strangely clean chimneysweep, ran
quickly and cheerfully up and down the grimy
streets of London in the fog.
The
the
the
But the isnt the only article.
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The Basics Articles
There are two major types of articles definite
and indefinite. Both types are similar in that
they point to a noun.
The hats those people wore to this rodeo had an
effect on our mayor.
The
those
this
an
the
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The Basics Articles

• The book
• This book
• That book
• Those books
• These books

A definite article points to one or more
specific nouns.
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The Basics Articles

• A book
• An apple

An indefinite article points to an unspecified
instance of a noun.
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The Basics Putting It All Together
Now lets go back to our long simple sentence and
examine the types of words it contains.
The happy, yet strangely clean chimneysweep, ran
quickly and cheerfully up and down the grimy
streets of London in the fog.
verb
Subject-noun
Object-noun
Modifier Adverbs
Modifier Adjectives
Prepositions
Articles
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The Basics Putting It All Together
Now lets go back to our long simple sentence and
examine the types of words it contains.
The happy, yet strangely clean chimneysweep, ran
quickly and cheerfully up and down the grimy
streets of London in the fog.
verb
ran
chimneysweep
Subject-noun
streets of London
Object-noun (note the joining of)
Modifier Adverbs
strangely, quickly, cheerfully
Modifier Adjectives
happy, clean, grimy
up, down, in
Prepositions
Articles
The (three times)
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The Basics Putting It All Together
So what are these remaining words?
The happy, yet strangely clean chimneysweep, ran
quickly and cheerfully up and down the grimy
streets of London in the fog.
Conjunction (in this case)
yet
in the fog
Another object, this time as a prepositional
phrase.
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The BasicsA Recap

• There are several types of words
• Verbs
• Nouns
• Modifiers Adjectives and Adverbs
• Articles Definite and Indefinite.
• Prepositions with of being a special instance

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Sentences ClausesAnalyzing Clauses

• To understand sentences, you must understand
  clauses.
• Every clause has a verb. Or to put it another
  way, every verb has a clause.
• There are two types of clauses
• Independent
• Dependent.
• An independent clause can stand on its own as a
  sentence.
• In other words an independent clause is a
  simple sentence. A dependent clause is a partial
  simple sentence.

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Sentences ClausesAnalyzing Clauses

• At the most, there are three sections to a
  clause
• the predicate (the verb and its modifiers)
• the subject (the subject-noun and its modifiers)
• the object (the object-noun and its modifiers)

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Sentences ClausesAnalyzing Clauses
Here is a sentence composed of an independent
and a dependent clause.
The car narrowly missed the tree which had fallen
across the road.
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Sentences ClausesAnalyzing Clauses

• Since the verb is the backbone of every clause,
  we begin by locating the verbs.

The car narrowly missed the tree which had fallen
across the road.
The car narrowly missed the tree which had fallen
across the road.

• There are two verbs in this sentence
• missed
• had fallen

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Sentences ClausesAnalyzing Clauses

• Next we find the words modifying the verb

The car narrowly missed the tree which had fallen
across the road.

• missed is modified by narrowly.
• had fallen is not modified by anything

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Sentences ClausesAnalyzing Clauses

• The combination of the verb and its associated
  modifiers gives us our predicate shown in
  brackets.

The car (narrowly missed) the tree which (had
fallen) across the road.
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Sentences ClausesAnalyzing Clauses
Next we locate the subject-nouns.
The car (narrowly missed) the tree which (had
fallen) across the road.

• The subject-noun is the noun doing the action.
  Therefore, car is the subject noun of missed,
  and which is the subject-noun (pronoun) of had
  fallen.

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Sentences ClausesAnalyzing Clauses

• Then we find the modifiers and auxillary words
  associated with each subject-noun.

The car (narrowly missed) the tree which (had
fallen) across the road.

• For car the only word associated with it is
  the definite article, the.
• For which there are no associated words.

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Sentences ClausesAnalyzing Clauses

• The subject-noun and its associated words form
  the subject of the clause shown in square
  brackets.

The car (narrowly missed) the tree which (had
fallen) across the road.
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Sentences ClausesAnalyzing Clauses

• Now we look to see if there are any object-nouns.
  These are the nouns to which the action is being
  done.

The car (narrowly missed) the tree which(had
fallen) across the road.

• The thing the car missed is the tree.
• The thing the which had fallen across was the
  road.

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Sentences ClausesAnalyzing Clauses

• And as before, we find what words are associated
  with the object-nouns.

The car (narrowly missed) the tree which(had
fallen) across the road.

• For tree, the only word associated with it is
  the definite article, the.
• For which, there is a definite article
  associated with it, but following it is a
  preposition, across. Since prepositions always
  start phrases (with the exception of of), then
  across is also associated with road.

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Sentences ClausesAnalyzing Clauses

• The object-nouns and their associated words form
  the object of each clause shown in curly
  brackets.

The car (narrowly missed)the tree which(had
fallen) across the road.
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Sentences ClausesIndependent Dependent
This leaves us with two clauses
"The car narrowly missed the tree
The car narrowly missed the tree which had fallen
across the road.
This clause can stand on its own as a complete
simple sentence and is therefore an independent
clause.
which had fallen across the road
This clause cant stand on its own as a complete
simple sentence and is therefore a dependent
clause.
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Sentences ClausesA Recap

• All sentences are either complete simple
  sentences, or combinations of complete and
  incomplete simple sentences.
• A complete simple sentence is composed of a
  subject, a verb, and sometimes an object always
  in the SVO order.
• A complete simple sentence can also be called an
  independent clause. It forms a complete thought
• A partial simple sentence can also be called a
  dependent clause. It has a subject and verb (no
  object) but cannot stand on its own as a full
  sentence. It doesnt form a complete thought.