S is for SUBORDINATE CLAUSE---Phrases and Clauses

Image from languagearts.ppst.com

We talked about PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES when we did the letter P a while ago. Now we are going to move into S--SUBORDINATE CLAUSES.


We have talked at length about what a sentence contains:

C apital

A ll makes sense

V erb

E nd mark

S ubject

CAVES!

Again, most people have trouble witht the A one--All makes sense. When a "sentence" doesn't make sense, it is often because it is not a sentence at all, but it is a phrase or a clause.

We are going to talk in detail about phrases and clauses in the upcoming weeks because we are going to talk a lot about sentence structure--openers, simple sentences, compound sentences, etc.

So...a little "phrase and clause" lesson is in order first:


1. Phrase--

a. Group of words

b. Group of words that is not a sentence

c. Group of words that is not a sentence and does not usually contain a subject and a verb (though may seem to have one or the other)

d. There are various types of phrases--the one that people are most familiar with is the prepositional phrase--begins with a preposition and ends with the object of the preposition:
      i. over the clouds
     ii. into the clouds
    iii. around the clouds
   iv. within the clouds
    v. under the clouds


2. Clause

a. Group of words

b. Group of words that might or might not be a sentence

c. Group of words that contains a subject and a verb

d. Two kinds of clauses

     i. Independent clause--also called a sentence

     ii. Dependent clause--also called a subordinate clause


Don't despair! These are not as complicated as they sound! You write with them all the time--but I hope to help you recognize them and punctuate them correctly in sentences--over the next few weeks!

Happy writing!

day 110: more prepositions as other parts of speech

I think I confused more than helped in my last post about "coming with..." I am going to elaborate a bit on the different uses that words that are commonly prepositions might have in writing:

1. First of all, a word is seldom a certain part of speech in isolation. Words are called parts of speech because they are used in a certain way in speech (and writing). Thus, it is often incorrect to say that, for instance, a dog is a noun. You can be dog tired. You can dog somebody to pay you. A part of speech is a part of speech when it is used--not in isolation.

2. Thus, the preposition as other parts of speech problem. We have students memorize lists of prepositions (though we prefer to have them use them in Check Sentences, again, because that is how "parts of speech" are used)--but we have to remember that those prepositions are only prepositions when they are used as prepositions--how is that for confusing? Remember, a preposition must have an object following it in order to be considered as being used as a preposition.

3. Examples!!! I will list prepositions below to show how they may be used as prepositions or how they may be used as other parts of speech--again, in context.

a. Over
    i. I am coming over. (Adverb--tells where you are coming....)
    ii. Jump over the water. (Preposition--begins the prepositional phrase (PP for short): over the water...)

b. Down
  i. He fell down. (Adverb--tells where he fell..)
  ii. We rode down the hill. (Preposition--begins the PP down the hill...)

c. Before
  i. Before we go to class, let's check our backpacks. (Subordinator--before is used as a subordinator beginning the subordinate clause before we go to class--a subordinate clause is a clause (subject/verb) that begins with a subordinator and is not a real sentence by itself.)

  ii. I heard that story before. (Adverb--tells when you heard that story...)

  iii. He has to go before the leaders. (Preposition--begins the PP before the leaders...)

Hope this helps! Feel free to write in questions--if I don't know the answer, I will look the question up in my 600 page reference! :)

day 109: another pet peeve--"I'm going to come with"

Another pet peeve of mine is popping up everywhere, so I thought I would share with our readers what it is and why it sounds so incorrect to me. 


This pet peeve is people using the preposition with as an adverb (or, in the case of my daughter--with an understood object of the preposition--her way of using grammar terms to justify its use!). 


Here is the run down on what I see as this pet peeve's problem:


1. First of all,  yes, words have multiple uses and parts of speech everywhere all the time. This is one reason why we advocate only using grammar programs for children that have the words used--not lists of words in which the student is to identify what part of speech it is. A part of speech is determined by the word's use, not the word itself:
     a. jump--a student might determine that jump is a verb...which it can be. But it can also be a noun (she made a huge jump) and an adjective (it was a jump start program).
     b. to--a student might determine that to is a preposition...which it can be. But it can also be part of a verbal phrase known as an infinitive (to run).


2. With is not one of those "multiple use" kinds of words. With is almost always (and probably always) a preposition. 
   a. With is a preposition because a preposition is a word that shows possession, has an object with it (the object of the preposition), and is the beginning of a prepositional phrase: with her, with the show, with the leader.
  b. With is seldom, if ever, used alone as an adverb (like many other prepositions can be):
      i. She is going along. (Along is an adverb here.)
      ii. She ran along the trail. (Along is a preposition here.)


     iii. I told him to jump down. (Down is an adverb here.)
    iv. He ran down the street. (Down is a preposition here.)


3. With is not an adverb by itself. It is not the kind of word that can stand alone as another part of speech. It is a preposition that needs an object to show a relationship (with whom? with what?).


So...tell who you are going with--and use with as a preposition, the way it was intended to be used! Smile...

day 74: phrases, clauses, and sentences

We have talked at length about what a sentence contains:

C apital

A ll makes sense

V erb

E nd mark

S ubject

CAVES!

Again, most people have trouble witht the A one--All makes sense. When a "sentence" doesn't make sense, it is often because it is not a sentence at all, but it is a phrase or a clause.

We are going to talk in detail about phrases and clauses in the upcoming weeks because we are going to talk a lot about sentence structure--openers, simple sentences, compound sentences, etc.

So...a little "phrase and clause" lesson is in order first:


1. Phrase--

a. Group of words

b. Group of words that is not a sentence

c. Group of words that is not a sentence and does not usually contain a subject and a verb (though may seem to have one or the other)

d. There are various types of phrases--the one that people are most familiar with is the prepositional phrase--begins with a preposition and ends with the object of the preposition:
      i. over the clouds
     ii. into the clouds
    iii. around the clouds
   iv. within the clouds
    v. under the clouds


2. Clause

a. Group of words

b. Group of words that might or might not be a sentence

c. Group of words that contains a subject and a verb

d. Two kinds of clauses

     i. Independent clause--also called a sentence

     ii. Dependent clause--also called a subordinate clause


Don't despair! These are not as complicated as they sound! You write with them all the time--but I hope to help you recognize them and punctuate them correctly in sentences--over the next few weeks!

Happy writing!

    

day 69: infinitive and prepositional phrase quiz—answer key!

Beside each of the phrases provided, write an I if each is an
infinitive; write PP if it is a prepositional phrase.

            1. to go       I    

            2. to sing           I

            3. to the government        PP   

            4. to a boy           PP

            5. to walk          I

            6. to be      I    

            7. to see    I      

            8. to France   PP       

            9. to John Adams  PP       

            10. to crush        I

            11. to believe      I    

            12. to his belief     PP     

            13. to write          I

            14. to the sun      PP    

            15. to confess     I      

day 64: infinitive and prepositional phrase quiz

Beside each of the phrases provided, write an I if each is an infinitive; write PP if it is a prepositional phrase.

            1. to go           

            2. to sing           

            3. to the government           

            4. to a boy          

            5. to walk          

            6. to be          

            7. to see          

            8. to France          

            9. to John Adams         

            10. to crush         

            11. to believe          

            12. to his belief          

            13. to write          

            14. to the sun          

            15. to confess           

day 50: final subject review—and a subject is not in a prepositional phrase

The main subject of a sentence is never in a prepositional phrase.

This is why we spent so much time on prepositions last month. If you can find prepositions, you can find prepositional phrases. If you find prepositional phrases, you can isolate them (mentally or with parentheses) and discover that the main subject is not in a prepositional phrase. This will help you determine subject verb agreement in your sentences more clearly.

For example:

1.                      Kara, (along with her sisters), is coming.

a.      Kara is the subject and needs the verb is

b.     Sisters is not the sentence’s subject.

2.                      Josiah and Jake, (though not Jonathan), are at basketball.

a.      Josiah and Jake are the subjects of the sentence, not Jonathan.

b.     Thus, Josiah and Jake need a plural verb—are.

In review, a sentence’s main subject has the following traits:

            a. It is the person or thing that the sentence is about.

            b. It usually comes at the beginning of the sentence.

            c. It is usually a noun or a pronoun.

            d. It is the source (person or thing) of the action.

            e. It is never found in a prepositional phrase.

Better study up! Tomorrow is a pop quiz! Smile…

day 49: still more about the main subject—compound subjects and more

          A sentence’s main subject is usually one of the following:

  a. A noun (person, place, thing, or idea)

            b. A pronoun (a word that replaces a noun—he, she, it, they,
etc.)

A sentence can have one subject, two subjects, or even three or more
subjects.

            a. One subject: Kayla is my first daughter.

b. Two subjects: Kayla and Cami are my first two daughters.

                         c. Three subjects: Kayla, Cami, and Kara are my daughters.

          
A sentence can have one subject at the beginning, and then later in the
sentence have another subject. However, most of your sentences will have
only one subject until you are at a more advanced level of writing.

Tomorrow—putting together the subject lessons and preposition lessons---a sentence’s main subject (and actually most other subjects in the sentence) are not usually found in prepositional phrases!

day 37: wrapping up prepositions

You are probably starting to notice that even a rudimentary knowledge of prepositions can unlock many more prepositions for you. I hope, that in the various studies we will do on LL 365, that you do not lose sight of the purpose of each one. Follow the links below to review prepositions—and join us tomorrow as we start our “sentence month”—and focus on fragments, sentences, clauses, and more!

Preposition list: http://languagelady365.blogspot.com/2011/01/day-24-prepositions-list.html

Preposition-Check Sentence: http://languagelady365.blogspot.com/2011/01/day-29-prepositionsthe-angel-flew.html

Why learn prepositions: http://languagelady365.blogspot.com/2011/01/day-22-homework-help-why-learn.html

day 36: prepositions that are synonyms

We have already learned prepositions that are antonyms (opposite). Now for our last day of preposition work, we will learn prepositions that are synonyms (meaning the same or almost the same).

First a little mnemonic for antonyms and opposites!

Antonyms—Opposite (both begin with vowel sounds—ant—opp)

Synonyms—Same (both begin with S—syn—same)

When you consider that prepositions show position, it makes sense that if you know one preposition that means a certain direction (i.e. over), then other words that mean the same thing may also be prepositions (above, on top of, etc.).

Consider these prepositions that might be considered synonyms—if you know one from each list, you are likely to be able to think of the others:

1. aboard

            a. on

            b. atop

            c. atop of

            d. astride

2. about

1. amid
2. amidst
3. among
4. amongst
5. around
6. by
7. near
8. next to
9. round
1. above
1. atop
2. atop of
3. on
4. on top of
5. over
6. up
7. upon

3. Against
1. anti
2. barring
3. despite
4. in spite of
5. opposite of
4. Ahead
1. ahead of
2. before
3. in front
4. in front of
5. Along
1. about
2. alongside
3. alongside of
4. Along with
5. Amid
6. Amidst
7. Among
8. Amongst
9. At
10. Beside
11. Besides
12. Round
13. Close
14. Close to
15. By means of
16. Near to
17. Next to
6. amid/amidst
1. about
2. against
3. among
4. amongst
5. around
6. at
7. beside
8. beside of
9. by
10. next to
11. round
12. through
13. throughout
7. anti
1. across from
2. against
3. barring
4. opposite
5. opposite of
6. versus
8. around
1. about
2. amid
3. amidst
4. among
5. amongst
6. aside
7. aside of
8. circa
9. aside
1. along
2. alongside
3. alongside
4. aside of
5. beside
6. beside of
7. by
8. next
9. next to
10. close to
11. near to
10. astride
1. a. atop
2. atop of
3. on
4. on top of
5. over
6. up
7. upon
11. at
1. beside
2. beside of
3.  by
4. toward
5. close to
12. barring
1. anti
2. opposite
3. opposite of
4. outside
5. outside of
6. due to
7. except for
8. save
13. before
1. ahead
2. ahead of
3. in front of
14. behind
1. beyond
2. following
3. in back
4. in back of

The purpose behind the “synonym prepositions” is two-fold: (1) help students realize that if a word is a preposition (and they know that one), then more than likely other words that mean the same thing and fit in the same space are probably prepositions as well; (2) to help students think of even more prepositions—that they might not realize they know. Again, if a student learns to recognize prepositions well, he will recognize prepositional phrases well and will be able to isolate them (mentally, at least) in his sentences to achieve correct subject-verb agreement. (Also, it will help in using prepositional phrase openers in sentences  and punctuating them correctly.)

day 27: prepositions with the ppp (“preposition practice pal”)

Yesterday I introduced our PPP (“Preposition Practice Pal”) and how we teach elementary and middle school students to recognize “position” prepositions. Today, see for yourself all of the many prepositions that will work with the PPP!

Birdie flew _________________ the tube.

Aboard the tube, about the tube, above the tube, around the tube….etc.

Aboard

About

Above

Across

Across from

After

Against
 
Ahead of

Along

Alongside

Alongside of

Along with

Amid

Amidst

Among

Amongst

Around

Aside

Aside of

Aside from

Astride

Atop

Atop of

Away from

Before

Behind

Below

Beneath

Beside

Beside of

Between

Betwixt

Beyond

By

Down

Following

From

In

Inside of

In between

In place of

In front of

In addition to

In back of

Into

Like

Minus

Near

Next to

Off

Off of

Off the top of

On

Onto

On top

On top of

Opposite

Opposite of

Out

Out of

Outside

Outside of

Over

Past

Round

Through

Throughout

To

Towards

Under

Underneath

Unto

Up

Up to

Upon

Via

With

Within

Without

day 25: “preposition practice pal”

When it comes to little kids (second through fifth grade) learning prepositions, I have found that it is helpful to teach them prepositions in a way that emphasizes what prepositions are for and how they are used. (Again, memorizing is fine, but if they can learn them and at the same time learn about using them, that’s even better!)

One way that we begin teaching kids prepositions is by teaching them how to “show position”—since that is what prepositions do.

We begin with the concept that “prepositions show position”! Once they learn that rhyme, we have them practice prepositions with a “Preposition Practice Pal” (PPP) and a bathroom tissue tube.

A PPP can be an army man, Polly Pocket, Lego guy, or any little toy animal or person. The student uses that little PPP and the bathroom tissue tube to show position of the PPP to the tube—and thus to practice prepositions.

Consider if my PPP were Birdie (though it could be Polly, Kitty, Joe, Superman, etc.), and I held it up in relation to my bathroom tissue tube. See how many prepositions fit in the sentence using the two objects:

Birdie flew _________________ the tube.

Practice prepositions with the PPP and bathroom tissue tube—and see how many prepositions you can name. Tomorrow I will give you a list of prepositions that fit with Birdie! J

Note: If you are stuck, think Birdie flew above the tube; Birdie flew around the tube…get creative with your PPP and tube! It helps to actually move your PPP in positions with your bathroom tissue tube.

day 23: homework help—more why learn prepositions?

Check out yesterday’s post for the introduction for “why learn prepositions.” Then read on for information that might help you as a student, parent, teacher, or anyone who wants to write with proper subject-verb agreement.

A preposition is a word that shows position or time between one item and another. It is the first word of the prepositional phrase.

A prepositional phrase is a group of words that begins with a preposition and ends with the object of the preposition—the word that shows the “position” from or to. In the prepositional phrase, “the angel flew into the clouds,” clouds is the object of the preposition.

Again, we learn prepositional phrases so that we can mentally eliminate them in order to match our sentence’s subject with its correct verb. Recognizing and mentally removing prepositional phrases is a truly “writing worthy” skill as it will help a person write more grammatically correct.

Consider the sentences below that have the prepositional phrases isolated with parentheses. Once you mentally eliminate these prepositional phrases, you can easily match the sentences’ subjects with their verbs.

1. The boy (in the woods) was lost.
1. Isolating “in the woods” with parentheses keeps the writer from thinking that the sentence’s subject is woods—and keeps the writer from writing “woods were,” which is not correct.
2. The sentence’s real subject is boy and needs the singular verb was.

2. (On the outskirts) (of town,) a little house fell down.
1. This sentence contains a double prepositional phrase.
2. This double prepositional phrase is used as a sentence opener—coming before the sentence’s real subject and real verb.
3. By isolating both prepositional phrase openers with parentheses, we find that the sentence’s real subject is house (or a little house—some grammarians consider the one word subject and some consider the entire subject with its describers) and the sentence’s verb is fell.

3. The blonde girl (out of all the girls) was (on key.)
1. This sentence contains two prepositional phrases

                                                    i.     Out of all the girls

                                                   ii.     On key

2. By isolating them with parentheses (and thus, not considering them when we find our subject and verb), we can see that the sentence’s subject is girl and verb is was.
3. If we did not isolate “out of all the girls,” we might be tempted to think that “girls” is our subject and use the plural verb “were.”

Re-read the sample sentences carefully. Without isolating the prepositional phrases, would you have been tempted to use the wrong verbs? Isolating prepositional phrases is one of the most helpful beginning writing skills that a writer can learn. It helps eliminate one of the most common sentence writing errors—that of mismatched subjects and verbs.

That’s enough for today! Join us tomorrow for many tricks and tips to help you and/or your students memorize many of the one hundred-plus prepositions.

day 22: homework help--why learn prepositions?

For the last week of January—the “word” month at LL 365—we will have our “homework help” week focused on prepositions.

The simplistic description of preposition, the one we use with our youngest language arts students, is that “prepositions show position.” That is, they are words that show position of one thing to something else.

Of course, prepositions show time, space, and direction (among other things) of one thing to another thing.

The first thing we need to know here about prepositions, as parents, older students, or adults, is the role that prepositions play in writing. So, today we will examine the role of prepositions—and the rest of the week we will give tips, hints, and lists for learning these vital words.

Our “grammar theory” here at Training for Triumph is that we learn grammar to write or speak. I am a big “purpose for learning” type of teacher. If we know why we need to learn something, we will be more apt to want to learn it (or at least to see the value in learning it). Thus, phonics is for reading and spelling. (No reason to learn phonics without also reading from a reader at the same time to apply the phonics skills.) And grammar is for writing and speaking.

So it is with preposition learning. Here is the sequence of “reasoning” for learning prepositions:

1. Prepositions are words that are found at the beginning of prepositional phrases.
2. The prepositional phrase
1. A phrase—a group of words that does not contain a subject and a verb
2. Prepositional phrase--a phrase (group of words) that begins with a word known as a preposition

3. The subject of a sentence is seldom found within a prepositional phrase.
4. Subjects in a sentence (anywhere in a sentence) must match their verbs in tense, number, etc.
5. Since the subject of a sentence is not found in a prepositional phrase, if you learn to recognize prepositional phrases easily, you can eliminate them (mentally) and easily find your sentence’s subject(s) and verb(s) to be sure they match.

We will pick this discussion up tomorrow. Thanks for joining us at Language Lady 365!