Nouns
+ Verbs
Sentence Parts
Capital Letters
Commas
Transition Words
100

In the sentence below, which of the underlined words are NOUNS?

Joe Biden  is  my  best friend's  grandpa.

A) Joe Biden, my, grandpa

B) Joe Biden, is, my, grandpa

C) Joe Biden, is, my, best friend

D) Joe Biden, best friend, grandpa

D

1. Joe Biden = person = noun

2. best friend = person = noun

3. grandpa = person = noun

4. is = special BE-verb = verb 

[**BE-VERBS: am, is, are, was, were**]

5. my = adjective ... WHY? Because MY describes the noun best friend by telling WHOSE best friend we're talking about (MY best friend!)

my is NOT a noun even though it's similar to me & I

ME = a person, 

I = a person, BUT... 

MY = NOT a person! 

You can test it out by trying to REPLACE your name in a sentence with the words I, ME, and MY... 

You can easily replace your name with or ME, but you CANNOT replace your name with MY!

EXAMPLE:
Kate likes to dance.  |   I like to dance. (Kate = I)
She called Kate.       |   She called me. (Kate = me)
Kate's cat is cute.       |  My's cat is cute. ?? WRONG

**The word MY replaces BOTH the name Kate AND the ~'S ending that shows the cat belongs to Kate. If MY was a noun, it would ONLY replace Kate... NOT the final ~'S ending, too

If we replace the Kate in Kate's with the word My, we create "My's", which makes no sense and is definitely NOT a word! 


Since "my" clearly cannot REPLACE the noun Kate, then "my" also cannot BE a noun.
100

What is the VERB in this sentence?

I usually study in my room.

study

100

How many CAPITALIZATION mistakes does this sentence have? [**NOTE**  capitalization mistake1) lowercase letter should be capitalized     OR      2) capitalized letter should be lowercase.**]


honestly, i think babies are loud and smelly.

2 mistakes

CORRECTION:

Honestly, I think babies are loud and smelly.

100

How many comma mistakes are there in this sentence?

How many COMMA mistakes does this sentence have? [comma mistake = 1) comma is missing OR  2) comma should be deleted]

I like SpongeBob Baby Yoda and, Snoopy.

2

100

Which transition can be used to show TIME ORDER (order of events)?

A) because

B) suddenly

C) finally

D) however

C

because = cause and effect

suddenly = how (the way) an event happened

finally = time order (the last event or action)

however = contrast, difference, unexpectedness


200

How many PLURAL NOUNS are in this sentence?

The puppies left muddy pawprints everywhere and made a big mess.

There are TWO plural nouns:

1. puppies   (singular = puppy)

2. pawprints   (singular = pawprint)

plural noun = 2 or more people, places, or things

**usually has or ES or IES added to the end, like puppies or pawprints, but sometimes has a special form, like children, mice, or people**

examples = friends, classes, parties, people (NOT persons), children (NOT childs),  mice (NOT mouses), puppies, pawprints...

200

What is the SUBJECT in this sentence?

After school, the kids ran outside to play soccer.

the kids

200

How many CAPITALIZATION mistakes does this sentence have? [**NOTE**  capitalization mistake1) lowercase letter should be capitalized     OR      2) capitalized letter should be lowercase.**]


everybody learns about abraham lincoln in School.

4 mistakes

CORRECTION:

Everybody learns about Abraham Lincoln in school.

200

How many comma mistakes are found in the sentence below? 

First you need to mix the flour, and eggs.

2

200

Choose the BEST transition.

I wanted to buy the toy. _____ , I didn't have any money.

A) But

B) Because

C) Although

D) However

D


A, C, and D all show contrast / difference / change, which matches the relationship between the first sentence and the second sentence. 

A = But = never used with a comma after it

C = Although = close to the correct answer, but this word (like but) is never used with a comma after it

**although also makes a sentence incomplete once you add this word to the beginning... so even without the comma in this example, the word although cannot be used here since it would create an incomplete sentence**

D) However = can be used at the beginning of a sentence, is always followed by a comma, and does not make a sentence incomplete... CORRECT!

300

Which does this sentence have MORE of... NOUNS or VERBS?

My brother lives in an apartment in San Francisco and has three cats that sleep all day

The sentence has more nouns.

There are 5 NOUNS: 

1. (my) brother

2. (an) apartment

3. San Francisco

4. (three) cats

5. day


There are 3 VERBS: lives, has, sleep

300

Which SUBJECT correctly fits the sentence?

Surprisingly, _______ doesn't like to swim.

A) those fish

B) my goldfish

C) the mermaids

D) many dolphins

B

verb = "DOESN'T LIKE"

DOES / DOESN'T = same as "do" / "don't" but for SINGULAR 3rd-PERSON SUBJECTS ... in other words, subjects that can be called HE, SHE, or IT

Since the verb is doesn't like, and doesn't is only used for SINGULAR subjects, we must choose the subject that is a singular noun...

A) those fish = plural ("fish" = singular OR plural, but "those" tells us it's plural) = INCORRECT

B) my goldfish = singular = CORRECT

C) the mermaids = plural = INCORRECT

D) many dolphins = plural = INCORRECT

300

How many CAPITALIZATION mistakes does this sentence have? [**NOTE**  capitalization mistake1) lowercase letter should be capitalized     OR      2) capitalized letter should be lowercase.**]


I told my Mother and Father that i wanted to visit Disney world.

4 mistakes

CORRECTION:

I told my mother and father that I wanted to visit Disney World.

300

How many comma mistakes are found in the sentence below? 

My mom, my dad, and I, drove to the zoo but, the zoo was closed.

2 or 3 (depending on how you count the mistakes)

2 mistakes: 1) no comma between and drove, and 2) move the comma from after the word but to after the word zoo.

3 mistakes: 1) no comma between and drove, 2) no comma after the word but, and 3) add a comma after the word zoo.

300

Choose the BEST transition.

Peter studied for hours and hours. ______ , he failed his test.

A) Although

B) Nevertheless

C) Simultaneously

D) Fortunately

B

Although = cannot have a comma after it / cannot begin a sentence unless there are TWO ideas inside joined by a comma (here there is only one idea... he failed his test ... so adding although would make the sentence incomplete)

Nevertheless = "even though" = "even though Peter studied for hours, he still failed" = CORRECT

Simultaneously = "at the same time" = impossible since Peter can't study for hours WHILE he's failing his test... sentence 1 must happen first

Fortunately = "luckily" = good news = incorrect because failing a test is bad news

400

List all the VERBS in this sentence.

Sally is a first-grade student who likes to eat popcorn and climb trees.

is, likes, eat, climb

400

What is the VERB in this sentence?

I saw a dancing monkey last night.

saw

In this sentence, the main action is SAW. It's true that DANCING seems like a verb, but a word is only a verb in a sentence if that word's "job" is to tell you the ACTION of the sentence. Here, the word DANCING is describing the noun MONKEY, so DANCING is closer to an adjective or describing word. We can also get a big hint from the "a" in front of DANCING. The "a" tells us that DANCING is a part of the noun "a monkey" (becomes A DANCING MONKEY) ...

Also, "a dancing monkey" tells us WHAT I SAW, which means "a dancing monkey" = WHAT = a thing = a NOUN...

SAW, however, is what the subject "I" actually DID last night... the ACTION ... the VERB!

400

How many CAPITALIZATION mistakes does this sentence have? [**NOTE**  capitalization mistake1) lowercase letter should be capitalized     OR      2) capitalized letter should be lowercase.**]


on april 2nd, my Sister emily was born, and my Dad took Me to see her at the Hospital.

7 mistakes


CORRECTION:

On April 2nd, my sister Emily was born, and my dad took me to see her at the hospital.

400

How many comma mistakes are found in the sentence below?

After I finished, brushing my teeth I got into bed, and read, my favorite book.

4

CORRECT:

After I finished brushing my teeth, I got into bed and read my favorite book.

400

Choose the BEST transition.

The heavy snow has blocked all the roads. _____ , school is closed today.

A) However

B) Furthermore

C) Therefore

D) Meanwhile

C


However = contrast / change / unexpectedness

(doesn't work since sentence 1 is the logical reason for sentence 2... not surprising to close schools)

Furthermore = adding an idea

(doesn't work since sentence 2 is not the same type as sentence 1 / they have different functions ... sentence 1 = cause, sentence 2 = effect ...)

Therefore = cause/effect --> CORRECT

Meanwhile = two separate events happening at the same time in different places

(doesn't work because the important message is not that sentence 1 and 2 are happening at the same time... the message is that sentence 1 is the reason or cause for sentence 2 ... which also means they didn't happen at the same time)