by Donna | Feb 17, 2011
If you learn that a sentence contains five things—and you learn to recognize these things easily, you will learn to evaluate whether every sentence you write is a “real” sentence or not more easily.
Remember, CAVES is the acronym we will use to examine a sentence.
C apital
A ll makes sense
V erb
E nd mark
S ubject
The last letter of CAVES—subject—is what we will examine today. Each “simple sentence”—that is, each “real” sentence must contain a subject. We will call this the sentence’s main subject—because a sentence may contain other subjects in other parts, but a sentence must only contain one subject (the main subject) to be a real sentence.
Tomorrow we will learn the details of a sentence’s main subject—the S of CAVES—subject–each sentence must have a subject.
by Donna | Feb 14, 2011
Read the phrases below. Put an S beside the phrases that are
complete sentences and an N beside those that are not.
1. A raccoon is an intelligent animal. Sentence
2. He does not avoid danger. Sentence
3. That he will go right into it. Not a sentence
4. When a raccoon studies sounds, smells, and sights that are new to
him. Not a sentence
5. Like tin cans and mirrors. Not a sentence
6. One trap a trapper likes to set is called a mirror trap. Sentence
7. When he puts a trap in shallow water and ties a mirror to it. Not a sentence
8. When the light hits the mirror. Not a sentence
9. When the raccoon sees the light. Not a sentence
10. When he does, the raccoon’s paw becomes caught in the trap. Sentence
by Donna | Feb 11, 2011
When you write, it is vital that you know what is and what is not a
sentence.
A sentence must have five things in order to be complete:
1. Capital at the beginning
a. The first letter of the first word in a sentence must be
capitalized.
b. It does not matter what the first word is; it is always
capitalized.
For example: A kindergarten child is so cute.
2. All makes sense
a. A sentence must make sense.
b. If a phrase has four of the other things a sentence must
have, but it leaves you hanging and does not make sense, then it is not a
sentence.
Examples:
1) When the boy ran. This is not a complete sentence
because it leaves you hanging.
2) The boy ran though the woods. This is a complete
sentence because it has all five things a sentence must have.
3. Verb
a. A sentence must have a verb (action or BHL—being verb, helping verb, linking verb).
b. This tells what the subject does or is.
For example: The boys played football in the snow.
4. End mark
a. A sentence must have ending punctuation:
1) a period (.)
2) an exclamation point (!)
3) question mark (?)
b. Examples:
1) The boys are playing football.
2) Watch out for the football!
3) Are they playing football?
5. Subject
a. A sentence must have a subject.
b. This is what or whom the sentence is about.
The following acronym will help you to remember these five things:
Capital at the beginning
All makes sense
Verb
End mark
Subject
by Donna | Feb 9, 2011
You are probably starting to notice that even a rudimentary knowledge of prepositions can unlock many more prepositions for you. I hope, that in the various studies we will do on LL 365, that you do not lose sight of the purpose of each one. Follow the links below to review prepositions—and join us tomorrow as we start our “sentence month”—and focus on fragments, sentences, clauses, and more!
by Donna | Feb 8, 2011
We have already learned prepositions that are antonyms (opposite). Now for our last day of preposition work, we will learn prepositions that are synonyms (meaning the same or almost the same).
First a little mnemonic for antonyms and opposites!
Antonyms—Opposite (both begin with vowel sounds—ant—opp)
Synonyms—Same (both begin with S—syn—same)
When you consider that prepositions show position, it makes sense that if you know one preposition that means a certain direction (i.e. over), then other words that mean the same thing may also be prepositions (above, on top of, etc.).
Consider these prepositions that might be considered synonyms—if you know one from each list, you are likely to be able to think of the others:
1. aboard
a. on
b. atop
c. atop of
d. astride
2. about
- amid
- amidst
- among
- amongst
- around
- by
- near
- next to
- round
- above
- atop
- atop of
- on
- on top of
- over
- up
- upon
- Against
- anti
- barring
- despite
- in spite of
- opposite of
- Ahead
- ahead of
- before
- in front
- in front of
- Along
- about
- alongside
- alongside of
- Along with
- Amid
- Amidst
- Among
- Amongst
- At
- Beside
- Besides
- Round
- Close
- Close to
- By means of
- Near to
- Next to
- amid/amidst
- about
- against
- among
- amongst
- around
- at
- beside
- beside of
- by
- next to
- round
- through
- throughout
- anti
- across from
- against
- barring
- opposite
- opposite of
- versus
- around
- about
- amid
- amidst
- among
- amongst
- aside
- aside of
- circa
- aside
- along
- alongside
- alongside
- aside of
- beside
- beside of
- by
- next
- next to
- close to
- near to
- astride
- a. atop
- atop of
- on
- on top of
- over
- up
- upon
- at
- beside
- beside of
- by
- toward
- close to
- barring
- anti
- opposite
- opposite of
- outside
- outside of
- due to
- except for
- save
- before
- ahead
- ahead of
- in front of
- behind
- beyond
- following
- in back
- in back of
The purpose behind the “synonym prepositions” is two-fold: (1) help students realize that if a word is a preposition (and they know that one), then more than likely other words that mean the same thing and fit in the same space are probably prepositions as well; (2) to help students think of even more prepositions—that they might not realize they know. Again, if a student learns to recognize prepositions well, he will recognize prepositional phrases well and will be able to isolate them (mentally, at least) in his sentences to achieve correct subject-verb agreement. (Also, it will help in using prepositional phrase openers in sentences and punctuating them correctly.)
by Donna | Feb 6, 2011
We are almost finished with our preposition study–just in time to start tackling our sentence month of February! I thought I would address the prepositions then and than since they are both used as prepositions (at times–more on that in our “sentence study”!)–and since they are commonly confused with each other.
Then
1. Means “next”
2. Used as a preposition: She is getting pizza first, then pop.
3. You will always use the correct then and than if you substitute “next” in your questionable spot–and if it fits, use “then”: He is coming here then going to town. (Say–he is coming here next going to town–is that the use you meant–the one that shows chronology? If so, you need then.)
4. Remember thEn has an E and nExt has an e.
Than
1. Means to compare
2. Used as a preposition: I would rather have pizza than tacos.
3. Only use than when you want to make a comparison.
“Tricky Trick to Help It Stick”:
Substitute NEXT–if it almost fits (i.e. you are trying to show chronology), use THEN.
