The Best Grammar Workbook Ever! Grammar, Punctuation, and Word Usage for Ages 10 Through 110
3.5/5
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Grammar
Writing
English Language
Education
Punctuation
Sentence Structure
Parts of Speech
Language
Communication
Learning
About this ebook
The Best Grammar Book Ever! is a compressive grammar workbook with clear explanations, plenty of examples, and over 100 practice exercises. There is a pretest, a post-test, and chapter tests with links to all the answers. Contents include parts of speech, phrases, clauses, sentence structure, punctuation, capitalization, special problems with pronouns and verbs, commonly confused word pairs, parallelism, agreement, numbers, and much more. Appropriate for ages 10 through adult. Appendixes include glossary; answer key; writing tips; prefixes, suffixes, and word roots; commonly misspelled and mispronounced words. Perfect for students, job seekers, professionals, homeschoolers, teachers, and anyone who wants to improve his or her grammar and writing skills.
Arlene Miller
Arlene Miller, The Grammar Diva, is the author of nine grammar books, a self-publishing book, and a novel: The Best Little Grammar Book Ever, first and second editions The Best Little Grammar Workbook Ever The Best Little Grammar Collection Ever Does Your Flamingo Flamenco? Fifty Shades of Grammar Correct Me If I'm Wrong The Great Grammar Cheat Sheet Beyond Worksheets The Best Grammar Workbook Ever I Wrote a Book: Now What? The Absolute Beginner's Guide to Self-Publishing Four College Girls and a Purple Boa Her grammar books are used by schools and colleges. The Best Little Grammar Book Ever won Best Reference Book from the Bay Area Independent Publishers Association in 2011. The Best Grammar Workbook Ever won honorable mention at the New York Book Festival in 2016. And Fifty Shades of Grammar won Best Book Runner Up in 2016 from the Bay Area Independent Book Publishers Association. Arlene is from the Boston area, where she went to school and worked until 1993, when she and her family relocated to Sonoma County, California. She started her writing career as a newspaper reporter and editor before becoming a technical writer in the 1980s. She has won two awards of excellence from the Society of Technical Writers. More recently, Ms. Miller has been a freelance book editor and blogger. She also taught for the California public schools for 11 years. Arlene holds a B.A. in English and Journalism and an M.A. in Humanities, as well as teaching and school administration credentials. She conducts grammar and writing workshops based on her book. And if you don't believe that grammar can be humorous and entertaining, listen to one of her grammar talks! She is also an accomplished tap dancer and an award-winning poet. She has two grown children and currently lives in beautiful wine country, California. See her website at www.bigwords101.com for more information or to set up a workshop. Sign up to receive the weekly Grammar Diva Blog Post and get a free grammar mini-book download.
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The Best Grammar Workbook Ever! Grammar, Punctuation, and Word Usage for Ages 10 Through 110 - Arlene Miller
Other books by Arlene Miller
The Best Little Grammar Book Ever: 101 Ways to Impress with Your Writing and Speaking
Correct Me If I’m Wrong: Getting Your Grammar, Punctuation, and Word Usage Right
The Great Grammar Cheat Sheet:
50 Grammar, Punctuation, Writing, and Word Usage Tips You Can Use Now (ebook)
The Best Grammar Workbook Ever!
Grammar, Punctuation, and Word Usage for Ages 10 Through 110
Copyright © 2015 by Arlene Miller
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior written permission of the copyright holder.
Cover design by Matt Hinrichs
Interior design by Marny K. Parkin
Publisher’s Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Miller, Arlene.
The Best Grammar Workbook Ever! Grammar, Punctuation, and Word Usage for Ages 10
Through 110. First Edition, 2015
p. cm.
Includes appendixes and index
ISBN 978-0-9911674-0-1 (paperback)
ISBN 978-09911674-1-8 (ebook)
1. English language—Grammar. 2. English language—Usage. 3. English language—Grammar—
Self-instruction
Library of Congress: PE 1106.M550 2015
Dewey: 428.2
Published by bigwords101
website and blog: www.bigwords101.com
Contact Ingram or the publisher for quantity discounts for your company, organization, or educational institution.
To Jake and Shelley,
my two magna opera
Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
How to Use This Book
Conventions Used in This Book
Pretest
Chapter 1 The Parts of Speech
1.1. Introduction
1.2. Nouns
The Five Types of Nouns
Practice 2—Recognizing Types of Nouns
1.3. Pronouns
Antecedents
Practice 3—Pronouns and Antecedents
Types of Pronouns
Practice 4—Personal Pronouns
Practice 5—Demonstrative Pronouns
Practice 6—Interrogative Pronouns
Practice 7—Relative Pronouns
Practice 8—Intensive/Reflexive Pronouns
Practice 9—Indefinite Pronouns
Practice 10—Pronoun Review
Brain Challenge
1.4. Verbs
Action Verbs
Practice 11—Action Verbs
Linking Verbs
Practice 12—Linking Verbs
Practice 13—Action and Linking Verbs
Tenses
Practice 14—Verb Tenses
Irregular Verb Forms
Practice 15—Regular Verbs
Voice
Practice 16—Active and Passive Voice
Transitive/Intransitive
Practice 17—Transitive and Intransitive Verbs
1.5. Adjectives
Special Types of Adjectives
Practice 18—Identifying Adjectives
1.6. Adverbs
1.7. Prepositions
1.8. Conjunctions
Subordinating Conjunctions
Practice 23—Identifying Subordinating Conjunctions
1.9. Interjections
1.10. Using the Parts of Speech
Chapter 1 Test The Parts of Speech
Chapter 2 Sentences
2.1. Introduction: What Is a Sentence?
2.2. Subjects
Complete Subjects
2.3. Predicates
2.4. Objects
Direct Objects
Practice 28—Identifying Direct Objects
Indirect Objects
Practice 29—Identifying Indirect Objects
Objects of a Preposition
Practice 30—Identifying Objects of Prepositions
2.5. Predicate Words
2.6. The Four Kinds of Sentences
Declarative Sentence
Interrogative Sentence
Imperative Sentence
Exclamatory Sentence
Practice 32—Identifying the Types of Sentences
Chapter 2 Test Sentences
Chapter 3 Phrases
3.1. Introduction: What Is a Phrase?
3.2. Prepositional Phrases
3.3. Infinitive Phrases
3.4. Participial Phrases
Present Participles
Past Participles
Practice 36—Identifying Participles
3.5. Gerundial Phrases
3.6. A Few Words About Appositives
Chapter 3 Test Phrases
Chapter 4 Clauses
4.1. Introduction: What Is a Clause?
4.2. Independent Clauses
4.3. Subordinate (Dependent) Clauses
Adjective Clauses
Practice 42—Identifying Adjective Clauses
Adverb Clauses
Practice 43—Identifying Adverb Clauses
Noun Clauses
Chapter 4 Test Clauses
Chapter 5 Types of Sentence Structures
5.1. Introduction
5.2. Not a Sentence
Sentence Fragment
Practice 44—Identifying and Rewriting Sentence Fragments
Run-on Sentences
Practice 45—Identifying and Correcting Run Ons
5.3. Types of Sentence Structures
Simple Sentence
Compound Sentence
Practice 46—Simple and Compound Sentences
Complex Sentence
Practice 47—Complex Sentences
Compound-Complex Sentence
Practice 48—Identifying Sentence Structures
5.4. A Variety of Sentence Patterns
Chapter 5 Test Types of Sentence Structures
Chapter 6 Special Issues with Pronouns
6.1. Introduction
6.2. Personal Pronoun Problem: Cases—Is It I or Me?
6.3. Demonstrative Pronouns and Adjectives: This, That, These, Those
6.4. Reflexive Pronouns: Using the -self Words Correctly
6.5. Interrogative Pronoun Issues
Whose or Who’s?
Practice 54—Whose and Who’s
6.6. Relative Pronouns: Using Who, Which, and That Correctly
6.7. Indefinite Pronouns: Singular or Plural?
Singular Indefinite Pronouns
Practice 56—Singular Indefinite Pronouns
Plural Indefinite Pronouns
Indefinite Pronouns That Can Be Either Singular or Plural
Practice 57—Indefinite Pronouns
6.8. Unclear Antecedents
Chapter 6 Test Special Issues with Pronouns
Chapter 7 Special Issues with Verbs
7.1. Introduction
7.2. Tense
Tense Trouble
Using the Past Perfect
Practice 59—Using Correct Tenses
7.3. Irregular Verb Forms
7.4. Verbs of Being
Adjectives After Linking Verbs
Pronouns After Linking Verbs
7.5. Voice: Active or Passive?
7.6. What Is Subjunctive Mood, Anyway?
Commands and Recommendations
Things That Are Not True
Practice 62—Using Subjunctive Mood
7.7. Using Strong Verbs
Chapter 7 Test Special Issues with Verbs
Chapter 8 Commas: Yup! A Whole Chapter
8.1. To Comma or Not To Comma: That Is the Question
8.2. Series Comma (Oxford Comma)
8.3. Compound Sentences
8.4. Between Two Adjectives
8.5. Introductory Elements
Introductory Words and Transition Words
Introductory Phrases
Introductory Clauses
8.6. Interrupting Material
Commas Needed
No Commas Needed
Practice 64—Commas for Introductory and Interrupting Elements
8.7. Other Common Uses for Commas
etc., i.e., e.g.
Dates
Commas with Numbers
With Too
Direct Address
Setting off Academic Degrees
Addresses
Company Names
Contrasting Expressions and Elements
When a Word Is Left Out
Commas for Emphasis
Letters and Emails
Unusual Word Order in a Sentence
Setting off However and Therefore
Anyplace Where Not Using a Comma Would Be Confusing
Practice 65—More Comma Rules
8.8. Don’t Put Commas Here!
Chapter 8 Test Commas
Chapter 9 Punctuation (Except Commas)
9.1. Introduction
9.2. Periods (.)
Abbreviations
Decimals
Lists or Outlines
Measurements
Practice 66—Using Periods
9.3. Question Marks (?)
9.4. Exclamation Points (!)
9.5. Semicolons (;)
Compound Sentences
Compound Sentences with Series or Other Commas
Confusing Series
9.6. Colons (:)
Digital Time
Salutation of a Business Letter
Between the Title and Subtitle of a Book
In a Compound Sentence
Introducing a Quote
Introducing Lists
Practice 69—Semicolons and Colons
9.7. Parentheses ( ) and Brackets [ ]
Parentheses
Brackets
Practice 70—Parentheses and Brackets
9.8. Hyphens and Dashes (-/–/—)
Hyphen (-)
En Dash (–)
Em Dash (—)
Practice 71—Hyphens and Dashes
9.9. Italics
Words Used as Themselves
Letters and Numbers Used as Themselves
Foreign Terms and Phrases
Titles: Italics or Quotes?
Other Uses for Italics
Practice 72—Italics
Practice 73—Italics Versus Quotation Marks
9.10. Quotation Marks ()
Dialogue
Other Uses for Quotation Marks
Quotation Marks with Other Punctuation
Single Quotation Marks
Practice 74—Quotation Marks
9.11. Ellipses ( . . . )
Chapter 9 Test Punctuation
Chapter 10 Capitalization
10.1. Introduction
10.2. The Basic Rules
10.3. More Capitalization Rules
Titles
Directions
Letter/Email Salutations and Closings
Earth
Seasons
Some Common
Proper Nouns
President of the United States and Other Titles
Departments
School Courses
Decades
Dog Breeds/Names
Words That Come Before Numbers
Hyphenated Words
Practice 76—More Capitalization
Chapter 10 Test Capitalization
Chapter 11 Some Really Important Grammar Issues
11.1. Introduction
11.2. Run-on Sentences and Fragments
Run-on Sentences
Fragments
Practice 77—Run Ons and Fragments
11.3. Agreement
Interrupting Words and Phrases with Subject/Verb Agreement
Practice 78—Agreement
Using and, or, neither, either Between Subjects
Practice 79—More Agreement
Pronoun/Antecedent Agreement
Sentences That Begin with There
Practice 80—More Agreement
Indefinite Pronouns
Singular Nouns That Look Plural
Collective Nouns
A Quirky Little Issue
Practice 81—More Agreement
11.4. Comparison
Forming Comparatives and Superlatives
What If It Isn’t More? What If It Is Less?
Irregular Forms
Faulty Comparisons
Practice 82—Comparison
11.5. Misplaced Modifiers
11.6. Possessives
Singular Nouns
Plural Nouns
Words That Already End in -s
Last Names
Exceptions
Possessive Pronouns
Practice 84—Possessives
11.7. Parallel Structure
Parallel Structure in Lists
Practice 85—Parallel Structure
11.8. Using Numbers: When to Spell Them Out
11.9. Double Negatives
11.10. Apostrophes in Plurals
11.11. Let’s Be Clear: Avoiding Vagueness
This and It
The Lonely Which
Unclear People
Practice 89—Clarity
11.12. Can I Do These Things?
Use Abbreviations
Use Contractions
Use Slang
Start a Sentence with And, So, or But
End a Sentence with a Preposition
Split an Infinitive
Use They as a Singular
Practice 90—Can I Do These Things?
Chapter 11 Test Important Grammar Issues
Chapter 12 Commonly Confused Words/A Dictionary of Usage
12.1. A Through D
12.2. E Through H
12.3. I Through L
12.4. M Through P
12.5. R and S
12.6. T Through Z
Chapter 12 Test Confusing Words
Final Test
Part 1—English Language Basics
Part 2—Sentence Correction
Appendix A Redundancy
Appendix B Commonly Misspelled Words
Appendix C Commonly Mispronounced Words
Appendix D Common Prefixes, Suffixes, and Word Roots
Appendix E Writing Tips
Appendix F Glossary
Appendix G Answers to Practices and Chapter Tests
Pretest
Chapter 1
Practice 1—Recognizing Nouns
Practice 2—Recognizing Types of Nouns
Practice 3—Pronouns and Antecedents
Practice 4—Personal Pronouns
Practice 5—Demonstrative Pronouns
Practice 6—Interrogative Pronouns
Practice 7—Relative Pronouns
Practice 8—Intensive/Reflexive Pronouns
Practice 9—Indefinite Pronouns
Practice 10—Pronoun Review
Practice 11—Action Verbs
Practice 12—Linking Verbs
Practice 13—Action and Linking Verbs
Practice 14—Tenses
Practice 15—Regular Verbs
Practice 16—Active and Passive Voice
Practice 17—Transitive and Intransitive Verbs
Practice 18—Adjectives
Practice 19—Adverbs
Practice 20—Placement of Adverbs
Practice 21—Prepositional Phrases
Practice 22—Coordinating Conjunctions
Practice 23—Subordinating Conjunctions
Practice 24—Interjections
Brain Challenges
Chapter 1 Test
Chapter 2
Practice 25—Identifying Subjects
Practice 26—Identifying Verbs
Practice 27—Subjects and Predicates
Practice 28—Direct Objects
Practice 29—Indirect Objects
Practice 30—Objects of Prepositions
Practice 31—Predicate Adjectives and Nominatives
Practice 32—Types of Sentences
Chapter 2 Test
Chapter 3
Practice 33—Prepositional Phrases
Practice 34—Infinitives
Practice 35—Infinitives as Subjects and Objects
Practice 36—Identifying Participles
Practice 37—Identifying Gerunds
Practice 38—Gerund or Participle?
Practice 39—Appositives
Chapter 3 Test
Chapter 4
Practice 40—Independent Clauses
Practice 41—Subordinate Clauses
Practice 42—Identifying Adjective Clauses
Practice 43—Identifying Adverb Clauses
Chapter 4 Test
Chapter 5
Practice 44—Identifying and Rewriting Sentence Fragments
Practice 45—Identifying and Correcting Run Ons
Practice 46—Simple and Compound Sentences
Practice 47—Complex Sentences
Practice 48—Identifying Sentence Structures
Practice 49—Writing Sentences with Different Structures
Chapter 5 Test
Chapter 6
Practice 50—Using the Correct Pronoun Case
Practice 51—Using Demonstratives Correctly
Practice 52—Using -self Pronouns
Practice 53—Who and Whom as Interrogative Pronouns
Practice 54—Whose and Who’s
Practice 55—Essential Versus Nonessential Clauses
Practice 56—Singular Indefinite Pronouns
Practice 57—Indefinite Pronouns
Chapter 6 Test
Chapter 7
Practice 58—Tenses
Practice 59—Using Correct Tenses
Practice 60—Irregular Verb Forms
Practice 61—Active and Passive Voice
Practice 62—Using Subjunctive Mood
Chapter 7 Test
Chapter 8
Practice 63—Some Important Comma Rules
Practice 64—Commas for Introductory and Interrupting Elements
Practice 65—More Comma Rules
Chapter 8 Test
Chapter 9
Practice 66—Using Periods
Practice 67—Question Marks
Practice 68—Exclamation Points
Practice 69—Semicolons and Colons
Practice 70—Parentheses and Brackets
Practice 71—Hyphens and Dashes
Practice 72—Italics
Practice 73—Italics Versus Quotations
Practice 74—Quotation Marks
Chapter 9 Test
Chapter 10
Practice 75—Basic Capitalization Rules
Practice 76—More Capitalization
Chapter 10 Test
Chapter 11
Practice 77—Run Ons and Fragments
Practice 78—Agreement
Practice 79—More Agreement
Practice 80—More Agreement
Practice 81—More Agreement
Practice 82—Comparison
Practice 83—Misplaced Modifiers
Practice 84—Possessives
Practice 85—Parallel Structure
Practice 86—Numbers
Practice 87—Double Negatives
Practice 88—Plurals with Apostrophes
Practice 89—Clarity
Practice 90—Can I Do These Things?
Chapter 11 Test
Chapter 12
Practice 91—Confusing Words A Through D
Practice 92—Confusing Words E Through H
Practice 93—Confusing Words I Through L
Practice 94—Confusing Words M Through P
Practice 95—Confusing Words R and S
Practice 96—Confusing Words T through Z
Chapter 12 Test
Final Test
Part 1 English Language Basics
Part 2: Sentence Correction
bigwords101, The Grammar Diva contact information
Acknowledgments
My sincere thank you . . .
Dr. Susan Behrens: My beta reader and favorite linguist, who contributed her wise and spot-on comments in a more timely manner than I was able to write the book.
My friends: Frances Caballo, Bobbi and Dave Noderer, Edie and Jim Partridge, Jeannie Thomas, Norma Sadow, and Bart Scott for always believing in me (and providing chocolate bread).
John DeGaetano: My business coach, for lighting the fire under me to make me finish the manuscript.
Michael Powell: My librarian friend, for his knowledge of copyright pages!
Matt Hinrichs (cover) and Marny K. Parkin (interior): Without their design there would be no book.
Publicity People: Gil Namur, who keeps the website running; Timothy Nonn, who gave me my first piece of newspaper publicity five years ago; The Petaluma Argus Courier.
Copperfield’s Books: The indie bookstore that has been so kind to me always—a shout out to Grace Bogart, Ray Lawrason, and Vicki DeArmon.
Susan Damon: For piloting this book with her adult literacy classes.
Jeane Slone and Mona Mechling: Local book distributors, for keeping my books selling.
My Blurbers
: Jeff Deck, half of the Typo Hunting Team; Sharon Hamilton, bestselling author; Pete Masterson, book designer and book sage; John Bribiescus, retired English teacher and tireless fundraiser and volunteer for education; Peter Bowerman, Well-Fed Author and Self-Publisher; Marjorie Feinstein-Whittaker, M.S., Speech and Communication Consultant; and David Freeman, Author of Mushroom Tales.
My colleagues: At Petaluma City Schools, Redwood Writers, and Bay Area Independent Publishers Association.
Dan Poynter for his groundbreaking book on independent publishing and for always including my blog posts in his newsletters.
Starbucks for providing caffeine and a comfortable place to sit and write.
My new family, the Bindons, and my amazing and talented new son-in-law, Josh.
Shelley and Jake, without whom I would be nothing.
Introduction
This is my fourth grammar book and my first workbook. Although language does evolve and rules
may change, grammar is not going away. It is alive and well. Proper grammar, punctuation, and capitalization conventions make our writing—and speaking—clearer and easier to read.
Good, clear writing is even more important now: the Internet is forever, and once you put something up there and everyone sees it, you can’t take it back. And if you think your employer or college admissions office won’t notice your mistakes, think again. Grammar is still a way for others to judge our competence, attention to detail, education, and intelligence. Dress for success. Speak for success. Write for success.
My first book, The Best Little Grammar Book Ever: 101 Ways to Impress With Your Writing and Speaking, is a small guide to avoiding the most common errors in grammar and punctuation. It also includes an introduction to the basics of grammar and sentence structure. Each chapter contains a quiz at the beginning. Also included are lists of the most commonly misspelled and mispronounced words, a writing lesson, a grammar glossary, and a complete index.
My second book, Correct Me If I’m Wrong: Getting Your Grammar, Punctuation, and Word Usage Right, is also a small guide to avoiding common grammar, punctuation, and word usage errors. It presents all the issues in alphabetical order and includes more word usage and comma rules than the first book. Omitted are the quizzes and glossary.
I also have produced a small e-book, The Great Grammar Cheat Sheet: 50 Grammar, Punctuation, Writing, and Word Usage Tips You Can Use Now, for writers who might be in a hurry—who want a no-frills explanation and perhaps a shortcut to their questions.
I have wanted to write a workbook for some time, and I am happy to present it to you now. I have included all the information—and more—that is in both of my previous books, updated and presented in easy-to-read language, logical order, and friendly format, with plenty of examples and exercises. There is a Pretest at the beginning of the book and chapter tests at the conclusion of each chapter. Inside each chapter are numerous practices,
or exercises, so you can practice the information you are reading. To see what you have learned, there is also a Final Test. Of course, all the answers are included in the final appendix!
The most frequent comment I get about my books is that in addition to providing helpful information, they are friendly and easy to read. I hope you find that describes this workbook as well.
The Best Grammar Workbook Ever contains everything you need to become a better and more confident writer and speaker. It concentrates on the most common grammar issues and provides all the basic information about grammar that you will need to understand the more advanced topics.
Enjoy!
Arlene Miller, The Grammar Diva
How to Use This Book
This workbook begins with basic grammar and builds up to more complex ideas and grammatical issues. You will probably want to begin by taking the Pretest to check your current knowledge level. Then, you might want to begin at the beginning and work through the book in order. However, you may find it more helpful to skip to the areas with which you have the most trouble. I will leave that up to you!
This book begins with a Pretest and ends with a Final Test. Each chapter contains exercises, or practices,
and ends with a Chapter Test. All answers are in the final appendix, before the index.
Please note that all conventions in this book reflect American English, rather than British English. And there are differences. For example, rules about quotation marks with other punctuation are the opposite in American versus British English style.
Here is a more specific overview of the contents.
Chapter 1 begins with the parts of speech, the building blocks of writing, breaking grammar down into single words and their uses in sentences.
Chapter 2 talks about the elements of a sentence and the basic types of sentences.
Chapter 3 introduces phrases: small groups of words that make your sentences more interesting and varied.
Chapter 4 continues with longer groups of words, clauses.
Chapter 5 discusses complete sentences (and what are not sentences) as well as a variety of different sentence patterns using the phrases and clauses you learned about in Chapters 3 and 4.
Chapter 6 begins talking about some common problems with grammar, concentrating on pronoun problems.
Chapter 7 reviews verbs and some of the specific issues connected with verbs.
Chapter 8 is devoted to commas. There are so many comma rules that commas deserve a chapter of their own!
Chapter 9 talks about the other punctuation marks.
Chapter 10 reviews capitalization conventions.
Chapter 11 discusses some really important grammar issues including agreement, parallel structure, comparison, possessives, using numbers, and plurals.
Chapter 12 contains a Dictionary of Usage, explaining the word pairs and groups that often get confused: lay and lie, capital and capitol, imply and infer, and many, many others.
Throughout each chapter, there are a number of practice exercises; there is a chapter test at the end of each chapter. Then there is a final test. All answers are in Appendix G.
Appendix A includes a list of common redundancies that we often use in our writing and speaking.
Appendix B contains a list of commonly misspelled words.
Appendix C contains a list of commonly mispronounced words.
Appendix D contains a list of common prefixes, suffixes, and word roots to help improve vocabulary and help you figure out the meaning of a word by looking at parts you might recognize.
Appendix E contains writing tips.
Appendix F is a glossary of grammar terms.
Appendix G includes all the practice and test answers.
There is a complete index at the end of the workbook.
If you have any comments on this book, or if you have a question about something that is not included here (and you think it should be), please contact me. I can be reached at [email protected].
Visit my website at www.bigwords101.com and subscribe to my weekly blog post!
Conventions Used in This Book
1. I have tried to make the format as simple as possible. I have used a different typeface for examples, and bold italics for words that are used as themselves.
2. ✎ indicates a special note you should read.
3. I have used a conversational tone in this book to make it easy to read. In some cases you might notice I have done something I have told you to avoid—using a sentence fragment or beginning a sentence with a conjunction—in order to keep a casual tone and get my point across. I would not do these things in more formal writing.
Pretest
Answer these questions before you go through the book to see what you know.
1. Which of these is not considered a part of speech?
a. adjective b. subject c. preposition d. noun
2. Which of these is a conjunction?
a. is b. anyone c. and d. of
3. Which of these is a verb?
a. it b. in c. is d. if
4. Which of these is an interjection?
a. ouch b. whom c. it d. because
5. Every sentence needs a subject and a(n) _________
a. object b. noun c. verb d. period
6. I gave my brother a hug. The subject of this sentence is
a. I b. gave c. brother d. hug
7. Simple predicate is the same as
a. subject b. verb c. phrase d. clause
8. Which of the following is a proper noun?
a. he b. Jack c. I d. school
9. Give the book to Steve. The direct object of this sentence is
a. Steve b. book c. give d. there is none
10. Give the book to Steve. What type of sentence is this?
a. interrogative b. declarative c. exclamatory d. imperative
11. Which of these is a prepositional phrase?
a. into the house b. Wow! c. locking the door d. He went
12. Which of these phrases contains a participle?
a. to be a farmer b. singing loudly c. up the stairs d. a dark-haired boy
13. Which sentence has a participle that makes sense?
a. Driving down the road, my car broke down.
b. Reading a book by the window, my cat fell asleep.
c. He read from his book wearing glasses.
d. Running down the street, the dog wouldn’t come back.
14. Which of these contains an infinitive?
a. to go to the store b. running down the street c. my neighbor d. to the bank
15. A clause is a group of words with
a. a phrase b. two verbs c. a sentence d. a subject and a verb
16. An independent clause is the same as
a. a sentence b. a phrase c. a subject d. an infinitive
17. Which of the following is a clause?
a. because I can’t talk on the phone
b. running down the street
c. Jack and Jill
d. going to the movies
18. Which of these is a complete and correct sentence?
a. Because I can’t go with you.
b. Going to the movies.
c. She ran.
d. She ran, he walked.
19. Which one of these is a run-on sentence?
a. I told you so.
b. She ran; he walked.
c. I didn’t go, he did.
d. Give me the book, and then go to bed.
20. Which of these is a compound sentence?
a. Jack and Jill went up the hill.
b. Jack went up the hill and then fell down.
c. Jack went up the hill, and Jill fell down.
d. Jill climbed and climbed up the hill.
21. Paul and (me, I, myself) cooked dinner tonight.
22. Give the tickets to my sister and (me, I, myself).
23. (Him and I, He and I, Me and him, He and myself) loved that movie!
24. With (who, whom) are you going?
25. (Who, Whom) are you?
26. (Who, Whom) did you invite to the party?
27 . I know (who,