by Donna | May 7, 2013
Did you memorize subordinators, so you can write with subordinate clause openers properly? If not, you can find the post on there here.
Once you memorize subordinators, you are ready to write with subordinate clauses. Specific to this lesson, you will be ready to write subordinate clause openers (subordinate clauses that are added to the beginnings of sentences).
As far as a subordinate clause is concerned, it contains a subordinator and a subject and a verb.
Subordinator + Subject + Verb
When she drove,
As he said,
After she left,
When they arrived,
Because he smiled,
Did you notice anything about those subordinate clauses? If you noticed that each one would be a sentence if the subordinator were removed, you are correct!
A subordinate clause is a sentence (subject + verb) that has a subordinator at the beginning of it!
Sentence: She drove.
Subordinate clause: When she drove,
Sentence: He said.
Subordinate clause: As he said,
Sentence: She left.
Subordinate clause: After she left,
Sentence: They arrived.
Subordinate clause: When they arrived,
Sentence: He smiled.
Subordinate clause: Because he smiled,
So….a subordinate clause is a sentence (independent clause-can stand
alone) that has a subordinator added to the beginning of it (which makes it a dependent clause-is dependent upon something else in order to be used {has to have a real sentence put with it in order to be used}).
Think of subordinate clauses by either of their two names:
1. Subordinate clause–subordinate to the rest of the sentence
2. Dependent clause–dependent on something else to go with it (a real sentence/independent clause) in order to be used
So….that is enough of subordinate clauses for today. In the next and final installment of this Comma Clue #4, we will attack the subordinate clause used as a sentence opener–the subordinate clause opener.
by Donna | Apr 27, 2013
Spring is in the air, and we have chicks in our shed! (I almost wrote “baby chicks,” which would be a little redundant since chicks are babies!) Anyway, here are some “domestic” animal parent and baby names for you (well, somewhat domestic…animals you might see around the farm/near a farm home) to get you into the spring baby animal mode!
donkey–colt, foal
mallard—duckling
turkey–poult
sheep–lambkin, lamb
turtle–hatchling
skunk–kit
toad–tadpole
dog–pup
frog–tadpole, polliwog, froglet
squirrel–pup, kit, kitten
fox–kit, cub, pup
goose–gosling
goat–kid, billy
bison/buffalo–calf
cat–kitten
guinea pig–pup
deer–fawn
coyote–pup, whelp
hamster–pup
hare–leveret
rabbit–kitten, bunny, kit
hog–shoat, farrow
rat–pup, kitten
horse—foal, colt
rabbit–kitten, bunny, kit
mule–foal
cattle–calf
duck–duckling
by Donna | Apr 24, 2013
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| The Only use for the word capitOl with an O is when referring to the capitOl building/buildings! |
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Yep, you read that caption correctly! Contrary to what many people believe, capitOl does not refer to the head city, a good idea, or money invested. CapitOl Only refers to the capitOl building.
Here is the rundown:
1. Capitol
a. Only has one use that we widely implement.
b. Means the building or group of buildings in which the functions of government are carried out.
c. Think. CapitOl Only means Office buildings for gOvernment–that is the Only meaning.
2. Capital
a. All other uses of capital are the a one—capital is for all other uses.
b. ALL other uses of capitol/capital are the word capitAL.
c. Adjectives
1) Upper case letter: capital letter
2) Chief or primary: capital idea or the capital (most important) thing for us to remember
3) Die by the court: capital punishment
4) Primary city: the capital city
d. Nouns
1) Stock of goods or income: to have capital in the bank
2) Capital used by itself for the city: go to the capital of the state (i.e. the city that is the capital–not the building–the capitol building).
Watch the blog and Facebook page tomorrow for a quiz over this Wacky Word pair–and over last week‘s vane, vein, and vain! Better start studying!
by Donna | Apr 23, 2013
Today’s Comma Clue can be confusing–but it is one of the most needful for comprehension as well as for sentence fluidity when reading aloud.
When you start a sentence with a subordinate clause,
Put the comma in when you hear the pause!
That is a cute rhyme (don’t you think?)….but unless you know what a subordinate clause is (and prior to that, what a subordinator is), it will not do you much good to recite it. So this post will go back to what subordinators are first.
Maybe you were taught that subordinators (words that make the part of the sentence that they are in be “subordinate” to the rest of the sentence) are called other things, like conjunctives or subordinate conjunctions. Some grammar handbooks do not even classify subordinators at all but call them whatever other class they fall under (i.e. the preposition before might always be called a preposition, even though it is a subordinator when it has a subject and verb following it).
Regardless of what you were taught about subordinators, they are extremely important to good writing. Why?
1. A subordinator is a word that falls at the beginning of a subordinate clause.
2. A subordinate clause is a group of words that begins with a subordinator and has a subject and verb following it.
3. A subordinate clause is subordinate to the rest of the sentence–that is, it is “less than” the real sentence.
4. A subordinate clause may not stand alone as it is not a real sentence.
5. A subordinate clause sounds as though something is missing when it is read–because something is (the real sentence!).
6. A subordinate clause may be joined with a complete sentence to create a complex sentence, but the subordinate clause may never stand alone.
So….what are subordinators?
Let’s start with the first six that we teach our youngest language arts students in our books:
Since, when, though
Because, if, although.
Yeah, it’s a rhyme! Cute, huh? (I love teaching!)
Anyway, for you older folks, we have a Subordinator-Check Sentence that most subordinators fit into. In a nutshell, if a word fits in the check sentence and the word is not an adverb, it likely a subordinator:
________________________ the submarine went down, we could no longer see it.
Since the submarine went down, we could no longer see it.
When the submarine went down, we could no longer see it.
Though the submarine went down, we could STILL see it.
Because the submarine went down, we could no longer see it.
If the submarine went down, we could no longer see it.
Although the submarine went down, we could STILL see it.
Okay, that is the first six. Here is a lengthy, but not exhaustive list of subordinators:
-after (also a preposition when it just has an object following it)
-although
-as (also a preposition when it just has an object following it)
-as if
-as long as
-as soon as
-as though
-because
-because of (also a preposition when it just has an object following it)
-before (also a preposition when it just has an object following it)
-even
-even if
-even though
-if
-inasmuch as
-in order that
-lest
-now (more commonly used as an adverb)
-now since
-now that
-now when
-once
-provided
-rather than
-since
-than (also a preposition when it just has an object following it)
-that
-though
-til (also a preposition when it just has an object following it)
-unless
-until (also a preposition when it just has an object following it)
-when
-whenever
-where
-where ever
-where as
-whether
-which
-which ever
-while
-who
-whoever
-why
In as much as the submarine went down, we could no longer see it.
Until the submarine went down, we could STILL see it.
While the submarine went down, we could no longer see it.
We will stop here and give you time to memorize these before we go on in a day or two working on punctuating sentences that begin with subordinate clauses. Just looking at the Subordinator-Check Sentence, though, you can probably deduce that the first rhyme in this post is accurate: a subordinate clause opener is followed by a comma. More later!
Picture from https://staff.jccc.net/mfitzpat/style/bd04892_.gif
by Donna | Apr 22, 2013
(more…)
by Donna | Apr 20, 2013
Intervening Material–Material that is surrounded
by commas (or followed by a comma if used as an
opener) and can be “plucked out” of a sentence
without harming the “realness” of the sentence.
How can you determine subject-verb agreement when “intervening material” is present. First of all, you have to determine if the info is really “intervening material” or is absolutely needed for the sentence. I tell my students that if it is surrounded by commas (or should be!), it usually means that it is “dropped into the sentence” and can be “plucked out” without harming the “realness” of the sentence.
Thus, place mental parenthesis around this intervening material (especially prepositional phrases) and match your verb with the remaining subject (ignoring the intervening material).
1. She, along with others, was coming for dinner.
1. SHE, (along with others), WAS coming for dinner.
2. They, with their dog, are going to be here at ten.
2. THEY, (with their dog), ARE going to be here at ten.
3. One person, out of all ten, seems to care.
3. ONE PERSON, (out of all ten), SEEMS to care.
This is hard to do–and at times the sentence will sound incorrect. However, it is the proper way to reconcile subject-verb agreement with intervening material.
Have a “good grammar” day! 🙂
