Secondary II Grammar

1. Verbs
2. Adverbs
3. Transitional Expressions
4. Capitals
5. Prepositions
6. Homophones
7. Underlining Titles/Quotations
8. Parentheses and Dashes
9. Fragments/Run-Ons/Splices
10. Writing
 Verbs p 41
 Verbs are actions.
 Verbs tell you what the subject is doing.
Ex. The bunny hops. hops is a verb

Subjects and verbs must agree.

A singular subject = a singular verb (The bunny eats supper)
A plural subject = a plural verb (The bunnies eat supper)

In the present
tense, singular
verbs end in the
suffix s; plural
verbs do not.
 Verbs p 42
-Words that come between the subject and the
verb—called interrupting words—can create
confusion.
-These word groups can make a singular subject look
plural, or a plural subject look singular, and can lead
to subject-verb agreement problems.
For example:
The pack of wolves howl/howls at the moon every
night.

Is a pack of wolves a SINGULAR or PLURAL subject?

 Verbs p 42
More examples>>think? Was is the subject?
 The country having the most lakes are/is Canada.
 The dog that has all the cuts were/was in a fight.
Note: Don’t be fooled by phrases such as along with, in addition
to and together with. They can also make subjects look plural. However,
the words that follow these phrases are not part of the true subject.
 The little girl, along with all her friends, plays/play the
violin
 Skating, in addition to hockey and curling, are/is offered at
the local arena.
 The manager, together with his
employees, works/worked late on Thursdays.
 Verbs p 42
More examples>>Is the subject plural or singular?

The members of the committee meets/

meet monthly in Toronto.

The new Canadians, one of whom is from

Japan, is/are learning French.

Students registered in the program is/are eligible

for a scholarship.
 Verbs p 46, 47
More than one subject is called a compound subject
and uses PLURAL or SINGULAR depending on the
linking word

linked by “and” then you need a plural verb

Ex. The girl and the boy sees/see the bear
Ex. The girls and the boys see/sees the bear
Linked by “or” or “nor” then you need a singular verb
Ex. The girl or the boy sees/see the bear
Ex. The girls or the boys see/sees the bear
 Verbs p 48, 49, 50
Occasionally the subject follows the verb (usually it’s
in sentences that start with here or there). That’s
ok….just figure out what if the subject is SINGULAR or
PLURAL and follow the rules.
Examples:
There are/is four hurdles to jump.
There are/is a high hurdle to jump.
Here are/is the keys.
VILLA TEACHER PET PEAVE>>NOTE THIS!!!!!!!
The words here’s or there’s, are contractions of here is/there is. They lead to bad
habits in INCORRECT informal sentences like There's a lot of people here today,
because it's easier to say "there's" than "there are." Take care never to use here’s
Adverbs
 Adverbs p 75
An Adverb is a word that modifies (i.e.
describes/provides detail for) a verb/adjective or
another adverb.
An Adverb will tell us:
*Where *When
*How *To What Extent
Adverbs can come before or after the word they describe

https://www.english-grammar-revolution.com/list-of-adverbs.html
 Adverbs p 75
1. What type of word is in capital letters?
(verb/adjective/adverb)
2. Now find the adverb

The moon shined brightly in the dark sky.

The restaurant is extremely busy on Saturday night

My guests left my party very quickly

Can you make a sentence using these
adverbs?
Can you make a sentence using these
adverbs?
 Adverbs p 82 a
⚗ Adjective – a word used to modify or describe a
noun or pronoun.
⚗ Adverb – a word that is used to modify an adjective,
verb, or adverb.

There are three forms of adjectives and adverbs used

to show varying degrees of comparison: the positive
(just the word), the comparative (when two things
are being compared), and the superlative (three or
more things being compared).
 Adverbs p 82 a
Positive: the regular word (i.e. strong, strongly, slow,
slowly, comfortable, comfortably)

Comparative: use “er” or ”more” depending

on the length of the word (i.e. the bigger, the
stronger, the slower, the more comfortable, more
comfortably)
Superlative: use “est” or “most” depending
on the length of the word (i.e. the biggest, the
strongest, the slowest, the most comfortable)
 Adverbs p 82 a
Practice sentences:
I think Joey is more nervous/nervouser/most nervous than
Neel

Naveen is funniest/funny/funnier.

If I had to choose between Naveen, Rohan and myself Naveen

is the funniest/funny/funnier

Naveen is funniest/funny/funnier than Rohan but Rohan is

sweeter/sweetest/most sweet than Naveen.
 Transitional Expressions p 54 a
⚗ Transitional words or expressions add “flow” to your
writing
Traditional Transitional expressions/words (don’t add much but help to
list things)
• First
• Second
• Third
• Lastly
• To begin with,
• To conclude,
• My first, second, third/last reason…
• One reason is…
Not All Transitional expressions Are Equal!
• Be specific in the placement and application of your
transitional words and phrases. Not every idea or
sentence needs to begin with one of these terms.
• Transitional words and phrases may be placed:
– At the beginning of paragraphs to help transition from
paragraph to paragraph
– Inside paragraphs to help transition from one supporting
detail to another
– Inside paragraphs to help elaborate upon supporting
details
 Transitional expressions
to Indicate More Information:
• In addition
• Additionally
• In fact
• Moreover
• Also
• Together with
• Equally important
• Similarly
• At once
Transitional expressions to Indicate
an Example
• For example,
• For instance,
• Specifically,
• To demonstrate,
• To illustrate,
• Notably,
 Transitional expressions to a
Cause/Effect Relationship
• Due to ______,
• For
• For the reason that ______,
• Since ______, then ____
• Consequently
• If…then
• As a result
Transitional Phrases to Compare or
Contrast
• Although
• However
• In comparison
• Likewise
• On the other hand
 Transitional expressions to Add
Emphasis
• Above all,
• Even more,
• More importantly,
Capitals
 Capitals p 7
 Beginning of a sentence/names of people and places/ the
word ‘I’/days of the week and months of the year

No capitals

-east/west/south/north unless it’s an official region/peoples

(i.e. Northern Canadians live north in North Bay)

-Subjects that are not languages (i.e. history, math, French)

-general family members (i.e. My uncle, Uncle Joey, is nice. He

is nicer than my mother, don’t you think so Mother?)
 Prepositions p 96, 97, 103 e
A preposition is a word which shows the relationship between
one thing and another

Where ex. The juicy, red apple was on the book

When ex. She refused to leave the house until the mailperson
had been.

Position ex. The gentle, brown dog slept beside the fluffy
white rabbit.

Direction ex. The brave horsewoman was riding along the

windy shoreline.
Look at the list on p 96
Homophones p 108, 126, 131, 135 c
 Homophones p 108, 126, 131, 135 c
A homophone is what
we call one of two or more
words that are pronounced
the same but differ in meaning,
origin, or spelling.

Note: if you mix up homophones often you must

read more! There, their, they’re
Your, You’re
Except, Accept
 by bye buy

My mom went
We walked I waved to the store to
by the lake. bye to my buy me
friend. something.
there they’re their

(they are)

The library is They’re a Their dog ran

over there. really nice away.
class of kids.
 through threw

We drove
through the The baseball
tunnel. pitcher threw the
ball.
List of Homophones.pdf
 Titles and Quotations 123
-CAPITALIZE first, last and major words of a title

Ex. Shakespeare wrote Romeo and/And Juliet

-Titles of longer texts (books, plays, newspapers,

films, tv shows, artworks) are italicized
-Titles of shorter texts (newspaper articles, short
stories, poems, songs, tv episodes) are put in
“quotation marks”
 Titles and Quotations 124
-Use single quotation marks for quotes within quotes.
Note that the period or comma goes inside all quote
marks.
-If you are referring to a word as a word put it in
quotation marks. Ex. I cry when students confuse
”their”, “they’re” and “there”.
Parentheses read rules p 40
Run-Ons/Splices/Fragments p 106-107
• A fragment is a group of words that looks like a sentence
but is missing a subject, a verb, or a complete thought;
therefore, it is an incomplete sentence.

• A run-on is created when two complete sentences are

joined together incorrectly (without proper punctuation)
and are written as one sentence.

• A comma splice is created when two complete sentences

are joined together by only a comma
Run-Ons/Splices/Fragments p 106-107
 Improving your Writing

Concise sentences p 117

Figurative language p 29

Choosing vivid verbs p 53

Canadian spelling 59
Less and Fewer, Amount and Number
Your test is on ____________ Use the Communicating
Skills workbook and your grammar worksheets to
study.

The test will be short answer and multiple choice

GOOD LUCK!!