English grammar explained in plain language simple enough to be understood.
Section A: Decide if each sentence below is a complete sentence or not complete. Write COMPLETE or NOT.1. Unless we shop today, we won’t have food for the weekend.2. Whenever I go to the grocery store.3. Whenever it snows, I… Read more225. More Practice with Complex Sentences
Linking verbs show existence, not action. A linking verb connects a subject to a noun at the end of the sentence. Here are the present tense linking verbs: am, is, are. I am a writer.She is my teacher.We are students…. Read more294. Present Tense with Linking Verbs
A compound sentence is two simple sentences joined together. A simple sentence looks like this:Bob rode his bike. This sentence is a simple sentence because it is about one person doing one thing. Here is another simple sentence: Mary rode… Read more396. Use a Comma in a Compound Sentence
We use a proper noun to name a special event. Names of special events must be capitalized. Here are some special events:Mardi Gras, Homecoming, Promthe Flood, the Exodus, the Civil War We also capitalize the names of time periods. Here… Read more454. Proper Nouns Name Special Events and Time Periods
A complex sentence combines a subordinate clause with an independent clause.The words after and before are subordinate clause words. We can use those words to begin a subordinate clause. Here is a complex sentence that begins with the subordinate clause… Read more226. Rearranging Complex Sentences
A comparative adjective compare two nouns. Your house is big. Tom’s house is bigger. The word bigger is a comparative adjective. Most comparative adjectives end in -er. A superlative adjective compares three or more nouns. Your house is big.Tom’s house… Read more284. Superlative Adjectives
A compound sentence combines two simple sentences. We need a comma after the first simple sentence in the compound sentence. Look at this example: The rain is falling, and the wind is blowing.Notice that there are two separate sentences in… Read more397. Compound Sentence with a Comma – or Not?
When you are writing the words that someone speaks, you must put quotation marks around the words. Quotation marks always come in pairs, and they look like this: ” “. We put one set of quotation marks before the start… Read more417. Use Quotation Marks Around Spoken Words
Today we will work again with complex sentences. The words since, because, and if are all subordinate clause words. Anytime we use a subordinate clause word, we are writing a complex sentence. When we begin with a subordinate clause word,… Read more227. More Rearranging of Complex Sentences
An abbreviation is a word that has been shortened by leaving out some of the letters. We sometimes abbreviate the names of the days of the week rather than write the complete name. To write abbreviations of the days of… Read more247. Abbreviations for Days of the Week