The "Verbal" Squad
This verbal consists of the word "to" plus a verb (e.g., to dance) and can act as a noun, adjective, or adverb.
What is an infinitive?
In this voice, the subject of the sentence performs the action (e.g., "The chef prepared the meal").
What is active voice?
This type of sentence contains only one independent clause and no dependent clauses.
What is a simple sentence?
Use this punctuation mark to separate two independent clauses that are closely related without using a conjunction.
What is a semicolon?
Fix this: "We had a great time at the beach; however it rained on Sunday."Where does the comma go?
After "however"
In the sentence, "The crying baby finally fell asleep," this verbal acts as an adjective to describe the baby.
What is a participle?
In this voice, the subject receives the action, often making the sentence feel more formal or detached (e.g., "The meal was prepared by the chef").
What is passive voice?
A sentence that contains one independent clause and at least one dependent clause (starting with words like because or since).
What is a complex sentence?
This mark is used to introduce a list or a long quotation.
What is a colon?
Fix this: "I need to buy three things at the store, apples, bread, and milk."Which mark should replace the comma after "store"?
A colon
This verbal always ends in -ing and functions specifically as a noun, such as in "Running is my favorite hobby."
What is a gerund?
Change this passive sentence to active: "The trophy was won by the Tigers."
What is "The Tigers won the trophy"?
This sentence type joins two independent clauses with a comma and a coordinating conjunction (FANBOYS).
What is a compound sentence?
This punctuation mark is used to indicate a sudden break in thought or to set off parenthetical info with more emphasis than commas.
What is a dash?
Fix this: "Its a beautiful day to play outside." Which word is grammatically incorrect, and how do you fix it?
What is It's?
Identify the verbal in this sentence: "I want to travel to Italy next summer."
What is an infinitive?
Writers use this voice to emphasize the receiver of the action or when the "doer" is unknown.
What is passive voice?
This complex sentence structure has at least two independent clauses and at least one dependent clause.
What is a compound-complex sentence?
"The students' backpacks were lined up by the door." The punctuation mark used here shows this grammatical relationship.
What is possession (the apostrophe)?
Identify the error: "While I was eating the cat jumped on the table."
What is a missing comma after the introductory phrase ("eating")?
In the phrase "The broken window," this type of participle is used to describe the state of the noun.
What is a past participle?
"Yesterday I went to the store and buy a gallon of milk." This sentence contains this grammatical error.
What is an inappropriate shift in verb tense?
Using this specific sentence type helps a writer signal that one idea is less important than (subordinate to) another.What is a complex sentence?
What is a complex sentence?
Use these to join two or more words together to serve as a single adjective before a noun, such as "well-known author."
What are hyphens?
Identify the error: "He said 'I'll be there at five'."
What is a missing comma before the quotation?