English

LANGUAGE CONVENTIONS

Clauses:

A clause is a collection of words that make up sentences, which consists of a subject and a predicate. A subject is the object/human/animal, and the predicate is the action that it performs, e.g., ‘the cat sat down’. The cat is the subject, and ‘sat down’ is the predicate because that is the action. There are three main types of clauses: independent, dependent, and drop-in clauses. An independent clause is a sentence that can stand alone by itself and still make sense because it has a subject and a predicate, e.g., ‘Jack plays soccer’. 

A dependent clause is a sentence that can't stand alone by itself because it doesn't make sense on its own, e.g., ‘Although confiscated’. When an independent and dependent clause are put together, it makes a complex/ compound sentence. The dependent clause can go anywhere in the sentence, front, back, middle. To join an independent clause and a dependent clause together you need to use either a comma or a FANBOY (for, and, not, but, or, yet, so) at the joining point of the independent clause and dependent clause. 

A drop-in clause (also known as an embedded or subordinate clause) is a clause that is 'dropped in' the middle of another clause. It adds more information to the clause. When writing these, you must include commas before and after the drop-in clause. For example, a drop in-clause would be, "The man, terrified of being late for lunch, sped through the traffic in his car." You can see that the commas are included, and the drop-in clause adds more information to the sentence.

Now that you know about clauses, try these questions. (write answers in exercise book): 

1- Describe the difference between a dependent clause and an independent clause? 

2- How do you join an independent clause with a dependent clause? 

3- Is this a dependent clause / independent clause / independent and dependent clause or none of the options above: Charlie went to the art gallery today.

4- What is a drop-in clause

5- What must you include before and after a drop-in clause?

6- What does the drop-in clause do to the sentence it is 'dropped' into?

Also try this Quizlet:

https://quizlet.com/_a0jh9c?x=1qqt&i=3kvewq

Full Stops:

A full stop (.) is a little pause after a sentence that signifies the end of a sentence. The full stop helps show when you should breathe and take a pause before continuing, when reading a text. Full stops are found in every kind of English writing across Australia. A full stop is one of the most important aspects of English writing.

Now, correct the wrong sentences. Which sentences are correct? Rewrite the incorrect sentences and put the fulls stops in the correct spots in your exercise book:  

1- Jeff walked. his dog 

2- Should. we get some ice cream

3- Ice cream is the best 

4- We're going to the cinemas.

Brackets:

A bracket is a semi-circle-line that holds information that isn’t completely necessary to the text. They can sometimes contain a character's thoughts or side information like, (brackets are boring to learn). Usually if brackets with information were removed from a text it wouldn't change anything, since the information isn’t important.    

Now, see are these sentences correct or incorrect. Rewrite the sentences in your exercise books with the brackets in the correct spots (if they are incorrect):     

1- I love my dog (though he can be a bit messy).

2- I think we should cancel maths) it is boring.

3- What do you think of the new car (I think that it is quite boring).

4- (Maths is one of the worst subjects ever) especially on Mondays.

5- I like banana split (Jack doesn't though)                                                                                                                                              

Colons:

A colon is a punctuation mark that looks one dot sitting on top of another ':'. They often follow after an explanation, before a list and to introduce a quote, and they add extra information to what has already been said. For example: 'Einstein once said: 'Imagination is more important than knowledge.'' would be a colon before a quote. The correct use of a colon in a list would be, 'There are so many things to buy: soccer balls, hockey goals, shin pads and rugby balls!' The person saying this sentence states that there are a lot of things to buy and adds extra information by listing some of the things. An incorrect use for this would be, 'In the shop, there is: soccer balls, hockey goals, shin pads and rugby balls.' This is incorrect, because you haven't yet stated that there are a lot of things in the shop. Another way of using colons is in a letter to someone, or an email, etc. An example for this would be, 'Dear Grandma: Thank you for the cookies - they were very nice.' 

To make sure you know what you're doing, put the colons in the following sentences in the correct place (rewrite them in your exercise books): 

1- I really like: juice, cucumber, sausages, and cake 

2- There is a very famous quote: from Harry Potter "Better be Gryffindor!" 

3- I love: chocolate, cake, and whipped cream! 

4- Dear John How are: you? 

5- There are many ways to get: arrested shoplifting, arson, and assault (to name a few).

Apostrophes:

An apostrophe is a punctuation mark (') used to indicate either possession (e.g. Harry 's book; boys' coats ) or used in contractions to indicate missing letters (e.g. Can't; won't). Although, a lot of people misuse apostrophes. The most common of these mistakes is (it's), when describing how 'it' is in possession of something. This is too similar to 'it', meaning 'it has', so when trying to describe the possession of something, always say 'its', not 'it's'.

Now, correct these sentences in your exercise books. Rewrite them with apostrophes in the correct spots:

1- Dont eat that, it's poisonous!

2- Thats Jamies ball.

3-  Its a rhinoceros.

Speech marks & speech in writing:

Speech marks ('' or ') are the marks that are put at the start and end of the sentences someone has spoken, eg. "Hello, how are you?" These make sure that the words someone is saying are clear and separate from the words that aren't spoken. 

Now rewrite the sentences below (in an exercise book or on a sheet of paper) with speech marks in the correct spots:

Example: Alby shouted, "See you tomorrow!"

1- We're going to the movies tomorrow, said Adam.

2- Lisa whispered, I've got the answers to the test.

3- Challenge: Hey Daniel, John said, come over here.

Now you know what speech marks are, we will go into more complex concepts. In the challenge sentence, a concept was used that might be unfamiliar to you. It is called 'parenthetical quotation'. The correct answer is, "Hey Daniel," John said, "come over here." This parenthetical sentence has two lots of speech in two separate parts. When writing a sentence like this, you need to make sure that you end the first part of speech (Hey Daniel) with a comma THEN a speech mark ("Hey Daniel,"), and you need to end the connector (John said) with a comma (John said,). Also, make sure the second part of speech (come over here) doesn't start with a capital. It also important to know that there are two ways to display quotation/ speech marks. The most common way is (''____''), but also can be replaced by single speech marks ('____').

Tense Consistency:

Tense consistency is vital when writing, as it ensures that your writing makes sense and flows nicely. It is when the tense (past, present, or future tense) stays the same throughout the text, unless you change the tense intentionally for certain effect. Let's talk about the different tenses. Past tense is when you are talking about something that has happened previously, eg. was, had, ran, etc. Present tense is when you are talking about something that is happening right now, eg. has, is, runs, etc. Future tense is when you are talking about something that will happen (in the future), eg. will, will have, will run, etc. Future tense is uncommon in writing - we usually use past and present tense. An example of tense consistency in a sentence would be, "I had a pencil, but I broke it." This has a consistent us of past tense (had, broke), and doesn't differ from it in the sentence. An example of tense inconsistency (a tense that isn't consistent) would be, "I had a pencil, but I break it." You can see that this doesn't make much sense, since it is using an inconsistent tense (had, break). 

To ensure you understand tense consistency, look at the sentences below and rewrite them in your exercise book with the correct tenses:

1- I ran to the shop and am running back yesterday.

2- I was eating ice cream, but the sun melts it.

3- Jeff had a dog, but it will get run over.

Parallel Structure:

Parallel structure is a very confusing concept, and different to many other grammatical concepts. It is the style the sentence is written in and the structure it has. It means that the verbs and nouns are all related to each other in the way they are written. For example, 'sprinkled and baked' is a sentence with a parallel structure, whilst, 'sprinkled and I baked' is not. This is because the second very (to bake) is said in a different way to the first verb (to sprinkle). Another example of a sentence with correct parallel structure would be, 'Johnny went to Coles. He grabbed some sweets, he swiped some bread and he seized some apples.' This sentence has a parallel structure, because the nouns (the food) are all related in the way they are presented (they all have 'some' before them) and the verbs are also presented similarly (they all have 'ed' on the end). Another sentence with incorrect parallel structure would be, 'Alice went to the park and played with her dog, before going to the swing and pushing her brother on it.' This sentence does not have a parallel structure, due to the fact that the two verbs (actions) aren't similarly presented - she played with her dog, but she went to the swing (going), which isn’t parallel. Parallel isn't always compulsory in writing, but it is important if you want your sentence to flow and make sense.

If you have got the hang on this, try this activity. Decide if they have parallel structure. If they don't rewrite the incorrect sentences in your exercise book, but with parallel structure.

1-  Ellen likes hiking, the rodeo, and to take afternoon naps.

2- James kicked, punched and does boxing in the dojo.

3- Alex sprinted down the street, tumbled up the road, and jogged through the park.

Semi-colons:

A semicolon (;) is used in many different ways, the most common of the being to join clauses and in lists. When using semicolons in clauses, it usually replaces a FANBOY or comma. For example, "I don't like Mondays because they are boring," would become, "I don't like Mondays; they are boring." In lists, semicolons are only used if there is extra information within the list. In normal lists (cats, dogs and parrots) you use normal commas. But in lists with additional info (Berlin, Germany; Perth, WA; and Tokyo; Japan), you need to use semicolons. This is so that the commas that indicate the additional info, and the ones that indicate the separation of items in a list don't get mixed up. You need to make sure that there is always a semicolon before the last item on a list, since these are different to regular commas. For example, 'Berlin, Germany; Perth, WA and Tokyo; Japan,' is incorrect, since there isn't a semicolon included before the last item on the list. 

To make sure you're confident with semi-colons, do this activity. Rewrite the sentences below in your books, but with semi-colons in them:

1- I need to get milk, from aisle 1 cheese, from aisle 2 and apples, from aisle 3.

2- I can't eat that cheese because I am allergic.

Dangling and Misplaced Modifiers:

A modifier is a descriptive addition to a phrase/ sentence that gives more information about the subject. There are two main types of modifiers in the English language: dangling modifiers and misplaced modifiers. A misplaced modifier is a modifier that is placed in an incorrect or highly confusing location in the sentence. For example, a correct sentence would be, 'I reached toward the broken cookie jar'. In this case, 'broken' is the modifier, because it adds a description to the cookie jar for more information. If this modifier was misplaced, it could become, 'broken, I reached towards the cookie jar.' This sentence infers that the person reaching towards the cookie jar is broken (depressed or having an existential crisis), rather than the cookie jar being broken. This can cause a lot of confusion. Although, this can be fixed easily. If you moved the misplaced modifier to a place in the sentence that makes grammatical sense, then everything is fine. A dangling modifier, on the other hand, is when the subject isn't stated clearly or at all in the sentence, making the meaning of the sentence unclear. For example, if I said, "love to play the violin," is a dangling modifier, because the subject (in this case, me) isn't clear. The corrected sentence would be, "I love to play the violin." In this sentence, the subject is clear. You can easily fix this by including the subject in the right place to clarify who/what the subject is. 

To reinforce your understanding of dangling and misplaced modifiers, do this activity. Identify whether the sentences have either misplaced or dangling modifiers (write the answers in your books):

1- The big.

2- Neil Armstrong made history as the first person to land on the moon in 1969.

3- Is delicious!

4- She fell on the couch covered in sweat.

Commas:

The comma (,) is another very important punctuation mark in English. A comma has many purposes: when to breathe in a sentence; separating items in a list; separating independents clauses (he walked down the street, and then he turned the corner); after an introductory/dependent clause (when Evan was ready to iron, his cat broke the ironing board); before and after a drop-in clause (Sally, who you went fishing with, is in hospital); to signify direct speech (Frank, I'm sorry); before quotations (Alex said, "I don't like discos..."); with dates (21st of November, 1984); with addresses (23 Aston Street, London); and with numbers (13,345). There are two types of commas: the regular comma, and the Oxford Comma. The Oxford Comma is a comma that people argue to be grammatically incorrect. It is the same as a normal comma, except it is used before the word, 'and' in lists (eg. 'I have a dog, cat, and fish.') A regular comma is the same except you don't use it before the word, 'and' (eg. 'I have a dog, cat and fish.') You can use this in English, as long as you check with your teacher, as they may mark you down for using it. Both commas are grammatically correct.

Do this activity to make sure you have the hang of commas. Rewrite each sentence in your exercise book, but add commas:

1- 21st of November 1999 (using commas in dates).

2- I am going to go to Japan Mexico and Croatia (you can use either an Oxford or regular comma).

3- Dana screamed "I want ice-cream!" (using a comma before quotations/ speech).

4- John I didn't know (using a comma to signify direct speech).

5- 81 Heinrich Lane Berlin (using commas in addresses).

6- Before Alex could start writing his pencil broke (using a comma after an introductory/dependent clause).

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