Grammar+&+Punctuation


 * Subject-Verb Agreement Practice **

*This may seem silly, but understanding the long/short vowel symbols will help to breakdown the iambic pentameter, tetrameter and trochaic tetrameter of the poetry we will study using stressed/unstressed syllables*
 * Long/Short vowels **

Long Vowel Mark
The long vowel mark placed over a vowel indicates that it will be pronounced just as it sounds when we recite the alphabet:
 * ā as in //ate//
 * ē as in //evil//
 * ī as in //ice//
 * ō as in //open//
 * ū as in //use// or in //flute//
 * ȳ as in //cry//

Short Vowel Mark
The short vowel mark placed over a vowel is as follows:
 * ă as in //apple//
 * ĕ as in //elementary//
 * ĭ as in //idiom//
 * ŏ as in //on//
 * ŭ as in //under//
 * (Note that no mark is given for short y; the short i sound is used instead.)

Schwa Mark
The schwa mark represents the indistinct vowel sound that is the unaccented or unstressed syllable of a multisyllabic word:
 * ə as in //__a__go//
 * ə as in //happ__e__n//
 * ə as in //leg__i__ble//
 * ə as in //comm__o__n//
 * ə as in //s__u__ggest//

Vowel Practice

"a screw-up" "a mistake" "an accident" "an oversight" These all have the same [|denotation] -- but you would not likely switch one for the other in any of these three situations: a police officer or employer would take "screw-up" as an insult, while your friends at the bar after a hockey game would take "oversight" as an affectation. > "Sometimes **diction** is described in terms of four levels of language: (1) //formal//, as in serious [|discourse]; //informal//, as in relaxed but polite conversation; (3) //[|colloquial]//, as in everyday usage; //[|slang]//, as in impolite and newly coined words (see [|neologism]). It is generally agreed that the qualities of proper diction are appropriateness, correctness, and accuracy. A distinction is usually made between //diction//, which refers to the choice of words, and [|//style//], which refers to the manner in which the words are used." > (Jack Myers and Don Charles Wukasch, //Dictionary of Poetic Terms//. University of North Texas Press, 2003)
 * DICTION **
 * Your choice of words.
 * //No // single, correct diction in the English language; instead, you choose different words or phrases for different contexts:
 * To a friend **
 * To a child **
 * To the police **
 * To an employer **
 * **Levels of Language**
 * Syntax **
 * __<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Syntax is a set of rules in a language __**<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">, which shows and how different parts of sentence are put together in such an order that it conveys a complete thought.
 * <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 29.3333px;">Syntax vs. Diction **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Syntax and diction are closely related
 * __<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Diction __<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> refers to the //choice of words// in a particular situation
 * __<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Syntax __<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> determines //how the chosen words are used to form a sentence//.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">The following words are the //most commonly used prepositions//:
 * <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 29.3333px;">Prepositional phrase **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">group of words containing a //preposition//, a [|noun] or [|pronoun] //object// //of the preposition//, and any //modifiers of the object//.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">A preposition sits __in front of__ (is “pre-positioned” before) its __object__.
 * //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">about // || //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">below // || //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">excepting // || //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">off // || //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">toward // ||
 * //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">above // || //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">beneath // || //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">for // || //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">on // || //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">under // ||
 * //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">across // || //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">beside(s) // || //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">from // || //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">onto // || //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">underneath // ||
 * //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">after // || //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">between // || //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">in // || //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">out // || //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">until // ||
 * //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">against // || //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">beyond // || //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">in front of // || //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">outside // || //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">up // ||
 * //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">along // || //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">but // || //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">inside // || //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">over // || //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">upon // ||
 * //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">among // || //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">by // || //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">in spite of // || //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">past // || //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">up to // ||
 * //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">around // || //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">concerning // || //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">instead of // || //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">regarding // || //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">with // ||
 * //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">at // || //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">despite // || //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">into // || //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">since // || //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">within // ||
 * //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">because of // || //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">down // || //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">like // || //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">through // || //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">without // ||
 * //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">before // || //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">during // || //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">near // || //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">throughout // || //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">with regard to // ||
 * //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">behind // || //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">except // || //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">of // || //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">to // || //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">with respect to // ||

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">It is useful to locate prepositional phrases in sentences since any noun or pronoun within the prepositional phrase must be the preposition’s object and, therefore, cannot be misidentified as a verb’s [|direct object]. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> We intended //__to__// leave early.
 * //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">To the store //**<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;"> is a prepositional phrase.
 * //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Store //**<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;"> is the __object of the preposition__ **//to//**, not the __direct object__ of the verb **//drove//**.
 * <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 32px;">Infinitive **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Verb consisting of the word //__<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 26.6667px;">to __//<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> ** plus ** a verb //To wait// seemed foolish when decisive action was required. (subject)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Everyone wanted //to go//. (direct object)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">His ambition is //to fly//. (subject complement)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">He lacked the strength //to resist//. (adjective)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">We must study //to learn//. (adverb)
 * <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">WARNING **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">: don’t confuse an infinitive—a verbal consisting of **// to //** plus a verb—with a prepositional phrase beginning with to, which consists of to plus a noun or pronoun and any modifiers.
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Infinitives: **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> to fly, to draw, to become, to enter, to stand, to catch, to belong
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Prepositional Phrases: **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> to him, to the committee, to my house, to the mountains, to us, to this address

[|Clauses Practice] [|Comma Rules]