English grammar explained in plain language simple enough to be understood.
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
A clause is a group of words that includes a verb. A subordinate clause begins with a subordinating conjunction. Here are some subordinating conjunctions: if, when, since, because, while When you begin a sentence with one of these words, your… Read more398. Use a Comma with a Subordinate Clause
If you begin a sentence with a speech tag, put a comma after the speech tag and before the first quotation mark. Put the end punctuation – the period – inside the last quotation mark. Dad said, “Please put the… Read more419. Quotation Marks and End Punctuation
An object in a sentence is always a noun. An object in a sentence does nothing. The action happens to the object. With a direct object, the action happens directly to the object. The direct object directly receives the action…. Read more472. The Noun as a Direct Object
An indirect object is only used in a sentence that already has a direct object. Action is transferred indirectly to an indirect object. Look at this example of a direct object: John threw the ball. The noun ball receives the… Read more473. The Noun as an Indirect Object
We talked yesterday about an indirect object. An indirect object sits between the verb and the direct object.Bob read Mary a story. Bob is the subject, and the action is read. The action is transferred to the direct object story…. Read more474. Change an Indirect Object to an Object of the Preposition
A noun names a person, a place, a thing, or an idea. The word “plural” means more than one, so a plural noun names two or more persons, places, things, or ideas. Usually, a plural is made by adding an… Read more486. Common Mistakes – Plural Nouns
Nouns that end in the letter -y have special rules for making the word plural. Two syllable nouns ending in -y must change the -y to -ie before adding -s.city – citiespuppy – puppiesbaby – babiesfairy – fairieslibrary – libraries… Read more487. Common Mistakes – Plural Nouns Ending in -y
Adjectives are describing words. Adjectives describe – or modify – nouns. Sometimes, an adjective is used to compare two nouns. We call that a comparative adjective. John has a big dog. The adjective big describes – or modifies – the… Read more506. Comparative Adjectives