English grammar explained in plain language simple enough to be understood.
In America, today is Thanksgiving Day – sometimes shortened to just Thanksgiving. It’s a day set aside to remember our blessings, a day to think about all the good people and the good things in our life. Our grammar lesson… Read more224. Capitalize Holidays – Thanksgiving Day
The words whenever and wherever are subordinating conjunctions. If you begin a sentence with whenever or wherever, you are writing a subordinate clause. You must add a comma and an independent clause to make a complete sentence. Incomplete clauses with… Read more223. Complex Sentences Using Whenever and Wherever
A complex sentence has two parts: a subordinate clause and an independent clause.The subordinate clause always begins with a subordinating conjunction. Let’s look at what that means. The word since is a subordinating conjunction. When you begin with the word… Read more218. Complex Sentences Using Since and Because
Section A: A simple sentence has only one main idea. A compound sentence is two simple sentences joined with a comma and conjunction. Decide if each sentence below is simple or compound.1. Yesterday the track team ran laps around the… Read more215. Practice Using the Conjunction And
There is sometimes confusion about when to use a comma with the conjunction and. Here is a simple rule: use ,and whenever you could have used a period. Let me show you what I mean. John plays baseball, and his… Read more213. Fixing Mistakes with the Comma
We talked yesterday about a grammar error called a comma splice. It is a mistake to use a comma between two simple sentences. Each simple sentence is a complete thought and must end with a period. Comma splice error (run-on… Read more209. Use Comma and FANBOYS to Avoid a Run-On Sentence
We know that a simple sentence is a complete thought with one person or thing doing one action.Bob rode his bike.Bob is the subject. The action is rode. Simple sentences always express only one main thought, but that main thought… Read more207. Simple Sentence with a Compound Subject or Verb
A simple sentence is one complete thought. A complete thought has a subject doing something. The dog barked.Josh rode a bicycle.We ate pizza for dinner. Each of these complete thoughts has a subject doing something. dog barkedJosh rodeWe ate You… Read more206. The Simple Sentence
Section A: Read each sentence below. Decide – is it a complex sentence or not?1. I bought a cake mix at the store.2. If you read the directions, it will tell you how to bake the cake. 3. Since you… Read more220. Practice Complex Sentences
Today is Veterans Day, a day of remembrance. We pause today to honor, acknowledge, and thank all the people in the armed forces of the United States – those presently serving our country, and those who have served in the… Read more214. Highlight on Writing – Veterans Day